Christmas Pictures!

No more appointments till the Transfer!

Time is going by so slowly and I haven't even started the dreadful 2 week wait!  I was given great news today at the clinic, that next Friday will be the big Transfer Day!!!  Yay!  This is not as cool as you'd think.  I am glad it's on Friday because then I'll have three days of bed rest, but it's hard to risk the pain we will feel if it doesn't work.  My mother is always telling me to think positive and I really try!  I am always the one that thinks of the silver lining, but this is hard.  I like to think that the 5 embies are all bundled up in the freezer together and they're all safe.  What if it's my whom!  What if I am uninhabitable!  I am determined to prove myself wrong though!  The pregnancy test is set for Feb. 12th!  It's a Sunday, which is good because last time I was at work and had to try to keep it together.

Shannon lent me a fun book to keep me distracted.  It's called "The Bigger the Better the Tighter the Sweater".  Its 21 funny stories from different women talking about beauty, body image, and other hazards of being female.  Lots of boobie talk!  :-)

Keeping distracted is what's on the agenda!

Moving Forward

This has been a tough four months of waiting.  In October it was a big surprise when the doctor said that I wasn't pregnant and that I'd have to wait a month till the next transfer.  After all this, I haven't know how to feal...I felt defeated, embarassed and lost a lot of hope.  What has helped me through this was that I knew that this wasn't going to be the last chance for us.  We have 5 frozen babies and hopefully next time we would get our happy ending.  After all the stimulation my body wasn't ready, but the hard part of all this has to be the waiting.  I had to take November off, then the doctor said that I couldn't have the transfer in December because of the holidays....Ugh!  I can understand the holidays, but it was still a big bummer that we couldn't transfer the embryos then.  Now its January and I should have the transfer in a couple of weeks.  This time we are going to go with a more natural cycle.  No ICKY, PAINFUL Progesterone shots in the rear!  In fact, I will only need one shot at the end!  Awesome!  I was out numbered on the number of embryos to put in last time, so this time we will put in 2!  Maybe twins...
Thanks to all my loving family and friends!  Especially to my loving husband for dealing with my emotions and my mom for all her suport as well! 

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Since the transfer and being PUPO, I have been an emotional wreck.  Mostly I can't hold still or I am wiped out with sleepiness.  I've been trying to keep myself from thinking about the what-if's, but it's really, really hard.

The Brown's were kind enough to include us in their annual family pumpkin patch day and it really helped me stay distracted....other than all the adorable children running around.  Oh, well!  It worked a little to distract me.

I was overjoyed when Rob said he'd come with.  Usually, I am doing the family stuff on my own, but this year he came along.  Even after staying up till 4am playing video games and getting up at 8 to get to the Brown's by 9.

We had a blast playing with all the children and eating yummy food!  Thank you Brown-Wiesner-Jordahl Family for the great distraction!

Two more days till the 1st Beta...Wednesday can't come sooner and it's so hard not to pee-on-a-stick!!!

3dp5dt (Three Days Past 5 Day Transfer)

Transfer day has come and gone!  It was a really good experience overall, even if the procedure itself was uncomfortable.  They want you to have a full bladder - Then they push and poke you LOTS!!!  I joked with my mom and Rob that, "down there", It's cloudy with a chance of showers. It was great that they were there to keep me company and helped to keep my mind off the stressful stuff a little.   After some deep conversations of pro's and con's about how many embryo's to implant, we decided on one.  The Dr. was reassuring me that because of my age and health that my odds of success with one is high.  Putting two in, would probably result in twins and everyone is a little scared of that since this would be my first pregnancy. They gave me a relaxant, wheeled me in to the operating room.  As they were doing the transfer, I got to see my embryo on the monitor and it really chocked me up.  Pretty AWESOME!!!  I went home and had to be on bed rest for two days....It sounds like a lot of fun, but really it isn't!!!  I wanted to get up and do things, but I know that the best thing for that baby was to hold still.   Here's the first picture of our 5 day miracle embryo!  The embryo is hatching and half the cells are making the placenta and the other side is making the Fetus.  SO COOL!!! Here is what's going to happen in the next week! ..........Embryo is growing and developing 0dpt...Embryo is now a blastocyst 1dpt...Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day 2dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining 3dpt.. Implantation begins, as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining 4dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining 5dpt.. Morula is completely inmplanted in the lining and has placenta cells & fetal cells 6dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood 7dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 8dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 9dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on HPT Now it's time to wait!  I hate waiting!

