Donor Report #1

Today is the day. I am typing this sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to board. I checked my email and we have our first donor update.

Your egg donor has an ultrasound check-up yesterday.

Her reaction is in my opinion very nice. She has from 6-7 follicles on both ovaries, so the number of retrieved eggs can be around 10- 14 eggs. It is normal that there cannot be retrieved egg from each follicle.

The follicle size absolutely correspond to the 6th day of her hormonal stimulation so she can continue with the same dose of medication until the next check up scheduled on Monday.

We are happy with the news but still feeling very anxious.

Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER

1 Day To Go

Today was filled with hyper emotions.  It's been hard to sit still and concentrate on anything really.

I started off the morning with an early yoga class.  It was nice and yoga always seems to help a bit.  Then I came home and had my Dad and brother over to watch the game and have brunch.  I bookended my day with another yoga class that usually relaxes me, but today I just couldn't concentrate.

turmeric latte

After yoga I asked Ryan to take me to Cafe Gratitude for dinner.  Cafe Gratitude is supper yummy vegan food that we used to love in Los Angeles and they finally opened one in San Diego. We ate some great food, Ryan had the polenta and I had the gluten free ramen.   I also ordered my favorite drink, the turmeric latte.  Cafe Gratitude always asks you a question to contemplate while you are waiting for your food.  Ironically today's questions was "name an obstacle that has been really complicated that you overcame with a victory".  As soon as the waitress walked away, we both said, we will get back to you on that one.  Hopefully in a few weeks we will have a great answer for her.

I ended my day lighting the candle my Grandmother gave me, saying a prayer and pulling an affirmation card.  The card I pulled tonight is called Breathe Deeply.  It reads: Breathe big.  Let it all in.  Deep, full breaths invigorate you.  They release sadness and allow ecstasy to flood in.  Pause, inhale a long...slow...big...delicious breathe.  Exhale.  Remember, whenever the going gets tough, take a deep breath and trust that you are capable of greatness.  This was a great card to get tonight and read.  Taking a deep breath right now as I type this.

The plan for tomorrow is wake up and head to a 7am yoga class to get the blood flow going and awaken my body to the day ahead.  She does a lot of breathe work so I will continue my card work from tonight.  Then shower, walk Parker and then head to the fertility clinic.  10am is my check in time.  First up is acupuncture, then the FET, then acupuncture again.  Then home and hopefully laying around and relaxing the rest of the day.

We won't know if this has worked or not for about two weeks.  We respectfully ask that no one hits us up for the results until we are ready to share.  We will probably just need a day or two to soak it all in no matter what it is.  The last FET that ended in a BFN, we told people the exact date we were to find out the results and I just couldn't answer the phone or speak about it and having the phone ring all day just added to the sadness knowing that people still had some hope but we knew the sad truth.  Thank you very much for understanding.

Thanks for reading,
HEATHER

2 Days To Go

Today started yet another injection.  Today I started lovenox.  It's a blood thinner and it's an injectable and it is NOT fun.  I have never done this one before. That sucker burns for about 40 minutes.  It feels like pouring rubbing alcohol on a wound but from the inside.  And if all goes well and this works, I will be doing this injection every day for several weeks into the pregnancy.   The reason we are trying a blood thinner this time is because of the results from my miscarriage panel.   Hoping that I get use to this injection pretty quickly.

lovenox, latex free bandage, gauze and alcohol swab

The meds I'm on today are lovenox, steroids (oral medication), antibiotics for both Ryan and I (oral medication), progesterone (really gross suppositories 3 x a day), estrogen (estrogen patches on my stomach) and vitamins and supplements.

Today I also went and got a B12 shots and added vitamin D to it.  Those two fluctuate every time I get blood work and I just wanted to make sure that my levels were nice for the transfer.  A vitamin injection last about a week.  

Physically I am doing ok.  My stomach is slightly bloated and I still gets headaches.  Mainly I am dealing with the mental side effects.  The anxiety and the nerves are pretty intense.  We are getting so close to the finish line and no matter what happens, our lived will be forever changed and that a lot to think about.  We hopefully get pregnant and finally after all this time will fulfill our wish of becoming parents.  If it doesn't work, then that was our last shot and we would have to move on to donor or adoption.

Thanks for reading,
HEATHER