It has definitely been too long since I have posted. Life has been as busy as normal around here, we had end of school year activities with the kids. This included promoting one of them from elementary to middle school, such an awesome day! Now they are all on SUMMER BREAK! We are in our first official full week and I already had to tell them all the one question not allowed during summer is "What are we doing today?" That one just makes me crazy.
We had to keep ourselves very busy during the 2 week wait period before I went back to the doctor again. But thank goodness that wasn't too hard with the business booming in wedding season and the end of year activities with the kids. We finally went in on Wednesday June 11 and again Friday June 13. All the anticipation for a simple blood draw....and no answer until Friday afternoon! The nurse called me and said I have great news, "You're pregnant!" That's right, we are PREGNANT! It's crazy because I have waited 3.5 years to say to Phil. Of course I got off he phone and called him immediately. We were both so excited, I wanted to tell him in some really cool way since father's day was Sunday but I knew he would know something was up! We immediately got to making our phone calls. A lot of people had been texting me all week to check on me and see how I was feeling so after immediate family I let all of them know.
Of course, there were mixed reactions. Some people were super excited, some were ok, some weren't so excited but all in all everyone is excited for us. We of course are over joyed and the kids are way excited. I already have a couple of them tying to touch my belly...which is so awkward when you don't have a belly yet, lol!
As of today, I still have no symptoms really. I get tired a little more easily, and keep getting an afternoon headache but other than that I am great! I am still on the injections however, they have cut me back to two days a week. Thank goodness because my butt looks like someone beats me with all of the bruises! My numbers were really high for both my beta and progesterone so these can be indicator of multiples but not necessarily. Of course, we have to wait 3 weeks this time until we find that out. We will have our first ultrasound on July 3, to see how many heartbeats there are! We are anticipating twins at this point and actually getting very excited about that. What I realized is that our four youngest kids are so close in age they always have a built in playmate, which means when one is at their "other" homes (since we share 50/50 custody) the other is totally bored without them. So I am thinking I am already used to raising multiples why not just add two more! Ha Ha....yes I know, I am crazy but it's a great crazy!
I will try to keep you all posted a little more often on any changes with us!
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Transfer day!
What at day it has been! Phil and I woke up got ready, were greeted by the kids smIling faces and then transferred our babies into me.
We arrived at the center to be taken into our room. I was given my identity bracelet because we wouldn't want the wrong babies put in! (I don't even want to know if that's happened before)
We arrived at the center to be taken into our room. I was given my identity bracelet because we wouldn't want the wrong babies put in! (I don't even want to know if that's happened before)
We waited for a long time it seemed until the nurse came in. She had me get comfortable on the bed and Dr Shala came in. She told us how the procedure would work. She also brought us our first pictures of our babies. We had 2 that looked good, one was a larger blastocyst (bottom one in picture, so many more cells and the other a smaller less developed type). The other 3 weren't developing, one may be good for freezing but the other 2 they will give us more news on tomorrow which is the last day before they will freeze. Dr Shala would insert a catheter, the Embryologist would bring the embryos into the room in another catheter that they would slowly inject inside and then 40 mins of sitting still.
All went exactly as they had planned! Now we are on the dreaded 2 week wait! Yep, we wait to see if the embryos attached to my uterine lining. Unfortunately, I am on bed rest for 3 days. Its only been a few hours and i'm already bored, lol! But of course I am doing all I can to get these babies to stick! We are feeling so blessed already knowing that they are safe inside me with God leading their journey!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Update because I am way behind!!!
I apologize but I have been way behind on catching everyone up, mostly because blogging from my phone becomes a pain in the booty!
It is the eve of our transfer so there is so much to tell you about...
Friday morning we woke up way too early and headed down to Torrance, which is the main office of our clinic. Here you will see what I mean, way too early!!!
We arrived earlier than our call time of 5:30 am, just by about 15 minutes. We walked into the clinic and it was very quiet. We weren't really sure where to go because no one was around but we finally came across Rose, our first nurse for the day. She took both of us into the preparation and recovery room. She asked Phil to get ready for his procedure, yep those beautiful hospital gowns, caps and booties!!! Isn't he just adorable, I think so!
