I'm sorry that I didn't update about our 12 week appointment. Everyone day I sit down meaning to make a post and then I get distracted and I don't!
The 12 week blood work and sono came back normal. Our risk for downs or any chromosomal abnormalities came back with very low risk! Yipee! We feel very blessed. We have one more blood test.
So this week we have an OB appointment on Thursday. They will listen to the baby's heartbeat and check my b/p and do a urinalysis. I don't think we will have a sono, but you never know!
Friday morning we go back to the high risk doctor where they will take the second part of the blood work from the tests we had back at 12 weeks. This will check for a few more abnormalities the baby could have. We are crossing our fingers and praying these come back normal as well!
Also Friday is my birthday....so Glen is treating me to a visit to Stork Vision! So hopefully we will find out whether the baby is a girl or boy! In case you don't know what Stork Vision is, it's a place that offers 2D, 3D, & 4D sonos of your baby. We will just be doing a 2D gender scan. Because I referred one of my friends to use them, we will get either a free CD or DVD of the session along with 5 printed out photos of the baby! We are really hoping he/she will cooperate and spread em! LOL
Friday can't get here soon enough! We can't wait to start buying baby stuff! So what do y'all think baby will be? Team Blue or Team Pink?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Update
I know I planned on tracking everything for IVF #2 on here but it just seemed like time got away from me and we had so much going on. So while we were doing IVF #2 and as if that wasn't stressful enough we were dealing with these other things.
1) We moved into a cute rental house. Which turned out to be a lemon with foundation issues, cracked windows from the foundation issues, A/C that didn't work in 1/3 of the house, and the insulation was terrible so it was always hot. And the electric bill was through the roof just for the short time we lived there.
2) We had to move AGAIN!!! Yep, we moved TWICE in ONE month!! Found another rental house that is really nice and not a lemon.
3) The tenants in the house we own in Fort Worth moved out at the end of May. So we had to get it ready for the next tenants, except...
4) Tenants ruined the carpet in the living and hall areas. So we had to have all of that replaced. We decided to go with vinyl that looked just like wood, so it would last the longest.
5) Then part of the fence blew down at the house so we had to have that replaced.
6) We were bleeding money in June. On top of paying for IVF COMPLETELY out of pocket, yep insurance didn't cover a cent, we had to eat a month's worth of rent on the house (which isn't paid off we are just renting it to make mortgage), and on top of that we had to sink $5,000 into the house just to get it ready to be rented again.
How did IVF # 2 go:
1) We moved into a cute rental house. Which turned out to be a lemon with foundation issues, cracked windows from the foundation issues, A/C that didn't work in 1/3 of the house, and the insulation was terrible so it was always hot. And the electric bill was through the roof just for the short time we lived there.
2) We had to move AGAIN!!! Yep, we moved TWICE in ONE month!! Found another rental house that is really nice and not a lemon.
3) The tenants in the house we own in Fort Worth moved out at the end of May. So we had to get it ready for the next tenants, except...
4) Tenants ruined the carpet in the living and hall areas. So we had to have all of that replaced. We decided to go with vinyl that looked just like wood, so it would last the longest.
5) Then part of the fence blew down at the house so we had to have that replaced.
6) We were bleeding money in June. On top of paying for IVF COMPLETELY out of pocket, yep insurance didn't cover a cent, we had to eat a month's worth of rent on the house (which isn't paid off we are just renting it to make mortgage), and on top of that we had to sink $5,000 into the house just to get it ready to be rented again.
How did IVF # 2 go:
- Stimulating the Eggs--Responded very quickly to very low dose of meds, so much so that my estrogen got up to over 6,000!! Not good. So I had to coast for 4 days before we could trigger and do egg retrieval.
- Egg Retrieval--We got 20 mature eggs, which is good
- Fertilization--11 fertilized which sounds like a lot, but it should have been more which indicates my eggs weren't of the best quality. Which is a consequence of having PCOS :-( We make lots of eggs, but that doesn't mean we make a lot of "good" eggs.
