Sleep, Sleep and More Sleep

Guess what I've been doing for the past 34 hours? Yep, you guessed it, sleeping! Which is why I am just now updating y'all...sorry for those (of my few but precious readers) that I have left waiting in suspense.

Yesterday I woke up feeling terrible.  My ovaries were so swollen that they were making me extremely uncomfortable.  It was almost as if all of my eggs grew 100 times their size overnight!  Thank goodness that I was on my way to the hospital for them to relieve some of that fullness by extacting my eggs... because "extremely uncomfortable" quickly turned to "can barely walk, laugh, or move without pain".  When I got to the hospital at 8am they quickly took me back to prep me for the procedure.  There was a woman on the other side of the curtain who was in front of me for the same thing so I got to listen to all of the instructions twice.  Another thing I got to listen to was her coming out of the operating room completely looped out of her mind on anesthesia...which was pretty hilarious.  My mind drifted as to how crazy I might act coming out of there and what might slip out of my mouth...if only I had asked them to record it...because sadly I dont remember a thing.   The procedure went great and they got 14 eggs!!! When I asked the doctor if that was a good number he told me that they "hope for" anywhere between 10 and 15....so that was great!

They put me in a wheelchair and brought me downstairs to the car where JCH was waiting for me.  Patty was luckily there this weekend (they alternate) so she wheeled me down, helped me up, gave me a huge hug, and wished us a safe journey home to Charleston.  Remind me to get her a nice thank you gift.

I made a little palet in the backseat of the EDGE and slept the entire way home...ate some food when we got home...took my meds....and than slept the entire day/night away.  Yesterday after the procedure my fullness went away and was replaced by cramping and strange jolts of pain.  Today the fullness is back (which they said most likely the fluid would build back up) and I've got a little cramping and you guessed it, I've slept most of the day.  They said today would be a little rough but that tomorrow I should be feeling 85% better! Tomorrow I will also get a call from Dr. Winslow telling us how the embryos are looking and what day the transfer will be!

Today was our "conception day"!  How cool is that? They fertilized my eggs with JCH's sperm in the lab today!  JCH and I celebrated our conception day at iHop because I had a ridiculous craving for all things BREAKFAST! We toasted over pancakes and 70+ year old couples...very romantic!  Tomorrow we start up a new round of shots (that will continue 12+ weeks)...not really looking forward to that.  This progesterone in cottonseed oil is much thicker so it requires a thicker needle, and cannot be injected into a blood vessel.  The way you test that the needle is not in a blood vessel is by poking the needle and pulling back on the syringe and if blood shows in the syringe or not.  Much more complicated than the pinch, poke and inject that we've BEEN doing with a much smaller needle.  UGH!

Well, I guess I will have more news to share tomorrow!!! We have had such wonderful news throughout this whole process I'm still just holding my breathe in disbelief that we are this lucky.  Please pray, send energy, or whatever it is you believe will bring us good news over the next few weeks!  I'm so happy right now I could fly! :)

JCH snapped a pic of Teddy Roosevelt taking advantage of the permanent fixture on our couch yesterday-ME

It's Indescribable

Today was JCH's sperm retrieval.  They were set to attempt two different procedures in order to retrieve viable sperm.  MESA (which is a less invasive procedure which includes a small needle in the testes to extract the sperm) or TESE (which is a more invasive procedure that involves an incision in the testes and a biopsy to extract sperm).  They SUCCEEDED in extracting sperm by only needing to perform the less invasive procedure! YES, you READ that right...THEY GOT SPERM!!!!!!  They initially told us we would have to wait to find out until tomorrow but because they got such a good sample they were confident they had viable sperm today!!!!

I honestly sat here and stared at the computer screen for several minutes not even sure how to express my happiness!!!! It's indescribable! Indescribable joy is the perfect description!! Is that an oxymoron?  This morning while getting ready to head to the hospital, I gave JCH's testes a little pep talk...I think they needed a little encouragement and it worked!!!  JCH said he has had several omens over the past few days...good omens.  That sufficed as my pep talk!

JCH is feeling good (no pain at present moment) and catching up on some serious sleep today!!! I told him that this is HIS day...any type of spoiling I can do for him...all he needs to do is ask!  Hopefully he'll take my lead on the "royal treatment" when the roles are reversed!  He will potentially have 9 months to practice giving the "royal treatment"...hee hee! :)

I'll try to update y'all tomorrow once I know more about my eggs...but I may be out like sleeping beauty below...



