Hello again...

Our next step in this process is a frozen embryo transfer (FET they call it). We got and started a new round of medication on Monday. The medications let the doctor control my hormones for the next month. Then, hopefully, on or around the 16th of January we schedule the transfer. The frozen little embryos are thawed and then transferred to me. Keep the thoughts and prayers coming! Love you all!
Brian and I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe Christmas and New Years!

Getting Closer

We spoke to the doctor yesterday... things are going along as expected. Due to the holidays coming up, the transfer is expected to be in early January. We still have a bunch of questions for the doctor, so we don't have all the answers yet. But, we've started on some new medication in anticipation. These are just pills (not so bad) and the injections start in December. Keep the prayers coming! Love you all.

Update

We received a letter from the doctor today explaining all that they've done. Some of the numbers have changed, but still good news. Though they had 19 embryos take to fertilization, some of them did not continue to develop and are not baby worthy. So, that leaves us with 8 currently frozen and ready for use. Still a good number. We're happy.
It's been over a week and all is well. I think the risk of hyper stimulation (a hospital visit) is past. We made it (though some of my pants are still a bit tight :-)
We have some extra medication this time that we are planning on donating back to the doctor's office, as our first time was all on the meds they gave to us. It's our turn to give back.
Well, we'll know more towards January.

Great News...

Well, yesterday they were able to extract 33 eggs. Out of those, 28 were mature. They fertilized all 28 and got 19 to take. We have 19 embryos!! Yay!
Due to all the meds I've been taking the last month, they've decided to freeze all 19. We will give my body a rest for a month, then two months from now (probably in January) we will do a frozen transfer. Keep those prayers coming... we still need all the help we can get.
Love you all and thank you so much for your support!

The Retrieval

The retrieval went well. The were able to get 33 eggs/follicles out of my ovaries (last time we got approx 15 of them). This doesn't mean all 33 are quality eggs. We should know the quality by later tonight or tomorrow.
They will be fertilizing the eggs in the next 24 hrs and we should know the number of fertilized eggs soon too.
If all looks okay, we will be transferring the fertilized eggs (embryos) some time between Thurs and Saturday. Doctor is pondering the option of freezing all of them and letting my body go back to normal before we transfer. This would take an additional three months of waiting. But... we have to do whats best.
We'll let you all know what happens in the next couple of days.
Thanks again for your well wishes and prayers... they're working.

The End is Near

The doctor says everything is looking great! Tonight I take my final shot (the timing on this shot is very precise. We have been given a 5 minute window in which to administer it. The pressure is on) at 10pm. Sunday is a day of rest. And on Monday they will do the retrieval.
The retrieval happens in the morning. I am under sedation when they retrieve all the eggs they can with an ultra sound guided needle. We should know much more in the next week. Yay!
Please keep up the thoughts and prayers.

Here we go...

As expected, we are starting the meds tonight. These shots are to stimulate my follicles/ovaries to produce more eggs for retrieval (that's the simplest way I can think to explain). The more eggs the better, provided they are of quality (which we won't know until the very end).
We are given instructions about medication doses every night. This is dependant upon ultrasounds and blood levels. For the weekend, the dose is double of what we started out with last time we did this. Then we have a doctors appointment every day for the next week to monitor the results. Let the fun begin....

We've got meds!

All our meds were successfully delivered via Fed Ex on Tues! The box was missing some needles we needed, but all was straightened out and they will be delivered in time. Everything seems to be falling in place.
We should be starting the injections tomorrow evening. It's about a 10 day process full of doctor appts and meds. The doctor suggests we take a stronger approach this time and start off with a higher does of meds. I'll let you know how that goes... for me and for Brian :-) For those of you who aren't familiar ... these meds play with your hormones, which then changes your mood/reaction/sanity :-) Wish me a fun ride... Brian too.
We'll keep updating. Should know more by the weekend. Love you all.

Nothing new

Nothing new to report. We won't know anything more until the end of October. We'll keep you posted.

IVF Update

Brian and I really appreciate everyones well wishes and prayers, keep 'em coming! It's hard to keep everyone updated, so we've created this blog. This way, we can share our lives and keep it private at the same time.
Update: All of our insurance paperwork has been submitted and approved .. yay! I never would have thought that an HMO would be our best option. But.. we've jumped through all our hoops and are now ready to try this again, without the financial burden.
We start with all the meds within the first two weeks of October and should be done with this cycle of IVF by November. (Watch out.. the crazy drugs are back :-)