A Few More Details From Tuesday

This post is *hopefully* going to give you a better idea of what our next big step will be. In March/April I will be doing some labs, but I feel they are fairly routine. Our prayer is that if God continues us in this process, that we will be able to do my egg retrieval in August with hopes of implanting Brenda soon after that. Again, we say that cautiously because God may have a different idea for us, but that is really the next big step – preparing for the egg retrieval. So really what is that? Trust me, before Tuesday I really had no clue.

In retrieving eggs, the idea is to try to retrieve as many as they can, with hopes that at least some are mature. To assist in what they call “follicle” growth, I will be taking Gonal F, which is a shot that I inject into my lower abdomen. As you women know, our systems are typically on quite a schedule. Well for the first step, in order to temporarily stop my ovaries from dropping the eggs, I will be taking Lupron, which is also injected into the lower abdomen. By taking the Lupron, it stops the natural production and allows the medication to produce multiple follicles. So, when it is time to retrieve the eggs, several eggs can be retrieved. I will be taking Lupron for about 4ish weeks and then Gonal F for 10ish days (which is the second step). While I am taking the Gonal F, I need to have ultrasounds and blood tests done 5 times, which equals out to be about every 3 days. That is where I will need to be going to Kalamazoo for them all. Kind of a long drive just for something “simple” but they need same day results and certain details and if not done right, the whole process gets messed up. So, we’d rather do it right and just go to Kalamazoo. Then when the follicles are mature, I will take one more shot and then 36 hours later, my eggs will be retrieved! (Side note: the shots do overlap with each other, so we are looking at a total of 4ish weeks for the process).

The eggs are retrieved through an ultrasound-directed needle. Thankfully I will be under a local anethesia and IV sedation. Then 4 hours later, they will attempt to fertilize. After about 18 hours, the eggs are examined to see if they fertilized. The fertilized eggs are then kept in an incubator for another day or two so they develop further and then they are transferred (in our case, to Brenda!)

All of this info I have gathered from the papers they have given me – I tried to explain it all in English terms, so hopefully this all makes sense. This process was a little overwhelming when she first told us about it because in my head I’m thinking how in the world am I going to remember all this (even though she gave me a calendar)? But, she then showed me a sheet that will have every single day written out and what I need to take, how much, and what not. That was helpful. I don’t have that yet, but we have months to get there.

Of course there are risks with this process, but that is why they also have you going in for ultrasounds – to make sure all is okay. She was telling me the side effects and at any time if I felt something wasn’t quite right, to call and don’t hesitate. They are so great. They are a place that I truly feel I can call at anytime and not feel like I am bothering them. We are blessed to have been led to this place.

And to be honest, I am not really scared about the shots. I am hoping I can administer them myself, but we will have to see once. If I do it once, I think I’ll be golden. Dan said he is more than willing to do it (he said he’s given his dogs insulin shots so he thinks he’ll be able to). I did have to remind him I am not a dog though :).

We are excited to see what happens this summer1 Who knows, maybe God will close a door before then. But all we know is that this past Tuesday, we learned about our next steps and what to think about, so that is what we are going to do. I know I have said this before, but I never imagined us going through the infertility process, but it has been nothing but a positive experience. And I didn’t think the words infertility and positive could be in the same sentence, but for us, they can. On the way home on Tuesday, Dan and I were talking about just having to go through infertility procedures to have a child and how we are on such a different end than most people. But Dan had a good point – everyone sitting in the waiting room is there because they cannot have kids on their own. We are no different. And he is right. That is why when we see people in the office, our hearts just break for them. Not that we know exactly how they feel, but we are all there with the same purpose – hoping to have children someday. So even though it can be a long road, we couldn’t be more thankful for the road we are on.

If you have any questions, please let me know and send me an email. It is a complicated process with little details, and I’m sure I left out something or left some confusion :).

Enjoy this snowy weekend!