14 Weeks: No Bump Changes

I'm pretty sure that nothing has really changed in the ol' bump department from last week.  Baby is the size of a lemon this week.

My boobs have probably gotten bigger, but I think that's it.  Speaking of boobs, those suckers are out of control.  And yes, I'm actually talking about my boobs right now.  I just can't imagine how much larger they are going to get, and I'm really scared about when my milk comes in.  I bought new bras a couple of weeks ago, and I went up 2 cup sizes.  Unbelievable.

I've started having some headaches this past week.  I got my first one the other night and thought I would go to bed and sleep it away.  I woke up in the middle of the night when Drew got home and my head was still pounding.  I broke down and took some Tylenol so I could sleep.  I got another headache in the middle of the night last night.  It's lasted pretty much all day.  It hasn't been awful, but it's still not pleasant.  I know that it's safe for me to take Tylenol, but I still feel guilty about it.

I thought I was feeling so much better and that I was over the whole puking thing, but then I puked the other night.  We stopped and got Taco Johns for dinner and I think it was the tortilla that made me sick.  I've had a problem with tacos before and white bread.  Must be the type of flour or something.  So, I'm back to being cautious about food again.  And, I'm back to the whole "I'm hungry but absolutely nothing on this planet sounds good" kick.  It's so frustrating.  I know that I need to eat, but it's so hard to eat if nothing sounds good.

I have my first OB appointment on Friday.  We also have Josh and Angie's wedding this weekend.

13 Weeks: Goodbye First Tri

I have officially left the first trimester with my entry into 13 weeks. 

I went to the RE's office yesterday for another blood work appointment to check my hormone levels.  Everything looks great and I can stay off of all of the meds that I was on.  At one point I was taking Anaprox morning, afternoon and night, Estradiol morning and night, Divigel morning and night, progesterone suppositories morning and night, Prometrium afternoon, and my prenatal vitamins at night.  That is a lot of medication to be taking.  Thankfully, I was able to stop everything last week, and since everything still looks great, I'm officially finished.

However, that also means that I am done with appointments at the RE.  It's bittersweet really.  I have spent so much time there that it's weird to not have an appointment next week.  Or for a long time for that matter.  We won't be going back until we do our next FET.  And that's going to be at least a year after this little one is born.  We will be stopping in to show off the babe though.

And, I should share some of the best news that I have heard during this whole process, besides when I was told that I was pregnant.  I had to decide on a new OBGYN when I got pregnant since I don't want to return to the one that I was seeing before I started going to the RE.

I should point out that I had a bleeding scare a few weeks ago on a Friday night.  Of course, it was really late and when I called the RE's office, I got their after hours line.  I guess my RE was out of town, so I was connected with an on call OB.  The OB was very nice and reassured me that everything was ok and there wasn't any reason to be concerned.  The OB even called me the next day to check up on me.  I mean, how sweet and caring is that?  Not too many doctors do that.  Well, at least none of the doctors that I've had.

So, I decided to pick that OB.  In my back of my mind, I had a concern though.  The doctor's name is the only one listed for the practice.  So, what happens if I go into labor and he's on vacation?  Do I just get Joe Blow whom I've never met delivering my baby.  Nope!  The doctor who covers the OB that I've chosen?  My RE!!!

How freakin' awesome is that?!?!?!!!

I seriously felt the weight of the world lift from my shoulders when I heard that.  So, it may not be the last time I see the RE; he may be there to deliver the baby.

Nothing much has changed from last week in terms of symptoms.  I still have my good and bad days with the morning sickness, still get RLP (round ligament pain), still sore occasionally.

I did cry over some french fries today.  After Maya's training class, we stopped by a local pizza place and then went to Drew's parent's house.  The pizza just wasn't that appetizing to me.  I asked Drew if we could stop at Burger King and get some french fries on the way home.  It was about 9 PM when we got there.  I got my fries, took one bite, and they sucked!  I could tell they were old.  So, Drew drove back around and asked if we could get some fresh fries.  4 minutes later, we were on our way.  I had about 4 fries and Drew looked over at me to find me bawling.  They just weren't as good as I pictured them in my head.  I was so over something sounding good in my head only to taste like crap when I finally got it.  And I just lost it.  I bawled all the way home.  I mean, seriously sobbed.  And Drew?  Well, he just laughed at me.  I looked at him at one point and told him that I couldn't believe I was crying over french fries.  I'm a hot mess!

