Here we go again

Sorry to be MIA but nothing much has been going on. Just waiting. And I have been doing acupuncture. I have been to 3 sessions so far and am enjoying it (just not enjoying the drive to and from...I don't miss commuting). I see 2 different acupuncturists and both are great. They are very different than the lady I saw in UT, just different personalities, and different from each other. One new thing about my current clinic is one session I did cupping. This is where they apply cups to different points and suction them in place and leave them there, just like the needles, for 30-45 minutes.

You can see my cupping marks a bit here. This was 2-3 days after my treatment, so they are much lighter here, but I was going swimming and wondered if you could still see the marks so I had John snap a pic.

Anyway, tomorrow is my baseline ultrasound and blood work and hopefully tomorrow night I will be starting stims again. I have been wearing an estrogen patch for about 6 days now and I did three days of Ganirelix shots Fri-Sun which is supposed to help "gently" suppress my ovaries (vs. birth control pill taken prior to the cycle, which may have over suppressed me last time). If my ultrasound and blood work comes back good (meaning no cysts) then I will start with 300iu Bravelle and 150iu Menopur tomorrow night. Then starts the every 1-3 days of monitoring which means early morning appointments and lots of driving. I will keep doing acupuncture as well and will have 2-3 sessions while I am stimming and will do a treatment right before and after egg transfer (of course hopeful we will make it that far this time).

I'm not as excited to be getting started this time. It's hard to be too excited about something that failed the last time you tried. But I am trying to stay positive and hopeful and all of that and not dwell too much on anything else. My protocol is different this time and I have to hope the changes will make a difference. The difference. So far I haven't had many side effects from the estrogen, but today I am really weepy. I don't know if part of it is being overwhelmed with starting the new cycle or what, but I have been crying off and on all day about silly little things. Mostly cheesy music and reading about friends getting pregnant (after years of trying). So not even sad tears. I will take it though if it means a better chance at success.

Also, we had a great weekend in NH and I got lots of relaxing in, which was just what I needed going into this next cycle, since the next few weeks will be a little crazy.

John and I at the Flume Gorge in Franconia Notch State Park, NH