IVF Experience

The medications and shot injections begin! Not only have we been on a schedule throughout this whole experience with appointments and cycles, I was now on a schedule at home by having to take injections EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT. Multiple injections a night, at that! It was a lot for me to keep up with and do all on my own, so I was hoping Bud would quickly get over his fear of needles. The ones I had to give to myself in the stomach weren't so bad, because I was use to doing that from the IUI procedures. However, the ones I had to take in my lower back area, were too difficult for me to do myself, not to mention they were a lot more painful.

I finally told Bud he had to suck it up. He was going to have to give me the shots in the back. He was really freaked out at first and scared to do it. After a lot of deep breaths and mental preparation, he finally started doing it and got pretty good at it. Some nights they would hurt more than others, I remember being in tears after he gave me one because it just hit a bad spot or something. He felt so bad and said he wasn't doing them anymore after that one! HAHA! However, he did not have a choice. So every night for the next couple of weeks, around 8:00 PM we spent a few minutes turning our bathroom into what looked like this. Freakin' sucked!

We ended up getting pretty used to the routine before too long. It became part of our every night routine. I began getting many marks, bruises, and sensitive areas from all of the shots each night. The ones taken in my lower back hurt the worst. That area, both sides, were so sore that it hurt to even touch or do so much as sit in a chair/car. It was very uncomfortable all of the time and I couldn't wait for this part to be over.

I went in for a couple monitoring ultrasounds after taking the injections for a few days. Then the following week, leading up to my ovulation peak, I was going to the doctor about every other day for ultrasound check ups to see the progress of my follicles in the ovaries. I was even more thankful, once we got down to this part of the treatment, because I was only having to drive 30 minutes to the doctor's office. There is NO way I would have been able to do all of this still seeing the specialist in Cincinnati. Oh my gosh, I am so glad we switched. We were definitely happier about that decision after starting the IVF process.

My last monitoring ultrasound was on Saturday, August 27, 2016. Our doctor decided at this ultrasound that my follicles were at a good size and I was ready for the trigger shot. Again, the trigger shot is taken so many hours before a procedure, to boost your ovulation and release the eggs from your ovaries. I took these trigger shots with each IUI procedure as well.

She wanted to schedule the Egg Retrieval for August 29,2016. I would not be able to work or drive that day, so here we go again, unexpectedly having to take off work. I hated doing this to my work people, but I did not have a choice. You have to do these things on the days your body tells you. I was ready to get this going! I knew this procedure would be the hardest, so I wanted to get it over with!

Tuesday, August 29, 2016 was the day of the Egg Retrieval. We started at 5:30 am! I was beyond nervous. I could not believe what was about to happen. I mean, they are literally going to be going inside of me and taking out my eggs...whaaaat? It is so crazy to me, still! We met with the anesthesiologist after I got changed and was being prepped for surgery. He was extremely nice, like EVERYONE there, as he went over the procedure and precautious once I was given the anesthesia. I have never been put under before like this, so it was a bit scary. I knew I was in good hands though. The trust I had in the staff there was unreal!

Our doctor came in to finalize paper work and detail about the procedure. My nerves were getting even more rattled the closer we got! Bud was sitting beside me the whole time, taking everything in. Whenever they were ready to take me back to the surgery room, Bud would be going to the "collection room" to provide his sample. This very same day they will be putting his sperm and my eggs together in the glass dishes for fertilization! Aahh!!

Everything was ready to go. The doctors and nurses headed back to the surgery room to get everything situated in there. I sat in the recovery area waiting, patiently and anxiously. Praying this procedure goes well and we have zero complications! We NEED this to all go smoothly!

I do not remember much after I got back to the surgery room. I just remember waking up and feeling Bud holding my hand. Everything was a little blurry at the time, but I could hear our doctor talking to Bud.

"She did great...everything went smoothly. We ended up getting 10 eggs, so we are better than good. She is going to be a little out of it for a while, so take care of her and wait on her hand and foot because she is going through a lot to get you all this baby," she said with a chuckle in her voice.

I could hear the grin in Buds response, "Oh I will, don't you worry about that."

I was still feeling like I was asleep, but could hear all of this. The doctor told us to relax, that I would be in recovery for a little while longer. I was slowly getting the strength to open my eyes and move around. I could feel Bud's hand clinching mine, so I started clinching back. He started rubbing his hands through my hair and trying to talk to me. I rolled my head to the side of the bed he was on, and began opening my eyes. The first thing I saw was the biggest smile on his face, as he said...

"Babe.....WE GOT 10!"

It may not have looked like I was beyond thrilled, but I was! I immediately started tearing up....Hallelujah! Something went the way it was suppose to for a change. I was so excited....on the inside! We were getting closer and closer to better days, I could feel it! After relaxing in recovery for about an hour, they came and checked on us. I was much more awake now, but in pain. I didn't care though. I was just glad everything went okay! They helped me to the bathroom to get changed and then we were able to go on home. I just wanted to SLEEP!!

The embryo specialist would be keeping in touch with me throughout the week on the progress of the eggs/sperm. Per my previous blog, they like to give them a full five days to fertilize if all is going well. So we could potentially be coming back within the week for the Embryo Transfer. Gosh, now it all feels like it moving so fast. We were so close!

Two days post retrieval, the doctor called with an update. Out of the 10 eggs, 7 had fertilized successfully so far. Okay, not bad! Third day post retrieval 5 out of those 7 were doing well. Fourth day post retrieval he was confident of 3 making it, keeping an eye on the other two. Even though the doctor mentioned it was somewhat normal, I was getting worried because each day, the numbers were going down. However, any is better than none, so I tried not to focus on that too much. Fifth day post retrieval they called to tell us we had 3 good embryos ready and wanted to schedule the transfer. Oh my gosh! This is really happening!!

Luckily the day we landed on for the Embryo Transfer fell on a Saturday! Not having to worry about taking off work, again, was a relief! Only bad thing was that it was the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. A lot of our friends and family were making plans for the holiday weekend and we had to tell everyone no, with not very good excuses other than, "We are just going to spend the day together," I guess everyone bought that, I don't know. Haha!

| September 3, 2016 |

The day of our Embryo Transfer has come! After all we have been through, this day was so important to us. So much blood, sweat and tears had gone into this process alone. So much was riding on it! All we could do was hope and pray! Pray that our time has finally come for SOMETHING to work!!

This procedure prep was a lot easier than the retrieval. The staff was so excited for us, it was very encouraging! We decided to only transfer ONE embryo. That was what our doctor recommended and we had all the trust in the world in her. We could have upped her one, and transferred two, but with the complications I have had already, we did not want to have the chance at potentially having more complications with me carrying twins.

So one embryo it is! We hoped this was our lucky little miracle of an embryo!

They let Bud come back to the surgery room with me for this procedure. I was so excited. He would get to be beside me the whole time. I guess that is the least they can do since this is the day we are actually suppose to conceive. Haha!

The whole procedure was explained to us in detail before they began. I didn't feel as nervous this time, excited more than anything. The procedure went fairly quickly. Bud got to watch on the monitor as they implanted the little embryo into the uterus. He was grinning from ear to ear!

Its in there! Oh lord, here we go! Please work....Please work!!!!!!!!!!!