3 Weeks Until Transfer!

We had a refreshing time at Hilton Head Island, SC this weekend with family. It was a great way to get out of our routine and something fun to break-up the time between now and July 20th (transfer date)!

I took my last BCP on Saturday (Yay!). My Lupron shots have been going well overall - nothing too scary or painful. It burns for about 5-10 minutes after the injection, but then the pain subsides. Even though I have been injecting at various places in my abdomen, I did notice a small bruise today. Is this normal? - Have any other FET mommies had their Lupron to cause bruising? After every injection, I always begin to doubt myself with thoughts such as "Am I 100% sure that I had the syringe marked at exactly 10 units?," "Am I 100% sure that I injected it at least 2 inches away from my belly button?" etc..." This is just so important and since I'm not a nurse, I think way too much about these little shots! Haha

I have my first of two ultrasounds and labs with a local RE on Wednesday morning and if everything looks the way it should, I will begin my Estrace on Wednesday! I can't believe our transfer is almost finally here - Lord willing, 3 weeks from tomorrow, our babies will be in my belly!!!

A Little More About Our Babies...

In my last post, I gave the basic info regarding our match(es), but I didn't explain it all in depth...

For right now, we are the parents of two children - not six. The first set of two embryos (genetic siblings) will be thawed first. So, if they both survive the thaw, the embryologist will not thaw any more embryos. However, if one or both of them do not survive the thaw, then the embryologist will continue to thaw one at a time until we have 2-3 embryos to transfer. If our first two embryos do survive the thaw, we will transfer them and the remaining 4 embryos will go back into the pool of adoptable embryos for the next NEDC transfer cycle (in September) and they will not be our children. Unlike Ashley and her husband, who have adopted a set of 6 genetic siblings, our only definite children are our first set of two. Thus, we are currently only considering the first two embryos as our babies...we pray for them specifically and my bracelet with my two embryo beads now has an even more special meaning! If one or both of these sweet babies do not survive the thaw, then they will be our children in Heaven and we will then also adopt other children. But for right now, we are the parents of only 2 children - not 6.

It makes my heart brim with joy to see how excited Aaron is about these two precious babies - He made a copy of their profile and placed it on his desk at work right beside my bridal picture. And me? - I can't stop thinking about these two babies that are reserved for us to transfer on July 20th!!! We don't know how long they've been frozen since their conception or many other things about them (we hope to find out more soon when additional info comes), but we do know that God has blessed us with these two precious lives and we are so excited to be adopting them in 28 days!

Other Random Items...

• I begin my first of many shots tonight - I don't think the Lupron will be too bad (it's the Progesterone in Oil that I'm most nervous about!).
• We booked our hotel in Knoxville - We will drive down on July 19th, transfer our babies on July 20th, and drive home on July 21st!
• Ashley and I have not only been at the same place in our adoption since the beginning - we now officially have the same transfer date at the NEDC...I think it's pretty cool how that worked out!
  
• We will be going to the beach with Aaron's family this weekend - It will be a little strange to have needles on my packing list right along with my sunscreen and swimsuit! :)
  

MATCHED!!!

We have been matched with a total of 6 blastocysts from 5 different genetic parents! Our first choice was a set of 2 embryos, so if they both survive the thaw, these will be the babies transferred to my womb (we are praying to this end). If one or both of them do not survive the thaw, we have 4 more profiles of 1 embryo each that will be dethawed one at a time until we have 2 or 3 survivors for transfer.

We responded to the profile email within 17 minutes! I'm so glad that God is sovereign over this - It would be so stressful without resting in Him...knowing that we can't thwart His good plan for our lives is comforting.

I also received my protocol from the NEDC nurse today and will start my Lupron shot in my tummy beginning next Tuesday - I've never been so excited about a needle.

