And we're...

making progress! Calleigh's nursery is slowly coming together... and the more it comes together the more excited I get for her to be here! Her room was painted two weeks ago, the carpets cleaned four days after that, and then the furniture moved in and the crib put together last Saturday morning. Right now it is very beige, but plenty of color will be added in the next couple of weeks! The lighting in the pictures isn't the best, but you get the idea :)

The same weekend that Calleigh's room got painted was the same weekend that Travis was finally able to feel our baby girl move! I think it kind of weirded him out/startled him at first, but now he enjoys tapping on my belly and then feeling her squirm in response. Bed time is always the best... we still use the fetal doppler every couple of nights (thanks to Aunt Amy!) and he's always amazed at how strong and loud her heartbeat is. I am so thrilled and blessed to have a wonderful husband that's as excited as I am about our little miracle! 

We ended up forgetting to take the week 21 picture, but do have week 23... and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of change between 19 and 23, so you're not missing much :) 

Next Tuesday I go in for our 25 week appointment and the glucose tolerance test... I'm a little nervous. While I've tried to eat better over the past month, I definitely haven't been perfect :) It's been hard with both Thanksgiving AND Christmas during this time frame! After our appointment next week, I'll be sure to post another update... and hopefully by then a little more will have taken place in the nursery! Until next time...

Kicks and Squirms

Our baby girl is a mover... and we've known this since just about day one! At every ultrasound we've had, except for the very first one, we have seen her move. And here recently, I have finally been able to feel that movement :) I started feeling "flutters" about 2-3 weeks ago. Then on Thanksgiving morning, BOOM! She straight up kicked me! I was sitting at the breakfast table going through the Black Friday sale ads and it caught me completely off guard. I literally jumped back in my seat and I'm sure had a look of great confusion on my face, lol. Once it dawned on me that is was Calleigh kicking, I immediately called Travis over hoping it would happen again so that he could feel it. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Then on Saturday night it happened again! I was sitting on the couch watching a movie when she began squirming all over the place. We tried again for Travis to be able to feel her too, but every time he tried she would stop... little stinker :) She kept me up until about midnight that night moving around. Since then, I have been able to feel her move everyday. I love the little reminders she gives me that she's there... and just hope that Travis is able to feel her soon too!

Decisions Decisions

So it's been awhile... again :) But that's okay, because this time we have plenty of updates! Over the past couple of weeks we have been making decisions left and right! We've decided on the paint color for Calleigh's room, picked out her bedding (purple, chocolate, tan, and cream polka dots and stripes! - not too girly!), and have even started a registry "must haves" list for when we register over Christmas break. Below are pictures of the paint color and her bedding. Her room is getting painted next weekend and then the carpet will be cleaned a few days after that. I can't wait to get her furniture in place and see her room all put together!

Last week Calleigh got her first two diaper bags! Her Gigi, Travis's mom, made one of them, and my love affair with Coach prompted the second one. Aren't they both super cute???

During all this time, week 19 came and went quickly. Below is belly pic for that week. Apparently my iphone only takes blurry pictures these days! Sorry!

Yesterday was our 21 week appointment with Dr. Godat. Other than hearing Calleigh's sweet little heart beat, it was uneventful. We go back at the end of December for the Glucose test... I'm not super excited about this. While I am right on track with my weight according to Dr. Godat, I still need to be very cautious over the next month as to what I'm putting into my body. With Thanksgiving last week and Christmas around the corner, I think you all can feel my pain on how hard this is going to be! There isn't a 21 week belly picture yet, but there should be one within a day or so... so stay tuned :) Until next time...

Thank heaven for little...

It's been an exciting two days! The baby furniture came in this weekend, so yesterday we rented a truck from Home Depot and then headed to JCPenny's to pick it up. While we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies hauling it back home, it was totally worth it. It felt like Christmas morning unwrapping it :) It's exactly what we wanted, and we LOVE it! Kuddos to Home Depot for renting out trucks! All we need to do now is to paint and get the carpet cleaned, and then we will have all the bare bones of the room put together. We are hoping to have this done before Christmas.

Then today we had our followup visit with Dr. Weiss to complete the NT scan. During the ultrasound he showed us all of the baby's body parts and organs... saving the gender confirmation until last :) And it is officially confirmed... we are having a baby GIRL! Dr. Weiss was pleased with all the measurements and said that everything looked great! Such wonderful news! We are beyond thrilled and blessed! Below are the two pictures from the appointment. She's looking more and more like a baby!

