All Aboard!!

This just cracked me up. Piper is so silly! I walked into the living room and saw that she had put all her toys in a line. Her little Toy Train.



Now if I could just have the video camera ready when she's chasing her tail. Oh she is so funny.

5 Weeks

5 weeks down, 35 more to go. Wow, that seems like such a long time, doesn't it? But I know that it will probably go by faster than I can imagine.

I really wasn't expecting to see any pregnancy changes for another couple of weeks. However this week brought on a couple of new things. The first of which is morning sickness, well evening sickness for me. I was so hoping I would be one of the lucky ones who gets away without it. So far its pretty much been every other night. And each time it hits its progressively worse. I'm really hoping its at its peak now. But hey, I'm not complaining, I'll endure anything to bring a happy baby into this world.

The second thing I have noticed is that my belly is starting to change shapes. I've always had a bit of a pouch in my lower stomach, now it seems to be rounding out into my upper stomach. Its not any bigger, and I really don't expect that to happen for another month, month 1/2. But still exciting to see changes none the less.

I really want to document this pregnancy with photos. Craig and I choose a spot and plan on taking pictures every two or so weeks in the same spot with me wearing the same clothes. I actually took the idea from some very good friends of mine (thanks Amanda, Laura & Michelle). I just LOVE the idea of having these photos to look back on. I'll add a slide show here as soon as we have enough pictures taken and, when you can start to see changes.

WOW!! This is real!

My blood test numbers more than doubled!!! They went from 227 up to 492! This is really happening, I can't believe it!!

My first ultra sound is scheduled for (get this) March 3rd. My Great-Grandma's birthday, and one year since my first egg retrieval. I'll be 8 weeks by then, so they might even be able to see a heart beat, or two heart beats if it's twins!

The waiting game...

I guess that's how it will be from here on out.

Right now we are waiting for the results from my second blood test, which we should get back tomorrow. This wait is hard. I'm hoping that after hearing that everything is ok, it will start to settle in a little that this really is happening.

After that we will be waiting for our 1st ultra sound to see how many babies we have (1 or 2), then we'll be waiting to hear/see the heart beat. Then each new stage after that. I guess I had better get used to the waiting game.

227 Is a very good number!

My blood test is positive!! Very positive!!

I still can't believe it, I'M PREGNANT! Really, really pregnant! My number came back at 227, which is very good. I still have to go back on Monday for more tests, but this is real!

I just can't believe it.

We have Snow Peas

I got the report from the doctor's office. We have 4 embryos on ice, all good quality at freezing. So, yay, our twins can have brothers and sisters! Not so sure we'll end up with 6 all together, but at least we have that option for down the road.

No Starches, No Sugar & Crazy Hormones

That is a bad combination! Well, at least it was for me.

Because I hyper-stimulated last year, the doctor is very concerned about trying to prevent it this time. On top of that, I'm high risk for gestational diabetes because of my PCOS. So my diet was very restricted. No starches what so ever and no sugar or sugar substitutes.

What do you eat?? I stuck to turkey, cheese, eggs, fruits and veggies. I did okay, kind of bland, but okay. Then Friday night came around and they were gone. We needed to go to the grocery store, which was on the agenda for Saturday afternoon. Sounds reasonable, right?

Apparently not when you're hormones are still going crazy! I couldn't find anything to eat Friday night all we had was ice cream, chocolate chips, cereal, rice, pasta, potatoes, popcorn & instant oatmeal. UGH! That was it, my emotions let loose and the flood gates opened.

Craig found me in our room and asked me what I was doing. I told him nothing. He comes over, rubs my arm and asked why I was crying. Awe, how sweet... until I told him because I can't find anything to eat. He lost it, and laughed and laughed. Which of course made it worse for me, so I cried some more. Then he felt bad and asked why didn't I have a banana and some peanut butter. Then I replied, we don't have any bananas and our peanut butter went bad!

Now I can look back and laugh. But now I have food I can eat, too!

Pictures

The scanner worked just fine this morning, so as promised, here are the pictures from yesterday.



This one is a little harder to see, but the white dot in the middle of the red circle is where the embryos landed.

Offically 2 weeks and 5 days pregnant!