Explaining Myself

I guess that I have some explaining to do, don't I?

I am 12w2d pregnant today, so just coming up on the end of the third month and the first trimester.  I've done a little lying around these parts.  When I posted about our WTF appointment with the RE, I said that we were going to move on when we were ready.  Well, truth is, I told the RE that I wanted to move on right away.  I asked him when we could pursue a frozen embryo transfer (FET) and he said that we could do it as soon as I was ready.  I told him that I was ready right away.  I didn't want to sit and dwell on what I had lost and the fact that I wasn't pregnant.  I told him that I was sick of playing the infertility game and that all I wanted was a successful pregnancy and to bring a baby home.  He said that we could start the process as soon as I started my cycle.  I began to bleed a few days after that.

The beauty about doing a FET cycle, is that you can basically decide when you want to do the transfer.  Well, we knew that we were hosting Wes' first birthday party, and that we were planning a trip to Florida, so we scheduled the transfer for the Monday after the party and we left for vacation that Thursday.  The timing worked out perfect.  After doing a transfer, the RE likes to have you on bed rest for 2 days.  So, we did the transfer and I was on bed rest for Monday and Tuesday, we spent Wednesday packing and getting ready to leave, and then we went and spent a long weekend relaxing on the beach.  It was perfect timing. 

We also kept this a secret from everyone.  The pressure that I felt last time was horrible.  Everybody knew when I had my beta and were chomping at the bit to know if I was pregnant or not.  Drew and I barely had time to process the news ourselves before we had to tell everybody else.  So this time?  We left everyone else out of the equation.  Much less stress!

When did we find out I was pregnant?  Well, that's a funny story.  Drew and I were in Florida on our vacation.  We flew out of the Rockford airport for this trip (Seriously, words can not describe how much I loved flying out of there.) and our flight wasn't until early Tuesday morning.  The friends we were in Florida with, dropped us off at the hotel we were staying at in Orlando on Monday afternoon.  So, Drew and I were there, without a car, for the night.  Fortunately, we were within walking distance of a Walmart, so I, quite literally, begged him to walk to Walmart to get a pregnancy test.  We picked up some dinner at Subway, and came back to the hotel room.  I went straight into the bathroom.  I wasn't even done peeing or wiping before the 2nd line appeared.  And it was DARK!!!  I squealed.  I jumped up and down.  I was elated!  And Drew couldn't wipe the smile from his face either. 

My first beta was on Wednesday, July 20 and it came back at 311!!!  If you remember my first beta the last time was 15, this one was way better!  I couldn't help but feel optimistic at this point, but I knew that the important thing was to have the number double by the next beta, which was Friday, July 22.  That one came back at 784!!!  I was officially pregnant!  My first ultrasound was scheduled for Wednesday, August 10 and I would be 7 weeks.

I was so nervous when that day arrived.  All I wanted was to see a healthy baby and to hear a heartbeat.  God heard my prayers because we saw one beautiful little blob with a heartbeat of 132bpm.  I cried.  There is no sweeter sound than hearing that heartbeat.  My next ultrasound was scheduled for 12 weeks.

I have been consistently going in for blood work to monitor my hormone levels.  After my blood work appointment at 10 weeks, the nurse could tell that I was nervous and anxious about the baby.  She scheduled me to come in the next day, on Wednesday, August 31, at exactly 10 weeks to check on the baby.

The picture from the ultrasound is the one that I posted to share our surprise.  Baby looked great and had a heartbeat of 184bpm. 

As for me, I've been feeling awful!  My first pregnancy symptom started at 4w5d with some very unpleasant diarrhea.  Everybody said it was normal.  Morning sickness started at 5w4d.  And it started with a vengeance.  I was horribly sick for about 2 weeks.  I barely ate and puked a lot.  After about 2 weeks, I started to get a grasp of it.  I could eat a little better, but I was still pretty touch and go.  Now?  I still have my good and bad days.  At this point, I eat what sounds good.  If it doesn't sound good, I don't force it.  I've learned my lesson about that.  I eat ALL.THE.TIME.  Seriously.  It's quite annoying.  Lately, I feel very sick if I let myself get even a little bit hungry.  So, if you see me somewhere, know that I most definitely have snacks with me. 

