Went to the Dr & the Dr said...

No more Monkeys jumping on the bed!

jk.

I did, actually end up going to the doctor today instead of Thursday, though, because I have had horrible cramps (TMI?) since last Wednesday or Thursday, along with a fever for 3 days, so they wanted me to come in and have a look at my ovaries since enlarged ovaries or infection can cause problems like these. So, he took a look at my ovaries and they were fine-- didn't have a kink or blood loss to them or anything like that, which apparently can happen with enlarged ovaries sometimes. I then got sent to another part of the hospital for blood work to check for an infection. That came back fine, so the causes for my horrible cramps and fever are somewhat of a mystery. The doctor decided to go ahead and give me a prescription for a mild antibiotic anyway, just in case, so I started that today.

While we were there we went ahead and had our post IVF talk. It appears that while I had a good number of eggs taken at the retrieval, they apparently were not good quality eggs for the most part. There were a couple of different issues with them, and then I had the issue of the ones that seemed to divide too quickly, which is also a bad thing.

He recommended that we try IVF one more time to see if the quality of eggs we get is better the next time. I asked if that typically happened and he said it was about 50/50. Sometimes you would get better quality eggs the next time, and sometimes you would not. If we were to not get better eggs the next time, he would not recommend to do IVF anymore after that. Instead we would be looking at egg donor or adoption as our options.

For now, we have not totally decided what we want to do. We are open to all options available to us at this time, but we are thinking of waiting until next spring or summer to either start another round of IVF or something else so that my body can have a little bit of a break from all the meds and such. This round has been pretty hard on my poor little body. Lots of pain from enlarged ovaries and whatever else caused these cramps and fever.

Until then, we are enjoying our 3 babies (Tobey, Pixie, & Eddy) and each other, and I will continue to post about our lives. :) I hope you'll stay around too! :)

Not What We Had Hoped For...

I'm pretty sure the title of this blog post informs you of our results... Not Pregnant :( Unfortunately, I was kind of expecting this when we went in because I have had some major cramping the last 3 days, so I knew something didn't feel right.

I thank you all for your thoughts, wishes, and prayers, and I hope that you all understand when I say that I DON'T want to talk about it. We tried, and it didn't work this time-there's not much else to say about it. I don't want to sound mean because I DO appreciate all of your support and kind words, that's not a conversation I want to have over and over and over.

We have another doctor appointment with the reproductive endocrinologist on Thursday to discuss our future options, which I'm assuming will include trying IVF again, adopting, etc. We are open to whatever and I know that whatever is supposed to happen will happen, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing.

So please, don't take it personal when I don't return your calls or texts over the next few days, because I am assuming you will want to talk about what I do NOT want to talk about. If you have other news, jokes, funny stories, etc., please feel free to text or email them to me, but otherwise, I probably won't answer, and I hope you understand.

Things to do... NOTHING!

Fun things to do while trying to waste (maybe this is not the RIGHT word per se, but it's pretty much how I feel and this is MY blog, so I'm leaving it.) 3 days of your life:

1. Play on the computer (this includes blogs, facebook, etc. etc. etc. I'm also very up-to-date on Yahoo! news...)

2. Watch T.V.

3. Clear out your DVR

4. Add more stuff to your DVR

5. Watch Netflix (so controversial) instant streaming (also controversial)

6. Take a nap

7. Take a shower

8. Do mild cleaning (I'm not supposed to be doing much still, so yes, I'm really milking this for all it's worth... especially since I'm the usual house cleaner. Although, it IS killing me that the house is not as clean as usual...)

9. Play 234o7928700912039 games of Solitare on your iPhone

10. Spend all day doing numbers 1, 2, 3 at a friend's house (Thanks for having me, Steph!)

11. Call your mom

12. Check email & snail mail

13. Write a blog!

14. Read a book

15. Make chili cheese dogs (or something healthy if that's what you prefer... Chili cheese dogs just happened to be the only thing that sounded tasty that day)

16. Eat a whole bag of Halloween kit kats (This took more than 1 day, thank you very much!)

17. Become bored enough to workout and then remember that you are not allowed to work out yet... darn... just as soon as I get motivated something like this happens... ;)

18. Become friends with all sorts of celebrities (Thanks, Twitter!)

19. Watch re-runs of shows you have already watched 114323 times.

20. Sit around feeling sorry for yourself & waiting for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE to invite you to do SOMETHING (shameless, I know...)

Thanks for reading, friends... If I come up with something else super exciting I may add another post. You should be super jeal at how fabulously exciting my life is right now... :)

My Sister, the Barbie...

