Bloodletting (literally & figuratively)

IVF #2: The Final Chapter has officially begun. Thursday morning I went in for my baseline ultrasound and blood draw. I got to the office about 7:35AM and it was packed. I couldn't believe how many people were waiting. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long. The ultrasound was quick, the nurse I like the best (she thinks I'm hilarious for some reason) did it. Then I had to go have my blood drawn. The phlebotomist really sweet but I have craptastic veins and she stuck me once in the crook of my arm and that went badly. She quickly changed her plans and did the draw with a teensy needle on top of my hand. Both sticks left some pretty impressive bruises.

I began Bravelle injections Saturday night and the other oral meds too. Getting the Letrozole and the Dexamethasone was a fiasco. Originally I had my nurse send the prescription to our insurance specialty pharmacy. I called them to confirm they could get it to me by Saturday - they could not. So I had to cancel the order, call the nurse again and have her fax it over to Walgreen's. Then Walgreen's told me my insurance company was denying it because I had just gotten it filled. This resulted in me calling the specialty pharmacy, calling the insurance company and calling Walgreen's. Eventually it was all sorted out and I got the drugs. So far Doug's done really good with giving me the shots, it doesn't hurt, just stings. Side effects include a dull headache and hot flashes. I woke up in the middle of the night Sunday and had to turn on the fan I was sweating so much. 

We've also encountered a problem with Doug's stored 'product'. The embryologist called last week and to make a long story short - the stored stuff has fragmented DNA and will likely not produce a pregnancy. Both our RE and the embryologist strongly suggested we use donor. Big sigh. I'll admit neither one of us was really surprised. The surprising part was no one decided to mention it until last week. So, we've spent days combing through potential donors online and thinking about the possibilities if this whole thing works. We think we've found a donor at a bank in New England. Hopefully, if all goes the donor 'product' should be shipping out in a few days. Another downside, besides the obvious, is this donor 'product' is costing an additional $800. $800 we had not budgeted for, especially since we just had to spend $600 on our central air last week. Double ugh.