IVF tips

I started this post a while back, and I'm finally getting around to sharing it. I started this blog to share our IVF experience and inspire others so I thought I'd share some of the things I learned through 2 rounds of IVF. 

• Let your husband give you your shots. It'll bring out a compassionate side of him that you haven't seen before.
• Stim shots don't hurt at all.
• If you're prescribed menopur injections. Ice your stomach before the shot. The menopur burns a little when the medicine goes in, so it helps to relieve the burning.
• Don't plan to do anything the day after you start your stim shots. I had the worst throbbing headache the whole next day from the extreme hormonal change.
• Stims can cause headaches on and off. Any time I felt a headache coming on, I would down a ton of water and my headache would go away. 
• Speaking of water, keep yourself super hydrated throughout your cycle.
• Google will become your best friend. You will Google every single side effect you get. 
• Your stomach will get bloated. Make fun of it! The point of doing IVF is to get pregnant after all, so who cares if you gain a little in the belly!
• There is absolutely nothing scary or painful about the IVF process.
• Invest in a heating bad. It's great for the cramps you may get and it also helps to sit on it after taking a Progesterone injection because it thins the medicine. 
• If it doesn't work the 1st time, DON'T give up!
• Open up to your close family and friends about your IVF/fertility journey. It helps to have a good support system during it all.  

If you're going through IVF and you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at goodwillista@gmail.com. I'd love to help! 

positively pregnant

So even though we heard the good news from our Doctor himself on Tuesday, I just couldn't go without taking a pregnancy test to see that positive! If you've gone through infertility and you've seen multiple negative tests when you were hoping for positives, you know my excitement.


Last Thursday I had my second beta test to check my HCG levels. My second beta was 453 (My first was 188). So it a little more than doubled! Which is awesome. I don't know the exact science behind it, but I think that your numbers have to double in 2 days to indicate if it's going to be a healthy pregnancy.

Our next appointment is Monday, May 18th... not soon enough! At that appointment we will do an ultrasound that will for 1. let us hear the heartbeat(s) and 2. tell us how many babies we will be having!I'd love for it to be twins (2 for the price of 1, right?!), but my motherly instinct already tells me it's just one. I'm happy with either though! Whatever God blesses us with will be amazing :)


Also, at just 4 weeks and 3 days pregnant (last week), I took my very first bump picture! Ok, ok, truth be told, that is not a baby bump. Yes, there's a baby (or two) in there, but that bump is definitely more like a fertility drug bump hahaha. It's actually smaller this week!

the good news

Where do I even begin?? ... oh yeah... it worked! We're having a baby!!!

I'm still in awe, and it still doesn't feel real. I guess it'll all set in once we're able to see our baby(ies) on an ultrasound in a few weeks.

I can't get over how good God is. It is all because of Him that we will be having a baby. HE is the one who gets ALL of the glory. We can't wait to have this baby and all our future babies and dedicate them back to Him. We can't wait to tell them about God's love and goodness. Just amazing.

The 10 days leading up to the test yesterday have been such an emotional roller-coaster. I really tried not to get my hopes up too much because I was scared of everything being taken away from me if it didn't work again. But then again, I didn't want to doubt it all. I was seriously a mess. Kudos to Larry for putting up with me through such a crazy time!

This past weekend my bff, Kaylee, and her husband Josh came visit us. We had a wonderful weekend, and it really helped to sort of get my mind off of stressing about whether the babies implanted or not.

Monday felt like the longest day ever. But I kept telling myself, you only have to wake up one more time until you know. Tuesday finally came and I woke up at 2 a.m. I couldn't fall back asleep fully because I kept dreaming out the results and every scenario in the book. I pretty much felt like I didn't go back to sleep. I went to work until 12 and Larry picked me up to go to my appointment to have my blood drawn.

As we were pulling in, Larry says, "time to give the vampires what they want!" Hilarious. I've given blood so many times this year, it's insane. The last couple times I barely even felt the needle. This time there was a different nurse who drew my blood, and it actually hurt a little though. I told Larry that hopefully it would be all worth it. She told us it would be an hour-hour and a half tops for them to call and tell me the results. The whole way home I watched the clock.

We reached Lake Charles and still no call, so we ran an errand before picking up Larry's car because we wanted to be together when we got the call. But still no call. We went get Larry's car from my work, and I had him take my cell phone in case they called because I didn't want to get the news again this time if it was bad. We got home. Still no call. It had been over 2 hours at this point!

