I have taken so many pregnancy tests over the past two years that I think I could possibly pay college tuition with the money spent. Because of that, we have agreed to not take any at home pregnancy tests and just stick with the blood work that is required to determine if I am pregnant. I thought it would be easier to wait as I have done my best to not focus on the results, but my prayers are non stop lifted that I am pregnant and that we can carry a baby (or two) to full term. We both so desperately want this procedure to have worked that I think we will both be a wreck if it doesn't.
I am getting really nervous and beginning to doubt that I am pregnant. Not sure why. Partly because of the numerous negative pregnancy tests in the past I think make me think that a positive one is just not likely. The other part of me thinks it is just because Kyle and I seem to find bad luck when it comes to this area. Either way, I am working today on changing my attitude and trying to focus on other things today. Also, just grateful that God gave us the opportunity to do the procedure regardless of the outcome.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Implanted and Waiting
Wednesday they put two embryos in. We are a little nervous as the embryos should be at 8 cells each on day three, and it looked like one embryo was at 6 and the other only 4. We are trusting that they continue to fertilize in me and that God will bless us with a baby, or two, through this procedure.
The embryo transfer was very little pain and just felt like a pap-smear.
My mother-in-law has been a complete blessing. She greeted us Thursday with groceries and made us lunch so I didn't have to worry about doing anything. It was so helpful. And Friday she brought over sprite and crackers as I woke up super nauseous and barely able to move.
Called the doctor to make sure I am okay even though I was so sick and they prescribed a pill that I can take to help with it. It worked wonders and I was feeling better rather quickly and able to sleep for twelve hours straight.
Feeling much better today and have been able to eat throughout the day and sit up without getting sick. That's a huge blessing. I am nervous though that since I am not nauseous anymore maybe the procedure didn't work. Praying still for our miracle baby(ies)!
The embryo transfer was very little pain and just felt like a pap-smear.
My mother-in-law has been a complete blessing. She greeted us Thursday with groceries and made us lunch so I didn't have to worry about doing anything. It was so helpful. And Friday she brought over sprite and crackers as I woke up super nauseous and barely able to move.
Called the doctor to make sure I am okay even though I was so sick and they prescribed a pill that I can take to help with it. It worked wonders and I was feeling better rather quickly and able to sleep for twelve hours straight.
Feeling much better today and have been able to eat throughout the day and sit up without getting sick. That's a huge blessing. I am nervous though that since I am not nauseous anymore maybe the procedure didn't work. Praying still for our miracle baby(ies)!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sixteen and Happy
Yesterday was the big day. They removed eggs and found 16 that they are able to use and fertilize. We are thrilled. This is a huge number, and a great start since all of them most likely will not fertilize.
Surgery was much more painful than I thought. Woke up in excruciating pain and couldn't stop crying. Because I am allergic to the meds they would normally give me through IV, I had to take a pain pill which took longer to be effective. Also, I was very sick when I woke up so it made it even more difficult to take the pill.
After resting for two hours, they sent us home and said I could take Tylenol for the pain. That has helped a little bit, and a heat pad on my tummy.
We are anxious for the embryos to be implanted and praying that my body is able to carry them. We won't know if procedure worked for a few weeks after they put embryos in, and I am told I have to take it easy for the next couple of weeks so I imagine time will go by slow.
Ready to get back to my house though and burn candles, turn on my music and just rest.
Also, we started progesterone shots in bottom/lower back. One at hospital and then one at 8:30 last night. Assuming I get pregnant, we will have to do these shots daily at 8:30 pm for the next eight weeks. Bottom is bruised and in pain, but totally worth it. We will do whatever it takes to have our little bundle of joy!
Prayers are that my body is able to handle the embryos and we can carry the baby (babies) to full term and deliver a healthy baby (babies).
Surgery was much more painful than I thought. Woke up in excruciating pain and couldn't stop crying. Because I am allergic to the meds they would normally give me through IV, I had to take a pain pill which took longer to be effective. Also, I was very sick when I woke up so it made it even more difficult to take the pill.
After resting for two hours, they sent us home and said I could take Tylenol for the pain. That has helped a little bit, and a heat pad on my tummy.
We are anxious for the embryos to be implanted and praying that my body is able to carry them. We won't know if procedure worked for a few weeks after they put embryos in, and I am told I have to take it easy for the next couple of weeks so I imagine time will go by slow.
Ready to get back to my house though and burn candles, turn on my music and just rest.
Also, we started progesterone shots in bottom/lower back. One at hospital and then one at 8:30 last night. Assuming I get pregnant, we will have to do these shots daily at 8:30 pm for the next eight weeks. Bottom is bruised and in pain, but totally worth it. We will do whatever it takes to have our little bundle of joy!
