Easter Celebration

This year we celebrated Easter on Saturday. My mom and uncle have to take turns watching my grandma (at her house), so it was most convenient for everyone to go to "Gigi's" house for Easter. It was a lot of fun. My mom and Larry hid 144 plastic eggs outside. The four oldest grandkids went on an egg hunt, while my youngest niece stayed inside with Gigi. After the hunt, we had a fantastic dinner. Everyone contributed something. My Holy Rolls Resurrection Rolls were a hit. My cousin B kept calling them holy rolls for some reason.

Scott and I got up and went to the early service at a local church. It was the same one we went to last week, that Scott told me "Don't ever take me there again. Keep looking for a new one." I am pleased to say that he thought this week was better than last week. It was a packed house. People were waiting out in the lobby for a seat. They had to bring in folding chairs and line both sides of every aisle so there were enough seats.

Here are some pictures from yesterday's Easter Egg hunt at Gigi's house. I am so sad that I don't have a single picture of my youngest niece or my Gigi! Happy Easter!!

Spring Clean

Friday was the first of 10 days of spring break for me. I had great intentions to sleep-in, relax, and thoroughly enjoy my first day off. Well, my little furry girl had other plans for me and so did my little furry boy. I was roused from sleep well before 7 a.m. by a cold, wet nose. My Anka wanted to get the day started and needed let out. So I let her out and at the same time, my cay ran out with her. After approximately 40 seconds of being outside, she wanted back in; Oliver was nowhere to be found. I wasn't alarmed because he usually disappears for about half an hour. (Side-note: Only today Oliver ended up disappearing for over five hours. He gave me a fright!)  Scott put food in their dishes while I went back upstairs to bed. Not even 10 minutes later, I was joined by Anka and this time she wanted to play. So now my hopes for going back to sleep for another hour or so were completely dashed.

I laid in bed checking email, Facebook and losing track of time on Pinterest. My procrastination just wasn't in full swing yesterday. Instead something strange was taking over me. I would liken it to the nesting feeling I hear pregnant women have late in pregnancy. The urge to clean and purge was uncontrollable. I spent all day cleaning out two closets, scrubbing the bathroom, sweeping, doing laundry and reorganizing said closets. Only taking 20 minutes to run to the store to get ingredients for my contribution to the family Easter dinner, and three hours to go to a bowling banquet. I kept purging and organizing when I got home from the banquet. It feels so good to look in those closets and see an uncluttered and mess free zone. To top off my day, I hung a new decoration on our front door. No more winter wreath!

This morning my cleaning streak continued. Miss Anka woke me again before 7 a.m. (I am really going to have to have a talking to with her)! I washed all the dishes, ran some more laundry, went and got my car washed, and my Resurrection Rolls are currently baking away in the oven for tonight's Easter dinner. I still have a lot of things on my to-do list, but I think I have been very productive this spring break (thus far), which is highly unusual!

My goal is to keep super busy so that I don't obsess over think about whether my IUI was a success or not. This two week wait is killer on the nerves!

My new sign for the front door.

My newly purged and organized linen closet.

The bathroom closet

Resurrection Rolls for Easter dinner (before baking)

And just because he is so cute, Oliver.

 

IUI take 2

So today was the big day. I didn't sleep much last night/this morning. I was too anxious that I would oversleep and miss the deadline for getting Scott's sample to the lab. My worry was compounded when I got a text message saying that work was closed due to the weather, meaning the roads were bad. I had to time the events of the morning perfectly.

I got on the road with my "precious cargo" and arrived at the doctor's office with time to spare. There were a couple times I know that the Lord must have been looking over me while driving. I slid through two intersections, which were luckily clear.

Maybe you have been to the office of a Reproductive Endocrinologist, most likely you haven't. It is a strange feeling going into an office where you know exactly why everyone is there at 6:30 in the morning. Nothing is said, no eye contact is made with the males, you just give a sympathetic smile or nod to other women; you know without a doubt(for once) that you are not alone.

I had the misfortune pleasure of seeing the same doctor as I saw yesterday. He went over the numbers of Scott's sample, which was like speaking Chinese to me. Apparently they were good, because he suited up got ready and said "Let's put these where they belong." Which was surprisingly funny and not what I was expecting from him.

While the procedure was going on, I was watching Scott because I didn't have any other choice. He was sitting in a chair in the corner, watching the doctor. All of a sudden he looks up at me and smiles, saying "You want me to take pictures and put them on Facebook?" This made not only me chuckle, but the doctor as well. 

I took the rest of the day to rest and take it easy. With the resting I did today, I hope that increases my chances of the procedure working. Now the fun 15 day wait begins. Please pray for me. I need hope, faith, trust, and peace so that my body can do what it needs to do. If my mind is at rest and peaceful, then my body can prepare a home for a potential baby.

Easter brings new life. I am coveting this in prayer. For me. For Scott.

