"My Easter Baskets are Full"

This was the comment made by the DR on Thursday! I must say I've never heard that before, that is a good thing though. I got to meet DR Duke, he was very nice. My estrogen levels more than doubled from Tuesday to Thursday from 600 to 1500, so Sarah dropped my dose if the meds down again. 

I'm sorry I didn't post Thursday, we were rather busy with the appointment, yard sale, relay meeting, and work! I went back to the hospital today for another US and blood work. I got an email from Sarah after she saw the US results and we will either have a Monday retrieval or Tuesday retrieval. I'm "patiently" waiting to hear back from Sarah on the results from the blood work. 

Patiently waiting...

Ashley 

Injection update

Well our meds arrived about 11:30 Saturday night. The very nice courier was worried that he rang the wrong doorbell,I assured him he didn't, and signed for the meds! Anyway we started the meds Saturday night, Chance gave me my shot in the parking lot of Walgreens!! Ha! It was funny! Today I went to Willow Creek for blood work. The lab opens at 8am so I decided to stay at Memaw and Pawpaws house Monday night so I didn't have to leave home as early. Mom and I got there about 8:15 and I headed straight in to the lab, the lady gave me my work order sheet and sent me out to admissions... I finally was called back to the admissions window at 9:25... I was hoping to be back to work at 10:30 or 11:00 but no they took forever. When I finally got back to the lab it took her less than 5 minutes to draw my blood. On the way home I heard the song by Sawyer Brown They Don't Understand, I wanted to link the video into this post but I'm not quite sure how to do that yet. The song starts out about a mother riding on a bus and her kids are misbehaving, another passenger asks her why she doesn't make them mind and she says "please forgive them for they've been up all night... their father passed away in the middle of the night, so please forgive my children, they don't understand". It goes on to end with the verse about Jesus on the cross and asking the Father to "please forgive Your children, they dint understand" The song really makes you think... You don't know what a person is going through in their life and when your mad about something, or irritated because you're in a hurry and someone is not working at your pace, they might be struggling with something or maybe someone called in sick and they're having to do all the work for 2 people all by themselves. I felt kinda bad that I wasn't as nice to the lady as I could have been. I need help remembering that even though I'm going though something stressful, they could be going through something equally as stressful. Why make it harder on someone just because something didn't go your way, I struggle with this daily, it's something I continuously pray about and seek Gods guidance for. 

Ok so that was my profound moment for the day. When I got home I had an email from Sarah and she had the results from my blood work. Apparently I'm really good at making estrogen! She cut back my dose from 300 units to 225 and we will start an additional medication tomorrow night! It's all happening so fast! We are getting closer to our date and we're getting excited! I'm feeling fine, I don't feel any different from the meds so that's good! Thursday I'll go back for more labs and an ultra sound, Thursday is also the first day of our yard sale!! So come and buy some of our stuff! ;-) 

Until next time friends! Have a blessed evening! 

Ashley

Impromptu trip to the Hospital!

No worries I'm fine and so is Chance, he's a lot more irritated than I am but here's the reason for our evening trip to Willow Creek...  

I started this morning off on an emotional roller coaster... Up and down and up and down! Lets start from the beginning... Thursday the pharmacy called me to confirm everything; (side note: the medication I will be taking is from a pharmacy in Massachusetts they receive the order from my doctor, then call me for payment and shipping info, then they ship it.) So she called and confirmed everything and told me that I'd need to be home Saturday from 8-4 to sign for the package. Ok no problem I've got no big plans for Saturday so no biggie. So I get an email last night from the pharmacy at 9:04 saying that my order was shipped and gave me the tracking #, so I clicked the link and it took me to the Fed-Ex website where it said that my package was set to arrive Monday before 8pm... That to me was a little unsettling but it was too late to do anything about it last night. I waited til they opened this morning to call them, 9:00 our time to be exact, and I spoke to Andrew, let me just say that I was pleasantly surprised at the level of customer service I received from this company. Andrew promptly looked into the issue and came back with the conclusion that the shipment was sent standard overnight instead of priority overnight which allows for Saturday deliveries. So the website was correct and my medication would not be arriving until Monday sometime. Andrew then proceeded to start rectifying the situation he sent an email to their concierge department and explained to me that they will track down the medication I need and will figure out how to get it to me. He apologized again and we hung up. Not 30 minutes later I get a call from Sue in the concierge department and she has searched all over Arkansas and even into Missouri and no one has the medication I need. At this point I'm getting upset (I've already cried a few times and my pile of Kleenex was getting larger) she then told me of another option but she would have to check with her supervisor before she could offer me the option. So she called back about 20 minutes later and tells me they are shipping it same day which means it will arrive tonight around midnight. They were super helpful and I appreciate them for that. 

