Many Praises

We received a green light to start meds yesterday! It is funny how you forget things like the pain involved in injecting yourself with hormones. It definitely is a coping mechanism the human body has because I've heard the same thing happens after childbirth. What a great God we serve who created us with selective memory so we will continue to bear pain to have children. :)

This is such great news and God showed us many reasons to praise Him. First of all, I had not even one large follicle which means no cysts!! Everything looked perfect and better than it has in a while. Secondly, the persistent mass on my left ovary did not grow even one millimeter!! This was a fantastic surprise and left me feeling very reassured at previous decision to just leave it alone and watch it. Finally, when I left to pay I learned that I owed NOTHING. The new insurance plan we switched to will cover everything up to 15K. Amazing! As you can see we are so blessed and cannot thank God enough for answering so many prayers at one time. He is truly amazing and regardless of what happens on this journey He will walk with us.

We are looking at mid-February for the retrieval and transfer and will definitely keep you updated as we learn more specifics. May you all be blessed by walking this road with us. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to pray for you. God Bless you and yours!

Friday

Just wanted to let you all know that I go into the Dr. office Friday morning at 9 for a Lupron start sonogram. Please pray with us that everything is clear and that we will be able to start the shots. And yes, I recognize the irony in praying for shots!! :)

The Journey Thus Far

I realized it has been a while since I updated the whole story. It has been surreal going back and reading through everything and realizing how much I've forgotten. So this is as much for me as it is for you!

Just before our 2 year anniversary (May 2006) we decided to officially stop the pill and see what happened. By September, I had not had a cycle for 3 months and decided to see my doctor about it. Keep in mind this was normal for me as I have NEVER been regular. She referred me to an OB/GYN after ruling out pregnancy. I meet with the OB/GYN later that month and after kick starting my cycle we began the clomid regimen. Tried that until Jan. with no success. That is when we were referred to our wonderful specialist. Unfortunately we could not get an appointment with him until March. At that appointment we made a plan to get the family we so wanted. He put me back on the pill to ensure that I would have a regular cycle before we began.

I had my first sonogram in April, only to learn that the clomid had created a large cyst on my right ovary. We were not allowed to begin any meds then and went back on the pill to help shrink the cyst and prevent any new ones from forming. While we were disappointed, there was also a sense of success in feeling we were close to finally getting a child. We also learned that Joel has a fluctuating sperm count so they recommended IUI to help us conceive.

In May, the sonogram revealed that we had no large cysts. We could finally start the drugs. However, they finally got a good look at my left ovary and found a dermoid mass. We were assured that is was probably nothing to worry about as 98% of the time they are benign. We chose to keep an eye on it and if it started changing we would consider removal. So we started a combo cycle of Clomid/Follistim/Ovidril. We did an IUI in May but still were not successful.

This continued in June and July. Combo cycle of Clomid and Follistim/Ovidril shots...IUI...no success. We learned that we would have to take August off because we had completed 3 cycles. We then meet with Dr. Barnett to review our plan and were given two options. We could do an HSG test to make sure there were no blockages and everything looked good or we could do surgery to remove the cyst (which has given me no problems) in hopes that would help. We chose the HSG (and different med plan if it was normal) hoping to find no problems and avoid surgery. Making that decision meant we would go back on the pill and take September off as well.

The HSG came back normal and so we were allowed to begin a new round of just Follistim/Ovidril in October. This meant more shots and more sonograms to closely monitor what was happening. But we were very hopeful. The first cycle was very short and as a result they let us try to get pregnant on our own. What a novel concept that was! In fact it was almost a relief to not include a doctor. We were unsuccessful and tried again in November. Since our cycle fell around Thanksgiving (and we were out of town) they let us try again on our own. Again no success but we felt as though we were making progress because I responded really well to the meds. Since we were doing higher doses, we are only allowed two months at a time. As a result we had to take Dec. off and wait until Jan.

We did one last IUI in February and again it was not successful. We then met with Dr. B in March (just a few days after moving into the new house)and decided to move on to IVF. We signed up for the IVF orientation class in April and got all the paperwork and such in order. We then started saving money knowing insurance wouldn't cover it. Orientation in April was overwhelming. We learned a lot about the process of IVF, embryologists, embryos, etc. It is a wonder anyone gets pregnant themselves!We then sat back and waited until May.

Finally May came, and we stared prep for IVF. Shots, shots, and more shots were the daily routine. Lupron first thing in the morning, later to add on Follistim in the evening, to finally have mature eggs to be released by the Ovidril. We then went in for the retrieval and 5 days later the transfer. Two weeks later, we learned we were not pregnant. We were devastated, but decided to try one more IVF in the new year after meeting with Dr. B in July.

This takes us to where we are now. We are waiting to start IVF round #2. We know a lot more this time and feel more confident in the process. We also thank God daily that there are people like Dr. B, the awesome nurses, the embryologists, etc. that help people like us for a living.

Even through all the valleys, we are amazed at God's faithfulness and timing. While there have been many times I thought we should already be pregnant, He has shown us why His was are best. He has continued to bless us with people we already knew who are walking this same journey (and some of them even had important info on how to get insurance to cover one round of IVF!).

We are in many ways honored to share our journey as God never promised life would be easy. He simple promised never to leave us or give us more than we could handle. Yes, God is good and is faithful to his children. We hope you have been as blessed as we have!

And I'm back

That's right, back into the swing of things. It has been so nice to take time off and not have to focus on doctors appointments or sending updates or infertility itself. That being said, it also feels really good to be back. I remember thinking in July that January seemed so far away, but it definitely snuck up on us!

We met with Dr. B in December and made our new plan for IVF. I got to stop taking the medicine for PCOS as we saw no noticeable difference. I was very excited to have one less thing to do. We agreed to try IVF again in February. I expect to go in for a sonogram next week to see if we can start shots again. On one hand, I'm very excited to begin, but on the other I know everything involved. It is a fine line to walk. The good news is that for this cycle we are changing the kind of estrogen I'll take so that means Joel will not have to give me shots!! One less painful thing to worry about.

I'll let you know more as everything plays out. We are hoping and praying for success this time but are staying focused on God's faithfulness and plan. Please continue to pray with us as we begin another journey. Specifically pray that we get a green light at the next sonogram to begin meds (ie: no cysts). As always, we cherish each one of you and are grateful for your support. God is good!