Round Two

So today, Palm Sunday, I woke up early and traveled to my REI doctors. I was scheduled to have a mid-cycle ultrasound to track the growth and numbers of my follicles. My usual doctor was not in today, so I had the most senior doctor. He was all business, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. My usual doctor is very personable and jokes around, which puts me at ease. It didn't help that my darling husband was at home...sleeping.

The good doctor got straight to work. While he was conducting the ultrasound, I just laid there wondering what he was seeing. I am not used to this. Dr. M. usually turns the screen so that I can see what he is seeing and he narrates. Today, I saw nothing and I heard nothing. When he was finished, he announced that I only had one mature egg and three other follicles that were "medium sized". Upon hearing this, I was prepared to hear "Come back in two days and we will see if the others have grown more. Then we can trigger ovulation." That is not what I heard.

Instead, I heard: "Well, when I see at least one follicle at this size, I like to trigger right away. So, I will have the nurse come in and give you the shot. You will need to come back tomorrow for your insemination." That was it. No discussion. No care if I had questions. Done.

Eventually the nurse came in and I got my hCg injection, along with a nice "gift" for Scott, and directions for when I need to come in tomorrow (Monday).

The wonderful hCg injection.

When I got home, I had to take a pill right away. I have been dreading taking these pills since the last IUI cycle. If you have never had the experience of taking cytotec, consider yourself lucky. It dilates the cervix and creates some serious cramping. Pair that up with some burning from the hCg and I was feeling great. I am just thankful that I went to church this morning for some refreshment of my spirit.

I know that whatever pain I go through on this earth, it is nothing compared to the pain and suffering my Lord and Savior went through on that cross. Spring and Easter is the time for new birth, new life, second chances. I am praying that this Easter brings new life into my body and into our family.

Hope in a Bottle

What do all these things have in common?

Prenatal vitamins

Clomiphene Citrate

Cytotec

Pregnyl (hCg) Injection

All of these lovely medications have been prescribed (with the exception of the multivitamins) to me in the hopes of producing a baby. They all have wonderful side effects that I would not wish on my most disliked acquaintance. Praying that they do their job and bring a miracle to my life.

Trials and Errors

It has been at least a year since I have last blogged. The last time I logged on here, there were several posts that maybe should not have been on here. I went crazy and deleted all of my posts. What I am about to post about over the next few weeks or months or year (who knows how long it will take) is for my benefit. I want to be able to remember everything that is/has/or will happen to Scott and I on our journey to parenthood. If you don't think I need to be sharing this information, then don't read it. I don't believe that fertility issues need to be a secret.

Scott and I have been trying to conceive for a long time now; but we have been seeing doctors for almost a year to see if either of us has a problem. My ob/gyn is fantastic. I highly recommend him to anyone looking for one. He was willing to prescribe to me the "Sears version" of fertility treatment. Dr. F. conducted blood tests, ultrasounds, and sent me for a hsg test. All of these tests came back "normal". With the results in hand, we determined that I would begin a course of using Clomid. Over the summer of 2012, I used Clomid in June with no luck. I took it again in July and low and behold it worked!!

Scott and I could not believe our eyes when the home pregnancy test showed a positive! We cried and couldn't wait to become parents. I had a blood test right away to test my hCg levels. The levels were a little low, so I needed to get tested three days later. They number should have more than doubled; to my dismay, they had not doubled. I had one more test a couple more days later. The news was devastating...I was having a miscarriage. My heart was broken. After 8 weeks of pregnancy, I had a miscarriage. In my mind, I was "over it", I didn't want to try again and I would have been okay with never having a child.

Dr. F. approved of me using Clomid one more time under his watch. So in December, I underwent my third round of Clomid. Unfortunately, it did not work. At this point, I took matters into my own hands. I called a well-known practice of Reproductive Endocrinologists and scheduled an appointment. Luckily, I had met one of the doctors in 2012. Dr. M. had conducted the hsg test for me.

Dr. M was awesome. He was very attentive to my needs and answered all of my questions. He took his time with me and we made a plan that I was comfortable with. Dr. M. had a bunch of blood work done and did a baseline ultrasound of my ovaries to check for cysts. I was cyst-free and ready to jump two feet into the "Nordstroms version" of fertility. I was going to use Clomid again, but with monitoring throughout the month.

Dr. M. had me come in a couple of times for ultrasound monitoring to track my follicle sizes and how many were mature that month. I had five follicles in total, but only two seemed to be big enough. I got a shot of hCg on the 27th of March. On the 28th, Scott and I went in for our first round of Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI). Then the long two week wait happened, which leads us to March 13th. On that day, I found out that my IUI did not work when I started my cycle. I was so upset and disappointed. I cried the whole time I was in the shower before work and then throughout the work day.

I called my doctor and he had me come in for another ultrasound to check for cysts again. There were no cysts in/on my ovaries, so I was given the all clear to start the process again.