With the excitement of now knowing for sure that she's a girl, comes the announcement of her name. And her name is: Calleigh Abrielle Cook. Calleigh was decided upon pretty quickly :) It's of Greek origin meaning "Beautiful"... which I think fits her perfectly! Her middle name was a little tougher to decide. We wanted her middle name to be something meaningful/significant to our journey of having her. Since she was the only embryo of seven to survive, we were thinking along the lines of "strong", "miracle from God", etc. And then we stumbled upon Abrielle... French for "Strong one of God". There couldn't have been any name more perfect! Our little miss Calleigh Abrielle :) I love saying it, and I absolutely cannot wait to see her little face!

Our seventeen week belly pic is a little blurry, but will have to do :) Maybe the next one will be a little better!

Thank you again to all of our wonderful family and friends for your prayers! And we especially thank heaven for our little girl :) While our journey has been long and is far from over, I wouldn't trade it for the world! Until next time...

Smooth Flowing

Well, not much to report here lately... which is why it's been a few weeks since there has been a post. I go back to see Dr. Godat on Tuesday for our 17 week appointment. Man has time flown! I can't believe we're already close to half-way there. Tuesday's appointment should be rather uneventful, with the exception of hearing the baby's heartbeat. :) Then next Monday is the big day! We go back to Dr. Weiss for the second part of the NT Scan AND to confirm that our little one is in fact a girl!!! We are so excited... we can't wait! Last Sunday we ordered the baby's furniture. It hasn't come in yet, and since we couldn't see it in the store before we bought it, we are really hoping that we love it as much in person as we did online. Below is a picture of the furniture and our 15 week belly pic. After the appointment this Tuesday and the belly pic on Wednesday, I'll be sure to post another update. Until then...

Feeling Blessed

At our 11 week appointment with Dr. Godat, we were told of a test, the NT Scan, that we could elect to have done if we wanted to know the chances of our baby having any chromosomal abnormalities. With all that we have been through just to get pregnant, we chose to have the test done just so that we could have time to process any results and be prepared, if need be. If we were to find out that we are having a special needs child, it would in NO WAY change the love or thoughts we already have about our baby. It would just give us time to join a support group so that we could learn more about the abnormality, as well as talk to families that would be/are dealing with the same situation. We went on September 26 to Dr. Weiss, and had the first part of the test done. It was an ultrasound test and a blood test. The results came back great! Once again, we are reminded of what an awesome God we serve!

During the ultrasound I asked Dr. Weiss if he would be able to tell the sex of the baby this early. He said that if it was cooperating that he'd be able to get a good idea... Well, SHE was cooperating! That's right... SHE! He said not to paint anything just yet, but to think pink :) And that he would confirm it 100% at the second part of the test on November 7. Here is the ultrasound picture from the NT Scan (she's upside down).

This week we went to our 13 week appointment with Dr. Godat. Everything went fine... even with the pity party I had :) I knew the day would come that seeing my baby every two weeks would stop, but I still wasn't ready for it! I went to this appointment thinking that I would get to see her one last time before having to wait a month until we go back to Dr. Weiss. However, since the results were great from Dr. Weiss, Dr. Godat decided not to do an ultrasound, but instead just listen for the heartbeat. While I LOVE hearing her heartbeat, I also LOVE seeing her move around on the screen. So I guess you could say that this appointment was a little bitter-sweet. While we were listening to the heartbeat she was moving all over the place! He had to keep readjusting so that we could hear it for longer than a couple of seconds at a time! With her being this active this early, she's destined to be a great athlete, right? :) I say soccer, dad says tennis!

We forgot to do a belly picture at week 12, so we took one at week 13 instead. As you can see, there's not much difference from week 10 to now... Even if our little one has graduated to the size of a lemon :) It's like my belly popped out early but then hasn't grown much since. Dr. Godat says that in about a month I should see a much bigger difference!

Plum Happy!

This post is going to be two weeks in one, but I'll try to make it short! The last time I blogged I mentioned that we were going to start the lovely belly pics at 10 weeks in order to continue documenting our journey... Well, here's the first one, and please pay no attention at all to the amount of tiredness on my face :) We are just going to do the pics every two weeks since there's not a ton of change right now from week to week.

This past Wednesday we had our first appointment with our OB/GYN, Dr. Godat. We were 11 weeks along, and as hoped, we got to see our little one on the big screen again! Since Dr. Godat's ultrasound machine is a dinosaur compared to the fertility clinic's, we didn't get to hear the heartbeat :( but could very clearly see it, and that's just as pleasing. Dr. Godat said that we had a VERY active baby and that everything looked great! Baby Cook was kicking its legs and moving its arms all over the place. It's amazing how something the size of a plum (according to What to Expect) can be so full of energy already... Travis and I may be in trouble once it gets here if it keeps this activity up :). We go back to see Dr. Godat again in two weeks for another ultrasound. We are so incredibly lucky to get to see our baby every two weeks!... I have definitely gotten spoiled to this privilege. I don't know what I'm going to do when he makes me wait a month or longer in between visits to see my baby! Here is Baby Cook at 11 weeks :) So darn cute, don't you think???

