28-week ultrasound and glucose tolerance test

Let's start with today!  Today we went in for the 28-week ultrasound and the babes are looking good!  Harrison weighs 2 lbs, 15 oz and his heart rate was 145 bmp... and Edyn is 2 lbs, 11 oz and her heart rate was 143 bpm.  They were not in the best positions but Harrison was definitely in a slightly better position than Edyn.  We didn't get any pictures of Edyn and we only got a few of Harrison.  But that's okay as long as they are healthy!!

Last Monday, I did the one hour glucose test.  I had to fast for an hour, then drink this sugary drink that has 50 grams of sugar, then have my blood taken an hour later.  The nurse called on Tuesday and said that my number was 137 and they like it to be below 135, close but not close enough.  SO I decide to do some research, and I find that most doctors like the number to be under 140.  If that was the case I would have passed.  If your number is over 200, then you have gestational diabetes.  

But because I didn't pass, I had to do the 3-hour glucose tolerance test.  Basically, they take your blood 4 times.  You fast for 8 hours beforehand.  Then you get there and they take your blood, then you drink 100 grams of sugar and wait an hour for them to take your blood again, then you wait another hour and there's another blood draw, then you wait one more hour and they do it one more time.  So I hear from the nurse yesterday and she said that I had 1 abnormal number.  If I had 2 or more abnormal results, I would have gestational diabetes... if I have 0 abnormal results, I'd be fine.  But I only have 1 abnormal result... of course!  My first number was 89, which was apparently fine.  My second number was 150 and they like for it to be under 180, so I pass that one.  The third number was 158 and they want your number under 155, so I fail by 3... dammit!  The fourth number was 100 and they want it under 140, so I pass.  But because I failed one test, I have to repeat the test at 32 weeks.  

So I ask what I can or should be doing, and they say, "Well you could cut out some sugar but don't cut out too much sugar cause we want to know if you have gestational diabetes" or something like that... i don't know!!  I guess we'll see what happens at 32 weeks.  The good thing is that I have off for winter break during that time, so the next glucose test and our next big ultrasound are during break which means I don't have to use sick days!!  :)

Gearing up for the baby shower on Sunday!!!  :D

27 weeks - beginning of 3rd trimester! :)

Wow!  We are officially in the 3rd trimester!!!  It's hard to believe that in about 10 weeks (give or take a few), we are going to have 2 babies!  :D

The nursery is looking pretty good and our baby shower is right around the corner.  We are very busy getting ready for Christmas... our last Christmas with just the two of us.  Even though we are obviously shopping for presents for friends and family, it's awfully hard to stay away from the baby section.  We try, but often fail miserably.  Lol!  Let's see... we also had maternity photos taken at 24 weeks, which turned out fantastic!  So all in all, it has been a busy time for us.

This past Friday, we went in to get a 3D/4D ultrasound.  We already had one pretty good 3D shot of each baby.  And even though they kinda look like monsters in there in some of the shots, it's always so nice to see them again.  :)  The ultrasound tech was even able to get both of them in one picture... however, Edyn's foot was in the middle!  She was moving all over the place and at one point, she had her feet in her face.  They were also kicking each other from time to time.  Lol!  It was pretty amusing to watch them in there.  I kept thinking, "so this is what they must be doing when I feel them moving about!"  Harrison was kind of hidden in there, but there are still some cute ones of him too!

Our next step is the 28 week ultrasound on December 4th.  Maybe we'll get even more 3D shots then.  Regardless, it'll be great to see them again... I love them.  <3  Soon enough, they will be here!!!!

Both babies! - Edyn on the left, Harrison on the right
With Edyn's foot in the middle!!  =P

Our little girl!!

Edyn again with her arm and hand in her face.

Our little boy!!

Harrison again, curled up of course.   

First kick for "daddy"

Marisa has this pregnancy app that includes a timeline of milestones during pregnancy. One of the milestones is being able to feel the baby kick on the outside of her belly, but instead of wording it that way it says "first kick for daddy". This has pretty much been an ongoing joke between us as I every so often ask her when the babies will "kick for daddy".

Anyway, we're sitting around watching Shark Tank on Friday night (we are the life of the party!) when Marisa says "come feel my belly, I think I just felt them on the outside!" And sure enough, I got to feel our babies kick for the first time! What an incredible feeling! There were a couple more moments like this throughout the weekend, and at one point we actually saw her belly move from them kicking! I have a feeling this is just the beginning and they are only going to become more and more active!

On a slightly related note, we had a doctors appointment yesterday morning to have echocardiograms on their hearts. They would not stay still! In the end the ultrasound tech got all of the images she needed to, but it was definitely a challenge. The doctor saw us after the ultrasound was over and told us that everything was normal and Marisa said "so they look good?" And he said "actually, better than good- they looked great!" He then made a comment to us about what a nice little family we have. There are so may reasons in a day to smile. Life is good.

20 weeks!!

Wow!  20 weeks!  It is hard to believe we are half way there!!  Most likely, we are a little more than half way there, but officially the little ones have made it to the half way point.  With each day that passes, it feels more and more real.  I've got quite the bump now and I have started to feel little movements from the twins.  No big kicks or punches just yet, but after seeing the size of their feet on the ultrasound today, it's only a matter of time!  ha!

Anyway, today was the big 20-week ultrasound at Maternal Fetal Medicine (the high-risk place).  They have much better ultrasound equipment compared to the OB, so we always love the pics that we get from them.  The ultrasound lasted for about an hour and a half.  And again, the ultrasound tech was awesome!  We even got a few 3d shots!!  :)  There's always a doctor that reviews the photos afterwards and comes in to check on how things are going.  Today's doctor was like a football coach!  lol  Andrea said she thinks he missed his calling in life.  =P

So the short version of this 1 1/2 hour ultrasound is that everything is looking good.  Baby A is still a girl... Edyn Carmel.  And Baby B is still a boy... Harrison Lee.  Edyn is 12 ounces and Harrison is 13 ounces.  Thats over a pound and a half of baby!!  Edyn's heart rate was 148 bpm and Harrison's was 132 bpm.  Both heart rates are in the normal range.  Everything else (heads, hands, feet, legs, etc) is looking good and normal!  Edyn was in a odd position, so it was a little harder to get her to cooperate, but after the ultrasound tech jiggled her around a bit, she was good!  Harrison was a little more chill and cooperative.  He also wanted everyone to know that he was a boy!  Over and over again!

