{20 weeks} we made it halfway!

We made it to half way through the pregnancy! 20 weeks - 5 months - woo hoo! Here I am at buy buy Baby last week (on my Wednesday off) to register for baby stuff - boy was it overwhelming! We have no clue what we need, we just scanned a bunch of stuff we liked and hope for the best. I think we still have some work to do online to get the registry in better shape, but overall it was fun to think about using all this stuff with baby boy McFarland. 

Most popular question - "Do you have a name picked out?" Blake is the name we are "tossing around" now - people have seemed to catch on pretty quick that this will probably be our son's name and to be honest, most people seem to really like it! Richard & I both really like it and we don't seem to agree on any other boy names! I like Benjamin, William and Dylan but none of those really seem to be as good as Blake to both of us - so by default...I think we might have found our name! I love how it's short,  there are no nicknames that you can shorten it to and it sounds like a strong boy's name. Also, we don't personally know any Blake's in our lives right now - so I like that too! It's so funny because one night my sister threw this name out as a possibility and I waited to see what Richard would say because I didn't think he would like it and he goes "I like that" - I was shocked! So kudos to Corey for tossing this name out there after so many other names she tossed out and we went "no, I don't like that" :) Good times!

Nancy, Junior & Kalysta went with us to the buy buy Baby in Deerfield to watch Richard & I try to figure everything out - what an event! This very nice guy helped us with a lot of the different categories but by a certain point I was like "Ok, I can't focus anymore" - whew! Here are Richard & I at the end of registering - everyone was so helpful and I love it that you can use 20% Bed Bath & Beyond coupons at buy buy Baby so that makes it really nice! We also registered at Babies R Us too in Florence the other night but we just did that on a whim and didn't get any pictures! HA!

I printed a picture from Leah Robbins that she took at our gender reveal and put it in the frame that everyone signed at the party - I love how it turned out & can't wait to hang it in baby McFarland's room! I had a hard time deciding between this picture and the one where everyone is looking but I just love the expressions and excitement on everyone's face - this is why I was so happy to have Leah at the party - she captured such great memories that I will cherish forever!

I was reading Leah Robbin's blog today and she answered some fun questions so I thought I'd do something similar - changing out questions I don't want to answer with those that I do (HA!)

How far along?  20 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yep - all the time pretty much - love my clothes from Motherhood Maternity and my most recent present from Ryann that's in the first picture above because it's so fun and makes me feel sassy! :) 

Movement: Nope, no movement yet - I still get pains every now and then but the doctor said it was because I have anterior placenta which essentially is providing a cushion between me & baby so I can't really feel a whole lot just yet. Every now and then I think I might feel something but it's so short lived I just move on. 

Food cravings: Fruit most of all - but nothing really...I'm sort of hungry sometimes but not most of the time and I can't eat that much - not sure why, just not really in the mood. Cereal sounds good all the time. My digestive system isn't working at 100% so hopefully that gets better soon. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Mexican - I must stay away from Mexican places and food - just nothing sounds good at all (which is shocking because pre-pregnancy I would've eaten Mexican almost every day!)

Have you started to show yet: Finally! I started to pop more in the last week or two and every day now I wake up I feel like I'm a bit bigger. I still don't feel very big but I'm certainly bigger than I was a couple of weeks ago - now people at work have started to really notice!

Gender: BOY!!

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Somewhere in between - I'm truly excited that I'm getting to experience all of this but I'm not as crazy excited as I thought I'd be...I think it just has to do with trying to focus on not feeling like I'm going to throw up, or the pains in my stomach, or just being so dang tired....I am tired all of the time, and could probably sleep anytime at all so that just takes some getting used to. But overall, extremely excited to meet baby McFarland and just can't wait to see how our lives change. 