Medium Green Olive

We had our 9 week appointment this past Wednesday. The original appointment was set for 8am, but Dr. Mansfield got called into a surgery, so they had to split our appointment. :( Instead of doing the entire appointment at one time, they had me come in to do the bloodwork at 7:30 and then come back at 3:45 for the sono. Despite having to wait all day long to see our little one, the appointments went off without a hitch! My bloodwork came back great, and so did the sono. Once again, Dr. Mansfield was able to find the heartbeat easily. This time it was 182bpm! Even faster and louder than last time. It's such a wonderful sound... I wish I could listen to it all day every day! While Dr. Mansfield was doing the sono and trying to get a good 3D picture, our little one moved it's arm (well, it's really more like a paddle at this stage, but it still moved it)! It was so exciting! Here are a couple of the sono pictures.

  

This week Dr. Mansfield moved our counting day (week 1, week 2, etc.) back to Wednesdays, instead of Thursdays. And we are now measuring one week ahead. I'm not exactly sure what that really indicates, but I'd rather be ahead of schedule than behind schedule :) At the end of the appointment, Dr. Mansfield told us that we had graduated! We were done with the fertility clinic and were now released back to Dr. Godat. As we said goodbye to everyone and left the clinic I called Dr. Godat to set up our first appointment with him. We go on Wednesday, September 21. Another two week wait :) I have no idea what to expect at this appointment, but I definitely have lots of questions for him!

What to Expect When You're Expecting compared our little one to the size of a medium green olive for this week... but as long as it's growing healthy, they can compare it to whatever food they want! Starting this Wednesday (at week 10) we are going to start the "belly" pics. I'm not exactly fond of showing how big I'm getting each week, but we have been on such an amazing journey with this whole experience, I want to make sure I document everything so that I never forget! So there's a little something for you to look forward to, lol. Until next time...

O Happy Day!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post... several things have happened making our lives excitingly busy these past few weeks! So I'll try not to take the entire day to fill you in on everything :) To start off the excitement, my second nephew was born on Thursday, August 18th. Welcome to the world little Owen James Bhatia! Travis and I will be traveling down to Sugarland in a couple of weeks to meet him, and I can't wait! A few days after Owen was born, school started back. I have 59 wonderful 5th graders this year! It is a full house in 5th grade :) They are all very sweet, and I'm excited to see how the year will unfold with them.

Then came the much awaited first sono appointment. I was 6 weeks and 6 days. Such a happy day! Our appointment was at 8:00 on August 24. I was so thankful it was at the beginning of the day so that I didn't have to wait anxiously all day long! That morning we saw Dr. Mansfield (Dr. Kathy was out of state for a death in the family). It took her no time at all to find our little one. Such a relief! And it took her even less time to find the heartbeat. Hooray! An even bigger relief! Travis and I had been prepared to see the heartbeat at this appointment, but we didn't think we would be able to hear it just yet. However, without even hesitating, Dr. Mansfield clicked on the screen and then the most amazing sound filled the room! Travis and I both were in shock. It was so loud... and so strong (132 bpm)! Dr. Mansfield said everything looked absolutely perfect! I was even measuring ahead of schedule. We couldn't have been happier! Our due date is now April 11. Below are just a couple of the pics from the sono.

We go back to the doctor on Wednesday, September 7 (8 weeks 6 days). I can't wait to see my little one on the big screen again! At this appointment they will do another sono and then some bloodwork. If everything comes back okay, then at that point, Dr. Kathy will release me back to Dr. Godat. While we of course are hoping for more excellent news, I am kind of sad that we won't be seeing Dr. Kathy anymore. She is such a fabulous doctor, and I love her staff. We had such a wonderful experience with them. Hopefully on Wednesday we will have more pictures to share!... And I will do a better job of posting updates :) Until next time...

Mums the Word

Alright, so if you were able to muddle through the five posts I've posted so far today and read about our exciting news, we have a big favor to ask... While we are elated about starting our family, we are also still super cautious as it is so very early in our pregnancy. So, we would like to keep the news on the down low for a good while longer. I realize putting it on here is a form of announcing it, but I'm pretty positive the whole world (facebook) doesn't read my blog! And I actually debated for a really long time whether or not to even post it here. But we had so many people praying for us to get pregnant that I thought, "Hey, why not let some of them know so that now their prayer could be for a healthy pregnancy?" So that's why I'm letting a few of you in on the secret :) We by no means are out of the woods yet and are still very much in need of your prayers!!! So mums the word for now, okay? Until next time...

