My very own personal IVF calendar, and other updates!

What a crazy, BUSY week last week was!! Sorry I didn't blog, there was just so much going on. And blogging just wasn't one of those things.

If you're on our Facebook, you know that I was asking for prayers for my grandpa (lovingly referred to as Pig Pig). Your prayers always work wonders! God is good and my grandpa is doing GREAT! He had surgery Monday and all the tests have come back and we are all happy!

Wednesday we had Faith's school conference. She's doing much better this year than she has the last couple years (she's a talker!!). We are so SO proud of her! She's better with her talking (or maybe this teacher just has more patience). Her reading seems to be improving already, so they're doing something right! Even her penmanship is better!! Have I mentioned how proud we are??

Also Wednesday, I called my wonderful nurse Connie. It was the start of my September cycle so that was the next step to take. I waited (impatiently) for a call back, all the while telling myself that she's a busy busy lady and she has to get things scheduled before she can call me back anyway. That didn't help though. When we got home from work, I sat down to relax, thinking the call would just come the next day... NOPE!!! My phone went off and I snatched it  up as quickly as possible.
"Hello?"
"Hi, can I please speak to Destiny?" Yea Yea Yea Yea YEA!!!
"This is Destiny."
"Hi Destiny, this is Connie with Dr H's office." Of course it is!
"Hi Connie!"
"How are you doing today?" Good NOW!!
"I'm great how are you doing?"
"I'm good. Are you ready for all of this to get started?" Oh I think I may faint.... Oh my GOSH!!!
"Yeah, well, really I'm seriously so scared. But yeah."
"Oh don't be scared! You'll get through this just fine!" This is the best nurse in the world!!!!

I won't bore you with all the details of our entire conversation (it wasn't short and I had some questions and we had to get a couple things straightened out), but basically we got everything scheduled. Our next appointment is the "big testing day." We'll do the injections teaching (Danny will learn, I won't even be able to watch!), go over my personalized calendar and then do the saline sono and mock transfer.
Wondering what the saline sono and mock transfer are?
The saline sonogram will basically consist of filling my uterus with saline and looking around in there for polyps, fibroids, etc.
The mock transfer is really pretty interesting. It'll essentially be a dress rehearsal for the embryo transfer! Dr H will figure out which catheter is the appropriate size for me, insert it (guided by ultrasound) and decide where exactly he will be transferring the embryo(s). This way, on the day of the ET he will know exactly what to use and where to go with it all. This means less trauma to the embryo(s) AND me.

I asked Connie if she knew which meds I would be on. She said that's pretty flexible and wanted to know why I asked. I haven't shared this on the blog yet, but... A couple months ago I met this really awesome person who recently underwent fertility treatments. She offered up her leftover meds, which included a box of Menopur... Menopur is SO SUPER expensive, and the offer made me so excited!! I just hoped I would be put on that med!! I told Connie all of this, and she sounded just as excited as I was about the prospect of saving money. Since the Menopur isn't expired, I CAN USE IT!! I will have to order a second box, but I still get to save on the first box!! YEA!!!

Connie promised she'd email me my schedule by the end of the week, so I was expecting it to be late Friday... That didn't stop me from checking my email pretty constantly though! And I got a pleasant surprise Thursday around lunch when I got an email from Connie with my schedule attached!!
I will be honest, I opened the attachment and just stared at the screen.
This is REALLY happening. This is real. THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!!
I printed off multiple copies of the calendar (one for work, one for home, etc). I stared at it. I emailed it to Danny. I stared at it some more.


Here is the picture in case you want to stare at it too!! Remember that calendar I posted months ago? That was just an example. This is the REAL DEAL right here!!

Do you see all of those highlights??? Those are SHOTS. Not drinky drinky shots. Stabby stabby shots. About 44 of them, and that's subject to change. As is this entire calendar!! Why? Because it all depends on how my body reacts to the meds.

The shots don't start until October 7th. But one IVF prep med started over the weekend... Birth control pills. Insurance wouldn't cover them because the instructions from the clinic says to ignore the placebo pills. Had to pay "cash price" for those. Ouch. Danny told me "It's a one-time deal, it's fine." I said no, actually I have to go back for the second pack in 3 weeks. To which he responded "Yeah, but you won't have to go through this again. It's FINE." I will need to be reminded of that repeatedly during the stabs and mood swings and hot flashes and everything else that is involved in a fresh IVF cycle. And I will be PRAYING PRAYING PRAYING that we WILL only have to do this once.


On Friday we had the Premier Designs Jewelry fundraiser!! It went well and I'm not closing the party until Saturday so if  you want to order, there's still a chance! Thank you to the wonderful ladies that attended the party!


So there's where we're at right now. Things are getting exciting!! I think from now on I'll do a little "fertility update" at the end of each post (until we are to the point that every post is about it).

Today is day 4 of BCPs (birth control pills). My body isn't used to any sort of medication, at all. It's been 3 YEARS since I have been on birth control, and I was on it for so long before that, that I don't remember that "adjustment time" when my body was getting used to the other hormones. So, I am currently feeling a bit wonky and out of sorts. But nothing crazy yet. We'll see how it goes from here on out though!!

Fundraisers, and why we still need them!

The last week has been such a whirlwind!! It's amazing to think that a week ago we met Dr H, checked on my follies and did the blood draw. But here we are, a week later and with a plan in place!

