Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Jason and I were talking about how different and happy this holiday season is compared to last year. It's amazing how in one year your life can completely turn around, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. It's important to remember that life takes many turns and to appreciate each day. We are so close to having our own little family, only about 6 more weeks and we will get to meet our little girl. Although we are finally moving on with our lives there are so many couples still struggling with infertility and the holiday's are a hard time for them. Keep them in your thoughts as they wish for their little miracles in 2011, I know we will.

got a bug

It's that time of year that the flu bug is out making it's rounds. Monday I started not feeling right by Wednesday I was shivering and went home early from work. I thought maybe I had a temp but took it and it wasn't high but Wed night I had to change clothes a few times while sleeping because I was sweating so bad. I'm sure I had a fever and broke it that night. Still can't shake what ever this yuck is. I haven't been able to eat much, nothing sounds good and when I do I get the watery want to puke mouth so just been eating light and trying to drink water. Hope this is all gone by next week would love to enjoy the holiday and the food!

Baby Shower

This is a bit late but I was waiting on mom to give me some pictures from the baby shower that her and my sister hosted over the Thanksgiving holiday. They invited so many friends and family and it was so good to see everyone. I got more than I ever could have expected. On the invitation they put to bring a book for baby rather than a card so I've got a good start on baby's library. I got some absolutely adorable clothes for her, can't wait to play dress up. My mom surprised me with my old baby quilt completely redone. It was not only my favorite but became my mom's when I was out of the house. She tore it apart a few years ago to save what she could before it got too bad. A client of hers redid some of the squares and the back. I opened it and my eyes filled with tears. It was such a meaningful gift.

My mom made me a diaper cake and after taking it all apart and putting the diapers away she has got way more patience than I do to do something like that. Such a cute idea.

My sister made a cake for the baby shower, which was adorable. Not sure where she found the little onsie but I thought it was too cute!! I really couldn't have asked for a better shower. Everything was perfect and we are now set for when baby arrives.

Passed 3hr Glucose

Nurse just called to let me know that I passed the 3 hour glucose test...Yay!! Tomorrow afternoon I have a regular OB appt. When you go every other week these appt come so fast.

Big final tomorrow then done with class. I'm so ready to have a break!!

Sorry so short but just wanted to update test results.

4D Ultrasound

We went in today for our 4D ultrasound. Baby has a little bit of hair and is still folded where her feet are on her forehead. Hope you enjoy the few pics! She looks pretty cute! Oh and she did check again and it is for sure a girl.

Thanksgiving was wonderful but very busy. Jason and I headed home to Nebraska for the weekend. Had two dinners and of course ate way too much, who doesn't. On Saturday my sister and mom hosted a baby shower for me and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful shower. They went all out!! The crib came in and Jason's parents were so kind to pick that up in KC for us and bring it home as our car was packed to the top with gifts. Jason couldn't wait to set it up so he worked on that Sunday night. Love it and the room is almost finished.

Before leaving for Thanksgiving I had my glucose test. They told me that if I didn't hear from them on Monday morning I was good. Well the results must not have come in on time like they thought because my nurse called today to tell me I failed and needed to come in for the 3 hour test this week. I will be spending my Thursday morning at the Dr's office with fingers crossed that I pass and that I don't have gestational diabetes.

The semester is almost over, only 1 more week and I will be half done with nursing school...Yay!!!

Belly photos

I decided before it got too cold that I should get a few shots of my belly.

Here are just a few I thought I would share.

Update on room..

Walls are done and the 3 pieces of furniture are in. I painted some swirls on the pink wall with glaze...love it. Jason said by the time she is 2 she is going to hate swirls because I use them on everything!!

Happy Halloween!!

Nursery is coming along

Today was such a beautiful day outside, 70 something with no wind which is rare for Kansas. We decided to work on the nursery furniture out side at Jason's parent's garage. We bought a crib and it should be here by or shortly after Thanksgiving. We went with a black finish because we knew we had other pieces to try and match up. Jason has been working all day on refinishing an armoire and a glider given to us by family. Tonight if he still has enough energy he plans to finish painting the wall in her room. We have the yellow taupe color painted on the 3 walls but wanted to make sure we were happy with the one pink wall. So really he just has the 1 wall to finish and then I need to put the finishing touches on it. I think I'm going to paint some swirls with glaze, we'll see how it turns out. I'm ready to get the hard parts done (painting and furniture) then I can finish setting little things up later.

