Getting BIG....24 Weeks

15 Week Belly

20 Weeks

They are Definitely Boys!

Ultrasound Pics...

OB Visit Today

Hey Friends and Family-
It has been awhile since I posted last, but wanted to try to keep you up to date. We were officially released from the specialist last week. Today I had an appointment with my new OB. I changed OB's so that I could deliver at Northside Hospital. For those of you not in ATL, it is the baby factory of ATL. There is such a good chance that I will deliver 4-6 weeks early, that we decided it would be best for our little ones to have the best care possible. Northside has an incredible NICU if necessary, and it has a reputation in ATL for being the best.

The appointment went well. My OB seems really nice. He gave me the green light to get back to the gym and on the tennis courts when I start feeling better. That was good news. I will be making an appointment for an NT scan within the next couple weeks. It has to be done between weeks 12-14. Hopefully all will be well with that.

I got to see the babies too :) Baby A (which my doc refers to as Top Bunk) in still moving around like CRAZY. Both the Dr. and the nurse were cracking up at all the non-stop movement. I think I am starting to blame that one for all the vomiting...Baby B, aka Bottom Bunk....was still chilling in the back of my uterus. He/she was moving a little bit more, but seemed to be very content just hanging out. The Dr. referred to that one as Huckleberry Finn.

We will let you know how the NT scan goes. Apologies for not doing a better job keeping up with this blog, but I have been spending a lot of time in the bathroom. Hopefully that will subside...real soon!

Love Y'all!

Baby A

Here is the best pic we got today at the US. Baby B is too far back in my uterus to get a clear shot. Isn't he/she cute? I think it looks just like a Teddy Graham. :)

Turn Up Your Volume...

My sneaky husband 'videoed' the ultrasound today...well the heartbeat part. So...both babies are doing great. Baby A was all over the place. Moving her :) hands and legs like crazy. The US tech was having a time trying to get a good measurement b/c there was so much movement. Baby A will probably be more like his/her father. Whereas, Baby B was totally kicked back and chillin' in the far corners of my uterus. He/she would give us a wiggle every now and then, but seemed to be perfectly content just hanging out. Baby B seems to have more of his/her mother's traits! Everything looks fantastic. Heartbeats measured the same at 160 bpm. The nurse told us we are 95% out of the woods :) Yippee!

I will post a pic later tonight.

Love-
Chris and Jenn

Double the Fun! (and diapers, bottles, college tuition, etc.)

That is a picture of my uterus. Yes, I know you have all been dying to see a picture of that :) Notice the two oblong circle-looking images. Those represent Baby A and Baby B! We are having twins! The larger one on top has a heart rate of 120, the smaller looking one on the bottom has a heart rate of 146. They are both measuring on schedule. The one on the bottom isn't smaller, it is just further back in my uterus. The doctor said that everything looks great and the 120 heart beat is low, but normal...and really completely normal with twins.

We are excited. Okay honestly, Chris is really excited. As for me, once the constant throwing up subsides and the worry of whether I can handle twins subsides, then I will be really excited too! Don't get me wrong I am very happy, it is just being masked right now with vomit!

6 Week Milestone

What's happening now? Let's take a trip inside my uterus... (no cameras, please)

Well, this is week 6 so the baby's ears, nose, and mouth are beginning to take shape. The head looks oversized, but hopefully the little bean will grow into that. There are dark spots where the nostrils and eyes will form later on in the week. The small depressions on the side of its head are going to be ears soon. Arms and legs will begin to grow this week and now look like little buds coming off the main part of the body. Our little bean's heart should be beating between 100-160 times per minute. Blood is beginning to run through the body, lungs are being formed, as well as the pituitary gland. Brains, muscles and bones are also forming.

First ultrasound is Friday...

Morning sickness (evening sickness for me) has set in. Blah! Blah!

YouTube - Exclusive: Inside the IVF Lab

YouTube - Exclusive: Inside the IVF Lab

The Creation of Cletus our Precious Fetus!

Okay People...I am getting bored, anxious, worried...you name it. So in the spirit of boredom here is your next post. The purpose is 2 fold:

1. The naming
2. To further educate y'all!

First, we are now referring to this little creature that makes me cranky and sleepy as...'Cletus the Fetus'...catchy huh? I know all you grandmas don't find the humor in that...but I have to have someone/something to blame for the naps and mood swings!