- Day 3 Embryo Report--Not very good--A very sad and depressing day--All 11 embryos were still alive, but we had NO Grade 1 embryos, all were either Grade 2 or Grade 3. The doctor told us we would be lucky to have any to transfer. Then he went on to tell me that it was due to my "bad eggs" and that I could probably expect this outcome from here on out with my eggs, and he would just try to get a few good ones out of me on future IVF cycles. I was so devastated to hear this news and it really was uncalled for at that point at least wait until the end for the failed IVF consults they do! So..the doctor said they would call us on the day of transfer to let us know if we would even be doing a transfer :-( It was such a long and horrible wait!! We were so sick to our stomachs those two days waiting for that call!
- Transfer Day Call--OMG!! Thank you Lord!!! We have 3 blasts to transfer, one that was almost a Grade 1, the other two Grade 2. We were told don't expect any of the other embryos to make it to freeze but they would call us the next morning either way.
- Transfer--We transferred ALL 3 embryos!! Stick babies, stick!!
- Day after transfer call--SURPRISE!! We have TWO Grade 2 expanded blasts to freeze!! OMG!! Praise the Lord again!!!
- Now the wait.....10 long days of waiting to see if it worked!
- Beta day!!--The doctor calls....You're PREGANT....BUT....just barely! Our beta came back at 25, which they want to see at least 50. Most pregnancies that start with a beta of 25 end in a miscarriage. :-( They told us not to give up hope and to come back in two days for another beta! If it doubled, then we just MIGHT be in the clear. This was the worst two days of waiting in our life!! We were beside ourselves worried but we just kept trying our best to keep the faith. But you can't help but look things up on the net. We discovered on the net that 75% of pregnancies that start with a beta on the same day as ours with the same number ended in miscarriage! :-( Not good odds! Waiting on pins and needles...
- Beta #2--It tripled!! It's now a whopping 83! ;-) But doesn't matter the number just so long as it doubled!!! Our doctor is getting excited, so are we!!
- Beta #3--It more than doubled again to 188! My doctor was SO excited when he told me. He told me he was so happy with this number and that I could relax and enjoy my weekend and he would see me next week for my sono! The excitement and nerves start again hoping everything will look ok.
- Sono #1--5 1/2 Weeks --We have ONE sac and it measures on track! Yipppee!!! One precious little bean! Now we need a heartbeat! The long wait begins until the next sono which thankfully will be just a week later!
- Sono #2--6 1/2 Weeks--WE HAVE A HEARTBEAT!!! What a glorious sound!! Glen even recorded it! Baby measures right on track! Whew! Ok so I finally cried tears of joy and relief, but only after the appointment was over because I was just in so much shock! LOL It just finally sunk in! I'm pregnant and this baby just might be sticking around for 9 months after all! I'm released to the OB!
- Week 7--the "morning" which is really "all day" sickness and fatigue hit with a vengeance! No throwing up but just nauseous for most of the day every day! I'll take it! It just means baby is growing and doing well!
- Sono #3 the first with the OB--8 1/2 Weeks---It isn't a dot anymore! Wow, have you grown so much baby!! It's just been two weeks but "baby" is actually starting to look like a real baby! Well more like a Gummy Bear Baby! LOL So we got to see Gummy Bear Gillman!! Super cute!!
- Currently Week 11--still have the all day sickness and fatigue. Have thrown up some, but hoping it will get better in the second trimester.
- Sono #4--Week 12---Monday August 22--Can't wait to see baby again! This will be a very in depth sono we will get to see baby a lot and they will be checking to see if everything is forming correctly. Also we just might get to find out if it's a boy or girl! This doctor is 90% accurate at determining the gender at this stage!!! If we do find out, we might keep it secret until we have another sono to confirm.
So that is what we and baby have been up to! Thank you all for your support and prayers along this crazy, nerve wracking, yet VERY exciting journey!!
Hope all of you are doing well!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
It's a Go!!! IVF #2 has officially started!
