Thursday, May 31, 2012

Zombie-Hippo

This is how I've been feeling the last few days... like a zombie and a hippo.. Zombie-Hippo :)  I haven't been sleeping well at all the last few nights so I feel like a walking zombie.  Then... I am feeling like I'm already expanding lol... hippo.  Also, it's safe to say that nausea has finally knocked on my door.  I haven't gotten sick, but yesterday was absolutely terrible.  Oh well.  Welcome to the next 7 1/2 months of my life ;)

On the plus side- I was given thumbs up for swimming :)  I have to wear this weirdo medicine patch thing and I was afraid that if I got into the water that it would mess with it.  Turns out, it's safe :)  So I hit up the pool yesterday.  Heaven.

I called my OBGYN to make my first appointment with them. The receptionist had a hard time understanding that I needed to see them while I was still seeing my fertility doctor.  We finally got it cleared up and I am heading there on Monday.  Jon told me last night that he wanted to come to it with me.  So sweet :)  I will have to drive him downtown after, but that's alright with me :)

Lately I've been having some cravings. It's ridiculous. Only down side is that it's for food that's back in Provo, UT... kind've hard when I'm in HOUSTON!  Oh man.. Cafe Rio, sub zero ice cream, India Palace, Noodles & Co (closest one is in Austin... we might have to make a trip!)... I have mock recipes for cafe rio, but it just isn't the same.  Sad. The closest place here that resembles it is Chipotle, but they don't really come that close.  Anyone who is willing to make me cafe rio-like-food I will love you forever!  Esp something like their pork burrito!  Or even the Bankok Curry from Noodles and Co.!! Drooling over here...  I told you... it's ridiculous.  Haha...

Moving on.  We went to the Zoo this weekend.  It was a lot of fun!  I haven't been to the Houston Zoo yet.  Jon and I really had a good time.  After the zoo we had a picnic lunch at a small lake across the way from the zoo.  We watched people in paddle boats and enjoyed the shade :)  Jon has all the pictures we took, so I don't have any to post at the moment.  I will post those soon.

Anyways, I'll end this here before It gets too long.  We have another Dr. appt tomorrow at Dr. G's office.  I'm excited! 






Friday, May 25, 2012

What a month!!

Holy Cow!! I can't believe May is almost over!  This last month has been full of so many amazing things and I am so grateful for all of it.  Well, maybe not for the temps already being in the 90s.. that's a little nuts...but we are in  Houston after all :)

My birthday was on Wednesday (23rd).  It was a wonderful day.  It started out with getting a pedi with some friend's of mine.  They take good care of me :)  It was a wonderful birthday gift!  My feet are very grateful!


Then we headed to lunch and a really cute place- Ruggles.  I will def have to take the hubby there.  Yum!  After I came home, I was greeted with goodies that were left at the front door from some other friends!  I was just so overwhelmed with gratitude.  What did I do to deserve such amazing people in my life, seriously???

Jon had to work late- sad.  He came home and we ate dinner and had a nice evening catching up on shows :)  Ah, relaxing- what more do you need on your birthday :)  He spoiled me with perfumes from bath and body works- they smell amazing!  Because he knew he was going to be working late on my birthday he made me these amazing cookies on Sunday... chocolate and peanut butter cup cake cookies... oh.my.goodness. AMAZING!  Love him!

I even got sung to by my niece and nephew here in town (Storey and Jakson).  Then, my sister called me to tell me that her little girl (Serena- 10) was having a violin concert that night and she said that because it was my birthday, she was dedicating it to me- how cute is that???  Such a good day :)

So... onto other things :) 

I've had a few doctor appointments and we just got back from one today.  I've been doing the Tues and Friday appts  They have consisted of ultrasounds and blood work.  Today was a very exciting appointment.  First off- just an ultrasound today no blood work- woohoo!!!! I was excited to not have that done lol... anyways..  Jon and I were just in awe.  It was really nice having Jon there with me today- he was so excited.  2 really good things happened at this appt.

#1 We officially got our due date today :) 



okay... so we sort've had an idea of what the date would be, but I didn't want to post this pic until we actually got a date from the doc office :)

#2- We got to see heart beats!!! Because it's so early, the nurse couldn't get the sound on the the ultrasound, however, she was able to pick up the blips and count the beats/min.  To quote, she said "we're going old-school here!"  We got some strong beats too :)  Plus, we could see the blinking on the screen of a heart- so amazing!! I'm still in shock here lol  Also, I am dying here not putting pictures of our ultrasound from today on the blog.. but we think it would best to wait until we get through the first trimester before we do that.  Half way there!!

