It sounds so far, but yet so close. I've been counting work days, so in that perspective, tomorrow is the last one!
Late today, the schedule comes out - so I'll know my exact time. They typically schedule transfers in the late afternoon, but my DH and I both took the entire day off - so we are planning to sleep in, then take the dogs for a hike in the foothills, then go for a decadent brunch or lunch to celebrate.
I am a fairly avid reader and have several books sitting on my nightstand all ready for a Friday evening / Saturday all-day bed rest fest. I even threatened my husband that I was going to pick up a tiara because he's going to have to treat me like Kate Middleton (upon which he asked me, in typical guy fashion "Who is Kate Middleton?").
So far, I am feeling good. Still have little bouts of insomnia - but know the progesterone will sink in soon. A hematologist suggested that when I give myself injections to keep the hole of the needlepointing up (she called it "eye to the sky") and that seems to help - no bruising so far from he last two Lovenox shots.
As most of you know, right now we plan to implant 3 embryos - but I am starting to have second thoughts. To better understand the process and chances of success, I sent a couple e-mails yesterday to ask if the chances for implementation for each embryo are dependent or mutually exclusive. In other words, does one "bad' embryo affect the others. The overwhelming response was no - implantation of each embryo is independent of one another. Also, just about every e-mail contained a gentle warning about multiples - even twins.
I am sure we will come to the right decision when the time comes, but sitting here right now contemplating, it's a tough decision. My DH is willing to go with whatever I decide (since I'll be doing the "heavy lifting" as he says).
I certainly don't want to jeopardize the life or the health of our future children (or my own), but on the other had I am already 42 and my DH is 45 and I can't see us having a newborn when I am 44 or 45 and he is close to 50. It wouldn't be fair. So, having one or two children close together in age would be ideal.
We can order just about everything our heart desires on the Internet these days, why can't we simply place an order with a stork and find our bundle of joy swaddled in a blanket on our front steps one day when we arrive home? It would be so much easier...
At this point, only the universe knows what the future has in-store for us...
Showing posts with label IVF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IVF. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Harder Than a Pregnancy Announcement or a Baby Shower...
We've all been there...
We're on the drugs or waiting for our bodies to cooperate or are just getting past seeing good 'ol Aunt Flo rear her ugly head again - when suddenly we're on Facebook or get a call from a friend or relative..."We're Pregnant - aren't you just over the moon happy for us?!!!!"
For the most part, I have taken these announcements in stride. I've been happy for my friends and family and convinced myself that our turn will come someday and I'll be on the other end. Yesterday, though, was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do as part of this journey...
To qualify for adoption, we were required to take a newborn care class. Yes, I guess we could have had someone come to our house to do the class privately, but we live about 2 miles from a hospital and they were offering a class on Saturday - so it seemed convenient and easy.
The instructor opened the class with "Hi! Welcome. Let's all introduce ourselves and tell the class what we're having and when we're due!" Everyone in the class was pregnant - EVEN THE INSTRUCTOR (an RN who works in the maternity ward who's due in April with her second)! Not one single other adoptive couple out of the 20 couples in the class. Talk about feeling like a freakish alien with three heads, six arms and nine legs! It was so humiliating...
The one redeeming fact was that after class, we got to talk to talk to the instructor one-on-one about some resources to start spreading the word. She gave us the names of several people to contact who may be able to help us find a birth mother.
I'm a little hesitant (but at the same time, immensely impatient) to begin advertising, but clearly I need to wait to:
1. Ensure our approval is nearly finished because it would be terrible to find a birth mom who is giving birth very soon / gave birth very recently and not be able to finalize the adoption because our paperwork isn't done yet.
2. See what happens with our FET. It would be a true miracle if the Lovenox is the thing that will help us...
We had our second homestudy earlier this week (which was strange because the director did most of the talking) and have our third (and final pre-adoption one) scheduled for mid-March. This means that we should be eligible to be shown to prospective birth moms in late-March / early April.
