Our Journey Through IVF

Sad Day

2007-11-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Well we got the results from the doctor and they were unfortunately negative. We are all ok right now, just trying to get through the shock of it. We will call on Monday and try to get an appointment to meet with her. We will see where we will go from there. I'll post more when everything sinks in.........

More Waiting........

2007-11-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

I cannot even tell you how hard this wait is until our first blood test on Nov. 9th. I knew that these two weeks would be long, but I seriously feel as if time has just stopped. I have parent/teacher conferences this week and I am hoping that this will keep me busy. Our test is on Friday and we will not get the results until after 4:00 p.m. I will make sure to post after we have told our families what the results are. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers until Friday. We are on pins and needles right now and we just need a lot of prayers right now. Hopefully we will be posting some good news soon..................

No Frozen Eggs

2007-10-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Our doctor's office called yesterday and said that we didn't have any eggs make it far enough to freeze. I wasn't surprised because the criteria is so hard. Only about 15-20% of people can freeze, so I wasn't expecting much. Oh well, we have the best two eggs in me and that is all that counts. I'm feeling pretty good, just anticipating our first blood test. My kids and the holidays are definitely keeping me busy. The progesterone shots are going well, in fact I have been giving them to myself. The doctor told me to use the muscle in my hip area, so I can reach this just fine. Sometimes the nurse at school helps out if I'm not in the shot giving mood. I haven't had any side effects from the shot, no stomach aches or bruising and knots. I'm pretty happy about that :)

Thought this was sweet..........

2007-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

I just had time to put this picture on. On Tuesday after my retrieval, i went to my parents to rest and they were making us dinner. My parents surprised us with a cake to wish all of the 17 eggs good luck. We both thought it was so cute and thoughtful. Hopefully all of that luck will go to my two eggs that are now in me. By the way, the cake was really good. My dad said that the lady who put the writing on was kind of looking at him like what are writing on this cake. He told what it was for and she said "Oh, I understand."

Transfer Today

2007-10-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I am just now posting...everything went really fast today. The lab called this morning at 8:00 and said that the transfer would be today, day 3. I was at work and so was Jared, so I called him and he quickly left to come and get me. We had our appointment at 10:35 this morning. The doctor came in first and gave us a picture of both of the eggs that w ere going back today. They had 9 and 8 cells. He seemed pretty happy with this and he said that they looked real good. After we talked they took us back to the procedure room. Even Jared had to wear a gown, hat and booties. The procedure went pretty well. He had a little trouble getting the catheter in, but finally he got through and he transferred the two eggs in. We watched on a ultrasound monitor and they went right where they were suppose to. To me it looked like two little lights snuggled into the top of my uterus. Hey who can say that they actually got to see their babies being conceived. I had to lay for about 30 minutes afterwards and I couldn't wait to go to the bathroom (you have to go with a full belly). I feel pretty good right now. I want to keep still so I don't disturb them and their process. ha ha. They told me to take it easy for today and tomorrow and then slowly bring activity into my day. Unfortunately the hard part is now.....we wait two weeks for our first blood test followed by another blood test the following week. It will be the longest time of our lives. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we will let you know something as soon as we do............................

Update on Eggs

2007-10-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

I just got off of the phone with the nurse about all of our little eggs. She said that they wanted about 50% to make it. Well.............We had 8 make it! In my eyes that is close enough to 50%. They fertilized 9 of the eggs conventionally (just putting the sperm around the egg) and they fertilized 8 using ICSI (they inject the sperm into the egg). 2 of the 9 conventionally fertilized and 6 of the 8 fertilized with ICSI. She was pretty happy with the results and she said that they would call tomorrow with another update and a tentative time for a day 3 transfer (Friday). We are saying lots of prayers that they eggs keep growing. Please say some extra ones for us while we wait.......

17 Eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Just a short post.....I got home today about 3:00 and I have been sleeping since. The meds are wearing of and I was sleepy and a little sore. I feel pretty good overall. They took out 17 eggs, which they were extremely happy about. They said that I might be a little more sore because of how many eggs I had. So pretty much it is just water and tylenol and lots of rest. They said that they would call me around 12:00 tomorrow to update us on our eggies.....I'll post more tomorrow when I feel up to it.

