Embryo Transfer!

    My husband and I were very excited for this day! We talked about how amazing it was that we had 8 eggs and we couldn't wait to see what the future held for each one of them. We didn't think once about the eggs not surviving fertilization, we thought we were in the clear. Well we were greeted by our embryologist, who delivered the devastating news that only 1 embryo made it to our day 5 transfer:( She did inform us that we had another embryo that was lagging behind that we could put back as well. She let us know that there was a good chance that the embryo could catch up while in the uterus, so of course we decided to give the embryo a chance. We were then escorted to the OR for the transfer and we were allowed to take pictures during the procedure.
       I was awake during this procedure, it was kind of felt like a pap smear. I did take one Valium before entering the office to help with relaxation. I did laugh at one point, which was funny to watch on the ultra sound. My husband held tightly onto my hand, until I finally told him that I was okay. When our doctor was finished he came over and gave us hugs with well wishes.:) At this time everyone left the OR and it was just the two of us. It was a nice relaxing time for both of us to just talk with each other and of course say a little prayer for our little embryos.
         Once we were out of the OR they made me go to the bathroom and get dressed. We were allowed to leave whenever we felt comfortable and at this point I was starving:) We made it home safely and I slept for the next 4-5 hours. When I woke up my mom  had arrived with my favorite chicken and noodles! We loved having visitors during our bed rest, which we did almost 48 hours. Luckily we have netflex and movies to keep us busy. We both love to sleep too, so of course that helped:) We are now in the dreaded wait until our first Beta HCG blood test, 10 days after our transfer. So we just ask for lots of Prayers for our one embryo to stick and for our second embryo to catch up. We both have struggled this entire process about freezing our embryos, so we feel like our decision was made for us. We were both upset at first, but quickly realized that God always has a plan. We just pray for our little embryos to stick around for at least 9 months;)

Embryos update:)

     Saturday morning, the day after our retrieval, we received a call from our embryologist. She let us know that we had 16 eggs retrieved, but only fertilized 14 of them. Out of the 14 embryos only 8 survived he fertilization! We both were so happy to hear this, because we didn't want to have to many or too little embryos! We are going to put back 2 embryos back and freeze the remaining 6! We just praise God for this amazing journey and beautiful outcome. We also found out that we are doing a 5 day transfer, which is what we both wanted. The 5 days between the retrieval and transfer will give my body time to heal, so our 2 embryos can snuggle in nicely.
   Also the day after the retrieval I started on estrogen and progesterone vaginally twice a day. I have to be on both of these medications to keep my hormone level up, because before the retrieval my levels were very high. Each follicle produces estrogen and progesterone, which helps with egg development/ uterus wall thickness. We won't the best possible uterus/endometrium for the embryos to be transferred into, so they won't want to leave:) I still feel bloated, but love that I don't have anymore injections at this time.  Now we just wait until egg transfer on  Wednesday September 10th at 8:15am:) We just ask for continued prayers for our little embryos to keep growing and for a smooth embryo transfer:)

Egg Retrieval!

     The day we have been waiting for, Egg Retrieval time:) it feels like time passed quickly and slowly all at the same time! Is that possible? I had given myself 30 some injections by this time, so I was more than ready for this day! We can't say it enough, we have been so blessed during this journey. We checked in exactly at 6am on Friday, September 5th. We had to fill out paperwork and meet the staff who would be taking care of me during surgery! At this point I was getting very nervous about the anthesia, because I have never had surgery before and I felt like I was losing control.  Here is my before surgery picture...

   
      I was only able to sleep around 4 hours! I was just anxious and of course the first football game of the season was the night before:) The surgery itself only took about 15 minutes, but we  were there for a total of  2 and 1/2 hours. The first hour of being there was filling our paper work and getting my IV put in. When they wheeled me back to the OR, my husband went to do his part;) He still thinks his participation in this whole journey was harder than what I had to do, but don't worry I set him straight! Lol! Once in the OR our embryologist( the person in-charge of fertilizing our eggs) asked my name again and I was out! I woke up about 15 minutes later with a snack and drink waiting for me! Our doctor and embryologist both came in to give us the great news...16 EGGs were retrieved:) Our doctor  also stated that everything looked perfect and expects a good transfer! We were both so happy, because this just means there are 16 eggs to work with, not 16 babies. While waiting to go home I felt great, until I went to stand, I begin to feel nauseous. I was able to fight through it and made it home safely. I slept most of the day and only puked once. I wasn't able to take the pain medication that was prescribed, because every time it made me sick. I even ate full meals with it, it just wasn't my friend. I just took Tylenol every 4-6 hours and slept a lot the next few days. The only complaint I have is abdomen pain/tenderness, but I think it's because I'm constipated:( I had read so many blogs that said to take a stool softener, but I didn't listen. I am now 3 days out from the surgery and still having constipation pains. I honestly believe I only had pain from the surgery on Friday and the last few days have been from not going to the bathroom. I'm not allowed to take laxatives or anything that acts like a laxative, because you need all the water to stay in your body. I keep thinking this shall pass too:)

My Last Injections!

     On Wednesday September 3rd at 7pm I gave myself my last 2 injections:) The last two injections were the HCG trigger shot, which allows my body to ovulate. Ovulation won't occur until 36 hours after giving the injections, so they had to be time perfectly to when my surgery was scheduled. Our nurse called Wednesday afternoon to go over the day of surgery information and when to inject the trigger shots. My surgery was schedule for 7am on Friday September 5th, but we had to be there at 6am to check in!

