I have printed a pill case!
Also the slots are barely big enough so it’s a bit of a PITA. May make one at 1.5x scale.
One thing I find helpful is I should know if I need to order more of something as I’m filling up the box for the week, rather than the day I run out.
Speaking of which I need to figure out if my progesterone is getting covered or not.
I’m kinda sad I don’t get a cute new pill box because I have a sad blue plastic one from forever ago that works fine. I have not previously used it for meds, it ended up being a travel jewelry case lol.
You want one? I could make you one. I have so many potential colors too.
Thanks for offering. 
It’s mostly a “shouldn’t get new things when what I have works just fine” from my upbringing. And in this case (ha) I think it’s reasonable to go with it.
This round of testing from Wednesday has us both showing positive! It said in the email that when we do a retest it should be antigen instead of PCR because PCR might be showing positive after we’re no longer contagious. Since the antigen is quicker, I made us antigen appointments for 12:20 tomorrow, and if we’re lucky and those are negative, we can maybe slide in under the wire for our clinic appointment on Monday.
I’m a little concerned that I was prescribed progesterone for both pre and post ovulation. Isn’t progesterone often used in birth control to prevent ovulation? Could it make me not ovulate?
Eta: I also came across something that said taking it before O can increase chances of a tubal pregnancy. I dunno what that is but it sounds bad.
I am increasingly nervous about this regimen and I want more assurance from my doctor but I don’t want to go to her like I GOOGLED THINGS AND NOW I DONT TRUST YOU
Also my cats knocked over my pill box and it doesn’t apparently latch well, so I had to meticulously find everything that had spilled and ensure they didn’t eat anything. Fortunately all pills accounted for.
I think it’s totally reasonable to ask for more information about something you’re being prescribed.
We failed at getting an antigen test—despite our having an appointment, they were all out when we arrived. I was sooo irritated. Defeated, I called to reschedule the clinic appointment yet again. There was a different lady on the desk, saying the regular lady was on vacation, and she was unable to find a time for us the following Monday. She asked me some questions about our covid exposure and onset time and said she’d talk to the doctor and get back to us.
She called me back with really good news! Not only is the doctor willing to see us without negative test results as long as we wear N95 masks, but he said that if we can come in early in the morning on Monday, he can see us at the location that is super close to us! That is going to save us at least an hour and a half of travel time! So now we’re scheduled at 8:00 am on Monday—earlier than Swan is usually alive, but he’s willing to do it. (I just hope he doesn’t have trouble, uh, making a sample so early.)
I’m so happy something went right for once!
Yay! This process can have SO many frustrating delays and I’m really happy that you managed to actually SAVE time!
OK, first RE appointment is over.
I got a blood draw for AMH and some other preconception panel they like to do, plus an ultrasound, and Swan got his semen analyzed. I won’t have my blood results back for a week, but my lining was apparently perfect, and the follicle count was 7 on the ultrasound. From what I’ve read, that’s considered slightly below average for my age group (it said 9 was average for 35–40) but also slightly above officially having low ovarian reserve. The doctor took a peek himself at Swan’s sample and said that though the official results won’t be in for a few days, he thinks everything looks good on that end. So at least I am the only defective one!
They ended up taking four vials of my blood, but apparently my blood stopped flowing on one side after two, so they had to switch arms for the second two. She asked me if I’d eaten breakfast and I said no—I didn’t realize I was supposed to! I guess I should have had more water or something. I now have a welty bruise on the first arm.
We both actually really liked the doctor. He said that he plans to give me an extra high dosage of medicine to help with the low follicle count (?) and he recommended some extra supplements (MitoQ and B12) for me to take for the next month and said that as many antioxidants as we can take will be helpful in this time. So I ordered some more stuff too.
The timeline is supposedly as follows:
I’m so excited for you guys, it sounds like things are moving forward quickly! 
As far as when the transfer would happen, it might depend on whether you’re doing a natural transfer (ovulatory cycle, fewer meds but more appointments and higher cancellation risk) or fully programmed (more meds, fewer appointments, possibly higher risk of preeclampsia?!?!). And might also depend on whether you/they are willing to start prepping for a transfer before getting genetic testing results. It is pretty common for genetic testing to push your transfer back a cycle.
In general, though, a transfer happens 5 days AFTER ovulation, which makes sense because they will have grown the embryos for about 5 days. Or the medically programmed equivalent. Funnily enough, my due date from a fully programmed cycle is EXACTLY, to the day, what it would have been going off my last period (which is not supposed to be a data point for IVF pregnancies but I guess the nurse looked it up for funsies).
Sorry about the arm bruise! Yikes!
From what I gathered (which, grain of salt because I feel like my understanding of this stuff is still not yet crystal clear), he said the transfer would happen “during my next cycle” which sounds natural to me? But he’s going to give me the rundown after my blood test results come in—we have a phone appointment scheduled for Monday evening. Maybe it will be something else after all.
I guess maybe I can’t really depend on my regular cycle calendar to be accurate into March, after loads of hormones being added to the equation for the retrieval part. But if I could then the test results I think would be due before CD1 that month. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens but generally keep in my mind that, if all goes well, transfer will likely be sometime late March to April-ish.
One funny thing that I forgot to mention: I was soooo glad I was wearing a mask because right before the ultrasound, as the doc was lubing up the wand, my brain just barked “FERTILDO” at me, and I had to forcibly bite my lips to not bust up laughing. My inner 12-year-old is clearly alive and well and hasn’t been killed off by the grimness of the process yet.
I call that part of the procedure “twanding.”
FYI I once got my period 5 days after retrieval. The other time was more like 14.
IME “next cycle” in RE-speak just means anything separated by a period from where you are now, regardless of what combinations of drugs and whatnot happens in between. Not to say that he ISN’T picturing a natural cycle- he could be- just how I have heard the term be used.
I don’t have stats from hanging around in subreddits and whatnot, programmed transfers seem like they might be more common, if only because doctors, by and large, like to “drive”!
Oh, good to know. I guess I’ll find out on Monday what he’s thinking!
Has anyone else felt like the day that a bunch of blood is taken, then they are ravenously hungry?
I’ve already eaten chili with an egg on top and buttered cornbread on the side, fake-sausage and zucchini lasagna, salad with blue cheese all over it, chocolate yogurt with cacao nibs added in, a glass of grapefruit juice, and multiple pieces of citrus. So much food! So much protein! So much FIBER!
And yet . . . I almost feel like I could still eat another whole meal even though it’s almost bedtime. Beast mode, haha! The only thing I did differently was have my blood drawn, I think.
Hm, I tend toward feeling woozy and slightly nauseous even if I don’t pass out. 
Yeah, I was a little woozy myself until I had my first serious meal. Like, getting a little lightheaded standing up kind of a feeling. Not at all nauseated though. Just really, really hungry. All day.