Prayers are that my body is able to handle the embryos and we can carry the baby (babies) to full term and deliver a healthy baby (babies).
Saturday, September 20, 2008
One More Day
Yesterday was crazy...After a night full of chest pressure and great difficulty breathing we headed to the ER to make sure it wasn't a heart attack or hyperstimulation. Found out that all was fine, just anxiety. We are grateful for that but dreading the bill as it will most likely not be paid by insurance since we weren't treated at Cox Hospital. God has done miracles before, and this is one more we are asking for...that insurance does cover it.
Last night I took my last Lupron shot at 6:30 and at 10 pm we took the HCG shot that makes me ovulate in 40 something hours. Sunday morning at 10 am they plan to do the surgery to remove my eggs. I am so excited and nervous and overwhelmed that I can hardly sleep or think of anything else. It all comes down to tomorrow and how many eggs we have, how many of them fertilize and how many of them are good enough to use or freeze.
Because they will put two embryos in at a time, I am praying that we will have at least 4 or 5 we can freeze, in addition to the ones they put in me.
They are planning to put two embryos back in me on Wednesday. We are thrilled the entire procedure has jumped up three days and we will most likely get to go home on Thursday. Can't wait for clean clothes (had to buy underwear at WalMart since we didn't go home this weekend as planned) and my own bed.
Prayers are that things run smoothly tomorrow for egg retrieval, that there are plenty of healthy and fast growing embryos to chose from, and plenty to freeze. Also praying that Kyle's "Speciman" is of high enough quality to use so he doesn't require a surgery as well.
Last night I took my last Lupron shot at 6:30 and at 10 pm we took the HCG shot that makes me ovulate in 40 something hours. Sunday morning at 10 am they plan to do the surgery to remove my eggs. I am so excited and nervous and overwhelmed that I can hardly sleep or think of anything else. It all comes down to tomorrow and how many eggs we have, how many of them fertilize and how many of them are good enough to use or freeze.
Because they will put two embryos in at a time, I am praying that we will have at least 4 or 5 we can freeze, in addition to the ones they put in me.
They are planning to put two embryos back in me on Wednesday. We are thrilled the entire procedure has jumped up three days and we will most likely get to go home on Thursday. Can't wait for clean clothes (had to buy underwear at WalMart since we didn't go home this weekend as planned) and my own bed.
Prayers are that things run smoothly tomorrow for egg retrieval, that there are plenty of healthy and fast growing embryos to chose from, and plenty to freeze. Also praying that Kyle's "Speciman" is of high enough quality to use so he doesn't require a surgery as well.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
A Scare
Woke up this morning and my tummy is still sensitive, but not as bad as it has been from the shots, so am grateful for that. I inject the Repronex lower on the tummy and I think that helped.
I did however have signs of ovulating around 10 this morning. Freaked out so called Deena, our IVF Specialist at the office and after waiting 30 minutes or longer for her to call us back, and having a cry fest, we finally talked to her and found out the symptoms I had are often side effects to the drugs. Would have been nice to know that ahead of time, but either way we went to get blood work drawn this afternoon just to make sure ovulation has not started.
Because of my follicle sizes, well some of them being larger, they may have us take the HCG shot (med that makes you ovulate 36 hours later) on Saturday night, meaning they would remove the follicles and eggs Monday instead, implanting embryos on Thursday. We are looking forward to that possibility but want to do whatever will give us the highest numbers and highest possibilities.
Prayers are that my body does not ovulate early, follicles continue to grow to size they need to be, and that there are enoug eggs/follicles removed to be able to put two healthy embryos in me, and to allow for us to freeze some for another shot down the road.
I did however have signs of ovulating around 10 this morning. Freaked out so called Deena, our IVF Specialist at the office and after waiting 30 minutes or longer for her to call us back, and having a cry fest, we finally talked to her and found out the symptoms I had are often side effects to the drugs. Would have been nice to know that ahead of time, but either way we went to get blood work drawn this afternoon just to make sure ovulation has not started.
Because of my follicle sizes, well some of them being larger, they may have us take the HCG shot (med that makes you ovulate 36 hours later) on Saturday night, meaning they would remove the follicles and eggs Monday instead, implanting embryos on Thursday. We are looking forward to that possibility but want to do whatever will give us the highest numbers and highest possibilities.
Prayers are that my body does not ovulate early, follicles continue to grow to size they need to be, and that there are enoug eggs/follicles removed to be able to put two healthy embryos in me, and to allow for us to freeze some for another shot down the road.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Another Day Down
Nausea today has been really bad. Finally got about a four hour break from it and Kyle and I went to a movie and then stopped at H&M to see if they had some camis or other shirts. He just picked up Chinese food from PF Changs and we are going to see how my tummy does with that.
