Embryos are safe and sound!

"The outter layer of cells will eventually form the placenta. The inner cells are the begining of our babies. The dark outter circle will hatch open within the next couple of days and then the embryos will hopefully attach to the uterine wall."

I am very proud to announce that these are the very first pictures of our two embryo babies. The embryologist said that these two embryos are above average blastocysts. Jason and I were in love the minute we saw this picture. It is truly a miracle. For so long we have wanted to create a life and here they were. It is so amazing. We also have 9 other embryos still developing in the lab. If they meet a certain criteria in the next couple days they will be frozen for future use. These two embryos were uneventfully placed in my uterus at 10:10 am today. I was very giddy and tipsy throughout the proceedure, because I had taken two valium. It made the whole experience very humorous and enjoyable. In fact, the doctor called me a cheap date. I passed out the whole way home and slept in my bed until 4 pm. I am now on bed rest until Wednesday morning. It is incredible to think that right now, for the first time ever there is life developing inside of me. We should know in a couple weeks if these embryos have continued to develop into a clinical pregnancy. I can't wait to start planning our life around these little babies.

Egg Retrieval Success!!! Praise the Lord!

This morning I went in for my egg retrieval. I was put under anesthesia, and had a very nice nap. My nurse anesthetist was amazing and gave me a nice anti-nausea cocktail in addition to the regular stuff. Jason had the opportunity to sit in the OR while I was under. Jason was able to watch as the removed 18 EGGS and then placed them into test tubes. This put us well over the recommended 12 eggs, and explained why I was feeling so full. I recovered well and as usual I repeated the same questions over and over and struggled to make much sense for the first hour. Jason was able to take me home and I took a long nap. Since then I have been relaxing on the couch. Besides feeling weak and tired I feel great.

Meanwhile the embryologists is working to put Jason's sperm with my 18 eggs. We will know on Friday afternoon the status of embryo development. Due to the large amount of eggs they think that the embryos won't be ready until next Monday. Then I will go back in to have them implanted in my uterus. We are planning on implanting 2 embryos. If embryo development goes well we should have several left over to freeze.

We are very excited with the results thus far. Now we have to wait for our little embryo babies to grow. It is very weird to think that conception is occurring in the laboratory and that our babies will sit in an incubator for their first few days. I can't wait until they are safely placed back in their mommy. Thanks for all your prayers, phone calls, and support!

I will be back into the doctor on Friday to make sure my ovaries are not hyperstimulating. I am at an increased risk due to the large amount of eggs, and it usually occurs in the first week or so following ovulation. We are praying that I will not have any hyperstimulation complications in the next couple weeks ahead.

Wednesday is go time

Today I went back to the doctor to check hormone levels and follicle growth. I had 13 large follicles (goal was 12) and several smaller follicles. They told me I was all set for what looks to be a sucessful invitro cycle. I was able to stop my stimulating injections, and at 10:15pm (on the dot) I gave myself my HCG shot. This shot will stimulate ovulation to occur for the egg retrival wednesday at 10:15 am.

I kept myself very busy today in order to make the time go by faster. I was busy with work and then getting up to speed on my new teaching job. I was off to the doctor this morning by 7:45 am and I didn't get home until 6pm. The day flew by. I am trying to figure out how to do this again tomorrow. That way it will be Wednesday before I know it. It seems like we have been waiting forever. It was a long weekend. I am bruised from all the shots and seriously bloated! Today they measured my ovaries at 6cm, which explains why I am feeling so large. Some how running around the city in a business suit just doesn't seem to fit my expanding waistline, but sitting at home relaxing on the couch makes the time go by painfully slow.

Needless to say, we are so ready for Wednesday morning!

Day 10 update and time for a second job!

We went to the doctor this morning. We slept through out alarm and had only 10 minutes to get ready. I think we were really tired. Last night we went out to Pitsburg Blue Steakhouse and indulged ourselves. We were able to arrange an overnight for A***** with her mom in order to have our first night out in two months. It was very enjoyable, and we took our time at the restaurant.

So today we had an ultrasound and blood work to check our progress. I had 8 large follicles still with 2 more potentials. I also had 13 smaller eggs. NO wonder I am feeling full. The doctor likes to see 10-12 eggs so we are pretty much on track. They did however potentially push back our retrieval date to next wednesday. I have to go back in on Monday to get the final date (tues or wed).

After our appointment we took Grandma Dee out for her bday brunch. It was fun to be able to have time with her on her bday. She was very excited for us, and thinks that twins would be a splendid bonus!

More waiting!