San Francisco Treat

Travis and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary! And what better anniversary gift could there be than the miracle of starting our family??? We booked our trip to San Francisco before we started our IVF cycle. We figured it would either be a super celebratory anniversary trip, or a trip to get away from everything had our cycle not ended the way we hoped. Lucky for us though, we have a Wonderful God :)

We had such a great time on our trip! My legs and feet felt as if we walked every inch of that city! We ate so much good food and saw so many neat things... Giants Baseball Game, Alcatraz, Sausalito, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Lombard Street, Japanese Tea Garden, Haight Ashbury, and more! I of course took tons of pictures and won't bore you with them all, but here are a few :)

I can't wait to see what next year's anniversary holds for us! Until next time...

More Waiting

After the good news on August 4, I had to go back for more bloodwork on the 6th to make sure my levels were rising like they were supposed to (they are supposed to double every 48 hours). Yay for me! More waiting... the story of my life :) While I was waiting, I decided to do my own test. I was so good not to do any home pregnancy tests until after the final results on Thursday, so I wanted to make sure if what the nurse had told me was for real. And sure enough, those pee sticks really do read something other than Not Pregnant! I can't tell you how exciting it is to read Pregnant when all I've seen for over the past two years has been Not Pregnant.

That afternoon the call didn't come quite as late as the breaking news call did, but the results were just as good! My level almost tripled in 48 hours and was now at 618. Praise the Lord!!! Since my level came back really good this time too, the nurse said that I didn't have to go back to see them until my ultrasound on August 24. That is unless I started having problems.

It still all seems so unreal. I am so incredibly grateful to God and all of our family and friends that have been praying relentlessly for us. I know I have said it before, but Travis and I really are truly blessed beyond measure! Until next time...

The Call

I wasn't sure if August 4 would ever make it... I went in at 8:00 that morning to see Dr. Kathy and have my blood drawn to see if I was pregnant. I think that was the most nerve wracking day I've ever experienced! Luckily though, I have the best mother ever. She came over that morning to spend the day with me and help try to keep my mind off things. It worked for a little while :) Dr. Kathy usually calls around 3:30 in the afternoon with blood work results, but not this day... 3:30 had come and gone, and so had 4:30, so by the time 5:30 rolled around mom and I were both about to lose it! But just as Travis walked in the door from work about 5:35, the call finally came. I was glad he was home to hear the results with me, but hearing the phone ring made me want to puke... I was that nervous.

It was... good news!!! My bloodwork came back POSITIVE!!! I was in such shock that I was literally shaking. Pamela, the nurse, told me that my HCG level needed to be over 25 in order to test positive for pregnancy, and that mine was 224. She said it was a great start! As soon as I hung up the phone Travis popped open a bottle of champagne! He and mom toasted to our wonderful news and then we all went out for a celebratory dinner! Below is a picture of Travis popping the top :)

Keeping Busy

Since this was going to be the longest 9 days of my life, I had to keep myself busy. So to preoccupy my time, I became a huge fan of the website Pinterest. If you aren't familiar with it yet, it's a website where people can share all of their favorite things and likes with others. Projects range from fun do-it-yourself ideas to fashion to food. It IS fantastic! However, I must warn you... it is majorly addicting... like crack for the crafty! :)

My first Pinterest project was a pillowcase top. The idea came from a posting that was of a pillowcase dress for a little girl. I thought it was really adorable, but obviously a pillowcase would not fit me as a dress, so I wanted to make it into a top instead. I borrowed my mom's sewing machine, and away I went! The first picture is the original pillowcase dress from the posting. The second picture is how my top turned out. Pretty close for my first try, huh? (Well all except for the armpit holes!)

My second Pinterest project was a cute little tote. The idea came from a posting that was of a tote from a website where you could buy it, but with my new sewing skills, I figured I'd give making it a shot. The first picture is from the website. The second picture is my tote. Super cute, right?                                                                                                                   

My third Pinterest project is still underway... so stay tuned for its results! And there will be many others to come too! Until next time...

Nothing to Freeze

I got the call Wednesday morning that our two embryos that had the potential to be frozen, weren't going to be eligible after all. As it turns out, neither embryo grew enough to be frozen (they both stalled out), so they both were discarded. We have nothing to freeze :( While this is not the end of the world, it is disappointing for the mere fact that we now have no back up in case the two embryos that were transferred don't take. So here's to hoping, praying, and wishing that they do their job and IMPLANT IMPLANT IMPLANT!!!

The 9 Day Wait...

And so it begins! Yesterday was the embryo transfer... I started the day off by going to acupuncture to relax, and then followed that up with two Valium :) I was more nervous about meeting with the Embryologist and getting an update on the embryos than I was about the transfer itself! Once we got to the clinic and met with Cassie, our Embryologist, my nerves immediately settled... it was good news, YAY! We had one "perfect embryo" and then three other good ones. They were considered good quality and not perfect, only because they were a smaller size. They chose the larger one out of the three good ones, and transferred it and the perfect one! The other two are candidates for freezing, but have to grow a little bigger first. We should know by Thursday if they were both able to be frozen. Below is an ultrasound picture from when Dr. Kathy did the transfer... Isn't it amazing? The two bright white dots next to each other are our transferred embryos!