Most scared about: How this baby is going to come out - and how everything is going to happen at the end - it seems pretty easy right now - I just live my life and go about my day and carry little baby around with me - but once we get closer I have tons of questions and things that run through my head - will I need a c-section? Will he be facing the right way? Will I get hurt at all in the process? How will my relationship with Richard change after the baby comes? How hard is it going to be to breastfeed? Even though I have faith that it will all work out in the end - it's just stuff like that that floats around from time to time to freak me out! 

Any other news on the pregnancy front? I talked with my HR rep at work and I don't qualify for FMLA because I haven't been there a year - so I will use my sick/vacation accrued time and then take a few weeks off not paid - so I'm  planning on taking 12 weeks and then hopefully go back to 30 hours per week...everyone at work is so flexible and awesome about the entire process - they're like "We'll figure it out - just tell us what you need and what you'd like to do" - I truly couldn't as for a more supportive job that allows me to be so flexible and work everything around what works for Richard, me & the baby!
What's Richard been up to? Richard this past week painted some of the trim white in the baby's room (I stupidly painted it cream the last time we painted) - the rest of the room is going to stay the green color because we picked out baby animals for the theme of the room - but he's been doing that, installing new lights in the kitchen and getting ready to do the baseboards of the room next! Richard also had Danny (our neighbor) come over and help him set-up the baby cam so we've been watching Sally on the camera for now - she's not such a fan and we realized she doesn't lay in her bed as much as we thought! He's so helpful - can't wait till I can take pictures of him trying to set-up all of the baby's stuff!

{It's a...BOY!}

On Saturday, February 11th we had a gender reveal party for baby McFarland - we invited close family & friends who have really been there throughout our entire IVF process and who we wanted to share the news with all at one time. We also wanted to celebrate instead of sharing bad news (like we've done for years) so it was just a great culmination of a lot of hard work and patience! We did a pink/blue theme and it turned out great. Michelle helped me make the pretzels and chocolate shapes, Stephanie brought brownies, Corey made fruit/angel food cake kabobs and Amy made cookies - everything turned out perfect!

We had put on the invite "No gifts please" but we had a few gifts floating in throughout the party...Crystal made a diaper bouquet with fun stuff in the vase, Melanie, Rob & Abigail got baby McFarland a fireman bib, Stephanie brought an outfit and a ROCKSTAR sweatshirt which was fun because we call each other Rockstars from riding to work together & singing our hearts out for years, and Ryann & Keith brought a maternity shirt for me from Target that is very green & fun! I'm telling you - this baby (and his mama!) are spoiled and he's not even here yet!

The day turned out better than I had even planned - everyone seemed to have a good time & it was really fun (yet exhausting) to share the news with everyone at the same time - I spent Sunday just relaxing around the house and resting up...my body sometimes likes to push itself and then pay for it so we're still working on finding the balance in life! (I think that's going to be a constant struggle for me...but I AM working on it!) It just felt so wonderful to have so much love & support in one room - I hope everyone knows how much it means to Richard & me because we are where we are today because of all of our friends & family! THANK YOU!!

If you want to see the professional pics on Leah Robbins Photography blog click here. She got some amazing shots of everyone's reactions (I especially love open mouths as we say it's a boy!) and just some special moments between everyone at the party. It was great to have her there because usually I'm really concerned about taking photos / capturing moments but it was really nice to just enjoy the party and be in the moment.

Here are a few extra pictures (just because blog posts are more fun with photos!):

The fam before the party started - it was optional to wear shoes so the boys opted out :)

Crystal, me & Corey before the party started! Love these two!