Other than the morning sickness, I feel kinda achy at times.  There are some mornings where my back and neck and shoulders are very sore when I wake, and other mornings where I feel pretty good.  I have starting having some pain in my ribs.  I notice it mainly when I first wake up and it seems to lessen as the day goes on.  I have also had a lot of round ligament pain.  That hasn't been pleasant.

I really don't have a bump or anything as of yet.  I'm a little bloated, but it's gone down in the past week or so.

So, that's the whole story.  I am so happy that it's out in the open and I can start blogging about everything.  I apologize for the lack of content around here lately.  I couldn't blog about the pregnancy and I really wasn't doing much else besides hanging around the house because of the morning sickness. 

Surprise!

EDD - March 28, 2012

I'm Alive, No Worries

I haven't blogged in, oh, just about forever.  Truth is, I've been really sick.  I just can't shake it.  So, I've been spending the majority of my time on the couch.  Thankfully, it's been pretty nice here weatherwise, so Maya has spent a lot of time outdoors.

Speaking of Maya, I took her to her first training class yesterday.  She did amazingly well.  When Drew went to sign her up for classes, he was going to sign her up for the puppy class.  When the people there found out her breed and that she knew a few commands, they put her in the Beginner 1 class.  When I showed up last night, the trainer gave me the side eye for having her in that class since she is two months younger than what she should be for the class.  She was one of the better dogs in the class, so that made me a very proud mama.

There was one dog in class named Mojo, which made me giggle.  And then his owner told us the story behind his name.  He's named for Missouri Joplin because he was a rescue dog from the tornado.  Apparently he wandered the streets for a couple of weeks before being rescued.  He was very malnourished and this guy has cared her back to health.  Cue tears. 

Family Reunion

Today, Drew and I drove to Crystal Lake for the annual beach day/family reunion for Drew's side of the family.  We were all supposed to meet at 10 AM, but the rain forced us to move our meeting time back to 1 PM.  Thankfully, the rain left us and we had a beautiful day.

After everybody had eaten and play a little bit, I decided to start taking some photos.  This is Rhett with George (I think.  I have all of the aunt/uncles and cousins down, it's the 2nd cousins that still confuse me.  Drew's dad's side of the family is LARGE and I still think they all need name tags).  Poor little guy was all sorts of tuckered out from swimming.

Great minds think alike!  This is Carrie.  Her and her husband, Stephen, live in the DC area.  We just found out today that they are expecting their first child in January.  And, as if that wasn't exciting enough news, Stephen's job is sending them to Bangkok in a year for a few years.  Amazing!

Jerrad's daughter, Beatrice is the newest member of the W clan.  She is a beauty!

This is Annie, Rhett and Katy's newest addition.  She is stunning!

Drew's cousin, Luke, and his family are back here visiting from where they live in Zambia.  They have lived there for quite a few years now.  I met them for the first time before Drew and I got married.  They are doing missions work there.  Luke has the biggest heart for God.  He prayed over Drew and I before we left.  I think that it's so powerful to watch the way God speaks through him.

Every time that I leave after spending time with Drew's family, I feel so blessed and thankful for the family that I have married in to. 

You Ask, I'll Tell - Answers

Dana's Blog - Sweeping Through Life

Sarah's Blog - Better Together

E-Mealz

Back To Reality

Drew and I recently got back from a vacation on Hutchinson Island, Florida.  Drew's grandma has a cottage down there and was kind enough to let us use it.  I think I only took about 6 pictures while we were there.  I know -- unreal, right?  We spent a lot of time at the beach and the pool and it was just the right kind of vacation that I needed after the miscarriage. 

I have a few things to catch up on around here over the next few days.  I'll do a vlog tomorrow answering the questions that were asked.  So, last chance to ask me anything to answer.

How's the weather been around here?  Basically, it's hotter than hell.  It's hotter here than it was in Florida.  We're talking temps in the 90s with heat indices in the 110s and greater.  I can't say when exactly the heat started, but it's been going on for quite a few days.  I'm not complaining because I would rather have this over the cold any day.  And I know that winter is going to come way too soon.

Speaking of that. . . .  Can you believe that we're more than halfway through July already?  I think that time is constantly speeding up.

Wesley's First Birthday

Our house was the location for our nephew's first birthday party today.  He finished the basement just in time to set up for the party and have everybody over.

I started by taking a few shots of the inside decorations.

This is Kristen and Jessica, who are cousins.  Kristen and her daughter, Madison, were our first guests in our brand new guest room. 

Drew was "volunteered" to be the griller. 

