2WW

No one ever really tells you what you will go through and what part is the hardest part and what to expect, hence the blog! I must say this is by far the hardest part here, the WAIT.

When I was on bed rest for three days it was horrible, your mind plays tricks on you and you think negative thoughts and then you cry and then you call everyone in your phone book only to realize they are all working and then everyone wants to call you and text you to see how your doing and nothing has changed other than the fact you are baking your babies :)

Then when you finally can get up and move around and go about your "normal" life with slight accommodations people are so fragile to you and have to say things to mess up your good vibes or the fact that you have completely forgotten about it all together is a blessing until people want to ask you questions! So MISTAKE #1 - Sharing Iinformation, while this for us has been a blessing and such an amazing adventure don't tell TOO many people too much or they will bug you. Not that friends and family are those people but you know what I mean! MISTAKE #2 - Listening to Others, while this is fine and dandy our bodies are different! Just because you have a best friend's cousin who went through this process and is the same age as me and it didn't work for them DOESN'T MEAN it won't work for us! We have a child and gave birth to a healthy baby girl 4-1/2 years ago, we are not even in the SAME GROUP!!! Our problem is getting pregnant and as of now nothing more. MISTAKE #3 - Advice, now I appreciate me some good advice but if you have NEVER ever gone through this process LIPS MUST BE SEALED, PLEASE. This has been again a great experience we have been lucky enough to experience good positive things but don't tell me how to feel or what to think when you are not in the same position as me.

Now having said all of this, you must understand that NOT everyone is this way. In fact most of my friends and family are the complete opposite! They all have been very understanding and AWESOME with the whole process just a few people I have run into and this is all I could do to help those going through it. NOW MORE WAITING!!!!

Embryo Transfer

OK, so from the retrieval they froze 4 and left 5 eggs out to grow for a day 5 transfer. When we arrived last Wednesday we met with the embryologist (did you ever know you could be an embryologist when you were in school; my husband and I honestly didn't even know the job existed) so he came in and said the eggs were not as good and left. OK, my husband and I stared at each other in ahhh like what just happened luckily the doctor came in right after and could tell we were confused and a little taken back. He explained that out of the 5 remaining 2 of them were still growing just A LOT slower then he was anticipating and then 1 more  was growing slower than other 2. So out of the 5 embryo's they decided it would be best to transfer the best 3 embryo's in hopes of at least 1 of them attaching to the endometrial lining. The lining must be at least a 10 and mine was a 14; so the fact that the eggs were not as fast growing shouldn't and hopefully won't be a problem! YEAH some better news right.
So you have to lay on the table and I mean it is a table with a thin pad about 1/2" that makes it look comfy (but it is not really that comfy) and your legs are in stirrups and not the kind you put your heels in the kind you have to put your legs in (so sexy)! We could see on the ultrasound monitor the eggs as they put them in, it was the coolest thing ever watching the eggs one by one fall into your uterus. So the way they fall also I guess somewhat dictates how well they will do and if they fall forward that is a really GREAT sign that the eggs are still good and just needed their natural home (ME) They took a picture of them once they were all put in and gave it to us, it is cool to see the specs on our photo! NOW WE WAIT!!!!!

Egg Retrieval

Well it wasn't as bad as I really thought it would be! I mean I had light to moderate cramping and for the most part I was just really tired. It was really a very easy thing to do and I owe it to my HUBBY and my dearest friend for helping take care of me. They both were SO awesome and just made it very nice for me while I was home resting.

They were able to retrieve 14 eggs which they fertilized 13 and 9 took! YAHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!! I am just in awe some many worked it is just a true blessing everything that is happening to us. My husband has been super supportive and just so amazing. Yesterday he took our daughter to work with him so I could have some quiet time and relax and then I went to get a massage while they were gone. He cleaned the house before I got out of bed and made me dinner it was just an amazing weekend and I felt super pampered. He is my ROCK and I am so blessed he is in my life!!!!!

Yucky Tummy

I would have to say that today is the VERY FIRST day I have not felt myself, other than the few minor crying episodes! I couldn't really breathe and I am just so bloated it is uncomfortable to sit all day. Called my dr and he said DRINK LOTS OF GATORADE, COCONUT WATER OR VITAMIN WATER; any thing with electrolytes in it to help with the over stimulation. I am just so excited tomorrow I will be feeling a bit better from all of this when they take all of the eggs out, I mean not 100% but hopefully not as bloated as I am now. Plus I am looking forward to sleeping on the couch all day watching my dvr shows curled in a ball relaxing! Oh I can't wait to do NOTHING, it is too bad it takes something like this to get to do NOTHING all day :) better late than never! hahahaha

Doctor Appt #4 & counting down

Another wonderful check today with some blood work. We are so darn CLOSE and feeling like the Philsbury Dough boy, only difference is I won't laugh when you poke me in the belly! Mid section is VERY bloated and we are now counting down the days to the end can you believe the end is almost here? It is crazy to think that.

So today the DR wants a few more follicles that are SUPER close to being ready more mature than the are right now so tonight is our last round of the medication and then we are down to one more shot on Wednesday and after that the other medication is oral, YIPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Retrieval will be on Friday morning and on Saturday they will call me to tell me how many eggs have fertilized/watching to place back in. The implantation will take place either on Monday or Wednesday of next week! WOW that is just so awesome, I can't hardly put into words how far we have come to this point.

