Second beta!!!

Our second beta was today since they had more blood draws today then yesterday.

Our came back at 349!!!!

Will update in a post later tonight!

BETA results!!!!!!!

Results are in and my beta #1 is 108!!!!!!!!!!! We are only 12 days past 3 day transfer!! We go back on Sunday for second beta and ultrasound in 2 weeks! Will update more!

Thank you all for your support!!!

ETA: 12 hours

We have about 12 hours until our first BETA! We are so excited and nervous at the same time. We go in at the wee early hour of 7:15 and then back to work I go. Then it's the waiting game until they call. I know I will be a nervous wreck until they call not really sure I will be able to work, lol!

Nothing new to update but the fact that we used the last couple of HPT's. I know call us crazy and peeaholic but its so beautiful to keep seeing that positive test. I will update as soon as we get results!

Thank you for all the congrats!

We Caved In....

We did. We caved in even though we said we wouldn't. I mean at first it wasn't hard at all and then 7dp3dt it got hard. I mean hard. It also didn't help that my lovely wife was chasing me with a pee stick. I do believe she is more obsessed with them than me, LOL! So after the nagging and nagging I decided to test. I forgot the nervous feeling you feel waiting for the test to show its face. After waiting the necessary time we both looked up and we saw that stark white background we have been used to seeing for what seems forever.

We then got sad. We cried and then started feeling defeated. I was sad but something told me to not give up yet. We had five days to go there was still hope. I had faith in God that everything would be okay.

8dp3dt (Christmas Eve): Negative (AKA stark white test) We had family coming over and other parties to attend that day. We hosted our Christmas Eve party and by 3 PM everyone was gone. We were getting ready to go to the next party and then Sarah said lets test again. I knew what it was going to say so I said sure as I POAS. As we sat there waiting Sarah picked up the test and she said I see a faint, faint line. I said yeah right. I mean for awhile I felt like we were making up lines! I grabbed the test and brought it to the kitchen where its brighter and sure enough was the faintest line I have ever seen. I mean you had to turn in in the sun to even see it. We were shocked, scared, happy, and excited! We immediately went to Target and stocked up on pregnancy tests. We came home still in shock and smiling like never before. We opened the box and took another test before we left for the party it had only been 2 hours and there was a little bit more of a line. From there on it was a pee stick party and it has been the best feeling ever to see those pregnancy tests get darker and darker.

Even better yet we tested today 10dp3dt on a digital and it came back positive with the word "Pregnant". A word we have been waiting to see for 2 long years. We feel blessed to be at this stage. We have our BETA on Friday at 7:15! Literally 34 more hours until our test! WOWZERS!!!

I have been peeing on sticks left and right on four different brands to be exact. All different brands to confirm what we already know.

I had tried to explain to Sarah that this cycle I have felt completely different. Not just with symptoms I have been feeling an intuition. This feeling has been beyond amazing to feel. Like nothing in the world matters more but keeping these babies safe and healthy.

I have had lots of symptoms since 6dp3dt and it is really just too much to write in tonight's blog! I will make sure to update tomorrow!

Until then I leave you with some photos of our beautiful pee sticks!!!

This literally was the BEST Christmas present EVER!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!

7dp3dt

Still here! Hanging by a thread if ya ask me! These past couple of days have been super super busy. Have I mentioned I love doing a transfer during the holidays?! It sure takes your mind of everything that's for sure!

We have been baking our annual cookie plates and have delivered all of them. Was so nice to visit with neighbors and friends.

We also got the courage to go out in the holiday crowds and get some last minute gifts. What the heck were we thinking?! Well we got what we needed and ran our as soon as we could.

So we have five days until BETA. I'm praying hard those little embies stick. Stick babies stick! We love you so much already!

These last couple of days I have fallen more in love with my wife. Is this even possible?! I'm already so in love with her. She just knows how to make me smile and laugh. She is my strength. She is my rock. I feel so lucky to have her.

Wishing everyone a great Sunday!

4dp3dt

Holy Moley! Is it possible to just sleep until the 28th?!?!

Guess not!

Went back to work yesterday and boy was it the best feeling ever. Lol I know time off is like precious gold but I found myself twiddling my fingers and obsessing too much about this and that. At least at work I'm busy doing data entry all day long so my mind is busy. Plus side to my job. It's a 100% sit on your butt all day long until it hurts kinda of job. So really these babies sure are resting and taking it easy.

Everything is going swell minus the progesterone capsules. Sorry if this is too much TMI but there slimy and disgusting!

Besides that nothing new to report. Have been keeping my angel close to our babies all day long. I pause at work throughout the day to say I love them and that they have to cook for 9 months because there are a lot of people that have been rooting for them. Please God keep then safe in your hands and make sure they are warm and comfy. We love them so much already. *tears* <-----hormones are so out of whack! I cry for everything now including my wife who sang Rudolph the red nose reindeer! Oh my! LOL

Well until next time! I leave you with a pic of my angel that protects these babies.

