It's A ....

BOY!!!

We could not be more pleased to announce that we are having a baby boy!!! We love him so much already!

He was not shy at all! In fact, it only took the ultrasound tech two seconds to announce that it was a boy!

His name is...

Ian

Daniel

Ian, which means "God is gracious", is the Scottish form of John.  Jason had long wanted to name his son Ian, for his father and grandfather who are both named Johnny.  Daniel is one of my father's favorite names and since he only has the letter "D" for a middle initial, Ian will share his grandfather's middle initial.  Jason's maternal grandfather's name is also Dannie, so he will have ties to many family members!

We could not be happier and more thankful to the Lord for this precious miracle He has given to us.  We just can't wait until Ian is here in our arms! He is due November 28th!! How appropriate for him to be here around Thanksgiving! We love you, Lord!

This picture was taken the day we found out we are having a little boy!

It's Been Too Long...

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a long time! Things have been so busy and we are really excited about everything going on.  Here is what has happened since my last post: We found out that we lost one of the twins very early on (the doctors think that the other baby never fully developed). This news was very hard for us to swallow at first, but we are doing very well now and excited that the other baby is healthy and growing right on target.  We have had four ultrasounds already and two doctor's appointments.  Everything looks great! We were so excited to see our little jumping bean kicking, jumping and sucking their thumb!  We will be finding out the gender of the baby soon, so check back later for the reveal!


Today, I am 16 weeks pregnant! It is so hard to believe and it's going by so fast right now! Sometimes I don't even feel like I'm pregnant.  The feeling is so surreal! I'm starting to show just a little baby bump, but for most people that don't know me, they can't tell I'm pregnant yet.


I think that is about it for now, but I am going to try to keep updating without a huge hiatus in the middle!

BFP!

On Saturday, March 26th we went in for our first beta.  Jason and I were not feeling great about the test and we had to wait FOREVER for the doctor's office to call with the results.  The nurse told us we would get a call between 12:00 pm  and 1:00 pm.  When we still had not heard any news at 1:30 we were freaking out. So, I decided to just take a HPT.  We both watched two lines quickly appear - something that we had never seen before! We were so excited, but we still wanted to wait for the doctor's office to call and confirm the results.  We finally received a call at about 2:00 pm and were told that we had a positive test and my HCG level was 235! 
We went back on Monday to take another blood test to make sure the HCG levels were rising.  My HCG level was at 425 on Monday and the nurse said that was great!  Our first ultrasound is scheduled for April 11th at 3:00 pm.  Hopefully, we will be able to see the heartbeat(s) at that time! We are really praying that we have both babies!


We are very happy and praise the Lord for this blessing, but we know we have a long way to go before we have a baby or babies in our arms!

Transfer

Yesterday was transfer day - our RE transferred two beautiful embryos (one "perfect" embryo and one 8-cell embryo). I am officially on bed rest for a week so this post might be a little longer than all the others.

We arrived a little after 10:00 am and I immediately began to drink my bottle of water.  We didn't have to wait long before the nurse called us back in the operating room area.  Shortly after the nurse gave us some instructions our RE came in to give us the report of our "McEmbryos" and showed us a picture of the 2 to be transferred! The report: out of the 19 eggs retrieved, 13 actually fertilized, but 3 didn't make it before they gave us a call on Saturday.  An additional 3 embryos failed to grow, so we are now down to 7.  We would be transferring 2 of the best looking embryos and the other 5 would be frozen that day. 


The next step was for me to take my Valium and sip on a little bit of water.  Once I felt full, I needed to stop drinking the water.  After one of the other doctors came in to check on the progress, we were ready to go into the OR.  Jason was allowed to go back with me this time, scrubs and all! He looked just like a doctor! I'm so glad he was able to go with me, because the procedure was less than pleasant to put it mildly.  I squeezed both his hands pretty tightly the whole time! I was very uncomfortable.