Finally, the phone rings... I answer it and put it on speaker. It was Dr. Storment himself again. My heart sank. I looked at Larry and I was so scared it was him calling again to tell us it didn't work again . But he didn't. This time he gave the good news! It was amazing. I cried tears of joy and gave Larry the biggest hug and kiss. Prayers finally answered!

The first person I told was my mom. I face-timed her to tell her she was going to be a mawmaw! She cried of couse. ;) Larry's first person he told was his mom also. We then both called the rest of the family to tell them the good news.

frozen embryo transfer

Saturday we transferred 2 (of 5) of our frozen embryos! 

This time we got to sleep in before the transfer because we didn't have to be there until 11:30. My doctor had a total of 6 transfers that morning and we were 2nd to last. I had to show up with a full bladder, and honestly that's the toughest part of the transfer! That's how easy it all is. We waiting in the waiting room for 30 minutes. Then once we got into a room, it was all quick from there. Dr. Storment came in brought us the photo of our embryos and told us they were grade 1 (the best chance for a pregnancy). I was so so happy that they both survived the thaw and were still perfect! Right after that, they gave me some Valium and took us straight back for the procedure. 

The procedure went nice and easy just like last time. I still think it's so cool that Larry and I both get to watch the ultrasound and see the embryos get dropped into my uterus. No matter how many times we have to do this, that will never get old. The procedure took less than 10 minutes. 

After, I had to lay flat for 15 minutes and then we could leave. I stayed on bed couch rest until Monday night. Couch rest may sound fun, but I promise it's not. I like to clean my house on the weekends, and that's all I wanted to do was get up and clean- but I couldn't!

Only 6 more days until we go back in for the pregnancy test! I'm SO impatient, I just want to know now. I'm just praying with everything I have that God blesses us with these two beautiful babies. I can't wait to be a mommy and I'd give anything in the world to become one. 

here we go again

I've really been meaning to update the blog, but just never got around to it. The Thursday after we got our negative test, Aunt Flow came to town.. she wasted no time! For the first time in my life I was excited to see her, because it meant we got to start the process for our frozen embryo transfer. I called my doc's office and was told to come in the next day for the norm by now (bloodwork and an ultrasound). I also talked to my nurse and got my frozen embyo transfer (FET) schedule. I was excited that we'd get to jump right back into everything.

Tuesday March 17th I went in for another appointment and we started our Lupron injections that night. Lupron is used to surpress your ovaries. It's a small little shot I get in my tummy every night. This Tuesday makes 2 weeks on the Lupron and I will go in for another monitoring appointment. It's so weird this time around because we keep forgetting about my shot! The second day on it, we were late giving it by 30 minutes, so I went ahead and set an alarm on my phone so we wouldn't forget again. Good thing I have that alarm set too because it's the only thing keeping us from remembering it! Last Saturday we were eating out when my alarm went off so we had to hurry and pay and jet home! Luckily we were almost through eating anyways. But last time we never forgot! I didn't even have to set an alarm last time. I wonder if it was because everything was so new last time and now this is just the norm? (How crazy is it that I think it's normal to get a shot every night?? lol).

So Tuesday when I go in for my appointment I have to do another "mock transfer." The mock transfer is when my doc will use a catheter to find the route to my uterus. I had to do this last time too and it's a little painful. Luckily it only lasts 5 minutes! Not looking forward to this appointment! Also this Tuesday, my lupron does is lowered and I begin to take Estrace and baby asprin. After that appointment I start going in for appointments ever 4 days until the transfer! I can't believe we are just 3 weeks away. I hope it goes by quick! I'm ready to have 2 of my little frozen babies back where they belong.

heartbroken

I'm not sure where to even begin. The last 9 days have been the longest 9 days of my life. All I could think about all week at work were my 2 little embryos implanting. Well today we found out that neither of them implanted. Just writing that brings more tears to my eyes. We are heartbroken.

My doctor himself called me just 40 minutes after we left the office this morning after having my blood drawn. He said that there was no reason for them not implanting because the embryos were excellent grade, it was just bad luck. He said to stop taking the progesterone injections and the estrace pills and I should get my period soon. Once I start my period I can call them to let them know so we can start the process for a frozen embryo transfer (FET). I'm actually going to call tomorrow to find out what the protocol is for a FET.

We shed lots of tears about it this morning, but we believe that this just wasn't in God's timing for us. Even when it's hard to understand, His plan is always greater than our own. We thought our plan was pretty great, so if God's is greater, then I have can't even imagine how amazing it'll be. We're trying our best to stay positive.

