Happy 6th Anniversary!!!!

Six years ago today I married my supportive, funny, and patient husband!! Each year, the time has flown by faster and faster. This past year has been just as busy...a trip to Colorado and California, Cubs games, Bears game, pool parties, celebrating births and birthdays, our baptisms, and too many to count infertility appointments. I feel so blessed to have Jason as my husband for lifetime. Looking forward to many more years together!!

Cubs game!

Yesterday, Jason and I, along with eight friends, joined a bus trip to see the Chicago Cubs play at Wrigley Field! Last year, we made it to two games, and they lost both so we were hoping for no rain and a WIN!! We loaded the buses around 9:15am, got to Chicago around noon, and headed right into the stadium. After gathering our awesome baseball food, we headed to our seats!Matt & Kate, Tim & Julie, Brandon & Mande, David & Terri, Jason & me

It was a little chillier than I thought so we ended up buying a sweatshirt, but at least it didn't rain! I think the vendors probably made a ton on clothes. This one is for Jason since he didn't have one. I left mine on the bus...oops!

Carlos Zambrano was going for win #100, but unfortunately he got tossed out of the game after a close call at home plate during the 7th inning. You can check out the story and video footage HERE. The Cubbies did end up winning the game 5-2!!

After the game, we had a little time before the bus came to get us so we even caught some of the players leaving coming out of Wrigley and into their cars - Alfonso Soriano, Mike Fontenot, Ryan Theriot, and Kosuke Fukudome. I didn't get any good pictures, but Ryan Theriot at least waved back at us!!

Pergola!

Over the past couple months, Jason has been busy planning, purchasing materials, and constructing our pergola... He completed it on Sunday morning! We knew that we wouldn't be taking any major vacations this year (first time in 9 years) due to the priority of starting our family. So, we decided to take that money and put it into a pergola in our backyard. About year after we moved in, we added the pool which has been a lot of fun! But, our backyard gets 100% sun during the day so it also gets quite warm. We had an umbrella for our table and were putting up a pop-up tent thing each time we had pool parties for shade, but I think this will be so much better! The other good thing is that this is right off of our kitchen/dining room - both get really warm in the summer so this will hopefully help keep those rooms a little cooler!

You might be wondering why the posts and top are different colors -- we actually had planned for the whole thing to be white since our fence is white. We quickly learned that you cannot paint treated wood until it completely dries - about three months. The posts were already purchased at that point so we decided to leave it like this for now. I know the boards will change color over time so it won't be as much of a contrast. We'll see how it looks over time.

What do you think? I was quite impressed with Jason's skills!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

The first two days of my weekend were spent laying on the couch being waited on by my husband and my mom, watching tv, playing games on my hubby's iPhone, and checking e-mail, blogs, and facebook. It wasn't too bad since there were extra people here (my dad drove down on Saturday afternoon). That also allowed Jason to get some work done outside - lawn mowed and pergola completed! I'll be posting about the pergola later.

I spent a lot of time on the couch yesterday, too, but did manage to get a shower in and get out of the house for a little while. Some friends were having a cookout last night, so we went there for a few hours. It's pretty chilly out right now, and I think it's supposed to rain, so it will probably be another day on the couch...hopefully encouraging these embies to stick!!!

For now, I continue the pre-natal, baby aspirin, DHEA (3xs) and have started progesterone (3xs) and Estrace (2xs). I've never done the Estrace before (we did Ovidrel boosters last time), so that was a fun new experience!! :-)

Transfer

It has been a pretty good day. We got to the hospital at 8:15, took my valium, and got drinking my water! Last time my bladder was so full, I actually had to relieve half of it before they could do the transfer so this morning, I only drank about 20 ounces. The biologist came in with a picture of the two embryos we were going to transfer...one compacted (they don't grade these) and one 7-cell (grade 3). Then began the conversation of how the other three were doing. Two weren't doing so well - a 3-cell and 4-cell, but the 3rd one wasn't too bad...a 7-cell. Jason and I decided that we wouldn't talk to Dr. Jarrett about transferring three unless the fertilization report we got this morning warranted it. Since we really only had the possibility of freezing one (if it made it), I started asking questions. My basic thought was that I'm not sure about paying $600 to freeze one embryo knowing that we would have to do another fresh cycle in order to get more to freeze. And, who knows if this one lone embryo would survive the freeze. I could tell the biologist wasn't sure about three due to my age (31), but I also let them know that we have been trying for 5 years next week! Dr. Jarrett overheard our conversation as he was walking by so he came in to discuss it with us. I must have been pretty convincing because...he let us transfer THREE!!!!!!!!!!
So, here is what happens after a 3-day transfer:

1dpt ..embryo is growing and developing
2dpt... Embryo is now a blastocyst
3dpt....Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day
4dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining
5dpt.. Implantation begins,as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining
6dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining
7dpt.. Morula is completely inmplanted in the lining and has placenta cells & fetal cells
8dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood
9dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
10dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
11dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on HPT

ICLW #2

This is my 2nd month participating in International Comment Leaving Week!! Last month, I found some great blogs to follow with stories similar to ours, and I'm sure I'll find the same this month! If you're new to this just click on the icon to the right of this post and see what it's all about. Here is the short version of our story:

In May 2003, I married my husband. After one year of marriage, we decided to stop the birth control with hopes of starting our family. I never imagine that we wouldn't get pregnant, but wanted to not worry about it. After all, we had gotten married, bought a new house, installed a pool and were traveling fools! After 2.5 years, I started tracking my cycles (everything seemed normal to me) so after a year of that, we ran some tests with my doctor. Again, everything was normal. We have completed 5 cycles on Clomid with timed intercourse, 3 IUIs, and 1 IVF. My transfer for IVF #2 is actually tomorrow!!

