Egg retrieval & transfer...SET!

I'd just like to say...my life is so crazy right now! It's hard to believe that back in September when this whole journey started it felt like the transfer date was so far away. Luckily, the time has flown by. The holidays were crazy busy, which really helped. On Monday I went back for another ultrasound and showed great improvement. My E2 level was up, the follicles were growing nicely and my faith in this journey was restored. The doctor had me come back in yesterday(Wednesday) for another ultrasound and said I was super close to ready for retrieval but decided one more day would be best. So, this morning I made another trip back down to ohsu for another ultrasound and blood. When I got there my most favorite nurse, Amanda, took my blood and chatted with me for a bit then told me that Dr.Lee would be with me shortly. Shoot! Dr.Lee?! (Incase you don't remember Dr.Lee...Read here!)  Now before I say anymore, I will say, Dr.Lee is wonderful! So very nice and always answers any questions I might have and reassures me when I need it. Anyways, do, Dr.Lee it is! He comes in and does my ultrasound and is pretty positive that I'd be doing the trigger shot this evening. After we were done with my ultrasound we were sitting in there chatting and getting towards the end of our conversation and he says "Well! I am on this weekend, so I will be doing your egg retrieval!" Ah hell! Just my luck! Lol!

Egg retrieval is officially set for Saturday! So surreal, scary, anxious, exciting...just a big ball of emotions that range from one end of the scale to the other! I'm crossing my fingers everything goes well and these egg mature and fertilize well. If all goes well, Holly's appts for possible transfers days are already set. It'll be either Tuesday, Thursday or Friday of this coming week. EEEEK! 

It's weird for me think that after my trigger shot tonight..in about 15 minutes...that's my last shot! Thank god! My poor stomach is all sorts of bruised up. 

Keep us in your thoughts, please. Lets hope my lucky socks do their job and keep the good luck coming!

It's almost time!

It's been a few days since I've updated but there are a few reasons for that. This last Friday I went in for my first ultrasound after starting the stimms, menopur and follistim. For those that don't know, these are 2 of the 3 shots I take daily. These 2 shots help the follicular growth and get them ready for the egg extraction. Fridays ultrasound and blood work was frustrating and I was not happy with the results. The ultrasound showed some follies on my ovaries but not many and not very big, then I got the call about my bloodwork. My E2 was low, which ment 1 of 2 things. Either I wasn't responding to the meds well or I was a late responder to the meds. Obviously, that wasn't the news I wanted to hear.

The weekend came and went and this morning was time for me to sad back down to ohsu for another ultrasound. Today is MLK day, so the waterfront officers were all closed. It was almost eerie walking in that huge building since its normally packed with people everywhere. I managed to get to my appt about 30 mins early and had tons of time to kill..and time to get nice and nervous. Well, turns out not only was I early but since its a holiday the clinic wasn't running with a full staff. My appt was 40 mins late. Not only just mine but 4 other woman as well. Kinda crazy, never seen so many people have to wait. Anyways, when I got into the ultrasound room and got started...I was pleasantly surprised. I could see some large follies without the doctor even needing to point them out. Woohoo! Huge surprise!! My right ovary had the larger follies and my left had more follies but they were medium size compared to the larger ones on the other side. Such a relief to know that they are there and at this point, growing!

The doctor told me while I was there that she wanted me to come back tomorrow(Tuesday) morning for another ultrasound and that she would be calling me this afternoon with my blood work. Well, she called with good news. My E2 levels were up and all looked good. Maybe this really will work! She informed me that while comparing my E2 levels with ultrasound, I should wait 2 more days to go  back for the ultrasound rather then tomorrow. That should be a good amount of time to let the  medium sized follies catch up to the larger ones and then we will be good to go.

If all goes as planned *fingers crossed* I will do a trigger shot Wednesday night and have my egg retrieval Friday. Ahhh! I have to keep in mind that the follies could not grow anymore and that would mean that this whole cycle is down the drain. It's just crazy how many things come into play to make this all come together, all the pieces of the puzzle have to fit. I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up but it really is only human nature. I just want things to work out in our favor...for once. That's all! Ahh man! There is so much anxiety and emotion that is invested into all of this. It's really tough. Even today, just finding out that I had follie growing sent my mother into a bawling spree. Then I got the call from the doctor while we were out to lunch together, of course, she was bawling like baby in the middle of the restaurant. Lol, I'm sure she will love me so much for sharing this info but oh we'll. Hi Mom, I know you're going to read this! Lol!
 