I had my 24 week OB appt today. She said I was measuring right on, not too big and not too small. I've gained about 19lbs so far kinda crazy to see the scale hit some of those numbers. My next appt will be right before Thanksgiving, I'll have my glucose test done that day and then I will start with bi-weekly appointments. As we are getting closer to Feb. I'm starting to think more about her and bringing her home and how we are gong to raise this little one. There are so many things to think about and talk about. I'm glad Jason and I communicate well so we can decide together how we are going to start this next journey in our life.

Shopping Trip to KC

It's been a little while but nothing too eventful to write about. Jason and I headed up to Kansas City to do some shopping for baby. We originally picked out some bedding at Restoration Hardware but got the color swatch of the pink and it really didn't look much different than the white card it was attached to. I wasn't wanting a bright pink but I at least want it to look pink and not white. We ended up finding a bedding set in KC, it's the brand I've been looking at for a while, Glenna Jean. I would have never picked this out online but in person it's too cute. It has several colors in it making it a little easier to coordinate other accessories for the room rather than the pink and gray we were going to do. The ladies at the store where we bought it at were so nice. They let us take it out and put it on the crib we ordered from them (floor model) to make sure we like the whole look. Now we have to pick paint colors and color scares me! We got a few swatches yesterday when we got back in town. We are wanting to do at least one pink wall but I don't want it to look like Pepto Bismol. I have the swatches hanging on the wall and might even go get a sample can of paint to make sure it's not too wild. Jason and I have tried some colors at his previous house and not good. The kitchen ended up looking like it belonged to the Smurfs. I keep telling myself it's just paint and if we hate it we can repaint. (Ok...no we in that, Jason can repaint)

Miss Sophie I think knows that something is going on. She has been ever so snuggly lately. She is doing so good after her little surgery. Other than her hair still shorter in the area of her incision and pain patch you can't even see a scar. I'm curious how she will act when baby gets here. I hope they get along good. I'm sure they will after Sophie gives here about a million and 1 kisses.

We are coming up on 23 weeks on Wednesday. Yesterday I had a cup a coffee and I forgot it wasn't decaf until it was too late. She either really liked it or hated it because she was moving for about a half an hour non stop. Even with out having caffiene she is moving a ton these days. What an amazing feeling that is I've waited so long to enjoy pregnancy.

31st Birthday!!

Well I couldn't ask for a better birthday gift than to be pregnant! How different this birthday is. Not that last years surprise party wasn't fun but I still had an empty place in my heart. I got several cards today and mom sent a package with a sweater set. I thought it was very cute for maternity and then when I called her to tell her thanks she said she got it in the junior dept. Wohooo, I still fit into regular clothes....ok some. Don't look at the shorts they are my new shorts I bought because all my others cut into my belly. They don't match the shirt I have on but wanted to show my belly and my new sweater.

21 Weeks

I think back and 1 week ago today we had such a huge scare. I'm so glad that the start of week 21 is different. Baby girl has been moving around so much the last few days. Jason has been able to feel some pretty good kicks from her. I feel like I've really popped out in the last week or two. Clothes are starting to get a little snug, even some of my maternity pants. I thought your belly was the only thing that was supposed to get big not your butt. Might need to find a couple pairs of pants in the next size up. My back is starting to bother me, maybe because having the belly is forcing me to sit and stand up straight. I have the worst posture in the world so maybe this will make me have a stronger back and I will stand straight after this. I've also got a bruised feeling tail bone. Some say online it's from the pressure of baby, the increase in size of the uterus stretches and pulls on the ligaments that go from the cervix to the tailbone. Not sure but I might be sitting on a doughnut to do my studying here soon because it hurts. I'm not complaining at all, just trying to share what's going on. I've really had a very easy pregnancy so far, no morning sickness, no heartburn so a sore back and butt I can handle.

20 Weeks!!

Well we are out of the teen's and into the twenties! I planned on posting last night but plans changed about 4:45pm when I was sitting at work and felt a couple big gushes. This might be TMI but sometimes I have a creamy mucus but this seemed like quite a bit. I decided to go to the bathroom just to make sure it was that or maybe a little wee wee. I've heard of lot of pregnant ladies wetting a little. Well I was totally shocked to see blood and lots of it. I came out of the bathroom shaking and in tears. Luckily there were a couple girls still at work that could help me figure out what to do.

