Our 1st Ultrasound

Last Friday, October 26, we had our first ultrasound ( I was 6 weeks 5 days pregnant) to see our baby and to hear the heartbeat. I was so nervous and excited. We have never made it this far with our other pregnancies so I was scared there was not going to be a heartbeat. When we first got there we went in and they said my bladder was not full enough and that I needed to reschedule, I started to cry and then she said I could go and drink more water in the waiting room. When we went back in she measured my ovaries and uterus and then I was allowed to empty my bladder and she performed the trans-vaginal ultrasound so we could see our baby. We saw that there was only one baby and we heard and saw the heartbeat. It was 113 bpm. It brought tears to our eyes.

That is our little baby :)

James and I holding our first ultrasound picture!

This week my Dr. called, himself, and told me that he received the ultrasound and said everything looked great and that he wanted another ultrasound exactly 2 weeks from the date of our last one to make sure everything is growing as it should. This news scares me a little because part of me fears that something might happen. I need to just relax and realize that I am high risk for the first trimester and that it is just protocol and I know I will feel better seeing our little bean grow and we will just get to have more pictures of our baby.

This week I went and bought a chalk board. I am going to record my growing belly with info written on a chalk board. I wish I came up with this idea on my own but I did not. I got the idea from Pinterest.

The announcement Board

Holding our ultrasound 7weeks pregnant!

We have our next ultrasound on November 9th which is next Friday.. Fingers crossed everything is growing perfectly and the heartbeat is there.

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN OUR FAVOR

Pregnant or Not Pregnant that is the question??

So, of course, I could not wait until the day of the blood test to find out if I was pregnant ( which was actually, Monday). I tested on Friday October 5, 2012. I figured I would test and if it is positive I then "know" and if it is negative then it could be to early since it was only 7 days after the 5 day transfer. I did not wake up in the morning and test, I woke up with every intention of waiting until Sunday, the day before the blood test. I did not have to work on Friday and so I was home cleaning and doing laundry and using my own bathroom. Every time I would go pee I would open my cabinet and see the home pregnancy tests staring at me, begging me to pee on them. I still refrained, mainly out of fear of seeing a negative. Then Lauren called and I brought it up to her and she said "go and test, I would have already tested by now if I were you."  She was really good at convincing me that if it comes up negative it is probably to early. So, I gave in and tested. I was so nervous that I didn't even get off the toilet and set it on the counter while washing up like most people. I just sat there elbows on my knees holding a small piece of plastic that within a minute was going to effect  my mood for the rest of the day. I have pee'd on so many of these at least 150 if not more in the last 5 years of trying and 99% of the time it has always been negative, even after staring at it for 10 straight minutes in hopes to maybe see some faint line. This time, however, was different as soon as I saw the liquid go across the little window of the test I see the "control line" show up and within seconds the pregnancy line shows up! I was in disbelief and started crying and pacing the house. At that moment I wish I would have waited until James was home because here I was so excited and nervous and crying with excitement and didn't have anyone to tell. Yes, I did think of calling Lauren back immediately but did not as I knew the first person should be my husband.

Was in disbelief but there are 2 lines!

I called James and asked him to come home before his next class. He asked why and I told him that I needed his help to move something because I was getting the house ready to have friends over that evening for poker. He still asked if it could just wait until after class. So, I said I had also bought him a small gift and wanted to give it to him. He immediately, asked why I was acting so strange I said if you want to find out then come home. He, honestly, did not have a clue. Once I knew he was on his way  home I ran downstairs and grabbed some red tissue paper and a white bow. I wrapped the pregnancy test as his "gift". When he got home I gave it to him and he was so excited. We both got teary eyed and realized our dream might be actually coming true. After our moment of excitement we both did say to each-other that it is very early and we have been at this stage before. Now we have to wait for the blood test to find out our hcg beta count. We, also, decided that we were not going to announce anything until Friday the 12th after we had received three beta counts since I had never announced when the actual blood test day was, or so I thought. (I did not realize until today, when I started getting about 20 text messages, and checked my blog that I had said I would find out today. So, I figured I owed it to all of my loyal readers and people who have supported us to share the news when I said I would).

On Saturday when I woke up I tested again ( after all, I did buy a 3 pack) to make sure it was real and did not go away. It didn't, there it was even darker. Sunday morning I tested again and again it was a darker line!

As you can see the line gets darker!

