It's offical...

We have a date for the ivf transfer. I received 2 calls from REACH today with all the details. The transfer will be Tuesday, 12th, at 12noon & I am so glad I know when it will be now. I really had a hard time focusing in church this morning, Lord please forgive me.

We went to REACH this morning for labs & I knew the nurse would be calling me back with my orders so I had to keep my phone on vibrate all through bible class & services - how distracting. The first call came during the sermon so I had to go outside to answer it & it the nurse letting me know we would not be doing the transfer today. She said she would have to call me back with more details about Tuesday. Then she called during lunch to let me know the exact time & the rest of my orders. I am to take my valium at 11am (to put me in a calm submission state) & arrive at REACH at 11:30am.

The nurse also informed me that Dr. Crain, my doctor would be preforming the procedure. She said most of the drs like to perform the ivf retrievals & transfers on their own patients. They kind of float around like OB/GYN drs offices do, you eventually end up seeing most of the doctors in the office during your cycle. Which is fine, they are all really good & nice, except one but I will not release their name.

So that's the facts. Please keep us, the doctors & staff in your prayers on Tuesday.

I'm growing a country...

That is what my husband said when her heard our latest news from my ivf nurse. We have 13 embryos growing & I said yeah you have your own posse, Chris.

To give you a little more details, they retrieved 24 eggs. 11 of them were fertilized using ICSI (with assistance) & 9 conventionally (naturally) & now there are 13 embryos growing. I go back on Sunday for labs & the transfer could be anytime from Sunday to Tuesday. We are so excited I can't even tell you.

Here are my orders if I choose to accept them...

My sister & I think that it is like Mission Impossible when you get a call from REACH with your orders. You know how on the movie they call & say, "here is your mission if you choose to accept it & this message will self destruct in exactly ___ seconds." That is how it feels. It seems so secretive & I guess it is.

Anyway, Wednesday night will be my last Lupron shot, yeah, but I will continue to use the estrogen patches for a while (even if I become pregnant). Then I start an antibiotic on Thursday 2x/day, Pred (uck) & progesterone & oil mixture. Chris is to go in for his part on Thurs as well & so will the donor. Then on Friday they will call back with the results of the retrieval & prediction of embyro growth. Then I go back on Sunday am for monitoring. So the transfer will be next week. The only thing that could change it at this point is poor egg quality/quantity or sperm (very unlikely).

I am so excited I totally can not concentrate to finish working today. Unfortunately we have to send out our magazine tonight & I have to try as hard as possible to focus. Please keep us in your prayers as we move forward.

Tentative schedule

I just spoke to a nurse a few minutes ago & the retrieval is tentative scheduled for Thursday (7th). She said the donor is schedule to take her Ovidrel (this releases the folicles) tonight & she will come in tomorrow morning for monitoring to make sure she is still on schedule for Thursday. I will most likely get a call from the nurse tomorrow with more orders. If my calculations are correct the transfer would be 3-5 days after the retrieval which would be between Sunday & Tuesday. We are getting so close.

I told Chris last night that I am starting to look forward to the transfer & my 2 days of bed rest (originally I was dreading it). It will be good to rest for a while, I am so tired & I am afraid I might be getting sick again. I am getting really stuffy again & my ears are killing me. Now of course my lovely husband had to mention that he is one of the few that he knows that hasn't gotten sick. Most of my family has had it or still has it & most of his fellow co-workers have/had it as well. Please keep your fingers crossed that I don't get it again & that he stays well.

Still waiting

Yesterday came & went with no new orders from my IVF nurse. So I can only assume that the donor is still not quite ready for the retrieval yet. I do plan to call my nurse this morning to make sure he didn't forget about me. We did get a call from the finacial office yesterday asking us for money so Chris had to run down there on his lunch break to give them a big fat check (this covers the donor's fee) our insurance cover most of what is left. They did mention to Chris that this was their mistake since they never sent us a bill & I am glad they recoginize it. I would hate for them to think we are dragging our feet about paying. Little do they know we have had this money set aside for a while now & we are also building a baby fund.

Hopefully more news to come soon...

A little disappointed

Well I heard from my IVF nurse right before lunch & the news was not what I expected. He didn't have a scheduled date for the transfer yet but hopes to have more info on Monday. I am using an egg donor & we are waiting on her to be "ready." She is scheduled to come in next Monday morning for monitoring (labs & ultrasound) & he will know more then. So in the meantime we are on curse control (those were his exact words). I pretty much keep doing all the things I have been doing (wearing 4 estrogen patches & changing them out every other day & daily Lupron shots).

I still think it may be next week but it will most likely be towards end of the week. I must say I am a little glad that it will not interfere with us sending the magazine out next Tuesday & so are Anita & Vicki (my co-workers).

Oh I also asked my nurse today about the terrible headaches I have been having & he says they are very common with increased hormone levels - lucky me. I also found out that I wasn't suppose to be taking Aleve, oops. I guess the good part of it is that I will not be on these meds for very much longer & the headaches are not quite as bad since we have decreased the amount of Lupron I am taking + my nurse said my body will start to adjust to the meds & settle back down. I also noticed a rash on my chest & neck last night which he was a little puzzled by. He told me take some Benydril & if it has not improved my tomorrow morning to give him a call. It doesn't itch a whole lot it is just really ugly.

Excitement builds

Well I had an appointment at REACH at 7:30 morning (yes you read that right, 7:30) & after much waiting I got to see the doctor at 8:50. There was only 1 doctor out of 6 actually seeing patients today & Dr. Wieland is pretty slow & very talkative & I have learned to be patient with him. He is a great doctor but sometimes tells me too much info (long story).

Anyway, he said that my uterus was text book perfect & that it doesn't get much better than what he was seeing on the ultra sound. How cool is that??? I am suppose to hear from my IVF nurse this afternoon with my orders & with the schedule for the transfer. I am getting sooooo excited. I was so glad to hear some good news for a change. Our family has just been dealing with so much sadness, we need some good news for a change.