3 days, 4 flights, 1 snowstorm, zero sleep... Yep that was our weekend! We finally made the trip to Salt Lake City, UT for our IVF consult, only to be greeted by the first winter storm of the season. We got to SLC in the dark, and I was looking forward to doing some sightseeing the next day, but winter storm Brutus reared his ugly head and put the kabosh on our plans. We woke Friday morning to the feeling of being inside a snow globe. It had been a while since we'd seen snow! (And I didn't miss it, in the least bit!) So needless to say, our sightseeing was limited to driving thru the mountainside homes behind our doctor's office. And those were some BIIIGGGGG homes! With some scary steep driveways! I guess that's what you get when you live on the side of a mountain!
On to our doctors appointment, since I know that's what y'all came here to find out about... Let me start by saying that our doctor and his team are UH-mazing! Dr. Blauer spent the good part of an hour talking with us, reviewing our histories, talking Husker football, and discussing his plan for us. Then we got to spend some time with his nurse, Tami, who was the craziest, most awesome nurse that we could ask for. Not only did she explain the whole process (several times), but she did so with the most comforting, calming, attitude, which is what I really needed, since I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Thankfully, we were able to complete all of our testing, which saved us from making an extra trip back to the SLC. For Brian, this meant doing that thing that guys do... you know. That thing. He also got to pee in a cup and have blood drawn. For me, I also got to pee in a cup and have blood drawn (5 frickin vials!!!). I also had to have a saline sonogram to check the inside of my uterus for scar tissue from my surgery 9 years ago. This test consisted of injecting saline into my uterus to expand it, so the doc could check for scarring. No scarring noted, but doc did find a fibroid at the opening. He doesn't think it should be a problem, but said that if it grew any more, I'd have to have a laser biopsy to have it removed. So basically, it's just something to keep an eye on. All in all, everything looked good, but holy crap, was it painful! I'll spare you the gory details, but lets just say that the rest of the day was not very pleasant for me. :/
So here's the plan. For the next 2 weeks, I take 10 mg of Provera, which is to initiate a period and thin my uterine lining. Then I have 2 weeks off, and then another cycle of Provera. After another 2 weeks off, I start Prometruim, which kind of does the same thing as the Provera, but directs the progesterone right into the uterine lining, and creates a sticky lining for the embryo to adhere to when it's transferred. On January 24, we head back to Salt Lake to begin the actual IVF process. On that day, I will have another blood draw and ultrasound, and learn how to mix my medicine and do the injections. I will take my first FSH injection that day, as well as a low dose HCG injection. I inject daily, and go to the dr's office every other day for blood draws and ultrasounds. I start my daily dr visits on Feb 1. On Feb 4 (+/- 2 days) I will have my egg retrieval, and Brian gets to do his thing. My eggs and his sperm will be joined in the lab, and they will be monitored for roughly 3 days, with the embryo transfer happening around Feb 7. Then the dreaded 2 week wait. I will take a pregnancy test on Feb 21 and Feb 28. If positive, my expected due date will be October 28, 2013.
I'm very pleased that we will only have to make one more trip to SLC. I expected to have a few trips, but because of the timing (and luck) of this first appointment, we are able to start cycling right away. My only concern is having to be in a hotel for 2 weeks. Thankfully, I should be able to get all my patients seen before we leave on January 24 (a Thursday), so I should only miss a week of work. Let's hope I will have some PTO saved up by then! I've decided to make and sell Thanksgiving goodies again this year, to help offset the cost of 2 weeks worth of hotel stays. My coworkers have already stepped up to help with this, and I'm so thankful to work with such an amazing group of women! My only request from anyone reading this, is that we be added to your prayer list. I'm a firm believer that God has a plan for us, but a few extra prayers can't hurt. We are blessed to have made it this far, but it would truly be a dream come true if after all this, we are get to bring home our miracle baby!
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