Positive!

Longest 5 hours ever.... But finally the doctor's office called and they said I am pregnant!!  They test my hcg hormone levels.  They said anything over 10 they consider pregnant and I am at 187!!  I am most certainly pregnant.  I really can't believe it.  I called Steve first.   I asked him if he was sure he wanted to be a dad because he was going to be!!!  Next I called my mom and then Dad!  They are both really happy and of course nervous until the first trimester is over.  I sent messages to the rest of my family and close friends who knew I was doing IVF.   I have wanted this for so many years that I just can't believe it!   So I ran to Target and bought a home pregnancy test and sparkling cider.  As soon as I took the test it read "Pregnant"!   I can't stop smiling.  Steve called his parents and I talked to his mom shortly after.  When Steve came home we celebrated with sparkling cider in our wedding champagne glasses.  

I had 2 more blood tests the next week.  My levels should double every 48 hours.  Mine are right on track at 2300 on Monday and then 7000 Thursday.  

So far I feel great.  Tired, hungry and cranky (the usual) but otherwise good.  Hoping for a smooth pregnancy!!

Pregnancy test!

This wait has been really hard!  I'm not sure I've wanted anything so much in my life.   I had to wait 2 weeks from my aspiration for my pregnancy test.  It's when HcG shows up in your blood.  I have been feeling positive till the last 2days.   Every little twinge or pain you start to think something is wrong.  I've been really tired and hungry every day.  My coworkers think those are signs.   I have been so nervous the last 2 days.   The butterfly's in your stomach wanna throw up nervous.   I've been having bad dreams and waking up each night thinking about it.  Steve has stayed super positive which has been great!  

This morning I went for my blood work at 8am.   They will call later this morning. Going to go do some shopping and try to stay busy for the next couple hours!!!  I am meeting up with Steve so we can hopefully find out together when they call!!  

Transfer

Friday would be my 3 day transfer.  In the IVF world you either do 3 day or 5 day transfer.  

I had to take a Valium to get relaxed.  It worked!!  I was veryyyyyy sleepy.  

I went to the surgery center again at 830.  They checked me and I had to drink 32 oz of water in an hour.  It helps for them to see on the ultrasound.  They walked me to the procedure room and Steve got to go to.  We got to watch the whole thing.  They place a catheter in where the put the embryos in.  Since the embryos are microscopic we can only see the fluid that they are in.  But they showed us on the ultrasound with a little arrow.  They placed 2 in me since it was a day 3 transfer!  They gave us a picture.  

That was it! They sent us home :). We will find out in 2 weeks if it worked.  

Aspiration!

I had to stay on my medication longer than expected.  My follicles weren't growing like they needed to.  I had to go in every other day for blood work and ultrasound.  On my blood work they were looking for my estrogen level.  They started at 300 but needed to get up to 2400.  On the ultrasound they were looking at my follicles.  They started around 6 but again needed to get up to 21.  So 8 trips later my follicles were finally at 21 and 22!!!  That meant I was ready.  I stopped my meds and had to take a trigger drug called Ovidrel.  It had to be taken at a specific time because 36 hours later would be my aspiration.  The drug is a HcG drug to tell my eggs to drop.  

Tuesday morning we went in for my aspiration!!  We had to get there at 6:45am.  At the Reproductive Medicine Group they have a surgery center right on site.  So they admitted me and by 730 was ready.  They walked me to the OR.  They put me under with an iv and the whole procedure took 20 mins.    They got 6 eggs!    The embryologist then took Steve's sample to put with my eggs.

We left by 9 am.  And I went home to rest.  

Wednesday they called to say all the eggs matured and fertilized!!!!!!

Thursday they called to tell me my transfer would be Friday morning!!!! 

Injections!!

We'll about a week and a half ago I started my medications.  I had to go to a class to first learn how to do them.  The ART nurse was so nice.  She has been doing this for 22 years!  There were 2 other women in the class but I felt very comfortable.  We went over our calendars.  They plan out all our medications, appointments, blood work, ultrasounds, egg aspiration, and transfer.  The whole process will take about 3 weeks.  Actually really quick!  I received all my medications in the mail.  It's so surreal.  I was dreading the first shot.  The first morning Steve got up with me.  The anticipation was way worse than the actual injection.  I have to take lupron 2x day for a week and a half.  I let Steve do one injection.  That was actually worse than doing it myself!  So no more of that.  I had to take one of my injections at work.  I did it in front of a couple of my coworkers.... They were interested in seeing it.

Everyone has been really supportive.  My family is amazing!  And my coworkers have been so nice switching days to help with all my appointments.

This morning I went in for blood work and an ultrasound.  The nurse called later to tell me everything looked good and I should start my stimulation medication.  I have a pre op appt on Thursday for the egg aspiration.  Then back on Saturday morning for more blood work and ultrasound.

The stimulation meds are a little more intense.  I have to do them in my stomach.  One is a pen with gonal f.  I was really nervous.  Steve was there for support and said "our baby needs you to do this".  I said "I know she does".  Steve "HE does".  We both laughed and I relaxed.  Then gave myself 3 shots: gonal f, menopur and lupron.  So strange to stab myself!!!  But it's so worth it.  I can't wait to have a child!

Surgery, Mock Transfer and Consent Signing

I had to have surgery at the end of August to remove my left tube.  It was the best option since it wasn't any good.   I arrived at the hospital around 6am and had surgery at 730.  It all went really smooth.  They also removed some uterine polyps while they were in surgery.  I didn't have too much pain.  I took 5 days off to recover and was feeling good by Tuesday.  After my surgery my doctor said we were good to start IVF!

Today we signed all the paperwork to begin IVF!!  We did our mock transfer where they just measure the size of my uterus for the actual transfer. 

During our meeting Dr. Tarantino discussed our plan.  I will go on birth control pills for 2 weeks.  Then I will go on Lupron for about 2 more weeks.  Then I will take a stimulus medication to ensure I have several eggs develop.  After that we will do the egg aspiration.  3 to 5 days later we will do the embryo transfer.

We are both very excited!!  And we are ready :)

Starting a family

Steve and I got married almost 6 years ago and met over 10 years ago.  We are a really happy couple who love to hang out together.   We both work in jobs that we love and have enjoyed just being married, until recently.  We have been "trying" for a family for about two years.   I hadn't gotten pregnant and was starting to wonder if something might be wrong.  I am 30 years old and pretty healthy.  My sister-in-law let me borrow her fertility monitor and all signs pointed to the fact that I was fertile but I still wasn't getting pregnant.  So with the advice of my doctor, I went to get a special test done.  It's called a HSG or hystersalpingogram.  Basically it lets you see if your fallopian tubes are open and working.  I already knew my left one wasn't since I got in removed several years ago because of complications. But then I found out my right one wasn't working either.   It is blocked with a hydrosalpinx.  That means I have "water" in my tubes and I can never get pregnant naturally.   I was devastated to hear this news.  I really wanted to be able to just get pregnant naturally.  Steve got tested as well and his swimmers are great.  So at least we have that much going for us.  After going to see my OB/GYN again, he said we need to see a fertility specialist.  He recommended the Reproductive Medicine Group of Tampa and Dr. Tarantino.  Our appt is tomorrow.  I am really anxious/nervous/excited.  I am really nervous about the money side of things.  From what I hear, it's very expensive.  I informed my family and they have been great!  They aren't shy to hear all about it and have been nothing but supportive.  Both my sisters-in-law gave me names of friends who have had IVF for me to contact.  I plan to reach out to them for advice.  So tomorrow begins our new adventure of having a baby.......