Dan and I are back from Augusta and have completed part one of the trip.  We got there late Saturday night to prepare for the 7am procedure on Sunday.  They had me take a Valium an hour before the retrieval so I was feeling good by the time I got to the clinic.  We were greeted by the embryologist, Carla.  The staff consisted of the Anesthesiologist Practictioner, Dr Servy, Carla and Joan, the nurse.  Once I was in the gown, it all happened pretty quickly.  The gave me something to knock me out, and about 20 minutes later, Dr Servy was there to tell me they got 11 eggs.  He said anything over 10 at my age is excellent.  So I guess I feel OK about it?....
After that, I was able to get dressed and loaded in to my car where Dan had made a bed for me in the back.  They gave me some Tylenol with codeine so I was feeling nothing.  I slept the whole ride home.  So now we wait for the embryologist to get back to us on how many eggs fertilized with Dan's sperm.  Once we know how many, they take a few days to let the embryos grow, and decide whether to put them in my uterus on Wednesday or Friday of this week.  I'm in a little bit of pain.....feels like I have a urinary tract infection....but the Dr says it's normal.  Keep the prayers going.....I'm a nervous wreck!  Love to all.

Augusta Bound!

Since I started the meds, I've been going to the doctor every other day for ultrasounds.  During the ultrasounds, they look at your ovaries and uterus and measure the size of your follicles.  So far, Dr Massey says my follicles measure really well, which means I should produce healthy eggs.  At my age, I don't produce as many eggs as they'd like, but the good news is that mine look healthy and strong :)
I've been injecting myself in the morning with Lupron which overstimulates the body's production of hormones (sweet!) and then at night, I inject the Gonal F (the follicle stimulating hormone) and Menopur (stimulates follicle and egg production).  I'm also taking vitamins, estrogen supplements, a steroid and baby aspirin.  Sheesh.  I actually feel alot better than I did when I was treated in the Czech Republic, possibly because I'm sleeping in my own bed and around familiar surroundings.
Dr Massey initially told us that we would be able to do the egg retrieval this Saturday, but then changed it to Sunday.  At some point, I inject myself with Ovidrel, which causes the eggs to release from the follicles and that's when they do the retrieval.  I have another appointment Friday to determine exactly when we will do this.  Nothing is set in stone as we have to react based upon what my body is doing.  Once it does, then Dan and I head to the Medical College of GA in Augusta where Dr Servy  is located.  It's a 2 1/2 hour drive from Atlanta.  Be thinking of us this weekend.  It's going to be a bumpy ride....one I pray is fruitful!

Day 8

Rough week.  Every day brought several headaches and some turned into migraines.  Then, I got a flu bug on Friday morning and spent the entire day getting sick.  I went to the clinic Friday morning for my second ultrasound and everything still looks great.  Doctor says my body is doing what it needs to be doing to prepare for ovulation.  Of course, 7 days on these meds make a person look pregnant, with all the bloating and uncomfortableness.  I won't complain though...it's all for a great cause!
In the midst of being sick on Friday, I did manage to uphold a commitment I made to the Salvation Army and volunteered at their Can-A-Thon for a few hours.  It was a lot of manual labor so I did have to leave early in fear I would get sick on front of everyone.  I feel it is important for myself to give back.  I'm lucky that I'm able to receive such blessings, and now is the most important time to help out.
I go back to the doctor again Monday morning.  I have no idea what the next few days will bring....but keep the positive vibes going.  I'll keep you posted!

It's all happening!

It's all happening!!!

Sooo, I started my cycle on Sunday and went to the clinic the next day for an ultrasound to make sure I was ready to go!  My follicles and ovaries looked perfect....Dr. Massey said my insides look like a 32 year old's.  (hey, at least my insides can look young, because the outside?  not so much).  Anyway, so they gave me the green light to start taking the meds.  As you can see from the photo, there's A LOT to take.  I take Lupron, multivitamin and baby aspirin in the morning, and Menopur, Gonal F and a steroid at night.  The Lupron has given me the absolute WORST headaches that turn into migraines because I can't take any blood thinners.  I had to leave work the other day because I was puking.  In fact, I puked in someone's front yard.....Merry Christmas!  Other than that, I feel ok.  Just staying cautiously hopeful!  I go to the clinic again on Friday for another ultrasound to make sure the meds are doing what they should be doing and get further instructions. It's looking like a mid December procedure.....please, please cross your fingers and toes.  I can't tell you how wonderful the clinic staff is....so positive and loving towards Dan and me.  We love you all and hope you are having a happy holiday season.  I can't wait to see everyone's holiday cards with the kiddos......here's to hoping we will have one next year to send out!  xoxo