4 generation picture.  The woman in the yellow is Drew's mom's sister.

The birthday boy with his parents.

Another 4 generation picture.

Cake time!!!  Jess ordered a 10 inch cake for Wes' smash cake, not fully realizing how big a 10 inch cake is.  That sucker was huge!!

He was so not impressed!!!

There's a smile for me!!

His dad, Eric, was so sweet and smeared Wesley's hand all over his face.  Wes was such a trooper.

After everybody ate cake, it was time for presents.  Wes was very excited for the paper.

This was our present to Drew and I bought it, not just because I figured that Wes would love it, but because I knew that Jess would just love to pick up all of those balls.  "It's 100 more!!!!!!!"

Kristen and Jessica came up with this idea to put all of the balloons around a chair to take a picture of Wes.  Wes was not very stoked about it at first.

We finally got a smile out of him though.  What a cutie!

We had such a great time opening up our home for Wesley's party and having so many family and friends over.  Wes was so good.  I can't believe that he's going to be one soon.  Time flies!

Family on the 4th

My sister-in-law, Jess, her husband, Eric, and our nephew, Wes, are in town for a week (!!) for their summer visit.  They arrived from GA late Saturday, but due to us having chores to do around the house to get ready for Wes' birthday party this coming Saturday, today was the first day that we got to spend a good chunk of time with them.  They came over to our house, along with Drew's parents and grandma, to grill out and spend the day together.

We grilled a great lunch of hamburgers, brats, a hotdog for me, corn on the cob, potato salad, chips, and seasoned oyster crackers. 

Here's Jess and Wesley watching the domino game after lunch.

We almost always play dominos anytime we spend time with Drew's grandma and parents.

I'm pretty sure that Debbie won, but I wasn't following the game too closely.

While the game was going on, Jess took Wes into the yard to visit with the dogs.

Wes really seemed to like Maya and Maya seemed to do pretty good with the baby.

I love having family over!  This was the perfect way to spend the 4th of July.

Do You Remember Me?

I know that it's been eerily quiet around these parts.  Our computer broke last week, and we only had the old computer to use until we got a new hard drive into the computer, and the old computer is pretty ancient and slow.  We got the new hard drive installed last night, so we're back up and running. 

Our basement remodel was almost done, until we decided to remodel the bathroom that is down there too.  That means that we (and by we, I mean Drew) has two weeks to complete a bathroom remodel.  We bought new tile for the floor, paint, a new vanity, mirror, and light fixture.  The bathtub and toilet are in good shape, so there's no work that needs to be done there.  I'll have to take some pictures in the next couple of days and post the progress that's been made.  I am very happy with how the basement is turning out!

Don't forget to send me any questions that you've been dying to ask me.  I've got a couple and I'll do a post in a few days.  Now that I have the computer back. 

You Ask, I'll Tell

Since I'm in need of something to distract me for a little while, let's do something fun.  How about we do some Q&A here?  Does that sound fun?  So, if you have any questions, anything at all, feel free to ask in the comments, or send me an email at tshott08@gmail.com. 

I'll answer the questions in another post, or, since everyone seems to like them, I just might do a vlog or two.

WTF Appointment

Drew and I had a follow up appointment with the RE this afternoon.  We were originally scheduled to go next week, but they had a cancellation, so we jumped on it and met with him today.  Basically, he doesn't really know what went wrong.  It could have had to do with the cramping that I had, could have been a chromosomal issue, could have been an immunity issue, could have been an infection.  He said that the fact that I did get pregnant this time helps to narrow it down a little.

They took some blood and are going to run some tests on it to see if anything comes back.  Those results will help to figure out what we'll do from here. 

As far as what we're going to do, that's still undecided at the moment.  We'll move on, when we feel ready.

My heart hurts.  I just want to cry all the time.  I'm angry that my body did this and has caused me more heartache.  I'm still waiting to miscarry, so it doesn't feel real.  I don't know how to shake this feeling and I feel like I've lost all sense of security.  I never, ever imagined that we would suffer through a miscarriage.  I guess I thought that God would see how much we have struggled to get pregnant and would bless us with a healthy pregnancy.  God has other plans though apparently.

I feel like I'm constantly lying to people.  "I'm fine."  Lie.  "I'm great."  Lie.  "I know that we'll be successful."  Lie.  "It helps to hear that people have had success."  Lie.  "I'll be ok."  Lie.

