Almost there...

We had another appointment today. Dr H measured 19 large eggs with many more little ones. This has been so much better than the first try. We are done taking Follistim and today is the last day of Lupron. Tonight at 11:15 PM, I have to give Jen her HCG trigger shot. This has to be at the exact time so that they can extract the eggs exactly 36 hours from then.

Jen's procedure is set for Wednesday at 10:15 AM. We are hopeful that Dr H can retrieve as many as possible and that we could even have some extra left over. So this means that the embryo transfer will be either on Saturday or Monday depending on how the embryos grow. Jen will be on bed rest from the transfer until Wednesday morning. Luckily for me, Monday is a "holiday" and my office is closed to celebrate Columbus Day. So no extra days off are needed on my part!

On Friday, I get to take Jen to see Phantom of the Opera. I bought Jen really good tickets about 6 months ago for this (Center Orchestra, Row L, dead center), and we would have had to give them up if the transfer would have been the same day. Fortunately, it worked out for us. We will be dining at one of Jen's favorite restaurants, Magnolia in Hollywood.

If Jen is stuck in bed for a Saturday transfer, it makes for an easy football Sunday also! Just kidding grandpa... I will take good care of my beautiful wife.

Please continue to pray for us. We are almost done. Hopefully, it will be good news this time.

D

Don't want hyperstimulation...

Well Darryl and I had another appointment this morning and will have them everyday until the retrieval. I've been feeling a little more pressure in my uterus and Dr. H said I definitely should be. She said my follicles are growing pretty rapidly and that she really wants me to take it easy the next few days. She told us today that we need to buy Muscle Milk (which is like a protein shake) and I need to drink it twice a day to keep my ovaries from hyperstimulating and creating too many follicles. Sounds pretty disgusting but according to my best friend's husband, vanilla is the best flavor and it's not too bad. Ummmm....I'll keep you updated on that. Funny that we are now having the exact opposite response from our first round of IVF. (which is a good thing!) Now the trick will be teaching a class full of kindergartners and first graders while sitting down and taking it easy. :) I'm sure with a little bribing, I will get through the next few days with no problems. And the nurse from our doctor's office just called and said we need to lower our Follistim meds to 50 units and continue with our Lupron as we have been. She said our HCG shot will most likely be tomorrow which means my surgery will be on Wednesday. Thank you for everyone who is keeping up with our situation. :) Your prayers are always heard. :)

Prayer Requests:
1. Pray that my ovaries don't hyperstimulate and create too many follicles. If this occurs, the whole cycle could be canceled.
2. Pray that my body produces the perfect amount and that the doctor is very happy about the results.
3. Pray that my body can continue to recover from this cold and that Darryl won't catch it.
4. Pray that we can continue to put our trust in God and know that he will do what is best for us.
5. Pray that we can add a baby (babies) to our family within the year.

The Wifey Likes the Drugs

Hey Everyone,

Today was another appointment. Jen had her regular Ultrasound and Blood Test. Things seem to keep improving this time. On the ultrasound, Dr. H counted out 22 eggs! The largest measuring about 15 mm. Last month on our first protocol, we only made 10 or 11. So Jen's body seems to be responding perfectly. Dr H mentioned that she believes the endometriosis is on the right side because the images were much fuzzier than those on the left. Next up is another appointment on Saturday with the trigger shot following soon thereafter. The retrieval is tentatively planned for Tuesday with the transfer on Friday or Sunday. That of course could change depending on how the next couple days go.

Jen is still not feeling well. She has an appointment with our regular doctor today at 3:30. Dr H is hoping that if she needs antibiotics that she can be on them for a few days before the retrieval. If she is not better by then, the anesthesiologist could cancel it. Please keep us in your prayers so she gets better and everything goes smoothly.

D

Things look good...

Darryl and I had another early morning appointment today. So far the hormone levels are good and we have 15 follicles which was more than what we had the first round at this time. Last time our follicles were all different sizes. We had big ones and small ones. This time they are all pretty much the same size which is good! Hopefully they will all grow simultaneously so they can be considered "good eggs" on retrieval day. :) The higher the egg number, the better our chances of getting the best egg quality before implantation. We have another appointment Thursday morning but until then, we will stay on the same dosage of Lupron and Follistim. We'll keep you updated! :) Thank you for all the prayers! xoxo

Prayer Requests...
1. Pray that on our Thursday morning appointment, we have a wonderful looking ultrasound with the perfect amount of follicles.
2. Pray that Darryl and I can stay free from sickness during this time. (I'm already feeling better! :)
3. Pray that we can add a baby (babies) to our family within the year.

Doctor's Appointment

This morning Jennifer and I had another appointment, the first of many where they will do an ultrasound and then draw blood to check hormone level. We got to see Dr. Werlin today. If you don't know about him, he is a genius fertility doctor that looks like Albert Einstein. He said that everything is looking great. We had about 10 follicles and that more can come since it is so early in the process. The hormone levels checked out good and we do not need to make any changes to our protocol.

Jen is not feeling well right now. She always seems to get sick at the beginning of the year. Those dirty little kids... :) She is going to her regular doctor tomorrow if she doesn't feel any better. The only restriction on medication is sudafed. So I guess that means no sinus relief or crystal meth for us any time soon...

Please pray that Jen feels better and that everything continues to move forward smoothly.

D

New shots...

Darryl and I had an appointment Thursday morning and were given all of our free Folistim (YAY!) and our calendar for our second round of IVF. We began our new shot (Lupron) which we take 10 units of in the morning and 10 units of at night, along with a full 450 units of Follistim every night. Hopefully this time the medicine will kick in early and our doctor will be much happier with the results. I'm definitely feeling much moodier this time around so stay outta my way! :) Thank you for the continuous prayers and I will try my best to keep this updated with each appointment. On a side note, my first week of teaching my K/1 combo class went pretty good. I had a week to decorate my room, start teaching a class full of 24 new students in two different grade levels, and do Back to School Night! I'm exhausted but I'm glad everything went well! :) It will get much easier as the weeks go on and the students and I get used to the daily routine. I'm very grateful for the full time job and excited that it's something I love to do!

Prayer Request: Please pray...
1. that Dr. H is very happy about our numbers at tomorrow morning's appointment
2. that Darryl and I can keep from getting sick during this time. Teaching kindergartners and first graders is almost asking to get sick. I'm feeling a little yucky so hopefully with some Airborne and prayer I will feel much better soon.
3. that we can add a baby (babies) to our family within the year.

Thank you. xoxo

New Beginnings

Hi everyone! Well a lot has changed over the past few weeks. I was called back to work by my district last Tuesday night, had 2 days to set up my classroom, and began teaching a kindergarten/first grade combo class this morning. Today went well but I feel so far behind since I wasn't able to teach the first 13 days of school. I'm sure after a few weeks, my class will be up and running like a well oiled machine. :) (let's hope!) Darryl and I also started our round 2 of invitro today. We had our first appointment with Dr. H and she said everything looked great and we will start our new meds this Thursday night. We will begin with the highest dose of Follistim and and 10 units of Lupron. We are praying that this time, the medicine will do it's job from day 1 and that the doctor will end up with plenty of eggs to choose from at the time of the transfer. Thank you for all of you who have continued to pray for us during this time. It seems like things are turning around for us and we are very excited to see what wonderful things God has in store for us.

Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray that the new medicine has no negative side effects and that it will do it's job from day 1.
2. Pray that Darryl and I continue to have faith that God knows what he is doing.
3. Pray that we can add a baby (babies) to our family within the year.

THANK YOU!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX