This is why...

This blog has been created to give our family and friends an idea of our journey through infertility and the steps we chose to take to make our dream of becoming parents a reality. There may be a few graphic details here and there, along with some fun photos, but most importantly, we wanted to document these events in our lives for our future children and for anyone else who dreams of becoming a parent. Enjoy!


*Anyone who may be interested in us as adoptive parents, please feel free to check out our link at Bethany.

http://waitingfamilies.bethany.org/home/california/darryl-and-jennifer



Wednesday, August 11, 2010

More shots and more appointments...



Our nightly shots... Menopur, Follistim, and Galinex

Another appointment today and everything looked good. Dr. H measured 9 big follicles and I had 2 smaller ones. It seems to be changing each day but she said that a few of my follicles are just taking their time to grow. This is fine but since my ovaries are taking their time, we have to keep refilling the meds. It's getting a little pricey but it will all be worth it in the end. :) It's now looking like we will do the egg retrieval Sunday or Monday. Dr. H also reminded me no exercise, lifting, or cleaning house! Whooo hoooo! (but if you know me, you know that's not easy for me....I'm kind of a clean freak!) :) Please continue to keep us in your prayers these next few appointments and pray that we can continue with the egg retrieval and the embryo transfer with plenty of embryos left over for more children in the future. Thank you again for all the prayers and uplifting messages. xoxo


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Another appointment...

We had another appointment today and things still looked good. Dr. H measured 10-11 follicles and said there were 2 more smaller ones growing which made me very happy. I know that all the follicles probably won't finish the race but it's good to know that it's still a pretty good number. She also added in the Ganirelex last night so now I'm up to 3 medications a night. This one gave me a bruise on my tummy because the needle is a little bit thicker and Darryl has to push much harder for it to break the skin. Fun right?? Well I guess this only prepares me for the huge needle that will be going in my back in the next week or so. I'll add some pictures when Darryl has all the needles laid out so you can see all the poking that goes on. Other than that, we are just waiting for the retrieval day. We'll keep you updated! Thank you for all the prayers and nice messages! xoxo

Prayer Requests: Please pray...
1. that my follicles continue to grow in number and in size
2. that the quality of follicles are really GOOD because that means GOOD EGGS!
3. that we continue to trust God
4. that we can add a baby (babies) to our family within the year

Monday, August 9, 2010

Looks good...

Darryl and I had our appointment this morning at 6:30 and the doctor was very pleased with the results. She said my hormone level had gone from the 100's to the 400's in 2 days so she knew something good was going on. She did the ultra sound and found about 11 or 12 follicles growing nicely and I think a few more that were a little smaller than the others. She used a car as an analogy, saying you never know how fast the car can really go until you push on the pedal and give it some gas. The medicine sometimes takes a while to kick in but once it does, it will show us how many follicles my body can produce. She said we would continue with everything and hopefully do the egg retrieval this Friday or Saturday. From now on we go every morning for an ultra sound and blood work just to make sure things are moving along. I am definitely getting the crampy feelings so I'm looking at that as a good sign. And Darryl says I haven't been too moody yet (but maybe he's afraid of what I will do to him if he says I am....haha) I've just been emotional....but that's always better than bitchy right? Thank you for everyone who kept us in their prayers last night. I was ready to accept whatever the doctor decided today as what God wants and am so happy that she wants us to continue. xoxo

Prayer Requests: Please pray...
1. that my follicles will continue to grow in number and size
2. that the quality of each follicle is really GOOD because that means GOOD eggs
3. that we will continue to trust God
4. that we can add a baby (babies) to our family within the year

Sunday, August 8, 2010

All depends on tomorrow...

Yesterday Darryl and I had another appointment. Our doctor wasn't there so we met with the RN. She did the ultra sound and we found out that there were only 7 follicles now measuring above 10mm and 2 measuring below 10mm. She said she would call my doctor and let me know later that night what we should do since my numbers went down. So needless to say, I was a little bit of a mess again because I can't control any of this and I don't know why the numbers are dropping. But the good news was, we had a really fun day yesterday watching my niece/god daughter at the Maya Hotel in Long Beach while my sister in law Trisha was in a wedding. (Thanks for the free hotel room sister!!!!!! We LOVED it!) My other sister in law Jen, also joined us with my niece Delilah! We swam in the pool, went to dinner at Open Sesame in Belmont Shores, and then spent the night cuddling with my 2 favorite nieces.