At this time I was just thinking this is all coming to an end, I'm only 20 weeks and there is nothing they can do for me at this point. I called my Dr's office and got to talk to the nurse. She told me to head over to Wesley (hospital I'll be delivering at) to get things checked out. I called Jason and he was just leaving work so was able to meet me there. They got us right in and up to labor and delivery. They found a heart beat right away which made me feel so much better but they wanted to do a pelvic exam. Everything seemed to look good there, cervix was closed thank goodness so they (3 nurses and the Dr.) left the room and we sat and sat and sat...waiting to hear what we were supposed to do. It was about 1 1/2hrs later and Jason and I were so hungry we decided we better get a hold of our nurse. I called the number that the one nurse left on the board before she left to go home but know one answered that. Jason finally had to go find someone to let us know if we could go home or if they were going to keep me?? The nurse came in with some paperwork to fill out and I asked her if they found out why I was bleeding and she said she would grab the Dr. She came in to tell me she wasn't sure and these were her words before she walked out, "I can't say this is not the start of a miscarriage, so say a little prayer and keep fingers crossed". What? Who in the world tells someone that. So needless to say we got very little sleep.

I was to follow up with my OB today so I gave them a call at 8:30am and she wanted me to have an ultrasound at 10. I headed over there and my friend Jennifer was able to meet me there since Jason was at work. I was thankful she offered because I seem to always be so tough but I thought if something is wrong it might be good to have someone there. Everything looked great. The tech I think could have looked at baby all day if she don't have other appointments. We were there almost an hour, she was very thorough and knew a bit about our journey with infertility and wanted to make sure she checked everything. So feet up this weekend which is fine I have a bit of studying to do.


Profile picture of her with mouth open. We were watching her move her tongue and open and close her mouth. Amazing what they can see.

Team Pink for sure!!

So here is a profile of our little girl! We had another ultrasound today and it's still a girl!! It was absolutely amazing to watch her acrobatic moves in there. I think we have a wild one on our hands. Jason said it's because she's like me but I've heard a few stories and he was no angel either. Her heart beat was at 153 today and she measured at 8oz and still a due date of February 9th. The tech asked if that seemed like a long ways away and I told her it used to but we're already half way there and the first half went so fast I can't imagine how fast the second half will go.

I called my mom and my sister to let them know we are still on team pink. Poor aunt Katie has been dying to buy something but was afraid she would have to return it for blue. Watch out baby stores for mom and sis I think they may go a little crazy here soon and buy up anything pink or frilly.

As for me I'm proud to say I still fit in my shorts today with a little help from a rubber band looped through the hole and around the button but hey, they fit. I've gained 10lbs so far. I would like to top out around 30lbs but we will see. It seems to just appear some days. Also ice cream is finally sounding good again so it might be closer to 35lbs. Oh well I'll just have to work a little harder this spring to get it all off.

Sophie is doing very well. She is still not walking on that leg which is fine. The vet said it may take a few days for her to put it down and try. Yesterday I took her pain patch off that was on her back. They shaved a small area but then they taped it down. What a nightmare to get it off. Luckily we were doing our garage sale and a nurse gave us some suggestions on how to get the sticky off. We ended up using some of that orange soap with the little bit of grit in it to help soften it and get it off. Poor thing has been thru so much this week.

I took these pics of her today to show you her little leg. She's got her Go Big Red gear on today ready for the first football game!! Go Huskers!!

I'm thinking I felt the baby move this weekend. They say it feels like a flutter and I kinda felt that more like a couple little bumps. She's an active one so I'm sure I will be feeling her a lot here soon. Other than that just starting to think about what colors to do for the room. Will probably try and get that painted this fall while it's cool and we can open the windows.

so emotional

Today Sophie went in for her knee surgery. I dropped her off around 4 o'clock so they could get her lab work and some other things out of the way before the surgery tomorrow. I never thought I would love a dog so much that I would cry my eyes out for 30 min after dropping her off. I know this is for the best but we won't get her back until Wednesday or Thursday. Very quiet around the house with out our little punkin.