Last week Holly had one last check to make sure she was responding well to the Estrace pills she's been taking. All looked well but she had to add in 1 extra pill a day until the transfer.

Well, here's to hoping the next few days will be exciting!!!!

PS: check out the bruises I get on my gut from these shots!!!

Stimms!!

Well, we are getting closer. The closer it gets the higher my anxiety gets. It's all exciting but so darn scary. I'm afraid of being heart broken and I literally can't imagine the emotion that will be pouring out of me if all goes well. Lets hope for the latter!

Today I took the trip down to OHSU. Not sure what I was thinking when I made an 8:15am appointment downtown Portland. I'm used to my small town with no traffic, not crazy Portland drivers and rush hour traffic. Oh well, made it down there with 15 mins to spare. I was nervous going in. It seemed like this last week just wasn't a great week in the blogging world for the ladies and my fellow IVF'ers. Thankfully, the appointment went great from start to finish. Last time I had blood drawn it took them a ridiculous amount of poking me just to get some blood. Like, 12 pokes, if I remember right. Last night I started hydrating up like crazy and sure enough, 6 viles and 1 poke was a breeze. I had 3 different nurses remember me from that day because they all took turns. Ha! They all came in to check out how easy the blood draw way today. Looovely! Once blood was drawn in I went for the ultrasound to check and see if the horrible side effects of lupron have been worth it..sure enough, my ovaries looked suppressed. Whew! I was holding my breath most of the afternoon waiting for the call on my bloodwork. Finally, it came. All is well and I am suppressed!

Now I get to start 3 shots a day, 1 in the am and 2 in the pm. Follistim and menopur, hopefully they're nice to me. I also started my first dose of decreased lupron tonight. Woohoo! Lets hope the dumb side effects of that crap start to lessen. On Friday I head back down to ohsu for another ultrasound and little blood. Maybe by Friday they'll have a better estimate on a retrieval date. We shall see!

Let's hope this journey continues down a positive road!

Check, check & check!

Egg retrieval and transfer will be here so soooooon! 

Lupron has been treating me like craaap! If I wasn't sure that it'll be worth it in the end I would have thrown the stuff out! It makes me feel like crap. The joint aches...ermergherd! I feel like I'm 90. It's been sooo cold here lately and I feel like all I've done is stay inside where I can be warm. The minute I walk outside its instant pain. If I have to go anywhere I make sure that my truck is started and my heated seats are on HIGH! The last few days the hot flashes have set in too. Holy mackreal! The other day we went up into the mountains with friends to go shooting and for their kids to play in the snow. It was fun but I didn't do much other then stand around because it hurt to move...but the whoooole time I was having hot flashes. One minute I was cold and then the next I could feel myself sweating. Yesterday morning I was burning up! I walked out in the 20 degree weather and was standing on our back deck in a tank top and shorts...sweating. Today I've got some mad cramping going on..lets hope that means them ovaries are suppressing!  Side effects are noooooo bueno but it'll be worth it. *fingers crossed*

Holly went to the Doctor on Thursday to have some bloodwork and an ultrasound done. I got an email Thursday afternoon saying she was suppressed and was to lower her lupron dosage and start her Estrace. Bring on the thick lining!

We are checking things off our list and its getting exciting!

Today was my last day on birth control. The morning of the 14th I head in to see if I am suppressed or not. Lets hope! 

Earlier I was reading a new blog I found. This woman and her husband are in a lot of way in the same boat as we are. She as well will be going through ivf very soon. She posted this link for her readers to try and make it more clear what happens during an ivf cycle. This is really about as good as it gets for explaining how it all happens. Now if only I could find something that would better explain the whole process of using a gestational carrier. You'll get the idea though...the eggs go in Holly, not me. 

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Hello 2013!!

I can't believe it's already 2013. For as crappy as 2012 was, it sure seems like it went quick. I'm crossing my fingers that 2013 is going to make up for the last few years of utter crap. Ha!

Our Christmas was good. E had to work..boo! Christmas morning I made a huge breakfast for us and a few friends that don't have family in the area. Breakfast was delish! Wednesday morning we hit the road to Portland for Christmas with my family. E's family all spent Christmas in California at my brother in laws new home. We did Christmas Wednesday with my family. Lots of food and fun...prime rib was our main course..SO yummmmyy!

On Friday E and I had an appt at ohsu for our injection teaching. It seemed a bit pointless since I've given myself the shots before buuuut oh well. I guess I didn't realize that I was going to be having 3 shots a day! Not sure how I missed that but man! This will be my routine starting pretty soon!

