Quick Little Update

So I was on blogger this morning checking everyone else's blogs and thought I would quickly write ya'll an update.

I finished taking my lupron last week and right now I'm just in limbo until Angie has her next egg retrieval. I'm not 100% certain where she is in her cycle but I think she is taking her stimulations meds and they are monitoring her to see how the follicles are growing. When they feel like they have enough they will do the retrieval. Thats when I will start taking the progesterone shots again and a couple days later we will have the transfer! It will probably be coming up there in about 2 weeks! Dawn said they are shooting for February 6th, aka Superbowl Sunday. I know, shocker that I know that right?? I'm so ignorant to football just ask Angie but every time I mention that the transfer may be on February 6th someone says "Ohhh Superbowl Sunday!"

So that is that. I will let you all know when I know!!

Makin Baby - Take Two!!

The holidays are almost over now! You know what that means?? More baby makin! Yeah! 

Theres not a whole lot to report. Jon went to his doctors office on Tuesday for another round of blood work. Apparently he has to have blood work done for every cycle we go through to be tested for STDs. They want to make sure he doesn't have the Syphilis! I have to do it too but I wasn't able to get an appointment till the 10th of January.

We started a new cycle on Wednesday. I started taking my Lupron shots again. Those are the wimpy ones that go in my stomach. I'm too much of a baby to give them to myself this time so I've been making Jon do it for me.

I have to go back to Nashville Fertility Center (blah!) for my monitoring next week. They are going to once again check to see if my endometrial layer is thick. So think thick!! I'm a little nervous about going back there. Hopefully things will go better this time:) I think I might bring the nurse that takes my blood some cookies. Here are some cookies, please don't hurt me!!

So that is about it so far. We don't have to have all the consultations we had last time so this cycle will go a lot faster. So far the transfer date is set for February 6th but that may change depending on how Angies eggs develop. 

Wish us luck!

Life sucks. Guess the embryos knew that.

Bad news. So the pregnancy test came out positive last week but I didn't realize that we weren't in the clear yet. I thought that if it came out positive, that was it and we would have a baby in 9 months. Apparently after I had a positive test I still needed to be monitored to make sure my HCG levels doubled and tripled every couple of days. I had blood drawn every other day last week. On Monday my levels were at 56 which is where they should have been but then Wednesday they were 79 when they should have been 112.  At this point they said they weren't sure what was going to happen but they weren't very optimistic. And then Friday my levels were 46 which means it wasn't a viable pregnancy and we were going to loose it. That was a week ago from yesterday. Yesterday I had my last blood test, hopefully. We haven't received the results from that one yet. My doctors clinic is pretty pokey when it comes to getting test results in. All last week I had to call them about 5 times a day to make sure they got the results in on time. The nurse in Minnesotta wanted me to stay on top of them again yesterday but I'm tired of it. We aren't as anxious to hear these results anyway.

Needless to say it wasn't my best Halloween weekend. I've spent most of the week being depressed. I was convinced it would work the first time. It sucks that after all those shots and all our other efforts it didn't work.

The good news is we may try again starting in January. Hopefully we will have some better luck then. For now I'm going to try to enjoy the holidays.

I'll be back in touch in January.

Bet you wanna know don't ya!!?

We were all kept waiting a little longer than we were supposed to be but the results are in and......its good news. I'm pregnant!! Today we are going to be happy but we have one more hurdle to jump over before we know that everything is good. I had my blood drawn yesterday and this morning they were able to check the Beta HCG levels. The HCG level as of yesterday was 56%. Which is good. They wanted it over 50%. Now I have to go in tomorrow morning for another blood test so they can check my progesterone levels and check the Beta HCG levels again to make sure they have doubled in 48 hours. They want to make sure that the levels go up and not down. If they go down then I could miscarry. This information made me nervous at first because 56% is just barely over 50%. I was afraid that maybe it was higher before and now it was dropping. But then I googled it found this in an article I read:

"At least two (2) quantitative beta hCG blood tests are done (2-4 days apart). The reporting of “beta” pregnancy test results is best deferred until after the 2nd blood test results are in. This is because an initial low (<5iu/ml), successful IVF outcome will (in younger women) at best be 50-55%"

This is good information. It wasn't explained to me before that they always do 2 tests and that the first test would initially come out low (50-55%). Well, I'm 56% so I feel much better. I also came across this chart in my search:

NORMAL TWIN PREGNANCIES

Day after LH or HCG	Average mIU/ml	High mIU/ml	Low mIU/ml	#
14	68	313	56	7

Notice the low is 56! Oh boy!

