In my last post, some of you have commented that you have never heard of Better Than Sex Cake.
Wow. I highly suggest you make this cake if you never have. It’s delicious. I don’t want anyone to be deceived, however. Coming from someone who is highly infertile myself, I have to warn you: like sex, this cake will not make you pregnant.
But it is TASTY! Here’s the recipe. The condensed milk is very sweet. I use a bit less of the milk and more of the caramel.
I have been so busy since last week that I forgot to even tell you how my weekend was last week. Chris graduated with this MBA. I’m so proud of him. I can’t believe both of us are finally done with school. Last Saturday we went out with both of our parents to Chianti Grill before his graduation to celebrate.
Also, last Sunday, my baby sister got herself good and married. What a weird feeling to see her as a married woman. She was beautiful and I am so honored that I was a part of it. I haven’t decided on posting pictures, because I know this blog is very public, but believe me when I say it was a sweet wedding.
At the reception, my cousin, whom you may remember has been through multiple miscarriages and is one of the few in real life that can truly relate to me, came up to me. She gave me a bracelet. She told me she had it blessed while her and her husband were on a vacation. She had been through several miscarriages already and after she had it blessed, she found out she was pregnant not long after.
“I want you to have this,” she told me. I was speechless. I still am. They don’t allow any jewelry during the transfer, but you can bet I will think of some way to keep this little talisman close by during it. Words cannot express how many wonderful people I have in my life. So to my cousin, I am so moved by this gift. Thank you.
And so here I am. Chris was kind enough to come to my trial transfer and saline ultrasound today. After the nurse brought us back into the room, she asks, “So do you know what’s going to happen today?” Funny, I really had no clue what to expect. I didn’t even know if my bladder was supposed to be empty or full, so I peed a little when I got there and then it filled up because they were running late, so by the time I was pants-less, sitting on the table, I really had to pee. Not pee-my-pants bad, but bad enough to make it uncomfortable, which in turn made me more anxious. When I get anxious, I have to pee. And so on and so forth. The nurse told us that they were going to do a normal ultrasound to start out, and then our doctor would do the trial transfer, and they would finish with another ultrasound to measure my uterus and look at the lining, making sure it’s smooth, with no cysts.
She told us, it’s like an IUI, “but you may have some more cramping.” Man I love uterine cramping.
It ended up not being as bad as I thought. I’ve had IUIs with more pain than this. Luckily, Chris stood next to me holding my hand again. It’s not every day that your husband gets to check out your uterine lining. Dr. K. was great. He didn’t have to do anything twice and he was really gentle. He inserted a speculum, and then a catheter into my uterus. He then removed the speculum and the nurse put the dildo wand in again and we could see my uterus when he injected saline into it. There was some definite cramping, but it wasn’t as bad as in the past. He said everything looked great. No cysts or anything hostile to an embryo. Smooth lining. Perfect. As usual, everything is normal. Normal, normal, normal.
The cramping was a lot worse when the catheter came out. Between the rolling uterine contractions I managed to squeak out, “Dr. K., can I take fish oil supplements?” Cramping be damned, I am a responsible infertile, even in the face of pain. And I was bound and determined to ask him that, because I had just bought a bottle of supplements this weekend.
Oh by the way, yes, I can take fish oil.
After our doctor and nurse left, Chris helped me up and I proceed to shuffle over to my pants. The cramping was so bad it made me double over, but it went away after about twenty minutes.
Both of us then had our bloodwork for our STD panel.
Who needs matching tattoos?
Oh Mrs. Johnson, by the way, it seems our labwork shows your lying sonofabitch husband has contracted the syphilis, and you can no longer do IVF. I wonder what would happen if a couple had their bloodwork done and one of the tests came back positive?
I wonder if that’s ever happened?
Anyway, my drug paraphernalia is scheduled to arrive Wednesday. It was supposed to come last week, but our insurance won’t pay for the Follistim so they had to switch it to Gonal-F and the delivery was delayed. Because nothing about this journey has been easy. It seems there is always something. We are looking at a $400 co-pay for it all, but considering the grand total was over $3,000 before insurance it puts it into perspective. It just causes more anxiety being that I start Lupron injections Thursday. I get the shipment Wednesday evening. I start injections Thursday. Because of course.
You guys are just so adorable. Congrats to you both!
What a beautiful, symbolic bracelet!
I'm so glad the trial transfer went well, even if the meds situation has been frustrating. Exciting times ahead!
Congrats on graduating that is fantastic!! So glad everything went well for you also 🙂
Exciting exciting! Glad the cramping wasn't too bad!
Glad it went well! Good luck with your injections!!!! 🙂
beautiful and thoughtful bracelet!
sending good vibes your way!!
Wow lots of stuff going on! Big congrats on the graduation and I can't believe your co-pay for medications, that is absolutely amazing and awesome!!
Love that bracelet. How sweet and thoughtful your cousin is!
My meds also arrived the day before I needed them, which had me in a panic much of the week. But it worked out, as will yours. Will be wishing you lots of luck over the coming days/weeks!
Woo hoo! They never did a trial transfer for me…hmmm. I'll be cheering you along and commiserating as you venture into your Lupron journey! BTW, I never have any side effects, so hopefully you won't either!
Congratulations to you and your husband! Awesome accomplishment! Thanks for telling us what a trial transfer entails- I assumed all that, but I love when bloggers give the run-down 🙂 I'm excited for you!!
