Stim Day 1

Today was the first day of stims for me. Yesterday all I took was Lupron. I was a little slow with the needle yesterday and it hurt like a bitch going in so today I just JABBED it in and it was much less painful. I was so nervous I would forget how to mix and administer the meds but it's funny how it all comes flooding back into your memory when you've got the stuff laying out in front of you.

I decided over the past few days that we would go ahead with the ICSI. I've been playing Dr Google and discovered that PCOS eggs can have a harder egg shell than non-PCOS eggs which can prevent the sperm from penetrating. That was enough to convince me. I just really really hope that our fertilization rate is better than 75% this time around. It was technically 63% because only 10 out of 16 fertilized normally, even though they did get 12 fertilized. And since this is our last fresh IVF cycle I figured we should make it the best one possible.

So in between job applications I've been keeping myself busy with something new. I've started doing online sweepstakes. I usually "sweep" every other day, doing about 100 sweepstakes at a time. Some are one-time entry, some are daily. Very occasionally I'll enter a blog giveaway, though not often. I've won a few small things: a Scare Me Not monster (Gus), a free box of Barilla pasta and jar of sauce, and an Eat, Pray, Love t-shirt, bracelet and poster. Alot of the sweepstakes that I've entered haven't ended yet or the winner hasn't been chosen. Well last night I won a pretty big prize. It was a 3-day trip to New York City for the launch event of Halo Reach. It included transportation and lodging at a hotel in Times Square plus access to the event. The bad news is that it takes place NEXT WEEK! Which is of course during our IVF cycle so I had to turn it down. I asked if I could swap my prize for one of the first prizes (a limited edition XBOX 360 and Halo game) but the rules state specifically that if you can't attend then you forfeit your prize so I doubt they'll let me trade prizes. Oh well. At least I got lucky enough to win so I hope that luck continues through the next two weeks and I get knocked up. I can only hope!