Ultrasound, blood & money

There is nothing quite like undressing from the waste down and taking a paper napkin and placing it over your private areas.  But all of us women do it.  All. Of. Us.

 

This is going to be my normal attire for the next 2 weeks.  Lots of ultrasounds to make sure my uterus lining is thickening, my ovaries are producing follicles and my blood levels are staying on track.

So, here are my results from the day.  My AMH level is at 8.60.  Let me explain what AMH is and why it matters for me.  When we started the IVF process back in 2009, I was 28 years old.  I am know 35 years old.  When a woman reaches the age of 35, her ovaries become considered old (it's a shame).  AMH testing helps tell what a woman egg quality if going to be and how many eggs they could potential develop.  Normal range for a 35 year old woman is 1.0-1.5; this is when my PCOS gives me an upper hand.  My egg quality is 8.60, extremely high.

PCOS - Let's chat real quick.  Woman with PCOS have a very hard time getting pregnant. VERY HARD.  Most woman with PCOS, don't even get to experience pregnancy.  PCOS, causes ovulation to not occur due to the cysts that are on our ovaries.   Yet, with a little medication, our ovaries become stimulated and we produce more follicles to ovulate.  Power in numbers.

So, here we are.  No going back! Oh, and I swiped our credit card; $5350. I'll take it! When we swiped our first round $9900. 

Lots and lots of Meds

Today, via UPS, I received all of these beauties! I know, I would be jealous too.  There is nothing like opening up a package and seeing alcohol swabs, syringes and a red needle box!

 The meds are received are different from any other round we have done.  Since we are at a different facility, it's been interesting to see what they do different.  We are also doing the minimal stimulation, so only have the meds are needed.  That saves on the pocketbook!

 The meds are received are:

Gonal F - to help increase the amount of Follicles.  I will be taking a dose of clomid for 5 days with the Gonal F.  The more follicles, the more eggs.

Cetrotide - this will stop my ovaries from ovulation. 

Progesterone - I have always hated the progesterone shot.  It hurts so bad.  This clinic likes to use progesterone vaginal suppositories.  I'm excited to see how it goes.  Down side, I have to use it 3 times a day, with the shot, it was only once a day.

HCG - is a natural hormone that the body produces to say, "Hey, we are pregnant".  This is a "trigger" shot that I take about 36 hours before they harvest my eggs.  That will help my ovaries know its time to make some magic!

All of the meds cost roughly $1800, and its only 2 weeks worth.  A normal cycle, you take meds for about 4-5 weeks, so imagine that cost.  So glad we are able to try this minimal cycle out.  Fingers crossed luck and babies are on our side.

Weston made the final decision

Well, here we are; over a year after our failed attempts at round 2 and 3 at IVF.  We have had times of darkness, a lot of lightness and a lot of memories we have made.  We have been back and forth many different times talking about what we should do about having another child.  Should we really be done? Is there another soul waiting out there for us? We are definitely happy with the one child we have.  Chris is scared that if we do another round, I might not be able to come out of the darkness again.  We really are both really content with Weston.  He is so much fun and tests us to our very limits.  I don't know what we would do without him.  And he is hilarious, the little comments and saying that come out of his mouth make us laugh so hard.  And his is the sweetest kid you will ever meet.  And he is the reason we have made the decision we have made.  He asked for a sibling.  That was enough to push us.  How do you tell the incredible Weston no??

We did meet with a couple doctors the beginning of the year.  We met with a doctor named Dr Swelstad; he is very smart and knows exactly what he is doing.  But costs quite a bit of money.  We were also able to meet with Dr Gurtcheff; she is the doctor that got us pregnant with Weston.  We were so excited to see her again and talk about our options.  She is now at the Utah Fertility Center and offers what is called a "Minimal Stimulation".  Basically, it is the same concept; yet instead of trying to get as many follicles/eggs as they can, they want to get only a handful of them.  That way, if it does work with one or two embryos, we won't have the guilty decision to make if we want to do it again or discard any embryos.  It made the decision a lot easier to make.

Now, we met with Dr Gurtcheff on February 4th, today is July 19th and we are 2 weeks into the IVF process once again.  So far not much has happened. On July 8th, it was the 3rd day of my cycle, and I started the dreaded birth control.  Luckily, I was able to get on a low dose and haven't been too crazy.  The crazy I have been experiencing, however, is from the lake of caffeine.  I have stopped the drinking coffee and Coke.  The terrible caffeine headache lasted a week.  Thank goodness it has passed.  On Friday the 15th, we met with a new doctor for Chris named, Dr Hotaling.  He is pretty confident in Chris's procedure and also has a new technique to extract the sperm.  It is less invasive and will be a quick recovery.  For me, tomorrow I stop birth control and started a low dose of asprin.

It all starts with one little pill.  The birth control pill.

Our calender for our IVF story.  Normally, it would take about 6-8 weeks to complete.  Luckily, we are going to be able to complete it in 5 weeks.

