There hasn't been a ton to post about recently, as we are currently in that waiting game. Its weird to say, as what is life but waiting for the next moment. I mean before being pregnant, we were waiting to become it. Now that we are pregnant, we are waiting for our child to arrive. It feels like being in an airport. You rush to get there, hours ahead, only to sit in a cramped terminal, waiting for something to happen. We are ready to have our number called, but at the same time, we are terrified of how different life will become.
The scary thing that we are coming to realize is that we are waiting, and yet still traveling at hundreds of miles an hour. Picture yourself standing up, looking at your feet. They are not moving. Now look up, and notice that everything around you is flying past in a blur. Its hard to accept that at this time next year, we will have a 8 month old baby crawling around. Its strange to think that next Christmas we will begin new traditions, with our own family. It is not an easy thing to decide as these traditions will be something that our children remember for their entire life.
We are excited this week to get our next checkup, and hopefully learn the gender of our baby. Fingers crossed that the baby is just as excited to show us and cooperates. At that point the waiting game will go away for a bit, as we can begin to plan that much more. We can organize clothes, setup the nursery, and think more about possible names. We will be more then halfway to the baby at that point, which is scary. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were so excited to hear the news we were pregnant? And now in 4 months, we'll be carrying a bundle of joy around to meet the world.
I'm sure we will post again soon, as the news will be too good to not let everyone know, but until then, wish us luck on the baby's cooperation and have an excellent holiday everyone
Monday, December 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The first wave
Up to this point, Kristy had lucked out in the morning sickness department. I mean she totally deserves it with all the stuff she had to go through, she had here share of pain and discomfort. But no throwing up, none at all.
That all changed this week, and it came on rather fast. From one day everything being fine, to the next throwing up so often that it was easier to lay on a pillow on the floor of the bathroom then to rest on the couch. We couldn’t tell if this was a bug, which many people have been getting, or if she was finally getting the morning sickness that everyone talks about.
The sickness continued over the period of 24 hours and it was obvious that it was a bug. Whew, because if this was morning sickness, then it would be a long pregnancy. After that 24 hour period, she began to slowly get back her appetite and no longer felt the need to get so friendly with the porcelain throne. We are glad to say that its over.
…
We just had our first appointment with our OB, and got a chance to learn a lot more about the process ahead of us. You would think some of it would scare us, but at this point, there is no fear, just a strong sense of we have lots of plans to make, and not too much time.
The ultrasound was a little different, as this time we got to hear the heartbeat, which was a neat experience, compared to just seeing it on a screen. The doctor also was very good in showing us the arms, legs, head, ect of our baby. In fact, as we were looking at the arms, at that same moment, our baby waved. I feel bad for Kristy as since she is on her back, the viewing of all these amazing moments isn’t quite as easy to see. Needless to say I waved back.
In addition to various checkpoints, we got to learn more about our specific situation. With our unicorn uterus, the doctor felt that it’s the most likely that we will be delivering closer to the 37 weeks area, instead of the normal 40. We also learned that they will try to get a good reading on the gender of the child by Dec 23, to allow us to open an envelope on christmas day and learn which gender we will be having.
The waiting game is now old hat. We are excited to be on this journey, and again thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Its far enough for us to be comfortable letting people know, so you know what that means. Here we come Facebook!
That all changed this week, and it came on rather fast. From one day everything being fine, to the next throwing up so often that it was easier to lay on a pillow on the floor of the bathroom then to rest on the couch. We couldn’t tell if this was a bug, which many people have been getting, or if she was finally getting the morning sickness that everyone talks about.
The sickness continued over the period of 24 hours and it was obvious that it was a bug. Whew, because if this was morning sickness, then it would be a long pregnancy. After that 24 hour period, she began to slowly get back her appetite and no longer felt the need to get so friendly with the porcelain throne. We are glad to say that its over.
…
We just had our first appointment with our OB, and got a chance to learn a lot more about the process ahead of us. You would think some of it would scare us, but at this point, there is no fear, just a strong sense of we have lots of plans to make, and not too much time.
