Happy New year!!!!

We are celebrating the new year with some new comfort, today we bought a used sectionl with 2 recliners, we are both very satisfied and comfy :)

Tonight were having a friend over, munching on some goodies and left over Christmas cookies. Were staying in, Vegas is too crazy to be out and about. Plus we like to avoid all the drunk drivers that will be on the road.

Happy New Year everyone, we cannot wait to see what the new year brings us...hopefully one or two babies :)

SNOW!!!

We have been having major withdrawals with not being in Wisconsin and missing snow. So today before the packer game we took a trip up to the mountain with the dogs to play in the snow. In some spots I sank to my hips. Everything was covered in snow it was so pretty. The dogs just played and played, I bet they would have gone for hours. Big 5 sports had sleds for sale so we made sure to pick one of those up, yes we are in our mid 20s and still enjoy sledding like little children. I hope to take the kids I nanny for up to play in the snow later in the week, it would be the 4 year olds first time in the snow, she so badly wants to make a snowman.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone, hope everyone has a great Christmas! Devin is off so for once we get to celebrate Christmas together!!!

Of course....

Got another letter from Wilford hall, they changed our baseline date. Its now the 19th, its only 2 days later but we were finally under 4 weeks. Oh well!! So I stop the birth control pills on the 17th, then all the fun starts the 19th. We will have first u/s that day, I will have blood taken and then another medication injection class. I'm ready for the new year!!!!

Getting ready for Christmas

Last week Devin and I went to base to pick out a free tree. Every year on base there is a program that does Trees for Troops. We picked out a perfect tree, then after decorating I of course had to get some new photos of the dogs. Chase was a perfect model as always he sits so still for me. Shelby our wild child on the other hand had to have to be bribed with a treat being dangled in front of the camera to get her to sit still enough. I used my portrait lens that Devin bought me for our anniversary back in September. I am really starting to get the hang of using it. A new lens makes a HUGE difference in the quality of my photos.

Looking Forward

We got our refund from our failed IVF, we have been waiting a while for it. I finally feel like we can close that chapter and move forward. So nothing but positivity from here on out. January 17th will be the start of our next cycle. We had a wonderful blessing of another couple that is also cycling around the same time offer their home to us, they have a room and bathroom for us to use while we stay in Texas. And they are fine with the dogs coming along as well. They live in the country so were very excited to not stay in the city, or at the hotel we stayed at last time. Its going to save us so much, and not having to stay in the city is going to be a HUGE stress relief for the both of us. I'm also excited to have another female to hang out with. Now that our other cycle is put in the past I feel so much better and looking forward to starting our family in the start of 2011.

Got our Letter

I called the IVF clinic last week to get some info about testing and they gave us our dates for starting IVF. I have been waiting for the letter from them to know for sure the 17th is going to be our baseline and it is. So if things go the same as last time my Baseline will be the 17th, start medications the 18th and Retrieval should be about the 28th. We are so looking forward to getting things started and hoping these next couple months go by fast with all the holidays coming up.

This weekend My BFF(Kristin) and Nephew(Dom) will be coming out for the Air show and some hiking. I have been wanting to have Dom come out for the Airshow since we moved here in 2007, this will be our 4th time seeing the show but Dom and Kristin's first. I know Dom is looking forward to the air show and hiking, only if he gets to hike with Devin though of course. Now that he is older he is all about Uncle Devin. When he was younger and Devin and I just got married he was mad at Devin for "taking me away." So now I just LOVE seeing them together.

Some more BIG NEWS!!!

Yesterday Devin had Graduation for Community College of the Air force where he received is Diploma in Associates in Applied Science Electronic System technology. So proud of him. He said next step is to go for his Bachelors. I will hold him to it.

