How far along? 8 Weeks
Total weight gain: 4 lbs
Maternity clothes? Not yet, but I would love to live in my leggings!
Stretch marks? None yet
Sleep: I can't get enough
Best moment this week: Taking the first bump picture!
Miss Anything? Too thankful to have these babies growing inside of me to miss anything yet, but I would LOVE a Dr. Pepper :)
Movement: Not yet
Food cravings: Mostly pretty healthy. Fried, greasy food does not sound appealing.
Gender: ??
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Just EXTREMELY tired all.day.long.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Looking forward to: Our last appointment at the IVF Dr. tomorrow to see our little pumpkins one more time and my 1st appointment with my OB.
There's TWO! We are having TWINS! I can't believe it. The doctor began the ultrasound and we saw two sacs right away. I immediately said, oh my goodness, there's two! The doctor said, well we transfered two, so we knew this was a possibility, which I totally knew, but it's different once it's a reality! I have to say, I am extremely overwhelmed right now. Of coarse I'm happy, and so thankful to God for these blessings, but it's a lot to take in. We will have a completely different life than I ever imagined. Two really changes things. Right now I just pray that these babies continue to grow healthy and strong inside of with little to no complications. I look forward to our weekly ultrasounds where we get to see our two pumpkins growing. Next week we should be able to see their heartbeats. Amazing!
I went in this morning to take the blood test to see if I am pregnant or not. We went in around 7:30 and they said the results should be in around 11:00. I didn't want to hear the news while I was by myself at school, so I told the nurse to leave a message, and then the plan was that I would wait to listen to it with Matt once I got home from work. Well, I should have known better, because Matt is one of the most impatient people I know. He was texting me all morning, freaking out, asking if they had called yet. Around 11:00, I looked down at my phone and I had a voicemail! I texted Matt to let him know, and he immediately wrote back telling me there was no way he could take it any longer. He ended up coming to my school during my lunch and we listened to the voicemail together in my classroom. The nurse said she had good news, so we called her back and she said it came back POSITIVE! She said my levels were really good, and I need to come back in two days (my birthday!) for more blood work to check to see that my levels are doubling...the most important thing. We are extremely excited, yet cautious. It's scary to get your hopes up, but still so fun! Next week Thursday we will have our first ultrasound, and hopefully find out if it's one baby or two! Eeek!!
January 17 (last Tuesday) was the retrieval and it went really well. I was put under, so I don't remember anything that happened, but they called today and said they were able to retrieve 14 eggs, and of that, 10 turned into embryos! They let those embryos sit for 5 days to see which ones would continue to develop and which ones would stop growing.
Yesterday we went in at 11:00am for the transfer. I had to have a full bladder so they could getting a clearer view of my uterus. Once I was in the hospital gown and bed, they wheeled me into the transfer room. The embryologist came in to show us our embryos and talk us through the procedure. Matt was able to sit in the room right next to me and look through a microscope at our embryos waiting in the incubator. It was such a neat and special moment where we were able to pray together, hold hands and watch as our babies were placed in my uterus. Although this wasn't the way we ever imagined we would have a baby, we could feel God there with us, watching over us, our baby, and guiding the doctors.
I am now on strict bedrest for 48 hours, only aloud to get up to use the restroom. I feel great, especially knowing that God could be quite possibly creating a miracle inside of me. Matt has been such an amazing husband and partner through every step of this journey. Not only has be been so helpful around the house and waiting on me hand & foot, he has been encouraging and there for me emotionally. I am so thankful for him. We should now if everything worked next Thursday, February 2, two days before my 26th birthday!
I'm ready!! I went in this morning and my follicles are the size and condition they need to be, so they scheduled the retrieval for Tuesday, a day earlier than they thought. Unfortunately, Matt went hunting this weekend so he wasn't at the appointment with me. The only important thing he missed was being given the trigger shot instructions. This shot triggers ovulation and they said it was most important shot in this whole process. It needs to be given at 11:00pm tonight on-the-dot. Unlike the other shots which have been in my stomach under my belly button, this is an intramuscular shot which means it's given in the booty :( I am extremely nervous for this. My plan is to sit on ice till my booty is frozen, in hopes that I won't be able to feel anything. Matt will obviously be giving me this shot :) EEeek!
