And then there was one..

Today was the big day -- our transfer/implant day!  Our appointment was at 11:30 on Rockville, and we were told to arrive no later than 11:00.  My only instructions for this appointment was to drink one full bottle of gatorade between 10:30 and 11:00 am.  

We arrived right around 11:00 am and were taken back into the transfer room around 11:25.  No annoying people in the waiting room today!  We then had to sign some more consent forms and the nurse explain exactly how the procedure would go.  

First, we would be shown our chosen embryo(s) on a tv screen that is linked to the lab.  We decided to stick with just one because Dr. Bromer said I had a very high chance of twins if we implanted two and that would cause my ovaries to be even larger than what they are now.. and could lead to complications and a lot more pain.  Once we saw the embryo, the radiologist would do a sonogram to make sure everything was where it needed to be.  Once those things were done, Dr. Bromer came in and the procedure began.  He got out the nice speculum (at least it was heated) and catheter.  When everything was in place and clearly seen on the sonogram, the embryologist came in with our little embryo and it was placed into the catheter.  We were able to watch it be placed at a specific location in my uterus on the sonogram screen.  Wow.  Technology is amazing!  Better yet, this whole process is amazing!  Hard to believe what they can do and how much you can see.

The entire procedure lasted about ten minutes.  When the doctor was done, I had to lay flat for five full minutes.  Then I could empty my bladder.  FINALLY.  One full bottle of gatorade in a half hour does not exactly feel pleasant when resting on two enlarged ovaries.  The nurse then returned and gave me my discharge instructions.  I am to continue taking the medications I have been on since Monday, maintain my protein rich diet, complete bed rest for at least 24 hours, and then very light activity until May 10th when we return for our pregnancy test.

In other words, our two week wait (2ww) has officially begun.  I was instructed not to take any home pregnancy tests as they can yield false results from all of the hormone injections I have been taking.  

We had to sign one more paper where we gave consent to freeze our remaining embryos.  According to the doctor, we have a football ready and waiting to be frozen.  They will call us early this week to give us an exact number of embryos that are frozen.  He indicated that we should not have to go through "the hard" part again since we have so many.  That means only frozen cycles from here on out.  A few injections and a transfer.  MUCH less than what we have gone through during the last two months.  He also said I would be an awesome egg donor in the future.

This procedure was not painful at all.. other than my enlarged ovaries, which is not the norm, so I don't count it is part of the procedure.  I did have some cramping on the way  home.. but on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say about a 5.  After two Tylenol and a couple of hours, they were gone.  I am feeling pretty good at this point, but I have also been laying in bed since 2:00.  Thankfully, I have plenty of things to keep me busy over the next two weeks while we wait.. though I know it will still be on both of our minds constantly.  We would appreciate any prayers and well wishes you want to send our way!

Here we go!





The embryo we transferred

Lucky Number 18

Today we got our final call from the lab to let us know how our little embryos are coming along and give us our scheduled transfer day and time.  As of today, we have 18 little guys dividing and doing their thing down in Rockville.  We are still so amazed and blessed by this number.  Eighteen.

We were told that one of these eighteen embryos will be transferred Saturday morning around 11:30 am.  I will need to begin drinking Gatorade (rather than water) around 10:30 and plan to arrive at the clinic no later than 11:00.  I still cannot have any water in my diet due to the OHSS.  They will do one last ultrasound to make sure everything is ok, and then implant one tiny, little embie.  We can only transfer one at this point because of the OHSS.  If we were to transfer two and I would get pregnant with twins, it would be next to unbearable to carry everything with my gigantic ovaries.  So, we will stick to one this time around.  What is awesome, is that we will have approximately 17 embryos to freeze for the future.

Today was my first full day of work and practice since the retrieval.  I am exhausted, but was lucky enough to have one of my co-coach's wives make dinner for us tonight.  These things mean AND help so much!  I am still in a decent amount of pain, but I can bear it.  I feel like I have a 40 pound (ok, maybe 40 is a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point) balloon stuffed under my skin in my stomach.  My skin is tight and I have a lot of pressure.  I am most comfortable when laying, but I doubt my students would enjoy me teaching them while laying on a cot on the floor.  One more day in this week, and then a break!  My diet is.. well it is.  Ensure = gross.  No other words to describe it.  Just gross.  I can deal with the Gatorade.  I am doing my best to eat small, frequent meals that are filled with protein.  I just wonder how long it will take until all of that stuff gets "old".  But as I have been saying, it will all be worth it.