Rose, talked to a little on who would be in, we were first waiting on Dr. Rajfer, he is our urologist. He works for the UCLA medical center but does this portion for the clinic. He does all types of procedures, todays was called a PESA. Don't ask me what it stands for because at this moment I cannot remember. I do know the last two initials are Sperm Aspiration. Dr. Rajfer is an amazing guy, all the nurses talked so highly of him prior to out meeting him however, after meeting him we feel the same. He personally called Phil the day before the procedure and talked to him. He walked in very smiley and ready to go. We asked approximately how many procedures he does with the center each month and he said on average 4 per month, sometimes more sometimes less. It was the dreaded time for Phil. At this point we had also met Kate our other nurse for the day and she was just AMAZING! Loved her throughout the whole morning. Phil went into the procedure room which I could actually hear them in the whole time. I think one of the doors was open because it was only the 5 of us there as of then plus our embryologist which looked immediately at the samples to let the doctor know if they were good. I could hear the nurses talking and the doctor going from the room to the embryologist room. What turns out is Dr. Rajfer took two samples from the left side first, the first only had dead sperm and the second only a few swimmers. He decided to try the right. Phil must have been hurting because I could hear the nurse asking him if he was ok so he must have been white in the face or something! They retrieved 2 more samples from the right side and voila we were in business! The doctor told me looks awesome lots of swimmers with tons of movement. Yipee! Phil was all done. Here is how he described the procedure, "The prick of he needle, easy, then Dr. Rajfer would move the needle around to find the right spot and it felt like we was stomping on my nuts (sorry for the lack of a better word!)"
By this time I had already suited up for my debut and was quietly reading a magazine on my bed. Phil got dressed and hung out with me for a few minutes while we waiting on my doctor, Dr. Salem. I met with my anesthesiologist and he told they would just put me to sleep through my IV, he would be with me, ya da ya da ya da! Then they walked me back. I got up on a table, did the whole "a little closer, a little closer" bit (Ladies you know what I'm talking about) next thing I knew I felt all warm and tingly. To my surprise I woke up thinking this doctor is taking forever only to find myself in the recovery room. Phil came in to greet me, where he oh so obnoxiously video taped me because I wake up very talkative from anesthesia and he knows that! I was telling him how amazed I was that the medicine made me fall asleep so quickly and then viola I was awake! Of course mine was more slurred, animated and really annoying. Kate our amazing nurse came in talked to me about some things I may have the next couple days, bleeding, cramping, etc...they did just poke my insides with a needle! She also told us she had 2 IVF babies at home, a lot older now but that was fun fact because I wondered how most people choose to be a nurse there versus other areas of medicine. Kate also told us she would go verify with embryologist on how many eggs were retrieved.
She came back in just a few minutes and told us 7 eggs! We would receive a call tomorrow afternoon with how many had fertilized. They did this process in the afternoon and the embryologist would call us directly.
We were so excited about this and couldn't wait to hear the next day. We had a family BBQ because Phil's niece and new baby were in town. We had just arrived to his mom's house when my phone rang and I missed it. Really!!! Thank goodness she left a message so we called immediately back. The embryologist (I can't remember her name) had said that I only had 5 mature eggs and the fertilized each one and they all had fertilized and grown beautifully. Of course, we teared up, hugged and asked a few questions I don't even remember. Phil and I just created 5 little lives, now I know this is strange however it was so exciting. No matter the outcome we together have 5 babies we will meet soon enough or one day in heaven depending on how they keep growing. Our embryologist said they would call again on Monday with an update. At that stage they aren't embryos yet, but considered blastocyst, they need them to divide a certain amount of times prior to transferring back into me. Our transfer of course is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday June 4!
Oh yeah, on Monday the embryologist called to say they were growing beautifully. We would be able to see a picture tomorrow morning and then decide on how many to transfer. Now, we have decided that 2 was plenty a while ago. At this point we are just thinking we will have twins, the kids have joked that they can split and become 4...so NOT happening! But tomorrow we will find out if all 5 have progressed, which are strongest and then freeze the others. Prayers for a great transfer tomorrow everyone!
It is the eve of our transfer so there is so much to tell you about...
Friday morning we woke up way too early and headed down to Torrance, which is the main office of our clinic. Here you will see what I mean, way too early!!!