Update: The shot went great! I couldn't feel a thing. The area is a little sore, it feels like theres a big bruise. Thankful that's the worst of it :)
I started my medication this past Saturday. I have to give myself 2 shots in the morning, and 2 and night. It isn't as nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Matt have me the first shot Saturday morning because I got a little nervous, but it didn't hurt at all! Since then, I've been doing all of them. The needles are the same size as the ones diabetics use. One of the medications (Lupron) I have to draw the fluid out with the syringe, and the other one (Follistim) is a pen like device that the medication goes into. It's definitely weird giving yourself a shot 4 times a day. Not something I ever thought I would be doing to myself.
I'm so thankful for how smoothly this whole process has gone so far. God has truly gone before us and protected us in the journey. The only side affect that I have had is some bruises on my stomach from the shots. Every once in awhile it burns afterward, which is usually because the medication is on the cold side. Matt has been so sweet and helpful with everything. Since Matt gets up before me, when he wakes up he takes all my stuff out of the fridge and gets it ready for me so it can get down to room temp before I have to take it. I love that he does this on his own without me asking. It's his way of making everything a little easier on me. I just love him.
I was also surprised at the short amount of time I have to take the medication. I go in this Wednesday (1/11) to see how my body is responding to the meds, and then everyday to every other day after that. They are going to be looking at the follicles (what contains each egg) to see how many there are measuring them to see how big they are getting. They are predicting the egg retrieval will take place on/around the 18th and then the embryo transfer will take place 5 days after the retrieval! So surreal that I could be pregnant by the end of this month! Right now we are just praying for my body responds to the medication positively and that we get a good amount of follicles.
Aunt Flo has finally made her debut!! I've never been more excited for her to arrive. We went back to the Doctor today and I was put on the first batch of medication. I think I have a totally of 7-9 pills to take every day. And this is only the beginning :) We go back next week Tuesday for the trial transfer. This is when they go in like they are going to do IVF, but don't actually implant an embryo. This is done so they can have a feel for the shape of my uterus and aren't met with any surprises on the actual transfer day. I can't believe how quickly things are going! I will also start the shot medications in a few weeks. That's when the real fun begins :) I've heard the first set of meds aren't too bad, and most women give them to themselves. We will see!
Emotionally, I go back and forth with my feelings about this whole IVF thing. Sometime I look in the mirror and can't believe I'm actually one of those people. And I don't mean that in a bad way. But honestly, when we were first married, or even when we first started trying, I remember hearing about women who went through IVF and feeling so bad for them. Like, "Oh, they had to do IVF? :/" I NEVER pictured myself as one of "those" people. AND NOW I AM! Let's just say, I will never look at conceiving a baby, or pregnancy the same way again. This has truly changed me as a person. I think in a lot of ways for the good, but also in someways I'm not too proud of. At times, I can and have definitely considered myself a bitter person. I HATE having the sad/negative feelings and thoughts that come with this. Facebook is the worst! Reading every complaint about how tired, sick, and uncomfortable they are, etc... I would love nothing more than to have morning sickness or heartburn, if it meant that a baby was growing inside of me. I feel like the past 2 years EVERYONE I know has announced that they are pregnant. It's hard having to answer the constant questions like, "when are you guys going to have kids?" or "how come you don't have kids yet?" or while playing or holding a friends kid, "that sure looks good on you!" Every friend of ours or acquaintance now has a kid or two, or three! I can go on and on and on about each and every emotion I have had these past two years, and I probably will share more on another post :) Mainly because I never want to forget this experience. It has been a life changing experience for not just me & Matt, but for our family.