I have met some pretty amazing people through this process that have been dealing with this a lot longer than us.. and they are the inspiration I look to every day when I think things are getting tough.  It is truly incredible when you realize just how many people have to go through the same thing, or something very similar.  As I said before, I don't think some people really get just how many things need to go exactly right to make a baby.. and they take it for granted!

As of now, our plan is to "sleep in" until 8 Saturday morning and then head to Rockville (I have a game about an hour and 20 minutes away tomorrow evening, so we can't really go ahead of time).  Will that happen?  Probably not.  Rooney doesn't feel the need to sleep past 5:45 any morning, and when Sophie hears him.. she is up and ready to go.  But, we will keep our fingers crossed for something later than 5:45 and a successful transfer to follow!

Sick day snuggle buddies

I Should Have Been A Chicken

Today's post is early.. because I was told no work.  We made another trip to Frederick this morning to check out my ovaries, fluid, and hGC levels.  Ultrasound was first.  It showed a pocket of fluid that is diminishing as a result of my constant Gatorade drinking.  It also showed my extremely large ovaries.  So large, that my stomach is now distended.  Ugh.  This is what is causing all of my pain and discomfort.. all a result of the 27 eggs that were harvested on Monday.  The good and the bad.

So, how do we fix this?  The first step is my diet.  I am allowed no water.  NONE.  I love water, so this is going to be difficult.  I can drink Gatorade and Ensure (yum).  That's it.  As far as food, I need to eat small, frequent, protein rich meals.  This includes eggs, red meat, spinach, nuts, bananas, peanut butter, tuna, chicken, etc.  Nothing else.  This meant a quick trip to the grocery store on the way home today.

Here is what the next couple of weeks look like for me.

I will be checked on more time on Saturday, prior to our scheduled transfer, unless my symptoms worsen between now and then.  I am supposed to take it easy and do the absolute minimum between now and then.  If they feel my ovaries are still too large on Saturday, we will freeze all of our embryos and transfer in one month.  If we transfer while my ovaries are still so large, and the embryo takes, I will have the OHSS throughout the entire pregnancy and feel like this pretty much the entire time.  So, fingers crossed for the best.

On our way home, we got our daily call from the lab to give us an update on our growing embryos.  I am still in awe at the numbers we are being given daily!  We currently have 20.. TWENTY embryos that are dividing and doing their job!  Hopefully this means we will have our one to transfer now, and many more to freeze for later.  We will get one more update tomorrow as well as our scheduled transfer time for Saturday.  

Thank you for all of the positive thoughts and prayers you've been sending our way over the last few weeks!  Hoping we can make it through the next couple days without any more issues and go through with our transfer.

The Really Good.. and The Bad

If there is anything I learned from this process, it is that nothing comes easy.  There always seems to be a little bad with the good.  Nothing comes without a "catch".  

Yesterday, we received excellent news.  We were able to harvest 27 eggs.  Twenty-seven.  That is a fantastic number.  We are ecstatic!  What makes this even better?  The update we received from Dr. Bromer today.  He called around 1:00 pm to give us an update on our progress.  Out of the 27 eggs harvested yesterday, 25 were viable.  Wow!  What is better yet?  24 of these eggs were fertilized and are now considered embryos!  What???  As of today, we have 24 potential babies just hanging out in the Rockville lab.  Holy crap.  Dr. Bromer says this is amazing.  I happen to agree.  

However, this has not come without a price.. and I'm not just talking about the dollars and cents price tag.  27 eggs is a lot.  Those things need some space to grow.  That means over the last week or so, they have taken my normal walnut-sized ovaries and turned them into grapefruit sized ovaries.  Thus the no room in the inn a few days ago.  