When we met with Dr H, he mentioned that IVF (with ICSI) runs 12-14k at his office, depending on the meds. Since he later said I SHOULD need the lower dose, that to me keeps me at 12k. Then there are the added costs that aren't in the package price (the meds aren't either but he gave that in his estimate).
$580 for the saline sono and mock transfer.
$50-100 for injections teaching
$450 for sperm work up (not sure if that applies to us since his swimmers have already been tested, but I am including it since I'm sure there will be a cost in receiving the frozen vials and defrosting them)
$150-300 Infection disease testing
$500-700 anesthesia (due at the retrieval which should be Oct 29)
Meds will run at the ABSOLUTE LOWEST (and I've never found anyone who only paid this much) will be $1500. Average is $3000. I don't know where I will run in that spectrum. And that will all have to be paid before anything else (aside from the mock transfer/injections teaching, which will be due the day of that appointment which should be in a couple weeks).

The package price of the INCLUDED IVF stuff is due at the baseline appointment (mid October).

Then the day of the retrieval (10-29) will be the day to pay for the anesthesia.

Also, it's going to cost us just over $200 to ship the swimmers to our clinic (with insurance), and that will be asap!

I'm hoping our costs will be on the lower end of the spectrum of all of the above. But regardless, we'll obviously need about 3-4k on top of what we've raised. That's why we are still ACTIVELY fundraising. I know I've been pretty quiet about the fundraisers lately, and that ends NOW. Time to start really shouting it out about raising money. We've got about a month to raise all of this. One. Month. I don't think we'll raise all of that. If we do, FABULOUS. If not? Well then we'll have to finance (and hope and pray we are approved...).

So here we go :)
My Premier Designs Jewelry fundraiser is NEXT FRIDAY!!!! WOOHOOO!!! Did  you know that jewelry is the NUMBER ONE Christmas gift given in the US? Bring your Christmas lists and do some shopping!! 100% of the profits go to our fund!!!

Aaaannnndddd We've got a new one!! Grace Adele!! There's BOUND to  be something  you'll love here! Check it out!!
https://styles2enjoy.graceadele.us/GraceAdele/Buy?partyId=102537935

There's also another 31 Gifts fundraiser in the works!! That will start soon!


And.... There's one more! I've been sitting on this one for a very long time. It's something I found on another IVF fundraiser site and have recommended to another future-IVF'er. I went back and forth on it, and I just couldn't decide if people would like it... You know what though? I've showed a few people. AND THEY LOVE IT!! So here it is. And thanks to Miss Jamie for making the flyer :)

Sorry it's sort of blurry :( I can't seem to figure out quite how to fix that... But you get the gist, right? At the end it just says that we prefer any of THESE donations to be made by mail (get with me so I can give you our address). This is simply because I can only take out a certain amount on our paypal PER MONTH. That hasn't been an issue yet, since we don't get most of our donations that way. But since we are asking for a big number in donations, well, snail mail seems to work best for that.


And there you go. There are our current fundraisers. And why we NEED them. If you want to help out, NOW is the time. We are trying to finance the least amount possible (because really, we'd be paying about twice the price we finance with interest rates on things like that), so EVERY PENNY helps!! And this way, you get nice little incentives :)


Thank you to each and every one of you who have helped us get this far!!! We are so grateful!!! <3

Things I learned at our first appointment at OURM

Things I learned at our first appointment at OURM:


1. I have been mispronouncing LUPRON ever since starting my research on IVF. This is a med I WILL be taking, so I guess I should know how to pronounce it.

2. I will be on birth control. For sure. This is so they can have complete control. I guess they are a lot like me with their need-for-control-and-serious-down-to-the-minute-planning ;)

3. I was ALSO mispronouncing the fertilization process we will be using... ICSI. I have always pronounced each letter.. I would say I.C.S.I. It always made me think of the tv shows like NCIS and all that. But, come to find out, that's now how it's pronounced. It's pronounced like ick-see. Ick.

4. We aren't the only people who think the streets in OKC are INSANE. So does our nurse. And she's from California :)

5. Our file has sonogram pictures in it.. like the kind people take home of their little babies in the womb... Only mine are of my ovaries. I saw the picture on the screen, I saw the pictures printing from the machine, and I saw them eventually ending up in my medical file. So weird!

6. Our clinic (and some other fertility clinics, according to some friends) takes your picture when you check in the first time. Yes, the receptionist gave me back my insurance card and then told me "Smile for your picture!" I obviously looked confused because she then held up a webcam (on a fancy little stand) and said "for your file...." Well, I was still confused! But I ran my fingers through my hair, fixed my part, and plastered a smile on my face. Considering I was scared out of my mind at the time, I'm sure the picture wasn't the greatest :) But hey, whatever works. I'm not entirely sure what the point was.. .But if you've read Inconceivable.. that's what I imagine the picture is there to PREVENT.

7. A good nurse is worth her weight in gold... Actually, MORE. Connie took my blood like a champ. I barely felt a pinch. That's the first time it's ever been that easy for me! I think I need to call her in every time I need blood drawn from here on out! :)

And finally...