We went to hospital to have them inject the shots today to see if that would help decrease pain and bruising. It didn't. Nurse said it is normal but it made me feel like less of a wuss that she acknowledged how bad the bruising and swelling is.
Ultra sound and blood work went well today too. We only have 10 follicles (out of 36) that have really started growing, so we are praying that we will get at LEAST 10 more if not even more than that to be a good size and removable. They have to be 2 cm to remove. the 10 growing are currently 1 cm. If they are too far over 2 cm, they will be too large to remove/use.
Prayer requests: More follicles growing, that follicles don't get too large, that the follicles growing have eggs in them, and the pain/swelling in tummy goes down.
We went to hospital to have them inject the shots today to see if that would help decrease pain and bruising. It didn't. Nurse said it is normal but it made me feel like less of a wuss that she acknowledged how bad the bruising and swelling is.
Ultra sound and blood work went well today too. We only have 10 follicles (out of 36) that have really started growing, so we are praying that we will get at LEAST 10 more if not even more than that to be a good size and removable. They have to be 2 cm to remove. the 10 growing are currently 1 cm. If they are too far over 2 cm, they will be too large to remove/use.
Prayer requests: More follicles growing, that follicles don't get too large, that the follicles growing have eggs in them, and the pain/swelling in tummy goes down.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Iced Tummy
Day three of doing stimulation shots and I am grateful God has given us strength to continue. There is no turning back and I want a child so bad I will do whatever it takes. But goodness these shots are painful.
The Lupron shot I have been doing for over two weeks. It prevents me from ovulating. It is a tiny needle and while it stung when first doing it, my body has become use to it. Also, we have gone from 10 cc to only 5 cc, so it is such a small amount I don't think my body really notices it.
The other two drugs we are doing: Gonal F and Repronax are the stimulation drugs that make my eggs larger. Gonal F is a tiny tiny tiny needle that I can't feel at all, either when I poke my tummy or when I inject the medicine. The Repronax I think is the shot that is literally leaving bruises on my stomach. We currently do 150 ML of the drug. Friday night was the first night to do it and it stung so bad going in I had tears in my eyes. Woke up next morning with a bruised left side and super sensitive stomach. Saturday we did the second shot, this time on the right side. Same thing, extreme stinging when entering it and then woke up this morning with swollen right side and a bit bruised, though not as black and blue as the left side. The right side is so sensitive I can't bend over to tie my shoes without crying as my swollen stomach touches my pants/thigh or whatever gets in its way. Today was shot three (back to the left side). I have an ice pack on the tummy where injections were given yesterday and am hoping it will take down some of the swelling and pain.
Tomorrow we do our second ultra sound and round two of blood work. I am really excited. We will see how we are coming along with egg size, hormones, uterine lining and make sure we don't have signs of hyper stimulation. All in all, things are going well other than the excruciating pain, but even knowing how painful it is, I would do this all over again in a heartbeat...just praying the outcome is a positive one.
The Lupron shot I have been doing for over two weeks. It prevents me from ovulating. It is a tiny needle and while it stung when first doing it, my body has become use to it. Also, we have gone from 10 cc to only 5 cc, so it is such a small amount I don't think my body really notices it.
The other two drugs we are doing: Gonal F and Repronax are the stimulation drugs that make my eggs larger. Gonal F is a tiny tiny tiny needle that I can't feel at all, either when I poke my tummy or when I inject the medicine. The Repronax I think is the shot that is literally leaving bruises on my stomach. We currently do 150 ML of the drug. Friday night was the first night to do it and it stung so bad going in I had tears in my eyes. Woke up next morning with a bruised left side and super sensitive stomach. Saturday we did the second shot, this time on the right side. Same thing, extreme stinging when entering it and then woke up this morning with swollen right side and a bit bruised, though not as black and blue as the left side. The right side is so sensitive I can't bend over to tie my shoes without crying as my swollen stomach touches my pants/thigh or whatever gets in its way. Today was shot three (back to the left side). I have an ice pack on the tummy where injections were given yesterday and am hoping it will take down some of the swelling and pain.
Tomorrow we do our second ultra sound and round two of blood work. I am really excited. We will see how we are coming along with egg size, hormones, uterine lining and make sure we don't have signs of hyper stimulation. All in all, things are going well other than the excruciating pain, but even knowing how painful it is, I would do this all over again in a heartbeat...just praying the outcome is a positive one.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
First Day of Monitoring and Three shots
Thursday night I could hardly fall asleep. Was so anxious for our ultra sound and blood testing Friday. We had a 7 am apt that went well. Ultra Sound lady wasn't very friendly, but being as early as it was, maybe she was just tired. Either way, we found out that we have THIRTY-SIX follicles this month. Praise God. We are so excited. While this is a good thing, means we will hopefully have a lot more eggs to work with, it also means increased chance of hyperstimulation. God is in control though and we just have to trust that His will be done. All I can do is get a lot of rest and plenty of fluids.