A little background to explain where I am going.  When the eggs are retrieved, a needle is passed through and "sucks out" one egg from one follicle at a time.  The egg goes out, the follicle pretty much turns to fluid.  This means I have 27 things of fluid now floating around.  This fluid is absorbed into your blood vessels.  However, it doesn't always stay there.  As is the case with me.  My blood vessels are starting to leak this fluid into my stomach cavity, causing Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome.  One of the side effects from the many doses of fertility drugs.  Like I said, nothing comes easy.

This OHSS is painful.  Very very painful.  The leaking fluid causes severe cramping, bloating, and a whole lot of discomfort.. especially when I have to pee.  I don't even know how to describe it other than a UTI with a lot of added pain.  It is not fun.  It hurts to walk, sit, lay (I have about 5 pillows at different spots in bed to try and get comfortable) and just move.  I took Vicodin religiously every four hours until 7:00 am this morning, when I thought it was a bright idea to go to work for the day.  Mistake.  Especially since I can't just leave my job at any time during the day.  But I made it with the help of some extra strength Tylenol and an awesome heat pack from Cindy.

Dr. Bromer called and told me that I need to drink 96 ounces of Gatorade a day right now.  96 ounces.  Good thing I like Gatorade, but bad thing I am not overly thirsty right now.  He says this will not only help push the fluids back into my blood vessels, but will also cause me to pass the liquids more quickly.  I am also supposed to eat as much protein and salt as possible to aide these things as well.  

We head back down to Frederick tomorrow morning for an ultrasound and more blood work to better assess the situation.  It might go away on its own in a few days, or it might require the removal of some fluids with a gigantic needle.  I'm hoping for the first option.  We will also have another ultrasound to make sure all is well on Saturday (we are at a 5 day transfer because we have so many embryos right now) before our transfer.  Fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

One other thing the doctor told us today is that we will only be implanting one embryo as a result of the OHSS.  If I do happen to get pregnant with the first transfer, I am not prone to this and I will have this the entire way through the pregnancy.  He says it is tolerable and fairly controllable with one.  If they were to implant two, and both took.. the OHSS with twins would be pretty much unbearable.  So, one at a time.  Slow and steady wins the race.  He also said that if things are a little more severe then we think, we will freeze all of our embryos and go through the transfer in a month.  That will give the symptoms time to subside.

Again, fingers crossed and lots of prayers being said right now.  

Going on an egg hunt...an egg hunt (Matt's perspective)

What a day.  Men are lucky...that is what I have learned through this process.

It was a pretty quiet ride down to Rockville today because Allison was a bit nervous about the day.  We had to make it down to the office in less than two hours because we were transporting some important cargo...yep, my only contribution to this process.  After the drop off, we sat in the car for a bit because we are tired of sitting with weird people in the waiting room.

Once we got to the waiting room, we met another set of weirdos who wouldn't shut up and were talking loud...annoying.  Then we went back to the pre-op/post-op room.  Allison put on a really sexy outfit and put on her booties...typical of our entire process, one of the booties was defective.  We then had to wait a while before anything really started.

Allison's anestieogist was a low-talker...so any question I was asked by Allison I had no idea what she was talking about.  She then had the IV put in and the itching began...then she got very cold.  The waiting game continued.  She was supposed to go in at 10:15 but really didn't get to go in until 10:30.  The most annoying thing to me was that everyone who went by our area kept hitting the curtain...little things bother me...I guess I should have thought about Allison with an IV in and the 30+ shots she has had the past week and a half and the pills she has to take and the 7000 eggs that were in her ovaries.

Anywho, I got to go get the medication and a sharps container to turn in and by the time I returned she was in recovery.  I didn't even get to watch the episode of The West Wing I had hoped to see in the waiting room.  It was okay, because the waiting room was just as exciting!

Allison was groggy!!  The first thing she mumbled to me was incoherent...so she repeated it - worse.  Then she fell asleep again and woke up about five minutes later and said one word - CRAMPS.  You could see the pain on the heart monitor and her rising pulse.  Allison then said that she wished I could have cramps for one day so I knew how it felt - I'll pass.  Once she had a few crackers and some water, we were allowed to leave - she is a quick recoverer.