ICSI

I just wanted to make a post about what we'll be doing different this IVF Cycle, We'll be doing everything we did last time and then a procedure called ICSI. I pulled the info right from the Patient booklet at Wilford Hall:


ICSI - INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION
This technique was developed in Brussels, Belgium at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in 1991. ICSI involves the injection of a single sperm directly into the cytoplasm of the oocyte (egg) using a technique called micromanipulation. This technique has revolutionized the treatment of male infertility. It is useful to couples where the male has a low sperm count, low sperm motility, high levels of anti-sperm antibodies or abnormal sperm morphology. In the case of testicular obstruction (ie: vasectomy), the sperm are aspirated from the epididymis or testes by the urologist and then the ICSI procedure is performed by the embryologist to fertilize the oocytes.
Careful follow up of all pregnancies are done and to date the rate of birth defects appears to be no higher than in naturally conceived children. It has been noted that men that have extremely low sperm counts may have a condition known as micro-deletion of the y-chromosome. This is a genetic condition that can account for why these men have a very low sperm count. This condition (micro-deletion of the y-chromosome) may be genetically passed down to the male offspring of this specific group of men. It has been shown that men with a condition called congenital absence of the vas deferens have a higher incidence of carrying the gene for cystic fibrosis and should have genetic testing done for cystic fibrosis.

Candidates for ICSI:
ICSI is useful for patients suffering from male factor infertility, which includes low count, low motility, abnormal sperm, high anti-sperm antibodies, or poor fertilization by conventional insemination in past cycles. ICSI requires very few total motile sperm, so even males with severe male factor infertility have a chance at producing a genetically related child.
http://www.sammc.amedd.army.mil/patient/departments/ob_gyn/sammc_south/in_vitro/docs/IVFPatientBooklet.pdf

Moving On.....

I called Texas today to ask them about some work up I needed to complete and to my surprise they had our dates. Now I am feeling a bit more excited. So our Baseline date will be January 17th, I thought for sure we would be in the last group but this time we are in the 2nd group. So now we need to cross everything that Devin will be able to get off, he started a new job where is works long hours and odd days.

Sad news

Most of you already know that we got the worst news we could get today, none of the eggs fertilized. After they retrieve the eggs they place them in a petri dish with the sperm and then let them fertilize naturally. About 50% of the time they use a procedure called ICSI where they force the sperm into the egg, they don't like to do this procedure unless they know ahead of time the sperm is deformed and wont fertilize without help. Well for us they had no reason to believe the sperm wouldn't be able to break through the shell of the egg and fertilize, that only happens 1 in 1000 cases, and were that one. The doc felt so bad and did all the research he could to figure what happened before he called to give us the bad news. We are both so very heart broken, from what they could tell all 24 eggs seemed perfect. I had a hard time with the procedure, they don't use anesthesia to knock you out, just a drug that dulls the pain and most dont remember anything that happened. For some reason i didn't respond well to the meds and ended up being alert the whole time, along with being very sensitive and having a lot of discomfort. They even gave me 4 times the normal amount, so you can say the past two days have not been easy on me. I was ok with the pain and discomfort because i would remind myself that no pain no gain and this is all worth it because we will have our miracle baby, but now it was all for nothing. We both feel as if we have lost our children.

We met with the Doctor today, he got us in right away when we got there which was nice since I had already been balling my eyes out all morning and could not handle sitting in a waiting room with pregnant women. He explained what happened and told us our options and how we are their priority when we are ready to come back and try again. They will get us in any cycle we want. He is also trying to get as much money refunded to us as he can. He was very understanding and explained emotionally how much they all put into IVF. Being military doctors, they are not required to do IVF, and the military does not support or fund the program. They do it all on their own because they choose to.

So for now were are packing up and heading back to Vegas, were going to take a few days to grieve and then decide what the next step is. We have up to a month to decide if we want to get into the January cycle. Thanks for everyones support and prayers.

Its Time!!!

