Egg Retrieval Day 0

Well today went very well. They were able to retrieve 26 eggs and only 3 of them were not mature enough to fertilize. The morning started off with a little Valium for me so I could have cared less what was going on by the time they got me back into the operating room. I took some self portraits of Terry and I while we were waiting for me to go back.

don't i look lovely in that hat :)

Today was considered Day 0 for our little embryos. Todd, the embryologist, called us at about 11:30 and he had already fertilized each of the 23 eggs. He will now call us everyday and let us know how they are doing. I know that he will take good care of them while they are outside my body. He has been working for Dr. Schnell for 12 years and does an awesome job. They will either be transfered back into me on Sunday or Tuesday. We are hoping for Tuesday because all the research I have done states that 5 day transfers have better success rates.

I was out during the procedure and didn't wake up until they took me to recovery. I was cramping pretty bad when I woke up. And continued to hurt until I couldn't take it anymore. Terry finally called the doctor's office at about 3:00 and they called in a prescription for pain killers for me. I am felling sooooo much better tonight, but still hurt when walking around. I've tried not to do to much of that.

Adam, Lori, and Avery brought us dinner tonight. Olive Garden.. YUMMY!!! It was so thoughtful of them and even more appreciated. Mom is going to come over and make me chicken and dumplings tomorrow. Yea for good food.

Now our prayer is that the embryos will develop the way they need to in order for them to be given back to me. Thank you so much for all the kind words, prayers and comments. It means so much to us to know that everyone loves us so much. We Love ALL of you TOO!!!

Last shot (for now)

Well last night the shot went fine, of course. Lori did a phenomenal job. Once again I didn't even feel it. Terry stood in front of me and held my hands. So sweet!! Tomorrow is the first big day. We have to be at the doctors office at 5:45 am. Not a fan of early mornings but this will be worth it. They will actually be putting me under anesthesia to retrieve the eggs. I'm not sure if I will blog tomorrow or not, it just depends on how I feel, but I will blog and let everyone know how it went as soon as I can. OR maybe, just maybe I can get my Terry to do it for me. We will see!!! They will also fertilize the eggs tomorrow so they will call us tomorrow evening and let us know how those little rascals are doing. They will actually call us everday until they put the embryos back (transfer) and let us know how they are doing.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. Please say a special prayer at about 6:30 in the morning.

Quick update

I just talked to the nurse and my Egg Retrieval will take place at 6:45 on Thursday morning. Please pray that the eggs have matured and they will be able to get as many as possible. Also remember to keep the Doctor and all the staff that will be working on me in your prayers. Pray that they will be able to do their job to the best of their ability. Also pray that I do not have hyperstimulation. Which I should clarify I had all wrong. It seems it is fluid that leaks into the abdomen and lungs. Yeah.....NOT GOOD!!! My Estrogen is over 55oo today therefore I am only having to take my trigger shot tonight. No shots in the belly but a big one in the rear. I have to get that shot at exactly 7:30 pm. I will be heading over to Lori and Adam's about 7:00 so I can get good and iced beforehand. I'm so not looking forward to this, but I WILL be ok.

Thanks for the prayers!!!

Shots and Happy Birthday NIKI!!

Well let's see where should I start. I went to the doctor this morning, the follicles are still looking great and growing exactly how they should. My estrogen however is over 4400. TRIPLE YIKES!!! They are concerned with hyperstimulation after the retrieval. They have me drinking lots of water, gatorade and protein shakes. Regardless, the egg retrieval will be on Thursday of this week. I will get my BIG intramuscular shot tomorrow which will release the eggs. Thank goodness for Lori once again. She will be giving me that big boy.