2dp3dt

Okay this whole TWW (two week wait) thing is serious business. This whole time we have been so calm going through this all like nothing and then the brutal TWW!!

I'm so glad we have so much going on these next couple of days and I go back to work tomorrow. Thank goodness I have a sit down job and I will get my mind off of all this thinking!

Today on our agenda?! Resting, gingerbread house making and more resting lol!

Wishing everyone out there positive baby making vibes!!

Transfer party!

Hi all! I'm back! Thank you to my lovely wife who has been updating the blog! Today was one of many big days...transfer day! We were so calm and just happy. We arrived an hour before since I had acupuncture set up before and after transfer. Acupuncture was nice and relaxing. Before you knew it we were laying down ready for our transfer report. Our doctor came in and gave us our report. Out of the 17 embryos 2 died. Which left us with 15 embryos to work with. We transferred to perfect grade A 8 cell embryos with zero fragmentation!! The other embryos are still growing and we will soon find out there grading scale along with how many made it to freeze!

So as of right now I'm PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise)!! Came home and listened to Christmas music and got right under the blanket making sure my feet stay warm. Out blood test is scheduled for the 28th! 12 days from now! Yikes! Thank goodness our minds will be busy with Christmas gatherings and cookie baking!

Thank you to all the support and most of all thank you to my wife for taking care of me and our babies. She has cooked me every meal and has been here for me every second! I love you!

Fertilization report!

After a very long day of waiting, we finally got the call from the doctor! Drum roll please......out of the 24, 19 fertilized.  Out
Of those 19, two of them had more than one sperm meet the egg (which is a no no.) So, we have 17 strong, strong embryos!!! We go in for our transfer on Sunday at 11:30. We are so thrilled and exited. All this time we have been being so strong to not think about it and keep it together but now it seems impossible. Starting to be in our minds 24/7 again. Needless to say, we are so very excited and will update more then!

Harvest time!

Hello everyone! For once, this is Sarah updating the blog instead of my beautiful wife. She is currently resting after such a big day for us and, I don't blame her! So, I thought I would give you all a little update! I truly have a new found love for Alexia after today. Most clinics put you out for egg retrievals (our last clinic did also.) Well, our new (BEST clinic, ever :)) did not. They want the patient to be involved and you actually get to watch it happen on the monitor above you. I am assuming that the least amount of times you need to go under sedation is probably also a good thing. Of course, she was given lots of strong drugs to not feel much pain. I have to say, it was pretty amazing. I know to some people it sounds unpleasant but it brought us so much closer yet again. It sure beats waiting in a room for her to be wheeled out to me like last time. I got to be right in the room watching all the action go down. I knew the needle was huge but let me just say, I never knew it was that HUGE!! I mean, I don't think I could ever do that! Probably a good thing that I was the only one who saw the needle out of the two of us today :P. Not only did I get to see it all on the monitor, I got to see each egg go into its individual vial and go straight to the lab. It was filled with pink/ red fluid from inside her, and it was so up close and personal. Lexi really enjoyed being able to watch everything as well instead of not being there either (mentally) due to being knocked out.

SOOOO....to the big news! He retrieved 24 eggs and they all look MATURE! He mentioned to us that this was his huge goal to get them to all be mature and strong eggs. We are over the moon. They will call us tomorrow with a fertilization report. He says to be open to both a three-day- and five-day transfer. It's up to those little embryos, even though, I am secretly hoping so hard for a five-day. I guess, you can say I am biased....lol!

 I just love our doctor, and I don't think I will ever get tired of saying that! He is so down-to-earth and treats you like not only a patient, a friend. It's nice to have someone make you laugh and bring happy vibes to such a serious time. He shows that he truly cares about each one of his patients. Hes not in it for the money. Every time we call with a concern or anything and talk with a nurse, he mentions it when we see him. He is in the loop and cares. For example- this morning my wife was counting down the minutes to call our clinic as soon as it opened this morning. The reason being because this morning before the retrieval, she didn't feel bloated anymore and thought something happened or that she ovulated early. Called and got cleared that, that was definitely not the case. They were all in there and my wife is just a worry wart. Anyways, when we got in the room for retrieval, our doctor comes in and jokingly says, "So,I heard you prematurely ovulated!" Lol! I just love how he knows about everything even when its not a big deal. He cares. Anyways, I guess it's safe to say that my wife is more in love with her owl heating pad than me tonight.

P.S- In the past, we won a "sperm" shirt from our sperm bank after winning a contest. I told my wife it was fitting to wear it tonight for good luck and good fertilization numbers tomorrow!

Twas the night before egg retrieval....

Tomorrow is my egg retrieval and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

I'm just as nervous this time, if not more nervous, than I was last time. I also never imagined I'd be doing this again so soon as in my mind. I can't keeping looking back to the past so here we are again going through this to TRY and get our baby.

