Fert. Report

Got a call today from the Dr. office.

27 eggs retrieved

18 mature

14 fertilized with ICSI.

Right now, we are scheduled for a 5dt on Saturday at 11:30. I am hopeful. I think things are going good and we will know more on Saturday. I could call Thursday for an update but decided I don't want to over analyze every thing so I will wait until Saturday.

We are very excited. Brett's response to this was "wahooo!" He kept texting me all day "did you get the numbers yet?" "how are our babies doing?" He is so excited. I just love it!

Back from Egg Retrieval

What a day! I had to go with B to work this morning so he didn't have to drive an hour to work, an hour home then an hour and a half to the doctor. He had to be there at 6:45 so we left the house at 5:45. Way too early for this girl! I sat in the car for about 3 hours, during which time I went back to sleep. I was on the phone with my sister when B's Sgt walked up the car and asked when our appointment was. I told him 10:45. He said, and he just left you sitting here in the car? That's not okay. I told him I didn't mind and it was my idea. About 5 minutes later, B walked out of the office and said his Sgt told him to go for the day and take me out to breakfast before our appointment. I wish but... no food or drinks after midnight last night. So, we just went to the doctors office early.

The nurses that do the ER are different then my every day nurses but they were still very nice. Bri, our main nurse, kept saying how young I am. I got asked a couple times, are you doing this for you or....(meaning for us or an egg donor)? They let me pick the type of music for the room and were going to hook up my Iphone but it wasn't working with the stereo so we got some country music. I was out of it most of the time but I remember after I woke up, someone said something about 18 eggs on one side. Later, my nurse asked if I had heard how many they retrieved. I said well I think I was told 18 from one side but I don't remember. She said oh no, maybe 18 in total. Sure enough, I was right. 18 from one ovary. 9 from the other. I know the 18 is from my right ovary because I could seriously feel that side the most. So, 27 eggs. 17 mature eggs. We will find out more tomorrow.

The doctors, nurses and embryologist all said that's the highest number of eggs they've retrieved in their office. I'm setting all sorts of records today. The youngest patient (who isn't doing egg donation) and the most eggs! Dr. A said he thinks our chances are "very good". So, we will wait and see. Our goal is a 5dt but will know more tomorrow.

So exciting!!

For the most part, I feel okay. I get some random sharp pains in my stomach but I am sure with time it'll go away. They are very concerned with me getting Ovarian Hyper-stimulation so I am on a strict diet for the next couple weeks. No sugars. All whole wheats. Not a lot of water but rather powerade zero (that has no sugar) and diet juices.

Tomorrow for start the PIO shots... i am dreading that but it's getting us one step closer to our children and that is worth it.

Egg Retrieval Set!!

Well, I prayed and prayed that our ER would be Monday because I am very uncomfortable. B went with me to my appointment today and Dr. A said as soon as he started the ultrasound that he could tell my follicles were noticeably bigger from yesterday. So he started measuring and on the left side, a bunch of them were 18mm and on the right side, they are 16mm. So, that means egg retrieval Monday! My nurse called at 2pm to tell me what time to do the trigger shot tonight (midnight) and if you know me, you know I am not a night person. I will have to set a bunch of alarms to wake me up. I know 25 years old and cannot stay up til midnight on a Saturday night. I am one cool girl!

B was a little too happy when the nurse was telling him how to do my shot. It makes him a little excited to stick me with a needle. He had a huge smile on his face. The nurse said, you better be nice to him today so he gives you the shot nicely.

It will be very nice to not have to drive down to La Jolla tomorrow and just enjoy our day together. I am excited, nervous and ready to get it over with!

2nd Follie check

Well, things went a little better today and I don't feel so down about everything now. I have 2 follicles measuring 15mm and "a ton" measuring 13mm. He is most likely going to lower my dosage a little today. He can't go too much lower because I am already taking very minimal amounts. My lining is 8.3mm I believe.

He asked how I was feeling and I said well, I can definitely feel my ovaries when I move in any way. He said that's normal and to be prepared for it to get worse as they get bigger. My nurse thinks I will trigger on Sunday night and do the ER on Tuesday. I have an ultrasound and blood draw scheduled for both tomorrow and Sunday.

All in all, things are going okay. Like I told Dr. A I can feel my ovaries when I move, turn over in bed...pretty much anything. Other then that and being extremely bloated, things are going good and this is all for a great cause!

Day 6 of Stims

Today is Day 6 of my stims and I had my first follie check. I was really stressed out and nervous leaving the appointment. Dr A. is usually upbeat and says everything looks great. This time he said everything looks okay but he is worried about OHSS. So, that freaked me out. I have 20 follicles in each ovary. They are all about equal in size. Left is 12mm and Right is 10mm. My lining is 5.5 which to me, doesn't sound like it's good, still very thin. Totally stresses me out. But I talk to my IVF coordinator tonight and my E2 level is 749 so she said it's good and my meds are staying the same. My next ultrasound is Friday and hopefully by then, something has changed.

So far, So good.

I remind myself daily that this is for a good cause because I absolutely do not like needles and hate doing the injections. But, it'll be worth it when we have a beautiful baby to hold.