On a different note, Happy Birthday Niki!!!!! Niki is my best friend. We call her Inki, my cousin Braunsen couldn't say Niki so he called her Inki and it stuck. I first met her in August of 1993 as she was sitting in my anatomy and physiology class. When the teacher did not call her name on the roll she raised her hand and said "oh, this isn't chemistry". Turns out she was in the wrong class and I still can't figure out how she ended up in that classroom as it was way off the beaten path. The room she was suppose to be in was on the main hallway. Anyway she was also in my homeroom and not too long after school started I was getting ready to leave and she was asking for change for the candy machine. I said, "don't you live in Boca Raton, that is right across the street from my subdivision." She said, "yes". So I offered her a ride home and thus began a beautiful friendship. Niki is from New York and at that time I was only a couple years out of living in East Texas so we were quite a pair with our dueling accents. I would literally have to translate for her when she ordered coffee. It is hard to believe that we met nearly 14 years ago. She is absolutely hilarious and has the biggest heart. I (along with my whole family) love her dearly and she has definitely brought some flavor into our lives. I could seriously write for hours about some of the funny things we have gotten ourselves into and even longer about the things she has gotten herself into. So Happy Birthday Inki, I love you!!!

Inki and her new DYNAMO jersey

Ink and Em

My dad with "all" his girls

Days #7 & 8 of shots

I have just administered day #8 of shots and all is still going well. I had blood work drawn yesterday and my estrogen was over 1600, today it was over 1900. It has slowed down so that is good. They were getting worried that it was getting to high to quickly. I had an ultrasound this morning. The follicles are still growing. There are quite a few (at least 12) that are between 11 and 14 mm in length. I say 12 because the ultrasound machine would only let her measure 6 on each side. There are approximately 40 follicles in all, just don't know the sizes. They are probably all a little smaller because she was measuring the biggest ones. She also said my uterus was "BEAUTIFUL". They keep telling me that so I'm thinking that is a very good thing. The nurse this morning told me it was "textbook". I like the sound of that. My ovaries are HUGE right now. They are each bigger than my uterus. When I was called back this morning the sonographer asked me with a very concerned look on her face how I was feeling. I said "crazy" but other than that "fine". She asked if I was feeling bloated and I told her not really. She was surprised because of how big my ovaries are. BUT as I sit here typing away on this blog I can consistently feel my ovaries and they are pushing on my back and my stomach. YUCK!! I'm definitely feeling bloated now. I go back on Monday morning for another ultrasound and I will find out then for sure when the egg retrieval will take place. They are saying Wednesday or Thursday which means the embryos will be put back on Monday or Tuesday of the next week (June 4th or 5th).

Our prayer right now is that the follicles will continue to grow at the correct rate and that there will be plenty of eggs to choose from on retrieval day. So far, so good. I'm still getting very positive feedback from the doctor's office. I pray that is what we keep getting.

Labs

Just got my blood work results. My estrogen has skyrocketed because apparently the follicles produce estrogen and since I have so many eggs combined with the medicine that has resulted in high estrogen levels. Tuesday it was 286 and today it is 1192. So they are backing me off of the Gonal-F. Halving it actually. Nurse Serena said everything still looked good and if it was her she would be happy. So good news for today.

My mood has been much better today. Thank goodness!!! I've only teared up once and that was with good reason. My principal is going to another campus so that is sad for us.

I have blood work again in the morning. Keep praying that the medicine continues to do what it is suppose to.

Days #4 and #5 of shots and an ultrasound

Shots are still going well. My stomach is being used as a pin cushion right now but I'm doing fine with all of it. In fact they don't bother me at all. I just ice it and get it all ready to go. Quick and easy.

I had my ultrasound this morning. I have approximately 19 follicles in my left ovary and 16 in my right ovary. The size of them are all on target. I also had blood work done today and will post those results when I get them. I will go back either Friday or Saturday morning for another ultrasound and more blood work.

Emotions for me are ALL OVER THE PLACE!!! The last two days have been awful. If someone looked at me wrong I teared up. People don't necessarily know what to say to me and sometimes they don't say the right things. But what are the right things to say? I sure don't know. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to endure in my life. Forget my parents moving me to a new school in the 8th grade, that was a cake walk compared to this. And I cried alot about that too. Poor Terry doesn't know what to do with me. He is just as scared as I am about all of this. All I have to say is thank goodness I have him. He is so wonderful to put up with my crazy mood swings. And he just sits and takes it when I freak out about something, oh so stupid. He just says it's ok and he understands why I am crazy right now. I am so lucky to have him to go through this with. And the best part is other people have said the same thing. I love that people recognize that about him. He's the best!!!