After the transfer was over I had to lie down for 30 minutes.  We ended up waiting a little bit longer than that because they had two other transfers going on that day.  I was feeling pretty tired by that point and ready to go home.  I felt like I had been through a trauma and I was just now feeling the effects of that trauma.  Once we got home I had some lunch and went straight to sleep.


This whole process has been rough, but it's been worth every surgery, shot and pill. It is weird to think that I have life inside me for the first time ever! I can't even describe to you how happy that makes me feel.  New hurdles still await, but we are very optimistic at this point. Please pray that both the embryos make it!


Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Embies

We just got the call from the nurse and we have 10 little embryos! We will be doing a day 3 transfer on Monday at 11:00 am.  We are thrilled! I am still in quite a bit of pain from the retrieval, but this news helps a little!

ER

My ER (egg retrieval) was this morning at 9:00 am.  Everything went well, including the anesthesia! I don't remember much after they took me into the operating room, which is probably a good thing! They retrieved 19 eggs!! I was so shocked, I guess I asked about five times how many eggs we got!  I'm not feeling very well right now, so I'm just resting and Jason is taking care of me.  


The doctors are pretty confident that my transfer will be on Monday, but we will get the official call tomorrow afternoon.  Thank you everyone for your prayers this morning! Jason and I appreciate every one of them!

Finally...

We are triggering tonight! We will take 300 iu of Follistim tonight along with the HCG (trigger) shot at 10:00 pm sharp.  This shot is very important and has to be given exactly on time.  It will be a little different than what I am used to, simply because it is an intramuscular shot.  All of the other shots I have been taking have been subcutaneous.  This one is a bigger needle! I am a little nervous, but mostly excited that we are FINALLY here! It just seems like the whole process leading up to the retrieval has taken forever.  


We will go back to the doctor tomorrow morning and then the retrieval will be on Friday morning at 9:00 am.  I will be put to sleep for this procedure and will be in the hospital for 2-3 hours after it is over.  We are praying for a lot of good eggs!

I have been dealing with a lot of anxiety recently, so Jason let me schedule a massage for tomorrow! He's so sweet!

Day 11 of Stims

I'm tired of making these posts about stimming, but here they are anyway:  E2 level is at 1,831 and we have 13 follicles.  The lead follicle is 17 mm and we have a few that are close to that (14, 15).  We are still waiting for them to increase a little bit, so we will be taking 300 iu of follistim again tonight.  I hope I can post that we are triggering tomorrow night!! To the doctor again tomorrow morning...

Day 10 of Stims

Well, my estrogen level is only to 1,587.  The nurse said that's not much, so they are increasing my dosage of the follistim.  I will be taking 300 iu of follistim instead of 225 iu tonight. We will be out of follistim after tonight's shot, which means we have to buy more from the pharmacy tomorrow (lucky us). I still have 13 follicles, with the largest being 14 mm.  The nurse also said that it looks like we may do the HCG shot (trigger shot) on Wednesday, March 9th, which would mean that the retrieval would be on Friday.  This seems like it's taking forever! Come on already!

Day 9 of Stims

My estrogen level is up to 1,411 now and we have 13 follicles. The largest follicle is now 13 mm.  We will be stimming for a couple more days.  I go to the doctor again tomorrow.  This is starting to get old, but I'm glad we're almost there.

Day 8 of Stims

Well, I had another appointment this morning to check my levels.  My estrogen level went up to 900 and I now have a total of 12 follicles.  The largest follicle is only 11 mm, so the doctor thinks we may have to stim a little longer than most people. A mature follicle is at least 18 mm, so we may go a few more days before the retrieval. We will go back to the doctor again tomorrow morning so we will miss church, but I am glad they are monitoring me closely. 

Day 6 of Stims

We have follicles – 8 of them to be exact.  My E2 is 377. According to the IVF nurse, these numbers are good.   For some reason I don’t feel confident about this. It seems as if there should be more at this point.  We go back again on Saturday morning to check my levels again.  I am praying that there will be more follicles!  Right now, the ER (Egg Retrieval) is scheduled for March 9^th, but that could change.  I have been dealing with a lot of anxiety.  Maybe I need a massage or acupuncture...

