2nd Trimester

Now that the 1st trimester is over, life is getting a little easier. I am not so sick and I have a little more energy. It is crazy how much life these babies suck out of me. There are so many fun things about being pregnant, here is my list.

• My boobs are getting bigger
• My belly is getting bigger
• I like knowing that I am growing two little bodies inside of me
• I finally got to buy one of those baby name book

Okay so there really aren't that many good things there are a lot more bad

• Asthma and allergies are increased
• I am so tired 
• My schedule is terrible, well I am much much lazier, and can't seem to get motivated
• All the weird crampy feelings you get; everywhere including your vagina
• My eye sight is changing
• My back hurts so bad, it keeps me up at night and hurts through-out the day
• I have zits, but even worse than when I was a teenager
• I am harry; hair grows in the weirdest spots; my belly and neck are just a few (don't worry I am just going to start waxing my whole body.)

I am lucky though a lot of things that happen to ladies that are pregnant have not happened to me. I have never been constipated, I don't have heart burn, and I have only thrown up 4 times (two of those times were just because I was coughing too much.) The weird thing is that I haven't had any cravings, mostly everything just looks gross; and you know how I used to be a treat queen well nothing sweet taste good to me now. Here are some things that do taste good.

• liquid cheese
• mexican food
• welchs raspberry and lime sparkling drink
• snow cones

I am still scared though I have a long time left and so much can happen until delivery. I hear all these things like oh I was pregnant with twins and then lost one at 17 weeks, or whatever. I would hate for something like that to happen. We are so excited though we get to find out in one week what they are. Neither one of us have any idea, and forget my maternal instinct I thought there was only one. Timmy really wants a boy and a girl but I don't really care. I would like that though just in case for some reason we can't do this again.

Every week Timmy has been so so excited to take pictures of me and he told his school on his list of things he is excited for this summer is to watch his wife get fat. He has been the cutest husband, he has never once told me I look fat, or am lazy because the house isn't clean or mad I didn't make dinner. He has just been trying to take care of me. I am so excited that Timmy and I have been able to go through all of this together. Surgery, all the medications, hormones, emotional ups and downs. He is going to be a great daddy!

Pregnant at 6 weeks and 4 days.

Each day I am pregnant is a blessing. I should have posted sooner but the passed month has been just a little stressful and very hopeful. After my three days of bed-rest I was able to go back to work. I worked the Friday and Saturday after the transfer but was still very achy and bloated. I had an appointment to get my first beta-hcg drawn on Tuesday and had this great idea that I would take a pregnancy test the day before. That was a very very bad idea. It was negative. I was so crushed. I texted my doctor and he said that it might not be accurate because it could be too early. I cried and cried and prayed until Timmy came home and he held me. I went in the next day and I was shaking all the way there and then I started crying after the blood draw. Dr. Chalmers called me an hour later to let me know that it was 71. Yeah!! I was pregnant 3 weeks and 1 day. Two days later I was able to get my beta-hcg drawn for the second time. It was 200. Dr. Chalmers just texted me this time letting me know he would like to get an ultrasound as soon as possible. Timmy and I went on a cruise the next week which was very needed. We both were able to relax and have a great time.

We got back on the 18th and the next day would be our first ultrasound. I would be 5 weeks and 4 days. Dr C asked me if I thought there were one or two sacs. I said one because the hcg levels were not too high, and I just had a feeling. Well I was wrong there were two little sacs with all their parts. He was a little worried about one of them because it was small but he was impressed about the way they looked. He said he wouldn't consider it twins because they did not have heart beats yet, and I had the possibility of vanishing twin. 

My next ultrasound would not be until the 30th of March but when I woke up this morning I was spotting. I was so worried, but had a feeling that everything would be okay. I called Dr. C and was able to get in at 11:00. We had two heart beats and everything looked perfect. I was sad Timmy was not able to come to this appointment, but I knew I had to go in to make sure everything was okay. The small one that he was worried about was just about the same size as the other. The one on the right had a heart rate of 113, and the one on the left had a heart rate of 125. He said as they get older and bigger their heart-rates will get stronger and faster. Timmy and I are both very excited and nervous. Each day is a blessing and I pray constantly that everything will work and I will get two healthy babies. There is still an 18% chance that we could miscarry, and that makes me nervous but each day I am a little more excited. I pray that everything will turn out.

10 Weeks Pregnant

It has been a while since I posted last, everything with our babies is great; however they keep scaring me. About every other week I start cramping really bad. Sometimes it is so bad that it wakes me from a dead sleep or so hard that it is difficult to stand up. Just yesterday I called the doctor because I started bleeding again, and passed a few clots. We went in for another ultrasound and everything looks great. There are still two babies, with great heartbeats. The only other weird thing is that it is hard to sleep I am very uncomfortable at night. In the next few days I will be able to stop all my other medications, and then hopefully I can try to be as normal as possible. We will have our next appt on May 11, I will then be in the second trimester; that is my next goal.

