IVF Update - 1 week to transfer

Ok, so we have 1 week until the embryo transfer. We go in next Tuesday. I am scared, nervous, excited, ready, and almost anything else you can think of. Today we went to the U and had an ultrasound and saw that things are ready to rock-n-roll. I am always so nervous the night before appointments and then when they are over I get giggly and hyper. Tyler laughs at me every time. I just love the U. I am always impressed when I go there. They are so personable and the whole staff is just so awesome.

Tomorrow is a milestone - day 1 of progrestrone shots. Hopefully, we will do them for 10 weeks. (Hopefully means that this cycle of IVF will be successful.)

This is what the needle and the meds look like. Do you see the size of that needle? and it goes all the way in my hip/backside. That is why I am so nervous. I am sure that after the first shot I will relax a little.

Anyway, wish us luck!!

PS I just found out that a friend of mine is pregnant with TRIPLETS on their 7th IVF cycle. This is their 1st successful cycle. Wish them luck too!!

Random Hillary

Ok, so I got tagged twice in the last week.... this time it is the 6 Random Things about me (Kris, I will do the Crazy 8's soon....)

6 Random things about me

1. I love construction zones! ah, yes, you read it right. Whenever I drive up on orange barrels I wonder things like, what are they building, who is the contractor, what is the schedule for completion, who is that subcontractor, is there a penalty on this job, is this a federally or state funded project, blablabla.... you can chock this up to all the years I worked for my Dad's company (Gerber Construction). I started working in the field as a construction worker and then I moved into the office. I quit when I was put on bedrest with Justin but am back working a few hours a week on special projects. This is me and my cousin, Racheal, eating lunch. We were working on I-80 Bridge Rehabilitation in 2000.
This is me, my Dad, and my sister, Kristal. We were working in Ely Nevada at a Sewer Treatment Plant in 2000. I have great stories of working with my family.


2. I have a few OCD behaviors: I cant stand water spots in the kitchen sink; you've gotta love stainless. My closet is color coordinated; and I only use WHITE PLASTIC hangers (somehow when I got married all of Tyler's metal hangers turned into white plastic...imagine that). I have to (I mean have to) make my bed every morning no matter if I am late to wherever I am going. I cant stand a dirty fridge. I dont like water spots on my kitchen floor (or drool spots from Justin). My shoes have a specific spot in the closet.



3. I love to sew. I mostly like to sew baby blankets and other quilts. My neighbor just taught me how to hand bind a quilt. It is very addicting but very time consuming. I like to crochet baby blankets and bibs too.



4. Some of the things on my wish list are... a bookcase for Justin, a picture of the Jordan River Temple that they sell at Costco sometimes, a new wardrobe that fits me, a successful attempt at IVF in 2 weeks, new carpet (dont tell Tyler I said that), Lasik so I dont have to put glasses on at night to see my baby's face.



5. I've thought about quitting scrapbooking (Marci, dont fall off your chair). I havent worked on mine in years...like 7 years. I am so far behind and it will cost me a fortune to get my pictures printed that are just saved on my computer. I am thinking about doing slideshow DVD's for each year. ??????



6. I am so scared of spiders its not funny. I had the biggest spider I have ever seen in my garage about a month ago. I took a picture of it so Tyler would believe me how big it was. I was so scared of this enormous spider that I couldnt even kill it and I waited for 3 hours for Tyler to come home to kill it. No, I didnt just stand and watch it, I went to my sisters house until Tyler got home. When he got home it was still in the same spot!! When he knocked it off the garage door and it hit the cement babies went everywhere. The spider was so big because it was packing its babies all over itself. I was sick. I was safe though becuase I was in the car watching when he killed it.

So, I am not going to tag anyone but if you think this is fun then share some random things about yourself.

IVF Update - Medicine Change

Tomorrow is Wednesday and that means a change in the meds. Tomorrow I triple my estrogen intake. Yeah, I have been experiencing bad headaches and am hoping that its not from the estrogen cause I have to up-the-annie tomorrow. Wish me luck.

We have 2 weeks to transfer. Tuesday I go in for an ultra-sound to make sure things are looking good. That also means that I start progestrone shots in 1 week(ok, 6 days but who is counting). I would love to say that I am not getting nervous but that would be a lie. If you want a sneek peek at what the Progestrone shot looks like check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGjZm5uXwy4 and no, I don't give it to myself, that's what Tyler is for.

The big question we get from everyone is how many embryos will you put back in??? Well, with Justin we put 2 back in and only 1 took. This time we will "defrost" the 3 remaining embryos we have left and we will see on how many we put back. We will not know until the transfer day. We are hoping that we have at least one (and hopefully 2) to put back. It is only about a 50% chance that an embryo will be viable for transfer after "defrost mode". Then there is a grading stage to see how strong the embryos are and lalalalalalala...... I'll explain it all later.

