On the right path

Well, I had another beta drawn on Sept. 24th.

3, 269!! Fantastic!

So our 1st ultrasound is scheduled for Oct. 1st. I am thrilled and nervous all at once. I wonder how many are in there? One healthy baby is good for me! All others are just a blessed bonus! I am sure once the 1st trimester is over I will be a bit more settled and a whole new set of worries will pop up. But until them I am trying to take this pregnancy in 2 weeks increments! LOL

On a not so fun side, I still have to take the suppositories rectally and now have to use Monistat for the yeast infection for the next 7 days. Which is not fun at all since it burns like nobodies business. It sucks! But I will do what I have to do.

I will be 6 weeks on Wednesday. I am happy to have made it past the 5 week mark, since that is when the last pregnancy was lost. I have no symptoms yet except for some nauseous here and there and my breast are a bit sore, but nothing even close to major pain. Though I hear after 6 weeks it all goes downhill, so here's to hoping things stay "calm" ! LOL

Lookin good!

Well after me being paranoid and wanting another blood test things look good!

Beta #1 26.1

Beta #2 92.1

Beta #3 259!!!

Love it! This Thrusday (9-24) we get another beta and if that one looks good (and of course it will) then we schedule our first ultrasound for the following week! Yipee! Finally get to see these little people inside me!

I go back to work tomorrow after having a month off. I am a bit worried because of stress, lifting a toddler and not wanting to do anything to compromise this wonderful moment! I am sure it is just my paranoid self making more worry than needed, so all I can do what I can do.

This baby is forever and always in God's hands!

money, money, money

I forget to mention that when we went in yesterday for beta #2, I mentioned to the nurse that I have had some vaginal itching. So of course I had to be seen. And they were super busy too!!

Anyway, it turned out to be a yeast infection. Oh joy. Luckily it is external only so a topical cream will work to clear it up. But remember those wonderful vaginal suppositories...well for 3 days they need to go "down under"!! Yucky!! Not my most proud moment, but guess ya gotta do whatcha gotta do!

Also, today I called the clinic again and asked for another beta test tomorrow when we go in to pay for the frozen embies. So I have another beta tomorrow and pray for even higher numbers. It will just settle me. We also found out that after beta #2, all other visits are not covered.

Sheesh...like paying upward toward $15k wasnt enough! Now we pay for the bloodwork tomorrow, next Thursday and our 1st u/s . Very frustrating, but as Dave keeps reminding me....worth it in the end. Still....the money tree is drying up YO!

Betas

Well we went in for our 1st beta on Sept. 12th. They dont run those results and wait until the second draw to run them together. We went in for beta #2 on Sept. 14th. We are looking for doubling numbers. Numbers themselves make me a bit nervous. When we were pregnant before my 1st beta was 55, 2nd was 72. Not good, no doubling, so it resulted in a miscarriage. Doctors said that all the progesterone and such should help eliminated a lot of the miscarriage issues. So that is hopeful. I did cheat a bit and take a test, there was a light positive. But I have had that before so I dont trust those stinkin tests. I wanted numbers!!  Anyway,

Beta #1 was 26.1

Beta #2 was 92.1

All great but until I spoke with the nurse I didnt realize how great. The 26.1 worried me a bit. She advised me that when you do an IUI beta #1 is usually done 18 days later. This beta, since it was IVF, was much sooner. So they are looking for anything above 10. So in that case 26.1 is good and since it more than doubled (almost tripled as noted by Dave).. it officially means............................

.............................................................

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!

So now there is beta #3 on Sept 24th, which they look for numbers over 1000 at that point. Then if that goes well..... Ultrasound (u/s) Oct. 1st to see the heartbeat(s)!

Wow...so we are cautious excited and know that each and every moment is God's creation and plan.

Shots

Well as for medications, I am still currently taking a progesterone shot every morning and vaginal suppositories at night.

My rear is sore and very bruised! You can't tell in this picture but Dave is having way too much fun with this shot business! The circle area....is usually a happy face!!

And with those shots...as Dave disposes of them he likes to goof off. With needles no less! I have told him a hundred times......

If you play with needles, you're gonna get hurt (not something I ever intended to say, especially to my grown husband!)

3 long days

So sitting in a reclining position for 3 days is actually a challenge. Who knew it!

We did find out that after the transfer we did have a total of 5 embies to freeze! Wonderful for future little babies! Exciting!

So my 3 days consisted of going to the bathroon, laying on the couch, laying in bed. Yep..thats it.

Oh and lots, lots and lots of TV and movies!! Supernanny, West Side Story, Adventureland, Watchman, International, 17 Again, Bedtime Stories, Bed of Roses, Knowing and anything else that I could find of interest.

It also consisted of naps, eating and my wonderful husband waiting on my hand and foot. I swear he is the best husband ever. I didnt have a lift a finger and was only allowed to sit upright or even stand for no more than 5 minutes. He was very insistant! But since I love him I happily obligiged.

I am glad that stint is over but am anxiously awaiting the results. Saturday is beta blood draw #1. They hold that sample and take another one on Monday. They run them together and see if the numbers increase they way they are supposed to. So the next couple of days I am trying to stay sane, keep busy and not dwell.

This is in God's hands and I know His will be done!

Transfer Day

Well Day 5 Transfer day came on 9/6/09.