The shots are going good. Today is day 4 of stims. So far, my dosage has stayed the same. (10 units of Lupron, 1 vial of Menopur, 75 units of Follistim). I went in yesterday and today for blood draw. I haven't gotten my phone call yet today for my dosage for the day. I go in tomorrow for another blood draw and then Wednesday I start getting ultrasounds. I pray everything looks great and I don't get overstimulated. I think that is one of my biggest fears but Dr. A has reassured me they are going to watch me very closely (because I am young and produce a lot of follicles on my own.) So, I suppose I just have to have faith that he knows what he is doing. Obviously he does or he/the clinic wouldn't have such high success rates, which is why we chose them in the first place.

I haven't had a ton of side effects but the ones I do have, are a pain... literally. Headaches, cramping, and I feel a little like I have a ton of bricks around my waist. But again, this is all for a good cause!

The worst part of this all... the drive to La Jolla. I'll be happy when this week is over and I don't have to drive there daily because California drivers suck. Traffic hasn't been horrible but hasn't been good either. I leave the house super early because I never know how traffic will be but always end up getting there early. But my biggest pet peeve, California drivers don't believe in safety gaps while driving. HELLO people, I am leaving that space between me and the car in front of me on purpose and it's not so you can cut in front of me. I guess driving in Alaska you are so use to having a safety gap because in the winters, you don't want to slide into the people in front of you. People down here drive right on your bumper. Don't they realize that traffic comes to sudden stops all the time so you aren't giving yourself room to actually stop? Okay... vent over!

Edit: Nurse called right after I wrote this and changed my Follistim dosage to 50 units, instead of 75. She said my numbers look great and we will know more on Wednesday what the size of the follicles are and how many more days of stims I'll need.

Onward and Upward we go!

Today was my suppression appointment to make sure Lupron is doing it's job, make sure I have no cysts and they taught me how to do the next two shots. Everything looks great. He said everything looks the way it should and counted all the follicles and said it's a great number. My bloodwork came back good so tomorrow I start Menopur and Follistim. I will continue with 10 units of Lupron between 7-9 am and add 1 vial of Menopur with it every morning. I will do 75 units of Follistim at 7-9pm.

My IVF Coordinator was off today so I met with another lady and she really helped me out. She taught me all the shots and how to mix the Menopur. I told her my fear of doing something wrong and messing everything up. She told me not to worry and that I can't mess it up. She said that is why they check my blood every day. If I missed a dosage or did something wrong, they would be able to correct it.

She also said she doesn't think I will need to do the full 10 days of stims. She thinks it'll be more like 8 days which would make our egg retrieval on the 29th. She said at the end, I most likely won't be using very much Menopur and Follistim because it's not going to take much to get me where I need to be.

I got all my medication from the pharmacy. I was a little overwhelmed but I took the advice of someone off the bump and bought some tubberware. I seperated it from the medicine I need

now and what I'll use later. It made it a little easier.

When I updated Brett about my appointment, he kept saying how excited he is. I am excited but I have to remind myself that there is a possibility it won't work.

Next appointment is Sunday at 9:30 for bloodwork.

I am sure I am just over emotional because there is a lot going on right now plus I am sure the meds don't help but this afternoon, I've been having one big ol' meltdown. I miss my family. I wish my family was close by while going through this. We are a very close family and I am especially close with my oldest sister and her daughters. We talk every day and she is always there to listen to what is going on with me. I am very happy to say that she is moving to Arizona in October so only a 5 hour drive away but still, not the same.

When Brett was deployed and I was living back home, I was with them almost every single day. I even watched my nieces for 11 days when Kristy and her husband went to Hawaii. I grew so close to them. So, to look at pictures, watch them on skype or talk to them on the phone makes me realize that I am missing so much. Tatum (my two year old niece) is growing so much and starting to talk a ton. She even will talk to me on the phone now. She doesn't say much and what she does say, I don't always understand but she says HI a lot and of course, Uncle Brett. She tells knock knock jokes and thinks she is hilarious. She says "knock knock". I say "whose there?" she says "banana apple" and starts laughing really hard. Mackenzie is getting so big. She is about to be stinkin' 5 years old. Where the heck did time go? I feel like she was just born!

The more and more I see my nieces and nephew, the more I cannot wait until we have children of our own. I can't imagine how much I am going to love them because I love my nieces and nephew more then anything so my own children... ugh! I can't wait! I can't wait to have our children to watch grown and learn new things. I am going to cherish every single moment. I am excited to see Brett as a dad. He was so cute yesterday. He said how happy he is that I will be pregnant soon (we talk like it's for sure going to happen because I have to be positive and think this will be it for us because we can't go through an IVF. We can't afford to). He was saying how he can't wait to cuddle and play with a baby but once that diaper gets all squishy, he'll hand them over to me. I said no way, it doesn't work that way! I know he is kidding although I am very interested in seeing him change a diaper. He has never changed a diaper before but know he will help out.

Today we were talking about the Marine Corps ball in November. He should be picking up rank on October 1st and is pretty happy about that. He can't wait to look sharp in those dress blues and I said, well I might not look so hot. If this works, I'd be around 12 weeks pregnant. I don't know how much you show at 12 weeks or if you show at all but I promised him I'd get all dolled up, hair, make up and everything to look as good as he does in his blues.