We started Lupron yesterday. So far, so good! I'm not a crazy lady yet! LOL No hot flashes as of yet. Lupron is meant to shut down your whole cycle similar to that of menopause. But since they are only giving me a microdose it really shouldn't come with too many side affects of menopause such as hot flashes and mood swings. LOL
For those who are curious as to how I give myself the shots of Lupron this is how it goes:
I have a little vial of the liquid Lupron that has this rubber stopper on the top. I take a diabetic syringe (which has a very skinny and short needle attached to the end of it) and I draw air back into the syringe until the number 10. Then I insert it into the rubber stopper on the vial and let the air out into the vial. Then I turn the vial upside down and draw out the medicine to the 10. Then I use an alcohol swab to clean the area on my stomach, I pinch up an area of fat on my stomach, and then I stick the needle in and push the plunger. It's not bad at all. After my last IVF, I'm now a pro! LOL The needle itself doesn't hurt when you insert it, but after injecting the medicine it starts to itch at the injection site. They say it's typical. So it's itchy and red for about 5 minutes afterwards at the injection site and then everything is just fine.
I also started a low dose steroid yesterday which I will continue through my IVF cycle. This is suppose to keep the inflammation down and hopefully help keep me from hyperstimming again (linked to the blog from last time). I really don't want to have 2 1/2 liters of fluid drained from my abdomen again! That was terrible. But this doctor is going to go really slow so that I don't over respond to the meds and make too many eggs. So it will be a longer and slower egg growing process than last time. It's great to have lots of eggs, but when they go to retrieve them something has to fill up that space of what was once there. So fluid begins to fill the space and sometimes so much that is drains out of your ovaries and into your abdomen pooling around your organs and lungs. Which is what happened last time, and comes with some really scary and life threatening complications such as blood clots, difficulty breathing, etc. I thankfully did not get the blood clots last time! But...I'm not going to worry about that...because we won't have that happening again this time, RIGHT! ;-)
I hadn't been sick for over a year and then at the beginning of this month I got a viral throat infection, and now I'm sick AGAIN. I think I have bronchitis, in fact I just know. I was around some pecan trees the other day and I know it set my allergies and asthma off. There is one thing is this world that I am OFF the charts allergic too and that's pecan trees. It's funny because I'm not allergic to pecans themselves, I can eat those just fine, it's the pollen from the trees that gets me. Growing up we had 5 pecan trees. It was horrible. My poor parents, I feel so sorry for them, they didn't know until way later that the trees were what was causing it, but by the time I was 7 years old, I had had bronchitis 13 TIMES and pneumonia TWICE. If my Mom hadn't been a nurse I would have been hospitalized at least a few times. I was a sickly kid. Then they found out what was causing it all and I had to stay on asthma meds for a really long time. So then I only got bronchitis like once a year. As an adult it has gotten a lot better, but I have tried my best to keep myself away from pecan trees, that is until we went walking the other day! LOL It's a good thing I still have the antibiotics left from a couple weeks back when I was sick, but didn't need them because it was viral and not bacterial infection. Saves us the $$ and time of having to go to the doctor.
Please cross your fingers and pray this will be the last of me getting sick. I can't be getting sick for any of the other stages of this IVF process or I am sunk! Which would mean they would have to cancel the cycle because once I start the egg growing meds I can't be taking anything else.
Other than that, we are doing really good! We found a house to rent. I will post about it tomorrow and put up some pics. It's super cute.
Well I guess that's about it for me. Thank you all for following our blog and the prayers and support that have come with it! I have a good feeling that we will be getting to make an announcement super soon! The doctor says we have a 60% chance of getting pregnant this time. So the odds are definitely in our favor! And we also have a wonderful group of friends and family cheering us on!
Take care everyone!
S & G
For those who are curious as to how I give myself the shots of Lupron this is how it goes:
I have a little vial of the liquid Lupron that has this rubber stopper on the top. I take a diabetic syringe (which has a very skinny and short needle attached to the end of it) and I draw air back into the syringe until the number 10. Then I insert it into the rubber stopper on the vial and let the air out into the vial. Then I turn the vial upside down and draw out the medicine to the 10. Then I use an alcohol swab to clean the area on my stomach, I pinch up an area of fat on my stomach, and then I stick the needle in and push the plunger. It's not bad at all. After my last IVF, I'm now a pro! LOL The needle itself doesn't hurt when you insert it, but after injecting the medicine it starts to itch at the injection site. They say it's typical. So it's itchy and red for about 5 minutes afterwards at the injection site and then everything is just fine.