Whoop you are on the way!! I remember when I had my first SIS and trial transfer my RE also asked if I knew what was going to happen at that appointment. I said no and then she proceeded to tell me that "now we get to see how many things we can stick into your vagina." Luckily, I have a sense of humor and that statement made me laugh and not terrified. Wishing you all the best!!!!
My husband and I are both on our computers right now and I keep laughing as I'm reading your blog. He is highly frustrated while trying to get work done, but I am having a great time! You are hilarious!!
I love that bracelet- I hope it brings you the best of luck!! I'm excited for you that your cycle is progressing with this IVF. I hope that your injections go well and that you grow lots and lots of good follicles!! xo
What a busy week! Congrats on graduating! What a sweet bracelet too!
I absolutely guarantee you that someone has made the unfortunate discovery that her husband is a lying cheater through the IVF STD panel. If you can think of it, it has happened! I love that bracelet, such a sweet gesture from your cousin.
Congrats to you and your husband on graduation!!! No small feat in the midst of TTC! Good luck with the start of your injections!
We need to work out a cake swap! I'll definitely be trying this cake. Thanks for the recipe. Congrats on both of your graduations, and I'm glad your transfer went well. $400, while not great, really is a blessing for the meds. We paid $3500 with out first IVF, but a different pharmacy somehow miraculously got my insurance (that denies everything) to pay with our second IVF. I think we probably ended up paying about $400 as well, which was a major blessing. I've said before and I'll say again, dealing with pharmacies and making sure you have your meds on time (as well as dealing with insurance companies and billing departments) can be every bit as stressful as the actual IVF, 2WW, beta-day and dealing with the results. With all we have to go through, it just seems these things should be less stressful than they are!
Congratulations on the MBA!!! What an accomplishment. Equally glad to hear the mock transfer went well.
I know of one blogger where the STD/infectious disease panel was where they learned her DH had HepB & C. Needless to say, it was hard on both of them (though he is now cleared of both, which is well worth celebrating). I'll keep my fingers crossed for good news soon.
And I love the bracelet. What a wonderful and special gift. May it work it's magic.
Congrats Chris!
And I really must try that cake…
What a lovely gesture from your cousin, with absolutely perfect timing! Best of luck to the two of you…
I think I'll be trying that cake next weekend. YUMMY!
Congratulations to you both! Unfortunately, I've given some STI diagnosis to my pregnant patients, so I too guarantee that it has happened! So happy that things are getting underway for you!
Just an FYI, if fish oil doesn't agree with you, there are other Omega 3 supplements you can take (I did one that was algae based – no nasty fish burps). Good luck and congrats on the graduations!
I first tasted that cake when I was 12 or 13. It was given to me by a woman I babysat for. She didn't want to corrupt me though and called it "better than babysitting" cake! And … it is.
That cake does look better than sex! Especially ovulation-time-we-have-to-do-it-now sex.
Congrats on everything progressing smoothly so far! I know of someone who did find out her husband was unfaithful through that same exact pre-IVF STD panel. Can you imagine? Awful on so many levels. Good luck with the injections!
Congratulations to you and your husband! And so excited for you that you're on the IVF path and that you're rightfully getting insurance coverage!
You are right, there is always something. That's why we learn to adapt and overcome so well!
Congratulations to both of you and your sister!
The bracelet is so sweet.
I know. I love the bracelet! I hope there are no more bad situations.
Thanks Sarah!
Yeah, I don't know how common it is. And that's good to know about the lack of side effects. Maybe I will be just like you!
No problem! I don't think I explain things very well, because half the time I don't even understand it!
Wow. Best comment ever.
Ha ha! Love it!
Thanks my dear!
I know. Wow. I can't imagine.
Oh no kidding Jenni. I am really beginning to loathe insurance companies.
A cake swap sounds marvelous! I may need to think about that one there. Better than Sex cake is delicious!
I know, now that I've joked about it, watch, something is going to come back on our tests. :0
Yes, hubby is pretty amazing.
Yes! Try it!!
I know, it's great timing! My cousin is pretty awesome.
Ooo I like hearing that.
Oh I know. Like I said above, watch, because I was joking about it, karma is going to come and land me something bad on our bloodwork!
Ooo thanks for the advice. I actually bought the "burpless" ones because the thought of fish burps literally make me gag.
And thanks! I appreciate it!
Ha ha I have also heard it called "Better than anything" cake 😉
Wow. No I could not imagine. I don't even like thinking about that stuff.
And thanks! I hope they go ok.
Yeah no kidding. This last year especially has been STRESSFUL!
I know, I don't think we could have afforded to pay out of pocket for them.
Great post. So much to say about it.
Congrats to you and Chris! What a relief it must be to be DONE!
What an amazing gift from your cousin. So sweet and meaningful.
So funny about the lying sonofabitch husband. Ha! And I'm sure it's happened. I suppose when all feels lost in our personal fertility journeys, we can at least be glad we're not THAT girl.
Yep, of course the delivery of the meds and the start date would be dangerously close. Doesn't that sort of stuff always happen?
Ha ha Em! I'd like to say I feel bad for even discussing it, because I'm sure it's happened, but it's still pretty funny.
And yes, this stuff always happens. Why wouldn't it? 🙂
Happy graduation to you both! Love the bracelet. So sweet of your cousin. I also love the matching non-tattoos. I have often wondered the same thing about the std results and how often there is a surprise.