   
     The last two injections were subcutaneously in my abdomen, like the previous injections. For some reason both of these shots hurt and made me bleed. I feel like it was my punishment for my last shots, haha! I felt sharp pains a few hours after receiving the shots, so I just rested the next 36 hours until surgery day! I didn't want to ovulate on my own, because then this whole process would have been for nothing. I have only heard of a few people that ovulated all their eggs before their surgery. I figured taking it easy would hopefully help my body stay calm:)

Our Ultrasound Checkups:)

       Our first follicle checkup since starting Stims was on August 30th, 6 days after starting the medications. Our first appointment before starting the stimulation process showed that we had several on the right and left measuring around 6mm. Our first ultra sound on medications showed a growth to 11-12mm, which is exactly what we needed. The follicles should grow around 2mm per day. The nurse counted 12 follicles so far, which is perfect. At first I was disappointed, because you hear about all these women who have 17-20 follicles. I asked a million questions, because we only plan on doing this one time and we want a baby:) The nurse stated that more follicles can grow and they hide behind each other too. I know you may think I'm crazy for wanting so many follicles, but the more follicles, the more eggs we have. The more eggs we have the more chances they will survive. I would just hate to have only 6 eggs retrieved and then maybe only one actually gets fertilized. There is still a lot that needs to happen for all of this to work. We need lots of prayers that our egg retrieval goes well and that our eggs are able to be fertilized!! Once the eggs are fertilized, they are called embryos! We need the embryos to keep growing, so they can be put back into the uterus to grow into beautiful babies:)

      Our Second Stims ultra sound/ blood work was today, day 8! I was so nervous about this one, because my husband was not able to make it. I just feel better having him with me and he keeps the attention off me for a minute. I also had a nurse that I have never had before, but I got thru it! The ultra sound showed 17 follicles!!!! Almost all of them were measuring 18-23mm, which they are considered mature at 18mm. This was amazing news! The nurse kept counting/measuring and stated everything looked perfect. We are ready for the egg retrieval!! She said the cervix, uterus, and ovaries were looking good. There was nothing to worry about at this point, so we can schedule the egg retrieval for FRIDAY!!! I injected my last Lupron shot this evening and in the morning I will finish Menopur and Gonal-F. I will inject Ovidrel tomorrow evening, which will allow the eggs to finish maturing for egg retrieval! The surgery has to be exactly 36 hours after this shot, so I will be given an exact time tomorrow to inject this medication! I am so excited and scared! It seems like it has gone by so fast, yet it's been months! Please just keep us in your Prayers as this journey has just begun!

Stims days 1-8:)

       I am currently on day 8 of stims and I am just starting to feel uncomfortable. My husband and I were both scared of what could happen during this time. We both had read several blogs stating how much pain they were in and how they were ready to give up. I can say that we have been blessed so far. My complaints seem so small, compared to what I thought it was going to be like. At first I was scared to give myself injections everyday, but now I don't even hesitate to stab myself with a needle. The Lupron and Gonal-F are very easy medications to inject. The Gonal-F comes in a ready to use syringe, so all I have to do is dial to 150units! Now giving Menopur was a bit of a struggle to get use too. Menopur is a vial that I have to dilute with Sodium chloride, which causes it to burn when injecting. I will be very honest, I HATED this medication at first, but then quickly got over it. I figured the burn only last about a second and then I can go about my day. The needle for the Menopur looks bigger than the other needles, but in reality it is actually the smaller of the three meds. The key to injecting Menopur is to dissolve everything fully, make sure you have no air bubbles, and inject slowly.
      My complaints so far are complete exhaustion, bruising, and bloating that showed up today, day 8! My new found exhaustion is killing me!! I am a go-getter and always wanting to be doing something. I can barely keep my eyes open and all I want to do is sleep! It's crazy, but I will take it. I believe everyone's experience with Stims is different and we were just blessed with an amazing experience so far.

Just giving injections in my car before work one morning;)

Stims Medications!

   I started my follicle stimulating medication on Monday August 25th. I inject Gonal-F 150 units and Menopur (2 vials the first two days, then 1 vial a day thereafter)  in the morning around 8am. I am still injecting Lupron in the evenings around 7-8pm. I also take a Prenatal, Synthroid, and a baby aspirin per day. It was very difficult to figure out how to fit all of these medications into one day, because I have to separate each medication out. I finally have a rythmn where I take the synthroid in the morning with my injections. The prenatal and baby aspirin I try to take with my lunch, so I can have food on my stomach. The injections in the morning have to be given exactly 12 hours apart from my evening dose, because Lupron stops my body from ovulating to early. I will be on these medications for 8-12 days, depending on my follicle development:)
     Once we are given the green light I will inject both syringes of ovidrel, which causes my body to ovulate 36 hours later. My egg-retrieval surgery will be schedule exactly 36 hours from Ovidrel injection!! The next/last step is embryo transfer, where they will put 2 embryos back into my uterus:) Embryo transfer will hopefully be 3-5 days after egg retrieval! We both just pray that my body reacts well to the medication and that we are able to at least have one good embryo:)