I also started a low dose steroid yesterday which I will continue through my IVF cycle. This is suppose to keep the inflammation down and hopefully help keep me from hyperstimming again (linked to the blog from last time). I really don't want to have 2 1/2 liters of fluid drained from my abdomen again! That was terrible. But this doctor is going to go really slow so that I don't over respond to the meds and make too many eggs. So it will be a longer and slower egg growing process than last time. It's great to have lots of eggs, but when they go to retrieve them something has to fill up that space of what was once there. So fluid begins to fill the space and sometimes so much that is drains out of your ovaries and into your abdomen pooling around your organs and lungs. Which is what happened last time, and comes with some really scary and life threatening complications such as blood clots, difficulty breathing, etc. I thankfully did not get the blood clots last time! But...I'm not going to worry about that...because we won't have that happening again this time, RIGHT! ;-)
I hadn't been sick for over a year and then at the beginning of this month I got a viral throat infection, and now I'm sick AGAIN. I think I have bronchitis, in fact I just know. I was around some pecan trees the other day and I know it set my allergies and asthma off. There is one thing is this world that I am OFF the charts allergic too and that's pecan trees. It's funny because I'm not allergic to pecans themselves, I can eat those just fine, it's the pollen from the trees that gets me. Growing up we had 5 pecan trees. It was horrible. My poor parents, I feel so sorry for them, they didn't know until way later that the trees were what was causing it, but by the time I was 7 years old, I had had bronchitis 13 TIMES and pneumonia TWICE. If my Mom hadn't been a nurse I would have been hospitalized at least a few times. I was a sickly kid. Then they found out what was causing it all and I had to stay on asthma meds for a really long time. So then I only got bronchitis like once a year. As an adult it has gotten a lot better, but I have tried my best to keep myself away from pecan trees, that is until we went walking the other day! LOL It's a good thing I still have the antibiotics left from a couple weeks back when I was sick, but didn't need them because it was viral and not bacterial infection. Saves us the $$ and time of having to go to the doctor.
Please cross your fingers and pray this will be the last of me getting sick. I can't be getting sick for any of the other stages of this IVF process or I am sunk! Which would mean they would have to cancel the cycle because once I start the egg growing meds I can't be taking anything else.
Other than that, we are doing really good! We found a house to rent. I will post about it tomorrow and put up some pics. It's super cute.
Well I guess that's about it for me. Thank you all for following our blog and the prayers and support that have come with it! I have a good feeling that we will be getting to make an announcement super soon! The doctor says we have a 60% chance of getting pregnant this time. So the odds are definitely in our favor! And we also have a wonderful group of friends and family cheering us on!
Take care everyone!
S & G
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Operation Drug Drop--A week until Go time
Today the FedEx guy arrived with all my drugs for this IVF cycle. I felt like a kid who had gotten a Christmas package as I unpacked everything and put the drugs that needed to be refrigerated away. I have been very blessed when it has come to the cost of drugs. With my last IVF cycle, I had different insurance and some how they ended up covering my Gonal-f (which makes my eggs grow). It is VERY expensive medicine and costs close to $1,000 a pen, which typically you need at least 3 pens for a cycle. While I had that insurance coverage, I had the doctor order me extra pens. So I have 3 left over Gonal-f pens from the last IVF! Woo hoo!! So that left me only having to buy the cheaper drugs this time. So today I got EVERYTHING else I will need for the rest of my IVF cycle, and it just cost us $350. So definitely not bad at all considering drugs usually cost you $3,000 or more for just one IVF cycle! I'm crossing my fingers these three pens will be enough, or else we will be out another $500-$1000 depending on how much Gonal-f I would need. But we will cross that bridge when we get there, and sometimes the clinic has donated meds that they can give to their patients if they just need a little bit.