Dr. Kathy repeated a couple of times how extremely pleased she was with how our IVF cycle has turned out so far... even to the point of sharing it with one of the other RE's in the clinic! I LOVED LOVED LOVED hearing her say this! Not only is it super comforting, but she sees all kinds of cases, and for her to be so pleased with ours, that has to mean something, right? Dr. Kathy has done all that she can do. Everything else is up to our Heavenly Father and our two little embryos. If they will just continue to behave and implant like they are suppose to, I will officially be the happiest person on the planet! :)

After leaving the clinic we headed back to acupuncture... then to Buffalo Wild Wings... then home to rest. I finished the night off with the start of the pineapple craze! Pineapple is thought to help implantation so I stocked up on fresh pineapple (I cut it up myself yesterday morning), canned pineapple chunks to eat with cottage cheese (YUM!), dried pineapple chunks, and pineapple juice. Think I'm covered? :) Today and tomorrow I am to take it easy and lay around the house and rest... this will be no problem at all given that my chance to do so is quickly dwindling with the start of school approaching.

Nine days from now will be the big day. I go at 8:00 next Thursday morning for bloodwork to find out if I'm pregnant or not. I'm expecting that day to be the most nerve wracking of all! But until then, I plan to keep myself busy and think only positive and happy thoughts! And to of course continue to pray obsessively :) Until next time...

Home Improvements Round 2

In an post earlier this spring, I mentioned a couple more home improvement projects for the 2011 year... painting two of the upstairs bedrooms. Well, one is complete! One room is/was originally painted a pale yellow. I thought it was boring and wanted to add some color... so, I bought some dark brown paint and painted just the back wall in the room. My plan was to have the one brown accent wall and then paint the other three walls a sagey green color. However, once I got the brown wall painted, it made the pale yellow look a lot creamier... which I liked! So instead of painting the rest of the walls green, I'm leaving them the way they are, which = less work for me :) This bedroom has it's own bathroom, so to tie in the brown accent wall, I painted the bathroom brown too. The pictures don't do it much justice because of the lighting, but I am really pleased with how it all turned out!

 I still have one more upstairs bedroom to paint... but am holding off on painting this room until I know what kind of room it will be :) Until next time...

We've got embryos!!!

So yesterday was one of the three big days (egg retrieval, embryo transfer, and pregnancy test) in IVF... the egg retrieval. We had to be at the clinic at 7:45 to begin all the pre-op procedures and then about 9:00 they wheeled me back so Dr. Kathy could begin. I don't remember anything from the actual procedure, which is totally fine with me considering how it's done! An ultrasound guided needle is inserted through the vaginal wall to drain all of the follicles on each ovary. See what I mean? :)

After the retrieval I was taken to recovery where I stayed for about 30-45 minutes. During this time, one of the nurses gave me a preliminary egg report... 6 eggs. Tears immediately began flowing from my eyes. I wanted so badly for them to have found more... more eggs = better chances. My sweet husband came back and did his best to comfort and console me... bless his heart. I don't know how he puts up with his emotional wreck of a wife. Once the nurse removed my IV we got to go and meet with one of the embryologists to get the official egg count. It turns out they found 10!!! Yay! Other than being able to tell us that the eggs were intact and that they would use the ICSI fertilization process (they inject the sperm into the egg), that's all she knew. We would have to wait until Friday to get any other information.

And that leads us to this morning... out of the 10 eggs they retrieved, 8 were mature. And out of the 8 injected with sperm, 7 of them fertilized. This is definitely good news! Now we just need our 7 little embryos to behave and develop like they are suppose to :) We won't get another update on the development of the embryos until Sunday, so please keep praying and sending good positive thoughts our way! The rule of thumb is that about half of all fertilized eggs actually develop properly and are able to be transferred or frozen, but we of course are going to hope for the very best. Until next time...

Happy Hunting!

Okay, so after the breakdown last week, things seemed to pick up and I started to relax a little... A LITTLE. I went back to the doctor on Saturday for more blood work and another ultrasound. Then again on Monday, and today, and tomorrow, and Thursday! I feel like I should just pack an overnight bag and camp out there for the week. Here are all the stats so far:
Saturday 7/16: E2 was 304!!! Yay, it finally doubled!, Endo lining was 6.2, 6 developing follicles ranging from 16.4mm to 8.2mm with some smaller ones.
Monday 7/18: E2 was 672!!! Yay, it doubled AGAIN!, Endo lining was 6.34, 6 developing follicles ranging from 18.1mm to 9.7mm with some smaller ones.
Tuesday 7/19: E2 was 1068... :( didn't quite double, Endo lining was 8.1, 6 developing follicles ranging from 18.2mm to 9.7mm with some smaller ones.

