11 weeks and counting

I feel like I have been to hell and am slowly making my way back! As of Friday I am now 11 weeks pregnant. It has been the worst and best 11 weeks of my life! I have been through so many illnesses and issues even I could not have imagined. As of this past week however, I think things may be starting to make a change. I have not had to take any nausea medication in the past 3-4 days! That's big! Also, I started back to work this week at my dad's shop after taking the past 2 1/2 months off because I was so sick! With both of these big milestones happening this week I feel like things might start getting better, except for the nasty cold I have picked up this week. I hope that too will pass in the next few days.

Michael has been so great through everything. He has been cooking dinner and "attempting" to clean the house when needed. I am very grateful to have such a wonderful man to take care of me when I need him, but I have to admit that I can not wait to be able to have the energy to totally clean this house from top to bottom. It is awful! Well to my standards anyways.  I guess I will have to wait and see what this next week will bring me!

  

Long road to 9 weeks

The past two months really seem like a blur. I have been very sick since about May 15. First, I got over stimulated from all the medications. Then I felt better for about two day, and then I started getting swollen again that lasted about 3 more weeks. Next, after finding out I was in fact pregnant (with only one baby by the way) all the symptoms of early pregnancy kicked in and I have been in bed almost everyday ever since. I have been sick and had horrible fatigue. Like getting up to go to the bathroom was all the energy I had. It has been such a hard time, there were days that I actually thought I am not going to make it. Luckily I think I am starting to feel a little better. Who knows though tomorrow I could go right back to feeling awful. I hope not.

With all that negative stuff I wanted to share  some happy stuff. Yesterday I graduated from my fertility doctor to my regular OB. It was my last appointment and it was the best by far. My mom went with me and we got to see the baby on the ultrasound again and hear the heartbeat. It is truly amazing how fast this little thing is growing. The best part was as we took one last look and the baby started wiggling around and moving. It was the most amazing thing I have seen yet! I just wish Michael had been there to see it. 

Hopefully now that things may start getting more back to normal I will be able to blog on a more regular basis. If anyone reads this to begin with...  

Finally I am PREGNANT!

I am so happy to announce that after all the craziness of this journey it has come to a happy ending and we are finally expecting! We are over the moon excited. I think I am still in shock that I can actually say that I am pregnant! 

Although we are very excited it is kinda hard to celebrate too much because I have been in so much pain. Because I was taking so much medication trying to get pregnant, it is now coming back to bit me in the butt. I am very swollen. I have so much fluid built up in my belly that I look 5 or 6 months pregnant already. It is so painful! I have not been able to hardly move for the past several days and my doctor tells me that it could last another week. I am trying to be strong, but another week of this just seem awful. Don't get me wrong I am so happy to be pregnant but I really want this part to go away.

Now we have to sit and wait another week or so to find out how many babies we are having. Sooo excited!

Almost there

I have been feeling awful! I have had some swelling in my belly and have been very sore. I was told that for the most part this was normal. However, it sucks! Ever since my egg retrieval last Friday I have not been feeling so great. I was finally able to get out of the house for a while on Sunday. Michael and I had a lot of fun. Anything was better than being home anymore. Anyways, I was able to go back to work yesterday and today. It has been tough but I have been trying to be strong. 

We are very excited that tomorrow is our embryo transfer day! We have 13 beautiful embryos growing and tomorrow two of them will finally be put back were they belong. I just hope and pray everything works out of. After that I will be on bed rest for the rest of the week. Right now that sounds great, but I am sure by Thursday I will be feeling much differently. I guess we will just have to wait and see!

Retrieval Day

Today was one of the days we have been waiting for. Today I finally had my eggs retrieved! I was so scared (even with a Valium). Luckly when I got there I did not have to wait long to get called back. The nurses were so sweet and did a great job trying to calm my fears. (although it really did not work) they quickly gave me an  IV so that they could calm me down. I was wheeled back to the operation room and had to move to a different bed. I remember nothing after this until the nurse came and told me to wake up because it was all over. I had a little bit of stomach soreness but nothing unbearable. They were so great at doing anything needed to keep me comfortable. The best news is that they got 21 eggs! We were so excited!

The car ride home seemed like it would take forever! I finally made it to my bed and I was out! I slept the whole day away. But when I woke up, I was so hungry, I think I could have eaten a whole cow! I had soup from Demos (MMMMMM) and some ice cream instead. Don't you just love it when you are not feeling well and you can eat ice cream and not feel guilty about it. What a plus.

Tonight has been pretty uneventful. Just laying around and taking all the medication that they prescribed to me. I think that is really helping with the mild pain. I have to drink lots of Gatorade and eat lots of protein. This is supposed to help prevent a complication called OHSS. Basically it happens after retrieval when your ovaries are still very swollen and estrogen levels are also elevated(which mine are). It can cause fluid to build up in my belly and would have to be drained off with a needle. I am really hoping and praying I will be spared this awful side effect. I just keep praying for god to take care of me. He has blessed me more than I can put into words. 

Tomorrow I have to check my voicemail to see how many eggs were healthy and able to be fertilized. Then we go back next wednesday to have two of our embie babies put back in! I pray all goes well and my little embie babies get an good nights rest. 

Cycle day 40

I have made it to the big 4-0! I am so proud of myself! I had another check this morning and the ultrasound tech said that I still was not ready to go to retrieval. I was so upset. Cried all morning. I have been having a lot of pain the last couple of days in my belly. Just a lot of pressure, but every time I move it feels very uncomfortable. I really thought that I was there and that I had finally made it! Then when the tech told me it did not look like I was ready yet. I just lost it.  Anyways, I came home and rested most of the day in bed and when I checked my voicemail from my nurse I was shocked to find out that it really was time! She told me to take my trigger shot (MY LAST SHOT!!!!!!!!!) and I would be ready for my retrieval on friday. I could not believe it! So I started making the round of calls to let Michael and my Mom know what was going on. Just talking about it makes butterflies in my stomach. So here I am 36 hours away. Please pray for me that all goes well with no complications and we have lots of perfect little eggies!

Cycle day 36

Michael and I thought it would be a fun to count up how many shots I have taken to this point. The grand totally was 32! I can not believe that I have taken 32 shot in the past few weeks. I have to say I am pretty proud of myself because I never thought I would ever make it this far and now we are in the home stretch. 

I went back to the doctor on Friday and I did not get the best news. My blood level was 476 which was up from the 103 from the last visit. However, I still do not have any eggs big enough for retrieval. I was very sad and upset. I left very discouraged. I had to regroup my thoughts and put it all into perspective. I have only been taking the medication to make my eggs grow for only about 7 days. I don't need to rush this. I want beautiful healthy eggs and if that takes a little longer than so be it. I can do it!

I go back on Monday and I am praying for good news. I really need it right now. I am starting to feel a little pain and cramping in my sides, so that is actually a good sign that the eggs are hopefully growing. For now I am just trying to stay strong and stress as little as possible.

On another note, my birthday was great! Michael got me a new Blackberry phone! I love it! It's pink and so cute. I am still learning how it use it. It's my first blackberry!

If you are reading this please keep me in your prayers. I need all I can get right now!