The ultrasound was a little different, as this time we got to hear the heartbeat, which was a neat experience, compared to just seeing it on a screen. The doctor also was very good in showing us the arms, legs, head, ect of our baby. In fact, as we were looking at the arms, at that same moment, our baby waved. I feel bad for Kristy as since she is on her back, the viewing of all these amazing moments isn’t quite as easy to see. Needless to say I waved back.
In addition to various checkpoints, we got to learn more about our specific situation. With our unicorn uterus, the doctor felt that it’s the most likely that we will be delivering closer to the 37 weeks area, instead of the normal 40. We also learned that they will try to get a good reading on the gender of the child by Dec 23, to allow us to open an envelope on christmas day and learn which gender we will be having.
The waiting game is now old hat. We are excited to be on this journey, and again thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Its far enough for us to be comfortable letting people know, so you know what that means. Here we come Facebook!
O no, what does that mean?
Two weeks before our first appointment with our OB, we decided to tell john’s side of the family. It was quite a challenge to wait this long, as a number of them read this blog, so they are looking for an update, and we had to be very selective about our excitement. In fact, John’s sister was kind enough to be our proxy of getting everyone together.
She gathered the family’s together under the guise of just wanting to hang out. We had so many plans as to how to tell the family. But the biggest thing that limited us was knowing that we would have to tell everyone quick, as when we came over, people would be asking us how we are. We ended up starting up the get together with a family picture.
However, instead of the usual “say cheese”, I took the picture and said “say Kristy’s pregnant…”. The looks were excellent. From some there was a cloud of confusion, only to be whipped away by the excitement of understanding what was just said. Others had the reaction of “really? … really?”. I luckily got the whole saga on camera, as the reactions were amazing, and finally we got a chance to get this great secret out into the open a bit.
Everything was going good, until one evening, Kristy saw a bit of spotting begin to happen. At first, she didn’t think much, but the spotting continued for the next day and at that point we were growing increasingly concerned as to what was happening. Our appointment was still not for another week, but if something had gone wrong, it was time to know now, not wait with the worry influencing our every thought.
We scheduled an appointment with our RE the next day, and they were very kind saying many couples need a re-affirming appointment. That gave us some comfort, that we were not alone with worries. By the next day, the spotting had went away, but we still wanted to know, what was happening.
This appoint was better then our first, as the doctor took lots of time to show us the development of our baby. We got two pictures, and the piece of mind that everything was going amazingly. I’m sure this wont be the last time we want the piece of mind when it comes to this child, so its good to know that there are amazing doctors all around us to ensure everything goes smoothly.
She gathered the family’s together under the guise of just wanting to hang out. We had so many plans as to how to tell the family. But the biggest thing that limited us was knowing that we would have to tell everyone quick, as when we came over, people would be asking us how we are. We ended up starting up the get together with a family picture.
However, instead of the usual “say cheese”, I took the picture and said “say Kristy’s pregnant…”. The looks were excellent. From some there was a cloud of confusion, only to be whipped away by the excitement of understanding what was just said. Others had the reaction of “really? … really?”. I luckily got the whole saga on camera, as the reactions were amazing, and finally we got a chance to get this great secret out into the open a bit.
Everything was going good, until one evening, Kristy saw a bit of spotting begin to happen. At first, she didn’t think much, but the spotting continued for the next day and at that point we were growing increasingly concerned as to what was happening. Our appointment was still not for another week, but if something had gone wrong, it was time to know now, not wait with the worry influencing our every thought.
We scheduled an appointment with our RE the next day, and they were very kind saying many couples need a re-affirming appointment. That gave us some comfort, that we were not alone with worries. By the next day, the spotting had went away, but we still wanted to know, what was happening.
This appoint was better then our first, as the doctor took lots of time to show us the development of our baby. We got two pictures, and the piece of mind that everything was going amazingly. I’m sure this wont be the last time we want the piece of mind when it comes to this child, so its good to know that there are amazing doctors all around us to ensure everything goes smoothly.
its too early for graduation
About at the 5 week mark, we had our first doctors appointment, where we get the visual confirmation that Kristy was in fact growing another life inside of her. Those weeks of waiting were a bit hard, as she didn’t feel super pregnant, but not as bad as the five days, as we knew that we were. We had so much excitement for our appointment as we were told that we would be able to see the heartbeat of the baby, which many people don’t get to do until much farther along in the pregnancy. It would also in theory be the last time we met with our fertility doctors before transitioning to the person who would deliver our child into the world.