Truth is, I'm not ok, I'm not fine, I don't know that we'll be able to bring home a healthy baby, other people's stories don't affect mine, and I don't know when I'll feel better again.  Truth is, I put a mask on for everybody and never let people see my real emotions.  I tell everybody that I'm ok because I don't know what else to say.  I don't know how to tell somebody that my heart is crushed into a million pieces and I don't know how to pick them up.

"I know God won't give me anything I can't handle; I just wish He didn't trust me so much." -- Mother Teresa

The Hardest Post I Will Ever Write

I finally got a call back from the RE's office on Wednesday morning.  The news wasn't so great.  My beta had gone up, but it had only gone up to 21.8, from 15.8 on Friday.  They immediately started me on Lovenox injections that would hopefully help the blood flow issue that I was having.  My estrogen and progesterone levels were great, according to the nurse.

I went back in this morning for another blood draw and got the call a few hours later that my beta had dropped down to 7.  I'm going to miscarry.  I'm going to lose my baby.

Basically, I'm numb.  It was hard enough for me to finally get pregnant, it wasn't supposed to be hard for me to stay pregnant.  I know that life isn't fair, but this really and truly isn't fair at all.  I really just don't know what to say right now.

I want to thank each and every one of you who left a congratulatory comment.  They mean so much to me!

Just Add It To The List

I was supposed to get a phone call this afternoon from my RE office after I went in this morning for my next blood draw to get my beta number.  Guess who didn't call? 

Yeah.  Them!

After (im)patiently waiting all afternoon, I called the office at 3:20 PM, since I knew that they closed at 3:30 PM, and the receptionist lady told me that they were calling people with test results and that if I didn't hear from them that afternoon, that I would hear from them in the morning.

Excuse me??

Of all the test results for them to not call me back about, they choose this one.  To say that I'm pissed is an understatement.  I think it's absolutely ridiculous that they didn't call me.  I'm trying to be really nice and friendly about all the things that are starting to bother me about that office, but it's getting difficult.  I really feel like a number in their assembly line of patients, and if it weren't for the frozen embryos that we have with them, I'd fire them and find a new RE.

AND. . . I find it just hilarious that they are very quick to tell me to not stress and take it easy.  Well, guess what idiots?  If you were to have some consideration for me, your patient, the person paying your bills and providing you a paycheck, perhaps I wouldn't be so stressed or worried about things.

Am I or Aren't I?

What do you think?  Am I pregnant, or not?  Watch to find out.

Dream, Please DON'T Come True!

I really don't dream a whole lot.  Or, at least, I don't remember them if I do.  But lately?  Oh my goodness, my dreams have been off the wall.  And they are very vivid when I wake up.

Last night I dreamt that I woke up in a hospital after being in a coma for 6 months.  As if that wasn't already weird enough, there was a baby next to me.  My baby.  My, obviously, preemie baby.

Apparently, I was raped, and got pregnant, and so I decided that I was going to go beat the guy who did it.  Except that he beat the snot out of me first, putting me in the coma.  When I woke up and got out the hospital, which happened right away, everybody that Drew and I know were getting ready for a wedding.  A bunch of our friends were in the dream, and Maya was there, and she was grown.

Isn't that a crazy dream to have?  I mean, who dreams stuff like that?  Crazy people like me, that's who!

I'm PUPO

PUPO means Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise!  Big update below:

 
And, since I know you're all dying to see Maya, here's a picture of her.

I'll try to take some better pictures of her soon and get them posted.

Socks, Egg Retrieval, and Shots, Oh My!

I was involved in a lucky sock exchange on a message board that I chat on.  I received my socks last week and absolutely love them!

As soon as I saw them, I knew that I was going to wear the pair on the left to the ER and the pair on the right to the ET since they say "Happy Socks" and I'm going to be happy to (hopefully) be getting pregnant that day.

Yesterday was ER day.  I woke up bright and early since we had to be at the clinic at 8 AM.  The clinic is in Chicago, so we knew we needed to leave by about 6 AM.  Getting to the clinic was a breeze and there was no traffic to deal with at all.  Of course, it probably helped that it was Saturday. 

When we arrived at the clinic, we got called back right away.  They had a room for me with this sign on the door.