Retrieval is Tuesday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

We went back to the doctor this morning and the ultrasound technician said that we were really close. Most or eggs were at the point of retrieval. Jared came back with me and he got to see all of the eggs on the ultrasound screen. She told us to wait until this afternoon to see what the doctor wanted to do. So we waited and they called and said it was a go for Tuesday. We are so excited that it is finally here. They are thinking that they will be able to retrieve about 10-12 eggs on the left and 6-7 on the right. YEAH!!!!! Tonight is my last set of shots. Tomorrow we take our Ovidrel shot (which get us ready for the procedure) at 10:30 p.m. It has to be given 36 hours before the retrieval. No shots on Monday. And then on Tuesday we have to be there at 9:45 a.m. I can't believe that it is already here. Our transfer will either be on Friday (day 3) or Sunday (day 5). We also start our progesterone shots on Tuesday. These help the embryos stick. These are the most critical shots. I will make sure to post sometime on Tuesday to let you know how many eggs we retrieved. Please say lot of prayers for us and keep us in your thoughts......More to come on Tuesday :)

Getting Bigger......

2007-10-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well I have definitely started to feel the effects of the eggs that are growing inside. Let me tell you, I feel like my stomach is going to explode. It is not the most comfortable feeling. I went back to the doctor this morning for blood work and an ultrasound and they recommended me to go on bed rest this weekend because things were progressing so fast. Since I am a teacher and my kids are 4 and 5, they wanted me to take it easy through the weekend to see if we could get things to calm down. Everything is still looking great. There are 9-10 eggs on the left side that are almost ready and 4-5 on the right. The doctor is still surprised at how well I responded to the meds. I still have a ton of eggs that are growing so we will see if they make it. The doctors want the size of the eggs to be between 17 and 18 and right now I am averaging around 14-15. So we are almost there. They are very pleased with the results so far and we are going back tomorrow for another ultrasound and blood work. I think that we should just move to St. Louis for the next week! They will evaluate everything tomorrow and then decide if we are ready for retrieval or we will back Monday morning for more ultrasounds and blood work. I'm definitely keeping off my feet all weekend and having Jared wait on me HA HA! I think that excitement is setting in for both of us and we can't wait to see how things develop.
More to come tomorrow.........

We are almost there !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

I went this morning for blood work and another ultrasound. I really do feel like a pin cushion now. Ha Ha. The ultrasound tech was amazed at all of the follicles that I had growing. She found 12 on left side and 11 or 12 on the right. She kept asking me how I felt because I had so many follicles in there. I told her I was just fine. Afterwards they said to wait and the Dr. would call to let me know what to do next. Well she called at 11:30 and she was also amazed at how well things were going. She decreased my stimulating shots because I was doing so well and she said to come back on Friday for another ultrasound. She too kept asking me how I was feeling and I said I felt ok just a few twinges. She told me to really take it easy the next few days and that I was really responding well to the meds. YEAH!!!!!!!! That was the best thing she could have told us. So I go back on Friday morning at 8:00 and we will go from there.....Keep you fingers crossed!!!!!!!!

On To Stimulating Shots

2007-10-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

I went this morning for my blood work and ultrasound. The nurse called on my lunch break and said everything looked great. I start my Gonal-F (stimulating shots) tonight and I will still have to take my lupron but my dose will be cut in half. The nurse said that I should start feeling better because the lupron will be cut in half. I sure hope she is right. I will do the two shots through Tuesday night and then my next blood work will be on Wednesday morning. After that I don't know what will happen. It all depends on how the stimulating shots are working. I'm so glad that everything went well today and I can't wait till Wednesday to find out more. I can't believe how fast everything is going :)

Getting the hang of it.....