I have to say that this whole first IVF cycle has been so positive and great. I've had zero complaints throughout it all (Larry can attest to that too). The shots didn't bother me at all. I didn't really have any symptoms or reactions to the medicines. I didn't mind driving an hour and a half to doctor's appointments. The transfer and the egg retrieval were both painless. I've actually enjoyed all of it and wouldn't change any of it. It has even brought Larry and I closer together.

We ask that you would pray for peace for us and that our next IVF cycle would be successful so that we can become parents and give all the glory to God.

embryo transfer/ the best valentine's day ever

I really don't even know where to start today other than saying that yesterday was the best Valentine's day EVER.

The embryo transfer process was super quick. We got to the hospital and they had me put on a hospital gown and sit in bed and check me in. I swear I was about to pee on myself because they told me to arrive with a full bladder. I arrived with an over full, almost exploding bladder. They said they would empty it AFTER the transfer. Oh goodness, I was just praying I didn't pee on my doctor during the transfer because I had to pee so bad! Luckily the embryologist came in not long after and gave us the great news and the picture you see above- our 2 perfect little embryos!! She said that they were excellent grade and that she will call the next day to let us know how many we will have to freeze (probably 2 or 3). She gave me some Valium to relax me and my uterus and said that it would only be about 10 more minutes until they bring us to the back for the transfer! At that point, Larry got himself geared up and of course we had to take some pictures!

(our first picture as a family of four!)

They came in and brought us to the room where the transfer was and it all went by so quickly and smoothly. I swear we were probably in there for 5 minutes tops. Larry said that it was the most amazing experience getting to watch everything. He saw Dr. Storment insert the catheter and then the syringe with our embies and put them through. I watched the ultrasound screen and you could see 2 teeny tiny little dots move on it once our embryos were home inside me. And that was it!  Dr. Storment even said that he would quit his job if I don't get pregnant because everything went so smoothly and perfectly!! How amazing is it that we get to know the exact moment that God blesses us with a child (or 2)? Then, they brought me back into our hospital room and I had to lay flat for 15 minutes before we could go. 

After leaving the hospital, Larry and I went to this sweets place called Indulge. I'm on bed rest for 2 days so I couldn't get out, but I told him to surprise me with something. He came back with a Mardi Gras cupcake and 2 chocolate covered cookie dough balls. Good choices for sure! Since we were in the area, Larry wanted to show me the farm house he grew up in since his family is about to sell it. So we drove out there and he reminisced a bit before we headed home. 

We hung out a bit at home, then Larry went to the gym while I took a 2 hour nap. I think it's the Progesterone shots that I'm taking now making me so so tired all the time. When he came home from the gym he had some chocolates, red box movies, and 2 roses for me. He said it was to represent each of our little embryos! I guess he is sweet to me sometimes ;)

We finished off the day with Larry grilling some burgers for us and watching Maleficent together. Despite being on bed rest, it was the perfect Valentine's day. I still can't believe that as of right now, I am a twin mama. God's hands have definitely been in all of this and with us through it all. We are so entirely blessed. Praying for a positive pregnancy test on the 23rd!

tomorrow

I can't believe tomorrow is the day we transfer our embryos! I would normally say that I won't be able to sleep tonight, but all these meds have me so tired lately. I think my body has been quite confused. But tomorrow it won't have to be confused any longer, because tomorrow I will be what they call pregnant until proven otherwise (PUPO)! 

So about our embryos....

Tuesday we found out I had 14 mature eggs and 13 of them fertilized with ICSI! I cried tears of joy that morning. 

Wednesday we still had 13 going strong. 

Thursday the embryologist called and said there 9 embryos and to report to the hospital at 9:15 on Saturday for my embryo transfer! She said they don't check on the embryos or call on day 4 (today), so as of right now we're not sure how many we have. I guess we'll find out in the morning!! 

egg retrieval

(crappy lighting thanks to the bright light behind my bed)

Yesterday was my egg retrieval! We started the day super early, heading to the hospital at 5:45 am. It takes an hour and a half to get there and we had to be there for 7:30. Once I got to my room I changed into my gown and they right away for me started with an IV. Unfortunately the nurse blew two of my veins on my left hand and couldn't get it in. Thankfully she used lidocaine each time or YOUCH that would've hurt. The nurse anesthetist had to come in and put the IV in on my right hand, and thank God she got it on the first try. 

After that it was really funny. The nurse walked over to Larry and started asking him for his name, date of birth, and what meds he takes. We were both slightly confused for a second, then the nurse asked him if he was ready to give his sample. Larry was like, "....my sample?!" I laughed and told the nurse he had to have surgery to get his sample. Then Larry understood what she was taking about then and said, "ohhhh yeah, my sample is frozen!" Too funny!

