Round 2

It has been a while since our last post not because we didn't have time to post, but because it is sometimes hard to share what may or may not be a great new beginning. Let me explain:

A week after school finally let out (June 11) we left for another great vacation. David and I had so much fun, but at the same time we told ourselves it would probably be our last "big" trip before having kids...

Can you guess where this was taken?

I started taking all the hormone shots that go with IVF during our trip. It wasn't so bad because at the time it was only one shot a day.

I had my first blood test and ultrasound on July 5. The 7am appointment was brutal especially after having the family (and Thad, Bobbi, and Emma) over for fireworks the night before. The tests came back ok, so I started the regimen of three shots and four pills a day.

Four blood tests, three ultrasounds, many shots and too many pills to count later, we were ready for the retrieval of my eggs. Unfortunately, I was "ready" two days earlier than anticipated, and David was to be in Chicago for some very important meetings. We worked with the IVF lab and figured out a way around the scheduling conflicts. David left on Wednesday for Chicago (after I finally convinced him I would be ok), and mom came down to go to the surgery center with me.

Thursday was the retrieval. I arrived around 11am and got signed in and prepped. Finally, at 1pm, I went in for the retrieval. They load you with painkillers and nausea meds, so the experience itself wasn't so bad. Unfortunately, you have to sit-up for 24hrs after the procedure. Mom and I ended-up sleeping in the recliners in the basement.

Today I got a call from the doctors with some good news. They were able to retrieve 15 follicles from my ovaries on Thursday. They injected the eggs with sperm and incubated them over night. Today there were 12 eggs still viable, although two had issues with their walls and would not make it. So, after all that, we have 10 fertilized eggs. We will get a call on Monday to let us know if any of the other eggs have faltered. Of the remaining eggs, they will pick the best two for implantation (transfer) on Tuesday, and the rest will be frozen.

I started the awful shot last night (progesterone in oil) and will start Heparin on Sunday. I will do two shots of Heparin a day - this is the blood thinner that will hopefully protect the fetus in the womb from blood clots.

We will be praying heavily for the next three weeks and ask that you put in a good word for us as well. We should know right before I go back to school if we are positive or not. What a way to start the new school year, huh!?!