On Monday morning I went to the lab for my blood test and patiently waited all day for the Dr. to call me with my numbers. At noon, Dr. Montville himself called me to tell me I AM PREGNANT! and my numbers were 222 (they wanted anything above 100) he said the numbers were great. I went back today to find out if my numbers went up they wanted the numbers to increase by 55-65%. When Zoey (my nurse) called she said my number were 447! My numbers more than doubled!! and I have now reached a number I never have before. My previous pregnancies I started with low numbers my first pregnancy I tested and it was 48 two days later it was 114 then 167, 290, 314, then 38 ( lost it). So, as you can see I never had strong numbers so we are so excited that I started out with such strong numbers and that they doubled. I asked Zoey if I go in and test on Friday and she said NO! I asked "Why, don't you what to make sure they double again" she said no they will and my numbers are perfect and I should not worry about anything and if I start spotting or bleeding then we know something is wrong which there is nothing you can do about. She said that my ultrasound is scheduled for when I am 7 weeks pregnant which would be October 28th which is a Sunday so she said she would schedule it Friday, October, 26, 2012, I will be 6 weeks and 5 days and said it was fine and that way I would not have to wait another weekend without hearing something. We will get to hear the heart beat and see our little "blast". 

She said she would ask Dr. Montville if I could have one more blood test since I was wanting one. When she called me back she left a voice mail stating that Dr. Montville said that it is a waste of money since the test is about $140.00 and everything will be fine my numbers are perfect but if I really want one to call them back and they will fax one to the lab for me. I am thinking I will have one. I know it is expensive but can you really put a price on your piece of mind? what do you think? So, here is to more waiting! This pregnancy is baby steps.. Fist step was get past the blood tests. Next step, is to hear the heart beat, followed by making it to the second trimester. We still need all the positive support of our friends and family and positive energy sent our way. I do feel good about it this time. I am very tired and everything smells bad to me and I pee a lot but other that that I feel good, just nervous. 

So excited!

We also found out on Tuesday last week that all 5 of our embryos made it to be frozen and we received confirmation that they made it safe and sound to Florida!

Thank you so much again for all of your love, support and positive energy, please keep it up!

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN OUR FAVOR!

May the odds be ever in our favor!

On Friday September 28, 2012 I had my implantation. We had to be at the surgical center at 9:15am and I had to have a full bladder. When we arrived we were very anxious to find out how many embryos made it to day 5 and just excited to get to this point in our journey. 

Once we were called back, they did an ultrasound on my bladder to make sure it was full. They need a full bladder so it is out of the way from the uterus. Then Dr. Montville came in and talked with us and showed us our little blastocyst. As I had stated on Wednesday (day 3), there were 8, and as of the day of our transfer we had 6. Two of them did not continue to mature and were discarded. Out of the 6, which were all in great we did have one that was "perfect" as he had said. He said it was graded the best grade they give them and this is what they strive to see in the 5 day blasts. He then talked to us about how many we should implant and even though we went in there thinking we were for sure going to have 2 implanted we decided to go with the Dr. and embryologists recommendation for our first attempt and implant one. 

The success rate of pregnancy with implanting one is 55% and the success rate for implanting two is 57% however, the rate for triplets increases to 30% with two. We just figured with all the complications that can happen if, for some reason, we did get pregnant with triplets it was best to implant one on our first cycle and we do think it is best to listen to the experts. This way we will also have some to freeze which is what we need. The most expensive part of IVF is getting the eggs ready, the retrieval and growing of them. We know that we could never afford another fresh cycle and really wanted to make sure we had some to freeze. We find out how many made it to be frozen tomorrow. We are hoping they call with the number being the remaining 5.

James and I holding a picture of our Embryos!

A very magnified image of the blastocyst that was implanted

Our little embryos!

Once my bladder was full we went to the surgical room, James was allowed to come in. We then got to see the embryo on the screen which was of course magnified and on the other screen was the ultrasound and we got to see it being implanted. Once it was implanted James got to wheel me to recovery where I had to stay laying down for over 30 mins. After that, we were able to go home.  I asked if it was okay for me to drive the 4 hours back to Casper and the Dr. said that would be fine and to just take it easy this weekend and by Monday I can go back to work as normal. I was so excited to get to go home to Casper it had been a long 2 weeks!

James getting ready to go into the surgical room

This was right after being implanted! laying there hoping that our little embryo is getting comfy in there.

I want to thank everyone again for all the support and amazing positive thoughts and energy. Now, I need to wait until next Wednesday to find out if it worked and if I am pregnant. I am so glad I am going back to work so I can stay busy and TRY not to think about it.. Ha ha like that is even possible.. 

May the odds be ever in our favor!!

17 eggs, 10 mature eggs & 8 EMBRYOS!

Yesterday was our egg removal. We arrived at the Billings Surgical Center at 9:30 am and taken back to get ready. I had to get in a gown and get the IV started. I felt bad for the nurse as she could not get a vain and ended up poking me over 4 times before she got a good one. James was taken to the "jack-off room" and I waited for his return. Once he returned the Dr. came in and talked to us. He told us that is should take about 30 mins and they would come and get James when I was in recovery.

