Lets take a step back to the beginning...April 2009. This is the time I got off birth control. Let's just keep in mind I have always said I didn't want to become obsessed with getting pregnant (that is a lot easier said than done!). So I met with a new OBGYN around April/May of 2009 and had a family planning visit. She mentioned after a couple of months of being off birth control, so my period would be regulated, to start testing ovulation. Well, before and after birth control my period was really irregular...very hard to determine when I ovulated. After about a 1 1/2 years of trying I decided to switch to my old OBGYN and she put me on a 3 month plan. She did sonograms and would watch my ovulation and even tried Clomid for one month...she said if this was't successful she would recommend that I go see a fertility specialist.
December of 2010 I went to see Dr. Alfred Rodriguez. The first month they did a bunch of diagnostic testing (Alston had been tested while I was at my old OBGYN and everything checked out good with him, one thing we could cross off). They did sonograms, x-rays and a bunch of blood work. After all the testing and no negative results in January 2011 we started our first round of treatment, IUI (intrauterine insemination). With IUI, I took Clomid and did some shots to help me produce and release eggs. This round of treatment failed so the doctor had us take a month off. During this month, I developed a cyst and had to be put back on birth control to try and regulate everything. In March we started the second round of IUI (again with Clomid and shots). This round also failed so the doctor recommended that we come back in to talk about next steps.
In April we sat back down with Dr. Rodriguez and talked about moving forward to IVF (in vitro fertilization). Dr. Rodriguez recommended this for several reasons; (1) it has a higher chance of success than IUI and (2) it is a good diagnostic tool (they are able to evaluate the eggs in the case that there is something wrong with them, we could then possibly know why I was not able to get pregnant in the past). Alston and I knew this was the next logical step and were ready to move forward. So in May I was put on the pill for about 25 days and then on May 31st I started my first set of shots. The first set of shots were Lupron (these lasted about 19 days and helped me not prematurely ovulate). While I was on Lupron for about 10 days, I then added Menopur and Folistim (these helped me produce multiple follicles, ideally they like to see about 10 follicles).
On June 21, 2011, Alston and I went in for the egg retrieval, I was a little anxious about this because I have never been under anesthesia before. All went extremely well with the procedure. Once I woke up, they came in and told me they got 4 eggs...a little less than we wanted but not terrible. The eggs were fertilized that day and then over the next day the embryologist watches to see how many fertilize. We had 3 eggs fertilize! The doctor then called and said they wanted to do a day-2 transfer and they recommend that they put all 3 back in! Wow a little scary to think that I could end up with multiple babies! Since we only got 3 eggs they didn't want to run the risk of watching them until day 3 or 5 (these are more typical transfer days if we had more eggs) to choose the best 2 so they recommended that we get them back in the best environment for them to grow, my body and the quicker the better!
On June 23, 2011, Alston and I went in for the day-2 transfer. This is a minor procedure they just gave me valium to calm my nerves and then using a sonogram the doctor led the embryos to my uterus through a catheter. For the next 2 days I was on bed rest. After that my activity was limited. I also started my progesterone shots this day (to help my endometrium and uterus get ready for a baby). We had to wait 2 weeks after the egg retrieval before we could find out if I was pregnant. Keep in mind I also had to do this with IUI (I had had been through this 2 week waiting period 2 times before and both times got a negative!). On July 5th, Alston and I went in to the doctor and they drew blood. We then had to wait until at least 1:00 pm before the nurse would call us with the results. So around 1:30 my phone rang and Linda said she had good news!! Yay! We couldn't believe it and I cried off and on for the next couple of hours. Right after the news we both started calling people and telling them (a lot of people knew what we were going through so were anxious for the results).
We are still in shock of it all and it hasn't totally set in yet. Right now my first sonogram is scheduled for July 19th! Below is a picture of the fertilized eggs.
Love you..can't wait to add your blog to my blog list and for the update on Tuesday :)
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