Overall, she has been pretty amazing today.  She has little bits of the day that she doesn't remember but she has been awesome.  The first thing she wanted to do when she got home was clean the kitchen and pay the bills..typical.  Allison napped a bit when she got home - so did I...in fact, I missed her first text to me to come upstairs!  They got 27 eggs today which is unreal to think of that they were inside of her ovaries...ouch (i think...i don't have ovaries).  Hopefully, one of these eggs and sperm like eachother.

The fun continues later this week as we head back to Rockville later this week - wait till you see the total mileage we have gone during this process.

Alright, that is my perspective of the day.  Oh, almost forgot!  Highlight of the day is when Allison said to the people in the operating room "This shit works quick!"

Going on a Hunt.. An Egg Hunt

A rather large egg hunt.  But that is a VERY good thing.  First, I want to show my preparations for the week's events.  It is NIAW (National Infertility Awareness Week) and you are supposed to wear pink and blue in support.

This post is going to be a little different since today involved anesthesia and pain killers.  I am going to give my perspective and Matt is going to share his.  We will start with my view, part 1.  Matt can share part 2.

We were told to arrive at the clinic no later than 8:45 today.  Sounds like a pretty reasonable time, right?  Sure.. if you don't have to travel 270 right to where it heads in to DC on a Monday morning.  That meant a 5:00 am wake-up call for a 6:00 am departure.  Traffic really wasn't too bad until we hit Frederick.. and even there we only sat for a few minutes.  We then hit the second bout a few miles before our exit, but overall it wasn't anything to really complain about.  Positive number one for the day!

Upon arrival, we had to check in and sit in the waiting room with people who were entirely too happy and loud for a Monday morning surgical procedure.  I have been keeping positive through this, but c'mon people.  Shut up!  After about 15 minutes of waiting time, we were taken back to my chariot - aka, uncomfortable hospital bed.  I was given a very sexy hospital gown, booties, and hair thing (Matt has pictures he can choose to share if he'd like).  Basically, I was ready for a night on the town!  After I was changed and ready, my nurse came back in to go over all of the consent forms and our plan of action, and then we signed our lives away.. again.

Then we waited.. for a good half hour.  During that half hour I got to listen to another woman vomit for a good 15 minutes.  That really made me feel good about what I was about to go through.  Ugh.

Finally, the anesthesiologist came in.  I would tell you want he said, but he talked entirely too quietly and fast.  All I do know is that he insured me that he would give me something to counteract the sickness I get from anesthesia, and that he was now going to put in my IV.  Super.  My right arm is done for the time being.  They have exhausted all of the veins in that arm over the last couple of weeks, and I have the bruises to prove it.  So, left arm it was.  However, this arm had been used the last two days, so it had a nice lump blocking the needle.  After some pushing and shoving (thank goodness he numbed this area prior to place the port in) he was finally able to get the IV through (and it was PINK!).  Time for some fluids.  I hadn't been able to have anything since 3:00am this morning.  Yes, I did set my alarm form 2:45 and indulged in two rather large chocolate chip cookies at this time.  Give me a break.  A girl on hormones NEEDS her chocolate.  Don't judge.

An hour of fluids later, it was finally time to go.  I had to make one final trip to the restroom and then off to the OR.  I was able to walk there.  They put me in a nice bed just like those lovely things we women get to lay on for our yearly OBGYN exams, or the same type of bed I have been laying on daily for the last two weeks.  Stirrups included.  However, these were high class stirrups since I would be out of it and not able to hold my legs up.  The doctor came in and introduced herself to me and then started asking me questions about my demographics.  Name, spelling, DOB, SS number, etc.  This was happening at the same time I was being given the anesthesia through my IV.  I think I got most of the questions right, but the last thing I remember saying was "This shirt works fast".  No filter, remember?  Then I remember them telling my to "scoot down" right after they placed my legs on the glorified stirrups and got out the dildo cam and ginormous needle.  (thanks, Rachel for the new term I LOVE!.. aka, ultrasound probe) Then.. LIGHTS OUT