Day #3 of shots and labs

Yesterday was Day 3 of shots and all went well. It appears the prayers are working. I just got a call from the nurse and my blood work I had drawn this morning was PERFECT!!! So much so that I will be staying on the same dosages of my medicines. (They told me that my dosages would probably go up after today.) I will go in on Thursday for more blood work and ultrasound. The blood work today and on Thursday is looking at my estrogen, LH and P4 levels. The ultrasound will look at my ovaries and check the follicles. She said they would go over all of that with me after the appt. on Thursday.

I'm not sure why, but I have been super nervous today. Probably because I got bored at work and started looking at infertility message boards. I think I will stay away from those from now on, they are somewhat depressing. I have to stay as positive as possible but sometimes the stress of this gets the better of me. I have good days, where I hardly think about it, and bad days, where I dwell on it. Fortunately the good days are much more frequent.

Please pray that the medicine continues to do what it is suppose to do and that we get as many eggs as possible. We are taking this one step at a time. There still are no "set in stone" dates for egg retrieval or transfer. That means there are no "set in stone" dates for us finding out if it worked. We have "window dates" but that is all we have at this time. We will know more next week and I will post when I find out.

Day #2 of shots

Today was day number 2 of shots AND guess what.......................... I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!!!! Lori came over to supervise but I gave myself the shots while Terry watched. I did make myself bleed a little on the first one. Lori said it was ok and that I did a great job!!! The second one did not bleed at all. I really had to learn to do this myself because Terry has soccer practice in the evenings during my time window. I have to get the shots between 4:30 and 8:30.

I can't believe this is all moving so fast. Next week they will do the egg retrieval. WOW!! Well not much else to report at this time.

Day #1 of Shots and Dynamo

Our good friends Donald and Crystal, from SFA, came to visit us this weekend. They came in to go to the DYNAMO game with us but little did they know they were going to get to experience my getting shots. Saturday started off quite relaxing. We decided to hang out by the pool until it was time to go over to Adam and Lori's for the shots. The weather was BEAUTIFUL this weekend. Even a little cool in the shade. Terry and Donald threw their little football back and forth in the pool while Crystal and I laid out in the sun. Then the boys went to get our tailgating hotdogs while us girls got ready for the game (and I prepared for my shots). We headed over to the Douglas house at about 3:45. Of course Lori had my ice pack ready to go when we got there. Terry got in a little Avery time. He actually took her away from Crystal.

Then it was 4:30 and time for the shots. Of course Lori did an excellent job but yet again. I didn't feel a thing. Those shots are Gonal-F a follicle stimulating hormone and Micro Ovidrel. Both of these medications are "used to stimulate the growth of ovarian follicles in order to allow the eggs to mature and eventually ovulate". (CORM) Went back to research paper days there for a second, glad that's over. I will take these two shots for 8-12 days, more than likely 10 days.

Here is a picture my precious Terry took of Lori and I. Before seeing the picture I asked him if he zoomed in enough........


He said he would take another picture to make sure.......this is what we got from that, SMART ALEC!!!


So we left with the shots given and headed on up I-45 to the DYNAMO game. We met Niki there and quite a few other friends. We love going to these games. We always cookout and have a grand ole time before, during and after the games. We sit down behind the goal by the supporters groups and are as loud as possible throughout the game. Unfortunately our boys didn't hear us yelling this game because they could not get the ball in the net. Oh well, maybe next time.

Here are some pics of us all in our ORANGE....

Terry, Me, Niki, Crystal, and Donald

Niki, Me, and Crystal

Terry and I

LET'S GO DYNAMO!!

Keep the prayers coming. So far everything is running very smoothly. I have a doctor's appt. Tuesday morning for blood work. We will find out then how the medicine is working. Please pray that the medicine IS doing what it is suppose to and things will continue to progress as easily as they have so far. Love ya'll!!!