Second...if you have about 10 minutes, the IVF shows the whole process in a nutshell. I think it is an incredible thing to watch...even more entertaining than this season's Dancing with the Stars...maybe not...but much more informative...and it really makes you appreciate the hard work of embryologists making all this possible.

Okay, so I can't figure out how to insert the video here...so I will post it above (I hope).


Have a good night!
Love-
Jenn

Doing Great...

Hey Friends and Family-
Thanks for checking in on us. Although there is not much to report, we are doing fine. Over the past week I have taken a nap pretty much every day (thank you spring break!). Chris has been superb. He understands when I get sleepy and am in need of a nap, he has been working his tail off in the yard to get it ready for spring, he continues to do a fabulous job giving me my shot every evening, and the best part...he looks at me straight in the eyes and laughs at me when my head starts doing 360's on my shoulders and my to mood shifts to crazy hormonal wife in 15 seconds. :) Thank goodness he is so understanding!

ZZZZZZ.........

That's all I have to say today...

Second Beta Test

Just a quick post...
Beta #2 was today. The new number is 780. That means my HCG is doubling every 41.97 hours. That is good. :) So, the doctor said that she does not need to see me again until April 24. That will be a big day for us. Hopefully we will see a heartbeat (or two)!

Happy Easter...

Here is what the Easter Bunny brought us this week. I actually broke the oath of IVF and started testing early. We got our first 2 lines on Thursday. I have tested everyday since then *blushing*. At this point, the 'pregnancy' line is much darker than the control line. The test in the picture wasn't even taken until about 7:00 P.M. on Sunday.

I also had my blood test today at the doctor. My beta (hcg indicator) is 353-anything above 28 is considered good. (Anything over 10 is considered 'pregnant'. At 353, I think it is probably official.

We won't be telling anyone yet, other than family and close friends...you know who you are b/c you read this. To the rest of the world, I am probably just simply a miserable, hormonal mess.... :) Please continue to pray, it is still really early yet. I will go to the doctor on Wednesday

again for another blood test. My beta number should have doubled by then. Fingers. Crossed.

My Bum Hurts!

I have been receiving shots in my bum/hip area now since the end of February with a rather large needle. Up until this point it has really been no biggie. Until. Today. OUCH! The progesterone in oil is beginning to get on my nerves. Not a constant 'pain in the rear'...just when my hands hit it or I bump up against something. Something as simple as putting my hands in my back pocket can make me really crabby....really quick...for a second (then I am all good again).

**That is a picture of me :) I look very similar to that now....especially the hand on the bum....

Let's Pass the Time...

Okay friends and family...so we have a wait in front of us that so far feels like F-O-R-E-V-E-R! I don't have a lot of news this week. I knew this week would be slow, so I saved a special video for you. This was the video my Dear, Dear Husband thought it would be good (hilarious) to create right after I was coming out of my anesthesia. (Bless his heart). I am talking quietly so you are going to have to crank up your volume.

Chris showed this to me about 5 days after the retrieval. I had forgotten all about it, and I have no recollection of starring in it. I just remember him mentioning it to me later in the day on Sunday. Then, if course I forgot about it. Until then...

The best line of the video is when Chris says, "Are you sleepy?"

I respond something like, "Yes, but it's a GOOD sleepy..." (apparently I am referring to the drugs).

PS-If you can't this to play...download Quicktime...it is free.

Thank you for your support through all of this! Now go ahead and watch me make a fool out of myself...just to show my sincere appreciation for each and every one of you!

Love y'all!

Snow Babies

I received a message from the RE's office this morning. They have officially ended our 'culture'...which means they are no longer watching our two embies grow. I instantly became saddened when I heard those words..until she said:

"we went ahead and froze them, so now you have a total of 4 FROZEN EMBIES!"

We really are so blessed. It is nice to know that we have some 'wiggle room' or a definite back up plan if this first round doesn't work. It takes a lot of pressure off. I think I might enjoy this 2 week wait a little more knowing we have options.