We have two more appts coming up in the next two weeks.  One on the 17th at the OB and one of the 22nd at MFM.  The one of the 22nd is the fetal echocardiogram, so they will be looking exclusively at their hearts.  The next appts after that are not until mid-November and early December.

In other news, we recently purchased cribs, mattresses and bedding, so we are making progress in the nursery!  :D

Edyn's 3D picture - Her little arm was in front of her face!

It's a GIRL!

Edyn's profile - so cute!

Harrison's 3D picture - He also likes his hand in front of his face.  =P

It's a BOY!

Harrison's profile - Adorable!

16 week ultrasound!

We went in today for our 16-week ultrasound!  Probably the most exciting ultrasound yet!  Both babies are looking good.  Baby A had a heart rate of 150 bpm and Baby B's was 161 bpm.  They are both about 5 ounces and are very active.  We also had the blood work done for the second part of the sequential screening, so we'll be hearing more about that in 3-5 business days.

They were also able to tell us the sexes!!  Baby A is a GIRL!!!!  Baby B is a BOY!!!! 

We are so excited and grateful!  We would have been excited no matter what, obviously!  But one of each is such a blessing!!  :)  We can finally buy more clothing that is NOT yellow!!  lol

13 weeks! End of Trimester #1!

"Things will happen in your life that you can't stop, but that's no reason to shut out the world.  There's a purpose for the good and for the bad"

"We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in, I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am.  I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough."


Now that we made it through the 1st trimester, I've been thinking back on our journey so far.  I've feel like I have learned so much not just about conception and pregnancy, but also about life and personal growth.  When we started this process, I thought I would just get pregnant... easily!  With no family history of fertility problems and all diagnostic tests in normal ranges, I thought it would be a piece of cake!  The first failed IUI attempt was disappointing, but I was hopeful that the next attempt would be successful.  When the second and third attempts failed, my hope started to fade.  I was angry, sad, hopeless, and jealous all at the same time.  I found a renewed hope when we switched to Dr. P and the Sher Institute and moved on to IVF.  It was a big step, but one that I knew we had to make.  Our conversations with Dr. P were enlightening and reassuring.  However, I was still nervous and worried about another failed attempt.  So I did everything in my power to "make" this work.  When the first IVF cycle failed, I was devastated... beyond devastated.  I wanted to give up... I told myself I couldn't do it anymore.  It was too hard to hear over and over again, "I'm sorry, the pregnancy test came back negative".  I don't know if I can accurately describe what it feels like to hear that over and over again after putting your everything into a cycle... hope, energy, time, money, etc.  Some people will know what I'm talking about, but most won't.

Anyways, my point is not to make this a negative post, but instead to set the stage for the change that took place within me throughout this process.  At the start of IVF #2, I started to shift my focus to gratitude.  I thought about everything that I was grateful for...sure we had failed cycles, but we also were able to DO those cycles.  So many couples either don't have the time or can't afford it.  I became more and more grateful for what I already had... a great loving family, a wonderful wife, amazing friends, a roof over my head, a job that I love, adorable cats, etc etc.  I also began to realize that all of my worrying and at home efforts to "make" this work were useless... "I" was not going to "make" anything work.  So after getting over the initial disappointment of the first failed IVF, I had a complete change of attitude.  I didn't focus all my energies on getting pregnant or "making" it work.  I focused on being grateful.  And I prayed.  Everyone has an angel.  So I prayed to my angel and stayed positive and grateful.

Looking back now, I realized that I had a lot to learn.  I had to learn how to let go of things in the past and move on, how to persevere and stay strong, how to get back up after falling down, how to trust in something greater than me, how to be patient, how to be grateful for the present moment, how to stay positive and believe that this was going to work for us, that nothing is guaranteed, how to be okay with not being in control.  I had lessons to learn that were going to repeat themselves until I learned them.  And that is what made IVF #2 different from the other cycles, I had a completely different outlook that had slowly evolved as a result of everything that happened along the way.  Every step that we took along the way prepared us for this wonderful gift!  :)

So, long story short, I am infinitely grateful for these two wonderful little miracles of ours!  Our road wasn't always easy (like I thought it would be in the beginning), it was "bumpy".  But those "bumps" in the road taught me important lessons.

Today I am grateful that we have two healthy little ones growing and that we are officially at the end of our first trimester!!  2 more trimesters until we meet them!!  :)

11w3d

almost done with the first trimester!!  woop woop!  some people say it ends at 12 weeks and others say 13 weeks... either way, we're close.  :)

yesterday, we went into the high-risk pregnancy place for our first consultation and the sequential screening test, which included blood work and an ultrasound.  first, one of the nurses chatted with us for about 45 mins about pregnancy things and answered some of our questions.  then they took us into the ultrasound room, where they checked out everything... obviously seeing the babies was the most exciting part!  =P  they look like humans now!  we could see their little arms and legs and even their little hearts beating away.  One had a heartbeat of 176 bpm and the other was 167 bpm, both looking good!  they also measure the skin on the back of each baby's neck as a part of the sequential screening test, and that all came back normal!  yay!  the blood test won't come back for 3-5 days but they said no news is good news, so as long as i don't hear anything, it all came back as "normal".

the next step is at 16 weeks, i go back in to get another ultrasound and more blood work to give us a more conclusive result of the screening.

in the meantime, we have an appt at the OB next friday.

9 Weeks 1 Day

So I've been a little bit late to the blogging game lately. IN FACT I haven't posted since we got our BIG FREAKIN' POSITIVE!!!! Needless to say I am beyond excited and I can't wait to meet these two little people that are currently living in Marisa's belly!

So yesterday we had a Dr. appointment and an ultrasound. And guess what? Those little babies are starting to have legs and arms! It was the most amazing thing to see them moving around in there, they are really starting to take shape! When we had the 7 week ultrasound (that Marisa posted pictures of) Marisa was 7 weeks pregnant - baby A was 6 weeks 6 days old and baby B was 7 weeks 1 day old. Yesterday Marisa was 9 weeks 1 day pregnant, and both baby A and B were 9 weeks day pregnant- so it looks like everyone is getting in sync with each other. They both had strong heartbeats of 176 BPM. Everyday I just become more and more amazed by these little babies! It brings a huge smile to my face just thinking about it! So here are the latest pics.

8w3d update!