Retrieval and Fertilization

After 3 long weeks of daily shots it all came to an end yesterday at the retrieval.  I am so proud of myself and my family and friends for supporting me in this long journey.  Although, the journey isn't over yet, I am still amazed at how far we've come.

The retrieval day started with us getting up really early and taking Morgan to Alaena's before school.  Then we had to race through traffic to be to the office by 7:45 which isn't easy in foggy, wet traffic.  We made it in time!  We went to the office and were ushered into the back where we'd never been before.  It looked just like a hospital, but it is part of the office.  Pretty cool, that everything is in house.  The nurse was really nice, although Rob didn't think so.  Mainly because she was trying to protect me and she didn't understand his humor....  I thought she was great, even though she had to start my iv 3 times!!!  I was a trooper!  They're my battle wounds and with all of this, I truly believe no pain no gain!  After she put the iv in, I got to meet the great Anesthesiologist.  She's awesome!!!  So sweet and had a great sense of humor!  The doctor came in and said Hi and told Rob that someone would come for him soon....and even before I had any drugs, I thought that was hilarious!!!  I was laughing out loud and more puns were flowing....The nurses were wondering what I was laughing at....it was bad when I had to explain my laughing....What can I say, laughter eases the nerves.  After a stop in the restroom, I walked in to the operating room and laid down on this weird bed that parts removed and had really high stirrups.  The Anesthesiologist gave me some oxygen which I hate, it tickles my nose and then she said she was giving me some happy juice and I was out!  I woke up saying that Rob is normal....?!?!  I am guessing it has to do with his spermies.  I also asking how many eggs I got, and the magic number is 18!!!  I had more follicles than that, but I am thrilled with the number.

I was in some pain but it's nothing compared to having my tubes removed.  I found my big comfy chair, watched crappy TV and rested.  It was great!  Travis brought me a pumpkin pie from Costco and that was just wonderful!!!  I also made a huge crock-pot of soup!  I mean huge!  I'll be freezing it, bringing it to work and eating it for weeks!

The day after the retrieval-

I got the greatest call from the embryologist this morning and out of 18 eggs, 14 were mature and 12 fertilized!  OMG!!!  That's great news!  Now we wait till Monday for the transfer and see what grade they are before deciding on putting 1 or 2 in!

Trigger Shot D-Day. . . YES!!!

I got the great news today that I am finally ready for the retrieval!!!!  :-)  You cannot imagine how happy I was to hear those words, but now my stomach is in knots…I am terrified there wont be any eggs!

Today was my last morning with Wanda!  He, He!  Dr. Hesla said that my uterine lining looked "perfect" in terms of the thickness it should be at this stage of my cycle, and I think I have between 18 and 20 follicles.  That’s just an estimate since he couldn’t see how many eggs I had in my right ovary again…even after he and his nurse took turns pushing on my sore abdomen trying to get a better look.  He said that he could at least count 6, but that some were hiding.  I can't tell you how proud I am of my body for working so well and producing so many follicles (with eggs!!!) 

Tonight at precisely 9:30pm, we will do the HCG injection and none ever again, fingers crossed!  Tomorrow, I get an injection-free day (woohoo!), which you can be sure I will enjoy immensely.  IV on Wednesday, but after that it should only be blood draws.  Easy as pie!

Rob, my mom and I will check-in at 7:45am on Wednesday and our retrieval will begin at 8:30am (36 hours after the HCG injection). 

Rob will give his donation (Fresh is best) I don’t think anyone can be with me until after the retrieval since I’ll be under anesthesia.  Depending on how uncomfortable Rob is after his donation, my mom will be there to take me home.  I can’t wait to see how many Grade A eggs they retrieve! 

I am amazed that we have made it this far honestly, since there are so many variables that have to be lined up just right in order to reach this point--just as with a natural pregnancy.  I am excited and thinking of my future babies and talking to them.  Rob is excited too and so glad we are on to the next step of this adventure. 

Thank you all so much for your good thoughts while we take this crazy roller coaster ride together --I know they have helped!