2007-10-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well it has now been a week and two days for my first set of shots. I have to say that it is going by pretty fast. Unfortunately I have been feeling the side effects of the meds. It has not been very fun. I definitely am having the nausea, headaches, and hot flashes. Again it is not enough to keep me in bed, but enough to be very annoying. I just keep thinking of the end result and hope that this is all worth it. Our first appointment is Friday and I am really excited. I'm anxious to see if the meds are working and I'm ready to start the stimulating shots. I am not looking forward to doing two shots a night, but you have to do it. I did find that they sent me two different kinds of syringes for the lupron. Although they are the same size, one is definitely more comfortable to use than the other. I called our pharmacy today to send some more good needles tomorrow because I ran out. Anything to make this process easier. So, I will post on Friday as soon as I know anything. My appointment is at 7;40 a.m. (perfect for a teacher) and then they will call me in the afternoon. Wish me good luck :)

Third Times a Charm

2007-10-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

While this may hold some truth in some things, it didn't hold truth in my shot giving abilities. The first and second shots went great. No hesitation, no worries, very few tears. I was really proud of myself. However shot number three did not go as expected. Why? Because I froze. I literally couldn't bring myself to do the shot. My mind wouldn't let my hand do the work. I felt like such a failure because I had already given myself two shots and why would this be any different. I was at my parents house and Jared was at his school, so I think that the different environment and people really didn't help. After about 40 minutes of trying I had to have someone give me the shot. But I feel ok about it and I'm just going to try again tonight. I didn't realize the emotional impact a shot would have on me. I have been feeling pretty good so far. Little bit of pain and tension in my ovaries and a few hot flashes, but nothing to really stop me in my tracks. My kids at school are keeping me very busy and I am so thankful for that. I'm glad that I am feeling ok and I can't wait for the Dr.'s appt. next Friday. Thank you for all of your kind words and I just keep thinking about the end result of all of this hard work.

Our First Shot

2007-10-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well the day is finally here! I was so excited all day just knowing that today was our first shot and the beginning of our journey to baby hansley. I was also extremely nervous and it was probably the only thing that I have thought of today. We were in Ohio at a wedding all weekend with Jared's family, and we had such a great time. Maybe a little too much fun and it didn't involve any alcohol for me. It was so nice to be away for the weekend so I didn't have to think about the shots. Today I had a test for one of my college classes at 5:00 and then it was off to get my shot at 6:45. Some very good friends of my family went through this so we went to their house for some moral support. I did pretty good preparing the shot, and then I pricked my stomach three times and made it bleed before I actually gave it to myself. It didn't hurt of course, but I kept chickening out. I'm so glad that first one is done. I called my mom as soon as I was done and I think that she was relieved that everything was ok. Jared and my mom have been my rock through this and I am so happy to have them in my lives. So I am feeling ok from the shot so far, just some itchy skin around the site. I feel a sigh of relief because we are on our journey. Our first doctors appointment is the 12th of October to see if everything is ready for the stimulating shots. Until then we are to take 20 units of the Lupron each night at 6:45. Now that we have finally started I hope that I can post more often.

Our Medicine is Here

2007-09-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

Our medicine was sent on Friday to my parents house. The doctor wanted it to be sent early because we wanted to make sure that it was all here. So we both decided to send it right away and I also needed the prenatal vitamins asap. It is all here and accounted for. I was surprised by all of the needles and syringes that they sent, but I guess they don't want you to run out. Only two more weeks and we will be getting started. WOW!!!!!!!!! I am so excited if you can't tell.

Everything is moved up a week!!!!!

2007-09-11T12:01:00.001-07:00

So my cycle surprised me and came a day early. I called the Dr.'s office to let them know and they said that my schedule would now change because I was early. That means things are going to move faster. How exciting!!! You should see the smile on my face ( I kind of feel like the picture to the right). So here is what the new schedule looks like:

Lupron starts on October 1st (instead of Oct. 2)
Dr's visit on October 12th (instead of Oct. 17)
Start stimulating meds on Oct. 12 (instead of Oct. 19)
Retrieval and Transfer the week of Oct. 22 (instead of last week in Oct. first of Nov.)
Pregnancy test to follow

This again is subject to change if something doesn't work the right way or works too much. But so far it looks as if everything was moved up a little bit. I can't wait for Oct. 1. I will then feel like we are on the down slope of things. Our medicine has been ordered and will be delivered around the end of Sept. We will be enjoying a wedding when it comes, so my parents are in charge of getting it and keeping it safe for us. Isn't it nice how the grandparents are already helping out. Our baby will be so lucky and spoiled.