How Richard & I found out it was a boy...
We went to the OBGYN (For Women in Clifton) at 10 AM on Wednesday, February 8th to our appointment and we were called back on time! The ultrasound tech asked if we wanted to find out the gender if it was possible so we said "yes". She started off by looking at a few things like it's head, measuring a few things and then all of a sudden she whispers "It's a boy..." and I said "Seriously?" and she goes "Yep, it's a boy - see, right there" (Richard said he had noticed it on the ultrasound before she said anything - sigh...boys will be boys!) and I was so excited! The ultrasound tech did a lot of other measurements including a 3D version of the heart chambers, showed us his head from different angles but for most of the time (if not all) he was staring straight at us so we didn't get a very good profile shot of him! I started tearing up only for a few seconds only because it was so wonderful to hear that everything was healthy with him and he was doing so well! We went back out to the waiting room to wait for the doctor but only had a few minutes...I asked Richard "Are you excited it's a boy?" and he goes "Yeah, it's just boys don't cuddle as much as girls. I think I just had it in my mind that it was going to be a girl." In all honesty, I wanted to wait until everyone else found out what it was but Richard really wanted to know at the appointment - I'm glad we did find out ahead of time so that we could get excited about it for everyone else / talk about it and start to dream of what life will be like with a little boy running around the house! (Richard was right on this one!) :) I'm just so glad it's happy & healthy that it was just icing on the cake that we now know the gender and can start planning the nursery.

Since the party & week 19...
I have done a lot of laying around / sleeping / not sleeping very well at night / trying to just get in a routine and feel 100%...pregnancy takes it out of you - and the thing is, when you get a burst of energy it's very short-lived so you can't get too excited!
The biggest questions now from people is "Did you register yet?" We did go and register at Babies R Us for a few things and it was a lot of fun - we just did it one day after work so I told Richard "I don't want to register for all the boring stuff (ie. outlet covers is something that sticks out that didn't seem like fun at the time!) - I just want to register for fun stuff" so we just clicked around at things we liked & that made us laugh.  We also clicked on some of the "groups" of items to save time (I don't have all the energy in the world so that was nice too!) The majority of our registering will probably happen at BuyBuy Baby (we'll hopefully get to that this month too) just because we loved so much stuff there! If you haven't been, there's only one in our area and that's in Deerfield - they accept the 20% off Bed Bath & Beyond coupons because they're in the same family of stores.  We will also register probably at Target.
We've started thinking about the nursery and what we want to do with it - Richard surprised me for Valentines Day and bought this ottoman at Value City that I just LOVE...it will go downstairs for now but we are thinking that Sally might be able to lay on it in the nursery since she can't have the full sized bed anymore (sad day for Richard & Sally!) - we're thinking baby animals right now would be cute...the room is green so we wouldn't have to paint and there's tons of stuff you can do with a baby's room with that. Richard asked about doing a fireman themed room but I think we'll save that for when he grows up a bit and can really enjoy the red/fireman stuff all over his room!

That's about all for now - exciting time in our lives & we're just enjoying the possibilities ahead & can't wait for the next stage!

{IVF #5 through 16 weeks pregnant}

What's funny to me thinking about this blog is how excited I was to get pregnant and how I thought I would blog all about it...then the morning sickness kicked in, sinus infection came beginning of January and I've finally got enough energy to sit here and type and upload a picture of my belly almost into February. :) I guess I can go back and tell you a quick story of how everything happened with IVF attempt #5...

Dr. Thomas met with us after IVF#4 and suggested we use up these embryos that we still had left (2 from the fresh cycle) and if it didn't work, then we would move on to the next step of surrogacy.

September 18th, 2011 (my sister's 25th birthday) - we started Lupron (same as every other cycle we've done) and we only told Susan - my friend from work who has sat right next to me for years. Our thought behind not telling anyone was that if it didn't work - I didn't want to have to tell anyone it didn't work - and if it did, I would be able to tell people on my own time that we were expecting (though I never thought THAT would actually happen!) We did Lupron all the way through October 15th but on October 2nd, we began Estrace 2 mg and Aspirin and Richard & I both had to do an antibiotic just to make sure neither of us had anything!

