Ultra Sound Appointment

Well, we are officially full force in the IVF process. I am given two shots a day by Ryan, take a prenatal pill, metformin and baby aspirin. The shots I am receiving are called Bravelle and Menopur. They are hormones that help the follicles turn into eggs. The shots BURN going in, but after a few minutes I can't even feel where Ryan gave me the injection. Of course there are the side affects from the medications, HORRIBLE headaches, stomach aches, sleepiness and the occasional emotional breakdown!

7/17/2012

Yesterday was the first of many appointments we have this week. They did blood work to check my hormone levels. We were told no news is good news, but if my hormone levels are not high enough they will call us to up my dosage of Bravelle and Menopur. My symptoms of headaches, stomach aches and sleepiness are all "normal" and good signs. Well, we got a phone call from Dr. Foulk's office. It turns out my hormone levels are higher than normal so I did not have to do an evening injection and they decided to lower my dose for the morning! I was so happy I got to skip an injection.

7/18/2012 

Today, we did an ultra sound to see the size of the follicles that are turning into eggs. They are already measuring at 13mm, which is really good. The nurse practitioner counted 25 in my right ovary but did not specify how many were in my left. She told Ryan and I that the average IVF case has 15-20 eggs extracted at the day of retrieval. She said it's looking like they will be extracting 40+ eggs on me. They wont all be fully matured, but they will need to be removed. My body has gone into Ovarian Hyper-stimulation Syndrome, which means my ovaries are swollen from being over stimulated by the medications. This is causing me to have cramps and feel very bloated. This is common with PCOS. They also did more blood work on me today and my levels are still a little high, so I will not have to do a night injection tonight or tomorrow night! So far we are right on track with our IVF calendar and things continue to look promising for us!

7/19/2012

Well, today's ultra sound went great. The eggs are maturing and getting bigger just as they are         suppose to. I now have 59 eggs. YES, 59!! Which is a ton, but it will give the doctor more eggs to choose from. Everyone at the doctors office was shocked to hear how many eggs I have. I guess "go big or go home" right?! I have also been officially cut off all hormone medications! Dr. Foulk's Nurse Practitioner called me and told me that I do not need to take anymore injections of the Bravelle or Menopur. Today, I started a new shot called Ganirelix. It is used to stop my body from releasing the eggs. I only have to inject the Ganirelix once a day, but at the same time each day. I also have to drink at least 20 oz of Powerade which is used to counteract the water in my tummy. The electrolights in powerade help break down the fluids in my stomach to help reduce pain and swelling.

7/20/2012

And then there were 72! I now have 72 eggs, but not all of them are mature and will need to be extracted. The most eggs Dr. Foulk has extracted is 92. We are hoping I am not his new record! My estrogen level has skyrocketed due to the amount of eggs I have and my body going into ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome. To help bring down my levels I must drink a 30mg protein shake a day and drink lots of powerade and very little water. We will have a better idea of when we have my eggs extracted after we get the result of my blood test later today.

Dr. Foulk's office called tonight to let us know that my estrogen levels are great and we are going to have the my eggs retrieved on Sunday July 22, 2012 at 9:00am. Today, I had to have a "trigger" shot called Lupron which is like HCG and gives the eggs a last minute maturity boost before being retrieved.

7/21/2012

Today, was an easy appointment. I was literally at the office for a 2 minute blood draw. They checked my estrogen levels to make sure they did not skyrocket again. Everything was perfect and I will have my eggs retrieved tomorrow morning.

Fundraiser Lemonade Stand and Yard Sale

On June 30th and July 1st we had a "Fundraiser Lemonade Stand and Yard Sale" that was held at our house. First and foremost, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO OUR PARENTS AND SIBLING for putting together the yard sale. We had such an amazing turn out, better than what anyone could ever anticipated. We also want to thank everyone for all the donations made to us to help make the yard sale so successful. Ryan and I were so overwhelmed with all of the love and support our families and friends have shown us, we can not thank you enough.

Let The Fun Begin....

Meds, meds and more meds!!! Today we recieved our all our medications that we will be taking in the next month in a half. Thursday is the offical kick off day for our IVF process. We are super excited to get the ball rolling!!