Saturday night, my sister Krista had her Senior Homecoming... Look how gorgeous she is! :)

So pretty! :)

Emmys 2011

So I realize this has absolutely NOTHING to do with IVF, but a girl has to do SOMETHING to pass the time, right?

Favorite speeches of the night, that COULD have made me bawl had my husband not been home and I would not have gotten made fun of:

Margo Martindale - Justified

*PS How cute was it when Ashton Kutcher helped her up the stairs?? Swoon.

Melissa McCarthy - Mike & Molly

LOVED when all the nominees got on stage together like a pageant. So cute.

WORST dressed of the night:

Amy Poehler - Parks & Recreation

She either looks like a blue seal or an alien? Either way, NOT FLATTERING, and the dress is just plain UGLY.

Katie Holmes - The Kennedys

I mean seriously... Did she just wake up from a nap and throw her hair in a bun? I realize this is what I look like on most days, but then again, I'm not going to the Emmy's, am I?

Julianna Marguilies - The Good Wife

I think she and her daughter must have bejeweled this as a craft project? Seriously? (BTW- totally not even sure if she HAS a daughter... either way... ugly.)

Looks I LOVED:

*Apparently I had a thing for red dresses, so if you had a red dress on, Congratulations! :) Haha

Sofia Vergara - Modern Family

I mean, I thought she looked overall gorgeous... Perfect!

Nina Dobrev - Vampire Diaries

Oh to be 21 or 22 or whatever again and look amazing in absolutely anything... ugh.

Also, I LOVED the LONELY ISLAND mashup performance! I love when they have new Digital Shorts on SNL!

What were your favorite/least favorite looks of the night? Performances? Speeches? Etc?

ONE week...

Unfortunately... it's not THIS Friday that's on my mind, but NEXT Friday. Exactly ONE week from today I will find out if those sweet, sweet embryos have been continuing to develop and hang in there... I feel like this whole next week is going to drag by and be a wash... I'm not sure if I'll be able to think about ANYTHING else. And sorry, but I'm not sure I will be posting about the test ON next Friday. I do have family that needs to be informed before my blog followers... I'm sure you all understand. ;)

Eggs...

I got a call from the fertility center, and the rest of the embryos never developed any further, so I have NONE of these bad boys to freeze. :( This means, that if this round of IVF doesn't work, we will have to go through THE WHOLE IVF procedure all over again, or start considering other options... which we ARE open to. Oh well, *fingers crossed* that the ones implanted are still developing!!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the best step-dad, Randy Baker! He and my mom have been married since I was in Second grade, and has never made me feel like a step-daughter. He has always treated me like a real daughter. He is a true good ole country boy, a hard worker, a golf and fishing lover, and the BEST catfish fryer I know. I hope your day is fantastic!

Fiiiiiiiiinally feeling a little better...

Hi friends!

After a FULL day of feeling pretty terrible yesterday, I am *finally* feeling better... I don't know if it's the prayers or medicines (or maybe a combination of the two) but keep it up! It's helping! My enlarged ovary was making my back hurt so bad that there was NO comfortable position for me to lay or sit in really. I only slept in about 15 minute increments as I would have to switch between the two positions I found that were decent... Luckily around 4 am this morning, my back stopped hurting, and I finally got a little bit of sleep.

I got a call around 8 am from the fertility center. They have still been watching the extra embryos that we didn't use to see if they are still dividing and would be good to freeze. At this point, it looks like they have stopped doing anything, so it doesn't seem like we will have any to freeze. Without frozen eggs/embryos to use, if this round of IVF doesn't work, we would have to go through the WHOLE process again to have another try at it... So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep sending prayers and positive thoughts our way!

*I probably won't have any more news IVF-wise until my blood pregnancy test on September 23rd... I hope you'll still keep following! :)

Embryo Transfer

This is a picture of our ACTUAL sweet embryos!! Pretty amazing, huh??

Today I had my embryo transfer at 7:30 am this morning. When we went in, we were able to get a list of all of our viable embryos at the time. The embryos are graded on a scale of 1-4. 4's being the best. We went in knowing that if we had two level 4 embryos that we were only going to put two embryos back in. However, we had 2 level 3's and the other three were level 2's. Therefore we decided to put 3 embryos in.

