PREGNANT!!!

Yes, it's true... I'm officially PREGNANT!!  I'm so excited to have such positive results on our first try with IVF.  I went for blood work in the morning yesterday and waited anxiously until I got a call back at around noon.  I was busy working with a client so my manager let me know Jen had called.  The staff at Dr. R's office go for an hour lunch at 12 pm so I had to wait until after 1 pm to call back.  I called at exactly 1:05 pm and spoke to Carmen.  She was the one who told me the great news!  I was really surprised, in a happy way... not that I was doubtful, but you just never know with these things.  She gave me instructions to stay on the Progesterone and Estradiol but to also pick up some Pre-natal vitamins from my pharmacy.  After I was done speaking with her, I called my husband immediately and said, "Congratulations Daddy, I'm pregnant!"  He was elated and said that he couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day.  It's so nice to know that everything worked out so far because I was getting a little bit worried.  Lately I'd been feeling some slight cramping and I thought I might be getting my dot.  Turns out that the crampy feeling is just the embryo(s) implanting itself, lol.

Side note:  I'd begun the Progesterone and Estradiol on Monday and here's some more info on the meds.

"Women undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures, such as in vitro fertilization or IVF, usually need progesterone supplementation after the eggs (oocytes) are removed during an oocyte retrieval procedure. Women need more progesterone supplementation after retrieval procedures, secondary to the medications used in an IVF cycle, which may decrease proper progesterone formation as well as due to the retrieval process itself, which can deplete progesterone producing cells."

Source: American Fertility Association

My tiny Estradiol pills, 3x a day

"Estrogen supplementation during an IVF cycle is now commonly used by many infertility specialists. One of the major hormones of pregnancy, estrogen helps maintain the endometrial lining of the uterus. While some early studies have shown that patients taking both progesterone and estrogen supplements during an IVF cycle after the egg retrieval have higher clinical pregnancy rates, newer studies seem to dispute this. However, as more research is still needed to study this, some Reproductive Endocrinologists (REs) prescribe estrogen supplements to help support the growth of the endometrium.  Estrace, or estradiol, is the form of estrogen most commonly prescribed."
Source: About.com

TRANSFER!!

Last Tuesday was the day I finally got to take home 2 of my little ones.  My mom and hubby accompanied me to the hospital at 6:30 am, although I was up at 4:30 am cleaning the house like a madwoman.  I was just so excited to go and had to keep busy until it was time.  I had a nice long shower and before I knew it, I was actually running a little behind schedule. My mom got to my house and I was still in a towel!  I picked up the pace and was out the door in 15 minutes.

When we got there, I filed out some more paperwork and the nurses took me in to get changed.  They then took some blood and led me to the OR table where I got strapped in for the procedure.  Dr. R came in and began explaining the process step by step as he worked and then we were done!  It all happened so fast that I couldn't believe it was over.  I think it hit me as the nurses were removing my straps because all of a sudden, I burst into tears.  My OR nurse brought me some tissue, wiped my tears, and told me to smile because it was a happy day.  She was right but I couldn't help myself.  I don't know if it was all the hormones or just me or a combination of the two, but I was feeling so emotional at that moment.  After a couple of minutes, Dr. R came back with a picture of my little ones and reassured me that everything looks well and that now all I had to do is rest.  It's so amazing what he's done and even though I always said I just wanted one baby, as I lay there with their picture in my hands, I secretly hoped both would make it.  I stayed lying down for 20 minutes before leaving to go home and the next three days were pretty boring.  It was nice to rest but I'd actually caught a cold the day before the transfer and was sneezing, coughing, and sniffling the whole time.  So much for relaxing but at least I was home with my hubby and our little ones.

Our 2 littles

CD# 15 / Retrieval

The day before yesterday was a big day for us on our long road to baby... actually it was focused more on my hubby.  His doctor was able to successfully retrieve his sperm by means of a testicular biopsy.  Albeit a painful procedure, it was necessary for us to have our baby.  I love him so much for doing this for our baby and I wish I could've been there with him.  Unfortunately, I had to go to work in order to avoid another warning from work. 

Yesterday was my turn... I went to finally get my retrieval done!  The appointment was set for 7:30 am but I had to be there an hour before.  My mom drove me since my hubby was still recovering from his procedure.  After filling out some paperwork, I changed into my hospital gown and waited a few minutes for the nurse to set up my IV.  She tried to use my right arm about 3 times before switching to the left arm to insert the IV line.  For some reason she couldn't find the vein in the right arm but I should've known to expect that since it's not the first time this has happened.  (The nurses at Dr. R's office always find the vein on either arm but I guess that's just because they're awesome.)  Anyway, I was then taken to the OR and asked to lie down on the table.  I met my Anesthesiologist while the OR nurses strapped me down.  When they were all ready, they called for Dr. R to begin and then I was asleep.  The procedure lasted about 45 minutes and when I woke up, I recognized my Embryologist checking out my stats.  He told me that they'd recovered 20 eggs and that it was the highest number he's seen in years!!  Even though I was really groggy, I was ecstatic with the great news.  I had a small bottle of water while he read me my discharge instructions and I was home about an hour later.

