It’s been a while since I updated the blog and there’s a reason for it. Since 2009, Cody and I have been trying to start a family. It’s been a LONG road with many ups and downs, countless doctor appointments, procedures and much more! Then in May of 2011 we started down the adoption path, hence the purpose of this blog, and if you’ve read it up to this point, you know where we are in the adoption process.
So... that brings me to the update... Back in January, some friends of ours that have been going through a similar situation with starting a family mentioned that they were referred to Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse for possible IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization). When we heard that, a light bulb went off in my brain and I wondered why we were never referred there since it’s close, ect... so I did some research and wrote some emails to Gundersen’s IVF department. After a few emails, we set up an appointment for February 14 to meet with Dr.Trumbal at Gundersen to discuss IVF as an option for us.
Well, as you can about guess by now, on Feb 14 we were told that we CAN do IVF and that we could start during their next cycle as long as we got all our tests and paperwork done before they started. You can just about imagine our excitement! In March I had a procedure done to check my uterus and make sure it was “set to go” and on April 13 I started giving myself shots everyday to prepare my body for IVF as well as grow follicles (eggs). Yes, I gave MYSELF shots every day, never thought I would be able to do it but I did! Around April 20 I went in for what was called “baseline” day where the doctor did an ultrasound to see how everything was going inside of my uterus as well as meet with the team of docs, nurses and technicians we’d be working with during our IVF process. After baseline day I started my follicle stimulating shots to grow my follicles (eggs) and we went back on April 30 for an ultrasound to see how they were progressing. Everything looked great and we had a ton of follicles but the doc wanted to grow them for a couple more days so back home we went and then back to La Crosse a few days later to check on them. This happened twice, going to the doc, growing them a little more, going back to La Crosse.... By the time we went back for the last ultrasound before my retrieval, my ovaries were HUGE and I was so uncomfortable. I felt like I was sitting on my ovaries all the time, that’s how big they got with all the follicles inside of them.
On May 5 I had my egg retrieval. I was a bit anxious about the procedure as I’d never been under “conscious sedation” before, I’ve always been completely out for any “surgical” procedures. Looking back now, the worst part of the day was when the nurse was trying to put my IV in... I could’ve slapped her! The first place she tried was on the side of my wrist.. yes, my wrist. I have NO CLUE why she thought there was a vein there because there isn’t! Then she tried on the TOP of my arm just below my elbow, again, she couldn’t hit the vein to save her life! By then I was getting a bit upset and I think she knew it because she went and got another nurse that knew what she was doing and she hit my vein in my forearm on the first try! Anyways, we retrieved 26 eggs, 20 of which were mature eggs that all got fertilized by a process called ICSI (this is where they inject one of Cody’s swimmers into each egg to fertilize it). 17 of the 20 eggs fertilized and started to grow into embryos and because we got so many to fertilize our doc told us that we would have a Day 5 transfer done.
On May 10 we went back to La Crosse for our embryo transfer. Usually between the day of fertilization and the transfer day a few of the embryos die off or stop growing so we were expecting to hear that we had about half of the 17 left when we got to Day 5... BUT, we were told that ALL 17 survived to day 5! Some were a bit slower at developing but still growing nonetheless. We had 2 that were mature enough to transfer and one of them was just a bit better than the other. Because we had so many eggs that would be potentially frozen for future use and if we were to have transferred both our chances of both of them “sticking” would’ve been quite high, we decided to only transfer the best one on that day and save, well freeze, the rest that were mature enough to be frozen. The transfer itself was easy, I had to lay flat for an hour on the table after it was all said and done and then I had to lay low for 3-4 days after as well. By the end of the 2nd day, I was ready to pull my hair out I was so bored! There are only so many games to play on the ipad and movies to watch on TV! Haha! The day of the transfer I also started progesterone shots that I had to take daily and these shots have to be given to me by Cody as they are in my backside. Not the most fun shot to take but you get used to them quickly.
My first beta test (which is just a blood test that can measure for the pregnancy hormone HCG) was scheduled for May 19, which was a Saturday. I should probably mention that the morning of May 17 I woke up after a horrible dream about the coming Saturday and decided to pee on a stick to see if I could see any results BEFORE going to the lab and to settle my mind.... well, I finally saw what I’d been waiting 3 years for... TWO PINK LINES!!!!! I was so excited but apprehensive at the same time because with IVF, it could’ve been a false positive so I didn’t get too excited until I heard back from the doc’s office.
Well that Saturday came and went and we went to La Crosse for a whole 5 min to do a blood draw, came home and waited by the phone for a phone call... of course that phone call didn’t come until Monday morning before I left for La Crosse again for the 2nd beta test. The nurse called and said my numbers were good but we’d have to wait to see what that day’s numbers were so off to La Crosse I went again for a whole 5 min and back home to wait by the phone. Finally they called and the nurse was spouting off numbers to me and I figured out in my head that they had doubled but I still had to ask her... “Does this mean I’m pregnant?” That’s all I wanted to hear!!!! She said yes and congratulated me and as soon as I hung up the phone my fingers were dialing Cody as fast as they could (He was in Florida training).
To fast forward a bit from that wonderful day in our lives, the next best day came on June 11 when we got to see our little miracle for the first time and see it’s heartbeat!! I was more nervous for that appointment than any other appointment to date because I just wanted to see that little flicker on the screen! Once I saw it, I started to cry and what felt like a ton of bricks on my chest, lifted off and I could breathe!
To top that miraculous day, last Friday, July 6, we got to HEAR the heart beat. It was strong at 170 beats per minute. We also got to meet our OB Doctor that we’ll be working with the next 6 months (hopefully, since she’s REALLY hard to get into) and she is fabulous!
So as of TODAY we are 12 weeks pregnant and headed into the 2nd trimester. Our official due date is January 25, 2013. I have to say, this first trimester has been pretty good to me and has went by pretty fast. I haven’t had sickness, just fatigue and that’s already getting better. We are SUPER excited to FINALLY share this news with EVERYONE and not have to hide it any longer. We’ve had so much support already from our families and close friends while going through this journey and we feel truly blessed. We are hoping for a very uneventful next 6 months and we are praying for no snowstorms come the end of January! Ha!!! Thanks for reading!!
M&C