So a week from today, May 18, is our official start day. It's then that I will add to the birth control, Lupron, which will suppress all my hormones and keep me from ovulating the eggs too early and then a steroid that will help to keep me from hyperstimulating.(crossing fingers) and having too much inflammation. I will stay on the Lupron and steroid the longest. Then on May 23, I will stop the birth control pills and May 30 I will start the meds that will cause my eggs to grow.
Everyday it's starting to feel more and more real. It's sinking in and I'm having thoughts and feelings of....OMG.. this is really going to happen..wow...this is awesome... we are really going to do this AGAIN! We are going to get to try for a baby again!!! It's finally here after almost nine months of waiting...shoot, if our last IVF had worked, I would be delivering next month on the 6th!! It's crazy to even think about that! The time has finally come to try again. Hell...there is a very good chance I could be pregnant at the end of next month!! OMG!!!!
But then I've also been experiencing a very different kind of feeling....the kind you get when are jerked to a stop at the very top of a roller coaster...when you are at the highest point... looking down...suspended in mid-air.... just waiting for the cart to drop...and your heart starts pounding... and your stomach in up in your chest...and your brain is screaming...oh, shit, do we really want to do this?!?!...but at that point it's too late....you're already committed...there's no turning back...stuck...so you just give in...you go with it and you enjoy the ride!
Ah... Enjoy the Ride...that's what I'm going to really try my best to do. To go with it..give in completely.... not question the what if's...or how will I ever recover if this fails again...and just enjoy the thrill of the ride...the ups...the downs..the turns..the unexpected loops...and of course I can't forget the screaming like a little girl through the entire ride. LOL
Speaking of screaming....as I mentioned earlier I am on birth control, yes I know very ironic considering I am trying to get pregnant, and Glen is just loving the mood swings, NOT!! LOL Poor thing. He has been so sweet, but OMG these birth control pills have been making me bitchy. I'm not a bitch all the time thank goodness, but boy it's like these streaks of nastiness just hit me.... I'm fine one minute and then the next... I'm REALLY pissed off for no good reason. Normal Staci takes some real warming up and then simmering before she fires off, at least I'd like to think, he he, but with these birth control pills there IS NO simmering phase, it's just fine and then claws are out and RAARRRR!! Really glad my hubby loves me!!
Ok...I know you will all find this funny... but I have been having this crazy panicked feeling that I should be packing. LOL But ever since Turkey, I've associate traveling with IVF. LMAO Unfortunately, there will be no trip included in this IVF cycle. It will take place entirely here in Dallas. :-( Hopefully I will be able to find enough distractions around the area to keep my mind off of things. I should start planning things now. Do y'all have any suggestions? Trying the new In-N-Out is on the list! Yep, you out in Cali read right! They have arrived in Texas!! Now Texas has it ALL!! Woo-ha-ha-ha! (that was suppose to be one of those evil dastardly laughs)
Actually....there will be some packing during this IVF...just not for a trip. We will be moving into a house. We have been looking into houses to rent. Hopefully we will find the perfect one soon. I know the timing isn't the best, but doesn't that seem like when all the non-fertility challenged couples always get pregnant. When their lives are all crazy busy, stressful, and strapped for cash. Hey that sounds kind of like us right now! ;-) LOL
Well I guess that's about it for me...Glen just asked...aren't you finished with that yet? I thought you posted that over an hour ago! LOL I told him perfection takes time. ;-)
I hope you all are doing well! Thank you again for all your support and comments!
So a week from today, May 18, is our official start day. It's then that I will add to the birth control, Lupron, which will suppress all my hormones and keep me from ovulating the eggs too early and then a steroid that will help to keep me from hyperstimulating.(crossing fingers) and having too much inflammation. I will stay on the Lupron and steroid the longest. Then on May 23, I will stop the birth control pills and May 30 I will start the meds that will cause my eggs to grow.
Everyday it's starting to feel more and more real. It's sinking in and I'm having thoughts and feelings of....OMG.. this is really going to happen..wow...this is awesome... we are really going to do this AGAIN! We are going to get to try for a baby again!!! It's finally here after almost nine months of waiting...shoot, if our last IVF had worked, I would be delivering next month on the 6th!! It's crazy to even think about that! The time has finally come to try again. Hell...there is a very good chance I could be pregnant at the end of next month!! OMG!!!!