16 weeks

Yesterday I had an OB appt all looks good. We talked about my calcium being a little low from my blood work that was done last week she said to try and get some extra calcium in food and not take a supplement because of my history of kidney stones. She said pregnant women are at higher risk of getting them. She also told me to try and drink a glass of lemonade everyday to reduce the risk. That's the last thing I need right now is another stone. Baby's heart rate was at 153 which is good and should be about the size of an avocado. Our next ultrasound is scheduled for September 10th and I forgot to ask but it sounds like this will be my last one unless I have problems. We may just have to talk her into at least 1 or 2 more. Not sure if I (we) can wait that long.

It's a Girl??

We had an ultrasound this afternoon and baby is measuring about 6 days ahead. When the tech first started looking at baby it was on its back with legs up over the head. We may have a gymnast on our hands...lol!! We were so sure that it would have legs crossed and no chance of finding out gender but it was far from. The tech got a great shot and she is pretty sure it's a GIRL!!! We will have another chance to look in about 3 weeks and hopefully it will be more definitive. Here are a few pics of her (?) and an updated belly shot.

2nd Trimester..Yay!!!

First trimester....check! Only 2 more to go. We are so happy to be at this point finally, although it has gone pretty fast. We had our couple of scares but really it has been pretty easy compared to some people's experiences. Our little one is now the size of a peach, it's just crazy how fast it grows. My belly is getting a little bigger but still just looks like I ate way too much. Some of you may already know but I ran into a little snag with my bridesmaid dress for my cousin's wedding at the end of August. I bought it to fit with a little room to get the top taken in a bit. Last week for some reason I thought I better try it on and make sure it was still going to work.....well let's just say I couldn't breathe when Jason finally got it zipped up. OMG... this dress took 12 weeks to get in and I only have 4 weeks until the wedding. Thank goodness they put a rush on the new dress (3 sizes bigger) and it should be here Saturday or early next week. Of course it will have to be taken in but I am definitely bigger than what I thought. My next ultrasound is on August 20th, and we have hopes of finding out what we are having. It might be a little soon but we're going to try.

Just an update on how everything is going. Had a pretty interesting day on Wednesday. Was leaving work pulling out of the parking lot and got rear ended. I had my seatbelt on, but it jolted my head quite a bit forward then back. I called the cops and they sent an ambulance to check me out and everything was fine. Then I called my OB and the nurse said to just be cautious we should set up a sonogram for Thursday morning to make sure the baby is ok. So we got quite the treat this morning seeing it move around! Here's some pictures...

Everything has been going fine since our little scare a few weeks ago. As I mentioned in an earlier post I had been referred to our only high risk OB in Wichita. After 2 weeks of them trying to schedule me an appt for there first available in September Jason did some research online about the Dr. and her office. We only found negative comments online and also a girl I work with had to go to this office with her first pregnancy and told me she wouldn't go there. We then thought maybe we should find one in KC or OK City but I thought I would give Dr. Yang, our family doctor a call to see what he suggested as I felt that I would get a better answer from him than my OB. Dr. Yang got me in this last Monday the 12th. Then he sent the results to a highly regarded hematologist, Dr. Phu Truong, for him to check me out as well on Wednesday. I told Dr. Yang that I was just wanting to make sure everything was going well and felt like nobody was paying any attention to that. He said he would be the anal one and make sure what I wanted done got done. Dr. Truong said everything was in the normal range and that my blood should be checked monthly. So I will be canceling the high risk OB appt we have and letting my OB and hematologist work toghether.

I had a minor scare over the 4th of July weekend. I had a little bit of spotting Sunday night and Monday. Decided not to go to the E.R., as it was very light. Called my doc this morning and they got me in for an ultrasound right away. I found out it was a Sub Chronic Hematoma which is a gathering of blood between the membranes of the placenta and the uterus. Some doctors will refer to it as a blood clot. Iwas told to take it easy, no cleaning or laundry for 32 weeks... no really just to take it easy, sit when I can and let Jason do things for me. When I get to the 2nd trimester in 4 weeks I should be a bit more out of the woods. So here is our picture of our little grape. It's amazing how fast it changes. This week you can see the legs and arms and it was moving quite a bit which I could see on the screen. She checked the heartbeat and it was 173, she said very good and strong.

Today I had my first OB appointment and it went well. Was not expecting a full well woman check while I was there but she did the horrible pap and will have to do another one in a few months...yuck.