The next thing that comes to memory is the recovery room.. and Matt trying to talk to me.  That was nice of him.  However, all I wanted to do was tell him to shut up and let me sleep. Then the pain hit.  WOW.  I didn't expect it to be too bad.  But the cramps were like no cramps I have ever felt before.  I have previously had surgery on my cervix, and that was nothing compared to this. Talk about some serious cramps.  EVERYWHERE.  From my sternum to my upper legs.  Cramps.  Now, I must share that my pain tolerance is not exactly "high".  I am a wuss.  There, now you know.  So maybe these weren't as bad as I am conveying.. but on my spectrum, they were/are.  I kept saying I wanted to go to the bathroom.  So after only 10 minutes in recovery, I walked to the bathroom.  Pretty good, I think.  

When I got back they had crackers and water waiting.. along with a pain shot as well as a shot to help get rid of the massive amount of follicle fluids in me.  At this point, I just wanted to go home.  I down at least 4 packs of crackers, some water, got dressed.. and I was ready to get the heck out.  Matt claims I walked out looking better than anyone else he saw because I could stand straight and walk on my own.  Down four flights on the elevator and to the car. Hmm.. I have yet to sit down since I've been up.  Not so pleasant.  Sitting is a BIG pain increaser.  So, the seat was reclined, and I know I slept in and out during the 2 hour drive home.  I remember having some conversation with Matt, but I do not remember the stop at Wal Mart to get the extra strength Tylenol for when I run out of Vicodin.  Oh and Apple Juice.  Sounded good at the time.

When we got home, we had to put Sophie out so she wouldn't jump on me and kept Rooney in his crate since he is a pup and doesn't know any better.  Somehow I made it up the stairs and to the bedroom.  Then, I realized.. I had to pee.  Oh freaking no.  This is NOT going to feel good.  I was right.. holy pain.  I am going to blame the ginormous needle and dildo cam.  But I did it.. and then hobbled to bed where I proceeded to take a Vicodin and pass out for a few hours.  When I woke up I was feeling a little better.  Ate some toast and kept it down.  Positive number two for the day.  No sickness and good sleep!

After my good solid nap, I got a nice visit from Katie Reiblich and ate some more toast.  Still not sickness!  So, a nice visit and still not sickness is positive number three for the day.

I have been feeling ok.. but walking and sitting are rough.  I will not talk about the bathroom, because that is still not pleasant either.  In fact, I am trying to avoid it.  Ugh.  School is iffy at this point tomorrow.  I just took one more pain pill and settled in to bed.  Dirty Dancing is on and Matt just brought me Panera. perfect way to end the day!  My medications are not over.  I now start a pill twice daily until our pregnancy test (in approximately 2.5 weeks) and a (sorry, guys) vaginal insert 3 times a day until the test.  More pleasantries.. but these will build up the uterus wall/lining so the embryo(s) have a better chance of attaching after our transfer.

Our transfer will be done (back in Rockville) on either Thursday or Saturday.  The BEST positive of the day is that they were able to collect 27 good eggs!  The average is generally 8-15.  We have 27.  That makes me hopeful for some good, fertilized, viable eggs.  They will call us tomorrow to let us know how many have fertilized to that point.  If they are able to pick out a few of the "best" embryo's, we will be able to transfer on Thursday.  If we have too many to pick out the best few, we will have our transfer on Saturday so they can watch the "survival of the fittest".  If we have any left over, they will be frozen for future transfers/cycles.  Our success rate for the one particular cycle is 60%.  This is not bad, but there is still at 40% chance it will not work and we will need to use the frozen guys.

Today I became VERY aware and frustrated with the lack of compassion some people have. That is for a completely different post, but I would also like to slap them or kick them in the shins.  My sister in law sent me a card that describes the feeling to a T!  Thanks, Meg!

That is all for today.. from me.  I will update tomorrow with the numbers we are given!

Triggerrrrrr

Today was a very busy day!  Matt and Tony worked at our house all day pouring concrete for our patio, putting our garden together, and playing with the new lawn tractor.  

Next step.. pavers!