So I go back to my doctors office tomorrow morning at 9 for my second blood test and we should know by that afternoon the results!

We are very happy and excited! After sitting on pins and needles for a little over a week, it looks like Nevaeh and Alex are going to have a cousin in 9 months!! Thanks for all the prayers and support!

The One with the Embryos

"Hello tiny embryos. I'm Pheobe Buffay. I'm hoping to be your uterus for the next 9 months. You should know we are doing this for Frank and Alice. Who you know, you've been there! You know they want you so much so when you guys get there really grab on! And I promise I will keep you safe and warm until your ready to have them take you home. Oh and the next time you see I'll be screaming but don't worry thats whats supposed to happen. Good luck!"

Thats right!! We did the transfer last Thursday at around 11ish! As you can see above, those are the embryos we transfered. I know before I said that we were only doing one but we made a last minute decision to do 2 instead. The one that looks like its from Russia had 7 cells which makes it a very good quality embryo and is most likely going to be the one that sticks, if both of them don't stick!

I don't have time to write about everything that went on while I was in MN but here are some highlights...

Got to the airport at 11 on Wednesday.

Flight was delayed by three hours.

Was going to eat sushi for dinner but Nate was afraid it would hurt the baby so ate lasagna instead.

Woke up Thursday morning.

Took a shower for the last time for the next 2 days.

Forgot to drink the water I supposed to drink before the appointment.

Took the Valium the doctors gave me 1 hour before the transfer.

Got a little high on the Valium the doctors gave me one hour before the transfer.

Saw roses on the ceiling and was singing "We're Off to See the Wizard" while waiting on the doctors.

Drank water out of the bathroom sink. Like an animal.

Nurse gave me two hospital gowns to put on for the transfer. And a hair net.

Did the transfer. Actually saw the embryos going through the catheter and placed on my uterus through the ultrasound. Pretty cool.

Took a 30 minute nap in the next room under a warming blanket.

Went home and changed in my pj's.

Layed down on the couch.

Watched tv. Slept. Watched Tv. Slept. For 2 days.

Finally took a shower on Saturday at 11!!

Worked on my invite list I'm having for my Scentsy party I'm having in November.

Went to Mall of America with Ang.

Went to H&M and got 2 new dresses!

Ate frozen yogurt.

Went out to dinner at a place called Doolittles.

Had the chicken and biscuits.

Gave Nate a little lesson on how to eat his food.

Woke up Sunday morning.

Drove around with Ang and Nate to find a place to eat breakfast.

Ended up going back to the MOA and ate crepes. Mine had bananas and carmel. Yummm.

Went to H&M again.

Bought a belt.

Off to the airport. Went back home to Nashville.

Cuddled with my little boy for an hour. He missed me:)

So there you are! We take the pregnancy test on Monday the 25th at my doctors office. It will be another blood test. They will fax the results to Dr. Campbell in MN same day. We should know the results by that afternoon! Pretty exciting! We are counting down the days! Meanwhile I am still taking the progesterone and estrace. Trying not to be too active but I do have a 1 year old and a five year old so you know how that is.

Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers!!

"Are you in there little fetus? In nine months will you come greet us? I....will... buy you some Adidas!!"~ Pheobe Buffay.

Think Pregnant Thoughts

So I'm about a half hour away from leaving for Minnesota. I just wanted to write a quick update before I go. Just think, this could be the last time I write to you as a non pregnant person!