Lord willing, in just 4.5 weeks, our babies will finally be in my womb! - Our official transfer date is Tuesday, July 20th!!! :)

5 Weeks Until Transfer!

We received word today from the NEDC that our profiles would be emailed to us this Friday between 10:00am-12:00pm - Yippee!!! :)

On a different note...When we first started ttc back in the fall of 2008, we were one of two couples in our church who didn't have children yet. The other couple had been trying for two years, while we had only been trying for a few months. Obviously, I assumed that they had some unknown infertility problem (even though the doctors couldn't find anything wrong on either of their ends), and that it was just taking Aaron and me a little longer (most doctors say to give it a year before you have any tests). I told her about embryo adoption, because I was so in love with the idea and thought that maybe they would want to look into this (Haha - God was probably smiling as He listened to me telling her this). :) She and I prayed that we would both conceive and be pregnant together. Not too long after that though, Aaron and I found out that we were infertile (we didn't wait a year to test...more like 6 months being the impatient people that we are). She and her husband did finally conceive naturally back in the fall of 2009 and are expecting a baby boy this August. Her baby shower is July 31st - right smack dab in the middle of my 2 week wait before taking a pregnancy test after my transfer. She and I both have marveled at how wonderful it would be if I was pregnant at her shower and we could be pregnant together for a couple of weeks until her son is born. I love that God had already laid embryo adoption on our hearts before we were diagnosed as infertile - so much so that I was telling my friend about it. I love though, that God chose Aaron and me to walk this path. While stressful at times and is definitely stretching our faith, our adoption journey has been one of the sweetest times of my life. And, yes, I'm still praying that she and I can be pregnant together even if for a short while and in a way that we didn't imagine when we prayed in our small group some time ago. :)

6 Weeks until Transfer!

It is now 6 weeks prior to our frozen embryo transfer (FET)! Our profiles should be emailed to us probably late next week. The NEDC said that they would let us know around Monday of the week that they would email them (which is typically on a Friday), and since I haven't heard anything from them today, I'm assuming it will be next week. I can't wait to look over the profiles and find out which babies we will be adopting next month!

I started my BCPs again last week and will be taking active pills straight thru until I receive my protocol. Since this is now the cycle prior to the FET cycle, we have to gain control over my body's natural cycle beginning now. In addition to starting the BCPs, a lot of other things will be happening over the next 6 weeks that should make time start to fly (I hope so anyway!).

1) Receiving the profiles and getting matched with embryos.
2) Locate a local Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) to monitor my uterine lining the two weeks prior to the FET. I will have 2 ultrasounds with a local RE and he/she will fax my results to the NEDC. I know of one local RE whose office has already agreed to do this for me, but his office isn't too close to my job. And since I'll be doing these ultrasounds prior to work in the morning or mid-day during the workday, I would prefer to find a RE a little closer. I'm going to make some more calls this week.
3) Receive my Protocol from the NEDC, explaining when to start which shots and meds.
4) Book our hotel in Knoxville.
5) Get a cashier's check to pay for the FET (only method of payment that the NEDC will accept for the FET).

And of course, as we've been doing for the past year, we will continue to petition the Lord to allow our babies to survive the dethawing process, transfer, and successfully implant in my womb - to grow and be birthed 9 months later! :)

My Meds...

I ordered my meds yesterday and they arrived today - Intimidating to say the least. I'm a little frustrated with the pharmacy because I started to order them back in April just in case there should be an increase in any of their costs. The customer service representative advised me not to order them so early, because my prescriptions & protocol could change and then I'd be stuck with the meds, since they won't refund. (I doubted that my prescriptions would change, considering that the NEDC does this all the time and these are the standard drugs that all of their patients use.) When I asked the customer service rep how likely it would be that the prices would go up in the next couple of months, she replied "not likely." So, I postponed ordering them until June 1st and on that very day, one of their prices increased (my Leuprolide). It wasn't too much in the grand scheme of things and thankfully, my insurance is paying for a good portion. Nevertheless, I was a little frustrated that I let them talk me out of ordering the meds in April.

When I received the meds today, I discovered that my Estrace was the generic (Estradiol) and the NEDC only permits name brand Estrace. I called the pharmacy and they looked thru my notes and said "Yes, we see where your doctor said name brand only...we must have missed that somehow." I then got charged an additional $25 to cover the difference between the name brand and the generic. I feel like they should have given me the Estrace free at this point, but instead they told me that not only would they ship my Estrace, but that I could also keep the Estradiol...Yippee! A bottle of pills that I can't use! Haha

Oh well, I'm really not complaining...Just laughing with you guys about the crazy ordeal my meds have been. I'm so thankful to God for having brought us this far in a year's time. We made our first contact and applied with the NEDC around Memorial Day weekend last year. And a year later, I'm holding my box of meds preparing for our embryo transfer next month! (Did I just say next month?!...Yep!) :)