I emailed Sarah to ask her how we should proceed since the medication will now be a day later than we have planned, any of you that have gone through fertility treatments knows the importance of timing, it has to be just right or the entire cycle can be ruined, well she came back with a solution. Which brings us to present time... We're in the truck, driving to Willow Creek, Chance is driving... We are headed to pick up a sample of the medication I will need the next two days. Just incase the Fed-Ex plane crashes or the truck burst into flames (Sarah's words not mine) haha! So we will be set until Monday (or tonight) when the rest of the meds will arrive! 

I'm treating this as kind of a "date night" we'll go to the hospital, Chance will give me a shot in the bathroom, then we'll grab some dinner, Olive Gardenhas their   never ending pasta bowl, and see what Academy has on sale! It'll be a fabulous evening! Although I don't think that Chance shares in my enthusiasm! Oh well I've always been more of an optimist than a pessimist and that's probably why we fight, I mean mesh so well! ;-) 

Well thanks for reading have a Blessed weekend friends! 

Ashley

4 days!!!

We start the injections Saturday!! I had my appointment with Sarah today, she did the mock transfer, ultrasound, and they took some blood. Just like during the HSG test she too had problems getting through my cervix. She told me today that it wouldn't be a big deal on transfer day they would make a small stitch while I'm sedated on retrieval day to straighten out the curve. If everything goes as scheduled we will do the retrieval on Labor Day and the transfer the 7th!! It's all happening so fast it seems like, it's so exciting!! I'm getting anxious and nervous. I know you all are praying for us and I want to thank you for the prayers! 

On a side note a friend gave us a pack-n-play which is a huge blessing because now we don't have to buy one! Our yard sale stuff is coming together, I'm going to try to price some things and dig more things out of the closets and attic and shed and garage... I'm so thankful too that some people are giving us things to sell, since we are using the funds from the sale to recoup some of the costs of the IVF. The garage sale will be the 29-31 of August! So come by and buy our stuff! 

That's pretty much all that's happening with us, until next time God Bless you friends! 

Chance & Ashley

My thoughts

I've always been a defensive person... not because I've done anything wrong, although I'm sure I have at times, but I've always been ready to defend my thoughts, beliefs, or actions. Usually I'll come up with all the witty, profound words of wisdom in my mind and play out just how I will deliver them but most of the time the time they're not used, saved back into my mind for another day and another "opposition". Most of the scenarios I play out in my mind are just that, scenarios. Usually the person doesn't have the reaction that I imagine them having, which is good because that means that I don't have to resort to pleading my case as to why I'm right and their wrong. Since we prayerfully made the decision to pursue IVF treatment I've had my closing arguments prepared... For any of those negative thinkers and Sayers, I've been ready. I've had to answer a few questions for people that were genuinely curious about the process but for the most part everyone we've told has been so supportive. 

So now on to my title... 'My thoughts on ART and IVF'. First of all I want to give you the definition of ART- Assisted Reproductive Technology, this includes all fertility treatments in which eggs and sperm are handled, ART procedures involve surgically removing eggs from a woman's ovaries, combining them with sperm in the laboratory, and returning them to the woman's body or donating them to another woman. ART has been used in the United States since 1981 to help women become pregnant most commonly through In Vitro Fertilization or IVF. Here are some statics on the chances of getting pregnant the "natural" way or using ART...

* There is a 15-20% chance of becoming pregnant in each ovulatory cycle. But everything needs to be right, you should have no medical issues and his sperm count should be normal

* Approximately 40% of couples trying to conceive (TTC) will conceive within the first three months of trying, and about 70% of couples TTC will conceive within the first six months

* Up to 85% of of couples will conceive within the first year of TTC, although your ability to conceive in any given cycle falls after age 30

* 1 in 7 couples in the US are affected by fertility issues

According to CDC’s 2011 preliminary ART Fertility Clinic Success Rates Report, 163,038* ART cycles were performed at 451 reporting clinics in the United States during 2011, resulting in 47,849 live births (deliveries of one or more living infants) and 61,610 live born infants. Although the use of ART is still relatively rare as compared to the potential demand, its use has doubled over the past decade. Today, over 1% of all infants born in the United States every year are conceived using ART.

(The above information I copied from the CDC's website)

Now I'm a firm believer that God gave man the mind to make these amazing medical advances and that for couples who are unable to have children the "natural" way this makes it a possibly to fulfill the natural given desire for children. One thing that I get asked quite frequently when I'm talking about IVF and what we are doing is "do you get to pick the sex of the baby?" The answer to that is no. Even though if you want to you can pay an extra $5,000 to do that it's not something we're interested in... To me that is manipulating the process and I don't want any part of that. The process is called PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis) when it was first introduced in 1989 it was used to help couples with serious genetic disorders reduce the risk of their children having the same condition. Today it is still used for this reason, but is also used to screen embryos with normal chromosomes in women 35 or older with a history of miscarriage, some clinics offer this procedure for non medical reasons such as sex selection or "gender balancing". Most clinics do not offer this procedure solely for sex selection, you must have a medical reason or be of a certain age and have a history of miscarriage. Some centers do offer it though with certain qualifications, as in you must be married and have at least one child of the opposite gender. 

