PUPO

We waited and waited for the call this morning to see if the transfer would be today or Thursday. Finally, about 9:30, the nurse called and said that it was decided to move forward with transfer today. All 4 embies were still looking good and good quality, but they wanted them to stay that way. We got on the road for the one hour trip to Pasadena. Let me just say that HOV lanes are my best friend! Even at 10 am, the traffic was yucky part of the way.

We got there about 10:30 with our appointment scheduled for 11. We sat in the lobby for just a few minutes before they called us back to the procedure room where I got to sit, half-naked, on a thinly padded metal table for an hour! T, R and Dr. K came in, hugs all around and we got down to business. I got pics of the embies:

R's embies

T's embies

 They transferred one embie from each guy to my "beautiful uterus" and then I laid there for an hour, which was interrupted in the middle by everyone insisting I empty my bladder (I wasn't uncomfortable, but I went:o)) It was nice to have the three men there to keep me company and it has been awesome to get to know these guys a little better. I feel lucky to be working with such wonderful guys who genuinely care about me and are so excited about this big step in their lives. One of the many funny moments was the looks on their faces as the nurse said to keep all meds the same and proceeded to list each one and its frequency:o) Yeah, it is a lot, but I am getting in a routine with it all and it isn't so bad.

Sorry it is upside down, but you get the idea. My uterus is in the upper left quadrant and the 2 little white lines are the embies:o)

Side note, we have 2 PIO injections under our belt:o) The actual injection is better than the Delestrogen, but it is a much larger amount and has left my booty a little sore. Tonight will be the first one on a sore side, so should be interesting.

Since we are on a roll of dates, today is my other aunt's 41st wedding anniversary (she also struggled with infertility, never tried IVF, but did eventually get pregnant).
And our first Beta test is scheduled for September 10th, which is DH's birthday (though I will be POAS before that).

I spent the rest of today on the couch and will be doing the same tomorrow. Think sticky thoughts for us and soon we will know that 2 little babies are growing in my tummy:o)

Fertilization Report

Egg retrieval happened Saturday.

8 eggs were retrieved

6 were mature

4 fertilized normally (2 Ts and 2 Rs)

Not great numbers, but it only takes one (or 2):o)

Monday evening we met the guys for our first REAL date! We had dinner at a super yummy mexican restaurant and then went for a walk on the beach (so romantic, eh?;o)) Miss Haley was a bit of a booger, but the guys thought she was pretty sweet:o) T and R brought her a cute pair of Hunter galoshes from London. She was walking around the living room in them tonight. It was soooo cute! She kept wanting to put them back on! 

Egg Retrieval!

Egg retrieval was originally projected for today, the 24th. Based on the ED's response to meds, it was moved to tomorrow, the 25th. I am actually pretty excited about it being the 25th, as I see it as a lucky day.

You see, my aunt's 50th birthday is that day:o)

You say, a relative's birthday, no big, but wait. . .

This particular aunt struggled with infertility for years and eventually turned to IVF. You wanna know what happened?

It worked on the first try!!!!!!!!!!

And that is exactly what is going to happen for T & R:o)

I was lucky enough to get pregnant easily, but I know several who weren't so lucky. To my friends and family who have struggled to conceive, you are a big part of my inspiration. Every time I think about the pain and knots to come from the lovely PIO, I remember that there are people out there, including T & R who would be willing to endure even more for that precious gift. And so, I prepare to start phase three of the meds.

Saturday, I will get a very short break from shots. I will start Progesterone support with the first vaginal insert (lovingly nicknamed "vag rockets" by surros) at bedtime.

Sunday, I will do the inserts 3/day, adding PIO (Progesterone in Oil) IM injection, and Medrol (Steroid).

I will continue the handful of vitamins daily, estrodiol tablets (thrice/day) and Delestrogen IM injection every third day.

Progesterone is known as the pregnancy hormone and helps maintain the endometrium (uturine lining) and increases the receptivity of your endometrium for implantation of an embryo.

The Medrol, I believe, is used to keep my body from rejecting the embryos and prevent any swelling that may be caused by the transfer procedure. I will only take it for 6 days.

The estrogen and progesterone will continue with possible adjustments depending on my bloodwork until somewhere between 9 and 14 weeks gestation. At around 8 weeks, the placenta will take over production of estrogen and progesterone, which they will see in my blood work and then release me:o) Remember, I am 2 weeks pregnant tomorrow:o)

Pictures, as Promised

This is everything laid out ready to go.

The top one is the larger needle, used to get the Delestrogen out of the vial.
The middle one is the smaller needle that goes in my arse (they are both 1.5 inches long for reference's sake).
The bottom one is used for the subQ Lupron injection (DH calls it "training wheels").

This is a farther out view of all 3.

The "training wheels come off tomorrow! Tonight is my last Lupron injection! Do you know what that means? . . .

Getting Closer to T-Day

Sorry, I didn't take pics of the needles, yet. The second one wasn't as fun as the first, so we have been focusing on getting in the groove and last night's booty shot was the best yet. Let's just say that I have spent the last week wondering what I got myself into. The Estrogen injections are only every third day and the Progesterone shots, which I will be starting soon, will be every day (I think) until about 10 weeks gestation. I have been trying to keep my focus on the goal: Putting a baby (or two) in the arms of two wonderful men!! With the support of my surro sisters and last night's success, I am feeling better about this:o)
I had my 4th monitoring appointment this morning. My lining measured 11 mm and the Dr. said it looked beautiful:o) I just talked to the nurse from the RE's office and everything with me is great and I am to continue meds as I have been. Her guess is that the retrieval will be a couple of days later than originally projected, since the ED's follicles were a little smaller than desired at her appointment yesterday. She has an appointment tomorrow where it will be determined if she will be ready for retrieval Friday, or if she will go back for another appointment Friday and have retrieval Sunday or Monday. For now, we wait.
We are going to be staying with my aunt and uncle. It will be great to have their support and be in a familiar place. We are taking DD with because it is too much to ask my mom to watch her for multiple days and deal with daycare (which she has been crying when I leave her, which is heart wrenching- good thing she seems to change her tune pretty quickly). My aunt will be able to watch DD when we go for the transfer and we will be able to spend time with her other than that!

Meds and Monitoring

The Lupron shots have been a breeze. I really haven't had any side effects. DH thinks I have been a little grouchy, but I think he has been a little grouchy between DD not sleeping normally and work stressing him out. Who knows. Either way, not too bad:o)

Last Thursday (the 2nd), I took my last BCP. AF graced me with her pesence Monday and I had my second monitoring appointment Tuesday. My endometrium (uterine lining) measured 2 mm, which was perfect, since it was shedding. The nurse called Tuesday afternoon and told me I was clear to start Estrogen support and vitamins. Estrogen support consists of Estrace (a pill taken orally) twice a day and an Intramuscular (IM) Delestrogen injection every third day (starting yesterday). The Estrogen is used to thicken my lining for transfer. The vitamins are a prenatal thrice daily plus DHA, Folate and another once per day. The injection wasn't bad at all. It took a little figuring out because you use one, bigger needle to withdraw the medication from the vial into the syringe (because the medication is thicker), then you switch needles to a smaller one for the injection. I will try to take pictures of the needles for my next post, so you can see what is going into my poor booty.

I have my next monitoring appointment Tuesday. They will check my lining and Estrodiol level. The goal is for my lining to be 10 mm or more and show a triple stripe by transfer. Possibly by my appointment, but I will have time if it isn't there yet.