JCH sleeping like a baby at our hotel while I catch up on R&R and daytime TV





At the hospital in the recovery room after I jumped up and down with excitement of the wonderful news and than cried, and than pretty much went looney with excitement



Guess Where We Are?

Yep, WE are in Jacksonville! I have driven down here so many times in the past two weeks that I feel like I could do it while texting, eating, maybe even blogging (but I wont).  Wednesday I came down (for the second time this week) and had my last follicle monitoring and estradiols.  My follicles (not sure when I can call them eggs) have grown to what Dr. Winslow had hoped and he was comfortable with moving forward.  My estrogen levels were slightly elevated so he put me on a THIRD set of shots (lupron) that I started today, and than tomorrow will begin my fourth type, my "trigger shots"!

Guess what else is tomorrow?  JCH's sperm retrieval! WHOA! Sorry to spring that one on ya! I've cut my lunches short, worked longer hours, have traveled over 400 miles almost every day this week and just haven't had a moment (that I wasn't yearning for sleep and/or apparently driving) to sit down and catch y'all up!  So yep, we're back down here in Jacksonville TOGETHER and sperm retrieval is tomorrow and egg retrieval is Saturday! EEEEEEEEEE!!!! JCH checks in at 8am tomorrow, procedure is at 9am, he'll be done by 10am and out of recovery by 11am.  We wont know whether they were able to get "viable sperm" until Saturday morning after the sperm incubate over night.  In all of this, this is what scares me (not sure if that's the right word) the most.  I know that whatever way that JCH and I have a child together we will love it the same so please dont get me wrong when I express how much I want their to be viable sperm.  Let me see if I can explain.  I'm sure most of you admire your spouses or significant others the way that I do (if you could say you are obsessed, than you do) but I honestly want so badly to watch my child grow up and be JUST LIKE JCH!  He is so smart, and brave, and kind and honestly I dont know a better man and could probably not even imagine one up!  So you can see, we would be doing the world a favor to have another one of him (hee hee only kidding).  You get my point though, I love JCH and I want his little spawn. 

I'll try to get some pictures...how cool would that be to introduce y'all to Dr. Winslow and Patty and the awesome girls who do my blood work and check me in when I'm here?  So many emotions as we go into tomorrow! I will update y'all on how JCH is doing after his procedure tomorrow and hopefully I will be lucid enough to update y'all on Saturday with GOOD news! :) Happy (almost) Friday! GO TEXAS RANGERS!

Something New, Something Blue, Something Old, Something Borrowed

Let's see if my fingers can keep up with how fast my brain is going right now...

Sunday, I woke up at 2:30am drove down to Jacksonville, waited about 10 minutes for my 15 minute appointment and was back on the road to Charleston and home by noon. What a morning!  As I sat in the lobby with all of the other women waiting on an early Sunday morning to get blood work and have our follicles measured I wondered about their “stories”.  In the 10 minutes I waited in the lobby I pondered over about 10 different women...some with their moms (obviously pretty young), some with their “men”, and some all by their lonesome just like me!  I never realized how difficult it is to get pregnant! So many people are being affected by infertility and it’s not just the stereotypical “older women” who waited “too long” to try to have babies.  As I sat in the lobby I felt connected to them, I wanted to just start talking to each of them as if they were old friends.  One girl spoke to the receptionist briefly asking whether it would be okay to give herself her shot before her appointment, and than preceded into the restroom, dropped her pants, and was back out in the lobby within minutes.  SO BRAVE.  I’m just getting used to someone giving me the shots, and last night even faced my shot without icing it first (we all have different levels of bravery). 

Something new—there is a new doctor in town (not really)!  JCH was late getting home last night and my friend-AP-was over to pick me up to go make dinner for our “new parent” friends and I needed my shot before I left.  AP is a ROCKSTAR—she just stepped up and gave me the shot (like a pro)!!!  I’m still a little amazed that she faced that task with such bravery and ease!  I definitely surround myself with amazing women! Speaking of amazing women in my life—I got slightly emotional this morning as I looked over birthday cards from ALL OF THE WOMEN in my life—you ladies know who you are and make me feel like such a lucky girl to have you!

Something blue—yep my stomach is still pretty bruised from the first couple of shots!  The good news is that JCH is a pro now too and I’m not even bruising anymore (sorry no polka-dot picture to share).  My stomach is getting pretty hard from all of the injections—not sure if that is normal (I’ll have to ask at my next appointment) but when I bend over I feel like I literally have a “spare tire” around my waist.   GROSS.

