Then and Now

This past Sunday we were at a restaurant when both Chase and Mads simultaneously had to go potty. True story, it just so happens they both had to go at the exact same time, who'd have ever guessed, so off we went. While we were in the bathroom a girl kept staring at me (because I'm so hot) and finally said the "where do I know you from?" We do live in a small town so 9 times out of 10 they know me from teaching, however she didn't think that was the case. She finally pinpointed it and it turned out that we took racketball together when I was at Sam Houston... in 1998! Good God, talk about a really good memory!!! Anyway, I got to thinking and I'm amazed that in 10 years I've apparently changed so little that this lady could still recognize me! I must look damn young for a 32 1/2 year old!! ;o) Does this mean when I'm 50, I'll still look 40? Sweet! The oldest pic I had on the laptop was from not long after Jeff and I started dating in 1998, probably just a few months after I had class w/this girl. Next to it is a picture of Chase and I from just a couple of months ago. What do you think? I do think there is little change, just fatter w/some wrinkles!!!! (Look how young Jeff looks, so cute!)


May time be good to us all!




**I am grateful for
1) less than 48 hours until our transfer!
2) church tomorrow
3) laughing so hard at Rodney last night that I cried... several times
4) and very clean upstairs and almost clean downstairs
5) laundry is almost all done... and folded!

Seriously? An Oct.u.plet Post (retitled - not new)

Our transfer is scheduled for Monday at 8:30! Sooooo excited, I'm feeling really good and even had a dream last night that I got to see our baby's heartbeat (I'm taking it as a good sign)!

I wanted to do a little blip about the new Oct.uplet Mom since I do have friends that read and aren't familiar with IVF. If you haven't heard about the oct.uplets then you obviously are living under a rock. ;o) I can guarantee you with 99.99% accuracy that this lady DID NOT do IVF!!! The only way she could have is if her and her RE are total idiots (which I guess is always a possibility). With IVF it is rare for an RE to transfer more than three embryos and eight would be unheard of. We did transfer four one time, that cycle did not work. She either did injections on her own (you can get the meds, trust me) and had intercourse w/o monitoring or she was doing injections and was monitored very irresponsibly by her RE that proceeded to do an IUI or instruct her to have intercourse. My guess is these are NOT IVF babies and no I will not be having oct.uplets (I bet I've been asked that 20 times since the news broke of these babies and no I'm not offended, but I want people to know that IVF does not produce these high-order multiples). The goal of IVF is one, healthy baby.

I'm outta here to go to Rod.ney!!!!! I'll be back though Oh, if for some odd reason you didn't like the fact I made it clear that they are not IVF babies, just save those comments for yoruself or I will delete them. I only play nice on my blog (usually).

~Kahla

8 is Enough!

After lunch I couldn't stand the wait any longer and called to see if the fertilization report was in. It was and it was g-o-o-d! Out of 9 eggs, 8 have fertilized and are looking good! I was very happy with that. Brandy (my rockin' nurse) said that Dr. G would be in later to decide if we would do a 3d or a 5d transfer and she'd call me back and even told me again what an awesome fertilization report it was. That means that last time we had a 100% fertilization and this time an 89%, I'm totally impressed with those numbers! I really figured we were looking at a 3d since we had less than 10, but when I got the call this afternoon we are heading for a 5d again!!! Yep, you read it right folks, a 5 day transfer! Woohoooo! In all seriousness I was ok with a 3d, but a 5d just seems even better since that's what we had last time and it worked. I will start the evil PIO shots on Friday, can't wait for that! Those are soooo much fun, almost as fun as the ER itself!! (total sarcasm if you didn't catch it) I'm feeling good about this guys and it hit me this afternoon that my baby is growing right now, I just know it!!!

Tomorrow Jeff and I have Rod.ney Carr.ington tickets and I can't wait! Then we'll be cleaning house all weekend since I know that will drive me nuts when I'm on bedrest!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic evening!




**I am grateful for
1) tomorrow is Friday!
2) an awesome fertilization report
3) all 8 of our embies
4) a 5d transfer
5) Mrs. Taylor, she agreed to sub Mon, Tues, AND Wed for me!!

ER complete

If you can have a least favorite part of IVF, then the ER is mine. I'd rather do 50 shots than go through the ER! We came to Houston last night to spend the night at my mom's since she is so close and it was a long night. We are used to the quiet country and she lives right on Richmond (for anyone familiar w/Houston) which happens to be busy 24/7! To the point that at one time a jerk got in the empty parking lot behind her townhouse and was revving his engine as loud as he could. I wanted to go out and beat him! Chase and Molly, the eng. bulldog, were in the bed with us and she started barking and poor Chase rolled over to tell me that, "That person is such a jerk, that is not even funny and he scared me!" Kid cracks me up, even if he did say jerk!

Anyway, we got up before dawn and when we left I had my mom come get in bed w/him so he wouldn't wake up scared. I was worried he'd be furious with me, but Duchess took him to work w/her so he was a happy guy when she brought him back during lunch.

