In Flight

I'm on my way! PDX to MDW to CMH. I arrive midnight local time. The last 24 hours have been crazy. Brian couldn't make the trip because of a job, so yesterday, at the last minute, I asked my mom to fly up to Columbus to be with me. She said yes because she is the best mom in the world, so I booked her a ticket and she is flying up right now and we will meet in the airport in Columbus.

I wish I had just asked her to come with me to begin with. I love the idea of her being there when we do the transfer. Plus, I get to have a surprise weekend with my mommy, who I don't see enough. Should this FET be successful, our child will love to know that his/her grandma was there for them from literally, the beginning. That's pretty awesome.

Kayla is going to bring the twins to meet us in Columbus and we will have girl time. Hugs and tears all around, I suspect.

Wow, tomorrow I will be pregnant. Speaking it into reality. <3

Squeee!

In one week from today, I will take my first hpt, post FET. Wow!

1DPO

Today I am 1 dpo. We are transferring 2 6-day blasts on Friday. Love.

Starting to pack today, which really involves a ton of laundry.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

One Week!

One week from today, we have our transfer.  The medication protocol for the next week is very confusing, but I am so excited.

This is a picture of my sisters' dog, Cotton.  She dye-tipped his ears.  He's nutty, but she loves him.  Cotton had a very hard start in love and Melissa is giving him a wonderful home and lots of love.  He is definitely giving her lots of love back.  He's a sweet boy. 

All Systems are Go!

I had my ultrasound this morning to check the thickness of my lining.  ORM wanted to see it 6.5 or greater and it was 10.4 - woot!  It was also triple stripe, which means that it is mature and top grade for accepting those embabies.

Talked to Penny at ORM and she confirmed we are good to go for the 22nd. Nothing can stop us now.

I came home today to notes of encouragement from some incredibly special women. These women have traveled the path I'm on and offered me sage advice and made me feel like I'm strong enough and that I deserve to be a mom. It's a wonderful gift to meet women - online or in real life - that are such solid examples of kindness and strength and I am lucky to have them in my corner. Their notes are going in my baby book - which hopefully, I can officially start in a couple weeks.

We Will Take Two, Please.

Brian and I signed our final form today. It was the Acknowledgment and Instructions for Thawing Embryos that gets sent to the cryolab.  Essentially, it tells the lab how many embryos to thaw - in our case, 2 and gives them authorization to keep thawing until they get two. Currently, the embryos are frozen individually, and Kayla went two for two with thawing for her FET, so I'm hoping we have the same luck. 

In signing the form, Brian and I had to go to a notary. It's free to have done at Bank of America, so being the cheap girl I am, we headed there after work. The funny thing was, the notary, who had to be all of 20 years old and a guy, read the form and as we got ready to sign, he says "do you mind if I ask what this form means?"   I explained that we are trying to get pregnant and there are frozen embryos that we want thawed and this form gives permission, so that next week we can transfer them into my body. I went on to tell him that he was helping us become parents. I think I scared the hell out of him, because there was confusion mixed with fear on his face.  Poor kid.

Two Weeks...

Our transfer is two weeks away!  TWO WEEKS!  So excited.  Next week is going to be very busy for me and I work the following weekend, so it's going to fly by.

Had another blood draw today to check my E2.  ORM wants it to be between 200 and 1000 and it was 526, so my body is cooperating - knock wood!

She's Got A Ticket To Ride

Bought our plane tickets today.  Leaving on the 21st for Columbus, coming back on the 25th. The tickets were far more spendy than I expected but it will all be worth it in the end.  I think the one common thread amongst infertile couples is that we are all broke.  Getting pregnant via science vs nature is super expensive.  Fertiles have no frigging clue.

Consent Given

Brian and I signed our FET consent form tonight. It seemed like a pretty obvious form, pretty much saying pregnancy has risks and ORM isn't responsible if you don't get pregnant or end up with any pregnancy related issues.  The Consent Form is a benchmark in ART (assisted reproductive technology), so we have passed yet another milestone in our journey. Yay!

In other news, Max tried to take out a neighbor's cat tonight. He does not like kitties. :)

Ouch!

Brian gave me my first shot of estradiol valerate this morning.  He's a good shot giver but because the E2 is in oil, it's a thick viscosity and needs a bigger gauge needle than what I used for my stim injections.   Brian has to rub the injection site for a few minutes after giving the shot, otherwise I will get a knot, so that is a bonus.

I get the E2 shot every Monday and Thursday morning.

I am home today from work because I worked this past weekend. Brian is working, so it's just me and the puppies. I'm making chicken and asparagus stir fry for dinner but between now and then, I'm just relaxing and watching Law & Order: SVU on Hulu.

T-18 days until our transfer. Buying the plane tickets this week.  Hoping the fares come down because even on Southwest, it's like $1300. Ouch!

Setting Up My Kit

Tomorrow I start the estradiol valerate shots. I will take them every Monday and Thursday. This med will help thicken the lining of my uterus. I'm still taking the Lupron, which is keeping me suppressed and preventing me from ovulating on my own.

My drug kit:

Three Weeks!

Three weeks from today, we will be in Columbus, OH for our FET.  So excited.