My Dr. talked with me about seeing a high risk OB just to make sure they are doing everything right since having this protein S deficiency and being on the blood thinners. The High Risk OB should call me tomorrow with that appointment time, the high risk OB will do another sono to check everything, which I am fine with. Hoping that appointment will be in just a few weeks.

They gave me tons of vitamin samples which would have been nice to have the years we were trying because after finding out we were pregnant I bought the largest bottle you can buy so I think I'm set for quite a while. They also gave me some material on all the genetic testing they can do and info on Stembanc which stores the baby's stem cells. Not sure how we feel about all that so Jason and I will have to do some talking.

Having a hard time with the water mouth so I decided to put a trash bag in the car just in case I lose it one day. Hopefully not but it's progressively getting worse everyday so would rather just be prepared.

7 Weeks 2 days

We just got back from our 7 week sono appointment and I think we were smiling from ear to ear because leaving a couple ladies said it must be good news and it was!!! The baby is still measuring right on and the heart beat went from 95 to 143 today. Jason and I had guessed based on the formula they give you online and I thought 117 and Jason's was 125 so well above that. What a huge sigh of relief. We are heading to a movie and dinner tonight to celebrate this and our anniversary yesterday. We didn't get each other anything because how can you top being pregnant for a gift!

I received a phone call today from our Dr. in Dallas congratulating us on our first sono last week. He said everything looks great and would like to start weening me off of my progesterone injections July 1st (the one that Jason does in my rear) Jason is thrilled he doesn't have to do this one anymore. I will have to continue the Lovenox and he suggested a high risk OB. I will talk to my OB on Monday the 28th for the first time so we will see what she says and recommends. I'm feeling great for the most part, some days I feel a little yuck but usually a snack takes care of that. A little dizzy here and there and some growing boobs...finally. At times I still question if this is real or not. I think when I start actually showing and not just have a swollen belly still from the OHSS it will feel a bit more real!

We have 1 SWEET PEA

Today was our first sonogram. I was asked to drink 32oz of water and be there by 1:30pm for our appt at 1:40pm. I was miserable by the time they called me back at 2:05pm. Jason took out the camera and she told him he couldn't video it. Not even just the screen, not sure why we couldn't but she gave us a CD with the pics on it. They started out doing it on my abdomen and couldn't really see much. Her words were, "I think I saw something but not sure" didn't sound to reassuring so I went and emptied my bladder and she did a trans vaginal sono and there it was. We were able to see the heart beat 95 bpm. I didn't get emotional like I thought I might. I think after not being able to hear it right away got me a little nervous. Our next appt will be June 25th same time 1:40 in the afternoon.

Purchased a video camera to capture this journey and also a little of Sophie :) So here is a test video of Sophie licking on her favorite toy.

PREGNANT!!!!!

The two week wait has ended, and we are happy to say...


Sorry we have made you wait so long, trying to make sure we are in the clear. We found out on Memorial Day. Jason did not want me to take a home pregnancy test but it was killing me so I ran into Walgreen's and picked one up. When I got home that evening I decided to go for it but knew that it was still really early and it was in the evening so there was a good chance that it could be negative but it wasn't. It was a blazing BFP after about 1 min. We then had blood work appointments last week to confirm it and my hcg numbers were more than doubling like they were supposed to, so we were told to schedule our first sonogram. Wohoo!! Our first sonogram will be June 25th, which will let us know if it's one or two in there and we should be able to see/hear the heart beat. We are really excited but a little nervous and trying to believe that this is real. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we have a long way to go. Just taking this one week at a time.

TWW is coming to an end

The tww is coming to an end next week. Not sure what to think just trying to be positive. Been staying busy. I started class on Tuesday and that's every evening from 4-6:45 not the way I want to spend my summer nights but I have to do it to continue on to second semester.

crafts during my TWW

So I have been trying to stay busy, here are some of my headbands I have created in my time at home. Might try and sell them on etsy and thought about putting a few at mom's shop. I think the red and white "Go Big Red" ones would sell up there. I have tons of fabric some I already had and some I got this weekend with all the holiday sales going on.

Not much to report just trying to stay busy so I don't think about any signs/symptoms or lack of. It's such a horrible mind game this tww. Sometimes I feel really positive that it worked and then lately I started to think why would this work. It hasn't worked the last 5 times so why now. I don't know I'm going to go crazy by then end of the two weeks.

