The single strong one!!!!

A little different outcome than we had expected!!! We went in yesterday for my ET and we both had decided that we were fine with them putting 2 back in. Why not, we would be ecstatic with twins. When we got there one of the doctors came in to talk with us about our embryos. They were all still doing really good with 4 being at the best level they could be at (I guess we make good and strong babies just not the conventional way). He said that his recommendation was to put 1-2 back in, but was still hesitant with 2 because of our risk of multiples and he was not sure my body could handle that. He said for us to talk it over and my RE would come in and talk with us. He said that if they put 2 in, our chance for multiples is 40%. A little later the RE came in and told us that we were only going to put 1 back in. I was a little upset, because we have come this far and we were only putting 1 back in?????? She describe our risk a little more and we signed off on the single transfer. Please pray that this little booger will stick!!!! We are now back at the hotel and I am getting waited on hand and foot and will be coming home on Monday. I hope everyone is doing well and Happy early Thanksgiving!!!!

Wishes of my heart

God knows what He’s doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay He will mold us and make us, and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will. He knows the wishes of my heart, my deep desire for a child, a little one to love and care for. I yearn for those long sleepless nights, changing diapers around the clock and I would gladly give up my shoe money for baby supplies.

This is what I have learned through our infertility:
God is in control and is carrying me through each step, my spirit can’t be broken, Marcus and my love has only grown stronger and closer, I have amazing friends and family, I have to be true to myself and I believe in miracles and the power of prayer.

Whatever the results are I still want to continue to grow in my faith and praise God for this experience. I am truly grateful to be able to go through this very extensive and expensive process. I am in awe when I think of how God has provided for us and has carried us each step of the way.

Okay now to the details. They retrieved 9 eggs from me and they were all mature, which is awesome because most of the time you lose some because they aren’t mature. All 9 were able to be fertilized and have divided right on track. We are scheduled for Saturday morning transfer. We have to be in Webster at 7:45 so that will be a very early morning, but very exciting!!!!! We will be coming home on Monday for a very relaxing week.

The choice of persistence is about setting a goal and reaching it, about coming to roadblock and hurdling over them with God guiding you through it, about continuing the journey in spite of life’s speed bumps.

Mobile Blogger We are out

Mobile Blogger
We are out of surgery and back at the hotel and doing great. Minor aches and pains right now. Thanks for all your prayers.
*Lin*

ER Scheduled

We made the trip to Houston early this morning. I had blood work and an ultrasound done and they determined that I can't wait until Tuesday (my regular scheduled ER day). We are scheduled for an ER (Egg Retrieval) on Monday. They advised us at the Houston office that they would prefer us to stay the night after the ER so we will be coming home on Tuesday. Please just continue to pray for us, our families and the doctors as this will be a busy day for all of us.

I am not a chicken.....yet!

This is a picture of my ovaries from this morning (beautiful aren't they). She said that everything is looking good and I am not producing 50 follicles (that would put any chicken to shame), so that is good. She said that my right ovary is still larger than the left (I am sure you already noticed that though, by the pic) :). They are not as worried as they were yesterday about OHSS, but it is still something they are preparing me for. I am now on a protein drink every day and on a pretty bland diet. I also have to start keeping a weight and symptom journal to keep track of everything. We will be traveling back and forth to Houston on Saturday and Sunday morning to have blood work and more ultrasounds done. Oh the exciting times at the Kyler house!!!!! The nurse just called and my E2 levels are good for today, so the reduction in the meds have helped out. It is looking like my surgery will be either Monday or Tuesday, so please pray that everything goes smoothly and I recover fast (no OHSS). This day will be a huge day for us and even more complicated than most IVFers on this day. I am comforted because I know that God is totally in control of this journey.

Update

I just talked with the nurse and they are a little worried about OHSS, because I am so little and my E2 levels are so high. They are putting me on a high protein diet with lots of fluids to help prevent OHSS.

For those of you that don't know what OHSS (Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) there would be a fluid shift from the intravascular system to the abdomen. She basically said that the body would become dehydrated because the bodily fluids would be filling up in the abdomen.

I know I am going to a great doctor and there was no way that they could have know that I would respond the way I did. Well, I am going tomorrow for more blood work and an ultrasound. I take three injections each night: Gonal-F, Micro-Ovidrel, and Cetrotide. The Gonal-F and Ovidrel are stimulation drugs and the Cetrotide is to prevent me from ovulating. I am on the smallest dose of Gonal-F that I can take and for tonight I am not taking the Ovidrel. They are doing all they can to keep me under control.