As soon as we got in the room, I got changed in the gown and my lucky socks.  The nurse took care of some paperwook and the anesthesiologist came in and started my IV.  I had to empty my bladder (twice) and then I went back to the room where they did the ER.  It was freezing in there!  As I was laying in there, one of the nurses asked if it was my first time.  I told her yes, and then asked if it was hers.  We both laughed and she said no.  Phew!!  She told me that she hopes that this is my first and only time.  So do I!  As I was laying there, I was kind of nervous and I was shaking really bad.  The anesthesiologist was standing by my head and he told me to just take deep breaths and he rubbed my head.  Awww!

The doctor came in and verified my name and birth date, and then the anesthesiologist put the drugs to put me to sleep in my IV.  I will never understand how that stuff works so quick.  One second I'm laying there awake and coherent, and the next second I wake up and everything is over.  I don't even remember feeling tired and closing my eyes. 

When I woke up, I was back in my room and Drew was there.  He said that the whole thing only took about 10 minutes.  I guess that the anesthesiologist wheeled me back to the room and I kept asking them to take pictures of my socks!  Drew said I asked like 10 times for them to take pictures of my socks.  I'm mortified!  I don't remember this at all.  I even prayed on the way to the clinic that I wouldn't word vomit as I was waking up.  Fail!

I looked a little rough when I eventually woke up, but I was coherent and in good spirits.  Thumbs up to feeling pretty ok.  They had put some water and crackers in the room for me for when I woke up.  I drank some water since the nurse told me that I had to pee before I could leave.  I felt pretty good, just crampy.  I told the nurse that I wanted to use the bathroom, basically because I really just wanted to go home.  She grabbed my IV bag and told me not to flush the toilet because she had to check when I got done.  Um, gross!  I don't know what she was looking for, but I guess she saw it, because she told me that she could take my IV out and that I could get dressed. 

They told us as we were leaving that they got 13 eggs.  The also told us that they would call us the next day with the fertilization report.

When we got home, I spent the majority of the afternoon laying on the couch and sleeping.  I had to go take Rachel's prom pictures, and was not feeling very good at all.  Somehow I made it through and immediately came home and camped out on the couch again.

I'm on an antibiotic and I need to, of course, take it with food.  So, it was time to take my dose last night and I opened up the fridge to find something to eat.  A hot dog sounded semi-decent, so I started cooking it up.  As soon as it got done, I took my pill and sat down to eat.  I got about half way through and knew that it wasn't a good idea anymore.  I sure did get sick and threw it up.  Gross!

After I felt a little better, it was time for Drew to give me my PIO shot.  I, honestly, was terrified.  The needle is huge!  I'll have to take a picture to compare the needle from the Ganirelix (tiny) and the needle from the PIO (huge).  I worried for nothing!

First, let me back up and talk about my trigger shot on Thursday.  That needle was the biggest that we had done so far, so I was a little worried.  And Drew had to give it to me in my butt cheek.  At first, I went to lean over the kitchen counter because I wanted something to support me.  Drew tried to stick me and didn't do it hard enough, so it just poked me and hurt.  So, he tried it again, and still didn't break the skin!  I was in a little pain at this point, and slightly annoyed, so I went to go lay flat on the couch.  Thankfully, the third try, he broke skin and gave me the shot.  So, that's why I was a little worried about the PIO last night.

Thankfully, Drew had perfected his sticking skills and he managed to break skin the first try and it didn't even hurt at all.  Of course, my muscle is really sore today and it hurts to sit. 

The clinic called me this morning with the fertilization report.  Out of the 13 egg, 7 were mature, and 5 fertilized!  They are going to call us again tomorrow to let us know how they are growing.

It's a Go

I had my final monitoring appointment this morning.


I just can't believe that we're at this point.  It's surreal.  I'm going to (hopefully) have babies growing in just a few days.

Monitored

This morning was my first monitoring ultrasound.  The RE said that everything looks great and that I'm supposed to continue what I've been doing.  I go back in on Thursday for another monitoring ultrasound.  Based on that ultrasound, we will make plans for the egg retrieval.  As of right now, we're still scheduled for Saturday, but that could go forward or back a day.

Yesterday and today have been a little rough.  I'm starting to feel kinda crappy.  When I told the RE about some of the side effects, he told me that it's just because of all of the hormones and that it's to be expected.