But then I've also been experiencing a very different kind of feeling....the kind you get when are jerked to a stop at the very top of a roller coaster...when you are at the highest point... looking down...suspended in mid-air.... just waiting for the cart to drop...and your heart starts pounding... and your stomach in up in your chest...and your brain is screaming...oh, shit, do we really want to do this?!?!...but at that point it's too late....you're already committed...there's no turning back...stuck...so you just give in...you go with it and you enjoy the ride!
Ah... Enjoy the Ride...that's what I'm going to really try my best to do. To go with it..give in completely.... not question the what if's...or how will I ever recover if this fails again...and just enjoy the thrill of the ride...the ups...the downs..the turns..the unexpected loops...and of course I can't forget the screaming like a little girl through the entire ride. LOL
Speaking of screaming....as I mentioned earlier I am on birth control, yes I know very ironic considering I am trying to get pregnant, and Glen is just loving the mood swings, NOT!! LOL Poor thing. He has been so sweet, but OMG these birth control pills have been making me bitchy. I'm not a bitch all the time thank goodness, but boy it's like these streaks of nastiness just hit me.... I'm fine one minute and then the next... I'm REALLY pissed off for no good reason. Normal Staci takes some real warming up and then simmering before she fires off, at least I'd like to think, he he, but with these birth control pills there IS NO simmering phase, it's just fine and then claws are out and RAARRRR!! Really glad my hubby loves me!!
Ok...I know you will all find this funny... but I have been having this crazy panicked feeling that I should be packing. LOL But ever since Turkey, I've associate traveling with IVF. LMAO Unfortunately, there will be no trip included in this IVF cycle. It will take place entirely here in Dallas. :-( Hopefully I will be able to find enough distractions around the area to keep my mind off of things. I should start planning things now. Do y'all have any suggestions? Trying the new In-N-Out is on the list! Yep, you out in Cali read right! They have arrived in Texas!! Now Texas has it ALL!! Woo-ha-ha-ha! (that was suppose to be one of those evil dastardly laughs)
Actually....there will be some packing during this IVF...just not for a trip. We will be moving into a house. We have been looking into houses to rent. Hopefully we will find the perfect one soon. I know the timing isn't the best, but doesn't that seem like when all the non-fertility challenged couples always get pregnant. When their lives are all crazy busy, stressful, and strapped for cash. Hey that sounds kind of like us right now! ;-) LOL
Well I guess that's about it for me...Glen just asked...aren't you finished with that yet? I thought you posted that over an hour ago! LOL I told him perfection takes time. ;-)
I hope you all are doing well! Thank you again for all your support and comments!
Monday, May 9, 2011
On Pins and Needles
First off...I want to say thank you to everyone for their super sweet and supportive comments on my last blog! I have the best family and friends EVER!
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog...LOL...
Two weeks ago I began acupuncture. Right after the first session, I got really sick with a viral throat infection! So not cool, considering I thought this stuff was suppose to make you HEALTHIER and not sicker...and secondly I hadn't been sick in OVER a year, until I had acupuncture. LOL Geez! She told me it was just a coincidence. We shall see....
So I went again on Friday and this time I didn't get sick and it was a better experience, but I still just don't know what I think about it all. I'm not real crazy about this lady even though she is very trained in Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture as well as Western Medicine. But she just doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies and that is something I need if I am going to her for relaxation and re-balancing of my system. I don't need anxiety about going when the whole point is to relax. So this Chinese acupuncture lady doesn't say a whole when I go other than did you follow the diet... which by the way is very strange... most of the stuff on it you can't get at the grocery store or it isn't a part of the normal diet of an American. Granted I know I don't always eat the best, but on this chart she gave me for the foods you can have breast milk is listed! Yes, you read right!! Say what? I think it was there as reference to show that we as humans need a more alkaline diet and as we know breast milk is the most nutritious of all foods, so if it is alkaline then we should be eating that way.... but it just REALLY grossed and creeped me out. I since ditched that diet and have just tried to stick to healthy organic food. People have been getting pregnant since the beginning of time eating all kinds of crap, so I think I will be fine if I just put good nutritious food into my body.