Andrea said she was going to update the blog, but that hasn't happened... so here's the most recent update.  :) We went in for the first OB visit on Monday.  It wasn't an ultrasound visit or anything fun, just talking and updating charts.  While we were there, they gave us some info about screenings that we could opt to do.  We decided to do the sequential screening which needs to be done at this other doctor's office around 11 weeks.  However, we were going to be calling this other doctor's office anyway because we technically have a "high-risk" pregnancy because we're having twins and this doctor's office specializes in high-rish pregnancies.  (don't ya love the sound of that?... we're having twins!!)  Anyway, after we left the OB, I called there to set up a consult and the screening.  Not only did they schedule that first appointment for me but they also set up a follow to the screening at 16 weeks, which is just blood work.  And they set up an appointment for our 20 week ultrasound already!

Our next ultrasound at the OB is this coming Tuesday afternoon.  Can't wait!!!!   :)  I feel like we've been waiting forever to see them again!

So I realized I haven't talked a whole lot about symptoms.  So far, no vomiting (knock on wood!).  Just nausea that started around 6 weeks.  It started off very mild, just here and there, and then progressed to more like "moderate" nausea.  Some days I'm great and I feel like I can eat whatever I want.  Other days, I stick with crackers and things that are fairly bland.  I feel like the good days are becoming less and less prominent.  I have also found that "grazing" all day is the best thing for me.  The constant eating of little snacks actually makes the nausea go away, at least for a little while.  In fact, if I eat a big meal, I feel terrible.  So snacking is for me!

I have had some crazy food aversions.  Basically anything I liked to eat is now completely repulsive.  I used to love cabbage salad... well I made some around 5 weeks and I ate it for 2 days, and on the 3rd day, I couldn't even stand to look at it when I opened the fridge, so I put it down the garbage disposal.  We also made this one bean dish that I used to love... not anymore!  I had to have Andrea get rid of that one, cause I couldn't go near it without feeling like I was going to vom!

I also have had a little bit of indigestion and heart burn, but not too bad (again, knock on wood!).  And I've had a LOT of gas!  i know, i know... TMI!!  but that's been terrible!  The one day I even burped and farted at the same time!   what the hell!  =P

Besides that, I pee all the time and sleep all the time because I'm constantly exhausted!  which is another reason why I haven't done much lately.  I'm kinda glad that my first trimester is during the summer because I don't know how I would fair at work!  AND i'm already showing just a little bit!  :)

Some days I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but I wouldn't trade any of this!  I LOVE that I'm pregnant and I LOVE that we are having twins!  and I'm so grateful for this whole experience!!

Currently, one of my favorite quotes... "Never give up, for that is just the time and place that the tide will turn".  There were times that I wanted to give up and stop trying, but I'm soooo glad we didn't!  Everything that happened (and didn't happen) along the way prepared us for these moments!  And I'm thankful for each and every moment!

7w1d

Yesterday, we hit the 7-week mark!  Our little ones are now the size of blueberries!!!  :)  We went in for our first scheduled ultrasound at Dr. P's office.  We filled him in on what happened at the hospital and how we already know that we are having twins!  Then he started the ultrasound and it was so nice to be able to see the screen this time and to hear his commentary.  At the hospital, the tech wouldn't say anything about what she saw until the Dr. was there.  Also, this time we got real pictures!!  AND we got to see and HEAR their little heartbeats!  I was pretty surprised when he said we could hear their heartbeats already because everything that I've read says that you can't really hear them until like 11-12 weeks.

Anyway, the whole ultrasound was so amazing!  We love those little blueberries sooo much!!

SO, i'm officially released from the Sher Institute, and now I have my first appointment with my OB next Monday!  I'm super excited and thankful to be at this point in the journey, BUT I sure am going to miss those folks at the Sher Institute!  They have all been sooooo wonderful and understanding about everything.  They truly are great people!

Below are the ultrasound pictures from yesterday and the video that Andrea took of one of their heartbeats.

scary... then, exciting night!

let me start by saying that everything is OK!  thank GOD!!  

here's what happened (the short-ish version)... around 7:30-ish tonight, I started having some bleeding with cramping.  but the cramping could have partially been gas.  the bleeding was not like period bleeding, but it seemed to be a little more then "spotting".  so we were worried to say the least!  we called our friends who just went through this whole process to ask for their advice.  they said to call dr. p, so we did.  he basically said that in most cases, a little bleeding doesn't necessarily mean anything bad.  he said that it could be from many many different things, and so it wouldn't help anything to go to the ER.  he said that we would sit there for 3 hours, they would probably not be able to find anything on the ultrasound, and they would send me home and tell me to rest and drink lots of fluids.  so we thought about it, and we were still stressing about the whole thing.  so being the good listeners that we are, we went to the ER anyway.  :)  and i'm so glad we did!

our friends (mentioned above) have a friend who works in the hospital.  so they put us in contact with her.  she is awesome!  she was helpful and understanding and full of insights, since she also just went through this whole process!  they took my blood to test the hcg level and then did 2 different ultrasounds.  so long story short.... we are 6w3d pregnant with TWINS!!!  eeeeeeee!!!!  AND they both have VERY healthy heartbeats (123 bpm and 119 bpm).  AND they are both up "high", which we are told is a good thing.  AND my HCG was soo high that they had to dilute it even further and test it again, so we wont know the official number until tomorrow, but that is also a good thing!  so we got good news all around.  we went from being completely stressed, saddened, and worried... to being overjoyed, relieved, and thankful!  but now i'm exhausted!!  it is almost 2 am!  

TWINS!!!!  yayay!!!!!!!!!!  :) :) :) :)   i love them soo much already!  <3

Baby A - 119 BPM

Baby B - 123 BPM

Both babies

5w4d pregnant!

I still smile every time I say I'm pregnant!  :)  I think it's finally set in that we are going to have little ones around here in 9 months!  I say little oneS because I'm pretty sure there's more than one... :D  We obviously won't know for sure until the ultrasound on July 9th (I will be 7 wks by then), and even then we still might not know for sure since plenty of people "find" another little one hiding in there during the second ultrasound.  But I'm thinking we have at least 2!  And here's why...

In my free time, I google things about beta results and, from most of the posts on the message boards, the general consensus is that beta numbers vary so much from person to person and pregnancy to pregnancy that you can't really tell anything from them related to multiples.  However, there's this website call Beta Base (betabase.info), that has about 70,000 beta results from successful pregnancies broken down by how many babies (singleton, twins, triplets) and the day of the beta test (days past ovulation).   Now, I'm a "numbers" gal, so once I figured out how this website worked, I thought it was the best thing ever!!  Why waste time going from message board to message board to look up beta numbers, when I can waste time on a website that has already complied thousands of beta numbers!  =P  

After looking around on the website, I discovered a few things about my high beta numbers.  Ok, so my second test was 13dp5dt, which is 18 days past ovulation (dpo).  So first I went to the singleton pregnancies and on 18dpo, 4,085 women with singleton preg reported their beta results for that day.  Out of those women, only 61 had a number of 2200+.  Remember, my number was 2806.  Those 61 women translates into 1.5%.  So only 1.5% of the women who reported their betas on this website had a number as high as mine or higher and still had a singleton.  1.5%..... that's it!

