Tentative Transfer Tuesday!

Yepp, you read it!  Things have progressed perfectly so far and I am tentatively scheduled for our embryo transfer on Tuesday!  This is provided my blood work Monday is okay.

Tuesday is going to be an incredibly special day.  First off, it will most likely be our embryo transfer.  Secondly, it is our 8th wedding anniversary!!  Is that not crazy timing?? Amazing.  It will certainly be a special day.  The only thing that is bothering me about the day, is that we will indeed miss the funeral for someone very special to us.  

I have tried to think of people that could possibly just go with me so that Ross could stay back (as he was asked to drum for the service).  I haven't had any luck..I mean, really it is short notice and people DO have lives! :o)  I even asked Ross if I could just go alone..but he definitely wasn't for that.  

I will start 2 medications tomorrow:  Progesterone and Estrogen.  The Progesterone is going to break me in the bank.  It is almost $300 for what looked like only 20 days :(  It will be worth it though, it's one medication that can really help keep a pregnancy.  

So, that is it in a nutshell.  We will probably leave Monday evening after our friends calling hours.  Please pray that my blood work comes back as it should and that we have safe travels.  Also, please pray that the transfer goes well!

Thank you ALL!

Your prayers and kind words are appreciated!!

I wanted to take some time to say thank you to all of you who have sent positive thoughts, kind words, and prayers.  You don't know how much they mean to us!

When battling infertility, a lot of people battle it alone or just with their significant other.  A lot of this is from keeping the battle on the down low and not being public with it.  We were very quiet about all of this for a good 3 years or so.  First off, it's rather embarrassing.  Not that it should be embarrassing, but you aren't really sure who WANTS to hear about that intimate part of your life??

We REALLY made this journey public when we started the clinical trial.  We had asked for prayers at church and shared our journey prior to, and our close friends and family knew, but that was really it.  I will never regret letting the world know that my female anatomy isn't up to par, because not only am I NOT embarrassed of it, you wouldn't believe how many people that have come to me who are/were battling it themselves.  To me?  That made it all worth it.  

I am so thankful that people feel comfortable enough with me that they can come to me and either ask for advice or encouragement.  I feel like God put this roadblock in front of me (us) for a reason, and by golly, I will make something of it!   

Really, that isn't the whole point of this post.  My point is how thankful I (we) are to all of you who have supported us along the way.   People we haven't talked to for years have chimed in with such nice things to say, people whom we are very close to, coworkers, etc.  All of these things have had a lasting impact on us.  Whenever we feel down or stressed, we have been able to count on all of you and we will forever be grateful.  


I know that so many of you are praying for us as we are on our 2nd journey to having a baby and let me tell you..your prayers are being answered!!  

Today, we realized we are hurting a little bit financially because a check (for a rather large amount, mind you) hasn't come that we were counting on a few weeks ago.  This check was to cover the majority of my monitoring appointments as we have to pay out of our pocket for everything.  We had planned on having 1 appointment to pay for this week, however it turns out I have to be seen again tomorrow..which means more $$.  Of course NOW my body wants to hurry up and do what it's supposed to ;o)


Our account is currently negative but we aren't going to worry about it because we know it will work out.  Our biggest concern was how in the world we were going to pay for my appointment tomorrow.  Was I going to write a check and hope that it didn't go through until Friday?  We had NO idea what to do.  Last I checked (which was about a week ago), I had $98 on my HSA card and our savings was down to $80.  This wasn't going to pay for my appointment.  So, Ross asked me to check how much was in my HSA account and what do you know?  We have the EXACT amount plus about $7!!  SERIOUSLY??  Our prayers and all of your prayers have been answered.  It just worked out like it was supposed to.  THIS is why we aren't letting ourselves get stressed.  This is costing us a lot of money, but we know (and hope and pray) that it will be worth it.  


Let this be a lesson that your prayers go A LONG way!!  Even just a few minutes of your time is a true blessing to us.  


Going forward, I ask that you pray for us emotionally (this can get VERY stressful at times and heartbreaking), physically (that my body does what it is supposed to do and the transfer works out), financially (that we don't have to do too many more monitoring appointments), timing (that we are able to be here for a dear friends funeral on Tuesday), and also for our safety (we have to travel to NYC for the transfer itself).  And of course, please add to the list if you feel necessary :o)


Thank you again to all of you who have supported us, talked about it with us, cared enough to ask about it, prayed about it, and who have just loved us.  I tear up when I think about how many people truly love us and are praying that this works out for us.  Thank you, and we love you ALL.