2,261

My E2 level today:
2,261 (a number they like to see at the end)

The nurse hasn't talked with my doctor yet but she just called me to make sure I was taking one of my drugs. I am worried that I am moving too fast!!!! I can't get OHSS until I take a certain drug which will be in a few days and this worries me. I don't want to end up in the hospital and have to cancel this cycle because of this. I am now suppose to start keeping a journal of my weight and symptoms each day. I started having some pain around my ovaries last night at church and my belly started to pooch out. I can no longer eat Mexican food (I am addicted to Mexican food) which will prob make Marcus happy. She told me I needed to be eating vegetables, lean meat and drinking lots of water. Please just pray that my body starts cooperating with the drugs and slows down. I will update a little later when I hear from the doctor.

Happily a pincushion

E2 Levels:
11/10-433
11/11-1000
11/12-1399

They are happy that my levels are slowing down and I am suppose to continue on with the same drug routine. The nurse said that there are some people that they only need to check every other day, but I am not one of those people (Lucky me). I am going to be one of those people that need to be closely monitored. Yes, that means I am going in again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day (have you caught on yet) to have blood work and/or ultrasounds done. But that’s okay with me, I happily give them my arm to bruise up and wait anxiously to here what my levels are. I know to some of you this might sound weird, but I look forward to sticking myself with three needles each night and turn around and get blood taken each morning. This is just what we have to do and all of this brings us one step closer to our little miracle!!!!

Come on Follies!!!

Well, we don't have to worry about me not reacting to the drugs. Now our problem is I am reacting too well!!!! Yesterday I was told to 1/2 the units of one of my shots, so we did that last night. This morning I had to go in for more blood work and an ultrasound. The nurse said that it was still a little early to see anything on the ultrasound but she did say that my endometrium looked great (it looked like a hamburger to me) and my right ovaries was slightly larger than the left. I don't quite know what all this means, but I guess everything looked good.

The nurse just called me with the results from my blood work this morning and my levels have more than doubled (from 433 to over 1,000). I now have to 1/2 both of my injections that I am taking and add on another injection to the mix tonight. That makes it a total of 3 injections per night!!!! The nurse did say that we need to slow down my estradiol levels to give my follicles a chance to catch up. So come on follies, get to growing!!!!! I also have to go in tomorrow for more blood work. After only two days of blood work, my arms already look horrible so I can only imagine what they are going to look like by the end of this week.

I am not a junkie, just going through IVF!

I started on Friday my stimulation shots and I had to go in today to have some blood work done to check my estradiol levels. The nurse that took my blood said that I am going to look like a junkie by the end of this week, because my arms are going to be so bruised up. Luckily it is cool outside and I can wear long sleeves. The shots are going great, Marcus has even pitched in and given me some of them. I told him he needed to practice on the small needles before he has to give me the big shots. So far the only symptoms I have had are headaches. Saturday I had a migraine, so bad that Tylenol would not help, but I made it through the night. I am trying to make it through the day without taking any medicine at all, but I had to cave in on Saturday.

Well, the nurse just called with my levels and they are kind of high, so I am decreasing the units in one of my medicines. They also want to see me in the morning to do an ultrasound and more blood work (more bruises). They want to be very careful to not overstimulate me. We want to prevent ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). On a positive note, I am responding well to the medicine!!!! I am curious to see what the ultrasound tomorrow shows. I will keep you all updated!!!!

Ready or Not

I have now officially given myself my first shot! The doctors office gives you a period of time that you are suppose to give your shot (between 6:30-9:00) and we thought 8:00pm sounded like a good time for us. So about 7:30 I started cleaning off an area to lay everything out on and to kind of read the instruction over again. This first medicine I had to dissolve a powder by injecting a liquid in the vial, but the instructions emphasised to not create bubbles!!!! Well, right away bubbles started forming and I knew that was not good. So for the next 45 minutes we sat at the dinning room table trying to get rid of the bubbles. Our 8:00 shot time had come and past and by 8:30 we decided that it was good enough and I needed to go ahead and take my shot. By this time I was aggravated and just ready to get it over with, so the actual shot was not that bad. I had to give it right under my belly button and I really did not feel the needle at all, but the medicine going in was a different story. It was so weird, I could feel the medicine spreading all over my abdomen and this morning it feels like I did a lot of crunches throughout the night. Oh the joys of injections!!!! I hope that all the other injections aren't as eventful as this one.

A lot of you are asking when things will be happening, so I decided to give you my calendar of events. Here is just a brief outline of what we are going to be going through the next month:

11/3: Cetrotide injection (eventful bubble problem shot)

11/4-11/6: Wait for Aunt Flo (I think she is already here)

11/7 -11/16: HCG and Gonal-F injections (2 injections per day)

11/18: Estimated Egg Retrieval Day* (Out-patient surgery, hope to come home same day)

11/23: Embryo Transfer* (Probably 2 transfered)

11/24: Bed rest at a near by hotel (Get waited on hand and foot)

11/25: Bed rest (come home from the hotel)

11/27: Thanksgiving Day

12/8: Blood work to see if it took (Hope for a strong BFP)

*Will be done in Webster, TX near NASA