So... I'm think I am going to look into possibly seeing someone else. I don't want to give up on acupuncture just yet because I know there are proven studies that show it really helps IVF success rates. Most of these studies that have been done are more about using acupuncture right before and right after the embryo transfer. It's suppose to help blood flow to the uterus and help calm the uterus and not have it contract during the transfer. So I want to make for sure I do everything I can to make this IVF a success, but I just don't see this lady being part of the equation. So I'm off to find another acupuncturist....I'm going to check out one a friend uses that is American, super friendly, and charges less! Sounds like a win/win already....
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog...LOL...
Two weeks ago I began acupuncture. Right after the first session, I got really sick with a viral throat infection! So not cool, considering I thought this stuff was suppose to make you HEALTHIER and not sicker...and secondly I hadn't been sick in OVER a year, until I had acupuncture. LOL Geez! She told me it was just a coincidence. We shall see....
So I went again on Friday and this time I didn't get sick and it was a better experience, but I still just don't know what I think about it all. I'm not real crazy about this lady even though she is very trained in Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture as well as Western Medicine. But she just doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies and that is something I need if I am going to her for relaxation and re-balancing of my system. I don't need anxiety about going when the whole point is to relax. So this Chinese acupuncture lady doesn't say a whole when I go other than did you follow the diet... which by the way is very strange... most of the stuff on it you can't get at the grocery store or it isn't a part of the normal diet of an American. Granted I know I don't always eat the best, but on this chart she gave me for the foods you can have breast milk is listed! Yes, you read right!! Say what? I think it was there as reference to show that we as humans need a more alkaline diet and as we know breast milk is the most nutritious of all foods, so if it is alkaline then we should be eating that way.... but it just REALLY grossed and creeped me out. I since ditched that diet and have just tried to stick to healthy organic food. People have been getting pregnant since the beginning of time eating all kinds of crap, so I think I will be fine if I just put good nutritious food into my body.
So... I'm think I am going to look into possibly seeing someone else. I don't want to give up on acupuncture just yet because I know there are proven studies that show it really helps IVF success rates. Most of these studies that have been done are more about using acupuncture right before and right after the embryo transfer. It's suppose to help blood flow to the uterus and help calm the uterus and not have it contract during the transfer. So I want to make for sure I do everything I can to make this IVF a success, but I just don't see this lady being part of the equation. So I'm off to find another acupuncturist....I'm going to check out one a friend uses that is American, super friendly, and charges less! Sounds like a win/win already....
Monday, May 2, 2011
Lots to be thankful for....
Even though the sperm issue was not as we had hoped it would be... we still feel very blessed and feel we have a lot to be thankful for. We know our situation could be a WHOLE lot worse. If the extra cost and the logistics of getting the sperm is the worst of our problems, I feel we should still be very thankful. So these are things we are thankful for and why...
- Lots of eggs--The blood work for my egg reserve came back and my numbers came back better than for someone of my age. I know some of you are like well..duh...Staci...you are only 32. But you would be SO surprised. I personally know women younger than me who do not have any eggs left and are going into pre-mature ovarian failure which means they will be going into menopause within the next year and they are only 30 or less! My heartbreaks for these women, but I'm so glad there is still the option of donor eggs for them so they can still get pregnant and carry a baby. But it's just so not right or fair for it to happen so early and their chance of their own biological child be striped from them so soon! We should all at least be given to the age of 40 to try for a baby with our own eggs!
- Healthy eggs--from our last IVF they feel I have eggs of good quality which is the most important. You can have a lot of eggs, but if none of them are good you are sunk! :-(
- We have sperm---it's just a matter of getting it. I feel for couples who do not have sperm at all, and at that point they are having to look into sperm donors and so forth. I know that has to be so hard for both parties. We know Glen has sperm and we know from the past that they do know what to do. ;-) So now... it's just obtaining some good ones from him and then injecting them into my eggs and getting them to grow into beautiful little embryos and then babies.