We Got Our Schedule

2007-09-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

The nurse finally called today with our tentative schedule. She didn't call yesterday because she took another day off because of the holiday. How dare she do that! Just kidding. Well after being on pins and needles because I wanted to know, we finally have an idea of our timeline. Here's what it looks like:

Sept. 12 Cycle begins
October 2 Start Lupron injections (suppression)
October 17 Go in for testing
October 19 Begin stimulation drugs
Week of October 22 Go in for lots of blood work and ultrasounds
Last week of October/First week of November: Retrieval
3 to 5 days later: Transfer
Pregnancy Test

These are very tentative and nothing is really exact until we get going, but it does give us a general idea of what to expect. Unfortunately we have no control over any of it. It seems surreal to be starting soon. I know I don't start shots until Oct. 2 but we have already been sent our medication list and began the ordering process. I am getting so excited and nervous. I can't wait until we can finally hold baby hansley in our arms. We have lots of shots and doctors appointment ahead of us, but we are so ready to enter this journey head on and give it our best. We can't wait to see how everything turns out! Thanks for all of your love and support!!!!!!!!!!!

Orientation

2007-09-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

My apologies for just now posting what went on last Thursday for orientation. We have been so busy that this is really the first time that I have gotten to sit down and think about everything we learned. Orientation went really well. We were presented lots and lots of information. I felt like my head was spinning after the presentation. We were there from 8:30 until about 1:00. I feel like I know everything that I need too before going into this. We met some of the nicest people from the labs, the surgical team, the other doctor's in the practice, and many nurses. I like that I already know and have seen some of them. We have decided that we are going to put back 2 of our best eggs and then freeze the other ones in case we need them for future use. The end of training was all about our shots and how to use them. I thought I was going to faint when we began pulling out all of the needles. There are three different kinds that we will be using. The first ones are for suppression and they are just small syringes that are put in the stomach. The second set are also put in the stomach but these are the stimulating drugs. These meds come in a pen that you dial in the amount of medicine and then inject. The third was are progesterone and these look scary. It is a longer and thicker needle and the medicine is oil based. Yeah!! Jared will be giving these to me in the hip/butt area. We did have to practice giving ourselves one in the stomach and it was a little difficult for me. My mind was saying "inject it "and my hand was saying "NO". But in the long run I did it and it didn't even hurt. Our next step is to wait until Tuesday and the IVF nurse will be calling with my schedule. We are so excited to get this. We are hoping to get started right away. We will also be ordering the meds when she calls.
I will definitely post as soon as I hear something. We can't believe the time is here.

Here We Go................

2007-08-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

I feel like we are getting on a roller coaster and going up that first hill. You don't know quite what to expect and your so nervous, excited and ready for it to be over. I know that we are in for the ride of our life.

Today was my mock embryo transfer. Everything was great, but it hurt like crazy. I came home and slept for about 2 hours. They also took 3 vials of blood from me so that did not help anything. All of the previous tests that we did last week were fine and she said that we are done and our folder is getting passed on to the next person. Please pass that folder as fast as possible because I am getting so anxious to start. Betty, our nurse, will call us in the next few days to give us our calendar and timeline for when everything will start. We will definitely be using the Sept. cycle. I thought that we couldn't do shots until around Sept. 12 because that is the beginning of the new cycle. But she said today that we will be starting shots before that. Probably only a couple of days after our orientation on the 30th. I can't believe that it is here already.

We are so ready to get started and our hearts are ready for baby hansley to come. Thanks for all of your support. I will post more after our orientation next Thursday.