We arrived earlier than our call time of 5:30 am, just by about 15 minutes. We walked into the clinic and it was very quiet. We weren't really sure where to go because no one was around but we finally came across Rose, our first nurse for the day. She took both of us into the preparation and recovery room. She asked Phil to get ready for his procedure, yep those beautiful hospital gowns, caps and booties!!! Isn't he just adorable, I think so!
Rose, talked to a little on who would be in, we were first waiting on Dr. Rajfer, he is our urologist. He works for the UCLA medical center but does this portion for the clinic. He does all types of procedures, todays was called a PESA. Don't ask me what it stands for because at this moment I cannot remember. I do know the last two initials are Sperm Aspiration. Dr. Rajfer is an amazing guy, all the nurses talked so highly of him prior to out meeting him however, after meeting him we feel the same. He personally called Phil the day before the procedure and talked to him. He walked in very smiley and ready to go. We asked approximately how many procedures he does with the center each month and he said on average 4 per month, sometimes more sometimes less. It was the dreaded time for Phil. At this point we had also met Kate our other nurse for the day and she was just AMAZING! Loved her throughout the whole morning. Phil went into the procedure room which I could actually hear them in the whole time. I think one of the doors was open because it was only the 5 of us there as of then plus our embryologist which looked immediately at the samples to let the doctor know if they were good. I could hear the nurses talking and the doctor going from the room to the embryologist room. What turns out is Dr. Rajfer took two samples from the left side first, the first only had dead sperm and the second only a few swimmers. He decided to try the right. Phil must have been hurting because I could hear the nurse asking him if he was ok so he must have been white in the face or something! They retrieved 2 more samples from the right side and voila we were in business! The doctor told me looks awesome lots of swimmers with tons of movement. Yipee! Phil was all done. Here is how he described the procedure, "The prick of he needle, easy, then Dr. Rajfer would move the needle around to find the right spot and it felt like we was stomping on my nuts (sorry for the lack of a better word!)"
By this time I had already suited up for my debut and was quietly reading a magazine on my bed. Phil got dressed and hung out with me for a few minutes while we waiting on my doctor, Dr. Salem. I met with my anesthesiologist and he told they would just put me to sleep through my IV, he would be with me, ya da ya da ya da! Then they walked me back. I got up on a table, did the whole "a little closer, a little closer" bit (Ladies you know what I'm talking about) next thing I knew I felt all warm and tingly. To my surprise I woke up thinking this doctor is taking forever only to find myself in the recovery room. Phil came in to greet me, where he oh so obnoxiously video taped me because I wake up very talkative from anesthesia and he knows that! I was telling him how amazed I was that the medicine made me fall asleep so quickly and then viola I was awake! Of course mine was more slurred, animated and really annoying. Kate our amazing nurse came in talked to me about some things I may have the next couple days, bleeding, cramping, etc...they did just poke my insides with a needle! She also told us she had 2 IVF babies at home, a lot older now but that was fun fact because I wondered how most people choose to be a nurse there versus other areas of medicine. Kate also told us she would go verify with embryologist on how many eggs were retrieved.
She came back in just a few minutes and told us 7 eggs! We would receive a call tomorrow afternoon with how many had fertilized. They did this process in the afternoon and the embryologist would call us directly.
We were so excited about this and couldn't wait to hear the next day. We had a family BBQ because Phil's niece and new baby were in town. We had just arrived to his mom's house when my phone rang and I missed it. Really!!! Thank goodness she left a message so we called immediately back. The embryologist (I can't remember her name) had said that I only had 5 mature eggs and the fertilized each one and they all had fertilized and grown beautifully. Of course, we teared up, hugged and asked a few questions I don't even remember. Phil and I just created 5 little lives, now I know this is strange however it was so exciting. No matter the outcome we together have 5 babies we will meet soon enough or one day in heaven depending on how they keep growing. Our embryologist said they would call again on Monday with an update. At that stage they aren't embryos yet, but considered blastocyst, they need them to divide a certain amount of times prior to transferring back into me. Our transfer of course is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday June 4!
Oh yeah, on Monday the embryologist called to say they were growing beautifully. We would be able to see a picture tomorrow morning and then decide on how many to transfer. Now, we have decided that 2 was plenty a while ago. At this point we are just thinking we will have twins, the kids have joked that they can split and become 4...so NOT happening! But tomorrow we will find out if all 5 have progressed, which are strongest and then freeze the others. Prayers for a great transfer tomorrow everyone!
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