Today was the big day!! We transferred two embryos and will find out in the next two or three days how many others made it to freezing. So that makes me 2 weeks and 5 days pregnant!

The final blood test will be Tuesday February 10th. Until then I'll think lots of positive thoughts and say lots of prayers hoping my sweet little twin embryos will get nice and comfy. I'll probably give them quite a few pep talks as well.

I have two pictures, one of the embryos and one of the transfer, but my scanner is being temperamental. I stopped trying when I got frustrated with it. I will try to add them tomorrow. So make sure you check back to see the twins and their possible future brother or sister (the picture has 3 embryos in it).

Sad news.

Tom, Craig's dad, passed away early this morning. Please keep Craig and his brother Dene in your prayers.

Love, Renee

Monday's Update...

The embryologist from the doctor's office called. Her first words were, "You are the mother of eight 8-cell embryos." I was trilled!!

Two others are 4-cell and the other two are still at 2-cell. Which basically means that the 4-cell are growing very slowly and the 2 -cell haven't grown at all.

We are all set for Wednesday morning at 10:45 a.m. I'm sure we'll get to bring ultra-sound pictures back with us to share, this time as well. We are only planning on transferring two at a time. My doctor is fairly conservative, avoiding triplets as much as possible. There are too many health risks for the mom and the babies when you get triplets. So we are hoping for twins!

Craig is trying to save his time off for later in the year (so he can actually have time off when the babies ;) are born) and this is pretty late in the morning for him. So my Mom is actually going to come down to Tucson and drive me to the appt, where Craig will meet us. How many grandparents actually get to witness the conception of their grandchildren?? A very unique opportunity indeed.

A full dozen!!

The doctor just called. We have 12 embryos growing!!

Of the 25 eggs they got, 17 were mature. They injected all 17 of them and 12 fertilized.

They will transfer the best 2 embryos on Wed. at 10:45am.

The doctor said that he's very happy with the ratio (25/17/12) and said it looked perfectly normal. He thinks we will get 3 or 4 maybe even more really good embryos out of this cycle. He said he is very excited. It really took a load of my shoulders, hearing that.

As for me, I am feeling really good today. Still a little bloated, but less than yesterday. Almost 100% normal. Whatever that is. I'm still going to take it easy for the next few days so my body is a ready as it can possibly be for the embryo transfer on Wed.

Two dozen plus one!!

Yep, that's right, we got 25 eggs!! I'm completely amazed. Last time we got 20, but I had a lot of follicles that didn't have eggs. This time they all had eggs and the eggs look to be better quality, too!!

We are supposed to hear back from the doctor's office sometime this afternoon letting us know how many eggs fertalized.

Tuesday's Ultra Sound Report

I had another excellent doctor appointment today. The dr measured 12 follicles on each side all measuring about 2mm apart. Still very even response which made the dr very happy. My estrogen came back a little high (although lower than last time) so they are lowering my dosage of meds from 150iu to 125iu. They are also going to cut me off a day early and do the egg retrieval on Friday instead of Saturday.

All of this in hopes that I won't hyper-stimulate this time around. Which actually seems like a much smaller risk because I still feel a lot better than I did last time. No bloating and no nauseousness! Craig said I was crabby last night, but I didn't see it. I am starting to feel loopy though and have to concentrate a little more when I talk to make sure I'm actually saying what I'm thinking. To be honest, I probably should do that a little more often anyhow.

IVF #2 and Feeling Great!

Last year I never did take a picture of all the medications and needles involved with the IVF process. So, on Tuesday I sat everything out on the desk in the hotel and decided to take a picture for you all to see.

Its a little intimidating when you go to the pharmacy and they hand you all this stuff. I don't know what I would do without the spreadsheet the IVF Coordinator sent me telling me when my appointments are and what medications to take on what days.

I am feeling great this time around! Last time I was nauseous the entire time and I started bloating almost immediately. This time I haven't had any of that. My ultra sound on Saturday was great as well.

I have 10 follicles on the right measuring around 9mm and 8 follicles on the left measuring between 7mm and 9mm. Over all it is a pretty even response, which the doctor was very pleased with.

I go back on Tuesday for another ultra sound to see how the follicles are growing and for another blood test to make sure my Estrogen isn't getting too high. I have to say I feel absolutely WONDERFUL.