I am currently at 6weeks and 2 days.  The measurements on the ultrasound are pretty right on too- 6wks 1 day :)   We know this is still very early and we are cautiously optimistic- but still completely over the moon! Can you blame us?

Our next appt will be on Friday (so Jon can come again).  I will have an ultrasound and blood work.  Because they picked up heart beats I get to go to one appt/week instead of 2.   I have to call my OBGYN this week to give her a heads up so we can start making an appt.  They like to have one appt overlapping with both docs at the same time.  I am lucky though, my obgyn used to work at the fertility institute, so she knows Dr. G and all the nurses and she knows all the protocol of how my records are supposed to be passed on. 

I am still tired and I have felt some nausea- but nothing terrible.  It comes and goes pretty fast.  It mostly comes at night before bed... or today it was after we came home and I was vacuuming lol... so whatever.  I'm not complaining :)

I'm not sure what we are going to do this weekend.  We talked about going to Galveston.  So, we'll see.  Monday we are getting together with all of Jon's family :)  It'll be a birthday/memorial day celebration.  My bro-in-law's birthday is this week as well and Jon's parent's are out of town picking up his sister in UT and they won't be back until the weekend.  So, it will be fun to see everyone :)




Friday, May 18, 2012

The results are in!

We had our blood test on Monday and it came back POSITIVE!!  My nurse, June called me and all the other nurses were cheering in the background and she told me my hcg level was 1743 and said "you are very pregnant!"

Woo hoo!!!  Music to our ears!  We are elated! 

This is still very early, but we are looking forward to what is to come :)

We went in today for an appointment and my blood test came back still showing that we are indeed pregnant 100% :) I am now 5wks and 2 days along.  For the next few weeks I will be going to the fertility doctor 2x a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.  They will continue to monitor me and make sure everything keeps going in the right direction.  Then, as long as all is continuing to go well, I will be sent to my OBGYN.

I won't lie, it is hard to not be nervous and scared that things won't work out, but I am comforted in the fact that we have made it this far.  For us, that was half the battle.  We have never been able to get pregnant on our own.  So, the fact that I am right now is a complete miracle.  We still have our snow babies (hehe) if we need to go to plan b (frozen embryo transfer), but for now- we are so very excited :)

Symptoms wise, I am feeling great!  I can't complain one bit!  I get really tired during the day and naps have become a daily thing for me.  Otherwise, I can't function.  Last night I had a small crying breakdown while we watched the season finale of Bones... it was ridiculous. Very emotional lol.  I have cramps here and there, but nothing bothersome.  Other than that... that's about it as far as symptoms so far (knock on wood it stays that way haha).  Woo hoo!!

We will keep you posted as we progress! 

Monday, May 14, 2012

Timely...

I hope everyone had a wonderful mother's day yesterday :)  First off, I'd like to say that I won the jackpot by marrying Jon.  I have such a wonderful mother-in-law, Anne.  She is a total rock star and we love her so very much and appreciate all she does for us. 

Yesterday morning before church, I spent some time reflecting on my mom.  She was such a wonderful woman.  My biggest hope is that I can come close to being just like her someday.  No matter what trial she faced, she always kept high spirits.  She loved her family unconditionally.  She loved the gospel and had an amazing relationship with her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  One of her last journal entries said "I know my Savior lives!  My heart is soaring!"  Seriously, how amazing!  I know she isn't here, but I know that she's looking down on us.  I am still learning things from her and from the examples she set.  She will always and forever be my hero :)


Onto a lighter subject... hopefully something that will make you laugh.  Jon got me something for mother's day.  I'm willing to bet that none of you could have guessed what he got me in a million years... are you ready to see what he got me?


Pickles.  Yes.   Pickles.

