We just got home from the egg retrieval and they got 16 eggs! We will find out tomorrow how many fertilized. I’m off to take a nap now. 😊

It’s about to happen, guys! We trigger tonight at exactly 11:30 p.m., and then we will go in for the retrieval on Thursday!! I also started my Z-Pack tonight. This is getting real.

I had my last acupuncture for a while this evening. I’ll start back up again to prepare for the transfer in a couple of weeks.

Please keep the prayers coming. We need some eggs and we need them to fertilize. Then we need them to pass the PGS screening. Those are the short term prayers for now. I will definitely update with numbers and results when I know what they are. Thank you!!

Tentatively, we will trigger tomorrow and do our egg retrieval on Thursday!! Eeeeek! I’m getting both excited and nervous! Based on my doctor of law degree, which means I have absolutely no medical knowledge, it looks like my levels are all progressing as they should and that I have about 10 follicles that may be mature by the retrieval. My doctor seemed to think we are on the right track. Have I mentioned that I love my doctor?

So tonight may be our last night (hopefully ever!) of the crazy hormone shots. If all goes according to plan, we will do the two trigger shots tomorrow. Then NO SHOTS on Wednesday. Woo hoo! Thursday will be the retrieval and fertilization. I will be updated by the clinic so I know how many they retrieved, how many fertilized, and then how many made it to blastocyst stage, which is day 5, I think. Then they will be biopsied for the PGS and frozen until next month when we go in for the transfer.

Right now we are praying hard that we have some mature eggs that fertilize and freeze! We are nowhere near the end of this, but every day we are getting closer and closer.

Thanks for those prayers, and please keep them coming!!!

We are getting closer! We’ve been stimming for a week now. I’ve gone through so many hormones that we’ve had to order more. We added the Cetrotide to the mix on Wednesday. This one doesn’t hurt as much going in, but it’s kind of itchy and achy afterwards.

Tonight we start a new med– we had to substitute Gonal F for the Bravelle since we ran out of Bravelle and it’s the one that has been recalled.

It looks like I have at least 9 decent follicles. Every time I go to the doctor, more and more appear like magic. We still have to wait and see how many produce mature eggs, I think. My doctor seemed pleased with my progress.

We also got the consents signed for the PGS study today, so that’s a go! It’s getting excited, and I’m also getting a little bit nervous. They told us we will most likely trigger next week and the retrieval will be end of the work week or next weekend. Yay!!

Emotionally, I’m doing fine. A few tears every now and then, but nothing extreme. Hopefully it will all stay that way. We had a busy week this week and were slightly thrown off when we had to order the extra meds. It looks like we may have to order again on Monday.

I don’t think there is any way you can truly budget for IVF. If we knew realistically the actual cost of all of this, we probably would have been saving for 10 years. Instead, we bit the bullet and went all in! Please pray that we can get through the rest of this without any additional burden. It’s been rough, but I have faith that it will be worth it in the long run.

Yowzers! Whatever this new drug is in my shot stings like crazy. Day 2 down! This is one of those times I wouldn’t mind stimming for just 4 days. I can feel twinges in my ovary area. I hope that means things are working. I am also curious about the levels of discomfort I can expect if I’m already feeling it after 2 shots.

The meds came in Wednesday with the exception of one of the trigger shots they sent out on Thursday. I also bought a new purse since the one I was using was too heavy. I’m already starting to realize that I need to back off what I normally do. I was doing some cleaning this morning and realized I was already doing more than I should have. It made me feel bad for people who thrive on physical activity and have to hold back during this time.

I’ve been having IVF nightmares this last week. The dreams have included me going to the doctor and finding out I’m not responding at all to the meds. Or  that I did my egg retrieval and they found out that none of my follicles produced mature eggs. Who knew that someone could have legit nightmares over this kind of stuff?!?!

There’s not much else to report right now. I go for my first doctor visit Monday, and I think I will go again Wednesday and Friday. Hubs and I will also go to another location to sign consents for the study on Friday. I guess that’s it for now. Keep those prayers coming!!

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Wow! What a day!! Today I found out that insurance will not cover the meds we need for IVF. After almost hyperventilating and wanting to faint, I paid by credit card and then did some reflection. My conclusion: we are darn lucky and I dare say we definitely have the Lord on our side. Here’s my reasoning for this.

When we started using injections for the IUIs, I was pleasantly surprised that insurance covered what we needed. When the doctor upped my dose during my first round of the injectables, I called to order only what I needed. The nice lady at the specialized pharmacy suggested that, since they were covered, I go ahead and order an entire order rather than limit it to what we needed then. So I did. The next time we did the injectables, my doctor prescribed what he thought I would need. If you recall, I ended up only stimming for four days. What was the result? I ended up not even touching the newest order because I had plenty left over from the last time. So here I’ve been sitting with 6 boxes–30 vials–of follicle stimulating hormone injections.

When we went in for our teaching visit last week, I was informed that they wanted me to use a different drug. I assumed this was because they changed up the meds for IVF and didn’t think much of it. I asked the nurse, in passing, if I could donate what I had back since I was going to use a new drug. She got really excited and said that I could use what I had and that I wouldn’t need to get the new one. The only reason they hadn’t prescribed what I had been using was because of a recall and a shortage of the meds. They checked my lot numbers and expiration dates, and the meds I have are good!

When I spoke to the pharmacy today, the first number they quoted was much higher than what we ended up having to pay. They were able to take away a large amount of the cost since I didn’t need the other follicle stimulating hormone that had been prescribed. We had kept some credit cards open to pay for the meds, but we wouldn’t have been able to do it with the original cost. Amazingly, with the new and improved cost, we were okay.

