Day 1- IVF

Well, today was the beginning of one of the most important things of our lives. Today Jason and I went in for our baseline ultrasound to make sure everything is okay to start the stimulation with medication. We were given the go and I will start taking my medicine next week with our first u/s of the follicles on the 1oth. I am not looking forward to it because they warned me I will be extremely bloated due to the amount of follicles they are wanting me to produce but hey, the more we get the more we will have to freeze in case this cycle doesnt take so I will deal with a little bit of bloating to get me there.

I love my RE. We couldnt ask for a better one. Our previous cycles have all been pretty much controlled by the RN's but I am guessing the amount of money we are paying this cycle we get to have Mr. Lipari himself. He has done everything for us, he even did our simple baseline u/s today. That makes me happy, I feel like we are in GREAT hands. He seems just as excited about the cycle and for us as we are.

I am going to continue the accupuncture. After researching on how much of a percentage it increases our chances I feel like it is best for us. It is a little expensive but I believe it will be worth it. I went for my first appointment last Friday and that afternoon I was spotting even on birth control. That is awesome because that is impossible for my body so I know it helps. I am going to go every Friday up to the day of transfer and then we are going to do the day of transfer (which our back to back treatments, before and after the transfer) That along is suppose to increase are chances by like 10%.

Well, I will keep everyone posted as we go on this journey. This is all new to us and is allot more involved then our last cycles, that is for sure. I am more scared this time around then the last and I think its because of the amount of money that has come from our pockets. I am hopefully thouhg, please keep us in your prayers.

Photo Albums

Okay, if I did this right you should be able to click on the picture and go to the photo album. The first album is a mixture of Spring and Jason/My Bday....

The second album is photos from Nick and Jen's wedding we went to in Illinois....

Trial transfer/ Illinions Trip

Well, I will start with the trip to Illinois. It was relaxing to get away for a little bit and hang out with the family. There is something always so awesome about being around family having their support. We had a great time with mine and Jason's family but we were so ready to get home too. Its mixed emotions but we were talking on the way home and we can honestly say now that Jacksonville is home to us. We were so ready to see our Louie and sleep in our own bed but we love seeing our family too. If only we could move Jacksonville a little closer......it rained pretty much the whole time were in Illinois. We hit bad weather going up and then flying home we ran into bad weather which left the ride from ATL to JAx a little bumpy. I don't like those kind of plane rides. We made it home safely though thanks to God's good graces but too more rain which has not stopped since we have stepped foot off the plain. I guess we have a Nor'easter around the Bahamas which is causing us to have nasty rains and winds. I will post some pics of the family (my side) when I get a chance from the Wedding. I unfortunately didn't get any taking with Jason's fam, we will make a point to do that when we are back up in September.

Now to fertility, we get home and the anticipated calender is in the mail. I was mad though because we had a RN consultation on that Saturday, which obviously we missed because we were out of town. They also had me scheduled for today for a Saline Ultrasound (where they fill my uterine cavity with Saline water to make sure there are no fibroid or anything that would cause problems with the cycle) and they also did a trial embryo transfer to make sure they have the correct catheter for when the time comes. Let me tell you, your bladder has to be EXTREMELY full for them to do the transfer and it was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever done. ***TMI...I just new I was going to pee on him. Luckily, I didn't but he told me I would not be the first which was comforting to know. Good news, everything went great. He saw no concerns and says my uterine cavity is in great shape which was good to here. We then had our RN consultation where she want over ALL the medicine and shots I will be having to take and I mean ALL. It is crazy the amount of medicine I will be taking this cycle, it is $1200 worth and that is with insurance so that can give you an idea. I will be doing allot more shots then I did last time which I am not looking forward. She also explained the egg retrieval will be done with me put out which I would rather be sleeping, I just don't want the IV. Anyways, more to come, we have our first U/S on Tuesday. I will update everyone then...

Quick note for those that knew my sister was having surgery on Monday. She came out fine, she is extremely sore from the staples, she spent last night in the hospital. They took her catheter out this morning and if she can get up and walk and go to the potty, they said she can go home which she is excited about. They were able to save the ovary but the Dr. said that due to them cutting it a little bit, she cant guarantee that it will not turn to tissue and not work but she said the good news if she still has one perfectly good one and both her tubes so she didn't seem worried for Alison (which after everything I have gone through I PRAY she will never experience this)

A decision has been made....

Sorry its been a while since I last updated. Mainly because Jason and I had a decision to make and it was extremely hard to decide. The last post I made was regarding the surgery we discussed at our reevaluation. After further reviews of the chart, my RE said he believed that surgery would not help (it would be for my benefit, exploratory) but IVF will be our best option. I am not going to go on and on about all the benefits and downfalls but I will say that it is a MUCH higher percentage to do IVF (in-vitro fertilization). For those that don't know, it is a very expensive process that insurance doesn't pay a dime on. It can cost between $12k-$15k. Luckily for us we have an awesome RE and we were able to get a great price on it. So, just wanted to update everyone and let you know we have switched roles and will no longer be doing the same cycles we have been doing. The next month or so you will start to hear about our IVF cycle. Hopefully this will be it!!!! After some research on how to increase your chance with IVF, we learned of an acupuncture technique so in addition I will be undergoing acupuncture. Not sure about this because I have never done it but once we get back from IL we are meeting with her to discuss the options. The same day treatment (they do it before placing the embryo back) and then afterwards, that treatment along has proven to increase chances by around 14%. We shoulde be receiving our calender in the mail very soon. Hopefully we will get a orientation like we did with the IUI to explain the process because I am not sure what all it invovles.

Please continue to pray for Jason and I. For our emotion and physical well being as well, for those that have never gone through this process it is a roller coaster of emotions. One day you may be up (all the test are great) and then next day something went wrong. Just please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Love yall and for those readers in IL we will see you very very soon!