My guess is that they must have started to show signs of hatching so they had to go ahead and freeze them. I am confident that they would have pushed it another day if they could. The whole freezing process is pretty interesting. Once I can wrap my brain around it, I will try to explain it to you. All I can think of when I consider the idea of 'freezing embryos' is Walt Disney and Michael Jackson. Didn't they both want to be frozen? (Creepy).

A Pea in Mashed Potatoes...

So, today was the big day. We had 2 beautiful embryos implanted. The nurse promised me that I wouldn't:

1. pee them out

2. sneeze them out

3. cough them out

4. laugh them out

She said it is like dropping a green pea into a pile of mashed potatoes...

The picture is gritty because I had to play with it a little to get the scan to show up. They look perfect. The larger one is actually already 'hatching'. You will notice if you look at the large one at about 5 o'clock, it has what looks like a little bubble coming out. That is what becomes the baby. The large group of cells along the bottom half is all a part of that. the whole thing will slide out. The cluster of cells around the top of the embryo becomes the placenta.

The larger one is farther along. Yet, they are both considered blastocycts at this stage.

I will write more later tonight....ps...we have snow babies too :) I will give you the number later tonight..

We. Are. Blessed.

Keep Praying....

Love-

Jenn

Thursday....

Today's report...
All 7 embies still dividing and growing!
Tomorrow is the big day!

Wednesday...

We still have 7...one is lagging a bit behind...but that's okay. We are really blessed to still have 7!

The World's Most Expensive Babysitter

This is a picture of Dr. Michael Tucker, our embryologist. He has an impressive resume. I would post it, but I can't seem to copy and paste it. So, at least you can see his picture. He is the man who was responsible for fertilizing and keeping a close watch on the little ones.

Sigh...Thank You for Your Prayers!

Hi Everyone...Chris and I received more great news today. All seven embies made it through the night and are dividing and growing right on schedule. The nurse has scheduled us for an 11:30 transfer on Friday morning. Yeah! That means our little embies will be at a blastocyst stage by then. That is great news. They will have many divisions by then. The transfer of a blastocyst has a much better success rate. Many embies don't make it that far...so please keep praying. The embryologist feels confident that we will still have enough by day 5 to transfer. Of course, if there are any changes, we will receive a call and come up with a plan B. That would mean we would transfer sooner and get them in my body ASAP. Obviously embryos do better in the womb, but by waiting until day 5...the strongest can be transferred.

The picture above is what they should have looked like on Tuesday. I am assuming this is how they looked, since our report was good. Overnight they will divide again and I will post a new picture. (Such a proud mama.)

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers! This has been a crazy ride! We have learned so much. Don't tell my boss, but I am starting to get really distracted at work. I have stacks of papers on my desk that need to be graded. I am hoping tomorrow that when I go in, they will all be graded :) Probably not.

Take care! We are so excited! Grow embies! Grow!

What's Next?

So, after we left the RE on Sunday...this is what took place.

That is not a picture of my actual egg. That is simply an example folks. Just trying to expain the process.

First Fertilization Report

I received a call from the nurse today. Yesterday 12 eggs were retrieved. Out of the 12 retrieved, 10 were mature. Each of those 10 were fertilized. As of today, we have 7 embryos growing in a dish in downtown Atlanta. :)

This being our rookie season, and hopefully only season playing infertility...I wasn't sure how to react to those numbers. According to the nurse, because of my age...12 is a really good number. For seven to fertilize out of 10...is fantastic...according to her. Apparently, when ICSI is done (sperm is injected via needle straight into the egg), it has a 50-60% fertilization rate. Ours is 70%. So that's good, right?

The next couple of days are going to be really important. We are going to lose embies as the days progress. Tomorrow the embryologist will peek in our embies in the morning and a decision will be made by him/her at that time whether they will transfer them to me on Wednesday or Friday. ***Disclaimer***when I say 'them' I do not mean all 7!

Whether they do the transfer on Wednesday or Friday, they will let any left-over embies grow until Saturday. If Saturday, we still have embies, they will freeze them. The chances of this happening are very low. (PS-They call these...'snow babies', cute, huh?)

Snow Babies are nice because they can be thawed and placed in the uterus without having to go through all the crazy stimming injections. Unbelievably, snow babies have a very high pregnancy rate. I taught a 'snow baby' last year. His sister is actually 2 years older...but they were retrieved on the very same day. He was just an embie that his parents froze. I work with his mom, otherwise obviously I would not know this information. It is not on the kid's permanent record :)!!

