Getting Back to Normal...

Really what's normal? I hope no one is normal..what a boring world that would be!! I guess I should say...getting back on track!

So Jay and I decided that based upon my numbers and advise from Dr. Patel that the shot of methotrexate was the way to go. So Monday I went in for blood work and waited to hear back. My HCG level only dropped to 91 so they called in the prescription and I met the nurse at the Glendale office later in the day. Jay was with me and they broke the shot up into 2 doses...one for each cheek! :) I really haven't had any symptoms this week except for feeling a little sick Tuesday and Wednesday morning on my drive to work. However, once I got going with things for the day I felt fine. I haven't had any real cramps and my bleeding has been minimal.

I went in on Thursday for blood work and had that familiar moment of shock when the nurse called to say that my level went up to 110...almost 20 points. Now that sounds like a lot to me but in their eyes it was as if the number has stayed the same. If it had doubled to 180 then they would have been nervous. Dr. Patel said it was fine and that the number on Sunday (today) would be a real indicator as to how the shot was working. The nurse told me that my number needed to have dropped by 15% on Sunday or we would have two choices. Number 1...if the number stayed the same or rose slightly (like this time) we would look at another shot. Number 2...if the number rose dramatically, Dr. Patel would be calling to speak to us about surgery options. Of course our hearts and minds were solely focusing on option Number 1! I tried to keep option Number 2 out of my mind and focus on positive thoughts.

I got up super early this morning to meet the nurse at the Glendale office once more for her to draw my blood. It's been great not having to drive all the way over to Scottsdale, but the trade off is meeting her at 6:30am in Glendale. Oh well...I'll make it through. The nurse called with good news later this morning to say that my HCG level had gone back down to 91...the correct direction. For the first time in about 3 weeks it was nice to hear some good news that my body was doing what it was supposed to do. I let out a sign of relief and felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

So now they will continue to monitor me until my HCG level is back to 0. It is rare, but they have had some patients who's numbers have all of a sudden jumped back up...let's hope I'm not the rare type! I will be going in now just once a week to give blood so that's also a nice change of pace for me too! Hopefully we will continue to hear good news in the coming weeks so that we can finally close this IVF chapter and look forward to whatever is next for us!

I've been working in my classroom all week, gearing up for this school year and that really has been a great distraction for me. I'm going to take pictures this week and will post next weekend to share with you all!