Our 2nd journey is officially underway!

Ross and I have made our 1st trip of our second journey to New York!  This was for my Hysteroscopy that pretty much kicks this cycle off.  This was an eventful yet relaxing trip, and I can honestly say that it is my favorite trip there ever.  The hardest part was leaving Avery for a few days, but I know she was in excellent care and we called to check up on her every few hours.

We dropped Avery off Saturday evening and we hit the road early Sunday morning. It started out rainy but about 2 hours in, the sunrise was absolutely beautiful.  Not only was it beautiful, but it was almost calming.

The drive there seemed to fly by.  We arrived in Newark, NJ around 3:15 which was about the exact time we had planned on getting there.  We checked into our hotel, freshened up a little bit, and then head into the city.  We had made the decision to stay overnight because I was due at the clinic at 7am on Monday, and the thought of another driving through the night trip REALLY didn't sound appetizing.  

We had decided to go to Times Square.  We had been there before but not for very long and we thought there would be a little more to see there.  It was amazing (as if it could be anything else)!  We went to Toys R Us, The Disney Store, American Eagle, ate at the Shake Shack, and finished up by going to Dylan's Candy Bar..or so we thought!  Right near Dylan's Candy Bar was this beautiful park set up with little shops, an ice skating rink, and a carousel.  It ended up being Bryant Park, which isn't a park I had ever heard of.  It was too cool!  Let me also mention that the weather was in the 60's and absolutely gorgeous!  Anyhow, we walked through the park and peeked into a few of the shops.  Ross insisted that I get a head wrap type thing that I had been really wanting so I did get one of those.  We didn't buy anything else except for a Mickey Mouse from the Disney Store with an I <3 NY shirt on.  I hope one day that little girl knows how special NYC will be to our family.  

We decided to try to make it back to the hotel rather early since we had to be up at 5am the next morning.  We knew it would take awhile to catch the train and Subways to the clinic.  We got back and were in bed by 10pm..which I thought was great! Right?! Well, it WAS great until I was woken up at 1am by an alarm going off in the hallway of the hotel and flashing lights outside!  We had to be evacuated from the hotel..in the middle of the night..in our pajamas.  This was lovely!  We were outside for about a half hour and we never really found out what the problem was.  It wasn't a fire or anything, but we were told something about a wedding party and some of the guests got into a room they weren't supposed to be in..who knows.  For the rest of the night, Ross and I were never really able to go back to bed.  5am came awfully fast!

We were quick at getting ready, we had JUST gotten to the shuttle right before it took off, and we caught the train into the city..all in great timing!  We navigated on the Subway like it was just yesterday that we were there for our first journey and ended up to the clinic about 15 minutes early.  I got signed in and was given a paper that I needed to be seen by billing before any services were provided.  I crossed my fingers that it wasn't something serious.  It just ended up being that I had to pay for the Frozen Embryo Transfer and the months since June for the storage fee.  I was then told that I WAS AT THE WRONG CLINIC!!!  The girl was like "you didn't know to go to the Columbus Circle office?", I was like "no, I didn't even know anything about the other office" and she proceeded to say that the person who scheduled it may have just assumed I was a regular patient there and just would have known.  Luckily she just called over and told them we were on the way and told us to get a taxi.  It didn't take long to get there and it was our FIRST NYC cab ride!  It was pretty uneventful (thankfully)!


We got to the clinic for my Hysteroscopy and I must say, it was beautiful! Much different than the other one we had always been to.  Not that the other one isn't nice, this one is just much newer and more modern.  I was called back, I changed into my gown, booties, and hair net and waited to be taken back.  The anesthesiologist then called me and walked me back.  I got on the table, and while she was putting my IV in the doctor was just talking to me.  Next thing I know, she told me to enjoy the Bahamas and I was OUT!  After that, I slightly remember getting shaken and then walked to the recovery area.  I was feeling pretty crampy.  She came back in to check on me and said I didn't look so hot so she gave me a shot of some sort of pain medicine in my IV and then I felt wonderful!  I was in recovery for probably 45 mins to an hour.  I got my paperwork and had my FMLA forms filled out and we were on our way!  We made it back to the hotel around 11:45 and checkout was at noon so we made perfect time.