8. Just because we had a great appointment that day, doesn't mean every other patient did too. :( Before being called back, I watched another couple walk out of the office with obvious frowns. The girl walked quite a bit faster than her husband, and he was basically left in her wake. They both looked a little lost, and a lot upset. It was heart wrenching. I hope that couple eventually ends up with good news. And I also hope WE are never that couple :(

Something crazy?! What??

Happy Monday! I hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day!!

We've had quite the holiday weekend!! Thursday was yet another big day for us. Friday was my brother and sister-in-law's wedding. Saturday was my amazing hubby's birthday, and his sister and her family came into town. We spent time with them Saturday and had a family picnic Sunday. Now today Faith is busy with her homework (or rather, staring around the room, putting OFF writing her sentences...), which means I've got time to blog!!!

I really wanted to blog about Thursday that evening, but I just didn't have time. Of course, if you're our friend on Facebook, then you already know :) But this post will go into more detail!



You all know how the appointment went Wednesday. You also know that as of Wednesday, we were seriously looking at IVF in January. I understood the reasoning, it all made sense. And I had finally decided that I could handle that, since it seemed to be our only option. But I couldn't help the stab of disappointment I felt because my original plan wasn't going to happen. I wanted to be pregnant at Christmas!! I wanted to be SHOWING at Christmas!! At least a little bit! I didn't want to miss out on Black Friday but knew that would be best (if we did IVF in October and were successful). So I had accepted that. I wanted things to happen asap. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that asap was, essentially, January. But I did. I was fine by later that evening.

At the end of our appointment Wednesday my amazing nurse, Connie, took some blood. This blood work was going to check my progesterone and make sure I had ovulated. Yes, I had felt it, but they needed to be positive. Connie said she'd call with the results Thursday, and asked if it was okay if she left a message. Since the numbers we'd given her were both cell numbers, we said that was perfectly fine.


I went to work Thursday just like I do every day. But the day was spent answering many questions about the appointment and when we'd get to start the whole process. I was expecting a call from Connie with my results, but knew the "scheduling call" wouldn't be coming until early the next week since things were so busy and it would take some coordinating.
Around 2:45 my cell phone rang. I glanced at it and saw "unknown" with no number listed. That meant I was going to ignore it... And then I remembered that the last time someone from OURM had called, it had been "unknown" like that, too! I snatched my phone up to answer but it had already been transferred to my voicemail.
Oh well, since it's only the call about my progesterone results. She'll tell me that in her message...
My voicemail tone went off and I let it be for a few minutes. Deep breaths. It's just the progesterone results. You KNOW you ovulated Destiny. Everything looked great at the appointment, you FELT the ovulation, the blood work will only CONFIRM that.
I listened to the voicemail.
"Hi Destiny, This is Connie with Dr H's office. If you could give me a call back at ______. I'll talk to you soon, thanks!"
What? Call her back? This is just supposed to be the progesterone results. She could just leave that on the voicemail, that's why we gave her permission. Why do I have to call back for that? Unless something is wrong. Ohmygosh. Something is wrong.
I went into my mom's office so I could call privately. And by privately, I mean with my momma sitting right there, listening to my side of the conversation. ;)
"What do you think they'll say? Anything about the scheduling?" No, that's not supposed to happen until next week.....
"No. This was just supposed to be my bloodwork results...."

I was transferred to Connie, and was only on hold for a few seconds.
"This is Connie."
"Hi Connie, this is Destiny. I was just returning your call?"
"Hi Destiny!! How are you today?" Who cares how I am? What is WRONG?!
"I'm good, how are you doing?"
"I'm great! Okay so I've got your progesterone results here. You definitely ovulated!" Whew!!!
"Okay, great."
"And also... After you left yesterday, something crazy happened..." Something crazy?? What??
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Well I got a call from someone wanting to cancel their October IVF." Ohhhh my gosh.... Ohmygosh! Don't get your hopes up Destiny, don't get your hopes up!!
"Oh really?"
"Yep. So that means I've got an open spot for IVF in October. A spot I need to fill..." I want it, I want it, I WANT IT!!!!
"Okay..."
"So it's yours if you want it?" I DO I DO I DO I DO I DO! YES!!!!!!!!
"We would LOVE the October spot!!"
"Okay, great! So I'll need you to call on the first day of your next menstrual cycle. Then everything can start with your testing and birth control pills and everything else. Your official "start date" for the IVF, meaning the stimulation medication, will be October 20th. And the estimated egg retrieval will be October 29th." Ohmygosh!!!
"Okay, I've got that all down."
"Okay, so just go ahead and call me on the first day of your cycle and we can get everything set up! I will have the lab get a hold of you to set up the transfer of the sperm from the sperm bank." Ahhhh!!!!
"Okay great. Thank you so much!"
"Have a good day!"
"You too, bye!"

The whole time, my mom was looking at what I was writing down. I had mouthed to her that we got October and she looked pretty pleased. When I hung up, she asked what all was happening.
We pulled a calendar out and started filling in the dates. Then I called Danny and left a message, telling him the good news!


So! HERE WE GO!!! :) I can't believe this is all happening! I can't believe WE ARE HERE!!!!

