Transfer!!

We made it to transfer day!!!

I have been so nervous about today. Mainly because of how unsure everyone was about the quality of the embryos, and there was a good chance that when they thawed, we'd find out they weren't viable. I was hoping to sleep in, but helped get the boys off to school, so then I had almost three hours of just sitting around and waiting. Not my best plan. Thankfully SVU was on so that helped distract a little. My transfer buddy, Marie, and I headed out a little after 10 and made really good time to Dallas. L and S were there when we came in and we headed into the office together. Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long before I went back for bloodwork and to get suited up. 

Back story: I was telling Logan and Oliver a few days ago about what was going to happen and after reminding Oliver about what exactly I was doing he said, "So, you're like a penguin?! You just keep the baby warm?" 😍 So, I thought it was fitting that when I was told to bring fuzzy socks to wear in the room, I bought ones with penguins on them. (And I had on my lucky underwear and Marvel sweats cause well, ya know.)

After I got the gown on, L was able to come back with me and Marie and S hung out in the waiting area. I was hoping they could come back during the wait period, but that didn't work out. I was given a Valium to relax and we waited for the update from the embryologist. I was hopeful since we hadn't heard anything yet, that there was at least one healthy embryo ready for us. We were lucky and there were two!!! The third wasn't expected to grow and we got confirmation of that this afternoon. It's a little sad knowing there won't be a sibling journey, but I'm so thankful we have a chance with these. They aren't super high quality, but that doesn't mean they can't grow to healthy babies! The procedure itself was pretty quick. Forceps, catheter, and we could see the little bubbles pop up on the screen. I had to lay still for 30 minutes and L and I got some time to chat. She shared more details about everything that had brought them to that room, and we are both trying to put it in God's hands and know that he's got it all figured out already. She sent me a picture that said, "Pray. Relax. Let go. And let God take over." I'm trying to remember that! 
Now I'm home, waiting for dinner to be brought to me. (There are a few things that aren't SO bad on bed rest.) And we've started the countdown until Monday/Tuesday when I'm going to take a pregnancy test. The official one won't be until October 2nd, but hopefully we'll have some exciting news before then! 

Meds Update

I am finally down to my last week of Lupron. And yes, everyone was right, the shot itself wasn't bad at all. There were a few times I would itch or burn at the injection site, but most of the time, I don't even feel the needle go in! HOWEVER, holy cow, if I don't have coffee or some kind of caffeine, I have a raging headache the rest of the day. I hardly ever get headaches and do not handle them well. I will be so glad when I'm done with it. Even though the very next night I start the progesterone shots. 😒 yay. I've also started estrogen patches, two at first and now I'm at four. I'll be up to 6 by the end of this week, so if you see me out and about sobbing, it's probably nothing major, I may have just dropped my chapstick. 

Last Friday I had an appointment at the clinic to check my lining in my uterus to make sure it was thickening up. The dr wants it at a certain millimeter of thickness for optimum implantation. I have one more check this Friday and then the following week is TRANSFER!!! I'm so excited it's finally close. It will be almost eleven months since we've started this process again and I'm ready for my uterus to be occupied again. With someone I don't have to feed when they come out. 😊 

When we went to dinner a few weeks back with the parents, L was unsure if she wanted to be at the transfer. With everything they've been through, she had some reservations about this and the heartbeat confirmation. Which, I completely understand. But, I was excited to hear that she wants to come to the transfer! I'm still not sure if I need to find a transfer buddy... Chris will be home with Ben, and I'm not allowed to drive myself home and with L on the opposite side of DFW from us, I don't know if it makes sense for her to pick me up and bring me home.... if anyone wants to be a backup transfer buddy, let me know! It's not too exciting, a lot of waiting, but any moral support is appreciated! 

So for now I continue these last few Lupron shots, my prenatal, the estrogen patches, Vitamin D, and CoQ10 supplements. Next Sunday I start progesterone shots and suppositories, another round of doxycycline, and Medrol. Besides some soreness from the shot, those meds will be easy peasy. The only hard part coming up will be surviving the FOUR DAYS of bedrest. I've found two books to read (although I started The Handmaid's Tale today and will try to not finish it before next week), a few seasons of Call the Midwife, and I'm sure I'll watch Moana a handful of times with Ben! Surprisingly, we have no activities scheduled for that weekend, which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing for Chris! 

Please keep those little embryos in your prayers, that they'll be healthy and viable when the clinic thaws them out, and they'll snuggle in tight!

Here We Go, One More Time!

If you didn't finish that with,
"Everybody's feeling fine,
Here we go now,
Yes, yes, yes, here we go!
N*SYNC has got the flow!"
Then there'd better be a dang good reason we're friends. 

Kidding. Sorta. 
Moving On. 

So, yep, we're getting started again! We got to this point back in February and I never started the blog up again, even though I kept saying I needed to, but now things feel a lot better and I've decided to post! This journey will be different, mainly because the parents are local. Plano to be exact! I'm excited to be able to share this with the parents this time and really hope it all goes smoothly! I feel it will, they are both very sweet and down to earth. 
I'm with a clinic out of Dallas and this Dr is waaaaaaay old school. Just the amount of supplements he has me on is almost as much as all the meds from the twins. 
Currently my list of meds is:
Birth control (sticking to this one religiously so no more Ben's show up)
Prenatal
50,000 IU of Vitamin D
200mg CoQ10
Doxycycline (antibiotic 10 days)

Then as we get closer to transfer we take off the birth control and add:
Lupron shot (AM)
Estrogen patches (start with two, end up with 6 on at a time)
Progesterone suppository (AM)
Progesterone shot (PM)
Another round of Doxycycline 
Medrol

Tomorrow I start Lupron. And I'm terrified. Chris was able to give me my PIO shots in my booty every night with the twins, but this go-round I have to shoot myself in the stomach every morning. Gulp. My loathing of needles hasn't gone away. I had an appointment on Friday with the nurse who showed me how I'm supposed to do this. I was slightly queasy, but managing, until she said, "Make sure the needle goes in at 45 degrees, or you can bend it and get it stuck in your stomach." I'm sorry, what???????!!! She says she has faith in me, but also requested I email her after I've given it so she knows it's done. Everyone tells me it's so much easier than progesterone, but I never had to see that go in. Ugh. I'm really not excited. 

But, I remind myself why am I doing it and put my big girl panties on. L&S have been trying for many years and have had many failed IVFs. They had resigned to not having kids but a few things came up and then they found out they had three little embryos left, and here we are. With lots of prayers we will have two embryos to transfer next month, and then a sibling journey a year or so later! And on the transfer note, this Dr also requires four days of bed rest. At first, yes it sounds amazing. Four days to just lay around and do nothing??!! Sweet!! But no. I know by day two of laying flat I will be BORED OUT OF MY MIND. I'm trying to save some Netflix series and get some good books, but if you have other forms of entertainment, let me know!