Stages

I am now in another waiting stage, but this one will probably be a short one. I have done most of what I need to do to get to the implantation stage as far as my body is concerned. The IM (intending mom) however is into the stage where she gets to start all her hormones. This is an exciting step in the process b/c it really is when we get to find out if all this is actually going to be possible. She has started her injections as of Nov.26th and will be leaving on Dec.2nd for an ultrasound in Vancouver. This ultrasound will check to see how her ovaries are responding to the hormones. What they need to do is get her body to produce an abundance of eggs and have them mature in her ovary. Naturally in your body you only produce one egg (more with multiples) and it does a maturing process that starts in the ovary and continues in the fallopian tubes. The process that the IM has to undergo can be uncomfortable and the clinic said that women can have a feeling of being "full" (not in her stomach, but just in general I think) since her ovary is actually swelled with the excess eggs. The actual retrieval of the egg can be painful as well. Normally for an egg retrieval they go up through the vagina and then use a needle to go through the side of the vagina and through to the ovary. I know that this process will be different for my IM since her anatomy is slightly different. I'm not sure how the process will change, but it will be interesting to hear how. I really hope it's not too painful for her, although she did say the way they will have to do it will be more invasive. She will be staying in Vancouver until the transfer happens. Everyday she has to go get blood taken and then wait for the clinic to call her with her hormone dosage for that day. It's a very precise science behind all this. I find it so interesting.

So keep your prayers coming! We are still on track for those dates, however we should have a better idea once the egg retrieval process begins. The eggs need to mature outside the uterus for 3 to 5 days (we are doing 3 since we want to transfer two eggs, if there are two). I feel so hopeful!! :)

8mm!!!

We got good news today! My endometrium is 8mm!! YAY! It needed to be atleast 5mm for us to move on to the next step. The IM will be going off her BCP's today (from what I understood), which will essentially begin her cycle and then she will begin her hormone injections sometime this week (I think). It's confusing me right now, but basically we just do whatever the nurses tell us to. I am now taking three estrogen pills a day. Morning, noon and night and still on my synarel nasal spray.

The actual ultrasound that I had was easy and laid back which was nice considering it was an internal one. I have had one other (internal) one during my pregnancy with my youngest daughter so I knew what to expect. The dr. who did the prcedure made me feel very comfortable which was nice. It seems really funny b/c I spent half of yesterday and half of today flying here and back for a 2 min. procedure. I was at the clinic for a whole 12min. It makes me extra glad we got good news b/c it made the trip well worth it.

I just can't believe how fast this is all going! It's blowing my mind right at the moment. The IM will be going to Vancouver on Dec.2nd for an ultrasound and the most likely staying there until after the egg retrieval, fertilization and transfer. It looks like we are on target for our transfer date being sometime between Dec.8th and 10th. Wow! That's only around 2 1/2 weeks!! It's so neat to think that next Christmas could be their baby's (or babies) first Christmas!

Heading to Van

I leave on Sunday!! wow!! I am so excited!! I feel really positive about this ultrasound going well. I doubled my does of Estrace yesterday and that evening I couldn't eat dinner b/c of some nausea that appeared. I think it will take a bit for my body to adjust to the extra amount of estrogen that's in my system. I've had morning sickness worse than this so it's nothing to complain about and it's really not aweful at all it's just enough to take my appetite away. Hoenstly I thought it would be a lot worse so I think it's going awesome so far!!

So I read over the symptoms that I listed in my last post and realized that yeah I have been having more side effects than I thought. Obviously not bad considering I forgot they were even side effects, but defiantely something to note since it is all part of the experience. I have had some dizziness and lightheadedness. I was always confused b/c I would just finish eating and then I would stand up and it would feel like I had low blood sugar... now I know :) I have gotten headaches, but again thought that was just normal. People get headaches sometimes, whatever haha. So out of the listed effects I have only gotten a few and it really has been fine. Totally worth it. In fact if I hadn't read the paper they gave me I probably wouldn't have paid much attention to these.

Please keep us in your prayers Monday morning (8am). Pray that my endometrium is preparing for baby and a wonderful 5mm thick. I have two days completely by myself in a city where I don't know anyone. This is going to feel like a holiday!!

