First try

Two days ago, I had an appointment with the doctor again for an ultrasound to check to see how my follicles were growing. I had three dominant follicles: One was 14 mm and two were 13 mm. He told me to come back in on cycle day 15 to see how they were growing. Today is cycle day 15 and I still have three little follicles just working away! I have one that is 18, 17, and 16 mm. He told me to take one more night of hmg and then we will do the trigger shot of hcg tomorrow night (CD 16) for an IUI on Saturday (CD 18). I'm so nervous and excited! I hope the three keep growing and they all get released when they're supposed to!

I've been taking my HMG shots for two days so far, and it's still surreal to me that we are trying for baby number 2. Sara is the one who mixes the medicine and gives me the shot (which apparently comes from the urine of menopausal women). The shot doesn't hurt as much as the medicine does when it goes into the body. It burns as it goes in and causes a little bit of cramping. Sara switches sides each time to prevent too much soreness.
So right now, we are on vacation at Cherry Grove. When we get back, I have an ultrasound to check on my follicles to see if I have any potential eggs! We are so excited...it really doesn't seem real this time around for some reason.

So much more love to give

Sara and I have gone back-and-forth for a long time trying to decide if we wanted to have another child. We have so much love to give; why not share it with another little person? We have decided to embark on the journey again. Our first doctors appointment is tomorrow morning and we will most likely have to go on birth control for a month to be able to time my cycle. It's almost as if everything in our lives is aligning in order for this to happen. I really hope that our dreams of a bigger family will come true.

Perfect little heart beat!

Today we experienced one of the most awesome things in the world.  At 7 weeks, we saw our little baby, got to see the heart beat and even hear it on our ultrasound.  I can't believe it finally happened.  After two and a half years of trying to get insurance and resources in line, we are now new mommies.  It was worth every bit of the roller coaster ride we took to get here.  I am due on August 4, 2012 which seems like forever away, but I'm sure will be here before we know it.  I know it is cliche, but our lives will never be the same!  We are so thrilled!!!  Here is a picture of our little one.  I know she doesn't look like a baby yet, but there she is!!  We have another ultrasound next week, too and then we will be released to a regular OBGYN.  :) 

What do we do now?

Well, folks...I peed on a stick this morning, and guess what?  We are going to be mommies!!  :)  I am so utterly thrilled right now-I can't even sleep.  This is the most wonderful and scary feeling I've ever had.  I am terrified that something may happen.  We worked so hard to get to where we are right now, and I've shared the journey with the three of you that are reading this....lol  But isn't it bad luck to talk about it before 3 months?  I mean, 1/4 of all pregnancies end in miscarriage.  There is so much that could go wrong.  Plus, I don't feel like I'm in the clear until the doctor tells me for sure that I'm pregnant.  First, I worried about getting pregnant.  Now, I'm worried about staying pregnant.  I really need to relax!!  :)

I was convinced that I was pregnant for the past 5 days.  I worked myself up, and I just knew that it was going to be hard on me if it turned out that I was just experiencing side effects from the Progesterone that I'm taking.  My Mom tried to calm me down and prepare me, but my Grandmother told me not to even think about that possibility.  She believes in the power of positive thinking and she was my life coach for the past three weeks. 

So, now we wait!! Because it's 2:15am on "Black" Friday, everyone is asleep or either busy standing in lines so I haven't told anyone but my Sara (Who sounds like she can't sleep either by the tossing and turning going on).  This is so wonderful...We're finally going to become Mommies after two years of heartbreaks, upsets, and meds.  PLEASE send some positive vibes our way in hopes that nothing will happen to this baby (or babies!!)!!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...lots of love and THANK YOU for caring enough to follow my journey!

11/11/11

  I really hope that today is our lucky day.  After 9 long days of painful shots and 4 ultrasounds later, the doctor finally told me that I was ready for our IUI!  While we waited for this day to come, we realized that this would be our last try for a while.  If it doesn't work this time, we will take a break from all of the stress and meds and just focus on ourselves for a while.  I'm trying to prepare myself for the potential bad news, so I've worked up a list of reasons why I'd be okay if it doesn't work:

• We could focus on getting in better shape and losing weight
• We can go on a cruise for graduation!
• Less stress during my first year of teaching
• We could time it to better fit the school year and summer breaks
• Have some selfish fun for a while

 I want to be a mother more than anything in the world, but I think I will be okay if it doesn't work this time around.  Am I convincing you?  Because I'm not sure I'm completely convinced myself.  :p 

 So the day went well.  To our surprise this morning, a female nurse practitioner came in and did the actual procedure.  She was WAY more gentle and comforting.  It made me feel at ease.  We had two follicles that were ready to release two eggs, and hopefully this is our lucky try!  I mean, 3rd times a charm, right?  11/11/11 is supposed to be lucky, right?  We test on Black Friday to see if it worked and to see if we are pregnant...please send some positive vibes our way!!  This will be a very long 2 week wait for us!    

Still hopeful...

The injectables have been really rough on me and Sara.  She doesn't like giving them to me, and I don't like getting them!  The needle is 1 1/2 inches long and the medicine burns when it goes in.  After the shot, usually starting the next day, I have really bad cramps in the muscle that she shoots me in the night before.  I'm not complaining, because I will take all of the pain and then some to have the chance to get pregnant.  :) 

We went in for an ultrasound this past friday (Cycle Day 11) to check to see how my body was reacting to the meds.  I had four possible follicules that were working.  Two were about 12 mm big and two were too small to measure, but noticeable on the ultrasound.  Seeing how follicules should be about 22 mm before they release an egg, mine still have a little ways to go, so I have another appointment tomorrow (CD 14) to see if they grew anymore.  Keep your fingers crossed, and I'll keep you updated!!!