For all the buildup of the day, it was a bit of a letdown now that we are done. What we thought would be an in depth appointment, turned out to only last about 10 minutes. Not that it wasn’t amazing to know that our baby was healthy, but it just went by too quick. One thing that bothered us was that our doctor kept referring to our baby as “your pregnancy”. “your pregnancy looks good” … “your pregnancy has a good heartbeat” … ect. We have worked so hard and long to have this child, that to label it as just a pregnancy, seems like a mean thing to do.
The other thing that wasn’t as fun, was that at the five week stage, there is not any definition to the ultrasound picture. Its sort of a blob. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the cutest blob I have ever seen, and to know that in that blob is our future child, made we weak in the knees, but still, it wouldn’t kill the baby to be able to way and just give us a little “hi guys!” would it?
After the quick appointment, we got a printed picture as well as the congratulations from the doctor as to graduating from RE to OB. For those of you that are not up to the newest lingo, that’s Reproductive doc to delivery doc. I guess there is a lot of lingo that im learning, as apparently im a DH, which she tells me is a dear husband.
We are used to waiting at this point, but its another 5 weeks until we meet our new doctor, and we already realize that time is flying and today is graduation from doctors, and graduation from kindergarten, college, and everything else is just around the corner.
For all the buildup of the day, it was a bit of a letdown now that we are done. What we thought would be an in depth appointment, turned out to only last about 10 minutes. Not that it wasn’t amazing to know that our baby was healthy, but it just went by too quick. One thing that bothered us was that our doctor kept referring to our baby as “your pregnancy”. “your pregnancy looks good” … “your pregnancy has a good heartbeat” … ect. We have worked so hard and long to have this child, that to label it as just a pregnancy, seems like a mean thing to do.
The other thing that wasn’t as fun, was that at the five week stage, there is not any definition to the ultrasound picture. Its sort of a blob. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the cutest blob I have ever seen, and to know that in that blob is our future child, made we weak in the knees, but still, it wouldn’t kill the baby to be able to way and just give us a little “hi guys!” would it?
After the quick appointment, we got a printed picture as well as the congratulations from the doctor as to graduating from RE to OB. For those of you that are not up to the newest lingo, that’s Reproductive doc to delivery doc. I guess there is a lot of lingo that im learning, as apparently im a DH, which she tells me is a dear husband.
We are used to waiting at this point, but its another 5 weeks until we meet our new doctor, and we already realize that time is flying and today is graduation from doctors, and graduation from kindergarten, college, and everything else is just around the corner.
Waiting on pins and needles
It’s a fitting blog title, as after the implantation, it began both a waiting game, to see what happened, as well as continuing the big needle shots. For something that we have worked towards for over two years, you would think that 5 days would be a small price to pay, to know if there was success or not. In reality it felt like another 5 years.
The problem was that we were now so close. We had a growing embryo, and it was just a matter of if it takes. Another issue was compared to the natural way, we know what is going on, so every move or motion we started to second guess. I guess that made our 5 days that much harder, as when you trying to lay low, and low stress and low exercise in preparation, it doesn’t give you much to do.
That 5 days couldn’t go fast enough, and the Thursday morning shot was something that we were so excited and nervous for. I mean what if it comes back negative … do we wait a while, or try again right away? How much can we afford to try before taking a break?
Or even scarier, what if it worked? I mean that would be amazing, but it also makes it all real, and it gives us an amazing gift, but also a gift that can be lost, which would be even more crushing.
We decided that getting tested via our bloodwork wasn’t the way we wanted to find out, so we took a pregnancy test the night before to see what we could no. At this point peeing on a stick was easy to do, but the waiting was even more unbearable to see the “life” lines appear.
After five minutes, we looked, only to see no lines. I don’t mean no pregnancy line, but no baseline as well. Was it really five minutes? Maybe we thought it was, but it was more like 2, so we waited another 5, and then another 10. I guess it’s just fate that our test was a dud, not positive or negative, but just nothing.