So then I think to myself, okay let's look at the twin numbers.  So at 18dpo, 1,970 women reported their betas for successful twin pregnancies.  Only 113 women had a beta over 2500+.  So that means that 5.7% of women with twin pregnancies had a beta as high as mine or higher.  So even most of the women with twin pregnancies, had a much lower number than me on 18dpo!

Soooo then I look up triplet pregnancies!  Out of 303 reported triplet pregnancies, 89 women had a beta of 2100+ on 18dpo.  That means 29% of women had a beta as high as mine or higher.  So my number is even on the high end of that scale!  The other 71% had a lower number than me on 18dpo with a triplet pregnancy.  

I know that there is no predicting the future... and I am being patient until the day of the ultrasound, but it's still fun to think about!!  :)  

holy moly! 2nd beta results!

sooo, my first beta (10dp5dt) was 583.  just went in today for the second beta (13dp5dt)...you ready... 2806!!!!  2806!!


at this point, i'm really thinking there's more than one in there!!!  you never know, i guess there's a chance we could have just one REALLY strong one (which would be fabulous!), but something tells me there are 2 (at least)!!

omg!  it feels even more real!  i honestly could not be more thrilled!!  i'm just beaming right now!!  actually i've been beaming since tuesday!  lol

so the next step is our first ultrasound on July 9th at 1:30.  we'll know for sure at that point how many little ones are cozied up in there!!  :)

omg omg omg omg!

we got a positive!!!!!  ahhh!!  i'm shocked and still shaking!!  what an amazing day!!  :)

there are still tears in my eyes as i'm writing this.  i'm beyond grateful, words can't express how thankful I am to know that there is a little life growing inside me right now!  after the nurse said "congratulations!", all i could say was "are you serious?".  she laughed and confirmed that she was serious.  lol!  and then all i could say was, "oh my god, oh my god!!"  she asked if andrea was here and I said that she was at work, so I would call her asap.  when i got off the phone, i let out a big "thank you!" for this little miracle of ours!

being able to call andrea and give her good news for once was the best feeling.  we cried, of course!  but for once, they were good tears!  tears of joy!  so much joy!!!  i can't believe this is real!  it feels like a dream!

And get this, my beta number was 583!!!!  583!!!  what a fantastic number!!  for those of you who don't know, 25 means that you are pregnant but even that is a little low.  I was hoping for a number somewhere around 100-ish, just so that I didn't have to worry too much.  BUT 583 is awesome!!!!  so so so so thankful!!  Our next step is a beta on Friday to make sure that the number is rising as it should. We won't know if we have a singleton or possibly multiples until a later date.  A number like 583, even though it's high, doesn't necessarily mean that we have multiples since everyone's levels are different.

In the words of Beyonce, "Nothing's perfect, but it's worth it after fighting through my tears".  This has been quite a journey so far.  And I am beyond thrilled to be moving on to the next step!!

We'll be updating soon!  Until then, if you need to reach us, we'll be on cloud 9!!!!  :)

9dp5dt... beta tomorrow!!

well here we are the day before the beta test!  this time the wait seemed to go much faster than last time, in part because we decided to NOT do the home pregnancy tests.  we thought about it maybe once or twice, but in the end, i'm so glad we decided to not test.  it keeps the hope alive, plus we will know for sure tomorrow if we are pregnant, none of that craziness wondering if it is a false negative.  we've been keeping ourselves busy with the new house, so that definitely helps too.  BUT i'm a little anxious for tomorrow to just be here already!  i'm going to get up early so that i am one of the first people in the door for blood work.

i'll definitely be posting tomorrow when i find out the results!  good or bad, i know we'll be okay... but i really really really want this to be soooo positive!  :)

IVF Round 2!!

Wow!  It’s been forever since we posted last!  So much has happened!  Let’s begin with the retrieval.  So Andrea’s stim meds were amped up this time.  During the ultrasounds leading up to the retrieval, the follicles were bigger than last time and there were slightly more of them (last time, we had 11 and this time we had 13).  This was all good news, but we had expected for there to be much more with using more meds this time.  The retrieval was supposed to be either June 1^st or June 2^nd.  However, based on Andrea’s levels, they pushed it back to June 4^th so that she didn’t hyperstim after doing the HCG shot.  On the retrieval day, they got 13 eggs, only 5 of them were good eggs and all 5 fertilized.  So it was very similar to last time.  Dr. Peters explained to Andrea that at this point, he thinks there is an egg issue.  He said that for someone her age, the last protocol of meds should have been enough to produce more good eggs, and that the amount of meds that were used THIS time definitely should have been enough to produce more.  With that said, he reassured us that the eggs that did make it, were good quality.  So that was good!

Moving ahead to the day of the transfer… we did a day 5 transfer this time.  If you remember, last time we did a day 6 transfer, which is still good, but it’s much better to have a day 5 transfer.  So the transfer happened on Saturday, June 9^th.  We were the only patients in there for the day, so Dr. P, the nurse, and the lab lady were all there basically for us.  When Dr. P called me in the morning, he mentioned that there were 3 good blasts and that the other 2 weren’t really doing much.  So again, this news was very similar to last time.  BUT, I was surprised when he suggested that we transfer 3 this time!!  And Dr. P is pretty conservative!  The 3 that we had were… a perfect grade 1 blast, a grade 1 early blast, and a grade 3 early blast.  He said that it is unlikely that all 3 will stick, but that there was a possibility.  He also said that our chances of having twins would be increased.  Andrea and I considered these things and pretty much agreed without hesitation that we would transfer 3 embryos this time!  We want to make a baby!  If that means that we are blessed with 3 babies at once, I would gladly welcome that challenge!!  How wonderful it would be to have a complete family in an instant!

Our 3 little ones!!  That's right, we transferred 3 this time!

The transfer went smoothly (once my bladder filled up) and then we were on our way!  This time, I was much more relaxed than last time, so that can only help things!  Dr. P came in to talk to us before he left and wished us luck.  He’s such an amazing doctor… just a genuinely caring and nice guy.  The next day, we got a call saying that one more embryo made it to blast and so they would be freezing it.  So now we have a total of 3 frozen embryos.  