In about a week (and a day) I will be calling Connie. I'm not sure what my next step will be from there, but I assume it will be putting me on birth control. We will also schedule the trial transfer and saline sonogram. I'm not sure (even after some internet research) which day that normally happens on. The day of the trial transfer, I will learn how to do the injections. Or, well, DANNY will. He will  be the one doing them. And those injections will start soon after that. I will get a calendar completely personalized to my cycle at that appointment as well.
On October 20th I will start the stimulating injections. Those will force a LOT of eggs to grow. On the 29th, if my ovaries obey, we will do the egg retrieval. Which means I will have the trigger shot on the evening of the 27th. The 28th will be a day free of injections, I think. And the morning of the 29th I will check in, and get my eggs taken! I think I'll be able to go home that day. And then we'll wait on a fertilization report. They will then tell us how many of my eggs were able to be fertilized. Then it's the waiting game. We will HOPEFULLY wait for a 5 day transfer (if the embryos grow well and don't start dying off quickly). That will put us there on a weekend, which makes me happy :)

Two weeks after the egg retrieval, I should be getting a pregnancy test. Since that would be November 12th, which is a holiday, I THINK we will be going down on the 13th for that test. The 13th! 13 is our magic number, so I find that very fitting :)


Do you know what this all means? It means we will have to pay in October (but pay for the meds before that)!! If you've been planning on donating, NOW IS THE TIME to do so!

Don't forget about the Premier Designs Jewelry party on the 14th of this month!!!

Thank you, to everyone, for all of your help and support!!! WE'RE DOIN' THIS!!!

Cheers to above average ovaries!!

Well, today was a big day!! A big big big big day! It wasn't the biggest day for us in regards to IVF, but it was a huge step.

You know when you go through something and the whole time your sole focus is on the ONE problem you know about... and then all of a sudden you find out about the whole OTHER issue you never anticipated? That was my fear leading up to today's appointment. All I could think was "We've gone three years assuming our only form of infertility is Danny... What if we find out that I'm not fertile? What if I have diminished ovarian reserve? What if I have a wonky uterus? Fibroids? Cysts? What if they tell us IVF won't work for us unless we use donor eggs?" Danny has always said that we can't focus on a problem that may not exist... That didn't stop me. I'm a planner and all. ;)

Last night was not a good one for me. I straightened my hair so that way it wouldn't be crazy in the morning, and by the time I was done I was BEYOND ready for bed. I snuggled up next to my amazing husband and figured I'd fall asleep instantly.
I didn't.
Google. Google some more. I need to do some more googling. How many antral follicles are average? I know I've read it before but I need to read it again so I'm sure I read it right initially. What else can I expect to happen at this appointment? What all could go wrong? What if our doctor is mean? What if he doesn't seem to care about us? What if our nurse is rude? What if she is snooty? These doctors SHOULD care about their patients.... But we've lucked out with every doctor and nurse so far. Will that luck continue?
"Danny?"
"What, babe?"
"What time should we leave in the morning?"
"I'd say no later than 7:30." 7:30?! WHAT?!
"We need to get there 15-30 minutes early, the lady said.. And the appointment is at 10. That's not getting us there early..."
"Okay, then we can shoot for 7. Is that better?" Is THAT early enough?? That's probably cutting it close. We're bound to hit traffic. That isn't early enough. That's just not early enough.
"Ummm... Okay, I guess."
"Babe, what time do YOU want to leave?" Ha, he knows I can't handle cutting it close or being late.
"I would say ABSOLUTELY no later than 7. NONE."
"Okay. That's fine. Whatever you want." Ahhh I love him!

So, cue sleep, right? Wrong. Who can sleep when SO MUCH lies in what happens the next day? Getting to sleep wasn't exactly an issue. STAYING asleep was. I woke up every hour or so, and checked the clock. I just KNEW we'd oversleep (despite having two alarms set on MY phone and one set on Danny's) and not get on the road on time.

Waking up on time didn't end up being an issue, and we were both ready to go around 6:45.
"Are you ready to go?" Am I ready? Do I have everything? The paperwork... The GPS... That's it. Time to go. 
"Yeah, I'm ready..."
Off we went. The GPS said we'd get to our destination at 9:14. I figured we could add about 20 minutes to that with traffic...

There was NO traffic. We just were in the right place at the right time to avoid it all, I guess. We got to the appointment at the perfect time. I checked the sign with the doctors listed and found Dr H on the list.
"Third floor. Suite 300."
"Okay, let's go." Ahhhh HERE WE GO!!!

On the third floor the first door I saw was Suite 300.
"Is our doctor listed there?" Hmmm... YEP.
"Yeah, right there..."
Danny opened the door. I was instantly reminded of Dr Hyder's office. It was warm and comforting, it felt like home already. But I was still nervous. I walked to the desk with my paperwork.
"Go ahead and sign in."
Name, time of arrival, time of appointment, doctor, new patient. Done, done, done.
"Okay, I can take all of your paperwork that you've filled out." You mean the DICTIONARY I've got here?
"Here you go."
"Also, do you have your insurance card with you today?" Ahhh, here is the test. Are they going to suddenly say we owe $1k up front?
"Yep, here you go."
Off she went, while I stood there... Dreading what she'd come back and say about payment.
"Okay Destiny, here you go. Have a seat, and they will call you back shortly." Easy enough...