Kristy couldn’t drink water fast enough, as she was driven to not let the pregnancy test get the last laugh. After a gallon or so of water, we were ready for round two, and Kristy was determined to emerge victorious.
This time we were more patient, as we waited for our lives to change forever without watching the clock or starting a timer. Finally we returned to the bathroom we our eyes closed and hand locked together. Then together opened our eyes to our future. For all the commercials with two bright lines, it is not like that at all. At first we weren’t sure if we were pregnant or not, as the second line was very faint. In fact, it was good old Google that come to our rescue as we looked at others that were positive and it was usual.
With the confirmation of our hopes and dreams, a clear clarity of what it meant flashed over our faces. We did it. All the strife and pain were worth the battle, and in the end, everything worked out. It was hard to contain our desire to post the amazing news on facebook, or call everyone we knew, but we still had the official test to come. It was just like the day we got engaged, as the first thing that day Kristy needed to do was tell Renee. The same thing happened as soon as we got the Google confirmatoin, Kristy needed to tell Renee, to share this wonderful news with someone.
You would think that with the confirmation at home, Thursday would be less nerve racking, but just as getting pregnant gives you something to lose, so we worried what if the test, which already had a dud, was wrong.
All those worries were quickly destroyed by the phone call we received that afternoon. AS we picked up the phone, we didn’t have to wait long, as the first words on the other line were “May I please speak to the pregnant Kristy White?”
“Of course you can!” Kristy joylessly replied, as there was no need to talk, as we already had our confirmation. Our lives are now forever changed, and we are excited to begin this journey. Thanks to everyone for the prayers, and we’ll try to keep you up to date on the excitement that will surround or lives for years to come.
...
Our next challenge was how to tell Kristy's family. We luckly got invited to have a family dinner at there house on a weeknight. Our plan was to get something small, something of a token. We stopped at Baby's R Us, and looked at probably every peice of clothing, every toy, trying to figure out the perfect way to spill the beans.
In the end, we got Kristy's parents each a bib, with saying like grandma spoils me, and grandpa's favoriate. The small size made it easy to hide until we wanted to spring the news. The dinner preperation was going good, and before you knew it we were all getting seated to eat dinner.
"wait ... " kristy shouted as everyone got ready to cut into the food. She quickly got the bibs out for her parents and handed them each one with a sly "now we can eat". Even thought it was only seconds, the joy of watching the realization of what the bibs meant, as well as the power of love you could see in their faces was priceless. The were going to be grandparents, and they were looking forward to it almost as much as we were looking forward to being parents.
The problem was that we were now so close. We had a growing embryo, and it was just a matter of if it takes. Another issue was compared to the natural way, we know what is going on, so every move or motion we started to second guess. I guess that made our 5 days that much harder, as when you trying to lay low, and low stress and low exercise in preparation, it doesn’t give you much to do.
That 5 days couldn’t go fast enough, and the Thursday morning shot was something that we were so excited and nervous for. I mean what if it comes back negative … do we wait a while, or try again right away? How much can we afford to try before taking a break?
Or even scarier, what if it worked? I mean that would be amazing, but it also makes it all real, and it gives us an amazing gift, but also a gift that can be lost, which would be even more crushing.
We decided that getting tested via our bloodwork wasn’t the way we wanted to find out, so we took a pregnancy test the night before to see what we could no. At this point peeing on a stick was easy to do, but the waiting was even more unbearable to see the “life” lines appear.
After five minutes, we looked, only to see no lines. I don’t mean no pregnancy line, but no baseline as well. Was it really five minutes? Maybe we thought it was, but it was more like 2, so we waited another 5, and then another 10. I guess it’s just fate that our test was a dud, not positive or negative, but just nothing.
Kristy couldn’t drink water fast enough, as she was driven to not let the pregnancy test get the last laugh. After a gallon or so of water, we were ready for round two, and Kristy was determined to emerge victorious.
This time we were more patient, as we waited for our lives to change forever without watching the clock or starting a timer. Finally we returned to the bathroom we our eyes closed and hand locked together. Then together opened our eyes to our future. For all the commercials with two bright lines, it is not like that at all. At first we weren’t sure if we were pregnant or not, as the second line was very faint. In fact, it was good old Google that come to our rescue as we looked at others that were positive and it was usual.