Baby "A"

Baby "B"

A few weeks ago was Easter, we were blessed to have my family here at the house for Easter dinner, and the money hunt. We had my cousin Dave and his wife and their kids, uncle Todd and Brian, My sister and her kids, and some of Steves family. It was so fun to hide all the eggs and watch the little kids go hunting. Poor little Aiden cried, I think it made him nervous hunting with all the other kids; too much pressure. Quincy of course found  the golden egg, after telling him that if he didn't he couldn't be mad and he would have to congratulate the other kid. What I really enjoyed was spending time with my sister. I guess I didn't take any pictures of the egg hunt, only video and it was long, sorry.

This week my little sister came to town. I haven't seen her since Christmas. It was good to hang out and talk and laugh. 

Retrieved, Fertilized and transferred

RETRIEVAL:
Timmy and I drove up Feb 21st and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for an Egg retrieval on the 22nd. They gave me an instructions list for the retrieval that I followed to the T. I was instructed to use one vinegar and water douche (yes I said it) before bed and then one in the morning before the retrieval. I could not sleep at all that night. I was not totally uncomfortable and I think I was really nervous for the procedure. We checked in about 0930 and I went back to the procedure room, while Timmy completed his business in the other room. Dr. Chuck placed an IV and then gave me versed and fentanyl, this only made me relax a bit but did not cloud my judgment at all. It takes a lot to knock this red-head out. Later on Chuck stated that I was his most coherent, talkative patient. :) that would be me. After waiting for Dr. Faulk they put me to sleep and I woke up crampy, and once again very talkative. Timmy did video me waking up and asked me lots of questions, but I won't share that with you it is just 12 min of boringness. Dr. Faulk told us that he was able to retrieve 18 eggs. We were very excited about this because we thought we might only have 15. After the retrieval I started Progesterone shots Intramuscular (IM), and started two pills, one an antibiotic Doxycycline, and another hormone Medrol (I was taking this SQ but now just PO).

My sister in laws Bonnie and Christie dropped this off 

It was full of fun gift cards that have really helped us.

FERTILIZE:

The day after retrieval we were called by the lab manager to keep us informed about our embryos, she stated "Timmy's sample was tremendous." His sperm was able to fertilize all 18 eggs, however there were 5 that were degenerative, and two that were small and they were not sure if they would continue to grow. All in all we had 11 embryos that looked great. The next 2 days were very uncomfortable with cramping and bloating. I felt full all the time, not to mention I was constipated, and little did I know I had a UTI on top of all that. We were called friday the 24th with instructions to come for a Blastocyst transfer on Monday the 27th. We were so excited to have a blastocyst transfer. With a Blastocyst transfer there is a lower chance of the embryos splitting, also the pregnancy rate per transfer is higher when blastocyst embryos are transferred on day 5 to 7 than when earlier-stage embryos are transferred on day 2 or 3. The implant rate is higher when embryos progress to the blastocyst stage, fewer embryos can be transferred while achieving similar or better pregnancy rates for each transfer. 

THE TRANSFER:

Our transfer time was at 1300 we got there around 1215 and we waited for them to give me the valium. I don't really think this medication worked either. I am assuming it was suppose to help me relax but it didn't. We waited another 30 min for the doctor and when Dr. Faulk came in he gave us embryo update. He started to say that we only had 5 that had survived. He feels like the damage that was done to my tubes had damaged my ovaries as well and my eggs are not very of good quality. They would let us know the next day how many we would be able to freeze. They set me up in stirups and numbed my cervix, they told me not to talk and to completely relax my whole body. With ultrasound they were able to see exactly where they were transferring the two perfect embryos that they had picked for the transfer. After that I laid flat for 20 mins and they gave me my next set of instructions. I would be on bed-rest for the next three days. I would continue my pre-natal vitamin, my baby aspirin, as well as the progesterone shots, and would start progesterone suppositories. 

Waiting for the transfer

Here are my two little embryos transferred right into my uterine wall!

Now I have been on bedrest for 2 and a half days, I am excited to get back to normal but also a little nervous. I have done all that I am able to do. Heavenly Father is in charge now and whatever will be will be. 

My cute husband everyday packs up my cooler with snacks, sets up my pillows, sets out my medications, and gives me my shots. He is so sweet!!

Egg Retrieval scheduled

I was suppose to update this when we went up to Pleasant Grove on February 10th, but in all reality nothing really exciting happened so I waited. Up until the 10th I was taking Lupron injections.

These didn't bother me one bit, got a few small bruises nothing major and never hurt going in. Then for our appointment on Feb 10th I had an ultrasound, to look for cysts (there were none), and Timmy gave a back-up sample.

 On the 12th which was a sunday I started taking the Menopur and the Brevelle and continued taking the Lupron. These were also given subcutaneous but 1 full ml. They stung a little bit I just had to push them slow. I got a really big bruise from one of them but surprisingly that injection hurt less than the others. The only thing I didn't like about doing three shots a day is I ran out of sites. 