Right now I am taking an anti-biotic, pre-natal, metanx (high dosage of folic acid), something called Medrol (don't know what that is), and I am getting an intra-muscular injection of progesterone every night. I will start back on baby aspirin soon.

Keep on praying...I will update tomorrow!

Retrieval Today!!

So today was the big day. I had my egg retrieval. Woke up around 4:30, then couldn't go back to sleep because I was afraid my alarm wouldn't go off and I would have to repeat the last 6 weeks.

We left around 7:00 A.M. They took us back to the IVF suite. We each sat in some Lazy-Boy recliners and the nurse handed me one of those high fashion hospital gowns (along with a blue mesh shower cap, and matching booties). Chris took a picture of me with my new look on his phone, but I promise that no one will be seeing that!

The nurse started me on an IV.

I was taken to the surgery room around 9:15. Placed an interesting position.

Lights. Out.

I remember waking up aound 9:40...so it didn't take long at all. I felt good. Real Good. Thank you meds! Chris walked in shortly after.

He told me tonight at dinner that he took a video of me in recovery on his phone (we were laughing about that beforehand). I didn't ask to see it tonight. I don't remember it taking place...probably don't want to see it. We will save that for a later date. Maybe I will post it sometime soon.

12 eggs. That is all I know at this point. I will get a fertilization report sometime late morning. I asked them to leave a message on my cell. I probably won't listen to it until after school. Although I am thinking positively, I do not want to get any bad news in the middle of the school day.

Gimme a T...

Whoot-whoot! Trigger time! Yeah :) I went to the doctor this morning. My follies had grown quite a bit since Wednesday. I had a feeling this had happened because sometime Thursday afternoon I started to become really uncomfortable. Plus, when I woke up this morning I had to put on a pair of my 'big girl pants' (disclaimer...I realize that you are thinking..."ahem...Jenn, all of your pants are 'big girl pants'...). But please understand...these were REALLY big girl pants! Two sizes up to be exact. I just had to make REAL sure that nothing was touching or rubbing against my belly. Mission accomplished.

Anyway, so my follies are between 19-26. Three of seven that are above 25mm. That's pretty big, hence the soreness. My E2 also rose to 2447! :) Sooo...

(Insert flashing Vegas-like lights here...)

We got to trigger tonight!

Translation: I will have my egg retrieval exactly 36 hours from the trigger shot. (Which we were instructed to give at exactly 9:00 EST tonight. So, we did...but of course we were about 7 minutes late. (Refer to the earlier entry centered around my inability to be in a hurry to do anything....grow follicles, raise estrogen levels, trigger on time...oops-hopefully my doctor doesn't read my blog (probably safe bet).

Face Lift

Okay...so I didn't go to the doctor today, so I have no new news. Instead, I gave the blog a face lift. It seems that I am lying in bed more than usual. I am tired. Plus, I get my shot in bed, then just tend to stay here and surf the net until I go to sleep.

As you can see, I found a 'comment blinkie' on line and added it. I seem to be the one doing all the talking (what's new?), so let's make this a little more interactive. To be honest, I am starting to get bored. Follies are growing slowly people...we still have a solid 2+ weeks of this process, so I need to be entertained. I started this process on February 8th (day of my first IVF med).

So leave some comments. There are only a few of you who read this anyway. You will notice that after every entry, there is a comment option. Feel free to leave a comment. I am not asking for any corny inspirational stuff...Chris and I already know that we are amazing people--just kidding...just comment...about.anything...please.please.please. Something to move this process along...plus, when this DOES work, I may want to read this blog to our quintuplets (kidding) someday, and it is important to know who supported this little angel(s) along this amazing journey.

A Picture is Worth 1,000 words...

Gosh, I hope so! Tomorrow is day 12 of stims. The doctor has now doubled my dosage since the beginning of this (an increase in meds is normal). I went in on Sunday and Monday for bloodwork and an ultrasound. I go in on Wednesday A.M. for another check. I am hoping E2 will be 1000+ by then (currently 500). Grow follies grow! I have 2 at 14....5 more between 11.5-13.5. My second group has 15 follies between 6.5-11. We want a few of those to catch up.