We waited in the room about an hour before they rolled me back into the operating room. Once I was there, they gave me anesthesia and put me into what they called a "twilight zone." It seemed like just 5 minutes later and I woke up back in my room. Larry, my mom, and my sister were there for support. The procedure itself only took about 30 minutes, and I woke up 10 minutes after that. I really wasn't in too much pain right after, but I did feel like I had to pee really bad. Larry and the nurse helped me to the bathroom, and nope, false alarm. I got back into the hospital bed and chowed down on some cheezi ts and teddy grams that the nurse brought me. I was starving since I had to fast! I don't like having to miss breakfast! The nurse told me I had to pee before I left. So, I downed my water and got up and tried it again. It took Larry turning on the sink for me to go! Haha. 

Then, mom went to get me a CC's king cake latte (decaf of course), and Larry went to get the car. I had to sit a certain way in the car and couldn't really move much because of the pain. We stopped at Ground Pati on the way home and got burgers to go. I told y'all I was starving! 

Once we got home, I ate, and then napped for the rest of the day with the heating pad on and off. I mainly just felt really uncomfortable. 

Then last night we started my progesterone shots. It's a longer needle than the stim shots, and it's given IM (intramuscular or in my hip/butt). My mother in law is a nurse, so we let her give me the shot since Larry was nervous about the longer needle and able hitting a nerve. The shot itself didn't hurt, but I could definitely feel the medicine going in since it's a thick oil. 

Oh and I forgot to mention the best news- they retrieved 15 eggs!

stims: days 5-8

(yepp, I bought princess band-aids just for this!)

These last few days have gone by so quickly! 

I've had monitoring appointments (blood work, ultrasound, and met with the nurse) the last 3 days. It's so cool to see my little follicles growing more each day! Dr. Storment said that everything looks great and he thanked me for making his job easy. Today we finalized the plan for my egg retrieval on Monday, one day early! I was really hoping it would be early too. Anything to get me closer to that positive pregnancy test! 

Tonight I only have 1 shot to take- my HCG trigger shot. What the trigger shot does is assists my follicles in maturing and releasing my mature eggs from the follicles. Larry has to give me the shot at 9:30 on the dot. 

I've been so at ease and relaxed throughout this whole process. I just feel so blessed that we are able to do this. I know all of it will be so worth it. God is so so good. 

stims: day 1

We had an early start this morning! We left the house at 7:30 for my 9:00 baseline appointment. I got my blood drawn (I'm sure I'll be a pro at it after the next few weeks) and an ultrasound done. After that my nurse taught us how to do the shots. It didn't seem too hard and the needles are actually pretty small! 

When it came time for my shots tonight, I was so ready. Or was I... I was smiling yet about to cry! So many mixed emotions! Larry was ready to give the shots though. I think he enjoyed it haha. Larry practiced acting like he was going to administer the shot and my stomach started shivering! It was so funny. So as he was about to stick me with the shot for real, I was almost in tears. Then he stuck me and... I giggled!! It hurt so little that it was funny to me I guess! The second shot was the menopur, and it didn't hurt either, but it did burn a little. Seems normal to burn though since it was mixed with saline. 

I'm so happy our first night went smoothly! So smoothly that I'm thinking Larry must have went into the wrong field because he's already to give me more shots! :P

started BCP and our IVF calendar

I think it's about time to write an update! On December 5th I started my period. Right away, I called my RE's (Reproductive Endocrinologist) office to schedule my blood work. That Monday,  I went in to my appointment, got my blood drawn (and a lot of it I might add!), gave a urine sample, and the most exciting part- wrote up our IVF calendar with the nurse! It was finally feeling real. We officially, unofficially have an egg retrieval and a embryo transfer date! I say unofficially because it all just depends on my ovaries and if they are reacting on cue to the meds.

So here's how the schedule goes...

• December 8th- Started birth control pills. I will be on BCP until January 27th.
• Jan 5th- USI/Mock transfer
• Jan 7th- Appointment to sign some consents with the RE's office's attorney
• January 30th- Stims start
• Feb 10th- Egg retrieval
• Feb 15th- Embryo Transfer!!