3 on ice

Today I am on the last leg of my 48hrs of bed rest. I wouldn't say i'm completly following orders. If anyone knows me bed rest is almost impossible. I did really good after transfer and yesterday but I've had about enough. I'm trying to just take it real easy by sitting not laying. I went down stairs and did one page in my scrapbook that took me about an hour so now after my post I'm heading to the couch and will try and stay there most of the day. The embryologist called and they were able to freeze 3 embryos...wahoo!! Glad we have some for later use. I'm feeling good wearing an estrogen patch and doing my Lovenox shot in my belly which stings like a mother and doing my progesterone in oil in my bootie. Jason has been great waiting on my hand and foot and being a great nurse with the injections.

The transfer went well, and our two embryos are digging in. We put the best two in that we had, which they said were excellent, and have three more just like them. So we will definitely freeze those. There were four other embryos also that could potentially make it to freeze as well. They prescribed some Valium to help keep her relaxed for the next 48 hours or so. Here's a picture of the two waiting to be transfered!

Today is the day we are going to put our two embryos in there home for the next 9 months. We will talk to the Dr. and embryologist when we get there to make sure that two is the right number but that's what we are guessing. We will be return after transfer to the hotel to relax and give our babies a chance to get settled in. Tomorrow we'll check out a little late and return home to relax a little more. I was really getting used to not working but that all will come to an end on Thursday...back to work :(

Our report is in...

The embryologist called this morning and we have....

6- eggscellent
4- good
6- average
2- poor

Our transfer will be Monday at noon.

18 fertilized...Wahoo!

Our embryologist just called with our fertilization report. Here it is...28 retrieved yesterday of those 22 were mature enough and 18 fertilized!! He will call us back on Saturday to let us know how they are all doing. So glad to get over this hurdle now we pray that most make it to Sat and maybe we will have a couple to freeze!

I'm starting to feel better today. Trying to drink as much as I can to help with the fluid retention. I just hope that this all is better by transfer.

Well, we are home and everything was good on the way home. When we got home Sara fainted briefly and ever since then has not been feeling to good. There is going to be some mild Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), but it was not quite this bad last time. She is drinking lots of Coconut water and Gatorade. We are doing everything we can to help this subside so that this cycle will not be cancelled and we can continue with the Transfer on Monday.

Retrieval is done and Sara is doing good. They retrieved 28 eggs, some kind of on the small side, but plenty of very good ones. With 28 retrieved we shouldn't have a problem getting a few good fertilized ones. We should know tomorrow how many fertilize. Now its time for the trip Home, Sara is slowly waking up and we are going to stop and get some Coconut water to keep her hydrated. Just hope we can squeak through Oklahoma and on into Kansas without too much severe weather!

Had my last sonogram this morning at 7:30. I was kind of borderline ready to trigger and they thought I might have to be back down Tuesday morning for another sonogram, but they called and I'm going to trigger tonight. That means Jason and I will then head down Tuesday night and have retrieval on Wednesday morning at 7:45. Everything is looking good!

Just got done with my appointment, everything looking really good. The Dr said it was a textbook cycle which we have heard those words before, but he said its going to happen for us. The main difference in this one is my estrogen levels are right on target and not so high as they were before. Plus I'll be on Lovenox to help with the Protien S defficiency. So my next appointment will be Monday morning @ 7:30 which will be perfect so we can hit the road early to get mom back so she can head home. After that Jason and I will be heading back down Tuesday night for retrieval on Wednesday morning. Then probably heading back to Wichita Wednesday afternoon. Then comes TRANSFER!

Everything is looking good. Had an appt today and E2 level was at 550 which is really good for me. I'm usually really high which can lead to problems. I will have an appt tomorrow morning and again on Monday and then will head back so mom can get back to work. Looking like our egg retrieval will be Wednesday or Thursday. Raining here but didn't stop us from a full day of shopping.

This will be quick trying to do this from my phone. We got down here around 9:30 last night. Robbie was so kind to let us stay at their house. It took us about 45 minutes to get to our appt from there so not bad. They did a follicle scan and blood work so about a 10 minute appt. I had 15 follicles on the right and 7 on the left so plenty to choose from. Will be back down for the weekend they want to see me back Friday morning at 9:15 and Sunday or Monday. Mom will be coming down with me for these so, fun girls weekend for us!!