The egg retrieval is being pushed back, probably Friday or Saurday. They won't do a retrieval until the E2 is over 1,ooo and a group of follies is between 16-20. So, I am hoping with the increased dosage, the second group of smaller follies will get a chance to catch up. I would really like between 10-15 eggs at retrieval. We currently only have 7 in that larger group.

Bullseye!

Why a bullseye, you ask? Because this is what the nurse drew on both buttcheeks this morning when she saw my bruising/bandaids from the new needle. I thought we had this shot giving thing down pat. Last night was a breeze! Apparently the only problem was that we were within centimeters of the sciatic nerve. Oops. **blushing** Good news is...that thanks to the big black Sharpie circles I am now rockin' on my rear...we should be just fine!

E2 has gone up...(insert cartwheels, fireworks, high-fives here). That is good news. While it is still a little low, nurse said not to worry. So. I. won't. My lining is looking good, and follies are growing slowly. But, slowly worked for the tortoise...so we will remain positive. Plus, in 37 years I have never done anything really 'fast' (i.e. graduating from college, running the bases, cleaning my room, etc., etc.). Hence, I figure we are right on schedule!

Follies Measuring:

RT Ovary: 1@11mm, 1@10.75mm, 1@9.75mm, and 8@(7-8mm)

LT Ovary: 2@10mm, 1@9.75mm, 7@(7-9mm)

Our hope is that none of those lead (big) follies turn it into high gear and start taking off from the others. Right now they seem to be growing at the same pace....that is good. When the majority of those reach between 16-18mm, I will get my trigger shot to induce ovulation. The RE (doctor) will then retrieve all the eggs exactly 36 hours after my trigger. By that time, my E2 (estrogen) levels should be well over 1,000.

My next appointment is Sunday morning at 9:50. Hopefully I can talk my 'nurse' into making the trip with me :)

Disappointing Trip to the Doctor

Uhg...well, I headed to the doctor this A.M. with Chris for my day 5 of stims bloodwork and ultrasound. The ultrasound showed:

RT OVARY:
5 follies measuring 8.5-9.5 mm follies

LT OVARY:

10 follies measuring 6.5-7.5 mm follies

about 15 others at about 5.5-6.5 mm

Okay, so this news was not bad. Follies are growing slowly, but I am currently on a low dose of meds...so RE (doctor) is okay with this.

Disappointment comes in here.

E2 (Estrogen level)

At day 3 of stims it was 132...okay, but a pinch low...so RE upped my dosage on Monday to get the number up.

Today....E2 was 95...so rather than going up...it dropped. Hmmm....not supposed to happen.

So...the plan is to up my dosage again. I am now taking 225 (3 viles of Bravelle). The other change is that rather than using the little 'insulin' needles for my shots, I have graduated to a 2" intra-muscular needle. So no more tiny shots in the tummy. Now-long needle straight into butt muscle. Good. Times.

Tonight was our first time with the big needle. Bless Chris' heart. I know this was tough for him. The process took about 15 minutes because someone (I will not mention names in order to protect the innocent) was having trouble with the idea of sticking that needle in my butt. In lieu of pictures of the process...here is a sample of the conversation that took place...

"Okay, are you ready Honey"

"Yep...hurry up let's get this shit over with"

(wipes the area with alcohol)

(30 seconds pass)

(a deep sigh is heard coming from my 'nurse')

(30 more seconds pass)

"Hello...come on Honey, let's do this"

"Okay, okay"

(30 seconds pass)

TIME TO RE-ICE---NO LONGER NUMB

"Okay...let's do this. Honey, please do this quickly."

"I will. I just don't want to hit any bone...this is supposed to go in the muscle only."

"Umm...I am pretty sure we don't have to worry about hitting bones...(hand smacks butt). I think we have plenty to work with here."

(30 seconds pass)

"Hello...let's go. Just do it."

"I am. I just don't want to hit anything major. This is a long needle."

**sigh**

Reread that conversation about 5 times...and consider yourself there.

Once it actually happened, it wasn't bad. Chris pulled the needle out, grabbed a band-aid, stuck it on where there was a little blood, and walked out of the bedroom on his way to the gym muttering...

"I am gonna go pass out now."

And there you have it....night 1 of the big needle.