So now here we are in a “wait” again.  I’ve been doing a lot of resting.  I actually didn’t do anything the day of the transfer or the following 2 days.  Then I started doing little things around the house.  It was nice just relaxing at first, but I would get a little bored from time to time, just being here by myself watching tv.  So it was good to be able to start doing little things again. 

Our pregnancy test is scheduled for the 19^th, the day after Andrea’s birthday!  I’m refusing to take home pregnancy tests this time because all they do is freak me out and drive me nuts.  I’m also not google-ing anything related to pregnancy symptoms.  In fact, I’m avoiding even talking about “symptoms”.  The reason why… everyone’s “symptoms” are different and what is a symptom of pregnancy for one person is a symptom of not being pregnant for another person.  Also, plenty of people have no symptoms at all and are VERY pregnant… with multiples!  Many people say that this is too early to get any real symptoms.  And let’s not forget that many of the drugs that are used in the IVF process cause you to have the same sort of "symptoms" as being pregnant.  There's just too many variables!!  So for my own sanity, this time, I’m banning myself from google (as far as pregnancy is concerned).  AND I’m not taking home pregnancy tests. 

I even banned Andrea from asking me about “symptoms”.  She can ask how I’m feeling, but that’s about it.  I’m trying to stay as busy and positive as possible.  I think I’m doing pretty well in that area so far.  But we’ll see how I’m doing in a couple days as the pregnancy test is within sight, buuuuttt not quite there yet.  =P

Just one funny side note before I go… check out the license plate on the car that I was behind on my way home yesterday.  Could be a sign of things to come!!

Happy Mother's Day

It's been a while since we've updated, and so what better day to write an update than Mother's Day. First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there, we look forward to celebrating with you next year.

The last post that Marisa made was about our consultation with Dr. P, and there was a mention of me having a test done to make sure that my eggs were okay. Good news, they are! We are continuing on with this cycle, and we started doing belly shots of lupron again this past week. This month is going to be a crazy one- once we start getting into the hardcore shots we will also be closing on our new house (and old one, it sold in less than 2 weeks!) and moving! It seems like a lot to be doing at the same time, but honestly I feel like by preoccupying us with something else (the house) it may take some of the focus off of the baby making, which is a good thing.

Hopefully the internet at the new house gets hooked up when it's supposed to be and that we'll be able to keep you updated on this journey of ours!

Dr. Peters consultation

Let me start by saying that we LOVE Dr. P!  Yesterday, we went in for our consultation for the next IVF cycle.  We obviously had some questions written down about what could have potentially gone wrong in the last cycle and what we would change this time around.  Well we really didn't even need our questions.  Dr. Peters had already looked into our files and analyzed our past and most recent tests!  He answered all our questions before I could even ask them.  It was just so much different than what happened at RMA after a failed IUI cycle.  At RMA, we just got a "sorry it didn't work out" and "when do you want to try again?"  I'm just so thankful that we have someone like Dr. Peters who actually takes the time to sit and talk with us.

So Dr. Peters said that he was surprised that we didn't get pregnant last time and that our chances of getting pregnant this time around are looking pretty good.  He said that everything on my end was great... great lining and great estrogen and progesterone levels.  However, there MAY be a problem on Andrea's end.  I emphasize that there MAY be a problem.  Basically, since she doesn't get a period, they have to do bloodwork to see if they can figure out where she is in her cycle.  Her most recent bloodwork showed a FSH level of 8.3.  Anything above 10 is not good, so we're still below that... but it's a little high.  However, he can't tell exactly where she is in her cycle.  So while 8.3 is a bad number if she was actually on "Day 3", it is not such a bad number if it's "Day 7".  The gist of what he was saying is that there could POSSIBLY be a problem with her eggs, but that it is not likely.  And that really the only way to figure that out is to do another cycle.  Luckily Andrea's insurance pays the cost of the retrieval, so we can definitely try again with her eggs!  yay!!!!!

Today, we got our new calendars for the next cycle... looks like the shots will be starting close to the end of April.  Can't wait!!!  :) :) :)

the latest!

We've been feeling hopeful and positive these days, which is so much better than how we felt earlier this month!  Things have been looking up!  :)

We've decided to do another fresh IVF cycle.  Yay!  Even though we still have two frozen embryos, at this point it's more worthwhile to do a fresh cycle instead of a frozen for many reasons.  First, Andrea's insurance covers the retrieval... this is huge!  Most of the cost of an IVF cycle is the retrieval.  Second, we overpaid SIRM this time around, so technically they owe us some money, which will go directly to the next cycle.  Third, a fresh cycle is more likely to be successful.  Fourth, Andrea isn't getting any younger! We are just thrilled that Andrea's insurance covers this!  This would not be possible if we had to pay the entire cost of 2 IVF cycles.  So I can't say enough how grateful I am for all this!!

Another good thing is that the May cycle dates will work out perfectly with our schedules.  We would both have to go in on cycle day 9, which is May 29th.  Then Andrea has to go in a few days on her own for ultrasounds.  And then, most likely, the retrieval will fall on Saturday, June 2nd... with the transfer on June 7th!  My last day of school is on June 4th, so it will be perfect!  Also, if the dates work out, we will have the first beta test on Andrea's birthday and the due date will be on my 30th birthday!  What are the chances???  This has got to be it!  It's got to be!  That would be the best, most amazing, most wonderful birthday present we could ever ask for!!

In other news, we are also in the process of buying a house, which we will be closing on just before the cycle begins.  Busy busy times ahead, but all good exciting things!  

I have to say that it has been hard to stay positive in the past.  However, we started to shift our thinking and our outlook on the events of the past couple months and amazing things started to happen.  You might be thinking, "Wow, what a hippy dippy nut head!"  But I'm serious!  Great things started to almost fall in our laps right after we change our thinking.  For instance, the dates of the May IVF cycle worked out just right, Andrea's insurance paid for everything, we're technically getting some money back from SIRM, we put in a low offer on the perfect house for us and it was accepted, we're getting a decent amount of money back on our tax return, we have amazing friends who do little things to let us know that they care, we got to go on a random last minute weekend getaway to relax regroup, etc.  Even the kids at school give me the sweetest notes EXACTLY when I need them most!  Now don't get me wrong, we've had some challenges too.  Like when the paint job in the bathroom didn't go as expected.  But we still were able to fix it fairly easily and learn from it.  