Then the magic started to happen. On friday the 17th I went to get my Estradiol level checked. It was 664. I continued my medications and had an ultrasound on Sunday the 19th. Dr. C counted my follicles with Timmy's help and I had 15. My smallest was something like 9x9 and the biggest was 20x18. They thought I would be getting close so they checked my Estradiol level and it was 1606. Dr. C was not sure if they would wait one more day so I waited for the phone call. They wanted me to go in for one more ultrasound and Estradiol level on Monday. After working all night long I went in around 8:30 and we counted my follicles again. The biggest now was 20x20 and the smallest was 9x13. In one day they grew so much and most of them ranged around 19mm, and my Estradiol level was 2706. I received the phone call on Monday around 4:30 pm that we would do the egg retrieval on Wednesday. 

They gave me some instructions and wanted me to follow them precisely. I took the HCG 10,000 units at 10pm. They call this the "Trigger injection" that means in 36 hours all my matured eggs will release. 

Then when I woke up this morning I took my PNV/BA and the HCG Pregnancy test. 

 Now do you see that test? I had to do a double take, it is positive....I haven't seen one on my self ever, I have been waiting to see one of these. It was a bit of a shocker when I called them with the results, and they tell you "Oh that is what it is suppose to say." I am assuming they are just measuring my HCG level from injection the night before.

Today Timmy and I are driving up the Pleasant Grove and staying in a hotel for the night because bright and early...well 9:00 we will be making our way to harvest those eggs. I will let you all know how it comes along and how many eggs we retrieve.

Starting Injections

I had to stay at home all morning because I was waiting for a special package. The package finally came and I opened the box, Holy Crap that is a lot of stuff. It took me a while before I started to identify everything in there. It is my whole IVF cycles worth of medication.

I knew what I had to do next and I was not too excited. I knew it would only be a subcutaneous injection (which means the needle is fairly small). I still was not excited. I had to do the count down...a few times, call Timmy and then do the count down again. It actually didn't hurt until after it stung just a tiny tiny bit and as you can see it turned a little red. 

Don't mind the chubby belly (it will only get worse)

I have to really make sure that I keep this updated (if not for anything but to show my children what I have gone through :). We will be going to Vegas this weekend for my nephew Ryker's blessing. I have an appointment on the 10th in Pleasant Grove so I will be updating this probably around then, unless there are any changes. So far until then I take my Prenatal Vitamin, Baby Aspirin, and the Lupron.

IVF here we come!

This January was particularly exciting because we had our initial consult for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). Timmy and I were very fortunate that our doctor came down from the Salt Lake area for our first appointment. Timmy and I knew after all that we have been through that we would need IVF in order for us to have children.

We met with Dr. Faulk from Utah Fertility Center on the 27th of January. At this appointment we quickly talked about the process and a rough estimate of how much the procedure would cost from start to finish. Because we completed the majority of labs and procedures with Dr. Chalmers we only had to do a water ultrasound, so they could see the inside of my uterus. I was at the perfect days in my cycle so we were able to start the whole process this week. When he said that I just about cried. Timmy and I have been waiting about two years and finally we get to have a baby. It was such a shock because you go month to month trying different procedures, surgeries, and medications and nothing works. I leaned over to Timmy and said, "Do you think we should wait?" He thought I was crazy but it maybe nervous starting so soon. You think of all the things that you haven't been doing as well as you should...the right diet, taking vitamins religiously, exercising. For something like this you feel like you have to be perfect to start so there are no screw ups.

Timmy and I started our Doxycylcline today which is an antibiotic. Tomorrow I will be starting my Lupron injections SQ in my belly, and my baby aspirin. Some people have to go on birth control for a cycle before all of this, luckily I didn't have to because my cycles are always right on time. In ten days we will go up to Salt Lake and I will have an ultrasound, get some labs drawn and get instructions for my next set of medications. A few days after that I will no longer be able to exercise, I will get my labs drawn again have three ultrasounds and then we will be up in Salt Lake again for the egg retrieval, this will be a surgery with anesthesia. Timmy and I will come back home and then 5 days after that we will drive back up because this will be our Embryo Transfer day. After that I will be on bed-rest for 48 hours. I will have to stay on some injections after that for a few weeks and following should have a positive pregnancy test. This whole process will take just a little over a month. I am so excited and nervous I can hardly contain myself. I have not been sleeping well because I just want the time to fly.

I realize there are many risks involved with this procedure...I have a 20% chance of miscarriage, risk of Ovarian Hyper-stimulation, I might get sick, I will have bruising from the injections, taking so many hormones I will possibly have some mood alteration, I will gain weight from the medications. These are just the side affects I am worried about. I am trying to stay positive but know that through all of this I have a better chance of having a baby. Timmy and I are so excited and I will try and update this through the good the bad and the ugly.