Something old—this trip down to Jacksonville.  Sorry to gripe but 8 hours of driving 3 times a week (yep that’s how many times I’ll be driving there this week) is getting old FAST.  I need a car charger for my iPhone, some new Pandora radio station suggestions, and a lot more itunes downloads!  I’m driving down tonight straight from work, staying in a hotel, going to an early appointment and driving back and straight back to work Wednesday afternoon (I have very few sick days to spare).

Something borrowed—do you have a few hours in your day to spare?  Maybe a few hours of sick time at work? I know, could you spare a few brain cells?  Brain cells are apparently a "hot commodity" in our house lately (not always--but lately) .  We have been storing all of my hormones in the refrigerator because when they were shipped they were in a cooler with ice packs.  Come to find out (on Sunday) it’s actually not necessary to store them in the refrigerator and you are actually supposed to keep them at room temperature.  Neither of us even thought twice about refrigerating them.  The good news is that the fridge won’t cause any harm to the hormones.  The bad news, I know some of you are second guessing our ability to be parents.  LOL (yeah at least we’re good at laughing AT ourselves).  The miscellaneous related news--I think the hormone concoction was hurting worse when it was cold because since taking them out of the fridge they have been more mild.

So anyway, I’m driving down tonight for my LAST follicle monitoring and blood work appointment tomorrow morning.  They are predicting we will be back this Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday for egg and sperm retrieval (yes a couple days earlier than predicted) and than next week will be “transfer” AKA “implantation”.  They typically do the transfer either 3 days or 5 days from egg retrieval…sooo possible dates are:  November 1st- November 4^th! I’m slightly stressed out about November 2^nd because I’ve got a HUGE ongoing project at work and we have a BIG meeting that morning that I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT MISS!!!!  Keep your fingers crossed for me!  



BABY COLLAGE at Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine (F.I.R.M.)--this covers an entire wall--8,000 babies and counting!





Pants on the ground

Just a QUICK (and exciting) update!

I had my second “follicle monitoring” and “estradiols” today.  Everything went so smoothly.  Blood lady was different and ONE THOUSAND times better! Quick! Easy! Painless!  I got a call this afternoon from Winslow in Jacksonville and they are amazed at how quickly my body is responding to the hormones.  Not only do they want me to start the second stimulating hormone tonight it looks like we might be pushing up some dates!

My final follicle monitoring has been pushed up from NEXT Friday to THIS Sunday and than on Sunday we will know more about the new timeline.  We very well could be doing the egg and sperm retrieval next week instead of on Halloween! 

I just wanted to update y’all! My heart is racing as I am typing this because I’m getting so excited!  Last night JCH chased me around the house with the needle because I forgot to numb a spot on my stomach for the injection.  I wasn’t going to let him poke me until I was ready and even though the ice may be a physical thing it helps me mentally prepare myself.  JCH is enjoying this way too much!  Wish me luck tonight on the new hormone injection that will go in my thigh! OUCH!

My Big Girl Panties

This week I'm somewhere between a 1950's housewife and a TRAINWRECK.  JCH is on a mandatory 64 hour work week (indefinitely) and I'm so busy at work that I'm stuck doing ALL of those "house manager" chores (pay bills online, check email, scan over the news, buy birthday presents, make holiday plans, etc.) once I get home rather than squeezing them into my 10-minute breaks at work.  PLUS I'm doing all of the cooking and cleaning at home, in order for JCH to get SOME R&R with the little bit of down time he has.  Between him working 12 hour days and two hours of breathing treatments each day, he doesn't get much "JCH TIME" lately.  1950's housewife...only I'm working 40 hours outside of the house too!

Anyway, back to "where do babies come from"...

I had my VERY FIRST “estradiol” labs (blood work) and follicle monitoring (ultrasound) Tuesday morning!  This was to determine my “BASELINE”.  They were measuring my follicles (hopeful eggs) and hormones levels (with my blood) to determine what the next steps are (dosage of hormones, timing of appointment, etc).  Ultrasound went perfectly and once again I was complimented on my beautiful uterus and healthy ovaries (remember this is my local OB-GYN doing the monitoring).  Patty (IVF Nurse Coordinator) called later to confirm that Dr. Winslow also thought that everything looked perfect.  Blood work on the other hand-went awful!  My arm was LiT-RuH-LEE murdered! The nurse apparently “missed or went right-thru my vein” (her words--she wasn't even sure what she was doing wrong).  She poked the needle in a little further and than pulls it out just a bit to see if she can get the blood to flow…no such luck!  By the time she decided she would need to try it again with a new needle I was sweating and looking around to find somewhere to puke.  She got a new (smaller) needle…and did the exact same thing!  Pretty rough, and I've got the bruised arm to prove it! Only 4-5 more times (with that nurse)...hopefully she'll do better on Friday!