The problem with IVF is that it gets a bad reputation for "playing God" as in you are creating something that God intended to be a "natural" process. I hate that word "natural" it's so irritating, just because my husband and I can't conceive the "natural" way why can't we use the God given talents of others to make the dream of our family come true? I say we can! We're not trying to select our children based on weather it's a boy or a girl, and we are praying everyday that God will give us the number of embryos that we are supposed to have. We will give each one a chance at life since God sent them to us through this amazing process.

So there you have it... my thoughts on IVF!! We are so thrilled that we are about to start the next chapter in our lives, we are equally as thrilled to share our journey with all of you! Keep the prayers coming we are less than a week away from starting the injectable meds. 

Ashley

Waiting!

Well here we are, about 2 weeks away from the start of the hormone injections!!! Wow I still can't believe it... I'm ready to start but at the same time I'm nervous, I don't want to turn into a monster or a witch but I'm afraid that's going to happen. I asked Chance if he would still love me when I was a crazy, hormonal, irrational woman... His response was "no but I'll act like I do!" That's all I'm asking for babe! Of course he was kidding but I still found it comical! While we wait for the 24th to come we've pretty much just been doing normal everyday things. We go to work and come home, with all the rain our garden has exploded with tomatoes and green beans, I might have to try my hand at canning this year! 

We've had a few church things and we've spent some much needed time with friends, we even babysat for a few hours last night, that was FUN!! I had breakfast with two of my favorite girlfriends this morning, we have been friends for over 8 years now and even though we don't see each other often we pick up right where we left off! Our lives are pretty normal and we like it that way. We're gearing up for our Wednesday night ministry with our SR high youth class and this years lesson is called God Speaks on Big Issues, will be fun and challenging for both us as teachers and the students. I'm really looking forward to it, I think it will grow me as a Christian and Chance as well. 

I want to share a book I'm reading written by Mark Hall from Casting Crowns, it's called The Well, it focuses on the the scripture of the woman at the well and so far it's really good. I always loved that story, the fact that the woman was talking to the messiah and didn't even know... The fact that Jesus knew everything about her already, I think we as Christians, or me at least, try to hide things from God thinking that he can't see, we, or I, seem to forget too often that he is all knowing and is there even when no one else is. I love the fact that He is always there. Whenever I need Him, He is there. I've needed Him a lot these last few years and He has been a huge comfort. I'm tying to remember to always rely on Him and trust Him it's always easier said than done. I know that the devil tries to waiver our faith and that we must stand strong in the word, this world makes that hard. We get distracted and if we're not careful we can lose sight of what's really important. I'm hoping and praying that through this journey I don't lose sight of what really matters, I pray that this journey helps me draw closer to God and really become the woman and mother he would have me to be. As I read this book I will share with you what it teaches me and what it reveals to me. I'm looking forward to finding the true "Well" and letting it shape my life Gods in way. 

Ashley

Here is a photo of our tomato crop... This is 2 days worth! 

Calendar

Well we sat down with Sarah (the APN from LR) and wrote out our IVF calendar! If all goes as planned we are looking at a September 7th transfer date!!! WOW it's getting real! I can't believe we are a month away from transfer, it's crazy! So for those that are wondering the process here is how it works: currently I am taking birth control to supress my cycle and keep me from ovulating, I will take this up until the 20th. Today Chance and I both did labs (blood draw). On the 20th I will go in for more blood draw, exam, ultra sound (US), and mock transfer. Then the 23rd or 24th we will begin the injectable hormones I will take these for about 10 days and have 3 labs and 2 US during those 10 days. Once my eggs reach maturity I will take 1 injection of HCG and 34 hours later we will head to LR for the extraction, I will be asleep for that procedure, thank goodness! Before we leave LR we will know how many good eggs we have,then they will inject the sperm into my eggs using a method called ICSI. We will know by day 3 how many embryos have developed and on day 5 we will pick the healthiest looking embryo and do the transfer, this should happen around September 7th! The first date that we can get a positive beta test is September 16th, my birthday, what an amazing birthday present that could be! Now we wait we sit back and pray and wait until it is time!!! It's getting really exciting!! We are praying and believing for a smooth process, we are praying and believing for only the number of embryos that God intends for us to have, we are praying and believing for a successful transfer, we are praying and believing for a healthy pregnancy, and we are praying and believing for a healthy delivery and a healthy baby next May/June! Pray and believe with us friends and family, and please keep your negative thoughts and comments to yourself.


Chance & Ashley