Also in November, I am planning on making a trip to Arizona. I think I'll get a one way ticket and go the week before Thanksgiving for Miss. Mackenzie's 5th birthday party then Brett can drive over the week of Thanksgiving with Sierra (our dog) then we can drive back together after Thanksgiving and Hildon's (my sister Jeannie's son) gotcha-day the day after thanksgiving. For those of you who do not know, Hildon is adopted and a gotcha day is the day that the adoption was finalized. His real gotcha day is Thanksgiving this year but she is most likely celebrating the day after. Hopefully my sister Amanda and her husband will travel to Arizona for Thanksgiving so we can have the entire family together. It's hard with everyone married. We haven't hard every single person together for a long time. In fact, I want to say it was the year we got married when Jeannie and Matt traveled to Alaska with Matt's parents and Aubree. Tatum wasn't around yet so I guess that doesn't count. One person is usually missing. Everyone was together last Christmas minus Brett. So, we are in need of an entire family get together.

Okay well I'm blabbing now... I suppose that is all.

CD1 - Let's get this party started!

Today is CD 1. Tomorrow I go in for an ultrasound and bloodwork to see if I am ready to start stims. I am hoping and praying everything will look good so we can move forward. If everything looks good, I get all my meds tomorrow and start Follistim and Menopur on the 20th (Friday).

And man, oh man do I have side effects! I have a raging headache. It's non-stop. Usually when I have a headache, I can take a nap or go to bed for the night and when I wake up, the headache is done. Nope, not these headaches. Literally I go to bed with a pounding headache. I wake up at 1 am to go to the bathroom and still have the headache. Wake up in the morning, yup, still there! It's horrible. I'm bloated. I've been having serious hot flashes and it doesn't help that it's over a 100 degree outside but... I am keeping my eyes on the prize! Every single second will be worth it when we have a beautiful baby here.

Day 2 of Lupron

I couldn't sleep last night for the life of me. Brett went to bed at 6pm because he has been waking up at 2 am for the range. I went to bed at 10 and just laid there. I finally fell asleep and at 1am, I woke up and just laid there. I was sleeping so peacefully after that when Brett decided to wake me up at 3am when he was leaving for work to ask if he was taking the car or the motorcycle today.

Anyways, I woke up at 7:30 and did my first Lupron shot by myself. It was so easy that I thought I must have done it wrong but I followed the instructions and what the nurse told me to do. Now, if all the shots were that easy, it'd be nice. But I will say that it did hurt a little more then when the nurse did it yesterday. Still wasn't bad though.

I know side effects come with it but I never thought I'd feel any this early on. I have the most horrible headache ever today.

Oh the joys of IF!

One shot done...a ton more to go!

Today's appointment went good. No cysts so forward we go. The nurse did my first Lupron shot and I have to say, it didn't hurt at all. I think I scared myself so much that I was so nervous for nothing! She said that Menopur will sting a little and I asked her about PIO and she said, we will cross that bridge when we get there. Focus on one thing at a time. I said you are saying that because you know it'll hurt huh? She just laughed.

I have to say, the drive wasn't bad at all. It's about 56 miles but usually takes us an hour and a half. Today, there was no traffic and only took me 45 minutes. Hopefully it'll be like that from here on out! A girl could wish right? But California traffic is way too unpredictable.

So I take my last birth control pill on Saturday the 14th and wait for my period. When I get my period, we move forward with stims.

It's all starting to feel real and I am getting excited.

Praise the Lord, it's August!

Our month has finally arrived (okay... I'm 9 days late, I know!) I am so excited to get this show on the road. I have an appointment tomorrow and I start Lupron, my first shot. I am a little nervous and overwhelmed but one day at a time, we will get through this. And, the end result is going to be worth every needle, every pills, every blood draw.

Brett's 27th birthday was on Saturday. It's hard to believe he is 27. I know, we are not old by any means but I feel like it was yesterday we were in our teens, flirting and being silly with each other. Now we are married and on our journey to start our family. I love who we have both become and I am so excited for our next chapter.

We went to see "the Other Guys" for his birthday. We both thought it was hilarious. I rarely laugh out loud during movies, usually I just smile if I think it's funny but I was truly laughing out loud. Then we went to Red Lobster for dinner. It was so delicious, even though we had just had seafood the night before with my cousin and her family in San Diego. I was going to have them sing happy birthday to Brett at Red Lobster but I figured he had enough that day. He got some money to go toward car parts he wants for the SS so that made him happy. We even got to skype with my nieces for a little bit. I really wanted Tatum (my two year old niece) to sing "Happy to you Uncle Brett" but the child does not act on demand! It truly is the cutest thing ever. Mackenzie (my 4 year old niece) did sing him happy birthday though so that made Brett happy.

Brett is on the range this week so we have to figure out the car situation for my appointment tomorrow. He usually drives his motorcycle but has to bring his flak and kevlar all week so, I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow.

We have a busy couple weeks ahead of us but we are both really excited.