I believe that God does have a plan and that He does provide. While this hasn’t been easy on us financially, we have been able to do it. And then the pre-implantation genetic screening study just fell into our laps. Everything is coming together at the right time and and the right place. We will be strong and courageous. We are not afraid, and we are certainly not discouraged, for we know that He is truly with us on this journey.

We have been given a lot of information over the past few days. I will try to explain it the best I can. I’m sure once we get started actually doing things, it will make more sense!

First of all, we are definitely 100% on track for IVF. My hysteroscopy results were fine and so was hubby’s infectious disease screen. We learned ALL about the meds yesterday and made decisions regarding what happens to any embryos in case of death, divorce, etc. It seemed kind of surreal to make decisions about embryos that don’t even exist yet…

Here’s the plan at this time:
~I go to the doctor on Monday for a baseline. If all is still “baseline” quality, we will start stimming next Friday. This means we should be getting our meds soon. They are still checking with insurance to see what is covered and what we will have to pay for out of pocket.
~From what I understand, hubby starts an antibiotic the day I start stimming to get the swimmers all healthy. At first, the shots will be like the IUIs. There’s a little more to mix, but we’re looking at one shot for about the first week. This shot is intended to make the follicles grow. Starting on stim day, I will have to limit physical activity. I can’t get my heart rate up too high, can’t lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, and I suppose this is where the no stretching comes in!!
~We will add a second shot to the mix about a week in. This one will suppress ovulation to give the follicles a chance to all get to 18-22mm. With IUI, they only want 2 or 3 follicles. With IVF, they want as many as they can get.
~I will go to the doctor every other day for blood work and ultrasounds. When the doctor gives us the go ahead, we will inject TWO trigger shots. This has to be perfectly timed because it is coordinated with the surgery center’s schedule.  Somewhere in here, I will start an antibiotic as well.
~We will then go to the surgery center on whatever date specified. Hubs will give his sample. About an hour later, I will go under anesthesia again. They will stick a needle through my uterus and into my ovaries and retrieve my follicles. (I think).
~At some point, the sperm will be directly injected into each follicle. This is called ICSI. Then they will see which follicles turn into embryos. Somewhere in here there is something about blastocysts, too.
~We are considering participating in a study that will then (possibly, depending on which group we are blindly assigned to) biopsy each embryo to do genetic screening. This is to check for abnormalities that could cause problems with implantation or viability.
~The embryos will then be frozen.
~At my next menstrual cycle, I will return for another baseline. If all looks good, I will start new meds– estrogen pills, estrogen patches, and progesterone in oil (PIO) shots to be administered in my bum.
~FINALLY, at some point we will go back for an embryo transfer. If we do the study, we will transfer one embryo. If we do not do the study, we will transfer up to two.
~And maybe this is where the PIO shot comes in. I’m not really sure. Anyway, this would be the beginning of the TWW.

And that, my friends, is how you make a baby! My meds will probably be in early next week. I’ll be sure to post a pic for you. Thank you all for your continued prayers!!

I did my hysteroscopy yesterday. It all went well. I don’t want to brag, but apparently I have a beautiful uterus. The doctor found a few polyps that she removed, so I’m hoping that helps as we move on to this next big step in our journey.

I had never been under anesthesia other than when I had my wisdom teeth out almost 20 years ago. It was kind of startling for me to fall asleep in one room on one bed and wake up later in a different room on a different bed. Over all, though, aside from some pain and lingering effects from the anesthesia, I feel fine.

We still have our teaching visit scheduled for tomorrow. I’m hoping we will get a better idea of the plan then. I’ll be sure to update once I know something more!

It’s true. Little girls don’t dream of having babies through IVF, but if that’s how I’m gonna get my baby(ies), then that’s how I’m gonna do it!

I’m in good spirits right now and things hopefully will start moving pretty quickly. I’ve started back up with acupuncture, I have my hysteroscopy next Monday, we have a teaching visit next Wednesday to learn how to mix and administer the new meds, and then hopefully we will start stimming soon!!

From what I’ve read, the goal is to grow pretty much the equivalent of a bunch of grapes in each ovary. Then the doctor will retrieve the eggs, fertilize them, make some embryos, and then stick the embryos back inside of me and hope they stick. So we’re hoping for good eggs in this group and that enough fertilize. From what I understand, the doctor will usually put a maximum of two embies back in. Then I will be PUPO, or pregnant until proven otherwise.

Oh, and speaking of it taking a village to do this… Thanks to my mom for coming in this weekend to be my driver since I’ll be having anesthesia and Hubs has to work. Also, thanks to my brother, sister-in-love, and niece for letting us stay with them Sunday night so we don’t have to drive very far. (They have been very generous with their guest room during these cycles). If I haven’t mentioned you, please contact me and I’ll let you know what you can do to get a mention. Lol. 😜

There’s plenty for you to pray for right now, so please keep the prayers coming!!

Here we go again! Today I went in for a baseline appointment to get started with *gulp* IVF. So far, so good. My blood levels came out normal, I had a good amount of follicles in each ovary, and my blood pressure was good.

I start the birth control pill tonight, and I should hear from the clinic tomorrow to schedule the hysteroscopy. Once that is scheduled, we will go in for a teaching visit and we will also sign the consent forms. Hubby also needs to do an infectious disease screen at that time.

The nurse told me we could start stimming in anywhere from two to four weeks. This is getting real, folks! Here’s to hoping for a little bundle of joy in about 10 months or so!