Good news today

This is Allison

I had my first dr appt this morning since starting the stimming meds on Saturday. It was only for bloodwork this time. My estrogen was at 121. The nurse said I was responding well to the meds. Yippee!!! It seems to finally be working. What a relief. I had some doubt in the back of my head that the nurse would call and say, well, something's wrong. I hate those doubting emotions. I go back in for an U/S and bloodwork on Friday morning. I believe they will be checking to see how many follicles I have produced, or something like that. :) She also said that she didn't see me doing my trigger shot before Sunday or Monday. Man, I'm so anxious to figure out the dates. My emotions are all over the place. I just keep thinking that Doug and I could be parents before the end of 2009. What a joy that would be!

Jenn had an appt today as well. I hope she writes about it. I miss her funny sense of humor in her writing. :) I know she'll have lots to say once she's pregnant with the Obert baby. Awww.....doesn't that sound sweet?

One of our dear friends calls it Operation Obert!!!! Baby making time!!!!

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This is Jenn ~ Yes, we both received the good news today, since we both had to make a visit to the IVF clinic. I had my blood drawn AND got the joy of the ultrasound - and not on top of the tummy, if you know what I mean! Anyway, my lining should be at 7 (mm?) and my blood-estrogen level should be above 300. If this were a test, I'd be acing it :) My lining is a "beautiful, fluffy" 13.2 and my blood-estrogen level is almost 600! Yea for me!!! I will be going back in on Monday - we think - for another U/S and lab work, just to be sure nothing has drastically changed. I think I am now officially paranoid that I am going to do something wrong...

For now, we are pretty much sitting on "GO" and waiting for the trigger shot that Allison will get to stick into her booty :) Well, Doug or Jenni will get to stick into her booty :) Our problem is that we don't know when the trigger will be! This is where Allison's frustration comes into play - the fact that she cannot put a concrete date onto one of her *many spreadsheets is really bothering her, huh Allison! *you know I couldn't resist mentioning it!

I was told by our IVF nurse that once they get the right "results" from Allison's blood work-ups, they will instruct her to take her "trigger shot" which will cue the ovaries to release her eggs (I think?). Her egg retrieval (ER) will be 36 hours later, so the trigger shot has to be at a very precise time. Anyway, once they do the ER, we will count 3 more days (i.e. - if the trigger is on Sunday, then ER will be sometime on Tues, then you count Weds, Thurs, Fri). On day 3 (in this case, Friday), they will check the embabies to see how many there are and how good they are (quality-wise, not behavior-wise) and will decide whether to continue to let them grow to day 5, or to do the transfer on day 3. Apparently the more embryos there are, and the better quality they are, the longer they let them grow before selecting the 2 best for transfer, then freezing the rest for later.

It is all of this "maybe this" or "maybe that" and "possibly then" or "maybe later" stuff that has us all in a tizzy! No one can make any definite plans at this stage, because its all a very scientific guessing game. Are we having fun yet?!?

The first of many.....

This is Allison

Yesterday was the first day of my stimming meds. I'm so happy to be writing that. AH. The first one I took was the Gonal F in the morning. It's one that comes with saline in the syringe and you inject that into the powdered med. Then you withdraw it with a different syringe. This one goes in the belly. Not bad at all

The Menopur has a vial of 2 cc's of saline, but you only withdraw 1 cc into the syringe. You then inject that into the powdered med vial, you then withdraw that and inject it into another powdered vial, then withdraw that and inject it yet into another powdered med. Then you change the needle head and withdraw that full amount and inject it into your belly. Whew.......this one was a little different. It tends to go in slow and you can feel it being injected. Was a little sore afterwards, but not too bad. It definitely could be worse!!!

Yesterday was such a good day. I just felt so happy to be starting the meds. :)

I'd ask that you continue to keep both Jenn and I in your prayers. Both of us go back to the clinic on Tuesday for check ups. We're praying that all looks well.

We're so close to making babies!!!!!

Yes, Green for Go!!

This is Allison

I just want to chime in on the excitement about moving forward. I am so thrilled that my levels were on track yesterday. Whew. Glad to be off of that ride.

This morning I had to get a few cysts aspirated (drained). It wasn't bad at all. Had to be there at 7:30 and got home at 10:00. I think the procedure lasted about 15 minutes or less. Dr Hickman said it was a lot like what the egg retrieval will be like. I'm not having any cramping or any side effects and they said that I just couldn't drive today, but didn't have to total rest. Just light stuff. So, all's good. :)

So, now I am to reduce my Lupron and start the other two stimming meds on Saturday. I'm so excited.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thank you Jenn for asking everyone to pray for me today for the procedure.

Now on to baby making!!! Woohoo!!!

Green Means Go!!!