Bruiser...

I figured I might as well...I thought you would much more appreciate my arms as opposed to a picture of my bruised stomach. They are actually fading; over the weekend the bruising was much worse.

Mixologist

Here are my daily meds (which have since been upped to add one more vile of Bravelle). I mix all these together to create 1 shot. It is really pretty cool how it all works. I was so intimidated the first time, but after you do it once...no problem. I can now add chemist to my repertoire. It takes 3 needles and Q-cap to mix the shots. I am learning so much!

Blue Belt...

If the title were Black Belt...I know you would have assumed I had lost my mind and taken up karate. Well, no karate and no black belt! What I have is a blue belt...wrapped around my tummy. Thank. you. shots.

The good news: They don't really hurt. No big deal going in, no burning from the meds, the needles just enjoy leaving bruises every time they enter my stomach. I am sure that part of this has to do with the baby aspirin I have been taking everyday now for about 45 days. So I look like I am a real trooper, but it is really no big deal.

Side effects other than the bruising...Chris swears I now mumble in my sleep, beg for him to turn on the fan in the middle of the night-even though it has been in the 30's here at night, some good old headaches...but that is about it. (Okay, MAYBE I am a little more emotional).

I am sure that as the week goes on, I will start to feel a little more uncomfortable closer to my egg retrieval...but so far everything has been fine.

Holy Follicles!

I had my RE appointment on Thursday afternoon. Which I was very much looking forward to so that I could move on to the next step. The appointment began with an ultrasound that showed 34 antral follicles. (These are the little follicles that house your eggs.) The average for my age is much less...like 20 less. Having so many isn't horrible, I am lucky that I have some...but 34 puts me at high risk for ovarian hyperstimulation. In other words, I will have to be watched very closely when I do start my stimulation medications. The goal of the stims is to take those follicles and grow them really big and mature. That is why I take the shots. Here lies the problem. I don't want 34 follicles to grow big in my belly. My cycle will have to be canceled. There will be too many and my estrogen levels will get too high. These follicles tend to get very large and fill with fluid, if that happens with that large of number, I will be in rough shape.

They have put me on a very low dose of medications because I apparently will be a high responder. I will go in on Monday morning at 7:30 to give blood and have another ultrasound.

Fast forward from Thursday's appointment to Friday afternoon...
Just received a message from the nurse. My bloodwork was 'excellent' so I am starting the stims on Friday night 03/05/10.

Progress Update...

My next doctor's appointment is this Thursday, March 4th. I will have a baseline ultrasound to make sure the suppression meds have been doing their job effectively and a refresher course on mixing the stim meds for the next round of shots. If everything goes well with the ultrasound, I will start stimming on Friday evening. I will continue with the Lupron that I have been taking (to shut down my pituitary gland) and add a mixture of 4 new meds to stimulate growth in my ovaries. These meds will also be given in the form of shots. YES! :)...(not really that excited)

I am sure things will be fine. The Lupron has not been a big deal. I have had a few headaches and have been a little more emotional (okay a lot more emotional) than usual. Just continue to pray for Chris...he is not used to being married to a sensitive, emotional....blah, blah, blah....you know the type.

Just Because...

Luckiest Girl in the World...

I am not sure why this was sitting on the kitchen counter when I got home from my basketball game tonight, but maybe because

...we stayed up until after midnight finishing accounting HW together

... I have cried more in the past two days than in the entire 90's decade

...a stray cat has decided to reside on our front porch for the last 3 days/nights and he understands just how scared I am to walk out the front door in fear of the lurking feline

...maybe it was for the shot that went awry last night and rather than the needle entering my belly, it bounced off so I had to get stuck a second time

---whatever the reason. I love him and I AM the luckiest girl in the world!

Here We Go!

Well, the Lupron shots are underway. Finally. Let's get the show on the road already! They are not too bad. No biggie really. I think Chris was more nervous having to stick the needle in my belly than I was waiting for it. He is such a good guy...he has been teasing me about getting to 'stick' me for weeks...then was nervous that he would hurt me when it came time to do it.