I sat down with Danny, and got comfortable. We had about 20 minutes until our appointment. We chatted a bit about how they didn't ask for any payment up front, so the insurance must have worked with them on covering the testing.
"Destiny..." AHHHH IT'S TIME!!!
"Hi."
"Hi there! Come on back.... You can come back too!" Yeah Danny, LET'S DO THIS!
"Oh, yeah, okay I guess." Okay, YOU GUESS?
"C'mon Danny..."
"Well it doesn't sound like you have much of a choice... You better come on!" HAHAHA, I love this lady! "Okay, we need to get you weighed Destiny. Step on up..." I need to ditch the purse...
"Here love, will you hold my purse? I don't want to add ten more pounds to my weight."
I handed my purse off and stepped up onto the scale.
Ewwww. That number is way higher than I used to see. Ugh.
"Stay on the scale for just a minute... Do you know how tall you are?" That number really can go away any time now...
"Five foot on the dot."
"Okay... Alright, we've got what we need here, let's go into your exam room. Let's just let him carry your purse there." HAHAHA I REALLY love her!
"Sounds good to me!"

We went into my exam room. I sat to get my blood pressure taken.
"Ooooh, a little high. Is that normal for you? Are you nervous?" AHHH that number IS high! What the heck?!
"Umm no. I mean, it's not normal. But yes, I'm nervous."
"Well that could be why the number is high. Dr H may or may not want that checked again before  you leave...." Ahhhhh. 

My nurse, Connie, then explained to me what the first appointment would consist of. Meeting with Dr H in his office, where he'd explain everything to us in depth. Then maybe bloodwork, if he orders it. And a physical exam that may or may not include an internal sonogram. She said that honestly, MOST of the first appointments consisted of all of those things, so to count on them.
A few minutes later, Dr H came into the room.
"Hi there. Daniel?" *shook Danny's hand, then turned to me*
"And I'm Destiny."
"Nice to meet you both. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting." Waiting? For like two minutes? Psh.
"Oh no, it's fine."
"Okay, let's go next door to my office and have a seat. We'll talk about everything there."
Off we went, to his super nice office next door to my exam room.
"So, let's see. You're seeing us today because you'll need IVF... I will go over what all that entails, exactly. And I'll also give you some paperwork on it... So Danny," Danny? Are they buddies now? HA! This doctor rocks... "I see you had the MESA procedure done in... 2009?"
"That's right..."
"And you had multiple vials frozen... Good, good." Good? As in, those numbers are good? "Everything looks great here. We really appreciate you having all of the paperwork filled out and ready to go when you got here, it gives us a chance to get to know you before we actually see you." As if that was an option...
"Mhhmm."
"Having the results from his MESA analysis and the post thaw analysis helps us immensely as well." I love that my planning has paid off... Again...
"So, basically here are our success rates at this clinic..." Blah blah blah, believe me, Dr H, I learned all that WELL BEFORE making an appointment here. "So Destiny, it seems like your cycles are fairly regular?"
"Like clockwork."
"So that would put you around.... hmm... ovulation would've been..."
"I ovulated Monday night into Tuesday. I can feel it."
*Looks a bit impressed and writes something down in my file.*
"After seeing all this, I'd say you are healthy and young and I would put you into the higher side of the success rates here. I'd also say that I would anticipate you ending up with enough embryos to use and enough to also freeze. Now the freezing does add some cost to the procedure but..." Oh my GOSH, if we have enough to freeze that would be SO STINKIN' AMAZING!!! That's rare!!! Most people don't have enough make it that far! Ahhh!!!!!!
"At our clinic our rates for frozen transfers are about 40%. Which is lower than that of a fresh cycle...." But still so much higher than so many other clinics! WOW!!! "And I'd say about half of my patients end up having some embryos to freeze." HALF?! Is he serious?! That's fabulous!
"I have a question. Since we're using frozen sperm, then making the embryos, and then freezing what's left.... Is that still okay? The sort of double-freezing?"
"Oh yeah, that's perfectly fine. The sperm is frozen but once it fertilizes an egg it becomes an embryo and THAT has never been frozen before. So it's just like it was fertilized with fresh sperm. No difference." WHEW!!!
"Okay. Great."
"So what we'll do today is a physical exam and..." blah blah blah. The one good thing about this office is they go over everything multiple times, they make sure you know it! "and then from there, we sort of work backwards from your IVF date. Once we have that scheduled, we can schedule the other testing you'll need, Destiny, for the month before. That testing will include a mock transfer so we can see how far up we'll need to go to do the embryo transfer when it's time for that. All of that testing should be able to be done on the same day." Same day? Woohooo!!!
"Now, with your age, guidelines suggest we put in one, MAYBE two embryos. Ultimately that will be your decision, they are YOUR embryos. But, when it comes to that day... We can't really decide now since we don't have the embryos to look at and judge accordingly... But when it comes to that day, if you've got good quality embryos, we will recommend one. Simply because you should have enough to freeze anyway. And you can use those in the event that the IVF doesn't work... Or in the event that you want more than one child. Now, there are reasons for transferring two. Some people want twins so they can be done with their family. Others want to do two because they don't want to ever do this again. But there are plenty of risks when it comes to transferring two, and you need to be aware of them. Most of them will be in your packet, but they include...." One? Transfer ONE?! I don't like hearing that.. But I guess he's a good doctor for even suggesting it... At least he said it's our decision ultimately....