Since stopping the BCP on the 4th I've been waiting for AF to arrive but thought it wouldn't be until Sunday or Monday but she decided to help me out for once and arrive early...Yay!! I called the office today as I was supposed to on CD1 and my sweet nurse said great, you will start your gonal f tomorrow night.....ummmm not good because I'm in Omaha and my medications are in Wichita. I told her I called and spoke to a nurse last week for this exact reason knowing I was going to be out of town and that nurse told me I wouldn't start anything until at least the 14th. I'm no longer talking to that nurse if I have any questions b/c this is the 2nd time she gave me wrong information. I think she just tells me a range and doesn't really look at my chart. She said we could wait and I said no, no, no I will just reorder my medication and get it overnighted to Omaha. Overnight delivery garentees it by noon and I have to take it between 6-8pm so perfect. I think the nurse thought I was a little crazy for paying again for the meds but I didn't want to screw things up and have to wait until...well next summer for our next chance at it. So my first appt for a follicle scan will be on Wednesday the 12th at 8:30am they will let me know then when the next appt will be. I'll pack for a couple days just incase they want me to stay but I'm going to guess they will want to see me on Friday or Saturday.

Last BCP!!!!!!!!!

Tonight I take my last BCP and then wait for a light AF then the fun begins. I won't know when I start my gonal f until AF arrives but it should be next week! I get butterflies when I think about how soon this will all be happening. I only have my final exam left next Monday then a short break. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with a "B" in the class which is ok. I've had a long talk with myself and as hard as I have worked this semester I'm just not an "A" student and that's ok. :)

4 more days of BCP's!!

I talked with my nurse yesterday and my last BCP will be on May 4th. When she said that I was thinking that is so far away and I am ready to be done with these yucky things....then I looked at the calendar and omg that is next week already. Wohoo!!! So I will stop those on the 4th and should see the wicked witch about 5 days later for the last time! I'm expecting my first trip down to Dallas around the 19th so things have been moved up a couple days so I hope with all fingers and toes crossed this now can all be done before classes start back up in June. Oh and I thought I would share my socks with you all that I will be wearing for the ET. Gotta have a little fun with it.

I had my sonogram today and we got the clear to get started on medications...Yay!!! I will take my BCP for another week then I should have a short period and then the real drugs start. Only 1 more week of school left. What a great time to start all this...no stress!! Getting excited if you can't tell!

Today kicks off the National Infertility Awareness Week NIAW. This is a movement sponsored by RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association, to raise awareness about the disease of infertility, which affects 7.3 million Americans.

Got our schedule

Today the Dallas office called me to go over my schedule for this IVF cycle. I will have a sonogram done here locally on April 28th and then I will start my Lupron that day. This medication is used to prevent premature ovulation by suppressing the estrogen production in your body. I shouldn't have to make a trip to Dallas until May 21st give or take a day. The only problem is that it's looking like our transfer will be around June 2nd or 3rd. Not what I wanted because class starts back up June 1st. AF arrived a week late this time so it messed everything up. I hope my instructor will be understanding that I may miss a day or two of class.

Mom just left after a fun filled weekend of shopping, eating and more shopping! AF arrived on Friday morning so I had to call the Dallas office to make sure all I needed to do was start BCP (birth control pills) My RE actually called me back himself and said we needed to get blood work one more time and it would have to be Monday morning. Great...I have a test Mon. at 8:30am so I'm thinking I will have to leave class right after the test and miss the rest of lecture to get this done. As soon as blood in drawn I have to take my first pill. I'm dreading taking the BCP because they make me so nauseous but excited because this is the start of this next IVF cycle! Woo Hoo!!!