James and I when we arrived at the surgical center

This is the 'jack-off' room

 As you can see the room James was in kind of looked like a jail cell minus the bars. a twin bed, a small TV in a small room and there is a sink. Anyway, it got the job done and at least this room did not have a microfiber chair like the last clinic we went to.

James and I before I was taken back to the surgery room

So the procedure took about an hour longer than normal. James said he was started to get worried. I guess my left ovary had moved behind my uterus (probably because it was so big) so it was a lot more poking and prodding and they had to put in a cathider and change the size of my bladder so they did not puncture it. They also had to work around the uterus so they did not puncture that as well. But after it was all said and done they told me that out of the 36 follicles they drained I had 17 eggs! I was in excruciating pain when I woke up. I can not even imagine the pain if they did not put you to sleep for the procedure, you would probably pass out from pain. The bloating, cramps and sharp pain was almost unbearable and I actually have a high pain tolerance. They gave me some morphine, fentanyl, and percocet. As well as a prescription for percocets. After they all kicked in it was still painful but manageable for me to go to sleep. Last night was pretty rough what helped was the pain killers as well as a heating pad. 

As for today I am feeling 50% better than yesterday which is good. Still have a hard time walking around as it is still very 'heavy' and bloated and crampy. This morning the Dr. called and said that out of the 17 eggs I had 10 mature eggs and out of those 10 eggs 8 became embroys! We are so excited. Now lets hope that I do not hyperstumulate this week and that all 8 continue to grow so we can do a 5 day transfer. We however will not know if we do a 3 day transfer or 5 day until day 3 which is wednesday morning. Plus they are monitoring me to make sure I do not hyperstimulate. So it might be that we will be spening this entire week up in Billings waiting for the transfer. I am so ready to go home and sleep in my own bed and see my dogs. Go to work and get my mind off of it but that is most likely not in our cards. I hate this saying but I am going to say it because it does fit here.. "It is what it is"... and I know this is all worth it and I WILL get pregant this time. I have a good feeling about it.. Now we just have to wait all week and hope our little embroys continue to grown nice and healthy.

As for what I do to get my uterus ready for implant is this: continue to take the Cabergoline for another 4 days (this will help reduce our chances of OHSS) take Doxycyline 100mg in the am and pm and give myself (well, James has to do this one) a shot in the bum of 1ml of progesterone mixed with olive oil in the evening. I also will start taking, tomorrow, Medrol 8mg in the am and pm as well. All of this stuff will help thicken the lining of the uterus and help make it "sticky" we want it to be a nice cozy place that the embryos want to attach themselves to.

My hospital bands

We are super excited that we have 8 embryos and hope it stays that way.. Again, thank you so much for all of you who support us and who have been sending us positive energy and thoughts..It is time for me to take a nap and rest have a great day.

Tomorrow is the Egg Retrieval

Tomorrow is the big day! My Egg Retrieval.. This is when we will see how many eggs I actually have. As of Friday I had about 36 follicles. Their computer chart can only chart 15 for each side so that is all you will see in the photo below they had to write down the rest on paper. Having this many is typical in people with PCOS and because of this I am at a higher risk of hyper-stimulating after the eggs are removed, so Dr. Montville put me on Cabergoline 0.5MG for 8 days. He said that studies have shown that taking this will help reduce my chances of hyper-stimulation and will not have any effect of my chances of getting pregnant.

James and I being silly while waiting for the Dr.

List of all my growing follicles

At our appointment on Friday the Dr. told us that it was time for us to take the HCG shot that night and have the removal on Sunday (which is one day sooner than they had 'guessed'). I signed my consent form for the surgery and was told the usual of do not eat or drink after midnight or you will turn into a gremlin and to be there an hour early. So, tomorrow morning we will be at the surgery center at 9:30am! For those of you who do not know what the process is let me explain in my words!

Tomorrow they will sedate me with versed and propofol (yes, propofol is the drug Micheal Jackson OD'ed on) they sedate me because otherwise it would be so painful they would probably have to have someone hold my legs open. So, once I am 'out' they will use the same ultrasound probe they used to monitor the follicles (photo of said probe is in last post) except this time there will be a tube with a needle on it attached to the probe. They will inset that inside of me into my uterus and up near the ovaries (which mine right now are 5 times the normal size) they then will suck all the fluid out of the follicles, all 36 of them. They then will put the fluid in a warm test tube ( that is where people got the saying 'test tube baby') and then it is handed over to the embryologist who will get rid of all the fluid and take out the egg which is microscopic and put the egg in a petri dish. While I am having this done James will be in the 'jack-off room' giving his sample. Once all the eggs are in the dish they then will 'wash James' sperm' and then pour them over my eggs and hope they fertilize. "In Vitro" literally means "in glass" which is where it is in before they remove the egg. I hope you all liked my science lesson. I am now off to bed and I will let you all know tomorrow on many eggs I end up having.. Fingers crossed it is a lot and that everything goes as planned.. Sleep tight everyone.