As you can see, there wasn't much difference from Monday to Tuesday, so that indicates to the doctor that I have hit my peak in responding to the meds :( Therefore, at 9pm tonight I do my trigger injection and then 36 hours from then, Dr. Kathy gets to go egg hunting! Even though today's ultrasound only showed 6 developing follicles (which should contain mature eggs), there is a chance that by the time she retrieves the eggs that there will be more... some of the smaller follicles that they didn't measure could grow. So we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed for that. We want as many eggs as possible! Tomorrow's appointment is just for blood work, so we won't know anymore details on the follicles until after the retrieval Thursday morning. But as soon as we know something, I'll post it :) Until next time...

Needed: Positiveness and Peace

Miracles happen, right? Well, we are in need of one... a BIG one! Earlier today Negative Nancy and her friend Punk-Ass Panic entered our home. My initial reaction was to run like hell, but then their other friend, Devilish Doubt, settled in and after a short while I found myself sitting on the couch in tears and embracing all three :(. This journey for a baby is exhausting... physically, mentally, and emotionally.

To bring you up to date from last week, here are my stats:
Friday 7/8: E2 was 24, Endo lining was 2.5, Ultrasound was clear = green light to start the stimulation meds (Gonal-F and Menopur)
Tuesday 7/12: E2 was 42 = low, no Ultrasound today.
Thursday 7/14: E2 was 71 = low, Endo lining was 3.85, Ultrasound showed 1 follicle at 11mm, 1 follicle at 9.5mm, 2 follicles at 7.5mm, and then a few smaller follicles.
So what does all this mean? It means either low response to the meds, slow response to the meds, or both low and slow response to the meds. Basically, the E2 number should be doubling each time I go in. And as you can see from my results, mine aren't. The nurse said that my low E2 was somewhat expected given my low ovarian reserve. However, they would really like to see my level closer to or greater than 100 at this point. When I left the doctors office this morning I was in positive spirits and somewhat relieved to at least see some response on the ultrasound. But then when I got the phone call about my E2 level this afternoon, my positive spirit crashed and burned... in spite of the nurse telling me that there is still time for things to progress... I have only been stimulating for 5 of the possible 10 to 12 days.

I go back to the doctor on Saturday, so we will see. I am praying that my E2 level, Endo lining, and follicle numbers and size all increase. As long as things continue to increase, our cycle should be okay. But if things stall out, then there is a good chance our cycle will end before it really begins. And thus where positiveness and peace is needed... I want so badly to be hopeful that things will pick up and that come April 2012 we will have a new addition (and not a furry one) to our family. So those of you that are praying for us, please don't stop! I feel like I might need them now more than ever. Until next time...

Infertile Twist

Infertility is such a lonely place... a depressing, make you want to stay in the bed and cry for a couple of days because your temperature dropped and you now have your typical 3 day pre-period headache type of place. Month after month of wasting money on pregnancy tests just to read "NOT PREGNANT" just plain sucks. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. I've spent countless hours on the internet researching everything under the sun related to infertility, only for it to make me feel even more isolated from the fertile world. And with all this free summer time on my hands, it hasn't really helped the situation. However, since our treatment has switched to IVF, so have my internet searches. But as of today, I feel as if I have reached the end of all the IVF knowledge that the fabulous world wide web has to offer. Therefore, it's time for something new!... somewhat of an infertile twist :)


Instead of researching facts and statistics related to IVF, I began a search for funny IVF blogs. I need something to help keep me out of the infertile dumps and to help me keep a reality based but yet light-hearted perspective. So far I have stumbled across two blogs that I really like. The first blog is: http://the2weekwait.blogspot.com. This woman is hilarious! While her journey is not exactly like ours, I've definitely shared some of her same thoughts. The other blog is: http://999reasonstolaughcontests.blogspot.com/. It is too funny! Of course though, this blog is designed for those actually experiencing infertility... so some of you lucky fertile mertiles might not fully relate to the sense of humor. Below are just a few of her 999 reasons to laugh at infertility:
#1 You find out your mother's friend's dry cleaner's daughter's Facebook friend's second cousin's once removed is pregnant through IVF, and you are jealous.
#2 You anticipate hearing pregnancy announcements every time you see your friends.
#3 You've tried to increase your basal temperature by urinating while you take your temp.
#4 You feel your breasts, subtly, in public for signs of tenderness.
#5 You won't use the telephone for the entire day knowing the fertility clinic will be calling.
#6 You always look at a stranger's belly to see if she's pregnant, and if she is, you glare at her.