The next step

I got my period today as expected. Yay! I've never been this happy to see it arrive before haha. I have to start on my Estrogen (Estrace) on Saturday. I begin by taking one pill a day and then after 5 days of that switching to two a day. Then on Nov.23rd I fly down to Vancouver to get an ultrasound at the clinic. This ultrasound will tell us how thick my uterine lining is. If it is atleast 5mm we are in the clear for the IM to begin her injections. If it is less than that I will need to be on the Estrace for a bit longer before we can begin. Some of the side effects of the Estrace include dizziness, lightheadedness, headache, upset stomach, bloating, nauseau, weight changes, increased/decreased interest in sex, and breast tenderness. It will be interesting to see how this pill effects me. The pharmacist said it's similar to a birth control pill, but since the estrogen levels are quite a bit higher I may notice the side effects more... uh oh! It's ok we'll see what happens. If I do get any of these they usually taper off after about two weeks, once my body is used to it and I will only be on it until the transfer happens which will hopefully be around the corner.

I just can't believe how fast it is all happening at this point. Once IM starts her injections we are looking at about 15-18 days until we can do the embryo transfer. I can't believe it!!! That puts us at approximately December 8th to 11th. I knew that we were aiming to do it about that time, but hearing that it's actually a possibility really makes me excited!! Please pray that everything goes smoothly from here and that the transfer is a success.

Goodbye BCP's!!

Today I am officially off of my birth control pills. I had to take the Synarel (nasel spray) along with the BCP's for 6 days and now I am just on the Synarel. I am hoping I will get my period here in about three days and then I can start my Estrace. The Synarel will stop me from ovulating (suppresses my ovaries) and the Estrace... well I'm not sure what the Estrace will do I just know that I need to start that after my period comes and of course when the clinic tells me to. I will ask them exactly what it does when I talk to them next.

So far the Synarel has been just a piece of cake. The only side effects that I've noticed have been minor sleep interuptions and a few extra zits than normal. Really nothing major at all. I was hugely relieved especially after how hard the BCP's hit me. I'm a hormone supplement pro now! hahaha It was a bit of a learning curve with the Synarel. The first few days I took it were gross. I would spray it into my nose and a few minutes later I would start tasting it as it ran down my throat. Poison is probably the closest I can come to describing the flavor. One of my friends suggested that I sniff with my nose more when I spray it so that it goes up my nasal passage instead of down my throat and what do you know she was right. I rarely taste it anymore. Learning the new meathod really just felt like the cherry ontop of the cake.

Both of my daughters have the "uncomfirmed" H1N1 virus. They haven't gotten swabbed, but all symptoms point to it. Poor little ones. I am betting that I will get it here shortly, which will suck, but I can say it will be nice to have it out of the way for when the pregnancy happens. I/we won't have to worry about getting it and it harming the baby. We'll see if I'm singing a different tune if/when I'm lieing on the couch in a fever induced daze.

First dose of something

It begins!! I'm so excited!! Today I went to the pharmacy and picked up my first hormone treatment. It's called Synarel. It's a nasel spray that I take once in the morning and once at night. What Synarel will do to me is suppress my reproductive system and stop me from ovulating. It has similar side effects as the birth control pill I was taking, but usually those only last for about two weeks. I'm thinking it might be easier this time knowing that all these things are most likely coming. The birth control pill took me by total surprise. I'm ready this time. Bring on the hot flashes and sleepless nights b/c then I know it's doing the job :)

The intended mom starts on her birth control pills today. We need to now align our cycles to eachother b/c my body needs to be ready to receive a fertalized egg at the same time that she is ovulating. It's realy interesting. All this has made me realize that none of this is possible without God. Science can only go so far and it's amazing how many things need to be insync and working for this to happen. Our cycles have to match, my uterin lining has to be the prefect thickness at the right time, the dr's have to be able to harvest a good amount of healthy eggs from IM (intended mom), then IF (intended father) needs to have a good amount of healthy sperm, we then need atleast one or two healthy embryos to survive three days (outside my uterus) and then finally we need the embryo(s) to survive and grow inside of me. There is so much going on here and I feel so positive about the whole process, but I know that we really have to trust in God through this whole thing. None of this is possible without him.