In the meantime, I am getting all my ducks-in-a-row - established an 800 number, building a website, creating ad flyers, etc. In early April, I'll no doubt be ready to hit the ground running with our own birth mom search. Performing these tasks is helping me keep my sanity because it's the few things in this process that I can control.
Each year, I invite my friends to join us to try out a new restaurant for our city's restaurant week. Last night, we went to a wonderful little gourmet restaurant where they cook organically and everything is fresh from farm-to-table. It was delicious. Since everyone but one couple knew we are now pursuing adoption, I brought my profile book - because most of my friends had only seen it online. Well, guess what...the one couple who didn't know our story has started to adopt too. I was in shock...I never would have suspected it. Now I have a companion on this journey. Strange how something so painful could have happened earlier in the day, but something so wonderful happened later the same evening!
On the IVF front, I started Lupron earlier this week and took my last birth control pill FOREVER today.
So far, the lupron hasn't been too bad...my first IVF cycle, it had me wired. My "false" IVF cycle, it gave me headaches and had me tired. This time, I think I'm going back to the insomnia route - I went to bed at midnight and was wide awake at 4:15 am.
I am a little less than a month from being PUPO...c'mon March. Hurry up!
We're on the drugs or waiting for our bodies to cooperate or are just getting past seeing good 'ol Aunt Flo rear her ugly head again - when suddenly we're on Facebook or get a call from a friend or relative..."We're Pregnant - aren't you just over the moon happy for us?!!!!"
For the most part, I have taken these announcements in stride. I've been happy for my friends and family and convinced myself that our turn will come someday and I'll be on the other end. Yesterday, though, was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do as part of this journey...
To qualify for adoption, we were required to take a newborn care class. Yes, I guess we could have had someone come to our house to do the class privately, but we live about 2 miles from a hospital and they were offering a class on Saturday - so it seemed convenient and easy.
The instructor opened the class with "Hi! Welcome. Let's all introduce ourselves and tell the class what we're having and when we're due!" Everyone in the class was pregnant - EVEN THE INSTRUCTOR (an RN who works in the maternity ward who's due in April with her second)! Not one single other adoptive couple out of the 20 couples in the class. Talk about feeling like a freakish alien with three heads, six arms and nine legs! It was so humiliating...
The one redeeming fact was that after class, we got to talk to talk to the instructor one-on-one about some resources to start spreading the word. She gave us the names of several people to contact who may be able to help us find a birth mother.
I'm a little hesitant (but at the same time, immensely impatient) to begin advertising, but clearly I need to wait to:
1. Ensure our approval is nearly finished because it would be terrible to find a birth mom who is giving birth very soon / gave birth very recently and not be able to finalize the adoption because our paperwork isn't done yet.
2. See what happens with our FET. It would be a true miracle if the Lovenox is the thing that will help us...
We had our second homestudy earlier this week (which was strange because the director did most of the talking) and have our third (and final pre-adoption one) scheduled for mid-March. This means that we should be eligible to be shown to prospective birth moms in late-March / early April.
In the meantime, I am getting all my ducks-in-a-row - established an 800 number, building a website, creating ad flyers, etc. In early April, I'll no doubt be ready to hit the ground running with our own birth mom search. Performing these tasks is helping me keep my sanity because it's the few things in this process that I can control.
Each year, I invite my friends to join us to try out a new restaurant for our city's restaurant week. Last night, we went to a wonderful little gourmet restaurant where they cook organically and everything is fresh from farm-to-table. It was delicious. Since everyone but one couple knew we are now pursuing adoption, I brought my profile book - because most of my friends had only seen it online. Well, guess what...the one couple who didn't know our story has started to adopt too. I was in shock...I never would have suspected it. Now I have a companion on this journey. Strange how something so painful could have happened earlier in the day, but something so wonderful happened later the same evening!
On the IVF front, I started Lupron earlier this week and took my last birth control pill FOREVER today.
So far, the lupron hasn't been too bad...my first IVF cycle, it had me wired. My "false" IVF cycle, it gave me headaches and had me tired. This time, I think I'm going back to the insomnia route - I went to bed at midnight and was wide awake at 4:15 am.
