The Today Show and Transfer Regimen

MY DOCTOR, DR. SILBER, WAS ON THE TODAY SHOW!!!

Tuesday morning a friend's mom called her at work (our work) and told her she thought my doctor was on The Today Show. I ran to the break room and turned the TV on. I had already missed half of it but thanks to the Internet I was able to watch it all.

Now I know Dr. Silber has been on TV several times in the past but this time they preformed an egg retrieval live for the first time ever and showed the process of inserting sperm into the eggs. I saw all those people just 3 weeks ago, Dr. Silber, the nurses, the ultra sound tech and the girl drawing her blood! They even showed the guy sitting in the room waiting for them to wheel his fiance back in. I wonder if Ryan looked that nervous? Probably not this time but maybe the first time. So cool!

Here is the link to the article and the two video segments.

http://www.today.com/moms/why-im-doing-ivf-live-tv-one-womans-fertility-journey-4B11235075

{Disclaimer: Yes I wish this couple would go to the courthouse and get married, have a wedding ceremony later people!}

I can't wait to hear the update on their fertilization!

I HAVE A DETAILED SCHEDULE FOR THE TRANSFER!

Birth control pills begin: TBD (depending on my next cycle start date)

Lupron injections of 10 units daily begin: November 18

Birth control pills end: November 21

Estrace pills 4 mgs twice a day begin: November 29

Vivelle dots (3 dots applied to abdomen every M, W & F) begin: November 29

Blood test for hormone panel & ultrasound to measure uterine lining (locally): December 9

Lupron injections end: December 12

Progesterone 2 cc injections begin: December 13 (these will continue until my blood test and if I am pregnant will continue everyday for 10 weeks)

Ultrasound to measure uterine lining (in St. Louis): December 13

Frozen embryo transfer: December 16

Quantitative Beta HCG blood tests (ie pregnancy test!): December 27 & December 30

Whew! That's a lot to keep up with. Lots of shots this time. I knew that was coming though. I did an estimate and if I am blessed with pregnancy it will be roughly 110 straight days of shots! But if that test comes back positive I will gladly take a shot in the hip everyday! Ryan is gonna have to get tough because he will have to give them to me. The progesterone shots have to be in the hip.

For the last week and a half I have been having a pregnancy dream almost every night. The strange thing is that I haven't had a pregnancy dream that I can remember in over a year! I have had maybe 2 or 3 dreams about babies but none that I am pregnant. All this time, tons of medicine, countless trips to the doctor, countless ultrasounds and blood work, 5 inseminations, 2 egg retrievals and NO PREGNANCY dreams! It's so strange when I think about it. I pretty much day dreamed 24/7 of being pregnant but no dreams at night. I guess my conscious is finally confident enough that I will be pregnant someday soon. I love these dreams. I wake up so happy. Some of them are really happy and some are stressful. I dreamed last night that it was time to go to the hospital. Ryan wouldn't quit talking to everyone around us and kept trying to get things done before we left. I kept looking at my belly and telling him that I didn't think it was time because my belly only looked like I was about 4 months pregnant. I asked him if I had any ultrasounds and he said no. I panicked and said "how can I be ready to deliver if I have never even had an ultrasound?" And of course he was not worried at all and told me it would be fine. Then I woke up. I had one dream a few nights ago that we went in for an ultrasound and the baby was sucking it's thumb. I was sooooooo happy when I woke up from that dream. I cannot wait to hear a heartbeat. I cannot wait to see a baby move on the screen (instead of just looking at follicles on that screen). I hope these happy dreams continue, they give me confidence.

Love At First Sight

I was so happy when I got home and checked the mail yesterday!! There was an envelope from Dr. Silber's office. I knew what was inside, a picture of our babies!!! I tried to stay calm as I was trying to get the darn envelope open, I knew I had to be careful and not damage the work of art enclosed. :)

Here they are in all their glory, wonder and beauty!!

I am in LOVE!

 

 

Thank You God for these precious tiny miracles! Thank You for giving others the science and knowledge to create these microscopic blessings! They each have 23 chromosomes from mommy and 23 from daddy. Their gender is already determined too, but only God knows that right now! :)

 

I got to thinking last night as I was looking at this photo. How neat is it that someday we may get to show our baby(ies) this photo and tell them the story of them? And how so many people prayed and prayed for them before they were even in mommy's belly. And how mommy and daddy knew them and loved them so much, even when they were smaller than the size of the period at the end of this sentence. This is a gift. Not many people get to see their babies at 3 days old! :)



In other news, my sister's baby shower is tomorrow! I am so excited! Kolette and I have lots of work to do, making everything pretty and yummy!

A Little Background Info

Where do I start? I will just be direct, the main reason for starting this blog is to document our journey/struggle with infertility. In recent months I have found inspiration, wisdom and faith from other blogs. Some of which are still in the "battle", but most are through it and are now sharing about their growing families. I look back on past posts from these blogs and think how neat it is that they documented their journey from infertility to parenthood. These blogs have helped me keep the faith and prepare me for what might be next in our journey. This leads to the second reason for starting the blog: to hopefully help or inform others about the "battle". If I just help one reader (even if it isn't any time soon), the blog would be a success for me.

Now for the background info. Ryan and I married in May of 2009. We had a beautiful wedding and were so excited about what the future held for us. Ryan was still attending college then. Like every other young couple, we started talking about our plans. We were both in agreement that we would wait to have children until he was finished with school. At the time we were married I thought this would be in the spring of 2011. However, Ryan decided to change his major shortly after we were married. He entered the teaching program in the fall of 2010 and was set to graduate in the spring of 2012. You know how you always hear people say something was missing? Well that feeling started creeping in after about 18 months after being married. So we had the baby talk again. We then decided that it would be okay to have a baby right before Ryan graduated or the summer after (instead of waiting to start trying after he had graduated). So in the summer of 2011 we began our journey....

We decided as soon as we got back from vacation we would start trying. I did my research and knew that doctors recommend to quit taking your birth control a couple of months before you start trying to have a baby. I wanted to do everything the right way. (I admit I am a bit OCD, my husband would laugh and say a lot.) So I quit the pill two months before vacation and we used other means to prevent. I mean I didn't want to get pregnant before vacation and be sick the whole time! I was so excited while we were in South Carolina. We talked about it a lot and I kept asking Ryan if he was sure he was ready. He assured me he was and I would get butterflies each time we spoke of it.

After vacation it was on. I couldn't believe we were actually going to start. I would try to picture myself pregnant and I couldn't. (This faded over time of course.) I wasn't so naive that I thought we would get pregnant the first month or event the first 6 months. But after six months of trying I did start to worry. I had a good friend who struggled with infertility for two years before getting pregnant. (Now she has two beautiful, energetic boys.)  I kept telling myself 80% of women are pregnant within 12 months. Surely I would be in that 80%. I don't guess I have to tell you that I wasn't.

That is really when the battle/struggle/journey started. We went to our initial appointment with my OB/GYN. He gave us our options, which I knew before hand (again research, research, research). Ryan had his test and it was fine. I had the initial blood tests and the HSG test to check for blockage in my tubes. All tests were fine. I was happy. Our next step was either take Clomid or set up an appointment with a specialist. We decided to try the Clomid. I was so nervous thinking I could have twins. Gasp! I am a twin and love being a twin but didn't think I would have enough patience to raise twins. (This too faded over time and the idea was welcomed and even wished for.) The doctor said that he would let me do three rounds of Clomid. After two rounds were unsuccessful, I decided to go on to the specialist.

Six months later we are still seeing the specialist. Still hoping, still praying, still trying to stay positive. I will post more about the last six months later.