Tests, Tests, and More Tests

2007-08-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

So we just wanted to check in and let you know that all of the extra tests that we had to do are almost over. Jared finished his last two tests last Friday, and I have my final tests next week. We both had to have some blood tests performed to check for anything that may interfere with the possibility of freezing some of our eggs after the transfer. We are only putting two eggs back, so if some more make the cut, we can freeze them for up to a year. My final test is next Thursday and it is a mock embryo transfer. It is just like the day I will go and do my real transfer with two eggs. They have to do some measuring and get things ready for the real deal. After this test we just wait until August 30 for orientation.

We also found out that when they remove the eggs from me, they are going to fertilize them in two different ways. Half of the eggs will be sprinkled and then half will be injected (known as ICSI ). We are excited that they are doing both and we hope that this increases our chances.

I think that the excitement has started to set in. I know that I cannot wait until the 30th. I think about it everyday and all day long. Imagine that? I have started my school year again and both Jared and I are going back to school this fall also. I am taking two classes to get my middle school endorsement and Jared is going back to get his masters. Do you think that we could do anything else? Hopefully this will keep us busy while we are waiting to find out if this works. Thanks for all of the support. More to come later........

Our first Appointment

2007-08-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Wow...I am so glad that today was finally our appointment. I could hardly sleep last night because I was so excited to get into the office and find out what was going on. First of all before I share everything that we learned today, I want to thank everyone for their support and the love that all of you have expressed to us. Not one person has questioned our decision to do IVF, in fact, everyone has been happy and even shed a few tears with us. Now to the exciting part. We met with the doctor at 11:30 today and she said that everything is a go for the IVF. We were so excited to hear those precious words. Our next step is our orientation on August 30 and this is where they give us the shot training and we sign all of our consent forms. We have to have a few more tests run before the orientation. After the orientation we then wait for my Sept. cycle and then we start. The whole process takes about a month and a half after that. So we are looking at the end of Oct. beginning of Nov. to get the pregnancy test results. I know that seems far away, but I think that it will go really fast. I think that this news and getting everything set up is finally bringing some excitement to us. We don't feel quite as overwhelmed as before.

I found a website on another woman's blog that explains all of the steps to IVF. I thought that I would share this for anyone who might want to look it up and learn more about what we are going to be doing. It is http://www.rscbayarea.com/articles/ivfvsgif.html.

That is all for now. We will post when we know more. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. Every one's well wishes has made this process a little easier.

Getting the Ball Rolling

2007-07-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

We had another ultrasound done on Friday and it confirmed that everything looks great to start the IVF process. I have great follicles on each side and the cyst that had formed is almost gone. The ultrasound technician was very pleased and said that it looks like I am a great candidate for this. We were very excited to get this news. Now we just wait until August 2nd to get some more info. Based on what two of my friends have done, it looks like the retrieval and transfer could be in the beginning of October. We are getting very excited about our appointment. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Waiting for our first appointment

2007-07-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Jared and I are writing this blog for many reasons. One is that there is and will be a lot of information and steps in our journey, and writing them helps me relieve some of my stress and anxiety. Another reason is that this is a big step in our journey to have baby hansley. We want all of our family and friends to be involved and send us some thoughts and prayers while we do this. We figured that if we made this blog, we could keep all of you updated in the process. We hope that you will continue to read and see how everything works out.

We began seeing a specialist in April. Her name is Valerie Ratts and she is part of Washington University Medicine and she is located at Barnes Jewish Hospital. She is wonderful and we really love her. She was my doctor when I had surgery at the age of 18 for endometriosis. She is a very aggressive doctor and we support all of her decisions. After many attempts to try other procedures to help us, Dr. Ratts has decided that IVF is the best way for us to get pregnant. Our first appointment will be on August 2nd. She will be consulting with us and giving us our timeline for the procedure. We also have to order our medicines that day. Lots of shots to give, so Jared is now going to become a Dr. also. HA HA. Who would have ever thought that I would be letting him give me a shot. Once we have that meeting we can begin to share more with everyone.

We are very excited, scared, nervous, emotional, and just a little overwhelmed right now. We hope that you will follow us through this journey. We would love to hear your comments, so we have attached a place for you to post them. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we will keep you updated!!!!