I'm so nervous but so excited at the same time. I'm up way too early, my retrieval isn't until 9am but of course my mind is racing. I'm not allowed to eat anything in case they have to put me under anesthesia so of course this morning I am actually hungry, go figure. I won't be completely out for the procedure so I guess that is why I am nervous, they will be giving medication by IV but they said some women remember it and some don't. I'm really hoping I'm one who doesn't remember what is going on.

Don't forget to vote on how many follies(eggs) you think they will retrieve, I should know today how many they got and then tomorrow they will let me know how many fertilized after that they let them grow until transfer.

Doc called...

I do my trigger shot tonight to make me ovulate, and then go in Monday at 930 am for retrieval of the eggs. So no more belly shots the rest will be in my back hip....in a week I will be Pregnant.

Waiting....

We're waiting on the doc to call to let us know when to do the trigger shot. He said he needs to check my blood work but is 80-90% sure I will trigger tonight and retrieval will be Monday. I have a lot so follies still, all different sizes, but the biggest ones were up to 19mm. He told me he would call around noon, I saw a different doctor today. There are 3 docs at this clinic, and the 2 I have met are really nice.

So close...

The Doc measured the eggs today and they are ranging from 13mm-17mm. They would like to see them about 18-20mm, so I go back tomorrow again to see how they have grown, and to have more blood work. my veins and tummy are so sore from all my shots and having blood drawn -- my body is getting sick of being stuck 3-4 times a day. But no pain no gain. The Doctor today cracked me up, he did the ultrasound instead of the tech who usually does it, he said "look at all the millions of eggs, beautiful."

I believe the eggs grow about 1-2mm a day, doc is thinking Monday will be my retrieval, I am more then ready mentally.

Things are moving so fast

Well, last week everything was moving slow, our appointments were so spread out. I went in this morning for more blood work and another ultra sound and will be back again tomorrow. I am responding really well to the medication. I didn't get exact numbers on the sizing of the follies or how many they saw today but when I asked the Dr. if I have as many as the other day, he said "about that" and kind of laughed. I think they counted even more but of course they don't all grow the same so some might not be ready. It's looking like my retrieval will be on Sunday or Monday. I'm getting nervous but I know it will all be worth it. I will be awake when they retrieve the follies(eggs) but they will sedate me so I may or may not be aware of what is going on. Hopefully I don't feel anything. Thanks everyone for all the well wishes and prayers, keep them coming they are doing wonders :)


Oh yea we had to make another trip to the pharmacy, I have 7 more medications to add to the mix......

Another appointment down

We had our second ultra sound and blood work today, they found 11 follies on my left ovary and 14 on my right, thats 4 more then last week making a total of 25. The largest follie is measuring 13mm, so they started me on another medication to keep me from ovulating. So that makes a total of 2 shots in the morning and one at night. We will have another ultra sound and more blood work on Thursday (we as in me, but Devin goes with). There they will decide if we should keep my dose of the sitmming medication the same, or lower it so I don't over stim. I'm guessing that my egg retrieval will be next week with the way the follies are growing so fast. Usually stimming time is about 7-14 days. Stimming means I am taking medication to grow multiple follies so they have a better selection of eggs for retrieval.

Today after our appointment we went to the golf course, Devin golfed 18 holes. It was a perfect day to be outdoors--the weather was perfect with a nice breeze and hardly any humidity. It has been a while since he golfed so he was happy to get out.

The Start of baby d

Today I had my first appointment for IVF. First I had blood drawn to look at my levels and then an ultra sound to check my ovaries and see how many follies I have growing. Today they counted 9 on my Left ovary and 12 on my right, thats 21 total. They said there could be some more hiding but 21 is a great number. Tomorrow I start the fun of injections. We had a 3 hour class today to learn how to do the injections the proper way, we will have to do both subcutaneous(in the abdomen) and intramuscular(back side) injections. I'm not looking forward to the intramuscular injections but I know the outcome will be more than worth it. So, tomorrow I start with 150 IU of Follistim, to stimulate the follies, and at night I do micro HCG to also help stimulate. Both are done in the belly with tiny needles so those wont be so bad. Plus Devin's really good at giving shots. My next appointment will be Tuesday the 28th. I wasn't given a tentative retrieval date but they did say you stim for about 7-14 days, so it depends how well I respond. At this clinic the do day 3 transfers, which means after they remove the eggs and fertilize them, they let them grow for 3 days. I was talking with the nurse who helps out with IVF and she said they may have me do day 5 since I'm prone to over stimulating and having fluid build up(very painful). We will see which path we go, either way we are so hopeful and positive we will be bring home a baby(s) in 9 month months :)