The ride home felt like forever even though I slept for most of it.  Ross was a true champ driving all of the way home..granted I couldn't have even if I wanted to.  I was SO tired I could barely keep my eyes open.  The last time I had it, I was the same way.  The BEST part was picking up our Aves :)  She LOVED her Mickey!  


I am feeling okay now.  I have been bleeding pretty heavily which they said can last for 7-10 days.  I'm not cramping too bad but I have had a few dizzy spells, and earlier at work I felt absolutely horrid and sick to my stomach for about 45 minutes.  I'm not really sure what that was about but I'm thinking it could possibly be from the antibiotic I am on.


Our next step?  Monitoring this coming Monday.  We have decided to do the monitoring here so please pray that everything works out smoothly.  Also, they will especially be checking my endometrial lining to see if it is thick enough to proceed with the transfer this cycle or if we will have to wait for next..so keep your fingers crossed that it works out! I will keep you posted!

Oh, to NYC we will go!

It's true!  Ross and I will be beginning another journey to NYC!  We are proceeding with doing a frozen embryo transfer this month (provided all goes well)!  We decided to do this officially a couple of weeks ago.  It has been a little stressful coordinating things from a different state but I know that if we did it before, we can do it again!!

Thankfully, this time around there won't be as many trips necessary and we are even able to do some of the monitoring here in Ohio if we choose.  We are trying to decide what to do because it will cost us more money to do it here in Ohio, but of course it will be a lot harder to travel back and forth.  

We decided to do this because we have one frozen embryo left and felt it was the right time.  I am a giant ball of emotions right now about it all.  I am excited for the journey, I am nervous, scared, hopeful, etc.  This could potentially be our last shot at having another child. I want this so badly for Avery, I feel like she deserves a sibling.  Words can't express how much I love her!  

I will go into more depth at another time, but we will be traveling to NYC on Sunday for a Hysteroscopy on Monday.  I had one of these while doing the clinical trial for our IVF.  They pretty much clean out my uterus and give it the best possible environment for an embryo to attach.  They are doing this because I have endometriosis and also since I had a c-section, they want to make sure they remove any scar tissue that may be present.  I am praying I have an easier time this time around as I had a lot of pain and bleeding a few days after the procedure that caused me to go to the emergency room.  

We decided to make a little (very little) getaway out of this trip.  We thought since I had to be there so early on Monday it would be best to stay overnight rather than drive over night like we did in the past.  We are hoping to go into the city for the evening and see a little more than we did before.  What better time to be traveling to NYC than around the Holidays?!

We are both excited for this journey, and we ask for all of the prayers we can get.  They worked last time and I pray they work this time!  Stay tuned..our next month will be busy!!

And then there were 2

Hey everyone..if anyone reads this, LOL. Just wanted to post to say that the other 2 they were waiting for didn't make it. I guess they were progressing like they expected them to and so they had to destroy them. So, we have 2 frozen embabies (embryos..I just like to call them embabies because they are my babies..or at least the closest thing I have ever come to my baby!) that will wait for us until later this month or the beginning of next.

At first I was a little discouraged with only having 2 frozen..but then I got to thinking about it and then I had to wake up and say "HELLO! That's more than you would have had!! AND it's the closest we have EVER come to being parents!". So, I am ecstatic about 2..I just pray that when it comes time, that they take them out, they both survive that. If they do..I know they are tough, tough, tough and will be able to handle anything!

Mother's Day was a little bit difficult as it is every year. But this time it was a little easier just knowing I am a mommy to 2 little embryos. You might think I am crazy..but they are a part of me and may one day become my little baby. Just keep praying for us, PLEASE! In a week from Thursday we head back up for my Hysteroscopy. Hopefully that won't be too painful..yuck. After this whole thing is done I don't even want to know how many people have been "down there"!!!

Gotta run!

Freeze Frame!

Alright so just a quick update: they have frozen 2 of our little 'embabies' and will freeze 2 more tomorrow. I am assuming this is because 2 of the eggs were fertilized the day after the first 2. Soooo, so far so good!! Yes!