With the confirmation of our hopes and dreams, a clear clarity of what it meant flashed over our faces. We did it. All the strife and pain were worth the battle, and in the end, everything worked out. It was hard to contain our desire to post the amazing news on facebook, or call everyone we knew, but we still had the official test to come. It was just like the day we got engaged, as the first thing that day Kristy needed to do was tell Renee. The same thing happened as soon as we got the Google confirmatoin, Kristy needed to tell Renee, to share this wonderful news with someone.
You would think that with the confirmation at home, Thursday would be less nerve racking, but just as getting pregnant gives you something to lose, so we worried what if the test, which already had a dud, was wrong.
All those worries were quickly destroyed by the phone call we received that afternoon. AS we picked up the phone, we didn’t have to wait long, as the first words on the other line were “May I please speak to the pregnant Kristy White?”
“Of course you can!” Kristy joylessly replied, as there was no need to talk, as we already had our confirmation. Our lives are now forever changed, and we are excited to begin this journey. Thanks to everyone for the prayers, and we’ll try to keep you up to date on the excitement that will surround or lives for years to come.
...
Our next challenge was how to tell Kristy's family. We luckly got invited to have a family dinner at there house on a weeknight. Our plan was to get something small, something of a token. We stopped at Baby's R Us, and looked at probably every peice of clothing, every toy, trying to figure out the perfect way to spill the beans.
In the end, we got Kristy's parents each a bib, with saying like grandma spoils me, and grandpa's favoriate. The small size made it easy to hide until we wanted to spring the news. The dinner preperation was going good, and before you knew it we were all getting seated to eat dinner.
"wait ... " kristy shouted as everyone got ready to cut into the food. She quickly got the bibs out for her parents and handed them each one with a sly "now we can eat". Even thought it was only seconds, the joy of watching the realization of what the bibs meant, as well as the power of love you could see in their faces was priceless. The were going to be grandparents, and they were looking forward to it almost as much as we were looking forward to being parents.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Report Cards never looked so good.
Sorry this post is a week late.
With the waiting over, the next step was to see the results of egg extraction and get the all important report card of how our little embryos did. At this point, the waiting was killing us, as we already knew that we had 17 eggs extracted, and only 10 were mature enough to try to become embryos. Of those 10, they already let us know that 8 had successfully become embryos. Then we had to wait five days until last Monday September 1st, to figure out how many, if any, we were be able to call viable.
Due to our situation, we were doing the day 5 transfer as it will allow more time to ensure that the best embryo was choose. But that also means that its more time for the ones that are not as strong to stop growth. That 5 days of waiting was hard as even after 1 day, our 17 become 8, so after 4 more days ... would it become 2? 1? maybe even none? What happens is that on that fifth day, we would receive a report card. We aren't even fully pregnant yet, and already we are getting report cards, yikes. At least there is no major homework, yet.
Finally that fifth day came around. Now the trick for the embryo transfer was to come to the appointment with a full bladder. The appointment was at 9 in the morning, so Kristy had a big glass of water before we headed out, and then had a large coffee on the drive. Apparently that wasn't even close enough, as after we got to the dr's office, they made her drink another huge cup of water, I mean huge like those massive big gulp sodas you always see at gas stations but you are sure no one ever buys because its more like buying a gallon of soda then truly a cup.
So we were back at waiting, waiting 30 minutes or so, to have that water fill up her bladder to the point she was almost ready to do the potty dance. We must have been such geeks at that point as we had brought our camera. We were taking pictures of the drink. Of the day. We wanted to commemorate this day, and every step we have went though on this journey. Finally, after getting a photo album worth of stupid pictures, we got a knock on the door and the embryologist came in. This was the point we were waiting for, we had worried about, we were excited about. Our first report card.