It's a good day

We got great news today about our lab work bill/insurance situation. My Dr here that did all the lab work ended up writing it all off because they didn't have me sign a waver saying that these tests are normally not covered and we would be responsible. We only have to pay $226 for Jason's chromosome analysis, too bad they didn't mess up on that one too!! Maybe I should bake the front office some cookies and thank them for the goof. :)

Normal

Just got a call that Jason's chromosome analysis came back completely normal....YAY!!! So now we know it's all my fault, (not anybodys fault, we are in this together...from Jason) but that's ok now that we know what it is. We are still waiting on insurance to process the claim for all these tests. We got a frightening phone call last week saying the claim was denied....what?? Are you kidding? I guess they needed more information on why we were needing all these tests ran so the Dallas office resubmitted info and we have to wait 7-14 more days to see how much we have to shell out. It would be thousands of dollars if insurance doesn't pay so fingers crossed they will pay part of it.

more blood work for DH

Ugggggh...I got a call from our Dallas office this week saying they never got Jason's Chromosome analysis results in. The nurse then said it looked like they ran all the same tests on Jason as they did on me. What?? First thing that came to mind was I am not paying for all of those. So I called my Dr office here to see whathappened and told her all Jason's tests that were ran were all unnecessary and the one we needed never got done. So Jason ran in on Thursday during his lunch and had blood drawn. We should have results back in 10 days. Nothing can ever go smooth with us.

hope on the horizon

I forgot to mention in the previous post that they are going to start me on a blood thinner, Lovenox. The nurse called the medication in today and it will be here on Monday. I'm not sure exactly when I start it. I will be talking with the nurse more about it next week.

Blood clotting disorder

We finally got our test results back and they found that I have a very rare blood clotting disorder that affects just a few thousand people worldwide. They found my Protein S level to be low from the normal range. This could be our problem with implantation and our reoccurring miscarriages. The nurse told me that the Dr also said it's important to have mom, dad and sister checked for this because Protein S deficiency may be hereditary. Protein S deficiency usually manifests clinically as venous thromboembolism (VTE)which means a blood clot forms in the veins. It can be damaging as it might block the flow of blood. Also, part of the clot might break away and block a blood vessel further along, cutting off the blood supply to important organs.

Had a great time up in Chicago with mom and Katie. We shopped and shopped and shopped a little more. Friday was a week since we had blood drawn for our testing so I decided to call and check on the results today....nothing yet. The nurse said sometimes it can take a couple weeks. Will post when I know something.

Not a whole lot going on here just trying to get everything in order for our next IVF in May. Our Dallas Dr. has a list of things he wants done asap so we have been trying to get some of those checked off. Jason went in for a semen anaylisis last week and the results were faxed down to Dallas. I got the call today that it all looked good. So no ICSI this time...yay!! Saves us 2-3k (ICSI: Stands for intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a test-tube fertilization procedure in which a sperm is injected directly into an egg to achieve fertilization.) On the same phone call the nurse told me he was ordering 7 more blood test for me and 1 chromosome test for Jason. It worked out perfect because Jason took the afternoon off and our family physician was able to squeeze us in at the end of the day. This was the nurse and Dr that took such good care of me with my kidney stone. They are such kind people so I feel they deserve some homemade cookies delivered to them Monday. They will fax the results down to Dallas so we should know something in about a 7-10 days. School is going good we are in our 3rd week of clinicals. I'm at the nursing home in Andover and it's sooo depressing. There are a few people there I wish I could take home with me. They are so independent and if they had some family support they could live at home.

Yesterday I spoke with our Dr. in Dallas about what we should do. He said with recurring miscarriages and multiple failed IVF attempts he likes to do blood work to see if there is an immune disorder. I had some testing done after the miscarriage in October so I will need to get a copy of those and let him review the results. Then he will send me to have more testing done based on those results and tests that have already been done. He said immune testing can get very expensive but if we are getting ready to spend the money on another IVF cycle then we should have these test done. Jason actually ordered a book last week on immune disorders after doing some research online, he really feels that this is our problem. Now it's just figuring out which one I have. So I will get started on these tests asap so we will be ready for our next round of IVF in May. I told him I have a small window between classes ending and starting back up. We are planning to do all this between May 10-31st. I feel like he really wants to help us rather than just saying lets try again and taking our money. We also discussed doing the guarantee program where you pay upfront for 2 IVF cycles but you get a chance at 3 cycles and if you don't take a baby home then you get 70% of your money back. I'm glad I have school to take my mind off all this the semester is going so fast so this will all be happening very soon!!

The culprit to my pain...

Well here it is. It may be too much for some to look at but I passed a kidney stone!!! I feel like a million bucks right now. My pain was getting better last night and then about 1:30pm today it was back just as bad as Tuesday when I went into the ER. I think I had an infection along with the stone because I was running a fever but this was the true cause of my pain. So this was number 3 for me and I'm only 30.