I need to vent a little bit about my RE's office.  I hate, hate, hate feeling like my questions aren't valid or that I'm stressing because I'm asking questions.  I get so nervous to ask them any type of question because they act like I shouldn't be worrying about it.  I'm not going back to the ob/gyn that I used to go to because of this.  I totally understand that these people do treatments with patients everyday, but I don't.  This is my first rodeo, and I want to be hand held for the first time.  I want to know everything that is going on.  I want to know how many follicles I have and how big they are.  And I want them to answer my question and take some time to talk to me.  I hate feeling like a freaking number in their assembly line of patients.  It's frustrating, and I'm frustrated about it.

Thankfully, I know some ladies who have been through this and can help to answer my questions.  Thanks girls!!!

Alllll By Myseeeelf

Drew got called out of town for work, so I'm on my own for a couple of days.  He's going to California, Hawaii, Japan, Kurdistan (?), Germany, Canada, Kentucky, Texas, and back home.  Basically, he's flying around the world in 4 days.  He's scheduled to be back Tuesday.

Here's another vlog (Are you guys liking these?) updating on how the injections are going.


Monday is my first ultrasound.  I'm hoping for some good follicle growth news. 

Baby Makin' in a Box

I had the biggest headache of my life yesterday trying to get all of my medication ordered for this IVF cycle.  The nurse called me in the morning to let me know that everything was a go, and that she ordered my meds.  Shortly after that, the pharmacy called me to let me know what meds and how much it was going to cost.  The cost, of course, came to a lot more than I thought it should have come to.  After spending a good portion of the morning on the phone with people, Drew and I had called the necessary people and were just waiting for calls back.  Of course, those calls didn't come until about 6:15 PM.  The total they told me in the morning was right, for the most part, so they ran my debit card.

Declined!

Of course.  The card has a daily limit on it, and so I needed to call and have the limit removed for the day.  However, we're big idiots, and bank at a small, local bank, and they were closed.  They don't even have an after hours number to call so that I could raise my limit.  Ok, no problem, I'll just transfer some money around online and use a different card.  Except that even the online banking is apparently closed after hours and I couldn't even transfer money.  Are you freaking kidding me!!!

So, I had to put some of the balance on a credit card (Grrrrrr!!!!!) and they overnighted my meds to me.

They arrived here this morning.  Before you watch, just know that my husband is never allowed to operate the camera with my nice lens on it again.  Big dummy didn't realize that he could focus it, so practically the entire video is blurry.  Amateur!


(Did I mention that I'm sorry that it's blurry?  Because I am!)

All of my medications for display.  I was actually expecting more, honestly.

The nurse called me back earlier this afternoon and let me know that she wanted me to start injections today.  Drew and I headed into the office so that she could give us a lesson on the injections, and so I could get my calender of dates.

I started 200 iu Follistim injection this afternoon.  I continue with 200 iu daily until Saturday.  On Saturday, I will still continue the 200 iu of Follistim, but I will also add in an injection of Ganirelix and Estradiol (oral pill).  I have my first ultrasound scheduled for Monday, May 16.  The nurse said that I will probably have an ultrasound on Monday and Thursday.  I have a tentative egg retrieval (ER) of Saturday, May 21 and a tentative embryo transfer (ET) of Thursday, May 26. 

Drew and I did the first injection earlier this afternoon.  I got the pen prepped and Drew administered it.  It actually wasn't awful.  The needle is pretty tiny.  It burned slightly as he was injecting the medication, and afterwards, the injection site was a little itchy and burny.  After a few minutes, it went away and I feel totally fine now.  Let's just hope that they all go that well and that I continue to feel fine.

And So It Begins

I decided to shake things up around here a little bit and do a vlog.  Enjoy!!

All Grown Up

On Friday, I took my younger brother and sister's senior pictures.  I can't believe that they're all grown up and graduating high school.  Where does the time go?

(I probably won't blog a lot about my photography business here, but since it's family, I'm going to blog about this session.)

Friday, late afternoon, we went to a park close to my house.  I knew that Rachel would enjoy getting her photos done, but I didn't think Greg would.  Surprisingly, he seemed to really enjoy himself.  And I got some great images from him.

I am really proud of these images.  I got so many winners.

Since I am apparently an idiot, I told my mom that I would have the pictures ready for her today.  That's right, 2 days after I shot them.  Big mistake.  I'm not a big fan of the editing process and I didn't get to take nearly as many breaks as I like to.  Bummer!  Needless to say, I won't be making a promise like that again!

Surprisingly, I didn't shed a tear while shooting their session.  I'm not making any promises about their graduation day though!