Cycle Day 1

Well, today is Cycle Day 1 of my IVF Cycle! Wahoo! I am scheduled to start taking my birth control on Saturday, and we start our Z-paks tomorrow. Pretty much that is it for now. Of course as things go with me, there was a problem with the schedule. I was supposed to go in for my suppression check on June 30th, but I will be cruising to Mexico :) Sooo my wonderful IVF nurse pushed everything back a week for me! She is mailing me three extra birth control pills so I don't have to order a new pack. I love cooperative people! And I LOVE that I still get to go on my vacation. As soon as we get back it is full speed ahead with this process. My retrieval is scheduled for the week of July 18th and then the transfer is 3-5 days after that and then the wait to see if "we" made a baby!

IVF Class

Whew! What.a.day. We went to IVF class at 9 this morning and left about noon. I am continuously overwhelmed and overjoyed at how nice and caring the staff at NFC is. Every single person I have dealt with has been more than cooperative and helpful. We started this morning in a class with 5 other couples going through the process. By far, we were the youngest. By probably 10-15 years. Oh well. We met with the IVF nurse coordinator and she walked us through a PowerPoint on what all we should expect. The worst part was that I have to limit my exercise to just light walking once I get to a certain point, and no lifting weight over 10 pounds. The good part- no vacuum or laundry! The bad part- I'll probably gain 10 pounds. Oh well, I guess that is the beginning of sacrifices of being a mommy one day! Next we met with our IVF nurse. She was wonderful! She also happens to be a LU graduate so that was a nice connection to have. After meeting with her, we met with the financial person who gave us some options for paying for this all. On two teacher salaries, IVF isnt just in the budget :) Hubby has already contacted the people about the loan and if it goes through it will be to NFC in 48 hours! Wahoo! So..in the mix of writing this and doing a lot of other things..I started! So tomorrow, will be Cycle Day 1. I have to call my IVF nurse in the morning and let her know I started. I am so amazed at how God works things. I am actually about 5 days late. Anytime I have a schedule change- like off work for summer break it messes my cycle up. It actually turned out to be a blessing. If I had started last week I would be waiting until July sometime to even get started. That would push me into school starting and make getting off work and to the doctor difficult and stressful. Even if God didn't provide me with a baby the natural way, He is with me step by step through this unconventional way of doing it! I am anxious to see what He has in store for us.

Blood Work

I normally don't mind having blood drawn. Also, let me state that I am probably the worst person in dealing with medical situations. I don't do hospitals unless I HAVE to. I don't handle medical situations well. For example, when I had my wisdom teeth pulled- I missed a week of school..in my bed..on a lot of pain medication. Once, I had an in-grown toenail and I had to have the toenail removed..I couldn't wear shoes for several months..took a lot of pain medication..and barely lived through it..it still, four years later, hurts to touch. So I say all that to say, that going through all of this could be some what of a challenge to me. But, I'm in full steam ahead! Today, I had to blood drawn to test for infectious diseases before we begin HIV. The woman laid down 8 tubes that had to be filled. I immediately was in a panic. Good thing she draws blood a lot and it was fairly quick and I only got a little light headed when she first started! I guess I will be seeing her again quite a bit through this process..joy!

Summer Break!!

Oh it is finally summer break!! I feel like I have been anxiously waiting for this day for a looong time. I loved my kids this year, but they were a very active bunch and needed full time attention. It was exhausting. This is also the first summer since high school that I have not had school or work. I have been to the pool almost everyday so far, and am LOVING it! My day consists of morning workout at the Y, pool, nap, dinner, and whatever night activity we have going on. However, this summer, I also get to include many trips to NFC. That place is going to become my second home. I had a doctors appt today with my OB. Had to get a papsmear because I didn't have an up to date one. I told my husband, how many people are going to be my hooha before this process is over with. Its been several so far. Tomorrow I have an inservice, and Thursday its back to NFC for blood work! My doctor today asked what I was doing this summer and I said nothing- oh except for making a baby! :)

Paperwork.

Let the fun begin. As I am driving home, all I can think about is curling up on my couch for an afternoon nap. Its cold, dreary, and my kids have lost control of their lives, and I have two church league games tonight- so a nap was a must. As I barely gather the energy to check the mail, I am greeted at the mailbox by a large package from NFC. There must be 40 pages in there to read and fill out. Some of it included:
-personality traits- If I put hateful with they not let me do IVF..
-Every disease known to man and if anyone in your family has had it
-Education
-General medical background
...and SOOO much more.

I know that this is all necessary for what could be the cutest baby one day, but right now it is a lot. I hope I read it all and fill it out correctly!

"Trying to get pregnant is fun"

I titled this with quotes for a few reasons. A- everyone always said to me, just relax trying is the best part. (If you know someone trying to get pregnant, don't say that to them) B- I stopped having fun about month three. Maybe for my husband it was fun, but at about month three it was all ovulation kits and temperature taking and doctors and worrying. I think the only fun thing coming my way at this point is someone actually telling me I'm pregnant, or the humor in at all that I just have to look for. Wednesday, I had a procedure done to check and make sure my tubes were clear and uterus looked fine. It was like a pap smear times 100. They put a cath through your uterus which release iodine into your tubes. At the end of the cath is a balloon that blows up so that the iodine does not leak out. I thought I was going to die. One of my friends said the pressure probably feels like a contraction. I thought..great..because I almost got sick and could barely take the pain. I am such a wimp. So I immediately text my husband and said, trying to have a baby is so not fun.

IVF

We have made the decision to go with IVF. I am nervous, anxious, scared, and a little hopeful. We had the choice to do IVF or IUI (artificial insemination). However with the IUI, it would be donor sperm. We chose to do what we could to have a biological child. My husband has a part of his Y chromosome that is deleted you could say, and that part controls sperm. So, he has an incredibly low sperm count. We have been to NFC for two appointments so far, I know there are MANY more to come. We are now in waiting to meet with the IVF nurse. I am ready to get this rolling. I just read a blog of a girl I knew in high school. She just had a baby boy through IVF. She blogged her entire experience, and it was a lot. I know that it is just the sacrifice I will have to make to become a mother, but that doesn't make it any less scary.

On a side note, its almost summer :) 2 more weeks of school! I will be sad to see this group go, and it always scary to get a new group of little ones in August. They are just so little and confused :)