On Friday the 15th, I also met with the doc to have my water ultrasound performed.  Those are always fun.  The water ultrasound is pretty basic.  They fill the utures with salt water to make sure there are no pollups and when they transfer the embryo, everything is clear.  This was the 4th one I have had done.  You would think by now, it would be no big deal, but it is something you never quite get comfortable with.

I am going to update through the whole process.  This week is a pretty easy week.  Next week is when the fun begins.  Shots, shots, shots! The following week is full of sperm extraction and egg extraction! Its always a party!

For some reason, God made us wait.  Some things are worth the wait.  Even if it's the anwer you don't want to hear.

30 Weeks

Got to see little man today, here is a shot of his face. Spencer has finally, finally gotten into position, even though the stinker is sunny side up (face up). We are 30 weeks this Thursday and he is measuring at 32 weeks and very proudly showed me today that he is still a boy! ! The countdown is on! I better get working, I have yet to buy this kiddo anything!

Does time heal?

Time has passed, are we feeling better about our story? Yes and No.  If everything would have worked out the way we wanted, we would be a couple of weeks away from welcoming a new addition to our family.  Most days, it's a bittersweet feeling.  While we have a healthy, crazy, fun almost 5 year old, there are those moments that pull at you.  Weston has made comments about being a big brother and those moments leave us speechless.  How do you explain our situation to a young soul?

Chris & I have talked about the possibility to trying IVF again.  It's a costly game and you don't always get the outcome you want.  But when you get the outcome you want, it's priceless.  We have had many friends and family be encouraging for us and have even made the comments, no that you have one, you can get pregnant on your own. I wish that was true for us.  So, here is the back story about our fertility issues.  I have PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, bluntly, I have cysts coating my ovaries that make it hard to ovulate or even have regular cycles.  Since having one pregnancy, my cycles and my ovulation schedule have been doing well on its own.  Chris, he is the main fertility issue amongst us.  He has Congenital Bilateral Absence of the Vas deferens, you know the tub they snip when guys get fixed? Yeah, he doesn't have one of those.  But he does create his own sperm that can be retrieved; hence creating the IVF option for us.

We have looked into adoption and fostering, and decided that is not the path we would like to take.  We weighed all the options, and decided, we aren't the right fit for these options.  I would love to do adoption, but we really can't afford it.  I was surprised at the cost.  And adoption isn't a guarantee, same as IVF.  We considered the foster to adopt, nope.  I would not be able to care for another person and possibly have to give this human back.  I am not strong enough for that.  Now, before you judge us, remember, this is our choice whether you agree with it or not.  We may not agree with your choices in life, but we support your decisions.  Please be respectful.

Have we healed? Have we accepted our fate? What is our fate? There are many questions that we have that we don't have the answers to.  Each day holds something new for us.  Chris has healed a lot faster than I have.  I feel responsible for the embryos not attaching; I know there is nothing I could have done different, its just how my mind works.  We have welcomed many new spirits into our lives.  Many babies have been born and many more are coming.  While I am over the moon happy for every single one of them, I am crushed (along with Chris) that we don't get to be doing it also.  We have had our moments of anger, tears and happiness.  One of our great friends had a baby boy a couple months back and I was able to go to the hospital to meet him.  I held him and I wept; not out of sadness, but because of life.  Life was given to this special little boy, and while he may not be mine, I will be a part of his life.  And how can you not hold a precious newborn babe in your arms and not be a little weepy?

I have learned a lot about myself, my husband and my son during the last 9 months.  Weston is relentless is showing me that life is special is so many ways.  Chris has become my rock and lets me react to things how ever I need to; even if its sobbing in his arms or coming up with the crazy ideas about money for another baby.  I have learned that I am strong, not as strong as I would like to be, but I am.  My faith in God is still in tact, even when I was crushed and didn't have the answers I wanted.  My biggest fear is still for Weston.  I want him to know that we tried to give him a sibling.  I don't want him to ever feel left out or alone because he doesn't have the bond that siblings have.  I hope one day, I am able to have the conversation with him and he understands and isn't resentful.

For now, I thank God for life.  Every single day.  The life I have in my house, the life that has become and the life that is becoming. 

Final Chapter

With a very heavy heart, we found out today that our last round of IVF did not work.  We did everything right, but it just wasn't God's plan for us to have another one.  We are heart broken.  We do know we have a beautiful miracle named Weston.  And he is a miracle in so many ways.  We are doing are best to stay positive, but today we are sad.  And today we will stay sad.  Tomorrow is a new day and we will start fresh and happy knowing we are blessed.

Thank you all for the love & support!! We felt the prayers and strength!

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
Dr. Seuss

Embryo Date

The big day is scheduled!! Next Wednesday we will be transferring the embryos! We are very excited!  I stay on my normal meds until Friday, I then stop the Lupron and lower the dose of estrogen to 1/2 pill morning and night.  I also start the terrible progesterone shot, insert sad face.  I hate the progesterone shot.  It hurts.  Lot's of prayers for Wednesday!! We will have the pregnancy test on Monday March 2nd!!