And we heard those dreaded words that have become our blessed words "You guys are so young ....". Immediately I was relieved as i could read on her face, that it was good news. Those same words could be used negatively if she was sad, like you have many more chances, but she was happy. " ... so the embryo's are doing amazing." she smiled looking down at her grade sheet. Of the 8 embryos, its most common to get about half last the 5 days, and then vary in grades. " You have 1, 2, 3, 4, oh my, 5 grade A embryos, and 1 grade B, and 2 that just need a little more time to tell." Whew talk about good news. We have lots of chances, enough chances to not worry. I guess it pays yet again to be young and doing this process.
We even got to look at the embryo that they transferred back into Kristy. We got a picture of it. How many people can show their children that hey, this is you when you were an embryo 5 days old? The transfer went smooth, and the doctor said to try to take it easy for the rest of the day, more for piece of mind then anything else. So we rented a few movies and relaxed like our lives depended on it. By the time we arrived home from the doctor however we got a call from them saying that the remaining 2, that just needed more time, had already become viable, so from our 8, we got 8. WHOO HOO! I mean I don't want 8 kids, but if we did have that many, Kristy could have her own show on TLC about her bakery where all the kids helped make the cakes with her and who doesn't love seeing kids playing with cake right?
.JPG)
So now we are in the waiting game. Waiting to see if it took. Waiting to see if this journey will continue immediately, or if we will have to go to number 2 of our 8 for another shot. Wish us luck, and keep us in your prayers. I loved our first report card, and I'm looking forward to many many more thought the years of our family.
With the waiting over, the next step was to see the results of egg extraction and get the all important report card of how our little embryos did. At this point, the waiting was killing us, as we already knew that we had 17 eggs extracted, and only 10 were mature enough to try to become embryos. Of those 10, they already let us know that 8 had successfully become embryos. Then we had to wait five days until last Monday September 1st, to figure out how many, if any, we were be able to call viable.
Due to our situation, we were doing the day 5 transfer as it will allow more time to ensure that the best embryo was choose. But that also means that its more time for the ones that are not as strong to stop growth. That 5 days of waiting was hard as even after 1 day, our 17 become 8, so after 4 more days ... would it become 2? 1? maybe even none? What happens is that on that fifth day, we would receive a report card. We aren't even fully pregnant yet, and already we are getting report cards, yikes. At least there is no major homework, yet.
Finally that fifth day came around. Now the trick for the embryo transfer was to come to the appointment with a full bladder. The appointment was at 9 in the morning, so Kristy had a big glass of water before we headed out, and then had a large coffee on the drive. Apparently that wasn't even close enough, as after we got to the dr's office, they made her drink another huge cup of water, I mean huge like those massive big gulp sodas you always see at gas stations but you are sure no one ever buys because its more like buying a gallon of soda then truly a cup.
So we were back at waiting, waiting 30 minutes or so, to have that water fill up her bladder to the point she was almost ready to do the potty dance. We must have been such geeks at that point as we had brought our camera. We were taking pictures of the drink. Of the day. We wanted to commemorate this day, and every step we have went though on this journey. Finally, after getting a photo album worth of stupid pictures, we got a knock on the door and the embryologist came in. This was the point we were waiting for, we had worried about, we were excited about. Our first report card.
And we heard those dreaded words that have become our blessed words "You guys are so young ....". Immediately I was relieved as i could read on her face, that it was good news. Those same words could be used negatively if she was sad, like you have many more chances, but she was happy. " ... so the embryo's are doing amazing." she smiled looking down at her grade sheet. Of the 8 embryos, its most common to get about half last the 5 days, and then vary in grades. " You have 1, 2, 3, 4, oh my, 5 grade A embryos, and 1 grade B, and 2 that just need a little more time to tell." Whew talk about good news. We have lots of chances, enough chances to not worry. I guess it pays yet again to be young and doing this process.
We even got to look at the embryo that they transferred back into Kristy. We got a picture of it. How many people can show their children that hey, this is you when you were an embryo 5 days old? The transfer went smooth, and the doctor said to try to take it easy for the rest of the day, more for piece of mind then anything else. So we rented a few movies and relaxed like our lives depended on it. By the time we arrived home from the doctor however we got a call from them saying that the remaining 2, that just needed more time, had already become viable, so from our 8, we got 8. WHOO HOO! I mean I don't want 8 kids, but if we did have that many, Kristy could have her own show on TLC about her bakery where all the kids helped make the cakes with her and who doesn't love seeing kids playing with cake right?