October 14th - we did a lining check and I remember asking my IVF Kris "If only one of the two remaining embryos thaw, I just want to make sure we're still doing the transfer, right?" Richard was at the firehouse that day, so I just went by myself and made sure to ask all my questions...she goes "Of course, but why would you think only one would thaw?" and I just remember thinking to myself "She'll see."

We started progesterone on October 16th (those are the long needles that I have to sit on a heating bad afterwards with) - and on October 20th they thawed both embryos that morning and gave us a call. Kris called us and I answered the phone and she goes "Well Ashley, you were right - only one embryo survived the thaw but it's such a beautiful embryo." I didn't think much about it and just said "Ok, we'll see you in a bit" - I had to be at the hospital around 11:30 (FET's are bottom of the list - retrievals are always first and then they work the transfers in - don't ask me why, it's just how it works!) It was a pretty "Whatever" day in my mind to be honest - we didn't bring a CD this time to listen to - we just walked in like "Let's get this over with..." I remember laying on that table looking at Richard thinking "I'm glad we're almost done with this - I've had enough - but I was so happy that he was sitting there in his scrubs making me laugh while we waited for the doctor (who of course was running late) - at that point, I didn't even care...I just wanted it to be over. Dr. Krystene DiPaola did our transfer and she came in and was just so excited for us (she really is much more into "embryos are coming back home to their mom" stuff than Dr. Thomas or Dr. Lindheim!) and she said "Oh Ashley, this is an expanded embryo which is a bit different than we've transferred in the past - it look wonderful and it's ready to be back in it's mom." The procedure takes less than 5 minutes - and it was over...I thanked her, she thanked me and I just left my legs up for the next 30 minutes while Richard turned on his iPhone and we watched Last Man Standing while we waited to leave.

October 21st we started Lovenox (blood thinner) to just throw everything we possibly could at our chances - these are my least favorite shots & they hurt the most :( It really still hurts just thinking about it! The entire 2ww (2 week wait) was exactly like every other one except one minor change - I was MUCH more tired but to be honest - I thought it was emotional tiredness more than anything - my body had enough! They scheduled my blood test for October 31st (quite possibly my least favorite holiday of the year) but I thought "What the heck - I already don't like the holiday, what can finding out bad news do?"

The morning of October 31st was miserable - traffic was horrible and the weather wasn't great either - I drove myself to the doctor's office because it's just a blood draw...I went in, got it done and left. I remember just talking in the car to no one in particular and just said things like "I'm tired of wishing for the same thing - I don't deserve this - I've worked hard to marry the man of my dreams and build a life where I WANT to raise a family - whatever - give me another negative result, I can take it - I've taken all the other one's - one more won't kill me." I just wasn't in the best place...and to be honest, there were several times through IVF #5 that I wanted to give up like never before - I wanted to stop the drugs and just tell Dr. Thomas I didn't want to go through with it...it was Richard who kept pushing me...saying things like "You can do this - you've come this far - don't give up now - it will all work out in the end." I didn't believe him most of the time - but for the sake of finishing what we started - I listened. I can't tell you how frustrated and tired I was of everything involving IVF - you can ask Richard, the nurses, the doctors - they all commented at some point "You're just not yourself these days" and I wasn't - I was annoyed, frustrated, tired, hurt, sad but most of all just disappointed. I was tired of feeling that way - I wanted my life back - I wanted the control back...even though I was choosing to do all of this - Richard & I agreed together that we wanted to go through it a 5th time...it still feels like you have no control of your body/what the outcome is - anything.