Speaking of needles, Tuesday night was the first hormone injection and may I just say "EASY BREEZY"!  JCH was so calm and focused and I honestly didn't even feel the needle.  The ice cube numbing trick definitely worked and the needle was teeny tiny (I must have been wearing my "big girl panties"). The medicine (hormone concoction) felt a little uncomfortable for just a minute and today the injection site is slightly sore but nothing compared to my poor bruised arm.  We will be doing this hormone injection EVERY NIGHT at the same time for the next few days until I have another “estradiols” and “follicle monitoring” appointment on Friday.  Once the doctor gets the update on how my body is responding to the hormone injections I will get my next round of instructions.  My stomache (where I'm getting the injections) has two little bruises...I'll take a picture at the end of the week when I'm "polka-dot" all over.

A good friend of mine had a baby girl on Monday and last night I took a 30 minute time-out to run over and meet the little angel.  She stopped my heart and took my breathe away and I wanted to cry she was so beautiful.  Just a wonderful reminder of how worth it all of this will be!  FACT:  I would face that "not so talented" blood-taking nurse on a daily basis just to have the chance of my own little miracle.

I promise to get more sleep tonight so that my next post I will be sounding more like my old self again.  All in all...we are doing really good...are in good spirits...and are getting really excited!

My "Double Rainbow"

Where to even begin?  What an amazing weekend!  My mother-in-law was in town from Texas from Wednesday through today and boy did we stay busy!  JCH had to work on Sunday so my mother-in-law and I ran around town until JCH was ready for our 4 hour road trip to Jacksonville, Florida.

The trip (on Sunday) started off with a minor lapse in memory to START MY DOXYCYCLINE (prescribed to proactively prevent infections after the trial transfer) on Saturday morning (1 day late) and of course I didn’t bring it either (now 2 days late).  When we met with Patty (the IVF Nurse Coordinator that I fell in love with over the phone) she joked with us that we are her “problem children” after learning that I forgot my DOXYCYCLINE and JCH almost left our information packet (pretty much our IVF BIBLE) in the exam room (I think he maybe was a little nervous and/or preoccupied-lol).  As I laugh about these little “oopsies” of ours, it’s crazy to think that we are hoping to be parents since it’s painfully obvious that WE might still need someone to “parent” US.  Do you have children? Do you ever feel like that?

Patty spent over an hour going down a check list (a lady after my own heart) of information from anesthesia to sperm donors and (my favorite part) injection training.  JCH really enjoyed injection training.  I didn’t.  Against my better judgment we have decided that JCH will administer my shots (1 hormone shot will go in the belly and the other in the side of the thigh-“the saddlebag”).  The needles are pretty small and Patty gave what seemed to be a wonderful tip of “putting an ice cube on the skin for a few minutes prior to injection”.  You know I’m a huge whiney-baby so rest-assured that I will let you know how that goes.

After meeting with Patty we went into the exam room so that Dr. Winslow could perform the “trial transfer” himself (since Slowey indicated a difficult path due to my introverted uterus).  While the previous doctor spent somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes wrestling with my insides, Dr. Winslow literally completed the entire thing in less than 1 minute and with absolutely no pain!!!  (Read post “OUCH! OUIY! and OH!” for a painful reminder of the first trial transfer).

As you can see, I’M SOLD!!!! I absolutely love this place!  I’m back to being excited about this whole process and 100% comfortable that I am getting the treatment and care that I deserve (and that we are paying for).

Quick timeline rundown:  Last month the dates were “all about” my period and when I would get it.  This month the dates are “all about” my eggs!  I begin “stimulating meds” (hormone injections- Bravel and Menapur) next Tuesday, October 18^th.  A quick note that I have left out— Winslow is working closely with my OB-GYN here in Charleston so that I can do my TWICE-WEEKLY blood work and ultrasounds for follicle monitoring here in Charleston and not have to drive down to Jacksonville. I will go in for follicle monitoring and blood work 10/18, 10-21, 10-24, 10-27 and than will head back down to Jacksonville for one last monitoring on 10-29.  Winslow has decided that JCH and I will have different “retrieval days”.  JCH’s sperm retrieval will be on Monday, October 31^st, and my egg retrieval will be on Tuesday, November 1^st….leaving IMPLANTATION DAY to hopefully be on November 7^th.  You can start the countdown (or at least tentatively)!