The search is still on for more funny IVF blogs, so if you happen to know of any, please share! Until next time...

It's go time... BABY

As I figured, the past two weeks have gone by in a blur... The Monday before last, I started my yoga membership with Dynamic Power Yoga in Addison. I love it! It's a 90 minute hot yoga class, and I feel so great and so relaxed when it's over. And a few days before that, I started my acupuncture treatments. I go twice a week to see Emily, at the Texas Center for Reproductive Acupuncture. It is also very relaxing. I actually doze off for a bit each time towards the end of the session!

Last weekend Travis and I headed to Crystal Beach to spend the weekend with his family. We saw a huge rainbow on our way there, which instantly brightened my mood!  I would spend every day at the beach if I could. It's so peaceful. We had such a great time visiting his family that I wish we could have stayed longer... We don't get to see his family near as often as I'd like. Below is a picture of the rainbow we saw and some of the Bolivar Bay Blue Crabs that Sam caught Saturday morning!

This past Monday, I had my doctors appointment to do the "mock transfer" (run through of what they will do on the day of the actual embryo transfer), and for the nurse to show me how to administer all my IVF injections. I also got to meet with one of the Embryologists that morning. She did such a great job of answering all my questions about the fertilization of the eggs, as well as the transfer and freezing of the embryos. This entire process really is amazing!

Wednesday night I started the first of my IVF injections. It took me 4 times of counting to 3 before actually sticking myself! And I must admit, like everyone told me, it wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be. But next weekend when I go to 3 shots a day it might be a different story! I just picture having a little baby, or two, or three :) to hold when it's all said and done, and that makes it a little easier. Unfortunately though, it looks as if I'm having an allergic reaction to the Lupron medication. Yesterday afternoon I noticed bumps on my arms, legs, stomach, back, and chest. UGH! My doctor prescribed me some lotion to put on it, so I'm hoping that in a couple of days it will clear up. Sorry if it's too graphic for some of you, but here are a couple of pictures of it.

The rash is not unbearable, but does itch, and does look gross. With all the different medications that will be flowing through my body over the next few weeks, I can only imagine the side effects I'll have from each one. I just keep reminding myself that it will all be very well worth it! Until next time...

Overwhelmed

Well, we are no longer just talking the IVF talk... we have officially taken the plunge and are now walking the walk. And I must say, it's much easier and way less scary to just talk about it than it is to actually do it! Last week once the financing was finalized and some of the medications (there are 9 total!) were ordered and delivered, my stress level felt like it quadrupled. IVF suddenly became very real. Below is a picture of the delivery of just 4 of the medications... AGH!

I was super nervous opening those boxes! Anyone that knows me knows that I HATE needles! I've gotten a little better about them as I've gotten older, but it will be by no means even remotely easy for me to give myself all of the injections each day. After opening one of the boxes and seeing one of the needles, I literally felt sick to my stomach and had to sit down. I immediately called Dr. Kathy to ask her about it (it's HUGE... and thick!) and she laughed at me. Thankfully, it's just the needle that I will use to mix one of the medications. It will NOT be puncturing my skin! Yay! And within an hour of the wave of nausea and panic, my friend Emily came over to help calm my nerves with a tasty adult beverage :) Thanks Em!

Now that the IVF ball is rolling, to say that I am overwhelmed just barely scratches the surface. Luckily though, I have another great friend, Jill, that put me in touch with one of her college friends, Mandy, that I had met a couple of times a few years ago. As it turns out, Mandy and her husband went through IVF this past year, and now have a wonderful baby boy! Over the past week, Mandy has given me some advice to somewhat ease the anxiety. It has really helped a lot having someone to talk to that has gone through IVF. Some of her suggestions so far are:
1. Acupuncture - My first appointment with The Texas Center for Reproductive Acupuncture is next Thursday, and I'm actually pretty excited about it!
2. Yoga - My membership at Dynamic Power Yoga starts Monday, and I'm really excited about this too!
3. Alcohol swabs for diabetics - they have a little bit of numbing agent that will help with soreness from all the injections.
4. Ice Pack - to also help with soreness from all the injections.
5. Eating pineapple after the embryo transfer - it is supposed to help with implantation. And since pineapple happens to be my favorite fruit, this part will be a breeze!

Next week, the last of the medications will be delivered and I will have my appointment with the nurse to show me how to administer all of it. And then the week after next, it's showtime baby! In my last post I mentioned something about how quickly time passes... so I'm expecting these next two weeks to happen in a flash. Even with the overwhelming anxiety of IVF, I really want to make the best of this journey... and start by thanking all of the wonderful people in my life for praying for us and supporting us. I am truly grateful to God for being so incredibly blessed to have the best family and friends in the world! I don't know what we would do without you all :) Until next time...