I'll never forget starting that meeting in Pam's office and I just told everyone "I'm expecting a call so I might have to step out." The phone rang at 11:27 - I remember seeing "513-585-0000" and thinking "Great - let's get this over with" - I stepped outside and stood by the copier. You should know - doctor's call with negative results and nurses get to call with positive results. I picked up the phone "Hello?" and I hear my nurse Kris on the other line say "Ashley?" and I dropped the phone....seriously - I dropped it on top of the copier and it flew across the floor! I picked it back up, apologized and said "The nurses never call me." and Kris goes "Until now." It must've only been about 2 seconds but it felt like a lifetime I stood there and just couldn't believe what I was hearing. What do I do now? Every other time I've had negative results I've been at home and cried or hugged Richard or just kept watching TV and thought about it all...this time I had to turn around and go back into a meeting. Kris asked "Wasn't it you who hates Halloween?" and I said "Well, not as much anymore." and she laughed and told the rest of the office nurses and they all screamed and cheered and were so excited - it was really exciting. She said Dr. Thomas would call later in the day to congratulate me (which he did and left the cutest voicemail I've ever got from a doctor!) The only request Kris had was when I came in that Friday, to let her know how I told Richard. Telling Richard - that was something I didn't think I would have to do right now...so I went back in my meeting and just finished that up first. Then I went back to my desk, and Richard had left a voicemail "Hey, I'm going to the gym, I'll call you back later." so of course when I called him it went to voicemail. I went over and told Susan because I had to tell SOMEONE - I NEVER THOUGHT THIS WOULD HAPPEN!!!!! She squealed in 552 and gave me the biggest hug! She told me that she'd told God that morning when she was brushing her teeth that she wasn't going to ask for me to get pregnant anymore - she was tired of praying (just like I had been!) It was really sweet!

Richard finally called back and I just said "Guess what? It actually worked?" and he said "Are you serious?" and I said "That's what I asked Kris" - beta of 375 - she said that was great and I go back on Friday. It was a pretty short conversation - I just couldn't believe it. I left that day and headed straight to Florence Mall Great American Cookie Co. and got Richard one of those mini cookie cakes that said "We did it" and took it home to him - that's originally how I wanted to tell him but I couldn't wait till I got home to tell him!  I successfully peed on a stick that night and proved I was in fact pregnant!

November 2nd I switched to Crinone instead of progesterone because the progesterone was building up and causing such pain! Went back for my second beta test and it was 2673 - it did more than double every 48 hours! We were thrilled! It was the day we went to see Aunt Ruth in the hospital and on the way home the nurse called to tell me!

November 18th we did an ultrasound and could see the baby's heartbeat on the monitor - Dr. Thomas said we could try to hear it so we tried and we could - by far the coolest moment in both of our lives - it was so neat to just hear it pumping away and sounding so strong! They told us the due date was Richard's 30th birthday - July 9, 2012.

We told Richard's family when we brought Kalysta & Ethan back from Chicago on Novermber 20th and we went out to Cracker Barrell to celebrate!

We told Corey, Jimmie, mom & dad the night before Thanksgiving after eating at LaRosa's - and they were shocked! We called grandma B & Debbie to Skype and called Marthe & Sharon & Ken too!

On Thanksgiving we told grandma & grandpa, mark & dot and we shared frames with all of them with a picture of Sally saying "I'm going to be a big sister" on it.

We slowly told friends throughout the next month or so and didn't put it on Facebook until January. Our first OBGYN appointment was on December 15th with Dr. Clark. We had another appointment with Dr. Rinala on January 11th and each time we just listened with the doppler to the heart beat - that was neat but the ultrasound still wins for best moment!

I felt nauseous for the first 3 months pretty much - and then had sinus infection for a few weeks - so needless to say, it feels good to be a bit back to normal!

This picture was taken on January 26th - the first day I had on a full maternity outfit (pants & shirt) to work - it's a little hard to tell how big I am because I'm apparently standing at a weird angle but you get the idea - I can't suck my stomach in anymore and there is a bump sticking out now!

I love that Sally's in the picture wondering what's going on! I got this sweater at Target while shopping with Marthe - I enjoy it because it's comfy and has a fun neck!

