We're pregnant!

Its official - 2nd beta came back at 560.

We are having a baby in October, we get to take a look in 2 weeks, see if there is 1 or 2 in there. :)

YAY, YAY, YAY

Beta results

Got the beta number - Well first off - I'm pregnant! Yay God!

And the number is...

201

The nurse said they like to see numbers in the range of 70-100, so my number is great.

We repeat the bloodwork on Friday

Oh - God had the map...

Well, I didn't have much to say during this last IVF. I was keeping busy, head down, do what the Dr says...
Now we wait for results from the pregnancy test.

Kicking myself for pushing to do the IVF in Dec.
I felt VERY strongly that the Lord was leading us to do the IVF in Jan, we had prayed and the signs all pointed to that. BUT then all of a sudden things seemed to make way for a Dec IVF, so we switched plans and pushed ahead, only to hit the wall.
So I was mad at rushing, started to doubt the signs...

Then we learned that the IVF rate was increasing with the Jan IVFs, but since I already paid for Dec, I wasn't going to have to pay the $2000 + difference. (that price difference would have meant we couldn't do it, we'd have to save up for another few months)

Looking back, talking with Bob, we both see that the whole situation and both Months were in God's plan. By trying for Dec we were able to secure the IVF price we could afford, yet still doing the IVF in Jan when we felt God was leading us to do it.

I feel that this infertility challenge for us was a lesson in patience, trust, relying on God's timing, and leaning on our partner for support. It also has let me appreciate my child and really spend time with her, loving her, and cherishing her. I also learned I was NOT done having kids. We did not feel our family was complete, and we would do whatever necessary to make our family grow.

Still waiting to hear back from the nurse....
God had the map, he was leading and we were following. I just pray we don't have another detour, but arrive in pregnant land...

Embryo Transfer

We had the 5 day Embryo transfer today. The 4 8-celled embryos all made it to blastocyst stage.
2 were again textbook perfect - they called them fully expanded blastocysts, 1 was an expanded blastocyst, and the other an early blastocyst.

We put the 2 perfect back.
They froze the expanded Blast and will wait to see how the other one does, but it looks like it won't make it to freeze..

I have my beta Wed Jan 28th.

This wait is good

Well.... we're doing a 5 day transfer!!
Which means we have enough looking really good to wait.

4 - 8 celled embryos
1 - 6 celled
1 - 5 celled
1 - 4 celled

Of the 4 8 celled, 2 are grade 1 (the best) the embryologist says they are textbook perfect!
1 is grade 2 (tiny bit of fragmentation)
1 is grade 3 (some fragmentation)

The 4 8 celled and the 1 6 celled may make it to Monday, but we're guessing we'll have 3 really good blastocysts.

YAY - praise the Lord!

7 is a good number

Fertility Report:

7 embryos!
I am petri dish pregnant! LOL
7 little ones growing - go babies!

Next report will be Sat morning!
We may do a 3 day transfer then or wait until Monday to do a 5 day transfer...

Egg Retrieval

Hey ladies
ER went great today. The worse part was the IV, the guy couldn't get it in the first try, but it was doable.

So I took a nice little nap and I woke up easy with just a bit of cramping. DH walks into the recovery room with a huge smile. The RE got 11 eggs. These last few weeks all we saw on the u/s was 6-7, so we'll see how many of the 11 are mature.

We get our fert report tomorrow. We met the embryologist before the procedure. She was really informative and made us feel relaxed. She has 16 years experience with a 90% success rate with ICSI.

Embryo transfer on Sat or Mon. I'm just sleeping off the pain pill and resting in bed. DH took DD to the zoo so I can sleep.

Its actually going to happen

Ok - I'm back. Had an appt today.
Aweful bloodwork experience - 2 techs and 3 pokes, they got one little vial. I almost passed out as they were digging around, they even did the hand, which the tech blew the vein. SO mad, took over 30 mins to get it drawn. Poor DD was trying to be good, but after 20 mins she wanted to go home...

Anyways - I'm ready to go. 5 mature on the left, 2 on the right. All between 18-21mm today. I'll trigger tonight at 11:30 and go in Wed for retrieval at 10am. Transfer will be Sat or Mon depending on progress.

Little happy note

Started my Follistim on Jan 2nd and I had an ultrasound today.
Good News... 3 good size follicles on each side ranging from 8.5mm-10.5mm. So at least 6, there may be more but it was hard to see my left one.
The nurse did call to have me increase my meds to 400ius. Guessing to helping them grow, maybe faster? Not sure, but I will do whatever needed.

YAY - so relieved.

I also have an u/s on Friday. 10am, bloodwork and u/s. That day should give me a better idea of when the retrieval might be.

Kinda a side note, but I'm happy with it so I wanted to share.... I have kept my 12 pounds off through the last IUI, Holidays and meds so far. Worked hard to lose it, didn't want a few cookies to bring it all back. I wish I could have lost 5-10 more beforehand, and I'm still 15 more than when I got preg. with Mads, but 12 pounds less is good no matter how you look at it! LOL

Drama

Still have a cyst, maybe another one as well or a left over follicle from last cycle, plus a lot of fluid in my abdomen around the ovaries - kinda like a cyst burst, but I don't remember feeling that PAIN! Maybe endo cyst as well. I had to have blood drawn and another u/s today before knowing whats going on.

Anyways- rushing off now to the Hospital to have the radiologist double check my ovaries and measure it all. Ugh.
Will update this evening when I get word back from the RE.
Chance we may cancel, but its really annying and worrisome to have issues this close to IVF.

Getting ready - again

Not too enthused to be posting, it was a big blow to cancel the last IVF and get a BFN from the IUI, so we're very cautious getting ready for this IVF.

So I've been doing a down-regulation or suppression drug (like Lupron) synarel which is a nasal spray. Seems like a good thing, except I have a HORRID cold and its hard to NOT sneeze, which then means I have to repeat the spray. ICK. LOL
I start my Follistim injection tomorrow - BUT - the RE called me while we were out of town to ask my to come in tomorrow for a last minute u/s - they think I have a cyst, and want to double check the size and see if its getting smaller. Bob and I are so afraid they will cancel me again. Once we get the OK to start the stims, I'll feel better.
Plus of course I'll be a nervous wreck until I see the u/s next week which will show me if I developed 1 follicle or several.

I'm trying really hard to be optimistic, maybe the hormones are making me more bummed feeling, but it IS exciting to get things started.

The good news is that we had a few days to visit my grandparents this week and Madison got to meet them. We had fun and even if I was called to come home early, we at least got to get out of town.