Another thing I wanted to add is that we choose to freeze any left over embabies that wont be transfered but are doing well. Since I am only 25 and have a good amount growing, they recommended that we freeze what we do have. This means I wont have to do another full IVF cycle if we decide we want another baby in a few years. Also, if we do decide to have another child later on, the eggs we have frozen will still be 25 years old, not 30 or 35 (or however old I am at the time) The quality of a females eggs go down dramatically as she ages, so its a huge advantage to save younger eggs.

Here is Devins ONE Medication....


And then there are mine, I havn't even counted the needles and honestly don't want too....Also this isn't all my meds there are more that I will be given.....

Almost TIME

I have 2 Birth Control Pills left and One day of work(monday) then were off to Texas. My appt is Thursday at 0630, we will find out then what day I will start injections. We'll also have a 2-3 hour medication injection class that we will be attending that day as well. I can't wait to get started, I'm nervous about all the injections but Devin's good at giving shots he has had to give them to me a few months back. I know in the end it will be so worth it when we have our miracle(s) in our arms.

Come and gone

I cannot believe our 5th has already come and gone, where has the time gone. For now I am happy time is moving fast, we are less then 2 WEEKs AWAY!!!!! YAY

Here are a few photos from our anniversary.

Happy Anniversary!

Love you Devin, Cannot believe its been 5 years already. Can't wait to celebrate more and more anniversaries with you!!!!!

Labor Day!

We have had a great weekend so far. For once Devin got 4 days off, and we have been busy non stop doing lots of things. We are dogsitting a puppy this weekend, hes a 13-week old English black lab, just like Chase and Shelby. Shelby has loved having him around for the most part, but I think today, being our 3rd day with him, she's ready for him to go home. Yesterday we went hiking with all 3 dogs and a couple friends with their dogs, they Loved it! There were a few mud puddles that they just had to play in.

Tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary, we were planning on taking a trip to Alaska, but since we're doing IVF this year, that plan has been put on hold. We've always wanted to go there though, hopefully some day we will get stationed there.

We are just about 2 weeks away from starting IVF!

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Great Basin was GREAT!!!!

Last weekend Devin and I took a 3 day weekend and went up to Great Basin National Park, a 5 hour drive from Vegas. There were a few different camp grounds on the mountain so we choose the one the highest one, at 10,000 feet. The summit of the mountain was over 13,000ft. We found the best campsite with a creek running along the backside of the site. The dogs loved walking about in the water. The best part was the deer all over, lots of mommas with fawns. One night we had about 4 bucks right at the edge of our site. I was able to get about 20 ft away to take a few photos. We were not able not able to stay 2 nights like we planned, the wind gusts were up to 43 mph so we decided to pack up and end our weekend. Before we left we did get a chance to visit the Lehman Caves, it was both mine and Devin's first time in a cave. I tried taking some photos while Devin explored the caves. We had a great time and the dogs loved getting out of Vegas.

We are 3 weeks away from the baseline! Were both getting more and more excited to get out of Vegas and have 3 weeks together. When we return from our trip we hope to be celebrating a BFP(Big Fat Positive)!