Things I thought I would enjoy but actually haven't been enjoying as much lately - 
Sleeping alone
Taking pictures (especially of me!) but of anything really - I'm not doing the 365 project this year - just taking pictures as I want to and I rarely feel like taking them!
Eating a lot
Staying awake past 8pm
Documenting the pregnancy - I hope this changes as I start to feel better and look a bit different but we'll see - I'm just exhausted for a large portion of the day - so sometimes I just come home, get in my PJs and lay on the loveseat and fall asleep!


I'm sure I could keep typing with all the little things I wrote down along the way - we are planning a gender reveal party for next month and I am trying to write in my journal on a regular basis so I don't forget things! I also have made a Shutterfly album about the "We are expecting" part of the journey in which I want everyone in it to sign and tell what they thought when we told them we were expecting - I'm going to put it in the baby's room and share it with them as they grow up!

Richard has been an amazing husband through all of this - just when I thought he couldn't get any better - he does something that just makes me smile (or sometimes cry, depending on the hormones that day!) - he does everything he can to keep me sane/happy and truly goes above and beyond the call of duty! It's all the little things - turning my mattress pad heater on while I fell asleep on the couch, so when I do get up and make it into bed - it's all warm...or getting me whatever food he can think of that I'll eat at the grocery, or the hundreds of other things he's done over the past 4+ months that just makes me so happy that I have someone so amazing by my side through all of this. He's a trooper and puts up with me even when I wouldn't put up with me! We're both excited to find out the sex of the baby (Richard definitely more than me!) and we can't wait to get started on the nursery, register for all kinds of fun stuff at the store & just share all these moments with our family & friends who have supported us so much through this entire journey - baby McFarland is going to be one spoiled & loved baby!

Sally's Hips

Sally has hip dysplasia and vet said: keep up on glucosamine, restrict activity primarily up stairs and add fish oil to her food for 2 weeks and we will see if it helps...couple surgery options down the line that I'm sure she'll need but not yet :)

She's doing MUCH better today now that the drugs have worn off & she can jump again - she's not supposed to be jumping, but she does it anyway because she's a dog :) 

Glad she's doing ok and we have a plan in place to see how she does - I think this is only the start of her hip problem though - from talking with the vet yesterday, it sounds like she just has bad hips! 

Gotta love the Sally girl !

Halloween Festivities

my life through pictures...

Since we found out that IVF #4 didn't work, we've been trying to keep ourselves busy with different things - sometimes it's just easier to show you our lives through pictures...

We got a new computer, so this is me being silly with the "photo booth" program!

Sometimes it seems as though Sally can't get close enough to us...this was one of those moments

Our first Jimmy Buffett concert was a success - tailgating around 4, concert at 8, home by 11! Great times!

We were in the lawn so it was hard to see him (except on a jumbo tron!) but here he is!

Since we live so far away from our friends - sometimes we just have to Skype with them :) Abigail got a new bike!

Where's Caleb's belly button?? He loves to show you!

Florence Freedom game with our neighbors - last fireworks Friday!

Happy 80th Birthday grandma Moore!

Here is Grandma McFarland

As I mentioned, these last couple of weeks haven't been my favorite - but Lynn & Steph each got me a really sweet card & took the time to write so much in them...I truly love my friends & appreciate everything that they do for me to keep me staying focused on what's ahead.

Had dinner with Donna at Rio Grande in Newport after work to catch up on life - she is one of my favorites!

Stopped by the firehouse to visit Richard & bring the guys cookies from Great American Cookie Co. 

31 has been going really well - Jen had my only August party (took off some time for IVF) and this is my set-up at her place...so many new things, it's really exciting!!

Did a Bridal Show at the Manor House with Tiff, Talia & Kelli...we had a great time!

We love photo booths so we did 3!

We did 2 on Saturday - had a ball...please notice the one on the left was as we were leaving after he woke up from his nap...he was less than thrilled (and so were we when we realized we didn't redeem our $20 gift card so we missed out!) boo!

All in all, some great memories in August - but with great times comes not so great times - some days are easier than others - some hours are easier than others. I'm hoping this fall comes some changes and things start looking up.

