Ultrasound #1 and Bloodwork

So today seems like a big disappointment... Not to mention my 6 year old woke up with the stomach bug and threw up all over his brother, my ultrasound and bloodwork appointment this morning didn't really go that great.

Bloodwork results:
Progesterone 1.6
E2 338

Ultrasound results:
Lining 7.2
2 follicles measuring 13mm
5 follicles measuring 10mm
and 10 follicles measuring <10mm p="">
I continue the same dose of 225u Follistim and 75u Menopur. And I add in Ganirelix Friday morning.

I go back Friday morning for another ultrasound and bloodwork. And depending on what this ultrasound says will depend on if I will be able to even go through with the retrieval. Basically they will only do the egg retrieval if I have at least 4 follicles that are maturing. So the 5 that are around 10mm need to start growing! Say some prayers for us over the next few days especially! We greatly appreciate it!

My husband is doing a much better job staying positive. I am really down about the results. He keeps reminding me that it only takes one egg to make a precious baby!

 

The Difference...

This is my second IVF fresh cycle to go through and while there are many similarities, there is definitely a difference! The difference is that I am definitely more fearful. I hate to write that word. Because I have faith that God will allow the best thing to come from this cycle. Whether it is another baby, babies, or no baby. I have full trust in God and His plan is so much better than ours. We would love to have another child {and make our boys big brothers!} and we know that children are blessings from the Lord. But we also know that God could have another plan in mind and want to bless us in another way that does not involve more children. God has richly blessed us with two precious, healthy boys that we are incredibly thankful for!

Fear does set in way more this time and I think it is because the devastation of having lost our third child is a pain that will never fully escape my mind. The reality of getting pregnant in a few weeks is hard to imagine after having gone through a pregnancy loss. I pray in a few weeks God will bless us with a rainbow baby and that we will be able to experience the joy of raising a healthy baby again to bring God all the glory and to be a son or daughter of Him one day. It is my goal as a parent to raise my children to be warriors in the army of Christ and I would love to make lots of children in His army to fight for Christianity and to live eternal life with Him one day!

Again, we appreciate all of your prayers! Thank you for your continued prayers so far through this journey.

Bloodwork!

Yesterday morning at 7:30 I went in for blood work. My E2 level (estrogen) was 110! They like it to be over 100. At this point in the IVF cycle where we conceived Mercer, my estrogen was 70.

My instructions are: 225units of Follistim Monday and Tuesday evening. 75units of Menopur Tuesday and Wednesday morning. They upped my Follistim dose a little. I go back in Wednesday morning for more blood work and my first ultrasound to measure the follicles!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We have prayed and prayed about the decision to try for another children and we feel incredibly blessed to be able to have this opportunity again! We really hope this works and that we will be blessed with our rainbow baby! Suffering a miscarriage a few years ago was very difficult and this pregnancy and baby would bring so much joy to our hearts! Babies are such great gifts from God!

Baseline Ultrasound, Bloodwork, and Medicine Schedule!

I went in this morning at 7:30 for my baseline ultrasound and blood work. My lining was thin, so the birth control did its job! Michelle, Dr. Ke's assistant nurse, called me this afternoon to give me my schedule! Monday morning I start Menopur 75 units. I do this every morning through Monday morning. Starting Friday night I do 200 units of Follistim.

I go back in Monday morning at 7:30 for bloodwork only. Robbie and I are so excited to be starting this journey! It is really going by fast already! I feel very blessed to be able to have the opportunity to do IVF again. And I am at peace with whatever the outcome. Please keep us in your prayers! God has richly blessed our family and we give Him all the glory in making this happen!

My Meds Arrived!

Here are most of my meds for our IVF cycle! They were shipped from California FedEx-overnight and arrived this morning at 9am! I have a few more to pick up from Dr. Ke's office, but this batch cost a whopping $1567.76!

Schedule and RX Info!

We are really starting IVF! Such an exciting time for our family and we are so excited about adding to our family! I started Provera on Saturday, September 13 and I started my cycle on Wednesday, September 24. Robbie's semen analysis was the best one he has ever had! And his blood work came out fine. Here is the schedule we have so far:
Saturday, September 27 through Friday, October 17 I will be taking Birth Control. This is to down-regulate my cycle.
On Monday, October 13 at 11am we go in for the trial transfer and injection teaching. We also have to turn in consent and freezing forms and our payment is due.
On Wednesday, October 22 I go in for my first ultrasound at 7:30am.
The week of November 3rd is the egg retrieval and transfer!

Here's my RX that I have received:
I am going to be on an antagonist protocol.
5 Ganarelix
10 Menopur
2 - 600 units of Follistim
2 doses of Gonal-f
1 HCG trigger shot
1 Lupron trigger injection
and Progesterone injection vials!
Along with Doxycycline, Prednisone, and Valium!

We are so thankful for Dr. Ke being so gracious in giving us samples for some of the medications and we also received two medicines from friends! For the rest of it, we applied for the First Steps program and are able to get 25% off!

We have already seen God's hand work and we are incredibly blessed with being given an opportunity to go through IVF again. We are very hopeful and praying that God blesses us with another miracle baby!

Third Child...

Robbie and I have been discussing over the past few months whether or not we will do IVF one more time to have a third baby. At first we were discussing a start date of mid to late September, but we might be pushing that back just a bit.

In the meantime, we are getting all of our preliminary testing done. I started my cycle via Provera on July 27. On July 29 I went in for a routine ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries. I have 20+ follicles on each ovary. And I also had blood taken. I went in on August 4 to have the SHG and everything looked perfect!

Robbie is going in in 2 days to get his semen analysis done. And then all we will have left is getting his blood drawn!
Please keep us in your prayers as this is a tough decision to make!