New Mexico Update.

Craig's dad is improving. His kidneys are no longer on the verge of failure and his heart looks really good, too. He is now even cooperating with the doctors to help stabilize his liver.

We have been talking with another doctor, Dr. Olson. He is really good with Tom and has been very helpful. He asked the hospital social worker to come and speak with us about where Tom should go after the hospital. We all agreed that he shouldn't return home. He will probably be in the hospital for another week.

So, Craig and I went and cleaned out his apartment. Now we (including Craig's brother and his wife) are faced with the task of finding the right home for him. The social worker at the VA is going to check into homes in New Mexico that have openings and get all the pricing information we need for that. We are also going to check into homes here in Tucson.

It's going to be a long process, but hopefully with a little bit of research we can find him a place he will love.

Wednesday...

Where to start? We have had a very long two days.

After getting the call on Monday and deciding to travel the Albuquerque, Craig and I briefly discussed if we should move forward with the IVF this month or wait until next month. We decided that we could make the trip and still be back in time for our first check up appt on Saturday.

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed to the infertility doctor's office. After an ultra sound of my ovaries and a blood test, the doctor cleared us to start the meds that night just as planned. After we left the doctor's office, we hit the road.

I don't know how many of you have ever traveled between Tucson and Albuquerque, but there is NOTHING and I mean NOTHING for 6 hours. I had no idea that the towns in New Mexico were so secluded from each other. We stopped in the hospital to check on Tom and let him know we were there then checked into our hotel and grabbed some dinner.

On Wednesday we got to talk to one of his doctors and he filled us in on his condition. Basically he has liver disease and is on the verge of kidney failure. The doctor is suggesting we consider a hospice facility and try to convince Tom that he really shouldn't return to his apartment and continue living alone. So that is the goal for today. Wish us luck.

Monday...

Last night Craig was asking me to make some cookies, but I talked him into a peach desert that I already had prepared instead. It was easier to just pop it in the oven. So today I felt guilty and decided to make him some chocolate chip cookies.

After I put the first two pans in the oven, I realized I had missed a call, so I checked the caller ID to see who it was. It said "University of New Mexico." I immediately began to worry because Craig's dad lives in New Mexico and has us listed as his emergency contact. I called the number back and it was actually the VA Hospital.

After over an hour of trying to find out what was going on and who had called us, I was finally able to talk to one of the doctors. Craig's dad was taken to the hospital Sunday night. He was unresponsive upon arrival, but after getting some fluids in his system, he is doing better. The doctors do not believe his prognoses is good.

We decided that we needed to go to New Mexico and see what what happening. So we are leaving after my doctor's appointment in the morning. I will try to update as much as possible, but I do not know how much access we will have to the internet.

1st Week of 2009.

Sunday was one of my weeks to teach at the preschool at church and we had 23 kids. Trying to get 23 four and five year olds to be quiet at the same time is quite a challenge!

Then on Monday, my niece, Makenzee was born. (Welcome to the family little one.)

Thursday I attended a memorial service. It was sad yet happy at the same time. Everyone loved her so incredibly much and everyone who spoke mentioned something about her always being in their heart. I guess we really can't ask for more than that.

The rest of the week hasn't been quite as eventful. But is sure has passed quickly. I can hardly believe it is Friday already. I've gotten a touch of a head cold. Not too bad, and no fever (which is really good news).

All in all, the first full week of 2009 has been pretty great. I just hope the rest of the month (and year) continue to be as bright.

Hello 2009!!

Happy New Year! May this year bring happiness, peace and everything your hearts desire.

We had a very relaxed New Year's Eve. We stayed home and had a Pin Ball Tournament. Craig won, but I think he must've rigged the Play Station because at the end he had 76 Tournament Points, which was the high score. After he put his name in, it added more points and called that a new tournament high score. This happened several times and he got up to like 400 points. We eventually had to reset the game to get it to stop.

Craig decided on a PB&J for a snack that evening. Well, Shadow LOVES peanut butter, so he was right there just in case any was dropped for him. Craig felt sorry for him, so he threw a small piece of bread with some peanut butter on it at him. Shadow wasn't really expecting it and missed. Here is a funny video of what happened. Enjoy.