Catching Up

I knew this whole blogging thing would get the best of me :) I think about posting an update often, but never seem to get around to it! Everytime I get on here I end up reading other blogs instead. So prepare yourself... this one could be long! We've got some catching up to do!

The whole month of May has really been a blur. We've been so busy with a million different things... doctor visits, traveling out of town to visit family and friends, and then finishing up the school year. Man has it all flown by... I thought as you aged that time was supposed to slow down, not speed up?!?

The thing that has taken up the majority of our time though has been all the doctor visits... but at least we finally have some answers to our fertility issues! At the end of April we went for our first appointment with Dr. Kathleen Doody (Reproductive Endocrinologist) at the Center for Assisted Reproduction. That appointment resulted in what felt like endless testing... for both Travis and I. One of the first tests that Dr. Kathy did on me was to test my ovarian reserve... the results of this test were really discouraging. It turns out that I have a significantly lower ovarian reserve than the average 40 something year old woman (0.8% is normal for a 40 something and mine is 0.3%), and this apparently is a result of all the years of severe damage caused by the Endometriosis. Bummer. And unfortuantely, the bad news didn't really stop at my results... Travis's sperm morphology test (how his swimmers are shaped) came back abnormal as well. A lot of his boys have curved tails, and get this... two heads!!! So with my low egg supply and quality, and his abnormally shaped sperm, it makes it really difficult for the egg to become fertilized. So there you go... a double whammy explaination... in which there is no cure for :( Neither condition can be reversed or fixed. However, in spite of all the test results, Dr. Kathy is optimistic at us being able to concieve... through in-vitro fertilization. We officially start our IVF cycle at the end of June, and hope to have good news at the end of July. In the meantime, I will be finishing up the school year and then fully embracing the laziness of summer! I will have no excuse not to blog the IVF journey, so check back soon for more frequent updates! Until next time...

Home Improvements

Spring Break started a whirl wind of home improvements around the Cook household... ranging from painting and outfitting the office to redoing the landscaping in the back yard, as well as outfitting the arbor with new furniture! During spring break I obviously had lots of time on my hands :) so I decided to finally start fixing up the office. I started by painting it and then by buying office furniture and getting it organized. I still have some decorating left to do, but here are some pictures of the progress so far!

After Bella's foot injury on our metal landscaping, Travis and I decided to do some changes in the backyard as well. We spent one weekend ripping up all the metal edging surrounding the yard... that stuff is really a pain in the rear! We replaced the edging with stone which looks really nice. We also ripped out some bushes and made a stone pad for the smoker... that way I could have my arbor back :) After adding new arbor furniture, a chimenea, pool loungers, tiki torches, and another palm tree, I can honestly say that it's just about perfect. Each spring we have to replant some of our tropical plants that didn't make it through the winter... we have just a few more of those to replace and then our backyard paradise will be complete! Take a look at our tropical oasis!

As with most homeowners, it seems that updating and remodeling never end, but I feel like we have at least put a good sized dent in our list so far this year! My late spring/early summer projects will be to get two of the upstairs bedrooms painted. So keep a look out for pictures of those once they are done! Until next time...

Roller Coaster

What an emotional roller coaster the past couple of weeks have been!!! Unfortunately, the two IUI's we did last month in hopes of getting pregnant didn't work. The pregnancy test came back negative, and to say that I was a little disappointed about it is a major understatement... which is why it's taken me a little while to feel like writing about it. But, as always, I've seemed to rebound just fine with my wonderful husband at my side! Travis is so supporting and patient... he really does amaze me! However, with all the emotions of last month, we've actually decided to take a "break" from the baby obsession this month. I wasn't sure if I could handle the procedure not working again... so, taking a month off to try and relax and relieve some of the anxiety surrounding the issue seemed to be the best idea.

About the time we decided to take a "break" from the baby drama, our precious Bella got injured. She was running in the backyard and cut her foot on some of the metal landscape edging. We took her to the emergency vet where they had to put her to sleep so that they could stitch it up. The edging had cut through three layers of skin and through about 1/3 of her tendon. Thankfully, the vet was able to fix it without her having to go to a surgeon to repair it. The vet recommended that she stay confined to a kennel for the next few weeks in order to limit her activity so that it could heal properly. This has been VERY HARD since she is such an active dog! She went yesterday for the vet to check the stitches and to have her foot re-bandaged, and we go back in five days with hopes of getting the stitches out.




So now you know what I mean by emotional roller coaster! It's funny though... even with everything that has happened recently, it never ceases to amaze me how God makes the things in our life work out... like putting a peaceful calm in me about not trying for a baby this month just before Bella got injured... Bella's injury cost just about what the IUI would have cost... so it turns out that we wouldn't have been able to afford the IUI anyways! I've been told before that God never gives us more than we can handle, and I now believe it with every fiber of my being. Until next time...