I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. Some of you may know we recently decided to go through an IVF cycle. We decided to try this spring and were hopeful that this would be our second chance. A second chance at becoming parents again and bringing home a baby of our own.
So it all started back on February 1. That was my first appointment with my nurse Amy. She is amazing by the way. Very compassionate and supportive and I'm so glad I requested her as my nurse. So that appointment she went over all the details of what would be involved in this cycle. It was very overwhelming and a lot to take in but I was so excited at the same time. On February 19th I started my medications. This involved daily shots and oral medications. After about a week and half I would start giving my self 2 shots daily plus all of the oral meds. It was very taxing physically. March 7th was my first ultrasound to check the growth of my follicles. There were about 10 follicles in each ovary that were growing and they were all between 12-16mm. I continued with 2 more days of stimulation shots and went back in on the 9th for another check. We had about the same number on each side, maybe a few more that ranged between 13-18mm. So I was making progress. The Dr. decided to continue with one more day of meds and then I would take my trigger shot on March 10th. After my trigger shot I would go in for egg retrieval on Saturday, March 13th. The day of retrieval, she was able to retrieve 25 eggs, and of those 25, 22 were fully mature.
From here on out it was a waiting game. They would fertilize them that day and then I would get a series of phone calls updating me on the growth of our embryos. The next day the nurse called and said that 12 had made it through fertilization. My next call would be on day 3. Out of our 12 we had 6 that were considered good that day. On day 5, which was March 17, we went in for our transfer. We found out we had one that was good and ready. There were 2 more that they were waiting on to see if they would develop over the next day so that they could freeze them. So we transferred the best one out of the three. This whole process I prayed for peace and understanding. I prayed to God that He would help me let go of this situation, knowing I had no control over it. I felt at peace through the whole process. So much so that I just knew this was going to be it. This was going to be our next chance.
So at this point we were going through another waiting period. We had 8 days to go before we knew if this worked or not. I went in for blood work on March 25th. I waited with Tom so we could find out together. My nurse, Amy called and the news was not what we were hoping and praying for. The blood test came back negative. At this point I couldn't do anything but cry. We are both heart broken and unsure of what we are going to do at this point. IVF is very taxing financially, physically and emotionally. My body went through a lot during this process. It would be easy to say yes, we will try again if we had embryos that were able to be frozen, waiting on us. But we didn't so we would have to go through the whole process over again. So, we are now at another point in our lives where we will wait and see what happens. We have to take some time to process all of this and to focus on ourselves and our health. I'm not sure what plans God has for us. I wish I knew. I wish I could see into my future, but that's not how it works. I still feel a peace about this situation and I"m not sure why. I feel like something is coming our way I just don't know when it's going to happen or how it's going to look. I will keep praying for peace and understanding and guidance through this journey. I will keep praying for God to help me lay this at His feet and let go of control of this situation.
I am thankful for the group of girls I had praying for me and with me through this whole process. their friendship is a blessing and I am so glad God placed each and everyone of them in my life. I am thankful for the family we had praying for us as well. We have such a great support system and I know, no matter what we end up deciding they will always be there for us.
Love,
Tom and Whit