LOL... what a jokester.  First off- I love pickles and for whatever reason- we never buy them.  Ever.  Jon hates them.  Completely despises them.  It's true love when he buys me food that he hates :)  He told he that he bought them because I am not a mom yet, but that he knows I like them and that pregnant women like them too.  Oh, Jon.  I sure love you :)

Today is the big day.  We get our hcg results and find out if we are pregnant :)  It's really timely that it's so close to mother's day, don't you think?  I've been debating on how I want to present the results on the blog.  This blog has been my place to document parts of our infertility journey.  There were times that I didn't even document any of it.  However, for me, it makes it so much more bearable when I can write it out for my own sake.  I'm not very good at writing in a journal and this is exactly what this blog is for me.  I've developed such a support system through this blog and I really can't thank you all enough for supporting us through all of this.  I realize some of you probably think we're crazy to be so open about this, but it's what we feel is best for us and we thank you for respecting that :)

Anyways, this morning I went into the doc office.  The front desk girl asked me if I took an at home test and I told her my response.  She smiled and told me that I'm her favorite patient :)  Nice.  The blood nurse (she was new) called me back and also asked me if I had taken an at home test and I told her as well.  Then, as I was leaving, my favorite nurse, June came up to me and gave me a hug and told me they're rooting for us :)  I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the staff.  I know we are paying them for a service, but they really do go above and beyond.  Now I'm at the hardest part... waiting for the phone call!! Ahh!!  Hopefully because I'm their "favorite" they'll make an effort to call me sooner :)  One can only hope.

Alright... so since I told the front desk girl and the blood nurse... I might as well just put it here on the blog for all to see. :) What, you really thought I was going to leave you in the dark??  I caved.  I bought some preggers tests last week.  Jon went with me Wednesday night to Walgreens.  It was awkward because the tests were locked up in cases.  We had to press a button to get someone to come and unlock the case for us.  After pressing the button I hear on the intercom: "Help needed in the personal care aisle".  Awesome.  Then this grumpy girl came around the corner and took out a test for me and then she kept holding onto it.  She asked us if we were done shopping.  Not that we needed anything else, but sometimes we like to walk around Walgreens.  I felt like I was buying something in the electronics department at Target lol. They hold onto it and take it to the counter until you're ready.  It was just so weird.  She ended up giving it to me, but I could tell she was hesitant.

Sorry, I'm rambling.. I just thought the whole thing was a little awkward.. and now funny :)




I took the test Thursday morning and also again on Saturday.

Here are the results.

The top is Thursday the 10th and the bottom is Saturday the 12th (10 and 12 days post embryo transfer).

What do you think?












This is VERY unofficial.  I'm sure you all understand that.  I've NEVER seen 2 lines before!  I had to like pinch myself! Jon was so excited!  It's a wonderful development!  We are very cautiously optimistic but very excited!!! That line sure got darker on Saturday :)

Obviously, only the blood results will be completely legit.  I'm expecting my blood result test to be positive today and then I expect that I'll go in on Wed. for another test to make sure my hcg levels are doubling the way they should.  All fingers and toes are crossed!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The 2 week wait continues...

There were some things that I forgot to write about that I thought were important to note:

I forgot to mention that when we went into the transfer, Dr G came in and showed us our 2 embryo's.. well.. "blasts" and he told us that the rest of the embryo's that had fertilized were a day behind these 2... so they weren't ready to be frozen.  So we had to make a decision.  Risk it and transfer both and hope that at least one of the embryo's would mature enough to be frozen or instead of transferring 2- transfer 1 so that we knew that we had a back up embryo.  I was scared, but I already had it in my head that we were transferring 2.  I looked at Jon and I knew we were in full agreement and we both said "we'll transfer both" at the same time.  Dr. G told me to call them the next day to check on the status of the other embryos.  The next day I called and was told that 7 made it and were frozen. What a relief!!  So, out of the 18 eggs that we had retrieved, 16 fertilized and out of the 16 we had 9 that matured enough to be either transferred or frozen.  So, I am comforted in knowing that we have some snow babies :) 

A note about OHSS- those meds Dr. G put me on last minute sure helped!  At least that's what I'm going to think anyways.  I didn't get OHSS! Well, I had a very mild case- but it was nothing concerning.  Thankgoodness.  I forgot to talk about how I gained 5lbs within a day after the retrieval and I was freaking out because I just felt like I was expanding at an alarming rate lol.  The one thing that I wish I had known at the start (I found out 2 days after the fact... I called the surgical center because I was just in a lot of pain) that drinking powerade/gatorade helps bring the swelling down.  They say that the electrolytes in either of the drinks helps to get rid of the remaining fluid in your follicles. I was in so much pain after the retrieval.  When they take the eggs out, all the follicles are still there and they fill up with fluids- lovely.  I had no idea!   As soon as I started drinking powerade zero my swelling started to go down.  The nurse I talked to about it suggested I drink 32oz of it/day for at least 3 days along with the water I was already drinking.  If I was told this upon exiting the surgical center day of retrieval- I think I could've felt a lot better sooner :) 

