OMG!!!! THE MEDS HAVE ARRIVED!!

        WOW! It just hit me today, WE REALLY ARE DOING IVF!!!!! I think it had something to do with the 10lb box that arrived from the Fed Ex man.  The medications are temperature sensitive and I had to sign for the package. I was very excited to open the package until the realization of what I was really going to have to do. INJECTIONS! I hate shots, I can give them to my patients no problem but I don't like to receive them.  Never a good sign when there are more needles than anything else in the box. But this will be a small price to pay. These medications are only dispensed from special pharmacies and there are only a couple of pharmacies across the US. We used a Walgreen's pharmacy due to the price discount that we received because my insurance will not cover cost of fertility medications. 

         OK, now for the low down on what these meds really are. There are many different classifications of medications but who really cares about that. The important knowledge is

to know what the medications do.  The main and most expense medication is Follistim. Follistim is a natural hormone that is produced in  the body called FSH. FSH regulates the growth and development of the eggs in the ovaries. This medication is used with another natural hormone called LH or the medication called Ganirelix . With these two injectable medications my ovaries should develop many eggs, but no more than 20 in each ovary. If I do produce more than 20 eggs  it is called, OHSS.  Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome and this is very bad! In order to monitor how many eggs I am producing with these medications I will be getting ultrasounds and blood work every 1-2 days. They will be measuring the circumference of the eggs along with the number in each ovary. I will only be taking these medications no longer than 7 days. If OHSS occurs, surgical intervention is needed and our IVF attempt is down the drain. We would have to stop all treatments:(  But no need to worry this will not happen!!!!! 

    The next medication is the trigger shot, HCG which is also a natural hormone in the body. This medication will trigger my ovaries to get ready to ovulate ( releasing of the egg). But we have to time this shot perfect. If I do the shot to early my eggs might not be mature enough and given to late my eggs might be "to old" and will not fertilize properly. When I have developed 4 or more eggs that are about 18-20mm that is when I will take the HCG shot. This is where the ultrasounds and blood work will also be coming into play. 

     Now those are the major medications for IVF. The other medications are antibiotics, steroids, sedatives (for procedures), aspirin to prevent blood clots, prenatal vitamins and progesterone. If pregnancy happens I will be giving myself a shot in the rump for 12 weeks to make sure the linning of my uterus stays fluffy and nutritious for the growing baby. 

    I will go into more detail later about what happens after the medications have worked and the eggs are ready to be retrieved. I have to keep some suspense and keep you all coming back to my blog, hehe!! 

    I'm sure you are wondering. Now, when does all this fun start? Well as you know I have been taking birth control for 15 days to stop my period last month and create a whole new cycle. I stopped taking the birth control on Dec 27, and I am now waiting for Aunt Flow (my period) to arrive. On the 2nd day after the start I will call Dr. Toma ( NCCRM) and they will give me instructions on what dosages and medications to start. So that is where we are at now, just waiting, again!!!!! I will blogging it up as usual so keep checking back. Remember to keep us in your prayers, and send some baby dust our way!!!!!!!

Nathan's Testing!!

     Today, Nathan had to go to NCCRM to have some testing done on his "swimmers". This test is called SCSA; Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay test. This test checks the DNA integrity of his sperm. Since doing the IVF method the sperm do not need to "swim or think", they need to just fertilize the egg. His sperm will be injected right into my egg in a peachery dish, therefor we need to make sure that his sperm have good DNA to just replicate naturally. His sperm was sent to Texas and by the time we do the egg retrieval we should have the results. If his sperm come back that the DNA is not adequate to reproduce life we will have no other option than to use a sperm donor. But don't anyone worry I have full confidence that his sperm know what to do! As always we will keep you updated!!!!

Just the beginning of our life long journey!

    Two years ago Nathan sat me down and said, I have something I want to tell you. My interest was sparked at what words of wisdom I was about to hear.  He said, I think it is time; time to start trying for a baby! I was so happy and tearful that he wanted to start a family and it was "time"!! After 7 months of trying I knew something was wrong. I scheduled us an appointment at my gynecologist to see what our next step was. After tests on both of us we found out that Nathan had low sperm counts. We were then referred to NCCRM         (North Carolina Center for Reproductive Medicine) for fertility treatments.
    As we entered the fertility world we were still in shock that there was actually something wrong. After talking with Dr. Toma, at NCCRM, he assured us that we can still have a baby and to not lose hope. He went through many options with us, we decided that IUI (intrauterine insemination) was our best option at this time. We were told that three consecutive rounds of IUI would give us higher chances of getting pregnant. We did our first round of IUI in November 2010, with no success we were heart broken. We had our hearts set on a positive pregnancy test.  Emotionally and financially we could not do the next rounds of IUI. We decided to try the "old fashion way", no fertility treatments. We decided to use ovulation sticks and track temperatures. We did that for about 1 year with no success. Nathan came to me with another idea; sperm donor. I will admit I was not on board with this idea for a very long time. But after over 20 negative pregnancy tests I was losing hope that we would ever have a baby. After many sleepless nights and prayer I decided to use a sperm donor.
     December 2011,  we are ready to dive back into the fertility world, we have healed and hopes are high when we went back to NCCRM to discuss another three rounds of IUI with a sperm donor. During our meeting with Dr. Toma he expressed his concerns against using a sperm donor and discussed the other options that we could not do a year ago, IVF!! I was relieved and thankful, no lets say ecstatic that we were going to use Nathan's sperm. We were going to have OUR baby with his BIG ears and all!! Financially,we knew that we could do it! Emotionally, we are ready!
    That is where we are now. I will be starting the IVF treatments this month. I have decided to do a Vlog/Blog so I can include our families and friends into this exciting process with us. I have a favor to ask all of you.  Please pray that this process works the first time with a healthy baby.  We are strong now but disappointment takes its toll. I will try to do more video than writing in the future, hopefully I will be vlogging a couple times a week. Thank you all for your support, guidance and excitement during this time with us!!!!!