We Are a Go!

Last Friday we went for my baseline ultrasound and blood work to make sure the Lupron was working and also that there were no cysts.  The doctor said everything looked good! We received a phone call later that afternoon with instructions for the next step.  I am down to 10 units of Lupron and I am now taking a second injection, called Follistim.  I will go in regularly this week for blood tests to monitor my levels.  

I have had a rough last couple of nights with the injections.  On Saturday, the Lupron shot in the morning was the worst shot ever! I actually yelled! That evening we started the Follistim injections.  I have to say that it is the most complicated shot I have ever seen.  This shot didn’t hurt going in, but it hurt pretty bad after the medicine was pushed in.  I’m already starting to feel the side effects from the Follistim, which I guess is a good sign.  I just wish my mood wasn’t altered by all of these drugs! 

I think I have done pretty well so far with everything.  The Lord has given me peace and I have felt comforted knowing I am not alone.  He is always right there with us.

Holy Medicine!

We received all of our medication for our first IVF cycle on February 9^th.  I have to say that it was a little overwhelming looking at all of the syringes, needles, etc.  All of this is going into my body?! Aaaah!  I quickly got over the overwhelming thoughts and started to feel some excitement.  Finally we are getting ready to start this thing!  On February 14^th (Valentine’s Day) we started the Lupron injections.  I have done pretty well with the injections themselves, but the side effects from the medicine, well, that is a whole different story! I have had headaches, mood swings, nausea, and dizziness so far.  Not too bad!!

This Friday will be my first baseline ultrasound.  This is where they check to make sure the Lupron is working (suppressing everything) and that there are no cysts.  If you guys don’t mind, would you pray with us that everything will be as it should? I really don’t want to have to stop this cycle before it even gets going!  Assuming everything is how it should be, I will begin taking a second injection.  I will be up to two injections per day! Just call me a human pin cushion!  

For someone who doesn’t like needles, Jason has been handling giving me the injections pretty well.  There have been a couple times when the needle has not gone all the way through on the first try, but overall everything is going pretty smoothly! 

We will give everyone an update after our appointment on Friday! Until then, thank you for your prayers!

Here is a picture of all the medicine...

Great News

My tubes are completely blocked! It sounds bad, but it's actually great news.  I have hydrosalpinx on both tubes, and the fluid from these can harm an embryo.  The essure procedure that I had in November prevents the fluid from harming any embryos. The test that I had on Friday confirms that the fluid is no longer a threat. Now we can start our first IVF cycle, beginning with our first injections on...Valentine's Day!

Gratitude

The overwhelming gratitude that we feel inside cannot be put into words.  My sister and brother-in-law put together a benefit for us last Friday evening.  So much love, support, and tremendous generosity was shown to us by our friends, family, and even by people we do not know. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate the continued prayers for everything coming up!


Tomorrow, I will go for another HSG test.  This will be done to confirm that the micro-inserts are in the proper place and that both tubes are completely blocked.  It typically takes 3 months for this to occur, but in rare cases, it can take up to 6 months for the Essure procedure to completely block the tubes.  We are hoping and praying that we will get good news and be able to proceed with IVF this month.  We believe all of this is in God's hands and are staying positive.  I will give an update after the procedure tomorrow!

What am I NOT feeling?

A question I have been asked recently is, how are you feeling about everything coming up? I think the question is... what am I NOT feeling? I'm feeling hopeful, doubtful, anxious, nervous, excited, scared, happy, sad....

But I think that now that IVF is just around the corner, I'm getting more and more nervous, as I read about all the needles/injections and the meds...I just don't want to be a hormonal basket case...I hope I'm doing the right thing with this IVF stuff. I know that if it's successful, I'll have my answer...but I'm trying not to keep my hopes up at the same time.  

I have been thinking that I need to come up with a plan to deal with my anxiety.  I have started to make myself a "spa basket" which will hopefully help me relax, but I feel like I need some more ideas...