We talked a bit about how we are traveling from Wichita, and why. He seemed to be happy with our decision and how we came about it.
He then asked when we were interested in doing the IVF. I told him that I knew they'd close down for holidays, so to get around that I had in my mind October.
"Hmmm, that will be cutting it a little close. You'll be on birth control pills for about a month or two before the IVF.... But I will have Connie check to see if they can get you in with the lab and then we'll know for sure."
Then it was time for the exams! Dr H told Danny that he could stay in the room during them if he chose to. He said "sure," so Dr H left the room while I got ready.
Danny and I joked about how exams like these work. How women know how they're supposed to cover up with the sheet, or the gown.
"Well there's not really a book on 'how to properly prepare for down-there exams and how to put on the robe and lay the sheet across your lap.' And as you can see, even though the doctor and the nurse will both have quite the visual of my area, I'm still hiding my underwear from them. And don't ask me why. It's just what you do, okay?"
As Danny laughed at me, I got as ready as I could be. And then Dr H and Connie came into the room.
We started with an exam that was much like a yearly pap, only he made sure to say it WASN'T a pap. Ooookay. And then it was time for the sonogram. The part I was dreading.
1. That thing looks uncomfortable
2. He's going to put that INSIDE ME. Ewwww.
3. That thing looks uncomfortable
4. That wand and that screen are going to tell me if I'm running on empty basically. And that's something I just can't handle.

Before I knew it, my insides were up on that screen. All I could think was: I sure wish there was a baby and a heartbeat on that screen.... Not just a picture of my empty body...
Dr H starts spouting off some numbers and I figured I needed to pay attention. He was measuring things. I don't even know what. And Connie was writing everything down.
"She has an anteverted uterus... Destiny that just means your uterus is slightly tilted forward. Totally normal." That's normal?! I've got to google that. That does NOT sound normal!
"Lining is at __. Again, that's normal for where you are in your cycle. That's exactly where we like to see it at this point." Whew! At least that seems like a number that would be normal.... Anteverted. I can't forget that word!
"We're going to start with the right ovary..." I looked up at the screen. SURELY I'd be able to see what he's looking at, I've google it all enough times... Ahh yeah, there are my follies!! I see... THREE. Three? Oh no, not just three. Seven on each side is good... three?
"Okay, right side has fifteen antral follicles..." FIFTEEN?! What?!?! Where did he see all of those at?! Fifteen?! That's almost how many I was hoping for TOTAL, and that's just one side?! GO FOLLIES GO!!!
"Now for the left side... There are at least twelve here..." Twelve?! WOOOHOOO!!! Fifteen and twelve, that's twenty-seven... Oh gosh. That could mean I could get OHSS. That wouldn't be good... But he seems happy with this.
Dr H took a few more measurements and then said I was done.
"That's a great amount of follicles. What that tells me is that I was right in what I assumed earlier. You will respond well to the meds. We will put you on the lowest dose." Lowest dose! HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE!!! Less money, AND less of a chance of OHSS!

Dr H left us with Connie, who told me she'd be back in when I was dressed to give me the paperwork Dr H had asked her to give us, and to discuss scheduling. She also was in charge of taking some blood from me. Ahhhh I HATE BLOOD WORK.
While I was changing I told Danny all about how "average and good" is around 16 follicles (according to a few resources, some say more and some say even less) which was what I was counting on... And how happy I was that we had SO MANY MORE THAN THAT! His response?
"If they can't get us in for October, you need to be okay with when they CAN get us in, okay? We have to trust their decision and their reasoning for scheduling it the way they do..." What?
"You're the one that wanted it all done now now now."
"I know, but it's only a few months difference... It'll be fine." Well FINE then...

Connie came back in and pointed out the paperwork. We would go over it right after the blood draw.
"Ahhh, I'll just look away and pretend I'm getting a tattoo or something."
"Ha, okay. Imagine I'm tattooing a pretty flower on you... Oh wait, unless you don't like flowers?" HA. This nurse is the best.
"I like flowers... And I don't have a flower tattoo yet!"
"Well there you go!! I guess now I really should get a sharpie out and give you what you want..." Oh goodness! Ha!!
"Eh, there will be many more chances to draw a flower on from now on..."
"TRUE, just imagine this is just the BEGINNING of the tattoo... And by the way, I'm done!" Done?! what?! I barely felt even a pinch! Rock ON, Connie!!

We went over the little handbook together. And then Connie broke the news to me.
"So, really, don't listen to what he told you about scheduling. The doctors and the lab do NOT communicate when it comes to that. I will try to have them squeeze you in as soon as possible, but right now I'm telling new patients it'll be January. The doctors don't like that we are scheduling that far out, because they like to satisfy their patients, but we are just that backed up..." Ahhh JANUARY?
"That's fine. We don't want someone else to get scooted back or messed up because we wanted in earlier. We can wait as long as we need to." What? Who is this man, talking like he's my husband?? We can wait as long as we need to? Really? What about the weather in January?! Driving 2 1/2 hours is long enough as it is, bad weather will add at least another hour to that! I DON'T WANT TO.
"The lab likes to spread them out a bit just so they don't get overloaded there and so nothing bad can happen." Oh.. Makes sense. Like in Inconceivable.... Eeek... January.... Hmmm... That would mean I could participate in Black Friday this year... And that would put the due date nowhere near Faith's which I was worried about... January might not be so bad after all....