He is getting quite good at it. I feel almost nothing when he sticks me. The meds burn a bit, but it does not last more than 10-15 minutes. The worst part would be the night sweats. As I am wiping my sweaty neck at 3:25 a.m. and kicking my covers off like some crazed lunatic...he is lying next to me snuggled up (snoring) with his electric blanket and 2 huge down blankets....I am wanting the fan on blast and he is begging for the heater. Life. is. good.

Trip to the RE (doctor)

Yesterday Chris and I met with the RE. I had to get a few 'girlie' tests. Afterwards, we both met with the nurse and financial consultant. It felt like we were buying a house. (Not too far off :) )
Anyway, we had to get a bunch of paperwork signed and notarized. Most of this had to do with frozen embies. Hopefully we will have some to freeze after this first IVF that we can use later or use if this first attempt is unsuccessful.

We met with the nurse for quite awhile discussing meds, including when, where and how to give the injections. Of course I immediately felt like I was going to puke, heard almost nothing she said...but not to worry-Chris took notes (God help me!). The first 2 weeks of injections don't seem like a big deal. We just draw 10 units out of the bottle...aim and fire. Can't be that bad. It is the stimulant drugs that worry me. We are having to mix like 5 different meds together into one vile so that it is given as just one shot. I think the toughest part is going to be keeping the doses straight (which is probably pretty important).

Next RE appointment is March 4. I will have an ultrasound and they will hopefully give me the green light to start the stims the following day.

Walter Matthau

Interesting title, I know. Actually I know very little about this actor. I remember him from one movie-The Bad News Bears. I remember him for specifically one reason...the eyebrows. Which brings me to the title. Oh. My. Goodness. My eyebrows, when pulled taut, could have stretched 4 inches before the waxing today. The lady waxing them even started to laugh as she was having to TRIM THEM BEFORE WAXING. Thank you fertility meds. You managed to make me a shaggy mess! On the flip side, my hair is growing like crazy on my head too :) According to my calculations, I should be sitting on it by mid summer. :)

Kitchen Remodel...Into Pharmacy

Excited to be off of work and even more excited about the snow that was falling, I pulled into the driveway Friday after work...and there it sat. The. Box. I gave it a quick glance as I approached the front door, as to not give it too much attention...afterall, no big deal right? I placed my key in the door, turned the knob, nudged the door open and went inside (all the while tapping the box with my foot (gently to get it out of the snow) and into my house. My hands were full.

My foot tapped it right inside the door and nuzzled it perfectly between the dry sink and the pile of shoes that desperately needs to be put away. It sat that afternoon, that evening, that night, into Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon...I was pretty sure that I was not wanting to peek at the contents quite yet. I just kept stepping over it, pretending not to notice.

The box just might still be sitting there, except for my 'everything has its place' husband who can't stand to have things just laying around. I chose to ignore the sound of the box landing on the kitchen counter, the sound of the packing tape being ripped off the cardboard, I just kept reading posts on Fertility Friend (my latest obsession). Then he said it.

"Oh Honey, you probably don't want to see this."

Really??? Because I can think of about 100 other things that may have been better to say my dear husband. So of course, I immediately jumped off the sofa and scurried into the kitchen to check it out.

I acted intrigued...we laid everything out and cleared a spot on the counter. There it sits...since that time I have paid no attention to it. We. Are. Not. Friends...I figure we have until the 22nd of this month to bond...needles...ouch!

Green Light...

Today we received the 'green light' from the RE. For those of you have not been living and breathing infertility for the past year and a half...RE means doctor (fertility specialist). I swallowed my first birth control pill tonight and will continue for the next two weeks. Interesting...trying to get the sperm to catch the egg for 3 years...and the process begins with birth control. Really?

Tomorrow the doctor will call with my protocol. I am assuming birth control pills (BCP) for 2 weeks, followed by 2 weeks of Lupron injections to shut my ovaries down...then bring on the stimulation drugs! That moment in time will be especially fun for Chris. Poor guy! Whatever.

Okay, so we are excited, nervous, hopeful, cautious, clueless, scared and now-BROKE! The next 8 weeks are going to be interesting to say the least. Fingers crossed we come out of this with a big, smelly, poopy diaper or two or three thousand. We have realized that at this point it is really no longer in our hands. We have put our faith in God and trust that no matter what the outcome, we will come out of this stronger. Chris and I will still be holding each others' hand...just hopefully balancing a baby or two in the other!