My doctor called me today and told me for now, let's continue medication and she will see me tomorrow morning. She said my hormone levels have been rising really good so she is expecting good results at tomorrow's appointment. She reminded me that it's not the quantity of the follicles that's important but the quality. She also told me that she will be the first to tell me if we need to cancel because she doesn't want us putting any more money towards this cycle if the chances of it working don't look good.
If we need to start over, she will use a different protocol since my body didn't react to the hormones the way it should have for someone my age. However......most 30 year olds going through this overproduce follicles which then causes most of the follicles to have poor quality. And Darryl told me today that he has been praying that we have little or no embryos left over from our IVFs because he doesn't want us to have to make the decision of what to do with them when we are done having children. Do we continue to freeze them? Do we donate them? Do we get rid of them? Very ethical questions that are not the easiest to answer. So maybe God is just making sure we have the perfect amount. Only he knows the plans he has for us. :)

Prayer Requests: Please pray...
1. that tomorrow's appointment goes GREAT and that we are able to continue with this cycle
2. that we will continue to trust God
3. that we can add a baby (babies) to our family within this year

Thank you!!!!!!! We love hearing from everyone who is praying for us. We are hearing that lots of you have your children praying for us too which is sooooooooo awesome!!!!! Tell them all thank you from us! xoxo

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Today's Appointment....

So Darryl and I had an appointment this morning at 6:30 to have an ultra sound and a blood test. The doctor said I have 6 follicles in my left ovary and 6 on my right....I was thinking that was pretty good but when I asked her if that was good or bad, she said, "it is what it is." So right away I knew that probably wasn't great. She said my hormone levels weren't where they were supposed to be on Monday so that's why she added in the extra shot so fast. Today I will get a call telling me what our next step is. Whether or not we need to add more medication or less. And I was a bad girl and started looking stuff up on the internet and found out that 12 follicles total is considered low. So of course now I'm worried about it and to top it off my P.O.S. car started acting up AGAIN today. Needless to say, it's been a tear filled morning (and that could be all the meds I'm on too) but I'm praying for calmness and acceptance. Everyone keeps reminding me that it only takes one egg and one sperm. I know they're right and that it's completely up to God anyway. One way or another....I know we will become parents.

Prayer Requests: Please pray....
1. that our next ultra sound will show many more follicles and that maybe my body is just a few days behind
2. that I can remain calm and accept the fact that God is in control, and be thankful for the many blessings we already have
3. that the medication will do it's job
4. that we will be able to add a baby (babies) to our family within the next year

THANK YOU!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Monday, August 2, 2010

Call from the nurse...

Just got a call from our nurse telling us to up the Follistim to 450 units and add in the Menopur shots as well. So it looks like I get 3 shots tonight and every night until we meet with the doc on Thursday. I'm a little worried about the Menopur because it's not a prepackaged shot....we actually have to measure and mix powders. So wish us luck! :)

Shots...

Friday we were able to begin our Follistim shots for the first time. (These shots go into my belly right below the bellybutton) Darryl did an amazing job! He was a little nervous but ended up doing it perfectly and I barely felt it. Yeah! The only thing that sucks is that he has to give me 300 units of the medicine and each vial has 400. So instead of throwing the extra away, he has to give me the leftover medicine the next night and then refill so that I get 300. This means 2 shots sometimes but so far it hasn't been too bad.
We had an appointment this morning with Dr. H. She did an ultra sound and a blood test. So far all looks good and our next appointment will be Thursday morning. She will let us know then if we need to add the other two shots into our nightly routine. Until then, we just do the Follistim shots each night.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support and we will keep you all updated. :)

Prayer Requests: Please pray...
1. That Darryl and I will continue to stay healthy during this time
2. That with each ultra sound the Doctor will see that I am progressing the way I am supposed to
3. That Darryl and I get to add a healthy baby (babies) to our family within the next year.