Video Consult with Dr Allemand

David and I went to the Montgomery office for a video consult with Dr Allemand. He said on paper everything looked good. We did get to a chemical pregnancy, it just didn't stick around. Dr Allemand wants to add another med, it is called Letrozol. It is giving to women with breast cancer but also used to help with infertility. He may also change the doses on my meds but will let me know about that later. Dave asked about how many embroyos to place next time and the Dr said he would only place two being that everything looked good up until the implantation. We will wait til I have a cycle again which should be mid October. At that time I will go back for bloodwork to see if my ovaries are ready for another round. He said he may have me take a baby aspirin daily or even heperin shots depending on what my bloodwork showed. He wanted to do the bloodwork today to look even closer to make sure he hasn't overlooked anything. After talking to the Dr we went in to the Nurse Practioner she talked to me about Accupuncture. I don't know how I feel about that, will research that a little more. Ms Lynn came in said we had a bunch of blood to get. I looked over at the counter and there was so many valves. I thought surley those aren't all for me butu they were. She wanted to know if I had eaten anything, luckily I had a piece of cheese toast and orange juice. She said you may want to come lay down so I did. There were fourteen valves seh had to take. I got a little pale but did fine. So, we will be on a break until mid October and then we will find out when we will proceed.

The Results are in......

Janet called with our results, the beta number needs to be greater than 20 to be positive and if it is less than 5 it is negative. On Wednesday, I was at 9.8 and today I was 7.5. She told me to discontinue the meds tonight since the number was going down. The Dr will call next week. I think there will be a small break to let my body rest but not sure until we speak to the Dr. We do have another opportunity to try the IVF again so that's good. I so know that God is in control and if it is His will it will happen, if not He will have something else in store.

I wanted to thank everyone for the prayers, thoughts, phone calls, emails and text messages. The love that was shown has been amazing. I am so thankful to have family and friends that love us so much. I couldn't have made it without the prayers, they were definitely felt. I know I may share more than some of you may want to know but I felt at one time that I was the only person who couldn't get pregnant. A few years ago a friend at church shared with me that she to had tried and tried. That was such a comfort to me not that she couldn't but to know I wasn't alone. Gradually there became more and more women that I met that had the same trouble. So, anyway, that's why I speak so openly of our journey. I hope it can help, encourage or touch someone.

I will update next week some time after talking to the Dr.

With love,
Heather

YES, NO, MAYBE............

Heather went to the Doctors office this morning and took her blood test and while we were waiting throughout the day for the results phone call, Heather decided to drop her cell phone into the toilet bowl. So guess what, Heathers phone no longer worked. So, she had to go to the Verizon Wireless store to get a new phone so we could get the results of the blood test. Well we finally got them! It was a MAYBE!! I'm like, What does that mean? Well the beta levels they measure in the blood test were not exactly what they wanted to see at this point and time. Heathers Beta Level test showed up at a 9.8. If it would have showed up less than 5, Heather would have not been pregnant and if it showed up greater than 20 she would have been pregnant. So, as you can see, she was in the middle. Heathers pergesterone level needed to be at least a 25 and it was 44, good to go there. Her Estradial needed to be 100 and it was a 50, not so good there. So, the doctor perscribed her some Estradial to take over the next 2 days before she goes back to the doctor on Friday to have a second Blood Test and then maybe we will know if Heather is pregnant or not. So, I ask everybody to continue to pray for us and Hopefully we will no foresure Friday.

Blood Test

Tomorrow is a big day. I go in for bloodwork at 7:00 and I will not get results until 4:30 or 5:00. I am still debating if I want to receive the call at work or have them leave a message at home so that Dave and I can hear it together. Some people tend to think I wouldn't wait on Dave.....WHAT?!?!? me not wait??? LOL Either way I probably will cry. If it is a positive I will still be high risk. If I am not then I know I have another cycle of IVF to try. So either way there is HOPE. Well, its time for my nightly shot of progesterone. I will update tomorrow around 6:30 or 7:00 pm. Thanks for all the prayers!!!!! They have been felt......with love Heather

Freezing Embryos

Yesterday, Dr Allemand told us we would possibly have four embryos to freeze. Today I got a call to say there was only one that made it to that stage. I was a little sad to hear that but I am not going to dwell on it. I have been taking it easy today and plan on going to Selma tomorrow to visit family. Then, its back to work on Thursday. My next Dr visit will be on the 16Th.

Now we wait........

On Saturday, the embryologist called to say of the 13 that made it through the process of cell division we then had 12. Of the 12, 10 were top grade category and of those 8 were really really good and making their way to the blastocast stage. On Saturday we went to Opelika to be with family. I started to get a little emotional on Saturday and by Sunday it was time to let it all out. After a good cry on Davids shoulder I put this back in the hands of God. I am still taking progesterone shots every night and will until the pregnancy test. This morning we went back to Birmingham for the embryo transfer. An hour before the appointment I was to drink 24 oz of liquid and to keep a full bladder for the procedure. I was given an option of Valium to help me relax. I decided to take it so that my body could be as relaxed as possible. Dr Allemand came in and said we would be placing two embryos and we would probably have four to freeze. David was able to stay with me through the procedure. We were given a picture of the two blastocast. How cool!!! Now comes the hard part. The WAIT!!!!!!!!!!

Embryo Results

Janet called to say we have 13 embroys. Yesterday we had 11 that fertilized so how did we end up with 13 today. She said that after she called to give me the report yesterday that two more fertilized. We will get a call from the embroyolgist tomorrow with more information. We are still scheduled on Monday to place them at 9:45. I did a little to much yesterday (walking) so I am back on the couch. Taking it easy is so hard to do. But, whatever it takes. Thanks for all the prayers, phone calls, and text messages. Loves to all!!!!

Egg Retrieval Results

Janet the IVF coordinator called to say out of the 17 they retrieved yesterday 16 were mature and 11 fertilized. She will call tomorrow to let us know how many embryos we have.

Egg Retrieval in Birmingham

Heather, Gloria (Mama), and I woke up at 5:00 A.M. this morning to make are way to Birmingham. We got to Birmingham around 8:00 A.M. They took Heather and I back to the procedure room where they hooked her up to all the machines. The nurse explained to us that the egg retrieval would only take about 10 mins. then she would be in recovery. After they took Heather back to retrieve the eggs, I went and took care of my little part in this baby making miracle. After the egg retrieval, Heather came out of the procedure room with some minor pain but she was doing great. The nurse told us that they retrieved 17 eggs. The nurse explained to us that not all the eggs would mature, nor will all the eggs retrieved be of good quality. They will inform us tomorrow of how many eggs that are mature at the time of fertilization. Heather is recovering nicely here at home. Blaze has not left her side since we have been home. We have to return to Birmingham on Monday for the Embryo Transfer. We will then make the decision on how many embryos to place in Heather. We will update everybody on Monday Night.