Off Topic......

Congratulations to my precious niece Courtney on the arrival of her new baby sister, Shelby Leeann. Shelby was born May 15 and weighed 7lbs 4ozs and was 20 inches long. Stacy, Cory and Courtney are all doing well. Courtney is so excited about her new "sissy". She loves to hold, kiss and pat her. She is going to be a fantastic BIG SISTER!!!!! Just like her Auntie Em :)

Big Girl!!

Yesterday I had my first shot. It was called Cetrotide. I have been on birth control for the last month (no that is not why we couldn't get pregnant). Dr. Schnell put me on bc so that my ovaries would go to sleep, so they could manipulate them to do what they need to at Dr.'s orders instead of what my brain tells them to do. Yesterday my Cetrotide shot was to begin waking them up.

I went over to Adam and Lori's and Lori made me an ice pack to put on my belly beforehand. I iced it for about 30 minutes. Lori mixed all the medicine up like a pro (well she is). She gave me the shot and guess what...........I didn't even feel it.......until about 30 seconds after it was over and the medicine starting soaking in. It burned a little but nothing this big girl can't handle. I've said it already but thank goodness for Lori. She made yesterday so much easier on me and she is going to help with the next one also.

I begin daily injections of a follicle stimulating drug called Gonal-F on Saturday. I'll do those for the next 8 to 10 days after that. Some of those days I will be getting up to 3 shots a day. Here's hoping I can keep being a big girl.

I did so good that I even got a reward when it was all over with. Lori and Adam have a beautiful 6 week old baby girl and I got to play with her. Adam even dressed her up in her SFA shirt for me. Thanks guys, you are the BEST!!!

Big Day!!

This week has been productive in the our life of IVF. Monday morning we arrived at our 8:30 dr.'s appointment at 8:40. Why you ask? Terry insisted that he needed a red bull. I of course was having a fit. I was already nervous about this appointment and he needed a red bull. He kept saying "We always have to wait a long time before they call us back" I kept saying "I don't care". Sooooooo we waited in the waiting room for 45 minutes. Terry was right but I was still a nervous wreck. We finally got back in the room at 9:26. I was nervous because this was the day we would find out if we passed for the rebate program. Rebate program means that if this doesn't work the first time, we get to try another cycle for "free". And if it just doesn't work at all we get half of our money back. Now the good news is.....WE PASSED AND QUALIFIED!!!! This also gives me peace of mind that this really will work because we had to meet stricter guidelines in order to qualify. The procedure they had to do was a little painful but nothing awful. Terry held my hand and of course had some "in"appropriate jokes that made me laugh. They also did a test transfer. This is the trial run for putting the embryos back into my uterus after they are fertilized and created in the petri dish. (That's right our child(ren) will be created in a petri dish.) That also went fine. So now Dr. Schnell has a "map" and can get those babies right where they need to go on "THE DAY". Whew.....thank goodness all that was over.

Now it is time to sign all of our consents. There was a consent for EVERYTHING!!!! We got those signed and then it was time to go over the medicine. DU DU DU. YIKES!! These shots are the scariest part for me. I still don't fully understand but thank goodness for our precious friend Lori. She is going to help me out with this scary process. She is a pediatric nurse at Texas Children's Hospital and gives shots to babies, I'm kinda like a baby when it comes to shots. My very first shot is next Tuesday. I'll let ya'll know how that goes.

After all that overwhelming business we trucked on up to the front (that is my East Texas talk) and signed our contract and PAID our money. WOW!! I hope we don't have to pay that much money again. Then Terry wanted to go eat at Berryhill. I chose NO and told him when he got all that stuff done to him he could choose the restaurant, I wanted to go to Kemah. So we ate at Landry's on the Boardwalk!!! It was so beautiful outside, nice and relaxing. After all that business I needed a nap. I may as well enjoy those now while I can. Mom says I won't get them anymore after I have a baby.

Please keep the prayers coming. This is really happening and is quite overwhelming, but we are holding pretty well right now.

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