I am a little less than a month from being PUPO...c'mon March. Hurry up!
Friday, February 11, 2011
A Head Start on Spring Cleaning...Check! Calendar...Check!
Thanks for all the warm wishes from everyone for my "bonus" D&C today. Everything went great!
My surgery was scheduled for 7:15 am (so we had to arrive at pre-crack-of-dawn o'clock) and I had the entire surgery center to myself. Lynn, my primary nurse for this procedure, even remembered me from a surgery I had in June! (You know you're officially an IVF Veteran when they remember your name...).
The surgery itself was fast and easy. The surgery was at 7:30 am, I was awake by 8:45 am and on my way home by 9:30 am. We even detoured for a scrumptious breakfast at The Original Pancake house on the way home (since they took stuff out of my body, I figured I could compensate by putting a few extra calories back in, right?). Strawberry crepes with a side of the most delicious bacon in the whole world! Yum!!!
The timing of this procedure couldn't have been better. I learned the other day that I don't have to wait three months (you only have to wait when you're pregnant (which I was last time) - not for your body to heal)!
I finished a pack of BCP's today - so I am on the super-fast-track for my next cycle and my FET is now scheduled for Friday, March 25! I was not expecting this at all - so this is exciting! We may get to hold our very own newborns in our arms before the close of 2011 after all!!! The second amazing thing is that I get to take my first BCP on Valentine's Day (can't think of a better day to "start" my cycle! The third amazing thing is that I will be on less days of Lupron! All-in-all, a win-win!
Since Dr. S will be out, Dr. Gustofson will be performing the actual transfer. As my DH said, it doesn't really matter who "pushes the plunger". They've all done it hundreds of thousands of times at this point.
For those of you interested, here is my current IVF calendar: It looks like they changed a few things from when I was supposed to cycle in January (they have me on one Prometrium and one PIO shot daily - but I am asking about if I can go back to PIO every other day and Prometrium 3X / day- and added an U/S check closer to the beginning).
Unlike my January FET, I am actually excited again. I honestly think it was seeing the u/s of Em and her DH's twinkies the other day that renewed my hope! Congratulations Em!!!
My surgery was scheduled for 7:15 am (so we had to arrive at pre-crack-of-dawn o'clock) and I had the entire surgery center to myself. Lynn, my primary nurse for this procedure, even remembered me from a surgery I had in June! (You know you're officially an IVF Veteran when they remember your name...).
The surgery itself was fast and easy. The surgery was at 7:30 am, I was awake by 8:45 am and on my way home by 9:30 am. We even detoured for a scrumptious breakfast at The Original Pancake house on the way home (since they took stuff out of my body, I figured I could compensate by putting a few extra calories back in, right?). Strawberry crepes with a side of the most delicious bacon in the whole world! Yum!!!
The timing of this procedure couldn't have been better. I learned the other day that I don't have to wait three months (you only have to wait when you're pregnant (which I was last time) - not for your body to heal)!
I finished a pack of BCP's today - so I am on the super-fast-track for my next cycle and my FET is now scheduled for Friday, March 25! I was not expecting this at all - so this is exciting! We may get to hold our very own newborns in our arms before the close of 2011 after all!!! The second amazing thing is that I get to take my first BCP on Valentine's Day (can't think of a better day to "start" my cycle! The third amazing thing is that I will be on less days of Lupron! All-in-all, a win-win!
Since Dr. S will be out, Dr. Gustofson will be performing the actual transfer. As my DH said, it doesn't really matter who "pushes the plunger". They've all done it hundreds of thousands of times at this point.
For those of you interested, here is my current IVF calendar: It looks like they changed a few things from when I was supposed to cycle in January (they have me on one Prometrium and one PIO shot daily - but I am asking about if I can go back to PIO every other day and Prometrium 3X / day- and added an U/S check closer to the beginning).
Unlike my January FET, I am actually excited again. I honestly think it was seeing the u/s of Em and her DH's twinkies the other day that renewed my hope! Congratulations Em!!!