I'll keep hoping & let you know what I come up with! Stay tuned!

2ww is over

Well the 2 ww is over and I'm so glad...waiting is the worst in my opinion. Dr. Thomas called today to give us the news, not what I was hoping to here but almost what I was expecting to hear at this point - four times doing the same thing - heaven help me! It gets old wishing the same wish, wanting the same thing, and not feeling like the last few YEARS have moved us anywhere closer to our dream and what we wanted.

Here's the email I sent out to everyone this afternoon:

Just wanted to let you know that our 4th IVF round was unsuccessful.

Dr. Thomas called to tell me he was tired of having to give me bad news and I told him I was tired of hearing bad news.

I'm very lucky to have such a supportive husband, family & friends to go along this journey with - I appreciate every single one of your cards, prayers, thoughts, texts, facebook messages, emails etc. I am very grateful to have such a wonderful support system in my life that has allowed us to do this four times now...it hasn't been easy, but I know this is just part of our story that I'm hoping has a great ending!

That's about all I've got for today - the house is nice & quiet for me to get some work done and Sally is curled up in my room with me just hanging out...I know you all love the Sally updates too (ha!)

Thanks again for your continued support,
Ashley

Transfer Day in Photos

Transfer Day + 2ww

Today is our transfer day for IVF #4 - this is the last step in the process...the doctor's have done all they can do after the transfer, and for the next 2 weeks we wait to see if those embryos decided to stick and become babies.

This is always a weird day to me - it's very hopeful because there is a sense that you are PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise) as they like to say in IVF land...but there's also a sense that you just hope beyond hope that they do what they're supposed to do. This is the only part of the process my body doesn't seem to understand / do very well so I hope this time it's different.

We should get a picture of the embryos today as well as the container that they lived in...it's sort of a strange out of body type experience when they hand you that because it just doesn't seem possible that our embryos were just sitting in their container and then they go in me...but at least they're back where they're supposed to be. Thank goodness for modern science that this is even possible during our lives!

Not sure if I'll take pictures today or not - usually I do for the transfer but it's truly the same as every other time...go in, get into scrubs, lay on table & wait for doctor, doctor waits for embryologist to send the embryos  through the tube and I have to lay on a table for 30 minutes afterwards. We have to be at the hospital at 10:30 for an 11:00 transfer - one funny thing they let you do is bring music in to listen to during the procedure...it helps pass the time after the transfer but during it's just nice background music (but the actual procedure takes less than 5 minutes total).

This is a picture of us during the second IVF (all in our outfits!) - just to give you an idea (HA!) - as you can see, Richard is less than pleased to ever have his picture taken! I love him in spite of himself!

Here's hoping...

IVF #2 (05/2010)

Retrieval & Embryos!

Yesterday the retrieval went really well - 12 eggs retrieved from me & everything went really well. I slept a lot during the day - watched some TV and had my first progesterone shot (long needle). Seen here (which is the same needle that we did my trigger shot with so the rest of my progesterone shots will be with this needle in the muscle in my back/hip area that has muscle in it) - I'll show my lovenox shots sometime soon so you can see what those are - but those are pre-filled syringes and the needle is small but it's the shot that hurts the most:

I was pretty sore yesterday from the retrieval & just really tired but all was ok. Today got a call from my favorite old IVF nurse (she now works in another part of the hospital) who called to say we got 6 embryos to fertilize. They will keep all 6 fresh so they can pick the best two on Monday for the transfer back into their mama! :)

So in sum:
6 fertilized at the 2PN level (perfect!)
2 didn't fertilize at all
4 fertilized but they were 1PN (1 of these) and 3PN (3 of those) which essentially means there was too much DNA or not enough DNA in the embryo so they weren't of good genetic make-up.

That about sums up my last 2 days - trying to stay positive through it all. Hopefully everything goes well on Monday!