- I'm not a carrier of cystic fibrosis. My blood work came back negative. So I don't have to worry about possibly passing along that disease to my children. I feel very thankful about that!
- My uterus looks perfect--so my incubator should be able to grow a baby without any problems!
- We have a doctor and nurse--- who we feel very comfortable with and that we feel are doing everything they possibly can to make this dream a reality for both of us.
- We have the technology that we do today to by-pass these issues and create miracle babies!
- For the most part we have the financial means to pay for these procedures. Granted we will accrue some debt no doubt, but for the most part we can make it work by making sacrifices.
- And the most important blessing of all... is the love that we have for each other! We know that with this love we can make it through anything. We will always be there for each other and have each other until the very end. And that blessing is pretty damn hard to top!!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A trip to Dr. French--the Male Urologist
Today Glen & I made a trip to the urologist, Dr. French, to talk about our options for obtaining sperm. What they will have to do is locate the tube that carries the sperm, then from the epididymis which is the part they will be retrieving it from, they will insert a needle into that tube and extract the fluid within which should contain LOTS of sperm...which we're all hoping and praying for both Glen and all parties involved that this tube does contain millions of sperm! :-)
So..these are both the positives and negatives we heard today from Dr. French. The positives first!
Positives
So..these are both the positives and negatives we heard today from Dr. French. The positives first!
Positives
- He will get sperm NO MATTER what.
- Before we could even ask...he told us that we did everything right with the reversals and that regardless of the doctors we chose Glen was just one of those few that fell into the irreversible category and unfortunately vasectomy reversals just aren't 100%. Which made us breathe a sigh of relief because so many times you go to a doctor and they say...."Well if you would have come to us first we could have prevented all of this and saved you a lot of money." Which only makes you feel like complete crap! Also I think we REALLY needed to hear this because deep down... I think BOTH of us have really been beating ourselves up for years now....because we have spent SO much time and money trying to have this damn vasectomy reversed instead of going straight to IVF with sperm aspiration which we knew was a option when we started down this journey 3 years ago...when we decided we wanted kids together....and we started saving for the first reversal....when we were so sure it would work...when we thought we would be able to have kids the wonderful, natural, fun, AND... well....the almost free minus the cost of the reversal, way! LOL Little did we know then what journey this would entail....
- When he examined Glen he could feel the tube on the left the most so he is going to try that tube first to find sperm and then proceed to the other if he doesn't get enough. But he thinks he should definitely get enough for this IVF and maybe enough to freeze for future IVF's.
- Dr. French said he felt we were in the best of hands and that the lab director at SIRM is one of the best when it comes to dealing with sperm that has been aspirated and that he will find the best ones out of the bunch to inject into my eggs to fertilize them!
- The IVF clinic let us know that the partner of Dr. French is good at sperm aspiration as well
Negatives:
- The cost! We are looking at an additional $3,000 on top of the $16,000 we are paying for this two IVF cycle plan we paid for! YIKES We just keep telling ourselves it's just money and we can make it back, it will all be worth it in the end when we are holding our baby or babies...Twins would be awesome! Two for the price of one! We swear if this child(ren) ever back talks us or says we didn't want them or love them we will got postal on them...LOL
- The doctor will be out of town from June 9-11, so hopefully my eggs won't be ready for egg retrieval during that time. He said if I did have to have egg retrieval during that time then there was another doctor in their practice that could perform the surgery.
- If they can't find sperm in the tubes they have to go to the testicle and it will be very painful for Glen after the surgery, but he doesn't think that should happen. Please cross your fingers and pray the left tube has lots of sperm so they don't have to poke around much!!!
So all in all it was a good day! IVF is still a go and we still have the 60% chance the doctor gave us of getting pregnant this time around. I start the Lupron which suppress everything May 18. I can't believe how soon that is!!!!
Hope you are all doing well and thank you all for your support and following our blog! Thank you for your comments we LOVE them!!!
S & G
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