I'm so anxious to start stims. It seems odd that I'd be excited to start getting poked with a needle multiple times a day, but I'm just ready to start everything. With Christmas and all the wedding festivities for my friend's wedding I was in this past Saturday, the past month has flown by! Now I have less than another month of waiting. I don't have much on my calendar for this month, but hopefully I can find some stuff to do to keep myself busy. I'm such an impatient person!!

our 2nd consult

We decided to see a different fertility doctor because we researched the success rates for both docs and this one had a better male factor infertility success rate. Plus, this one has an office in town and an office only an hour away. The other was 2.5 hours away in Baton Rouge. So, it turned out to be a win-win  situation.

We had our consult with Dr. Storment on May 14th. I was much better prepared for this appointment. I had a much longer, detailed list of questions this time. Plus, I had done a lot more research by then.  Larry and I already had a good understanding of everything from our first consult with the other doctor, so this time we were able to get into a little more detail of things. We also took my mother in law with us since she is a nurse and she always had good questions to ask.

Our next steps after the consult were to make Larry's appointment with the urologist for his consult and MESA/TESE procedure and make the geneticist appointment.

I called the day after our consult to make the appointment with the urologist and the soonest we could get was July 7th. At first I was bummed that we would have to wait so long for the appointment and it would push everything back 2 months longer, but I just had to remind myself that I can't be such a control freak with all of this. I just have to sit back and let God take control and allow His plan to play out.

I also found out when I scheduled the urologist appointment that what they usually do is have the consult appointment and then the doctor will schedule the MESA/TESE surgery for the next day. So we are just a week away from the process beginning! I am so excited yet so nervous at the same time. We are praying hard that everything goes well, and we are asking for your prayers too! :D

the beginning of our ivf journey

After long contemplation whether or not to start a blog and after reading and being inspired by others' blogs, I decided that I wanted to document and share our journey to have a baby to be able to remember everything, for our children to read, and to inspire others who may be going through the same thing. It's a big deal for us to put ourselves out there on the internet like this, but if it means being able to share and inspire others, we are willing to do it! So here goes....

So why in vitro fertilization?

If you aren't close with Larry and I you are probably thinking, "they're young and healthy and haven't been trying to conceive for long, so why IVF??" Well, I've known that I wouldn't be able to conceive naturally with Larry pretty much since I met him. Larry has cystic fibrosis (CF). 99% of males with CF have CAVD (congenital absence of the vas deferens). To put it in simple terms (like I need- hellooo business major), he is missing the tube that lets the fertile sperm out. Or you could say that he was born with a natural vasectomy.

We've both know that we didn't want to wait too long for a baby, so we started to pray for one as soon as we were married. We want God's hand and His plan to be in all of this. We prayed that God would give us His child to raise and dedicate back to Him.

The start: 

Larry found out that his insurance with Cigna covered 80% of infertility treatment... 80%!! We're both on our own health insurance policies with our jobs since it's cheaper that way so a question that we didn't know was, does this go on his insurance or mine? He is the infertile one, not me, so wouldn't that go on his? Nope, turns out because I am the fertility patient, it goes on my insurance.  His procedure will go on his. Luckily, I called my insurance company and they also cover 80% of fertility treatments! Most insurances don't cover fertility AT ALL, and BOTH of ours cover almost all of it! If that wasn't a blessing, I don't know what is! God is so good.

So for a while, we didn't think that we would have to actually undergo the entire IVF process. We thought why couldn't they just do his procedure to get his sperm out and then stick it into me?? We found out the answer at our first fertility consultation.

Larry's mom recommended the fertility doctor in Baton Rouge, so we made an appointment with him. It seemed like it took forever to get here too. I was SO anxious to find out the process we would need to take to bring a baby into the world. I thought that the appointment would be an overwhelming amount of information that I wouldn't understand, so I did a little bit of research, and I brought a binder and had a few questions written down in it. 

Our 1st fertility consult:

When the day was finally here for our appointment, we were sooo excited. The appointment wasn't at all overwhelming like I thought. We learned that we would have to do a process of IVF called ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection). ICSI is where they inject a single sperm into each egg. The process we were hoping for is called IUI (intrauterine insemination). Pretty much a procedure where they'd place Larry's sperm into my uterus to fertilize on it's own. We learned that we couldn't do the IUI because the sperm where they get them out at aren't mature enough so they aren't good swimmers. So, they might would never make it all the way through on their own. The procedure that Larry will have to do is called MESA/TESE. 

One of the biggest questions I had was how long was this going to take. The doctor said the process only took 2 months. 1 month of me being on birth control, 10 days of injections, the egg retrieval, then the 5 day embryo transfer. The doctor recommended that I get tested to see if I am a carrier of the CF gene and we sit down with a geneticist before we start anything yet.