Just wanted to close with a few quotes/poems that helped us during these trying times...

when things go wrong as they sometimes will
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill, 
when the funds are low, and the debts are high, 
and you want to smile, but have to sigh, 
when care is pressing you down a bit, 
rest if you must, but do not quit. 

success is failure turned inside out, 
the silver tint of the clouds of doubt, 
and you can never tell how close you are, 
it may be near when it seems so far,
so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
it's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

"The key to success is not what you do, it is how you feel about what you are doing. Success begins with a positive attitude, it is the most valuable asset we may own. Success begins with a good feeling about where we are and a positive attitude about where we want to be." 

"No matter what happens, no matter what the appearance, we are always successful. What looks like failure teaches us what not to do, what does not work. It forces us to refocus, and redo." 

"When confronted with a difficulty, we must immediately shift our attention from the problem to the solution. We can think, speak and bring the best possible outcome into existence by focusing on where we are going, not on where we think we are."

"Life is going to be a challenge. There will be rough times, difficult situations, things to fall into, major obstacles, mysteries to solve, wonders to unfold and promises to keep to yourself. Now that you know what to expect, prepare yourself. The only way to get to where you want to be is to do what needs to be done to get there."

My 2 Cents

Obviously, Andrea already broke the terrible news, but I just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.  

After we got the negative result, all I could do was ask questions (while crying, of course)... some questions that can be answered and some that can't.  But the most pressing question in my mind was, "HOW?  How could this have happened considering everything that we did to prepare ourselves and our bodies for this whole process?"  We changed our diets, went to acupuncture ($560 worth of acupuncture!), exercised (moderately), drank special teas, meditated... not to mention all the sick days, driving to NJ, painful shots, money, time, effort,  and HOPE that went into this cycle.  After all of that, and no "infertile" diagnosis AND transferring two great blastocysts... HOW could this have happened to us?  WHY me?  why us?  I'm sure this is nothing new.  Plenty of people have made this same journey, had the same disappointment, and plenty of people have asked these same questions.  You just never think it's going to be you facing this much disappointment.  

Once we moved on from our own "pity party", we got a little tipsy and we made our list, which Andrea posted.  Even though a lot depends on what Andrea's insurance covers and we don't have a specific goal in mind, the list gives us some direction and we know that there is a "goal" that we are working towards... we just haven't pinpointed it yet.  If her insurance doesn't cover anything, then we stay positive and do a FET with the two frozen embryos that we have left, as long as they are still good healthy embryos.  What we do beyond that is too much to worry about right now.  I'm glad that we have talked this through, but you can't plan for every scenario, so why bother trying.   And that is hard for me to accept, because I like to plan out everything.  I make lists and plans for everything and then I have back-up lists and back-up plans in case something goes wrong with the first plans.  Well all of that is a little pointless and completely draining.  So here's to staying positive and letting go of worry!!

Negative #4

You think you prepare yourself by not being too optimistic, but you're never actually prepared to hear "you aren't pregnant" again. It's been a very rough, trying year for the two if us. We started on this great big journey almost a year ago, and what do we have to show for it? We may not have a baby, we may have a ton of medical bills.. But beyond all of that Marisa and I are stronger than ever. Right now we are not only still processing the news, but grieving for the loss of our blastocysts- you can't help but wonder what they could have been.

So now we make lists. We make lists to make ourselves feel better, we make lists so that we know there is still hope after this.

Option 1: Pregnancy
• Fresh IVF cycle (if the insurance will cover it)
• Frozen Embryo Transfer ($2500)
• Try at home insemination (w/2nd parent adoption)
• Move to NJ, get job in NJ (NJ health insurance pays for IVF's)

Option 2: Adoption
• Move across the border to NJ where it is legal to adopt a child as a gay couple
• Move to one of these great states where it is also legal; NY, CT, MA, NH, RI

Option 3: Stop everything related to having children
• Buy a puppy

I'm pretty sure I'm losing it! : /

SO here we are 10dp6dt and tomorrow is the beta.  You would think that I'd be doing just a little bit better since the wait is almost over, but I think I'm getting worse.  The hpt for today was negative... again.  :(  So of course, immediately after the negative test I have to "google" things like "10dp6dt negative hpt, then positive beta" to reassure myself that there is still hope.  I've been pretty emotional lately, crying over songs and tv shows or even just thinking too much... in fact I'm crying right now as I'm writing this.  And it's not stopping anytime soon!

I'm so torn.... sometimes I think, "well there's a reason why the doctor scheduled the blood pregnancy test for tomorrow, and he certainly NEVER said to take a hpt everyday leading up to the beta... so I should just trust the doctor, wait patiently for the beta, and stop trying to 'beat the system'.  Plenty of people get negative hpts AFTER positive betas."  Then at other times I think, "Other people get positive hpts after 5 or 6 days post-transfer. Why not me?  Why do I have to be the patient one?  Why do I have to wait??"

I try to be positive, but the thought of this not working is almost too much to handle.  You put in all this time, effort, thought, money, hope... and if it doesn't work, you're left with nothing, nothing but a sad story.  With that said, I haven't been this negative the entire time.  In fact, initially, I would catch myself day-dreaming about getting the phone call saying "congrats! you are pregnant" and then calling Andrea to give her the good news.  I would read stories about people who got that exact phone call and I would just smile from ear to ear thinking that one day soon that will be me.  But lately, my thoughts have been more negative.  Maybe it's because time is running out, maybe it's just my nerves, maybe I'm just not good at being patient, maybe it's the hormones.  All I know is that I'm going to be a nervous wreck tomorrow, waiting for the phone call.

So like I said, I'm pretty sure I'm losing it.  I go from being completely hopeful to full of despair, and it can happen in the matter of minutes.  There's not much that I can do at this point except wait, so I guess that's the plan!  I hope that I can write a MUCH more positive post tomorrow!

Impatience

I'm not going to lie, I'm emotionally attached to our blastocysts. With the failed IUI's we had no idea if any eggs were actually fertilized, but here we know they were- there are two perfect little blastocysts just trying to find a perfect little place to stick to in Marisa's body. We have a picture of them. We love them and don't even know a thing about them, and worry for their safety as if they are already our children. This is normal, right?

