Here we go again!
It's been a long time since I posted - I have become terrible at keeping up with the blog but between working, keeping up with Ceej, having fun play dates with all of our new friends (we love you guys!!), and doctors appointments - it's been a crazy crazy couple of week.
So you are probably wondering why doctors appointments? Well…we are prepping for a frozen embryo transfer or an FET! Now that Ceej is almost one (holy smokes how is that possible - 11 months today!) we have baby fever something awful and have decided it's time to try for another squish in our life!
So unfortunately for infertile couples like us that doesn't mean jumping in the sack and having a little fun - but quite the opposite. For us it's filled with tubes and tubes of bloodwork, ultrasounds, saline ultrasounds complete with catheters and tons of needles. As crazy as it sounds - all of those things make me so so excited! As an infertile couple you often times feel helpless - you find yourself wishing that having a baby was easy, that you could build your family like "normal" people. Often times having a baby and completing your family is within your control - unfortunately not for us. So the needles, the tests, the appointments - it's what gives us a little control throughout this whole ride.
So what is an FET and what does this mean? If you remember our first IVF cycle was a disaster - we had 11 eggs retrieved and only 1 fertilized. We transferred that embryo back where it belonged and unfortunately it didn't survive. We were devastated but after a few months we picked ourselves back up and we cycled again. With Ceej's cycle we had 18 eggs retrieved. 7 of them fertilized and 5 embryos made it to day 5 and were perfect. One of those perfect embryos is our precious Ceej and we have 4 frozen babies waiting for us!
We had a consultation with the doctor, Chris had all of his infectious disease testing and I had 8 (yes 8) tubes of blood drawn. Everything came back perfect except for my Vitamin D so the doc started me on supplements immediately. I also had a transvaginal ultrasound to have a look at my ovaries and uterus. Then a few days later I had a saline ultrasound. According to all the docs my uterus "couldn't be more perfect". It wins the gold medal. Which is so comforting to know - knowing that it held Ceej for 9 months and will hopefully hold future littles!
The next step for us is a final consult with the doctor followed by a meeting with the nurse and getting all of the medication ordered. I will baseline with blood and ultrasound when my next cycle comes - this is to check all of my hormone levels and be sure there are no cysts leftover from the previous cycle. Hopefully we get the green light and the doc will then start us on birth control and likely Lupron injections for about 3 weeks or so. This is called down regulation and they will confirm that this has been successful with more blood and ultrasound. We will then start oral Estrogen and my uterine lining will be monitored. When the lining thickness is optimal I will start intramuscular Progestrone in Oil injections into my butt - fun stuff! Then anywhere from 3-6 days later they will transfer the embryo back where it belongs and then the dreaded 2 week wait begins!
Sorry for all the technical stuff but I've found in being open and honest throughout our journey that people are genuinely interested and want to know the process and what we are going through. So if you are the praying type - or even if you aren't - if you could send some prayers and/or happy thoughts our way over the next month or so we would appreciate it!!! We cannot wait to give little Ceej a brother or sister!
XOXO
K
So you are probably wondering why doctors appointments? Well…we are prepping for a frozen embryo transfer or an FET! Now that Ceej is almost one (holy smokes how is that possible - 11 months today!) we have baby fever something awful and have decided it's time to try for another squish in our life!
So unfortunately for infertile couples like us that doesn't mean jumping in the sack and having a little fun - but quite the opposite. For us it's filled with tubes and tubes of bloodwork, ultrasounds, saline ultrasounds complete with catheters and tons of needles. As crazy as it sounds - all of those things make me so so excited! As an infertile couple you often times feel helpless - you find yourself wishing that having a baby was easy, that you could build your family like "normal" people. Often times having a baby and completing your family is within your control - unfortunately not for us. So the needles, the tests, the appointments - it's what gives us a little control throughout this whole ride.
So what is an FET and what does this mean? If you remember our first IVF cycle was a disaster - we had 11 eggs retrieved and only 1 fertilized. We transferred that embryo back where it belonged and unfortunately it didn't survive. We were devastated but after a few months we picked ourselves back up and we cycled again. With Ceej's cycle we had 18 eggs retrieved. 7 of them fertilized and 5 embryos made it to day 5 and were perfect. One of those perfect embryos is our precious Ceej and we have 4 frozen babies waiting for us!
We had a consultation with the doctor, Chris had all of his infectious disease testing and I had 8 (yes 8) tubes of blood drawn. Everything came back perfect except for my Vitamin D so the doc started me on supplements immediately. I also had a transvaginal ultrasound to have a look at my ovaries and uterus. Then a few days later I had a saline ultrasound. According to all the docs my uterus "couldn't be more perfect". It wins the gold medal. Which is so comforting to know - knowing that it held Ceej for 9 months and will hopefully hold future littles!
The next step for us is a final consult with the doctor followed by a meeting with the nurse and getting all of the medication ordered. I will baseline with blood and ultrasound when my next cycle comes - this is to check all of my hormone levels and be sure there are no cysts leftover from the previous cycle. Hopefully we get the green light and the doc will then start us on birth control and likely Lupron injections for about 3 weeks or so. This is called down regulation and they will confirm that this has been successful with more blood and ultrasound. We will then start oral Estrogen and my uterine lining will be monitored. When the lining thickness is optimal I will start intramuscular Progestrone in Oil injections into my butt - fun stuff! Then anywhere from 3-6 days later they will transfer the embryo back where it belongs and then the dreaded 2 week wait begins!
Sorry for all the technical stuff but I've found in being open and honest throughout our journey that people are genuinely interested and want to know the process and what we are going through. So if you are the praying type - or even if you aren't - if you could send some prayers and/or happy thoughts our way over the next month or so we would appreciate it!!! We cannot wait to give little Ceej a brother or sister!
XOXO
K
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