Last night was my final FSH injections and the most important shot ever....the trigger shot! I can't even tell you how excited I was to complete these week long injections!! I swear if it wasn't for my bloated belly I would have jumped up and down! I counted how many injections I took for for IVF cycle #2 and we finished with 78 injections! Yikes, and my stomach shows! Its bruised and purple! 

Yesterday I had my final blood work and ultrasound before I got the go ahead for trigger. My estrogen came back at 3645 and my progesterone stayed at 1.1. The doctor counted over 20 follicles between 18-24mm! My lining was 12.48 so everything is looking fabulous! 

Tomorrow our retrieval is scheduled for 11:15AM!! SOOOOOOOO excited and ready for this!! I will update tomorrow on how it goes.

In the mean time I have been starting to get my "drink on" of course with water only, LOL! I am trying so hard to not develop OHSS! I do not want it and since I have lots of follicles I fall deep in this maybe category. So today I finised my day with 2 liters of water down. Even though I have gone to the bathroom a bazillon times I have to do what I gotta do!

I leave you with a photo of my view today from a work conference I attended today. A beautiful rainbow to bring lots of baby dust!

Anyone and everyone send us good baby vibes!! We could use it all!

Almost there!

Today I went in for more blood work and my estrogen came back at 2465. The nurse told me to continue my FSH, Menopur and Lupron and come back in tomorrow morning for more blood work and my last final ultrasound before my trigger shot. Excited and nervous all at the same time!

Tell ya the truth I'm so over the injections. My hormones are so off the wall. This cycle I have been finding myself more and more emotional! I cry at the drop of a dime. For Pete's sake today I cried a total of 5 times! Over silly things one of them my injections. I sat there glazing over three injections. The thought freaked me out lol! Now I feel like a big baby lol! All I can say is I'm super excited to go to sleep and wake up to see how all our follicles are doing!

More updates tomorrow!

Just call me a pin cushion!

Today as we were driving to another doctors appt Sarah was mentioning the fact that she could never do those injections and she is really proud of me. It meant a lot to me to hear that from her. I guess that convo really jinxed me because the nurse couldn't get any blood from my vein! She said wow this vein must be tired and worn out. Well those couple seconds of her wiggling back and forth was about as torturous as ever!! She then stuck me again in my other vein. Sarah had to turn away she said it looked to painful. Believe me it wasn't my cup of tea. She then explained to me after going through IVF you began to realize just how strong you are as a person. Made me realize that is so true for anyone going through any fertility treatment. We have a lot of courage and strength! So never put yourself down!

Blood work came back and my estrogen was at 2059! And progesterone was at .5. So again no FSH tonight only menopur. I go in again tomorrow morning for more blood work and then most likely we find out when our retrieval is set. Looking more and more like Wednesday!

Playing catch up!

I know its been awhile since I last blogged. Believe me I wanted to blog earlier but apart of me just wanted to put all this IVF stuff away. It has been so nice this time around to not think about it over and over, worry or get nervous. Time has just flown right past us! Can't even began to tell you how excited we are starting to feel!

Let me catch everyone up to speed!

I started my bleed on November 29th and had it for about four days. I then started stims on Saturday December 1st! This time around we are using Follistim, I have to say at first I was a tad nervous because I was used to mixing vials in our previous IVF but I have to say I love it!! So easy! I have continued to do my own injections and I have my injections under three minutes from start to finish! Stims have been going great and around Tuesday morning I started feeling a tad bloated. Nothing big, but bloated nonetheless. On Tuesday I had my blood work done and I got a phone call telling me my estrogen was 248! They advised me to lower my dose and my next appt would be on Thursday morning. Well Thursday rolled around and we made the hour drive for our blood work and ultrasound. We were super excited because this was going to be the first ultrasound since starting our stims. Blood work came back at 711 and my ultrasound was great. Follicles were mostly between 13-15. We were then advised to lower again and come back on Saturday morning.

We woke up bright and early and got there just in time and had my blood work taken again and another ultrasound. Blood work came back at 1632! Follicles sizes were between 15-18 with a few smaller ones around 13mm. So basically he wants me on two more days of stims. He then called me this afternoon and me that he wants me on zero FSH tonight and only Menopur. I then have to go back again tomorrow morning!

Feels SO good to finally be with a doctor who knows what they are doing. At the old facility I was on the same dose the entire stim cycle. I still can't understand it. I just cant! I feel even more stupid for not understanding more about IVF. Oh well, things happen for a reason. I will maybe understand at one point. I guess right now I am a tad bitter. I feel better that we are in better hands.

We go back in tomorrow for more blood work and then we should find out when for sure we go in for another ultrasound appt. He did give us a 80% chance of retrieval on Wednesday, December 13th!

Okay, I promise to update more!