.JPG)
So now we are in the waiting game. Waiting to see if it took. Waiting to see if this journey will continue immediately, or if we will have to go to number 2 of our 8 for another shot. Wish us luck, and keep us in your prayers. I loved our first report card, and I'm looking forward to many many more thought the years of our family.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Finally ... it pays to be young
In almost every step of this process, with each doctor we have seen, we were always reminded of how young we were. It usually started with the doctor coming in and looking at the chart. Then looking at us and asking what brought us in. And then they look at the chart again, as if they don't believe our Date of Birth listed. And then finally they tell us something pretty close to "your very young, so you really don't need this, you can try for a few more years before you would need something as "extreme" as IVF. By this point we were used to having people look at us and second guess our decisions. And at least now we know that we weren't too young, and that this process would happen regardless, so might as well do it now compared to later.
This week we heard the same words "your so young..." but it was in many good ways. As we got ready for the egg retreval, and the daily injections were going on, it was "your so young ... so we'll lower your medication and you only need 2 shots instead of 3." So being young in that case saved us a ton of money on drugs and a bit of pain and discomfort with 1 less shot a day.
Then on the day of egg retrieval, we heard it again, a few times. As a husband, I felt so helpless that day, as I was told to wait in the waiting room and they would come and get me when they were done. With being told it would be about an hour, but i could ask the receptionist for an update if I wanted, that hour was one of the longest of my life. Originally the extraction was set for 9:45, but Kristy went back around 9:20, so I wasn't sure about if my hour was from the original time or the time she went back. As the clock was about 10:25, I wondered ... should i ask for an update now. In the end, I waiting, each minute harder then the rest, but finally around 10:48 the nurse came and pulled me back.
Its hard to say my feelings, nervous, excited, but more then anything i was trying to look for some emotion on the nurses face, to tell me how it went. Our nurse however would clean up in Vegas as her poker face gave nothing away, and the lack of any emotion or happiness made me worry more. Luckily, after we were out of the public waiting area, her poker face disappeared in a flash and a calming smile covered as she delivered the words I wanted to hear "Everything went amazing, your wife did great!". Whew.
And then the age thing popped its cute little head up again. "the typical amount of eggs we get is 10 to 12, but because your so young, we successful extracted 17." Wow. No wonder Kristy felt like she was full all the time, she had 17 golf balls inside of her insides. We were told that our next steps would be to see how many were mature, and then out of those that were mature, to see how many take to fertilized. Beyond that, we just had to come back in five days and we would begin our process of putting one back in, the best one, and hoping for the best.
The pain of the day was defiantly there, and Kristy got her 10 commandments of the next ten days as well. Now why they didn't tell us these before the procedure, I'm not sure, but I guess we'll just have to deal. No intercourse for 10 days, no Alcohol, no heavy lifting, no strenuous exercise, no pain medication beyond Tylenol, Get lots of rest, not more then 36 oz of liquid for the first few days, no scuba diving, no parachuting, and no cliff diving. Alright, the last three are made up, but i needed 10, so can you blame me?
The only thing that caught us off guard was really the alcohol. The Alcohol was something we knew when we were pregnant, we would have to give up, but this was something we planned to celebrate during the in-between process, a bottle of champagne, a target rumba drink to commemorate our journey. If we would have known before our appointment it would be done, we would have better celebrated its departure from our lives. Gave it a nice going away party.
Well after we left the hospital, It was all about taking it easy that day. We got a couple of red box movies, plus our netflix and just vegged in recovery mode. It was hard to wait that next day, as we would receive a call from our doctor in 24 hours with the results and count of where everything ended up. It was less hard as i wasn't waiting alone, but it was still something that our lives were so close to starting that next chapter, that we just wanted to know.
The call came and informed us that of our 17, 10 were mature. I'm not sure if that's normal, or not, but it doesn't matter much. We only need one. And of the 10 mature, 8 successful became embryos. Now that number is good, I know that. Its weird as we know that we'll only put one back in at a time, but suddenly its like we have 8 baby's growing. Now some may not survive the 5 days, or they may be a grade c instead of our A+ that we want. Regardless, we have great great chances to have a child and very possibly have enough for future babies too with the frozen ones that remain.
