Lately...

I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off the past week or so.  I'm  o-v-e-r-w-h-e-l-m-e-d, people!!  Getting ready to head to Colorado for the ODWU has been more work than I had initially thought (not that I'm complaining - at all!).  I'm beginning to realize that cycling at a clinic out of state (half way across the country) can be... well... complicated.

Late last week, I decided to take matters into my own hands and order myself the etegrity Beta 3 test.  I actually have to pat myself on the back for this (and thank so many friends whose input is really what made me just go ahead and bite the bullet).  Anyway, I ordered the kit last Thursday (received it on Friday) and spent pretty much all day Thursday and Friday going back and forth with my ObGyn's office as to what exactly I was looking to have scheduled.  Over the weekend I started to wonder if I should just call my local RE about this (even though that's not really the route I want to go).  On Monday I was able to speak with the Nurse Practitioner at my doctor's office and explained to her that all I really need is an endometrial biopsy... Except, that it specifically needs to be done nine to eleven days after my LH surge during my next cycle (which will be after I return home from the ODWU).  I ended up scheduling the biopsy for a day that I think (hope and pray) will work, based on what are my usually regular cycles.  Fingers crossed that I won't have to deal with an irregular cycle causing me to have to cancel and reschedule this!

Now that I have the endometrial biopsy scheduled, I'm thinking about life after the ODWU.  A cycle with CCRM would mean that I'd have to have day three blood work drawn locally.  I'd then need to freeze the spun serum and send it back to the lab in Colorado for testing.  No biggie, right?  But this has had me stressed over where I should even go to have my blood drawn - as I know not every lab would be equipped to spin my blood and then hand it back over to me.  Oh, and speaking of day three blood work.  And stress.  I'm so nervous and so stressed about this.  What will CCRM's lab get as a result for my FSH level?  It's very possible that it's increased significantly since the last time I had it tested.  And I've never even had my AMH level tested... will I learn that my diagnosis of DOR is much worse than I'd been told? 

And then... if my levels are fine (well, we know they're not fine.  But, if they're not much worse than my (so far) highest FSH level of 18.6), then that means we'll carry on with moving closer to our CCRM stim cycle.  And in that case, I'll need to have at least one (possibly more depending upon the protocol Dr. Schoolcraft suggests) baseline ultrasound and a blood draw here, locally.  CCRM will need the same day results and so, with that, I'm trying to figure out where I should go to have those done.  I initially thought that I'd use my local RE for much of my early monitoring and testing before heading out to CCRM however, my feelings on that have changed, leaving me a bit perplexed as to where I should go...

All this to say that choosing to go to CCRM is obviously a huge decision  -  and that it certainly doesn't just end there.  This has become somewhat of a full-time job for me.  And while I'm one million percent convinced that going to CCRM is the right choice for us, I'm quickly realizing that it's a big, BIG, commitment.  But, it's a BIG commitment, that I'm beyond ready and willing to take.  I told my husband this morning after going through my checklist of things to do, research and look into today, that this is my absolute top priority. 

And well, with that, I'm just so ready to get the show on the road - to begin the process, have the ODWU and to take each step closer to my miracle baby.