My husband and I had an in depth conversation about how much stronger we have grown together through this. Where we started at last year, where we were as a couple and how much we bumped heads about this whole process, how we lost each other. When I say in-depth it was deep and it really brought tears to my eyes to see the joy, love and compassion that we once knew and had for each other was back. We are more in LOVE than we have ever been and it took this to get us back to that point. We are now ready to share that love with another life and it is so close we can't hardly stand it. A lesson learned for us both, we know marriage is hard work but when you throw infertility into the mix it is even harder and we now know that we need the support of each other to get through something as big as this! I couldn't have done this without him and vise versus, now a blessing is in the works. We now know GOD is going to grant us another blessing or blessings and we are more than ready!!!!

Doctor Appt #3, Second Dose of Cetrotide

OK so I wish someone could have informed me that the Cetrotide medication HURTS LIKE HECK when you inject it!!!!! I have two bruises on my abdomen to prove it and I cried like a baby last night after the second dose. Let me tell you the needle is about 4 or 5" long and almost 1/4" thicker than the needle they have so kindly provided us from the doctor's office for the Follistim and Menapur. I am SO glad that you only have to have 3 doses, 1 per night of the Cetrotide and thank the good man upstairs for giving me a WONDERFUL HUSBAND WHO IS QUICK AND FAST AT INJECTIONS!

I have numbed the area before each injection since Saturday and it really doesn't help that much with the pain of this injection. It is a brutal one for sure...

Anyhow, we had our third doctor's appt on Sunday, yes Mother's Day! Everything looks GREAT, everything is doing what it is supposed to do. We have another doctor's appt tomorrow and then it looks like the egg retrieval will be on Thursday, May 13th! The doctor can't really believe how fast my body is working on this; they said it usually doesn't move as quickly as this so you can imagine we are SO EXCITED!

I did break down and cry yesterday, I was a little emotional all day to say the least, the nurse told me as it gets closer to the egg retrieval I will become more and more emotional. I can hardly wait for that to happen and hopefully it will be something I can turn off when it gets faucet is started.

Doctor Appt #2

Today was our second doctor's appt and it went really amazing! We didn't see the actual doctor today it was the P.A. super nice girl and very easy going to carry conversation with because let me tell you in this type of a situation you want someone who can crack a joke or just be an ear to listen.

It is always so nice to go into the exam room and have to drop your drawers! I love that they give you a napkin to cover up with as you sit and wait for them to come in and do the checking it is usually my favorite part. Can you sense my sarcasm? Well today we got some really GREAT news, my body is responding VERY WELL to the medication and it is only day 5! I have 8 eggs that are size 12-13 cm and 5 that are 8-11 cm; the PA told us that there were so many eggs she was only going to try and measure the bigger ones! It is crazy, but explains the whole bloated look and feeling I am having going on. The PA was completely taken back that there were so many and how big they all were only in such a short period of time. At this rate the egg retrieval should be sometime early next week. We start a third medication tomorrow and unfortunately we can not mix the three together so that means I have to have 2 shots in the belly at a time. Oh boy, that will be so much fun. At least the third medication is only 3 days worth of taking it. This medication will send information to my brain to tell it NOT to ovulate on it's own so they can take them out themselves when they are ready. Isn't it just so fascinating how this whole process works, I think it is one of the most amazing things by far.

As we were leaving we ran into a girl in the elevator who told us she switched to this clinic from Fresno, (just imagine at least a 2 hour drive one way-far away) and has been doing IVF for 4 years; over 22 cycles and she finally today found out she was pregnant! Truly amazing acts of GOD right there, it was such a great start to our weekend. Our next appt is on Mother's Day, at 8:15 a.m. nothing like getting up early :) It will be a GREAT start to our week, I can feel it.

Shot #2 and ready for #3

So I am officially at day 3 of shots and ready for my third one. They have been going pretty smooth, my hubby is super awesome at giving them to me and my 4-1/2 year old thinks it is pretty cool mommy gets shots. In fact she takes her doctor kit out and checks me while I am getting a shot in my tummy. She is so darn sweet that lil' bug of mine!

I am starting to feel some cramping, which I hope translates to the medicine is WORKING! Tried to call DR to see if it was normal but got VM, can't stand VM oh well I am sure they will call me when they have a free minute. My next appt is on Friday and I am so excited to see how things are growing. I can't wait to hear how big the follicles are and hear how much longer I will be on THIS medication!

Other than the fabulous cramps I feel pretty normal, no headaches, no hot flashes, no crazy lady mood swings YET! I would say I am a real peach these days :) I hope it stays like this, it would sure make things a lot easier.

Doctor Appt #1 & First Shot Down

Yesterday was my first doctor's appt, a quick check of the uterus, ovaries and the lining and then it is off to learn how to stick yourself in your stomach! Oh and I can't forget the drawing of the blood which will happen every appointment we go too-yeah

So last night we put all of the medicine away which some of it has to go into the fridge you know the follistim pen next to the eggs looks GREAT! hehehe

Pulled all of the medicine out that we needed and started to measure and mix it into the little vials, my husband of course has to handle this stuff as it makes me so nausea just thinking of having to do it to myself! Thank you lord for the blessing of my strong husband who can handle injecting his wife with medicine :)

So the injection was not as bad as I thought it would be, I don't enjoy it but it wasn't as bad as I anticipated it to be. I was a tiny bit sore at the injection site but really that went away within a couple of mins and I was completely fine after that. I just am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we are here and this is the spot we are finally doing this! It is amazing, I am so extremely excited for the final outcome this will all be worth it!