Even though infertility does take a stronghold on your life, I still live a "normal" life. We have continued to travel and plan activities with friends and family. I have a sister, BIL, brother, SIL, 2 nephews and a niece and Jason has a sister, 2 nephews, and a niece. We live closest to Jason's family but see my family on a regular basis, too. On this blog, you'll see posts from everything about infertility, to girls nights with my neighbors, to family events, and more.

Welcome!!

Fertilization Report

Things are still looking pretty good. I got the call with the fertilization report this morning. Of the 12 retrieved, only 8 were mature...of those 8, only 5 fertilized with ICSI. So, we are headed towards a 3-day transfer on Friday morning. I'll know what time our transfer is scheduled this afternoon.

Last time, we transferred two really nice embryos...I'm not sure what we are going to do this time. I think it will depend on their grading, but I need to find out when we can make that decision. Jason and I would consider putting three back, but I'm not sure of Dr. J's thoughts on that. We'll see!

Retrieval

We are home from Indy, and I'm enjoying HGTV for the afternoon! Everything went well this morning even though I didn't sleep the greatest last night. I was probably afraid the alarm wouldn't go off. We got to the hospital at 5:45am (4:45 Illinois time), and didn't get called back until 6:30! Thank goodness I didn't have a full bladder. :-)

Once we were in the room, everything went pretty quickly...papers signed, bp and pulse taken, iv inserted...we just were waiting on Dr. J. I was taken back about 7:15, and we were on the road home by 8:30! The retrieval went well. I do remember a little more than last time like the air in my nose and them positioning my legs, but that's okay. They were able to get 12 eggs!! I was pretty pleased with that but also curious about what happened to #13 that was measured on Saturday. This is double the number retrieved during our first IVF, and I think Dr. J was very pleased with that.

I'll get the call tomorrow morning from the lab to see how many fertilized, and then the call from the nurse to see when the transfer is scheduled. Now, we just need prayers for the fertilization and also that my body would be prepared for the transfer and accept the embryos!

Follie Check #3...

Getting up at 5:00am isn't too bad when you get good news, right? We're still moving along as planned. Today, the nurse measured 13 follicles over 10 plus there were 7 others!!! I have measurements today:

Right ovary - 11, 13, 15, 18, 22, 22 (plus 3 smaller)
Left ovary - 12, 14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 20 (plus 4 smaller)
Endo - 16
E2 - 2,200!!!

I'm just taking lupron tonight and tomorrow (no stims) and my Ovidrel shots tomorrow night. Retrieval is scheduled for Tuesday morning in Indy!!!!!! Transfer will be Friday or Sunday...I'm hoping for Sunday!

I have my plan for the time after the transfer, and it's different than before. I'll be doing estrogen tablets and Estrace in addition to the Endometrin with no Ovidrel boosters. Has anyone else done this?

Follie Check #2...

Everything is moving right along! This morning we had 10 measurable follicles!!! 5 on each ovary...very exciting! I know some of you may be thinking that 10 seems like a lot where others probably think 10 doesn't sound like very many. For our last IVF, we only had 6 retrieved (4 mature) and this time we are going for 10! My doctor is pretty conservative and doesn't want to risk OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome). We know it only takes one, but having 10 gives us a good chance of a 5-day transfer and really seeing what these embryos are doing! My E2 or Estradiol is at 1,002! I'm going back on Saturday morning at 7am for more bloodwork and ultrasound, and then we'll see what the plan is. Sounds like retrieval will be either Monday or Tuesday!!

Follie Check #1

My first follie check was this morning. I've definitely been feeling bloated last week, and now we know why! There were three measurable follicles on each ovary - didn't get the measurements, but I think they were all between 10 & 13. There were also 4 more on the right and 8 more on the left that were getting close! Estradiol was at 473. The nurse said this is exactly where Dr. J would like me to be so that was good to hear.

I'll be continuing the 20iu of micro lupron each morning and evening, three bravelle in the morning and three menopur in the evening. We've got another check on Thursday morning.

Stims...

We are on Stim Day #2 at the Patterson household. It's going pretty well so far. I started the micro Lupron on Tuesday morning (20 units, morning and evening), and started the stims (4 Bravelle in the AM and 4 Menopur in the PM) yesterday. That makes four shots per day - 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening, along with taking 5 pills each day - bcp, baby aspirin, and DHEA 3x's. I never thought I would be able to give myself a shot and look at me now! :-) It will all be worth it when we are holding our baby in our arms! Here's the infamous meds picture:
But, once again, I have to appreciate and be so grateful for the insurance we have! The meds were around $8,000 of which we only paid $55! It is so amazing especially since I know there are so many people who have no or very little infertility coverage.

Hudson & Addison

This weekend, I got together with two of my college roommates - Janell and Heather. Janell hadn't met Heather's daughter, Addison, yet. She's 5 months old already! And, I think the last time Heather saw Hudson was last July! I can't believe it has been that long. I get to see both of these ladies quite often, but we rarely are all three together. It was a short visit ... dinner at Cracker Barrel, but it was nice. Heather with Hudson
Janell with Miss Addison
Hudson just wanted to touch her...it was soo cute!

Janell and Hudson stayed with us so it was fun to see him and Kahlua interact. Kahlua did very well. The only real problem is that she tends to bark...A LOT!...hence the raw hide bone she is chewing on. All Hudson wanted to do was stare at Kahlua and try to pet her. I think it might be time for a puppy at their house? ha!

Here is the last photo I have of Hudson and Kahlua (July 08 - 3 months old)...

Kahlua is so protective!