Update

We are moving forward with IVF at the Servy Massey Institute and the protocol officially starts on November 20.  At that time, they will probably do an ultrasound to make sure my uterus looks healthy and give me the fertility drugs that will have to be injected daily. I'm not looking forward to that part at all.  I'm taking something now to optimize my ovarian function and it is seriously painful when I ovulate.  Taking several pills a day is now my new normal.
So after that visit, I wait to get my period, and then on day 2 or 3, I start taking the fertility meds that will prepare my body and force me to overproduce eggs.  Sometime mid-December, Dan and I will head down to Augusta GA for the egg retrieval and transfer.  I have taken two weeks off of work so I won't be stressed and we have the week off after Christmas so it should be a super relaxing time.  I'm not getting ahead of myself or hoping too hard.  I tell people my feeling on everything is "cautiously hopeful".  As I type this, I flash back to that day when I woke up at 5am and realized I had my period and the IVF did not work.  I must not let myself go there.  At least all this is occurring during the holidays so I hope to have plenty of distractions.  Please invite me to your holiday party :)
I will post more when I know more!  xoxo

Finally some GOOD news!

Dan had his 9 month follow up with Dr Witt yesterday.  At these appointments, they take a "sample" from him and analyze it while we wait.  And lo and behold.....he finally has swimmers!  His last visit he was at 50,000 (or 11%) and now he's at 500,000 (or 27%).  Not only that, but the doctor said he shows enough there that we can do IVF without having to include the TESE....or sperm extraction procedure.  This would have cost anywhere from 5-8k extra.  So we are counting this a a huge win and moving forward with IVF at the Servy Massey Institute.  Hopefully we can get it done in November or December of this year.  Wouldn't it be the greatest gift ever for ourselves???  Thanks for all the prayers, good vibes and energy.  I can't tell you how great it felt to leave that place yesterday with a smile on my face.....a first!  And that's saying a lot considering we both have the flu :))  xoxo

Joe Massey

I've been feeling really impatient lately...sitting around waiting for the next doctor appointment that gives us the latest on Dan's recovery has been the highlight of my summer.  And now that fall is here, I see this as a chance for a new approach.  While being treated at RBA, I had heard that one of the founding doctors at that practice had been a guy named Joe Massey.  Come to find out that my family knows him as his family used to live in our neighborhood back in the 70's and early 80's.  I decided to google him and found out he started his own practice called the Servy Massey Institute.  www.ivfga.com.  Dr Massey has an office here in Atlanta and his partner, Dr Servy is based in Augusta.  They came together to offer a more affordable treatment to people that cannot afford the 15-18k price tag at clinics in Atlanta.  Dr Massey does all the preliminary testing here in Atlanta, and sends patients to Augusta for egg retrieval and egg transfers.  So I set up and appointment and Dan and I met with him last week.  His treatment protocol costs $6975 plus 2-3k for fertility drugs.  That's half the cost of RBA.  He immediately put me on DHEA which is supposed to improve egg quality and performed an SIS (injects saline into my uterus) to make sure no polyps have grown back.  The great news is that I look healthy and ready for IVF.  Of course, there are some obstacles in the way....I spoke to the clinic in the Czech Republic and they are unable to ship Dan's frozen sperm to the U.S. due to customs restrictions.  SO, that means one of two things....we either have to pay for another TESE (sperm extraction) which costs between 5-8k or we have to pray, pray, pray that Dan's counts have increased at  his next checkup on 10/15 and we can use his live sperm.  It's hard with all the ups and downs of this journey and our options change by the hour.  But this is a new GREAT option and we hope this is our chance.  Please pray for us that Dan's next visit shows such improvement that we won't have to do the TESE, because we cannot afford to do that along with paying for the IVF.  As always, we can't make it through this without the love and support of our family and friends.  Love and prayers to everyone!