While the boys were playing with their toys, Stacy and I made my daily trip to Shady Grove.  Since it is the weekend, today's trip was a short 1.5 hour (each way) drive to Rockville.  Of course we had to stop and do a little bit of shopping on the way home!

Today's appointment was for more monitoring -- so one tube of blood and a short ultrasound.  It is looking like I still have between 25 and 30 follicles, which is pretty awesome.  My blood work also came back excellent, so this afternoon we received great news.

NO MORE SHOTS!!!  Ok, I lied.  One more shot.  Tonight I get my Lupron trigger shot!  This is to be taken exactly 36 hours prior to my scheduled retrieval procedure.  That means we will be harvesting at 10:15 Monday morning.  Not only am I excited to be done with the shots, but I am also ready for the extreme pressure and bloating to go away.  Talk about a miserable couple of days.  So our next few days look like this:

Sunday - Another trip to Rockville for ONE tube of blood.  Yes, just one.  However, we are hoping to spend a few hours in DC following this short appointment.  I will need to take two Zithromax pills with dinner to prepare for Monday's procedure.  No food after 3:00 am Monday and no liquids after 6:00 am.

Monday - I will need to get up prior to 3:00 am and eat something.  This is a must for the anesthetics.  Then I will need to drink something right before 6:00 am as well.  We need to be at the clinic in Rockville no later than 8:45 am.  This means an early morning anyway thanks to DC morning commute traffic.  I will meet with everyone involved in the procedure during this hour and a half as well as being prepped.  During this Matt will also do his part of the procedure.  He is SO excited about this :)  

The procedure itself will take about 30 minutes.  They will use an ultrasound probe (this sounds comfortable) with a small needle attached to it.  They will then "suck out" all of the follicles from both ovaries.  Again, sounds pleasant!  Thank goodness for anesthetics.  After this I will be placed in the recovery room for about an hour.. then I am all Matt's responsibility!  The one statement in the packet I received specifically says " Do not plan on making major decisions or going to work that day. If you go to work you may be acting like you are drunk and you are very likely to make mistakes in judgement."  In other words, I am home for 24 hours after the procedure.  That day they will be able to tell us how many eggs they retrieved, and that is it.

Tuesday - We will get a phone call telling us the number of eggs they were able to fertilize.

Wednesday - We will get a phone call telling us when the transfer will be performed and how many fertilized eggs are looking good.  The transfer will occur on either Thursday or Saturday depending on how the embryos are looking.  I will explain that procedure later, but I will be on 48 hours of bed rest following this one.  

I decided to do a little relaxing this afternoon in preparation for the week that is to come.  Mani & Pedi!  I went with pink on both and a blue design on the toes - the reasoning you will find out shortly!

Of course, while we were doing all of this stuff, our furry children were having an eventful day of their own!

The last thing I want to include today is a link to a blog that one of my good friend's sister has written.  She puts some things into perspective and I know that I could not write it better myself.  I know I have made this sound "easy" and not too bad (thanks, Matt for increasing my sarcasm abilities a level or two!), but it is in fact anything but those things.  It is hard.  It is difficult.  It is PAINFUL.  It is stressful.  In fact, the stress has made me sick.  It is frustrating.  I have been a ball of emotions over the last few weeks (I blame the extremely high levels of estrogen they are shooting in my daily), but I have done a pretty damn good job keeping them in check.  Minus the verbal warning I got at my lacrosse game last week.  Or the yellow card I got last night.  Oops. (Maybe the ref should learn the rules..)  Good thing I get to work with some awesome co-coaches and work with a pretty fantastic group of girls that make me look forward to my time with them every day.  There are days I am just sad and upset.  Then there are days where I am just plain mad and angry.  What sets me off more than anything is when I see and hear people complain about their kids.. or anything that has to do with their kids.  I'm not going to lie.  I would like to slap them.. or kick them square in the shins.  Whichever would inflict the most annoying pain.  

So as I said, my friend's sister puts it all in to perspective for "outsiders" and explains things from "our" side.  She has been dealing with this much longer than I.. a few years rather than our approximate one year.  Happy Reading!

Link - http://infertileprivateparts.blogspot.com

All we are asking of you at this point, is to please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on the exciting and very scary week ahead!