Update on growing Follicles

I had another appointment this morning and I have 12 follicles on the right side and 10 on the left. My estrodial numbers are good and are going up as they should be. The Dr. has lowered my Follistim dosage which is normal for this stage of the game.

This is the list and measurements of my growing follicles!

As for how I am feeling, I have been getting nauseous and have had on and off cramping but this is all normal and part of doing IVF. Just to clarify, for all of you who do not know how everything works with IVF, just because I have 22 growing follicles that does not mean that I will have 22 viable eggs and who knows how many embryos I will actually have. It is a good thing that I have a good number though, but with that comes the concern of hyperstimulation (OHSS) which is when your ovaries get to big and you fluid starts filling up in your abdomen. This is very painful and most of the time ends in the hospital and would be a wasted cycle (so we DO NOT want that to ever happen). The Dr. is a bit concerned about it because of the count I have and my symptoms and also it is more common for women with PCOS to have this happen. As for now we are still on schedule to have the egg retrieval on Sunday or Monday. I am very anxious to see what he has to say tomorrow.

The ultrasound machine

James arrived tonight so now I am not here alone. I am happy for that but feel bad that now that he is here I don't have any energy and sleep a lot. I do have to say it was not that bad being here by myself. I talked on the phone with friends and family and my best friend, Lauren, kept me company every day and night. We would even Face Time every night and watch Friends together (our ultimate favorite show).

Lauren took a picture of us Face Timing

I will let you all know how my appointment goes tomorrow. Thanks for all of your positive thoughts and energy.

Living up in Billings

Time has gone by so fast this summer, I started the Lupron at the beginning of the month. I stated in the last post that I was excited that I was able to monitored in Casper and still work until it gets closer to the actual egg retrieval. After my nurse called every lab in Casper and the surrounding areas she found that there is not any lab that can give same day results for my estrodial level. I have to be in Billings, MT for every appointment, which I was not to happy about but there is nothing I can do. Last Thursday I made the trip up to to Billings for an ultrasound and blood work. My mom made the trip with me which was nice for both of us. She kept me company for the long drive (4.5hrs each way) and my mom got to meet the Dr. and learn more about my PCOS and see what they were going to be monitoring. At that appointment everything looked good right as it should be and when I got my estrodial level back it was 11 and it needed to be below 70 to start the stimulating drugs. So Thursday night I started 75 units of Menopur and 150 IU of Follistim and still continue the Lupron but drop down to 10 units per day.

This is all the drugs I will take to get my body ready for IVF

 I was told that my next blood test should be on Sunday which was one day sooner than originally planned. So Saturday James and I took the 5th wheel camper (since we never were able to sell it) up to Billings and stay at the KOA. It was so much cheaper to have full hook-ups at the KOA then pay for a hotel for over a week. So, I am staying in my camper, but it is home. I have water hook-ups, electricity as well as cable. It is nice because I can cook all my own meal and save money there as well.

KOA Billings, MT

Home Away from Home

 Since James is not needed for another 5 days or so he went back to Casper since he has class and my appointments right now are just checking appointments that last about an 30 mins. Since James was coming back on Sunday we took our nephew Jack with us. He is 5 and such an amazing little boy. James and I are very close to him and treat him like our own kid. He had fun. Once we got the camper all hooked up we played miniature golf here at the KOA and went into the hot tub here. Even though it was a long drive Jack still had a great time, it was his first time in Montana.

Jack playing miniature golf

Me and Jack

 Jack is fascinated in anything medical he always says he wants to be a Dr. when he grows up. To be more specific, he wants to be a Dr. that delivers babies because he likes babies. In our family, we are open with everyone about how things work, even the kids, so Jack knows what is going on with us and what we have to do. He wanted to give me my shots so I got them all ready and let him help me. He was so excited.

Jack helping me give myself my shots

 I had more blood-work on Sunday and Dr. Montville called with the results and said that my estrodial level was 103 which he said is good and needed to be between 100-300. He said to stay on the same dosage of meds and he would see me for an ultrasound and blood-work on Tuesday. So today, Monday, I had to occupy my time. I deep cleaned the camper, drove around Billings, went on a long bike ride ( after fixing my bike breaks) and made myself some Beet Salad. Now, I am updating my blog and watching some TV. I will keep you all posted as the appointments go on. Thank you again to all of our amazing friends and family for their support.