The ER itself was OK. Great nurses, new RE that I had never actually met before. I can't complain though because our RE did not charge us anything for this cycle, we just paid facility and anesthesia fees so I was OK w/the new RE. He was very nice and I knew who he was and had seen him passing, so not a big deal. Unfortunately my right ovary was very big and had folded some and manged to get behind my uterus. They only retrieve follicles over 18 (in all of our IVFs, I think we've only had a couple of immature ones because of this). He got them all off my left but could not really get to my right so he only got a couple. They stress safety and I totally agree. We ended up 9. I'm good w/that. In the past we've had between 6-12, so this is fine w/me.

Due to the ovary issue it was a very rough ER, the worst out of all 5. My first ER I also had an ovary issue and they said it's different every time and this is not unusual. The pain has been pretty bad and they gave me Demerol, which in return made very extremely nauseous and I lost it. We ended up coming back to my mom's where I got sick in the car again, and then again at the house. I'm finally able to sit up w/o keeling over in pain, so I think I'm on the upswing. Chase and Jeff have been excellent nurses and Chase even gave me the coveted BB (blanket) and kitty (stuffed cat) to lay with. They are pretty awesome guys. Molly has been an excellent foot warmer! We are just waiting until rush-hour is over now and then we'll made the hour drive home.

I'm guessing we'll have a Saturday transfer, but should hear something tomorrow re: the fertilization report and transfer. Either has it's pros and cons. Chase is a 3 day transfer so I know they work. The twins we lost were a 5 day so I know they work too. Chase is testing for his next belt in Karate on Tuesday, so if we have a 3d, I'll get to go to that.

I'm going to really try not to focus on numbers and days, we'll see how that goes!




**I am grateful for
1) all the prayers and comments
2) ER is complete
3) my two nurses rock, the little one and the big on
4) hump day, always a favorite day!
5) 9 eggs, please let one or two of those be our future babies!

Just call me insane.

Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. I guess that means I must be insane because by this time on Wednesday I will have done my 5th IVF egg retrieval. I remember when I was still an IVF newbie and would hear about people that had done 4, 5, 6 IVFs. I would think to myself, "are they insane?????" Yet here I am, in that exact boat.

In my heart I know that we are meant to be parents again and that Chase is meant to be a big brother. I have prayed for this so many times and I know that God intends to answer my prayer. I just hope it is with this IVF that it happens. I will trigger tonight at 9:30 and am scheduled for my ER at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. We are going to stay at my mom's tomorrow night since she lives literally 10 minutes away from the surgery center and can watch Chase during the retrieval w/o us having to get him up before the crack of dawn. If you are a prayer, a positive well-wisher, a baby duster, or whatever then it's time to send it our way!

Three cheers for being insane! ;o)




**I am grateful for
1) we've made it to retrieval
2) my lining is nice and thick
3) prayers, prayers and more prayers!
4) stims are over!
5) being insane enough or stubborn enough to keep pushing forward (not sure which it really is!)

Bedrest after ET poll

Just a quick note to tell everyone that voted in the bedrest after ET (egg transfer) poll thanks! My RE is pretty strict and says three days of complete bedrest after transfer. In their opinion that translates into laying flat on your side, stomach, or back and only getting up to pee. Ick. It is tough! I've read that there is no evidence that bedrest improves anything so I was really curious to see what others did. It turns out that the majority of you do two days of bedrest. Seems fair to me!

With Chase I did three strict days and we got pg. On IVF #2 and #3 I did three strict days and nada. On IVF #4 I did 2 days of strict and then spent most of day three a little propped up because I just couldn't lay anymore and we got pg w/the twins. So I really think that while it can't hurt, it's not necessary to be completely flat. This time I plan on spending most of the time propped up on the couch watching Mamma Mia and all my other girly movies.

Hoping everyone had a fantastic weekend, we went nonstop and I'm exhausted!!! Last week was rough at school and I'm really hoping this week goes better! I can't wait for Friday night, I'm so excited about Rod.ney!!!




***I am grateful for
1) a good weekend
2) we got to see Duchess and Mads today
3) Chase went to sleep easy last night and tonight!
4) We've almost made it to retrieval
5) I'm finally putting my feet up for the day!

Finally Friday!

I am so glad it's Friday! I swear that the short weeks always seem longer for some reason... wonder why that is. At my appointment this morning it was looking like we'd trigger on Sunday night, retrieve on Tuesday, and transfer on Friday or Sunday. I was a little bummed w/this because as I stated before I really wanted to go to Rod.ney Carring.ton with Jeff on Friday. Well plans changed after Dr. G reviewed my bloodwork and now I'm going to stim through Sunday, go in Monday morning and most likely trigger that night. That means ER will be Wed. and ET will be Sat/Mon! Wooohoo!!!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend (although I'm sure I'll be back before then)!




**I am grateful for
1) stimming through Sunday
2) when schedules work out
3) all my peeps that are covering so I can make it to my appointments
4) my girls at the RE, they are always rooting me along
5) TGIF!!!!