29 days to go

We are less then a month away, just barely but we are. My last birth control pill will be on the 19th of September, then on the 21st we will be on our way to Texas. In the mean time we are doing our best with staying busy. This weekend we are headed up to Great Basin National Park with the dogs and some friends to do a couple nights of camping. There are plenty of hiking trails and a creek for fishing. We're both like two giddy kids counting down until we leave. There hasn't been much for us to do here in Las Vegas with the heat. The dogs haven't been out of the house in so long even -- at night its 95 degrees outside. Looks like the temps for great basin will be in the 70s during the day and 40s at night -- perfect for sitting around the camp fire and roasting marshmallows.

One thing we have been up to here in Las Vegas to stay busy is Crossfit. Its a workout program we have been doing for the past few months. Crossfit works both strength and cardio at the same time. We have both progressed in it so much, I am even lifting as much as some of the guys. We do some pretty crazy work outs but they always scale the intensity to your ability. I have lost about 2% body fat, my weight hasn't changed too much since I am gaining muscle. I can tell Devin has gained muscle and lost what little bit of body fat he did have (his uniform is getting too tight). After IVF and when I am pregnant, I hope to continue working out (as long as I am in the cleared by the Doctor). I will have to take a couple months off, but thats ok, there is "Crossfit Moms" for women who are pregnant. Here is the link to our crossfit gym we go to and a few photos of us lifting.

www.cf702.com

Finally.....

We finally got our dates that we will be starting the IVF procedure in San Antonio, TX. Our baseline for IVF will be the 23rd of September. This is our first appointment. It's a few days later than we were originally told, but no complaints from us. We will also have our medication injection class on the 23rd as well, Devin will be doing all my injections for me. I tried once to do it myself and just couldn't, plus he's really good at giving shots. I'm not looking forward to all the medication/injections but we will do whatever it takes to get our miracle. The day of the baseline they will draw blood from me to check all my levels and then do an U/S (ultra sound) to make sure there are no cysts.

Thats our update for now :)

Birth Control to get Pregnant

Yup thats right the start of my medication for IVF is birth control pills. They use them to control what is going on with my body. It cracks Devin up and he'll even tell his guy friends "hey man the secret to getting pregnant is birth control" Its pretty funny. This is just the start of the many medications I will be on. We are still waiting on our Hard Dates for the baseline.

What does all that mean....

I tend to forget that not everyone speaks infertility. So I put together a little cheat sheet.

What is IVF? In vitro fertilization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation

BFP- BIG FAT POSITIVE

TTC- Trying to Concieve

BETA- Blood test done to check for HCG levels to determine pregnancy

HCG- Human Chronic Gonadotropian hormone produced when pregnancy is success

U/S -Ultra Sound

B/W -Blood work

CD - cycle day

DPO - Days post ovulation

ER - Egg Retrieval

ET - Embryo Transfer

2WW - Two Week Wait

HPT - Home Pregnancy Test

PG - Pregnant

As I think of more I will add them to the list, I hope this is helpful

4 Years

Today the 27th of July marks 4 years for Devin and I with TTC(trying to conceive), I'm not sure why this date stuck with me but it did. Even from the start we had no idea we would have any problem getting pregnant. I have dreaded this day for the past 4 years, but today I'm actually feeling really good. We are so close to IVF, its very helpful having an end to infertility in site. We both have a great positive attitude that IVF is going to give us our miracle and the start to our family we have been praying for.

8 weeks away

Time is moving so slow but yet so fast, does that make sense? We will know for sure hopefully this coming week our exact date for the baseline where all the fun will begin. So as of today we are 8 weeks away from the tentative date we were given, just like the military nothing is ever set in stone with IVF and infertility treatments. We will be taking the fur babies to Texas with us. There is so much for for them to do there. They loved the last trip there we stopped at so many places with GRASS. They loved it, and even found a park my grandparents told us about with a river for them to swim in. Chase and shelby were in HEAVEN. Plus having our fur babies around helps keep my stress level down, they are great at cuddling up to me when I'm nervous. Were both very excited for 3 weeks together, we have a few fun things planned to do while were there.