Blood work was easy, but the thick gauze was so full of blood after the shot we had to get the nurse to reapply it.
Last night (Friday) was also the first night to do three shots in my tummy. It was an overwhelming thought because we were doing two new shots we hadn't done yet and because lately my stomach has been stinging more with each shot. But things ran smoothly, Kyle was a big help with getting syringes ready for me, and the shots went in well, although all three shot spots bled quite a bit.
I woke up this morning with a super painful tummy. There is only a small bruise but I think there must be more bruising under the skin with as sensitive as it is. It hurts to lay on my side or bend down as my bloated stomach touches my legs. I am praying that these three shots a day get easier, but it is only for two more weeks I have to do the stomach shots, and I will do whatever it takes to have a baby!!!
Blood work was easy, but the thick gauze was so full of blood after the shot we had to get the nurse to reapply it.
Last night (Friday) was also the first night to do three shots in my tummy. It was an overwhelming thought because we were doing two new shots we hadn't done yet and because lately my stomach has been stinging more with each shot. But things ran smoothly, Kyle was a big help with getting syringes ready for me, and the shots went in well, although all three shot spots bled quite a bit.
I woke up this morning with a super painful tummy. There is only a small bruise but I think there must be more bruising under the skin with as sensitive as it is. It hurts to lay on my side or bend down as my bloated stomach touches my legs. I am praying that these three shots a day get easier, but it is only for two more weeks I have to do the stomach shots, and I will do whatever it takes to have a baby!!!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
All on Track
Things are flowing full stream now and I think everything is on track and good to go. We are really getting excited.
Today Kyle went to Seattle for work, so this is shot number two that I had to give myself. It was really scary. I was nervous i wasn't goign to give myself the right amount, couldn't get the air out of the syringe and was just overwhelmed in all, but it was pretty painless and I got through it, with Kyle on the phone walking me through step by step.
Thursday we head to St Louis and Friday we start the ultra sounds and blood work and monitoring to help gaurantee they do the procedure at the right timing. We also start the stimulation shots Friday. Things are moving along quickly. Five more weeks and we will know if this procedure worked.
Today Kyle went to Seattle for work, so this is shot number two that I had to give myself. It was really scary. I was nervous i wasn't goign to give myself the right amount, couldn't get the air out of the syringe and was just overwhelmed in all, but it was pretty painless and I got through it, with Kyle on the phone walking me through step by step.
Thursday we head to St Louis and Friday we start the ultra sounds and blood work and monitoring to help gaurantee they do the procedure at the right timing. We also start the stimulation shots Friday. Things are moving along quickly. Five more weeks and we will know if this procedure worked.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
True Answer to Prayer
Friday I started the shots. Monday was the last day of birth control. Was informed that if I do not start my period by this Friday (tomorrow, September 5) we would not be able to move forward with the IVF procedure. The entire thing would be canceled, the three months of birth control and sweat and worry and excitement would all have to be done again. As you can imagine, Kyle and I have been a complete wreck. I have had menstrual cramping, but no spotting. We have not stopped praying. I have done everything from trying to eat different things to kick start it, to jumping in place. I know it is silly, but we are that desperate to get this thing started.
This morning I woke up and said one more prayer before going the bathroom and THANK YOU, JESUS, there were the beginning signs of my cycle. Though I know it is not thick enough probably for them to consider moving forward, I was nearly in tears that God is ONCE AGAIN providing.
Just now came out of the bathroom and things are getting a little heavier. I am so grateful to God. I can't believe that in a week from tomorrow I will start the stimulation drugs and in three weeks from yesterday they will plan to retrieve my eggs, fertilize them, and assist in us starting a family. I can do nothing but cry right now as we are so close to the possibility to having children. Thank You Jesus, Thank You!!!
This morning I woke up and said one more prayer before going the bathroom and THANK YOU, JESUS, there were the beginning signs of my cycle. Though I know it is not thick enough probably for them to consider moving forward, I was nearly in tears that God is ONCE AGAIN providing.
Just now came out of the bathroom and things are getting a little heavier. I am so grateful to God. I can't believe that in a week from tomorrow I will start the stimulation drugs and in three weeks from yesterday they will plan to retrieve my eggs, fertilize them, and assist in us starting a family. I can do nothing but cry right now as we are so close to the possibility to having children. Thank You Jesus, Thank You!!!
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