Moving Forward..,,

     A lot has happened in the last couple of days! We met with a FANTASTIC doctor in Pleasant Grove last week named Dr. Foulk. He was highly recommended to us by a fellow infertility friend (Tiffany Alleman) we have met along our journey. Dr. Foulk has been on the Oprah Show, has several articles written about him in "Family" magazines, and has met with President Bush among several other honors. We decided to meet with this doctor and get a second opinion because his success rates for In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is higher than the doctors at the U of U. We fell in love with Dr. Foulk and his staff, they are all so wonderful to us! 

     Today we met with Dr. Foulk for a "water ultra sound." They placed water into my womb to make sure there are no problems, like a tear within the womb that would affect me carrying a baby. I passed the test with flying colors he said. Everything looks great and we can move forward. 

     We are moving forward in this process and will be starting the month long journey of IVF next week with him. To start we have to prep our bodies by both taking oral medications for 10 days. Then we have a 4 day break from medications but have blood work, ultra sounds and a "shot class" where they teach us how to give me shots at home. Than, we will give me two shots a day for 10 days and 6 of those days I will have an ultra sound to watch the eggs grow and mature. Then after those 10 days I will be put under to have the eggs retrieved and placed in a petri dish with Ryan's sperm to form embryos. Three to Five days after the egg retrieval they will place the embryos back inside of my womb. From there I will be on strict bed rest for two days and then "light" bed rest for another ten days with no heavy lifting. Then we go in for more ultra sounds and hope everything went well enough to obtain a positive pregnancy test! After a positive pregnancy test, (hopefully!!!) I will have to have a shot of progesterone everyday for the first trimester. After that, everything should go as a "normal" pregnancy from there. 

     Ryan and I are extremely excited to do IVF and start building a family! We are so blessed and overwhelmed with the love and support that we have from our friends and family. Our parents and siblings have been so amazing and our biggest supporters. (Obviously, they all want grandbabies!!!) They have even put together a yard sale to help with the cost of IVF and also offered to help Ryan with the house during the time I am on medications, and even more so while I am on bed rest. We are truly blessed!!! 

Quote Of The Day!

"The longer you have to wait for something, the more you will appreciate it when it finally arrives. The harder you have to fight for something, the more priceless it will become once you achieve it. And the more pain you have to endure on your journey, the sweeter the arrival at your destination. All good things are worth waiting for and worth fighting for."

I have been on a hunt for a baby change jar for the last couple months, so we can put all our spare change into the jar to go towards IVF and not have the change all over our house and cars. Who knew that nobody makes a "Baby Fund" jars? I saw plenty of "Tattoo Fund," "Boob Job Fund," "Motorcycle Fund," "Piercing Fund," "Girls Night Out Fund," etc in the style I was looking for but I couldn't not find a "Baby Fund" for the life me! I ended up finding a website of a lady who hand paints and customizes jars. Ryan emailed the lady telling her what we wanted and she just took off with it. It turned out so stinkin cute! She did a fantastic job on it and exceeded all of my expectations!

Viva Las Vegas!

So, about two weeks ago Ryan and I were spending time together on a Friday night after I got off work and before he had to leave. Ryan was on the computer and said "Hey Babe, I feel like we both need a vaction," this was right after all our disappointing doctor appointments. I replied, " I could go for one!" He said "Where do you want to go?" We looked into St. George, Zions National Park, Denver, Moab and decided to go to Las Vegas. Ryan booked us rooms for Saturday and Sunday night. I was shocked! When we were talking about going on a vaction I was thinking in a couple of weeks. You know, so we could plan it, make arrangments for our puppy, etc! No, No, not with my spontantious husband! Thankfully, Ryan's dad and stepmom are always sweet enough to let us pawn Lucky off on them, even last minute. Our drive down there was perfect, we talked the entire way down there about everything. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend together. It was just what we both needed to clear our heads and focus on us. We both are having a hard time at this whole "clearing" my system process. We both just wish we could continue on our journey and get to our end result faster, but if we are paying the big bucks for a baby we want to do everything the doctor says to a T. I am also working out a ton with a group of fabulous women, meeting with a trainer once a week and eating better. I am trying to get my body and mind ready for the next step!