It's natural to be impatient, especially when you have to wait for what feels like an eternity to find out if you're pregnant. This is our 4th time now going through a 2 week wait, only this time it's actually only a 11 day wait.. which is only slightly better. Today we 6dp6dt - 6 days past 6 day transfer, and have decided to jump on the HPT (home pregnancy test) bandwagon. It was negative. While we know that a negative at this point is not something to take seriously, it is clear that we are not one of the early testers that we've read about that has gotten a positive at 5-6 days. It's a rare thing to test positive on a hpt that early, even our friends who had twins didn't test positive until day 7, and that's bc they had double the hcg. There is just something about a negative that is so.. negative. Add to that what I like to refer to as "smart phone syndrome" in which at any point I can google whatever is on my mind at that moment.. it makes it very hard to focus. Here is a recent sampling of some things that I have been googling; "crazy dreams after IVF", "bigger breasts on progesterone", "cm after IVF", "how many dpt positive HPT", and my latest "6dp6dt". I'm sure Marisa's google history is probably similar. The reality is that everyone has a different situation and not everyone is going to have the same symptoms or test positive on the same day and these are just things that you try and keep in mind when going through all of this.

Only 5 more days until the beta test.

Day 6 Transfer! We made it!

Here I am after the transfer!

Couldn't wait to empty my bladder!  haha

Our two little blastocysts that we transferred!  

Aren't they adorable?!

Well today was THE day!  We got the phone call around 10:00 this morning and they told us to come in at 1:30.  So on the way in, I had to drink 16 oz of water so that my bladder was full and then I listened to my IVF hypnotherapy CD.  By the time we got there, my bladder was ready to burst!  It was so bad that as they were talking to me, it was hard to focus.  After I got changed, I was just pacing around the room.  From past experiences, I already knew that I was not going to handle this whole "full bladder" thing very well.  So I actually snuck out of the room to pee a little bit for some relief.  Well it helped but only marginally.  When Dr. Peters came in the room to say "Hello", he instantly knew that there was something wrong.  So I told him that I really had to go to the bathroom and he told me to go let a little bit more out because we had about another 20-25 mins.  That helped a bit more.

We also mentioned the bruising and swelling from the progesterone shots.  When they looked at it, they said that it was pretty bad.  So at least I now know that I wasn't being a big baby about it.... it actually was THAT abnormally painful.  So they said that Dr. Peters would take a look at it and possibly prescribe something else, which was like music to my ears.  I would have been happy with a shot every other night.  But they decided to switch me over to Crinone Progesterone Gel instead, which means NO MORE PROGESTERONE SHOTS!  Awesome news!  So I do the Crinone suppository in the morning and the another progesterone suppository in the evening, starting tomorrow.  I still have to do the E2V shots every Tuesday and Friday, but those were never that bad to begin with.  It was the progesterone shots that made me anxious every night.

Anyway, so then they took me back to a separate room.  And when they checked my bladder, they commented on how full it was!  AND that was after I had let a little bit out TWICE.  So you can imagine how full it was before I did that.  Then Dr. Peters came over to chat with us about the embryos.  He said that all 5 made it to blastocyst stage, but the quality varied.  Two of them were graded as "3", two of them were graded as "2", and one of them were graded as "1".  As Andrea explained "1s" are the best and "4s" are the worst.  Dr. Peters said that the "3s" probably would not be good to freeze since they are probably growing slow because something abnormal is going on.  Which left us with 3 great blastocysts.  So their recommendation was to transfer only one, but he said that we have a say in this too.  We expressed our concerns about putting in only one and he said he was fine with us transferring two.  So we transferred a "1" and a "2", and then froze the other "2".

The worst part of the transfer was the pressing on the bladder with the abdominal ultrasound.  Everything they did on the inside was fine.  But every time they pressed down more on my bladder, I wanted to scream.  Once it was over, they moved me over to the other bed and wheeled me back into the other room to rest for about 20 mins or so.  Then I was finally able to pee!  I peed for like a good 2 minutes straight. no lie!  It went on forever!  Then we got changed and that was that!  They told me to not do anything else today, so I'm doing a whole lot of nothing.  And then to still take it easy tomorrow. I'm going into work tomorrow, which they were fine with, but they just said to make sure I take it easy overall.  The good thing is that I only have to go to work for 1 day and then it's the weekend, so i have 2 more days to rest and relax before I have to work a full week.

Tomorrow I go back to Ming Ming for another round of acupuncture.  I call this my marathon acupuncture week, since I went Tuesday, Wednesday, AND Friday this week.  I had been going every Friday since the end of January, but this is the first time I went multiple times in a single week.  I'll probably still go once a week, even after the pregnancy test to prevent miscarriage.

So our next step is to wait patiently until March 12th for the official blood pregnancy test.  BUT I think we might end up cheating and doing a home pregnancy test a little early.  I don't know, we'll have to see!  =P

What an exciting positive day it has been!  We are so grateful that we were able to do this, and so hopeful for the future!

"Be thankful for it all.  And beyond your many blessings, will be many many more."

Day 5 Update

Looks like we won't be getting rissy pregnant today, but it's not a bad thing. We got a call from the doctor this morning saying that 5 of our embryos made it to the blastocyst stage (yay!). Dr. P said that they were early blastocysts so he wasn't able to make a determination on which ones were the best ones to use at this point. He said that he would be more comfortable waiting until tomorrow to make sure that he transfers the best blastocysts. We will be getting a call early tomorrow telling us when to come in. Overall, its still good news.. we just need to be patient :)

Day 3 Update

Today is actually Day 5, but I thought I should mention our day 3 update. Dr. P called me on Monday saying that all 6 of the eggs are moving along great. Five of them have split into 6-8 cells, and one is at 5 cells. Most are grade 1 eggs. 

What does all of this mean? Well, the eggs are currently embryos and we are trying to get them to be blastocysts. In a "typical conception" the embryo does not reach the uterus until the blastocyst stage, so by transferring a blastocyst you have a higher rate of pregnancy. The splitting of the cells indicates that the embryo is on it's way to that blastocyst stage. At day three, 6-8 cells is right where they need to be, the one that is at 5 isn't bad either, if they were 2-4 they would be bad. So far so good. Now on to the grading system, 1 is a "perfect" and 4 is the poorest. While you can transfer eggs at any grade from 1-4, it's best if they are either 1's or 2's. 

So right now we are both sitting here waiting on a call from the Dr. to see if we can come in today for the transfer (and to get rissy pregnant!). We'll probably post later today once we hear from the doctor. 

Retrieval!

                                         Messing around before the retrieval!
                                         Don't you love the hair net!?  haha!

                                        Andrea even had booties!!
                                        I have to say that I was a little bit jealous !