I started taking the progesterone on Sunday. Its going pretty well. It only took me about 5 minutes and a few encouraging text messages from Angie to go through with it and it was just fine. Didn't hurt at all! It feels a little weird. It takes a while for the sesame oil in the progesterone to soak in. It kinda feels like I'm getting botox injections in my butt! Hey at least I'm well rounded and more defined!! It feels like the oil is sitting in a big bubble just under my skin like I'm sitting on a water ballon. It doesn't hurt. It just feels weird. I have to continue taking it for at least four weeks I think. Even after the pregnancy is confirmed I have to take it until they tell me to stop.

The transfer is scheduled for tomorrow, October 14th. They have embryos that are almost ready. Don't worry, they aren't going to put all four of those babies in! Just one. They will freeze the other 3 and save them in case the first one doesn't attach we can try again and again and again and again!

Ok, I'm off! Say a little prayer for us and wish us luck! Think pregnant thoughts!!

Nashville Fertility Center Take 2!

Well it took me longer to get to this than I entended so I'm trying to remember where I am.

I stopped taking the lupron shots last week so my first round of injections is over! Yay! Right now I'm only taking Estrace (estrogen) 3 times a day, plus a low dose of aspirin and some vitamins. I'm not very good at taking pills everyday and sometimes I forget to take a dose. When that happens I have to catch myself up and I end up getting really bad headaches but for the most part its fine.

Last Friday I had my last appointment with the Nashville Fertility Center. For the most part it was a much better experience than last time. When I got there I signed in and they said that I once again needed an order from Dr. Campbell to proceed with my appointment! You don't know how much that annoyed me!! Apparently they need an new order for every appointment. I don't think anyone was aware of that. No one in their office told any of us. We had enough trouble getting an order at the last appointment. She asked me for Dawns phone number so they could call and get the order. So I'm on my phone trying to google the number and I look down and theres my file right in front of the receptionist with Dawns phone number right on the front page. I pointed at it and said the phone number is right there dumb ass! Ok, I didn't say that but I wanted to! I sat in the waiting area for 45 minutes while they got my order. When they  got it the receptionist called me over and said that they received it and that they would call be back in a few minutes. Another 45 minutes goes by and people were coming and going. I went to ask the receptionist what was taking so long and she said that technically my appointment was at 8:30 and since I was "unprepared" and they had to take so much time getting my order I lost my appointment and they would have to squeeze me in whenever they had the chance! Ok I'm mad now! I feel like I have fire rushing to my head! My southern girl anger/attitude is about to burst!! But I just gave a lesson to the young women at my church about getting angry and controlling yourself before saying something you don't mean. Only I would have meant everything I wanted to say but it wouldn't have helped the situation. I just sat back down and I had to wait a little bit longer but it only gave me time to chill before I went back there so I guess that was ok.

The nurse finally calls me back and it was the same nurse I had last time. I was feeling pretty calm at this point and she was being very nice. She saw that I had been waiting a long time and she pushed me ahead of the other clients. She had to draw blood again and I asked her to be easy on me since I'm not good with needles and she was. I didn't feel a thing this time. And then she pushed me ahead of some other patients to use the ultrasound machine so I wouldn't have to wait any longer. I'm feeling a lot of love for her right now!!:)

The ultrasound tech comes in and she does her thing. She says that my lining is thicker than last time but not thick enough. I asked how thick it was and she said 7 1/2 but they like it to be 8. Whatever! Dawn called me a few hours later and said that my lining is beautiful! So to sum up... I have a picture perfect uterus and beautiful lining which means I'm at least beautiful on the inside. Haha!

So now I'm in limbo. We are waiting on Angie to grow some follicles, thats what holds the eggs. Haha! I'm learning so much! Meanwhile I just keep taking the Estrace three times a day. Angie has had appointments just about everyday this week to check on her egg holders and when theres enough she will have her retrieval and I will be flying up there for the transfer. So far she has 9 egg holders, I like that term better, and they think that her retrieval will be on Saturday and the transfer will be on Thursday. Angie has already talked about buying plane tickets for me to fly up there on Wednesday evening and flying back on Sunday. So the big event is coming up pretty quickly! Keep your fingers crossed and pray that everything is successful! I'm in the mood to rent Baby Mama.