I was offered a part time teaching position at Metro State, and I start on Monday. I will be teaching pathophysiology for nursing. I fell into this opportunity, and I am very excited. This extra cash should help us to pay off the invitro debt. This is a miracle, because I recently asked the Lord to show me additional streams of income. It was God to get a part time teaching job, because the semester has already started. It turns out that the prof unexpectedly quit and they are in a hurry to find a replacement. I decided last week to just call and check potential opportunities. The nursing dept secretary said, "You couldn't have called at a better time. I will connect you with the dean immediately." They also offered me several teaching opportunities for the summer session. Jason is a little concerned that it will be too much for me, but I think I am up for it. I have been feeling that it is really important for me to keep my foot in the nursing world.

day 6 of injections

Today was day 6 of injections. I went to the doctor this morning to have an ultrasound and a blood draw. I had several good follicles (potentially 8) and several smaller follicles so far. I am excited and can't wait for next week. We will go back to the doctor on Saturday to see check the progress via ultrasound. On saturday we will actually go to the RMIA (invitro) clinic. This will be good, because we will be able to ask more questions prior to the big day. This afternoon I went with my friend Sarah to buy a new sweatsuit to wear to my surgery day. I wanted something comfortable and newer to wear. I also found a swimsuit cover up for our march florida trip in case my bikini days are on hold for awhile. When I got home Jason was busy making dinner and feeding our friends 4 month old baby girl. We babysit for them occasionally. I looked at her without an ounce of jealosy, because I know it won't be long until I will be holding my own baby. I held her in my arms and played with A*****. I thought how wonderful the interactions are between toddlers and infants. A***** loves babies and constantly wants to feed the baby and change her diaper. As I watched the interactions I thought.... I know mothers complain about how hectic a toddler and an infant are, but it is motherhood at it's best. You get to spend so much time together; bonding and discovering eachother. I hope that I will be lucky enough to have the opportunity someday to stay home all day caring for my baby and toddler. To drop everything else in life and just focus on the little ones. It is truly a blessed time in a mothers life, and this is what I long for someday. I don't care if the baby screams all day, and the jealous toddler demands to be held constantly. I promise I will see the positive and cherish every moment.

My thoughs on the mother of octuplets

First of all I must relieve all fears that I will end up with octuplets. This won't happen and my doctors wouldn't allow it even if I was crazy enough to do it. All doctors that I have researced in MN, WI, IA and Canada will only put a maximum of 3 embryos in at a time. I am curious to know what kind of opperation they are running in Cali. I have heard that they placed 6 embryos in this women and that she demanded that they did despite warning her of the risks involved. Then I would assume that two of the embryos split to become twins (this is very rare). Either way I think that this woman was very selfish in making this decision. It is extremely rare that these children survived at all, and it will be amazing if they grow without medical conditions. The health risks alone are insurmountable let alone the mothers potential inability to care for 14 children as a single mother. I also wonder if they complete psych evaluations in cali. Every invitro program that I researched required a psych evaluation prior to the proceedure. I question if she had this done at all and if so how she passed. Above all I think she gives the infertility community a bad reputation. I feel for John and Kate, reproductive endocrinologists and the entire infertility community. This case definetely does not support best practices. In fact most high order multiples (more than 3) occur with artificial insemination not with invitro. I wish some infertility expert would set the record straight in the media as to why this should have never happened. I was listening to talk radio the other day and a woman called in with some strong opinions about invitro fertilization. I didn't get to call in to say my peace so here is my response to what she said.

"I think that people who do invitro should only be allowed to put in 1 embryo and if it doesn't work that is too bad"

My response: placing only 1 embryo can greatly decrease the sucess rates. Doctors generally determine the number of embryos to inplant based on quality of the embryos and the age of the mother. Placing 2 or 3 embryos is the most economical and safe way with proven positive results.

"I bet that doctors make more money for implanting more embryos"

My response: So wrong honey! Actually doctors generally charge per invitro proceedure regardless of the number of embryos implanted. There for if you only put in 1 embryo at a time and it took more proceedures to reach pregnancy than it would cost the patient more. Also doctors often judge and compare practices by high pregnancy rates in addition to low rates of multiples. Doctors do not want high order multiples (more than 3) as this reflects poorly on their practice.

Progress Report

7:45 am drive to doctor to check hormone levels
8:15 am take Lupron injection, Follistim injection, Menopur injection, 1 doxicycline pill, 1 baby asprin, 1 prenatal vitamin
9am drive to St. Cloud for work
3pm arrive home exhausted: called to cancel personal trainer for the next two weeks.

Doctors orders say no more strenuous activity, but I am too tired anyways. I don't remember these medications making me so sleepy the last time. I was lucky to be able to take frequent naps all weekend while we were in Iowa. We got last minute permission to take A***** (our foster daughter) across state lines to visit mom and dad. It was such a nice weekend. We relaxed alot and ate lots of good food. A***** had so much fun with mom's stuffed penguins and petting dads stuffed carribou/moose. All the way home she asked, "where Roger?... where moose?". She is really starting to thrive with us.

Besides feeling tired all the time I have had minimal side effects. I have a few hot flashes, but not too many. By wednesday I will probably start to feel the ovaries expanding, but I like that because then I know it is working. We will ultrasound on thursday to check the folicle (contain eggs) growth progress. I feel like every day we are getting closer and closer to starting our new life as bio parents. Both Jason and I are totally at peace with what lies ahead. Next Tuesday is the tentative egg retrieval date and then embryos will be implanted 3-5 days later. Mom is coming up to help when I am on bedrest for the two days following embryo implantation. I am looking forward to knitting, writing, reading in bed for two days. I am just trying to find a bell that I can use to ring Jason. HE HE!