We already feel like proud parents, and not to jinx ourselves, but we are excited to begin this next stage. Its not as hard to wait for them to put it back in, as we know that by waiting, it is increasing our changes of getting pregnant on the first try dramatically. Finally in our lives, the words "your so young ..." have come in handy. Finally they have meant that our process will be that much easier, and our rewards will be that much greater.
This week we heard the same words "your so young..." but it was in many good ways. As we got ready for the egg retreval, and the daily injections were going on, it was "your so young ... so we'll lower your medication and you only need 2 shots instead of 3." So being young in that case saved us a ton of money on drugs and a bit of pain and discomfort with 1 less shot a day.
Then on the day of egg retrieval, we heard it again, a few times. As a husband, I felt so helpless that day, as I was told to wait in the waiting room and they would come and get me when they were done. With being told it would be about an hour, but i could ask the receptionist for an update if I wanted, that hour was one of the longest of my life. Originally the extraction was set for 9:45, but Kristy went back around 9:20, so I wasn't sure about if my hour was from the original time or the time she went back. As the clock was about 10:25, I wondered ... should i ask for an update now. In the end, I waiting, each minute harder then the rest, but finally around 10:48 the nurse came and pulled me back.
Its hard to say my feelings, nervous, excited, but more then anything i was trying to look for some emotion on the nurses face, to tell me how it went. Our nurse however would clean up in Vegas as her poker face gave nothing away, and the lack of any emotion or happiness made me worry more. Luckily, after we were out of the public waiting area, her poker face disappeared in a flash and a calming smile covered as she delivered the words I wanted to hear "Everything went amazing, your wife did great!". Whew.
And then the age thing popped its cute little head up again. "the typical amount of eggs we get is 10 to 12, but because your so young, we successful extracted 17." Wow. No wonder Kristy felt like she was full all the time, she had 17 golf balls inside of her insides. We were told that our next steps would be to see how many were mature, and then out of those that were mature, to see how many take to fertilized. Beyond that, we just had to come back in five days and we would begin our process of putting one back in, the best one, and hoping for the best.
The pain of the day was defiantly there, and Kristy got her 10 commandments of the next ten days as well. Now why they didn't tell us these before the procedure, I'm not sure, but I guess we'll just have to deal. No intercourse for 10 days, no Alcohol, no heavy lifting, no strenuous exercise, no pain medication beyond Tylenol, Get lots of rest, not more then 36 oz of liquid for the first few days, no scuba diving, no parachuting, and no cliff diving. Alright, the last three are made up, but i needed 10, so can you blame me?
The only thing that caught us off guard was really the alcohol. The Alcohol was something we knew when we were pregnant, we would have to give up, but this was something we planned to celebrate during the in-between process, a bottle of champagne, a target rumba drink to commemorate our journey. If we would have known before our appointment it would be done, we would have better celebrated its departure from our lives. Gave it a nice going away party.
Well after we left the hospital, It was all about taking it easy that day. We got a couple of red box movies, plus our netflix and just vegged in recovery mode. It was hard to wait that next day, as we would receive a call from our doctor in 24 hours with the results and count of where everything ended up. It was less hard as i wasn't waiting alone, but it was still something that our lives were so close to starting that next chapter, that we just wanted to know.
The call came and informed us that of our 17, 10 were mature. I'm not sure if that's normal, or not, but it doesn't matter much. We only need one. And of the 10 mature, 8 successful became embryos. Now that number is good, I know that. Its weird as we know that we'll only put one back in at a time, but suddenly its like we have 8 baby's growing. Now some may not survive the 5 days, or they may be a grade c instead of our A+ that we want. Regardless, we have great great chances to have a child and very possibly have enough for future babies too with the frozen ones that remain.
We already feel like proud parents, and not to jinx ourselves, but we are excited to begin this next stage. Its not as hard to wait for them to put it back in, as we know that by waiting, it is increasing our changes of getting pregnant on the first try dramatically. Finally in our lives, the words "your so young ..." have come in handy. Finally they have meant that our process will be that much easier, and our rewards will be that much greater.
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