I can't believe how far we've come and I'm really anxious for the next and last step of the procedure... the Transfer!  I got a call back from my nurse at Dr. R's office at around 3:30 pm while I was at work.  She told me that out of the 20 eggs, 15 were fertilized.  Out of the 15, 7 matured into embryos and that on Tuesday they will transfer 2 into me.  I cannot wait to take 2 of those little ones home!!  Everyone at work thinks we'll have twins and even though it seems like too much to handle, I'd happily carry 2 bundles of joy until they're ready to come out.  If that's the case, I hope we all win the MegaMillions!  ;-)

CD #11 / Novarel

This weekend was quite relaxing... my younger brother came over for the weekend and since he kept my hubby company, I got a chance to rest and prepare for the upcoming week.

Monday: Blood work and ultrasound

Tuesday: Blood work, appointment with Dr. R to sign final consent forms and get final instructions, appointment to make payments for my hubby's procedure, dinner at my favorite restaurant for pre-celebration, trigger shot at exactly 8:30 pm

Wednesday: My hubby's testicular biopsy at 11 am

Thursday: My retrieval at 7:30 am

Friday: Wait for results...

My trigger shot was done by my mom since it has to be given on my booty with the big needle.  It's called Novarel and here's some info on what it does:

"NOVAREL® (chorionic gonadotropin for injection, USP) is ahuman chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) that is used to stimulate egg release (ovulation) in the infertile woman who has not ovulated, and whose cause of infertility is not due to primary ovarian failure. Before administering NOVAREL®, patients have usually received previous treatment with gonadotropins, such as BRAVELLE® (urofollitropin for injection, purified), MENOPUR® (menotropins for injection, USP), or REPRONEX®(menotropins for injection, USP)."

Source: Ferring Fertility

BTW: March 22 was my pup, Brodi's, 1st birthday!!

Isn't he super cute?

CD #5 / Repronex

Saturday morning I made it to my appointment for blood work and an ultrasound.  It was a quick visit and then I went to work.  They said they'd give me a call before 12pm and when I didn't hear back, I decided to call them.  Apparently they were running a little late with the call backs and they hadn't gotten to my name yet but they were nice enough to give me all my info when I called.  The nurse told me that everything looked well and that I should start on the Repronex!  She caught me by surprise because I thought I had to wait for CD #21 again, but I'm happy to see things are back on track.  I was also getting worried because my sharps container is getting full.

Ouch!!

It's now Monday night and my 3rd day on Repronex.  First, let me say how much this stuff burned on the 1st day!  Lupron was like injecting water into my belly, Repronex is more like injecting poison.  I looked online for ways to alleviate the pain and read that if you wait 20 minutes after mixing it, it doesn't burn as much.  I tried it and luckily it worked!  Second, I want to say how much of a pain it is to mix it without the Qcap.  It takes me about a half hour to mix 4 vials of Repronex with 1 cc of Sodium Chloride.  The process sucks:  You have to fill the syringe with 1 cc of Sodium Chloride and then slowly inject it into 1 vial of the Repronex powder.  Swirl the vial gently to dissolve the powder and make sure not to make air bubbles.  Then, withdraw the solution from the vial and inject into the next vial of Repronex.  Continue the process for each vial until all 4 are dissolved into the syringe.  It drove me crazy that I could never seem to withdraw all of the solution from each of the vials.  Even though I'm adding to the solution each time I mix it, I always ended up with less solution than when I started.

Anyway, this is my box of Repronex and some info on what it does.

Repronex, Phase 2

Top row is Sodium Chloride, bottom row is Repronex

"This medication is used to treat certain fertility problems in women.  It provides follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) that help stimulate healthy ovaries to make eggs.  This medication is usually used in combination with another hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin-hCG) to help you become pregnant by bringing about the growth and release of a mature egg (ovulation)."
Source: WebMD

My new daily kit

Tomorrow, I have to get blood work done in the morning and have an appointment with Dr. R after work.  Hopefully, everything is still fine and I can do my retrieval at the end of the month.  

CD #2

Yesterday was the 1st day of my dot and thus begins a new cycle.  I'm hoping everything goes well this time... I kinda got off to a bad start by missing my appointment this morning.  I blamed my job but really I just overslept.  I feel terrible about it but I was just so darn sleepy.  Luckily, I'm able to go in tomorrow to make up for it.  So far I'm doing really well because my dot is lighter than usual and I don't have any cramps or headaches.  I don't know if that's good or bad but I'll definitely ask tomorrow. 

CD #37

Well, it time for my weekly recap.


Last Friday I experienced a minor setback with this IVF cycle.  I went to the Dr. R's office twice in one day.  My 1st appointment was for blood work and a sonogram and the 2nd appointment was for a pelvic exam by the Dr.  I received instructions for starting the Repronex later on as long as the blood results came back positive.  It didn't even cross my mind that something would be wrong but by 3 pm, the Dr.'s office called and let me know that my dot was on it's way due to a high level of some hormone in my blood.  Therefore, I shouldn't start on the Repronex and should just wait for my dot and call them back then.  In other words this cycle flopped and now we're back to Phase 1 as soon as I get my dot.  I guess it's not completely terrible... I wouldn't want to continue the process knowing it's not gonna work anyway.  I trust my Dr. to know what's best even if it makes me feel bad.  Hubby says not to worry and that everything will be fine.  Now if only he could convince me.