Thar she blows!

So, no sign of my period this morning. I asked the acupuncturist if she could bring it on with some special points, and she said she knew exactly the ones to do the trick. In fact, she said if they didn't work, she didn't know what would. Well, they worked! Immediately. Like, while I was lying on the table immediately. I was wearing a liner just in case, so that all worked out well. And of course I had a sneak peak as I was getting up just to confirm that the action really had started and I hadn't imagined it. Come on, I can't be the only person in the world who ever takes a sneak peak down her knickers? Ahem, well, maybe I am. Moving right along, then...

I had these plans to go to the bookstore, then Whole Paycheck, er I mean Foods, after the acu appointment, but I decided instead to drive home to do my first stims shot. The nurse yesterday said to start stims immediately, and then do the second stims shot of the day a bit later than normal. Yes, I take a high enough dose to have to spread it out in two doses 12 hours apart. She said it didn't matter if the first day's stims were unevenly spaced, though, so I figured if I did the first one at 12, then the next one at 9.15, I could get on my usual schedule of 6.30 tomorrow morning. But a different nurse called my cellphone as I was driving home to check if my period had started and when I said "well, I'm pretty sure it just started but I guess it could be spotting - I'll be sure in an hour or two" she said to wait until tomorrow to start stims so that the shots weren't unevenly timed. I tried double and triple checking with her, but she seemed insistent, so I will start my stims in the morning, which will be cycle day 2. Now I'm trying to decide whether to drive all the way to Whole Paycheck, which is 30 minutes from home as opposed to 10 minutes from the acu, or whether to just go to a closer bookstore and give up on the gourmet food idea.

In other, more major news, a friend from that fertility site that shall not be named but whose initials may or may not be FF has just had fetal surgery on her baby boy at 18 weeks gestation. I've been so worried about them, and I'm so glad that the surgery went as well as it could have. The poor thing has a blocked urethra, so his bladder was dangerously enlarged. Without treatment, the urine backs up into the kidneys, damaging them, and because amniotic fluid is made up of urine, the baby's lungs can't develop normally. She was told there was greater than a 90% chance of the baby dying in utero, which is just so awful. And the complicating factor is that she's pregnant with twins, and if she did the surgery, she risked losing both of them. But the surgeon managed to install a shunt into the baby's bladder so that it can drain, and so far so good. There is a danger that the shunt may become dislodged, in which case she'll have to have surgery again, and a big danger of membrane rupture. And the baby will need surgery shortly after birth anyway, but if the shunt stays in place that surgery should be minor. This type of fetal surgery had never been done before on anyone carrying twins, so this is pretty groundbreaking stuff. So, if you're the praying type, please pray or offer up some good thoughts for Steph and her babies.

This means that so far not one of my multiple-IVF friends has had a straightforward pregnancy. Not one. There's been hyperemesis and bedrest, triplets (and presumably bedrest) and now fetal surgery. It's all a bit worrying really, and makes me paranoid as to what might happen if I do get lucky enough to get pregnant this time, but I guess I should just cross that bridge if I get to it. When I get to it.