This procedure was not painful, however I have been in some pain from the medicines and other procedures. I have been nauseated, bloated, minor cramping, and some pretty bad back pain. This is do to my ovaries being enlarged from the medicines. Right now they look okay and I am taking a medicine to help with that, and there was no fluid in my abdomen, so that is good. However they are enlarged, which causes pain. :(

I am supposed to take it pretty easy for the next 2 weeks until my blood pregnancy test, which will be next Friday, September 23rd.

In the meantime, please pray for our embryos to stick and for my ovaries to stop being enlarged so that I won't be in pain anymore... Thanks everyone for all of your support and prayers!!

Tomorrow I'm going to have babies in my belly!!

I just received a call from the embryo place and of our 5 eggs remaining, 3 are 4 cells and 2 are 3 cells. I *think* this is good news since the girl told me that they are supposed to be between 2-4 cells today. Because I had the eggs that were dividing so quickly, they are going to do my embryo transfer procedure TOMORROW, 9/12/2011 at 7:45 am!!! This means tomorrow, I will officially have babies in my belly!

We have not decided for sure how many embryos we want transferred yet. But tomorrow when we arrive, they will show us pictures of the embryos and have them graded on a scale of 1-4. Basically, you want grade 4 embryos, or grade 3. We have decided that if we have 2 grade 4 embryos, we are only going to put 2 in; but if we don't, then we are going to put 3 in.

So, everyone keep saying your prayers that the embryos keep dividing normally, and are a high grade!!

Even though the embryos will be transferred, this is not a guarantee of a pregnancy, as they can either not stick, or miscarry.

I keep reminding myself that whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. If it's meant to be, then it will be. And if not, there are always other options...

Please keep thinking of us and praying!

Scientific Conception

Hello to whomever is reading! As most of you DON'T know, the hubs and I have been going through the process of IVF (Invitro Fertilization). And when I say the hubs and I, I mostly mean that I have been going through invitro. Not that he hasn't been there every step of the way--but I'm lucky enough to be the one having everything done.

It all started way back when with CRAMPS. Yes, capitalized CRAMPS. Severe cramps that I was told my whole life were "normal". Let me tell you, they were anything but. They were debilitating. After 10 or so years, I finally found a doctor who listened to my complaints and was willing to do something about it. After a laparoscopy (surgical) procedure, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Endometriosis. During this time, the hubs and I had decided we wanted to have kids and had been trying for about 7 months, however, with the laparoscopy, my doctor did a dye test and found that my fallopian tubes were basically closed off. Therefore, our only shot of having children was through invitro.

At this point, I was pretty shocked. I never imagined that at 27, I wouldn't be able to have kids naturally. I thought that only old people and celebrities went through invitro. I was wrong. Once I found out I was going to have to do IVF, people came out of the woodworks with their IVF stories, or knew someone who had done IVF. However, no one ever seems to talk about it, and a lot of people are curious, so here is how invitro works.

The Process of Invitro:

1. Be diagnosed as infertile (you or your husband)
2. Find a reproductive endocrinologist
3. Decide to do invitro
4. Order a HUUUUUUGGGGEEEE box of fertility drugs
5. Learn to administer shots to yourself (daily)
6. Have MULTIPLE uterine ultrasounds and lots of blood work
7. Have an egg retrieval surgery
8. *Fingers crossed* have some eggs to fertilize
9. Implantation procedure
10. 2 weeks after implantation have a blood pregnancy test

On Friday, 9/9/2011, I had my egg retrieval surgery. I was told before the procedure that I had 14 eggs. After my surgery, they were able to take 20 eggs. Here is something you should know about egg retrieval surgery. I am hilarious under anesthesia. Part of the amazing ensemble you get to wear are these sexy little booties that go over your feet. These booties stick up on the top of your foot like a little shark fin... So naturally coming out of anesthesia, I decided to move my foot by everyone who came near me and make a shark chomp and chewing sound. I also asked my husband 5,000 times how many eggs they got... as well as how many EGGS he had. And I was very disappointed to find out he had NONE. ;)

Today, 9/10/2011, we got a call saying that of our 20 eggs, 14 were mature. Of those 14, 8 fertilized, however, only 5 were still viable and of those 5, 4 of them are multiplying too quickly. We are not quite sure what this means, and they are not sure why 4 of them skipped a stage and began to multiply too quickly, so they will be watching them overnight and hope they make it.

So, that's where we are in this whole process. Hoping that our 5 remaining eggs hang on and keep maturing naturally. We would like to have at least 2-3 embryos to put back in when the implantation procedure occurs (either Monday 9/12 or Wednesday 9/14).

Keep your fingers crossed, say your prayers, and wish us luck!