Connie said she'd call me tomorrow with my blood work results, and would call within the next week about scheduling the IVF and the testing. I got the paperwork she handed over, and we were ready to go.

I checked out at the front desk and again had the sinking feeling that they'd say we owed $1k or more. The lady was tap-tap-tapping away on her calculator and I just KNEW it was going to be bad.
"Okay Destiny your total is $77." Whew! Really? I guess that is the 20% insurance won't cover. SWEET!!!!
I handed over the money, signed a paper, and we were out of there!!!

We walked back to the car... Where we found that we'd gotten a parking ticket! But really, WHO CARES?! I have AT LEAST 27 follicles!!! GO FOLLIES GO, GO FOLLIES GO!!!! I'm walking on cloud 9 today and  I'm not really sure when I'll come down. Hopefully not for a long long time :)



Thank you for all the prayers, happy thoughts, good vibes, AND ALL the texts and messages/comments on Facebook. We are so blessed with an amazing support system!! We love you ALL!!!!

The big big big big news...

WHEW!!! It's been a while since  I've blogged. This last week has been CRAZY!!!! And boy do I have some news for you all!!!

First of all, the garage sale was yet another HUGE SUCCESS!!! Thank you to everyone who donated and to those of you who came out to it!!!!

The photo shoots are all going AMAZINGLY WELL!! Crystal is so awesome behind the camera! If you want to book a session, DO IT NOW. You can book it for any time, just BOOK NOW!!!!

The cupcakes are coming to an end... But if you want to try to place a last minute order, well now is the time to do that!!

The Premier Designs fundraiser got postponed to September 14!! Let me know if you need directions ;)


So..... The big big big big news....


Oh.... You wanna hear it??


Well if you're on our facebook, you already know.... But, if not.... Well.....



.......



WE MET OUR GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, you know, THE ULTIMATE GOAL!!! The $10,000 goal!!!! WE DID IT!!! WE DID IT!!!! WE DID IT, YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We officially met our goal well before my latest "goal date" that I had planned... Which was September 1st (Danny's birthday).

We met the goal BEFORE OUR FIRST APPOINTMENT with the RE... Which, just so you know, IS THIS WEDNESDAY!!!!!!

You want to know something else??

We technically SURPASSED the goal! Yep, you read that right!!! At this moment we are at roughly $10,679.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I say roughly because I still need to get with a few people on their ornaments so we haven't gotten all of that money yet, but I'm counting it anyway! :)


We have about $4k more to go, which we planned on paying. We will be covering whatever we don't raise, through financing I believe. So we're trying to get that number as low as possible. And we have a few more fundraisers up our sleeves! Remember, everything we have raised and continue to raise IS A BLESSING and we ARE SO THANKFUL. So don't feel forced to participate if this isn't something you feel strongly about :) But know we are so grateful for every penny raised so far and every penny we will raise.





So there's all that news.... And TOMORROW is our appointment with our RE, Dr H. At 10am. I am so super nervous! I've filled out all of our new patient paperwork, made copies of all of that for our records. We've got the GPS programmed. I've got paper maps (because sometimes the gps just ISN'T reliable!). I've got a bunch of lunch options (since our appointment should end around lunch time). I think I'm ready. I think WE'RE ready. As ready as we'll ever be I guess.

Tomorrow we will get to actually meet this man that I've done so much research on. And the biggest part is... we will get to find out a little bit about me. They will do an internal sonogram. That will tell them  how many follicles I have normally. If there's a lot (approx 14), then that means I SHOULD have a good ovarian reserve (how many eggs I have left... women are born with all the eggs they'll ever have, they don't make more. Once they're gone, they're gone). If there aren't many follicles, that means I (probably) don't have much of an ovarian reserve left. The FSH blood testing will tell basically the same thing (and both can also give the docs a glimpse as to the quality of my eggs) but I don't think they'll do that test until day 3 of my next cycle. The follicle count will be basically all we find out tomorrow. And I'm hoping they tell me how many I have then and there and we don't have to wait until our next appointment!

I'm HOPING we will meet with Dr H, tell him all about us and our history. And we'll do the sono. And he'll say "Okay, well you already knew IVF was the only option. Destiny, you look great. Let's get this and this and this done, and let's do IVF in October!" I don't want to wait any longer than that, because then there are all the holidays to plan around.

So, here's to hoping ;)

I will update tomorrow when we get home from the appointment!! Keep us in your prayers/happy thoughts/send good vibes :) :) :)

SO many updates!!

Today is Thursday, and I am so far behind on posting this week! I know I posted once but I really try to post at least twice a week and try for no later than Thursday afternoon (since views go down considerably after that). Whooops!!

It's time for some updates!

I didn't give an update on Monday's post because I wanted to focus on the award and the other blogs. But today we are back to THIS BLOG.

I've got some pretty big news about one fundraiser.... Professor Photo! Do you remember that there were only certain dates you could book on? Well the dates have GONE OUT THE WINDOW!! No more calendar that you must follow. PICK YOUR DAY!!! The only rule is you MUST BOOK BY SEPTEMBER 1st!! Easy peasy, right?! Book now and save a date for later this year for Christmas pics! Book now and save a date for later this year for Halloween pics! You'll want to remember those costume forever! :) Basically, book now and pick a date for ANY occasion! You can check out her work and book HERE.

