Reid Raymond

Here they are... a few pictures of our first visit with my new nephew:
We got to the hospital around 10:30 this morning to visit. Mom and baby are doing great. Michelle was already up walking around and could eat regular food today so she was happy. While we were there, they did his hearing test, and he passed with flying colors. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay too long since we had to get back for tonight's Bowl for Kids Sake. We'll see him again in April!

I'm an aunt, again!

My sister and her husband welcomed their baby boy into the world this morning after almost two long days in the hospital. Reid Raymond Rohner was born at 6:50am, 6lbs 8oz and 19.5 inches long! I don't have any pictures yet, but will hopefully soon.

Congratulations Michelle and Jarrod
and
Welcome baby Reid!!!

4dp3dt

In case you are confused by the titles the past two days...here's how to decipher it: 4 days past 3 day transfer (or 4dp3dt).

I talked to the IVF lab this morning. We have nothing to freeze. The two they were watching made it to the blastocyst stage (step one of being able to freeze), but they did not have an inner cell mass. Had no clue what that meant so here is a picture I found on wikipedia:

It appears that the inner cell mass is what actually allows the baby to grow and develop so they do not freeze if it isn't there. She was quick to remind me that all fertilized eggs are different so not to be concerned about the ones that were transferred. And, to be honest, I hadn't even thought about that until she said it. Thanks!

I also checked the grading for the two we had transferred because I didn't recall finding out on Thursday - the 8 cell was graded 3+. I believe they grade on a 1-4 scale with 4 being the best, is this right, Jamie? (another question I should have asked before getting off the phone). Apparently, they do not grade the morula's, but she said that it was very nice.

3dp3dt

Well, it's been three days since the transfer, and I got out of the house for the first time today. I try to lay on the couch and relax Thursday and Friday, but when you have a dog who thinks they need to go outside every 20 minutes and your husband is back at work it makes it pretty difficult! :-) Jason did go into work on Thursday night and all day Friday, but he has been great - he's done a ton of laundry (except putting it away, guess that's my job), emptied the dishwasher, gotten meals together and ran a couple errands for me. On Saturday, my friend, Mel, came over and insisted on doing some things around the house. Thanks, Mel!

Our friends, Jim, Heather, and Addison came to visit on Saturday night. The boys went to a birthday party for a friend while the girls hung out at the house. I couldn't believe how big Addison has gotten! It was almost two months ago the last time we saw her, and she has changed so much! What a doll!

This morning, I made it to church and then even ran to Meijer to grab a couple things. It's amazing how tired I was after just those two little things, but I guess that's bound to happen when I haven't been doing much of anything for the past 2.5 days.

The lab called this morning. I missed their call by 2 minutes, and when I called back I had to leave a message. Guess I'll hear tomorrow if our two other embies made it to freeze.

It's back to work tomorrow for me. Nice thing is that work is busy, and I've got a ton of shows that I love right now. Hopefully that means the next 10 or so days will go by quickly. :-)

Thanks for all of your great and encouraging comments!!

Cady - I couldn't find any great definition of a morula on the internet. So, how I understand it is that it is further along than the 8 cell but before the blastocyst . They are not able to count the cells because they are compacting. The biologist told me it was a good thing so that's all I really went on.

Transfer Day!

Today was the day! We left yesterday afternoon, stopped for dinner at The Beef House and made our way to Indy. I slept pretty good, but did wake up a few times this morning and was praying that we would have 2-8 celled embryos to transfer this morning. I drank my 24-32 ounces of water, took the valium, and we waited to be called back once we got to the hospital. We got checked in with the nurse and the biologist brought us the picture of our two embyros we were transfering today....an 8 cell and a compact morula!!! I couldn't believe it! (Sorry for the poor quality of the pic, but the scanner was broken so we had to take a picture of it.)

We still have two growing....that hopefully will make it to freeze. They were at a 6 cell and a 7 cell. I'll know more on Saturday.

For now, I'm hanging on the couch (and SO glad we got this laptop!). I'll be watching tv, playing on the internet, and reading...no housework or running errands for me! Back to work on Monday than waiting for the blood test.

Grow, grow, grow!!!

I talked to the biologist this morning who told me that four of the six eggs retrieved are showing signs of fertilization!!! The other two, they weren't able to do anything with because they were too young. So, that is good news! Now, our prayer is that they will continue to GROW to beautiful 8 celled embryos! We are definitely scheduled for a three day transfer, which means we'll be back in Indy on Thursday.

Weekend

I know I skipped to the real important stuff, but I wanted to update on the rest of our weekend, too! Friday night, I had my girls "bunco" night only this month we made cards. Thanks to my great friend, Sarie, for taking the time to get everything together and come up with the ideas for us!

Becky, Sarie, Leann, and Kelly

Lisa, me, Val

Saturday was our pre-op appointment in Urbana and then we came back to get ready for our Valentine's Day dinner with friends! We went to Kobe Japanese Steakhouse...if you have never been to a Japanese Steakhouse, I highly recommend it! Not only was the food great, but the atmosphere was a ton of fun, too!

Jason and Heather

Jim and Heather

me and J

our cook