No symptom changes... I'm just so exhausted all the time.  The 2ww is so hard.  I think this is the hardest one I've had yet.  Last week flew by just because of bed rest.. but this week... seriously... isn't it the weekend yet?? Yeah... it's bad.  I went to Target today and I won't lie.. I looked at the pregnancy tests and I was so tempted to buy some, but I held back!  I just want a BFP (big fat positive) lol...  I have a doctor appt tomorrow.  It's just a blood draw to check my estrogen and progesterone again.  So, a really quick appointment.

Really quickly to end this... we are catching up on our marvel character movies.  We watched Iron Man 2 this weekend... we still need to watch Thor and Captain America before we can see The Avengers.  So that was the real big excitement this weekend haha! 

Sunday- Jon and I were so exhausted that we both ended up taking naps after church.  I am so embarrassed to admit that we had poptarts for dinner that night.  We never have poptarts in the house.. let alone eat them!  They were a dollar for the off brand at HEB.  We were just that tired! 

Okay, this is getting lengthy and there are no pictures to entertain this post with.  Sorry about that. Welp, I'm going to get back to watching The Voice with Jon!  We missed the semi-finals.. so we're catching up!  No one ruin tonight's results for us! :) 

Friday, May 4, 2012

4 days post transfer

I made it through bedrest!  Wahoo!  It wasn't too horrible.  The only thing that was terrible about it was that my lower back just kept killing because I was laying down for so long!  Other than that, it was just fine.  I was able to swap from the living room and the bedroom.  I'd usually spend half my day in one and then switch to the other.  It was nice to get a change of scenery. I could get up to use the restroom (when I made my room switches) and I could sit up slightly to eat (that takes talent!!). 

Jon was able to work from home on those days, so that really helped!  I had a stash of stuff near me of things like meds, water bottles, magazines, etc... so that if I really did need something and he was busy- I'd be covered.

Poor Sookie had no clue what was going on.  I could tell that she knew something was up.  She always stayed in the room I was in no matter what.  She isn't a snuggly cat- but she's always nearby.
  

By the last day she finally got up the courage to come onto the bed to look at me- haha... probably to make sure I wasn't dying or something.


Let's see... other things.. Oh, I noticed how bad my sock tan is... yikes.



I had a few visitors and I really appreciated it!  Just as long as they have no pictures of how ridiculous I looked trying to eat something laying down haha!

One of my friends dropped off a book for me to read and I must say- I am really enjoying it!  It is definitely a great book coming off of the "Hunger Games" high.  It's called: Graceling  By: Kristin Cashore.


Jon and I FINALLY finished season 2 of Downton Abbey!  Ahh!!  Loved it!!  Also, seriously... I have found my dad's doppelganger!  Mr. Bates!!  I've seen pictures of the actor who plays Mr. Bates and he looks way different... but with Mr. Bates' hair parted and slicked to the side = my dad 15 years ago!  Crazy!

Here I am going crazy on my last day!  Haha... Trust me, I realize that this is such a terrible picture!


Let's see... yesterday I went in to my doctor's for a blood draw.  They are just checking my estrogen and progesterone levels.  They said everything looked really good.  My progesterone was >40 and Estrogen was 1342.  I'm not exactly sure what direction these numbers should be going... but as long as everything looks good- that's all I care about!  I started 2 more meds yesterday too.  A pill 3x/day and a patch that I change every 3 days.  I go back for my next estrogen and progesterone check up on the 9th.

It was odd yesterday getting around and moving after so long of just lying in bed.  I just felt completely exhausted... I still do.  I took a nap today.  Yeah.  I NEVER take naps!  It could be from the meds, procedures or the fact that the cat has woken me up (climbing the blinds, hairballs...) the past 2 nights and I haven't been able to really go back to sleep after.  I think all of the above are contributing factors :)

Sorry this such a boring blog today! Not sure what we're going to do this weekend.  Nothing too exciting :)  Maybe catch up on some shows?  I really want mexican food so bad... so maybe we'll have to make an excuse to make some tex-mex?  We'll see :)

Oh... and before I forget!!

May the fourth be with you!! ;)