This is Jenn:

Just wanted to quickly update you all on our latest news: Allison's estrogen was finally down to 54, so we received our green light yesterday! We are finally back on track and moving forward toward our transfer, probably around the 27th or 29th of this month!!! AAAAHHHH!!!! I am so excited :) And I know that Allison is very relieved.

Today however, Allison needs some prayers. She had to go in for a minor procedure (I will let her share if she chooses to do so), and will be down for the day resting. Nothing scary, but I would still like to ask you all to be praying for a quick recovery and a restful weekend! She has company coming in from LA (Louisianna, not Los Angeles) today, so the timing isn't the greatest, but I am hopeful she will take it easy like she is supposed to - Allison, if you are reading this...TAKE IT EASY or I will have to kick your tail, k???!!! :)

Thank you all for your prayers over the last 8 weeks! Its been a roller coaster, but God does answer prayer...His timing is perfect, even when it isn't ours!!!

I'm still alive :)

...just a little overwhelmed in my house of sickness! I've had 2 kids down for over a week sharing a fever and a goofy virus, that the doctor says is not the flu and not strep. Hmmm.....

Oh, this is Jenn, by the way!

Anyway, Allison had said something to me last week about being the one to do all of the posting lately, and quite frankly, I'm glad she has :) I haven't really had the time, energy or where-with-all to post anything of interest, and really, most of what is transpiring in our journey right now is happening with her. Trust me...I will have TONS to post when we get to the transfer, so stay tuned. Until then, blog away girlfriend :) :) :)

Remember, this is OUR blog, and everyone that is following us in the blogosphere needs to know what is going on...and obviously I haven't been the best about keeping everyone updated! Love, love, love you Allison!!!!

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a bed and a pillow that need me - nite!

Are you as tired as I am

This is Allison

to have to write again that we have to wait another week? Yep, that's right. Estrogen was down from 700 to 424, but it needs to be 77 or below. Apparently taking the 40iu of Lupron daily has made it drop significantly and surely to goodness it will be in the right range next week.

Thanks for all of the prayers, I'm hanging in there emotionally. Jenn is the greatest support in this. She encourages me constantly and steadfastly that this is all going to work out for the best and in God's timing and I truly believe that. Patience. It's a hard one to incorporate. This now puts us transferring the last week of March. :)

Couple of interesting things...

This is Allison

First thing is that I'm a big fan of As the World Turns (soap opera for those of you who don't know). I know, I know, it's silly, but I hate to admit I'm a little addicted. One of the episodes last week featured one of the girls on the show not being able to get pregnant or carry a pregnancy. Her friend offered to become her surrogate. Wow....pretty cool. The reason I think this is cool is because surrogacy is still quite hush hush out in the world. It's almost like no one wants to talk about it and just kind of keep it pushed under the rug so to speak. I am so thankful for technology in this day and age. Without it, I would not be able to try and have my own biological children, something that comes easy to many women. While I'm not sure if I would fall into only the medical category of not being able to just carry a pregnancy successfully, I may also have fertility issues. I was diagnosed with endometriosis about 10 yrs ago and underwent surgery. At that time, my doctor told me that I would probably need fertility drugs to help me become pregnant. I just think surrogacy is a miracle for a lot of us out here struggling with trying to start a family and I think it shouldn't be looked down upon since it's our only choice. And believe me, I didn't ask for this to happen to me. I would love to be able to carry my own child, but it's just not going to happen. In comes Jenn. :) My true hero and wonderful friend. So, I'm so curious to see where the soap opera takes this topic. Stay tuned. :)

Next, I forgot my darn Lupron shot this morning!!! Holy crap! Before last Thursday, I was taking one shot a day (in the evening). Now I'm taking two shots a day, one in the morning and evening. Well, I guess I was half way to work and it hit me. I almost panicked. But, I figured, I guess I will just double up when I get home this evening. Surely it didn't screw anything up. I just finished giving myself the shot a while ago and holy moly it stung this time. I guess because I injected so much, who knows. I bet I don't forget again.

Last Friday we received our PBO. Yippee!! Pre Birth Order. This is the document that shows that our contract is approved by the court and that states the birth certificate will state mine and Doug's names as the parents. How awesome. We are to present this to the hospital in order for them to process the documents and paperwork properly and to give us access to our baby/babies in the hospital. It was awesome receiving this finally. How exciting. Just another thing out of the way. This journey has been rather smooth except for my estrogen and progesterone not cooperating like we want them to.

That brings me to the next topic. Let's start praying early for my Thursday appointment. Low estrogen, low progesterone. Geez, surely this will be my week. If they are low enough, I'm assuming they'll do the cyst aspiration procedure on Friday and I will start my other meds on Saturday. Barb says that most women are on those meds for about 9-12 days. So, that puts us in the 3rd week of March. Come on ovaries, do your thing!!!!

Thanks for all of the prayers everyone.........