I picked up all my meds while we were at ohsu. Ugh! As exciting as this whole process is...it's stressful! I still don't understand why the whole process is so damn expensive. Very frustrating at times. This was my total for my meds....and this isn't for all of it. I need a few more weeks worth of follistim since I was only given 5 days worth. Just crazy!

This is what over $2,500 in injection medications look like!

Holly is still doing her lupron shots every evening. She sent me this picture the other day saying that she is officially a human pin cushion. Lol, poor girl. She's such a trooper!

I got to ring in the new year by starting my lupron shots last night. I always psych myself out for shots. They're little needles...thank goodness! I took a quick deep breath and it was over. I was thinking I would need to do it laying down since I'm injecting them myself. Luckily I didn't even feel it go in. I could never be a junkie though, seriously!

My next appt is on the 14th. They'll be drawing blood and doing an ultrasound checking to see if the lupron shots are doing their job and suppressing my ovaries. Lets hope! After that appt I'll have another that week on the 18th and 4-6 more after that to keep watch on everything and make sure I don't get over stimulated. Then on to extraction! After the 14th I have a feeling that next week or 2 will be going by fast. Lets hope!

Off to do my 2nd lupron shot...Here's to a 2013 baby L!!!!!!!!

Surreal!

Life just feels surreal right now. There have been a few big hurdles we've gotten to jump over the last 2 weeks. Good hurdles!

Holly and Randy went to injection teaching and learned all the ins & outs of the meds & injections. We sat in the office for an hour after waiting almost 45 mins, it was a long appt! 

 

I started my birth control pills on Sunday. It's so weird that my eggs will be harvested yet I'm on bc. This is how mine and Holly's cycles get to be on the same page, using bc. Pretty interesting!

 

 

Last week Holly and I made a trip down to the pharmacy at OHSU to get her meds. It's was a grocery bag full of stuff! And she had quite the variety! 

 

Insurance had been giving us some hell about 2 different thing, most recently was Holly's birth year. On the application it was listed as she was born in 2012. Oops! Finally, after what seemed like MONTHS I got an email that they had approved her application. That was such a huge weight off my shoulders!!!!!

While Erik and I were in Portland week before last we also got to sign our contract. YAY! A few days later our attorney sent it off to Holly and randy. They signed it and sent it off on Wednesday. Another huge weight off my shoulders. Here they are...signing their lives away! Muahhaha! (-;

 This picture was taken while we were up at Doernbechers Children Hospital. My sweet nephew(Holly and Randy's son) had his cochlear implant placed in his little ear on Wednesday. He made it through surgery like a little champ and is recovering well. It just so happened they had a free notary at the hospital which worked great! January 18th they will be going back to have the implant turned on. I can't wait to see this little man's world change right before our eyes.

 

A few days ago Holly and I received an email from Vanessa with our protocol and how everything will map out over the next month. Holly started her shots last night actually! She sent me these pictures and added in that randy had to do the shot for her. Lol.

 

 

 Giving yourself a shot in the gut is a mind game. It took me quite a few minutes to convince myself to just suck it up and finally do it back when I was doing them. I'll start my lupron shots December 31st. Eeek! 

As of right now it's looking like my egg retrieval will be sometime between the 24th & 29th of January with transfer being 3, 5 or 6 days later. 

It's going to be here before we know it!!!!!

Insurance, provera, CONTRACT signing!

Geeze! I haven't updated this thing in almost a month! Truthfully, nothing has really been happening. We had a slight scare with the insurance that we are purchasing for Holly. They had denied her because of question asking if her employer would be paying or not. Obviously the answer is no, but we accidentally clicked yes when we were filling out the application. Luckily, all it took was a note saying that her employer will not be paying for the insurance. Hopefully all will be good now and we will have her covered by January 1st.

In other news, I've started my provera to induce a period and will be starting my birth control pills soon. After that its not long until shots begin and then its time for the egg extraction! Eek! I'll admit, I've really been trying not to think about that. From everything I've read most people are knocked out for that process. For whatever reason, ohsu doesn't not fully knock you out. They just  say that "you'll be comfortable". That scares me! ):

Oh! The good news! We signed our contract last night!!!! That did make me a bit more excited. Really, it's not that I am not excited, it's that I am soooo nervous. I have way to many thoughts in my head about what will happen if it all doesn't go as "planned". I'm just hoping that this one time in our journey can go as planned. Since we have our part of the contract signed, our attorney will now be sending it off to Holly for her to sign and then we are good to go!

 Here's to hoping!