The worst part was having to drink so much water that I thought for sure I was going to pee all over the doctor!! Luckily, he let me "potty" just a bit before, since they do want your bladder full, but not uncomfortable.

We had 4 great embies that had made it to blastocysts stage. 2 which where the "top of the class". So we transferred 2. The other 2 grew with their sibling embies for the next couple of days until we got a final "freezing" count.

It was amazing to watch the transfer. Originally we had these 2 perfect embies



Then the embryologist, Ann (love her!) came in and advised us that she liked the looks of another better, so she swapped one out and we got these 2 perfect embies!!



So the transfer went very smoothly. Very comfortable. So here sit our baby embies!!!



Simply Amazing! So make yourselves at home babies. Cuddle in and enjoy the ride!

Connection

Is it so bizarre to me to think of 19 little "babies" sitting a room just growing.

They are my babies.

How odd a feeling to have such a connection to what is scientifically "cells".

Emotionally "ours".

Our cells, that combined together to create our babies.

It is very surreal and unless you have gone through InVitro yourself, you cant even understand how bizarre and connected you feel. Even to "cells" that are forming "outside" of your body.

Day 3

So, we got the call this morning...here are our stats:

They like them to be anywhere between 6-9 cells

We have:

10 - 8 cells

1 - 7 cell

3 - 6 cell

3 - 5 cell

2 - 4 cell

So we are lookin' good!! They will keep all 19 and see how they grow before any are considered "puttered" out. I am estastic! 10 -8 cells!! Wowsa!!!

Grow babies grow! divide, divide, divide!

Privacy

I realize that I just gave this blog out to everyone...but it is time for me to "taketh away".

Since we are getting VERY close now, I want to be able to share the rest of this experience with my husband and then share with my family before the "world" knows.

I am sure you can all understand. I will still do posts but as of tomorrow...this blog will be locked.

Rest assured, as of right now, things are looking fantastic! I will "unlock" once things are more solid. Thanks for understanding, or not. But please feel free to come over and pray over the blog, even when locked.

Thanks everyone!

Numbers

So we got the call this morning at 730am.

They retrieved 30 eggs yesterday, 20 of which were mature. So 27 was a bit off, but still 20 rocks!!

Of the 20 .... 19 fertilized!! That is fantastic! She said they are happy with 70% and we got like 95%. I told her "we do what we can"! :)

So that is wonderful, wonderful news. Now just for those little embies to divide and divide and grow and grow.

We are set for a tenative transfer date, which could be bumped out if they can't figure out who "is the best of the best!"

So all good news today! Yipee!

Sleeping was a bit difficult because 1) I was sore 2) I was excited 3) I had to use the bathroom every 2 hours! Oh well...so worth it in the long run. I am sure the next couple of weeks will be looooonnnnngggg for me!

How many???

Well egg retrieval went well. I was nervous. I have to admit!

We got there at 7:30 am. They brought us in, I got into the robe and gave them our IVF cd. They put the IV in and went over paperwork.

Everyone was great! So friendly.

After I emptied my bladder, they escorted me into the operating room, while Dave waited in the hallway on the comfy couch.

As I sat there and the song "the River" played I had to catch my breath. It was overwhelming and I choked back the tears. It was harder than I care to admit not having Dave there by my side. But I just listened to the song, glanced around the room, took a deep breath and knew that I and this operating room were in God's hands.

They gave me the "good stuff" and I was out. I only remember waking up with Dave by my side. Apparently I was crying when Dave came in and he asked why and I just said, "cause you are here". Now there were no witnesses, so its his word! LOL  (but Im pretty sure its the truth)

Dr. G came in to let us know how many follicles he got. He said that he went to one side, cleared it out, then went to the other, and back again and realized there were more in there!! So the total.....

30! Yikes 30 follies...guess the count on Sunday was a bit off !

But of course not all are mature. So as I woke up and they pushed fluids into me we just waited.

Daves count came back.... 20 million and 58% motility...which is great!

Then we got how many mature follies.... 27!!! Holy moly!!

We decided to ICSI (fertilize) all of them and see where it goes.

So now I am home....resting...and Dave is at my every need. Gosh I love him.

Going up the stairs is more than a hop and a skip but I make it up. It is weird to think that the follies are gone but the major pressure is still there. I feel like I have to "carry" my uterus around. And I am sure that me walking around like an old lady hunched over is a site!

So tomorrow morning we should get the report for fertilization and Dr. G said since there are so many it is likely for a Day 5 transfer.

Oh and the best part.... the "drug" guy (anesthesiologist) AND the Dr. G prayed over us after the procedure. It was a wonderful feeling to feel God's presence all around us!

On a side note, while I was on the heart monitor when I was "out", they noticed an irregular heartbeat. So they printed off the chart for me and told me to see my regular doctor. Appt is set for Friday, 9/11. I am hoping it was just a "freak" thing, but better be safe than sorry.

Egg Retrival

Today, as you read this, I am either still at the clinic or hopefully resting on my couch watching a movie.

Please pray over this blog today. Pray for good eggs, good fertilization, lots of little embryos!

I know this life, my life, my husbands life, our children's lives are all in His hands. I trust His hands.

Pray for a fast recovery and fresh and viable transfer of babies on Transfer day.

Grow babies.. grow.