Have you ordered cupcakes? If so, THANK YOU!!!! If not, WHAT are you waiting for?! Seriously!! You cannot go wrong with cupcakes! If you're on a diet, order the minis! Everyone deserves a little cake in their lives ;) So head on over here to order!!

Do you know what today is? Today is the FIRST day of the last weekend of our garage sale!! If  you want to do some shopping, head on out to the Clonmel Community building! There's TONS of stuff there! Open through Saturday!
***Side not here: I know one of you phenomenal blog followers was at the sale today, and you said you are a follower... And that you've donated... Anyone wanna step forward so I know who you are? (I know the name of everyone who has donated, so I've got a ton of names going through my head but nobody has told me they were going to the sale today so I'm really curious!) If not, that's okay. But THANK YOU for coming out!

Now, do you know what SATURDAY is? Aside from the last day of the garage sale (since I mentioned that above!). It's also the day of my PREMIER DESIGN Jewelry fundraiser party!!! There will be snacks, drinks AND PRETTY BLING. Kids are MORE than welcome (the point of all the fundraising is so we can have a baby, so we obviously support mommas!). RSVP and find the rest of the details right here.



This week is also the last "normal" week for us for a while. And by normal, it still means BUSY. We're busy all weekend this weekend, and that's only the beginning.
Next week two of my wonderfully amazing friends arrive into town (from opposite ends of the country!), Ashley and Jamie! They will both be participating in the Crawl for Cancer (alongside some of my OTHER wonderfully amazing friends! We've got a marvelous team!). I plan on taking Ash to the zoo, possibly to the Museum of World Treasures... and who knows what else we'll do (and please rest assured, Ashley's Gram, she is SAFE with us! HAHAHA)!
Then the next week (less than two weeks from now! MY GOSH!!!), we meet with our fertility doctor!! That's when it all begins. Not IVF, but all the testing that will lead up to it! Literally, that day!! I'm nervous and scared and EXCITED and anxious. I can't believe we're to this point!!
That weekend is my brother and almost-sister-in-law's wedding! It's going to be BEAUTIFUL. I can't wait!
Also that weekend is my fabulous hubby's birthday! He wants to do NOTHING for it. Months ago I thought I would go against his wishes and plan something big. But things got crazy and appointments were made and did I mention things got crazy? I was so focused on August that his birthday on September 1st kinda flew right out of my head. When I realized it a week or so ago, I freaked out. I apologized for forgetting (weeks early ha) and not planning anything. He told me to KEEP IT THAT WAY. Hahahaha!! So we'll keep it low key and I'll take my man out for dinner!
And then there's Labor Day!!!
The week after THAT is when the testing should really start. I don't know at this point what all will be happening in the month of September. but I know there were many "possible tests" that were listed in the New Patient Packet that was sent to us. I may as well plan on the doc wanting to do them all. Then I can be pleasantly surprised when he says "well we won't need to do this one..." Wishful thinking and all that...

Speaking of the testing. I mentioned at one point that I was more-than-a-little worried about whether or not insurance would cover my testing. Insurance WOULD cover the tests (only), they've said this. It's a matter of whether or not they cover it at THAT clinic. The one lady I've (finally) been able to speak with said that as long as our doctor accepts his local Blue Card then we'd be fine. I'm an internet person (and not so much a phone person), so what did I do? I went to their site. Under "accepted insurance" they listed "Blue Preferred (PPO)." I didn't see Blue Card listed and had a mini-panic attack. And then I looked at my card. It says "Preferred Blue (PPO)." I assume that is the same thing. Also, I was told that if my insurance isn't accepted, they'll call and tell me how much I'll owe up front before the appointment. I have yet to receive a call. So I am going to assume it's all covered! Let's hope I'm right and it's not just the consult that's covered (that would put us at owing about $800 for the testing!).


I'm sure you all know by now that I'm a planner... Right? Yeah... I am. So much so that I've spent a ton of time trying to figure out when we will be doing IVF. I am under the assumption it will be at LEAST one month for testing. So that takes out September. Putting us into October. If for some reason we can't do it in October... it would be our embryo transfer date the week of Thanksgiving (so either ON Turkey Day, Black Friday, or the Saturday after depending). I'm not sure if our place shuts down for that holiday (I've read that clinics mainly only shut down for Christmas), so I'd really rather not risk it. I also don't want to wait until December. Christmas is my FAVORITE time of the year and I want to enjoy it. Looking at the calendar, if we wait until December then the transfer would be around December 22nd. So Christmas would be a scary time for me, I'd be a bundle of nerves and constantly wondering if it worked or not.  It wouldn't fall ON a holiday so that would be good. If they'd even do IVF that month (depending on a shut down??).

Basically the planner in me is going crazy right now. I want and need a plan and I'm THIS CLOSE to getting a plan and it's making me itch for it. I love plans. I love lists. I love crossing things off. I want it all NOW. And I know that I just need to wait LESS THAN TWO WEEKS before I get some of those plans. But I feel like I've got ants in my pants here. I feel like I can barely sit still. Thank goodness we have so much going on that will keep me so busy between now and appointment time (and how fitting that it's worked out like that)....
And thank the good Lord above for all of YOU. Without your help we wouldn't be where we are today.

Thank you, thank you... Thank you! <3