Yesterday, Friday February 24th, was our retrieval day!!  Still can't believe that we've come this far!  We got there around 10:00 for an 11:00 retrieval.  (They wanted us to be there 45 mins early).  They took us back in this separate room that we had never been in before and gave Andrea the adorable outfit that you see above.  They checked all of Andrea's vitals.  Then the anesthesiologist came back to talk to her about her health history and what he would be doing today.

After a bit of waiting, they took her back into the room to do the retrieval.  There was one semi-scary moment when I could hear the doctors loudly asking Andrea to take a deep breath over and over again. I wanted to go in there and smack her saying "cut it out and take a deep breath damn it!"  They must have gotten her to take a deep breath because she came out shortly thereafter.  The whole procedure took about 20-25 mins.  She was a little groggy when she came out, but she was awake.  We found out right away that they were able to retrieve 11 eggs from the 12 follicles that she had.  At that point they said that transfer will most likely be a day-5 transfer, which means it will be on Wednesday February 29th.  :)  :)  :)

Initially after the retrieval, she was fine... little to no pain.  Once we got home, then she started to have some cramping.  I read online that gatorade helps with cramping, so I got her some gatorade and she was allowed to take advil.  This helped a lot.  Today, she's much better.  Still a little tired, but much better.

In the meantime, I started taking the progesterone shots 2 days ago and OMG they are so painful.  I could handle the Lupron and E2V shots, no problem.  But the progesterone shots make it feel like i have a giant deep bruise on my bottom.  And now that I've had two shots, I had to do one on each side and so both sides now hurt.  We used an ice pack last night to numb the area and then a warm compress for immediately after the shot (two internet tips).  While the ice pack helped for giving the shot, it did nothing for the pain afterwards.  The pain this morning, and all day today was awful.  I get a little anxious before getting the shots because it already hurts so much and then to think about a huge needle going into a bruise... ugh!  not fun!  It's not an actual bruise, but it feels like a bruise.  I have to just keep reminding myself how lucky we are to be able to do this in the first place!  And that it will all be worth it when we hear our baby's heartbeat!  :)

This morning we got a phone call from Dr. Peters.  He said that out of the 11 eggs, only 6 of them were "good eggs", BUT they were able to fertilize all 6!  So at this point, we wait for a phone call on Monday with another update to see how they are doing.  He mentioned again today that our transfer could be on Wednesday OR Thursday.  EXCITED!!!!  :)

my ovaries are on fire

 

I haven't really posted since I've been on meds, so here's the synopsis broken down by shot. Lupron - these are the shots I've been taking every morning in the stomach. They are given with a tiny insulin needle, so they are pretty painless. The side effects were that I've become pretty much, well, stupid. I can't focus on minor tasks, such as for instance writing out a check.. I paid the mortgage and wrote two different amounts on the check. Stupid. Follistim- this is another shot in the stomach, and given with a pen. The needle is pretty small, so again, pretty painless. This medication makes me overly tired and I've had a lot of hot flashes. Also, in week 2 of taking this (as my follicles are growing) my ovaries feel like they are on fire. A lot of pressure in my abdomen to the point where it's been waking me up at night. Menopur - This is another stomach shot that we actually have to mix a vial of liquid and a vial of powder together first before giving it. The needle is a little bit bigger, but still not too bad. I can't say that I've specifically had any side effects from this medication. I had read a few places that Menopur stings when being injected, but honestly it was nothing like the next shot. Lovenox - This one is a blood thinner that I had to be on because of the pulmonary embolism I previously had. Another stomach shot, this was a pre-filled syringe, not a huge needle, but the whole thing really burned when going in. In fact, it burned about 15 minutes after the shot was given and made me feel really lightheaded. 

As you can tell, there have been a lot of shots, some days more than others. The picture on this post was from my valentine that Marisa got me... a little bit of shot humor for you!

So that brings me to today, I had another ultrasound and they decided that I was ready to go. My right ovary follicles were 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 15, 17, 18 and my left were 12, 13, 18, 19. I also had a bunch of smaller follicles that he said wouldn't be able to be used. So tonight we have to set an alarm for 1 AM and Marisa gets to give me the HCG shot in the butt. Awesome. The purpose of the HCG shot is to make me ovulate and have the follicles release the eggs. My procedure is on Friday at 11, but we have to be there by 10:15. I'm so nervous and excited all at the same time! The next post on here will probably be from Marisa (because I will be coming off of anesthesia) on Friday letting you all know how many eggs they retrieve from me. We're almost there!!!

cycle day 9

Today was cd 9 in our cycle, which meant another trip back to new jersey for bloodwork and ultrasounds.    We had an early appointment, which was nice because everyone going through IVF this cycle had to come in for the same tests today.  We were the first ones there and were in and out in no time!

First we had bloodwork done which showed that everything was fine, we just need to continue with the same shots for the next few days until we hear otherwise.  My ultrasound showed that my uterine lining was looking good, so I am just in a holding pattern until we hear that Andrea's eggs are ready.

Andrea's ultrasound showed about 9 follicles on the right side... 5 of the follicles were 10 mm and the others were between 11-13 mm.  On her left side, there were about 5 or 6 more, 1 of them was 15 mm and the others were 10-11 mm.  So there are roughly 15 follicles, which is a pretty good number.  However, they are all small.  So Andrea has to go back on Wednesday for another ultrasound to check on her progress.  The good news is that follicles grow kinda fast.  With NO meds, a follicle can grow 2-3 mm per day.  WITH meds, it obviously grows even more.  So I'm thinking that those follicles that were 10 mm will probably make it to about 20 mm, while the others could be 23 mm or higher!  Once the follicles grow a bit more, we'll be ready for the hcg shot and retrieval.

the latest!

Here's the latest...  We had some bloodwork done on the 16th.  As a result, Andrea's Follistim doses were increased drastically.  She initially had 2 days at 225 units and then the next 5 days or so she was supposed to be down to either 75 units or 150 units.  Well after the bloodwork, she was back up to 300 units or 225 units.  My E2V shots were increased slightly from .2 to .25 .  Also, Andrea's thyroid was tested again, and it was fine this time.

The shots are painful every now and then and the side effects are annoying, but we know it's totally going to be worth it!  And I keep reminding myself of how lucky we are to be able to go through this process.  So many couples can't for many reasons, and they would love to be in this process right now no matter how painful or annoying it is.  So we are beyond grateful for this whole process!

We go in tomorrow for our ultrasounds and more bloodwork.  We like to call them "couple's ultrasounds"!  lol  it's like couple's massage, only not as fun!  If everything goes well, we'll be going to our retrieval appointment by the end of the week!