Starting Again

Okay, so I started this blog a couple of days ago with a bunch of whiney posts about how hard it has been the past two years trying to have a baby and not having any luck. I whined about everything I've had to go through medically and all that I'll have to go through with invitro and complained some more about the emotional impact of it all. After reading it over the next day I had to say, "get over yourself" to myself. So I deleted the posts and decided to start over...without the drama.

While there will still be some highs and lows, I just want to let my family and friends walk through this invitro process with us, so they'll understand what's going on and hopefully we'll have a FABULOUS ending (or beginning) to our story!

A little about Invitro

I have found that a lot of people don't understand that Invitro is a process that takes about a month and a half to complete.

Over the course of a month and a half, I will be taking and injecting several medications and I will have lots of blood work and ultrasounds done. All of the meds are to prepare my body for egg retrieval and carrying a baby, and the blood work and ultrasounds are to make sure my body is responding correctly to the meds.

If all goes well, around the first part of December I will go under general anesthesia and they will retrieve multiple eggs. The doctor will actually inject Rod's individual sperm into each egg (pick good ones!) in a petrie dish. Over about 3 days, the embryos will begin dividing and the best ones (I'm not sure how many) will be transferred into my uterus. About 2 weeks after that process I will take a pregnancy test. If it is positive - it will be a GREAT day. The next fun surprise will be finding out how many babies there are...

We've had this as an option in the back of our minds for a little over a year and now we're officially signed up for the December "batch", as they call it. So, our embryo transfer date will be some time within the first two weeks in December. Hopefully we'll have the BEST Christmas gift ever!

This is where we are so far:

1. Pre-IVF blood tests (DONE!)
2. Start birth control pill (to suppress ovulation) and daily pre-natal vitamin (both DONE!)
3. Attend a pre-IVF class to learn how to give myself injections, plus other info (set for Sat., Nov. 1st)
4. Pay the $12,000 up front to have this done (due by Nov. 7th - a HUGE thank you to Rod's parents who are helping us with the cost. We will be forever grateful.)

Once we attend our class on Nov. 1st, I should have more info about the next steps. I'll keep you updated!

This is both exciting and nerve-racking. I'm scared of everything that's ahead of me, but excited at the same time. In the end if this is successful, we'll be parents and that is something we've wanted for a long time. It took me 34 years to find my sweet husband, so I guess I've learned that not all good things come easy. :)

Stay tuned!........