You always want to keep the Binky close

Hillary and I checked on Justin last night before going to bed, and what a sight it was. Somehow he had fallen asleep with his binky balanced on his head, and one foot sticking out of the crib. I guess if he can sleep when he is kicking me in the back, he can sleep like this.

IVF Update - 3 Weeks to Transfer

In 3 weeks from today I will be at the U doing the embryo transfer. Yippee!!
I have been taking Lupron for 10 days now and will start an Estrogen pill tomorrow. The Lupron basically turns off all of my hormones and the estrogen will start to build the uterine lining to prepare for a pregnancy. I feel a little lousy since my hormones are all messed up. Every Wednesday from here on out will mean a change in my medications. Tyler and Justin have been very supportive and have done well "dealing with mom". Last night Tyler gave me a much needed blessing - it was awesome!! Here is a picture of the Lupron med and shot needle (I take this in my stomach).

I was thinking back to our 1st round of IVF and what an experience it was to go through the procedures for the very first time. It is definately an amazing experience and all of the timing that goes into it is absolutely crazy. This is a picture of me and Tyler on the 1st round of IVF at harvest time. This was by far the most painful thing I had ever done up to that point in my life(the only thing worse is actually having a baby).

At harvest time they give you medication to make you a little loopy so you dont notice the pain so much. Tyler still laughs at me because he said that I was so funny when they gave it to me. I kept saying I didnt think that it was working but the whole time I was talking I was slurring my words together so much that he could barely understand me. He just kept telling me not to worry and it would kick in soon enough. All I remember was people counting the eggs but that is about it.

This go around we dont have to do the harvest because we are doing a cryopreservation IVF meaning we will be using frozen embryos from our first cycle. I know, it is crazy. We have 3 embryos that they will "defrost". Each one has about 50% chance of surviving - we are hoping for at least 2 to be viable for the transfer. Once we do the transfer on October 7th I will be on bedrest for 2 days. And 2 days is nothing compared to the 72 days I was on bedrest with Justin. The only twist is that this time I have a running, breathing child to attend to. Thank goodness for a great husband and lots of family.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Our favorite "play activity"

Justin is a great little eater. In fact, he loves to eat. My sister always laughs and calls Justin's meals a "play activity" because he will just sit in his high chair for a good 30 minutes and eat. uh oh, he got his appetite from me and from Tyler - he's really in trouble.

He can eat with a fork now. He concentrates really hard and stabs whatever he is trying to eat and then barely gets the fork to his mouth before it falls off. His favorite thing right now to stab is watermellon!

This morning I made him oatmeal for the first time. I think that he liked it. It was Strawberries and Cream. It was a good thing he had a bath right after breakfast!

And one of mine and Justin's most favorite meal is our lunch date with Tyler. We meet Tyler once a week for lunch. Me and Justin go to LA Weight Loss to weigh in and then we meet Tyler for an awesome salad somewhere. Our favorites are Zupa's and JCW's. Of course we go to JCW's the most because we get one of those just-have-to-have raspberry shakes!! Here we are today with Tyler at Zupa's. On the menu today: salads for me and Tyler and pickles, cheese,a nd a hotdog for Justin.

Oh, I found that nifty disposable sticky placemat at target. They have a sticky strip on the back of it all the way around the edge and you just stick it right to the table for a "sanitary meal". I love it! Go ahead Dad, laugh at me all you want - its the germ-a-phobe in me.

Here is the link for the stick on placemets: http://www.target.com/Sesame-Street-Stick-Place-Mats/dp/B000R7L80C/qid=1221079536/ref=br_1_5/602-3649974-7298246?ie=UTF8&node=162694011&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1
I bought them in the store and bought a 25 pack for $9.00.

1st Series of Shots

We started the 1st series of shots today on Round #2 of In-vitro. It is the Lupron shot. I take it every morning for 23 days. It is given in the stomach with a small insulin needle. It's no big deal really, only that I can not forget to take it. I just want to say that I think my 7-year-old nephew, Cole, who has diabetes and has to have one of those shots every time he eats is a brave little boy. I think he is so awesome for having a positive attitude about it! Wish us luck on trying for baby #2. Keep checking the blog for updates on the process......

Oh, if I get a little moody or crazy, just ignore me and blame all the medication! I know, Excuses Excuses! haha

American Fork Canyon Camp Trip

We went camping up American Fork Canyon near Cascade Springs over Labor Day Weekend. Can you say a WET camp trip. We had fun even if we did have an inside day.

Justin got so dirty. Look at his hands and his 'black' eye.

Camp -

John & Kristal's trailer on the left, Dad and Mom's motor home in the center,

me and Tyler on the right!

Boy, do we look like we need showers!!

My brother, Kjell, Mom & Dad

John, Kristal (My sister), Jason, Emmie, & Will