32 weeks

32 weeks and counting... We are very blessed to have made it this far in our pregnancy. I have learned that bed rest is not all that it is cracked up to be. There is only so much TV you can watch, Internet you can surf, and books that you can read. The count down to 37 weeks has officially begun and we are praying that we can keep the girls swimming around for 34 more days.  This week took us to the hospital due to a little bleeding, but all is well, they monitored me and found I was contracting a little too much and put me back on the contraction medication around the clock. My sono went well, apparently the girls like to keep everyone on their toes by switching who A and B is every visit. This week Baby A (formerly baby b) has both of her feet next to my cervix and is double footing breech, while her sister, formerly baby A, is still head down but sitting above her sisters feet. Both babies were facing my back so we were not able to get any good face shots. Baby A is measuring about 3lbs and 11oz while baby B is about 3lbs and 13oz. Our placenta's were rated a B and fluid levels were normal for twins. Dr. Motley re checked my cervix and found it very soft, thin, and fingertip.  So more bed rest is in my future... We will start BBP's (biophysical profile) weekly until the girls make there grand entrance to check on the girls health. The BBP looks at heart rates, muscle tone, breathing, movement, and amount of amniotic fluid.

32 Weeks

30 Weeks continued....

FFN was negative!! Woo hoo! We will be pregnant for at least 2 more weeks.  I am at home on "rest" not necessarily staying in bed, yet. Able to still do some small stuff around the house for now, but very careful about how much I am doing. Trying to finish up the crib bedding little by little. We have the nursery painted and both cribs set up. Having fun putting all the presents up and clearing out space for the little ones. I was able to graduate this weekend. Sat at much as possible, everyone at TWU was very helpful in finding me chairs to sit while we waited. This week I am very excited my mom, brother, and in-laws are all driving up to spend Christmas with us this week!



30 Weeks



30 weeks

We have made it to 30 weeks! We had our routine check up with Dr. Motley today. We listen to both of their hearts beating and measured my stomach for growth.  I am measuring about 6 weeks ahead so I look and feel like I am 36 weeks pregnant. When she checked my cervix she noticed that it has thinned out about 50% and felt soft. She collected another FFN and we are anxiously awaiting results, if positive we might do some prophylactic treatments to help the girls mature their lungs faster. We will get the results tomorrow.  We had previously discussed putting me on "bed rest" at 30 weeks so that I would be off my feet and not working 12 hour shifts that sometimes require hard physical work. Good thing we planned for this because it is now needed.  Both girls move constantly and we have fun trying to guess which body part they push out. Sometimes you can feel their head, foot, elbow or knees and sometimes it is a complete toss up to what we feel. As their movements get bigger and bigger my stomach almost becomes like a sci-fi film with all the movement inside.  On another note Jake had his follow-up appointment to re-test his lung function which has greatly improved and is stable!

28-29 weeks

28 weeks

We are growing, growing, growing! Monday we hit a few bumps with contractions. I have been taking a very low dose of medication to stop contractions when they get closer together when I need it. However, on Monday they were not only getting closer together but getting more and more uncomfortable with pressure. My physician was off but I was able to see her partner who was wonderful. She monitored both babies and contractions and increased my dose of contraction medication and wanted me to start taking it every 6 hours around the clock to slow down my contractions. She checked my cervix which was still the same and completed an FFN which was again negative!!! All very good news! Contractions are now under control I am back down to the lower dose, but taking it every 6 hours. I had my regular appointment with Dr. Motley on Friday and growth scans on the girls! They each weigh about 2 1/2 pounds with very long legs. We were able to take a glimpse at their faces and the ultrasound tech was convinced that one baby looked just like me and one looked just like Jake. Baby A is head down, while her sister likes to change from laying straight under my ribs to just her head in my ribs! After talking with Dr. Motley we decided that it would be a good idea to stop working and go on bedrest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I am finishing out this week since I just have a training and classes. So starting next Wednesday, at 30 weeks, I will be officially at home preparing for our girls arrival!! Other exciting news, we had my first shower this weekend and we received lots of amazing gifts from dear friends and family! I have to thank Allison for putting the shower together she did an amazing job!!!



Face shots of the Girls
Baby B is looking straight on horizontally with forehead on the left and chin on the right,
her arm is next to her head at the top
Baby A (harder to see) is looking straight on horizontally but opposite of her sister



26- 27 weeks

Between Jake and I there is never a dull moment. Jake had not been feeling well and made an appointment to go to the doctor to check on his lung function (which indicates how he is doing with CF). We went in to find out not only had his lung function decreased, but it had dropped dramatically. After talking with His physician they decided that it was best to admit him to the hospital for a 5-7 day stay and then an additional 7 day regimen of home IV antibiotics. So this past week I have been driving back and forth between Dallas (were Jake was admitted), Fort Worth (work), and Mansfield (home). I was able to take 3 days off which helped me get tons of rest with Jake at the hospital and get the remainder of my assignments completed. We are home now and Jake's lung function has not only increased, but surpassed what this normal lung function has been the last several months, and he still has more antibiotics to go! Meanwhile, thank God for more blessings, my 26 week FFN was negative. Girls continue to kick, stretch, and most importantly grow! Every week they gain more weight and continue to mature. On the downside of all that growing is I get to feel the weight of them growing more rapidly and feel contractions as my uterus expands two fold (which are not pleasant but it means that everything is happening as it should and we are grateful for that!). We are both very excited as each week passes while at the same time getting more and more nervous about how much our lives are going to change! I have my next check up this week with a sono so we get to sneak a peak at how much they are growing and if they are behaving. We will also have another FFN done. 



26 weeks



24-25 weeks

We have made it to viability! At 24 weeks the girls would have developed enough to live outside my tummy. Although there would be major health concerns, they would have about a 70 % chance of survival. This is a huge milestone as every week from now on increases their chance of survival and lowers the risk of  long term health problems.   We did some testing in Dr. Motley's office this week to determine my risk of going into preterm labor in the next two weeks. The test is called Fetal fibronectin, or FFN, and if negative can suggest with 99 % certainty that I will not deliver in the next two weeks. My test was negative so we know they will be swimming around for two more weeks. She measured my stomach and going along with before, I am measuring about 4 weeks larger than what I am. The next day I had an appointment with the perinatologist who again looked at my cervical length. My cervical length is still over 3.5cm which also predicts that I will not have any preterm labor during the next several weeks. The perinatologist also looked at the girls growth rates to make sure both girls are growing at the same rate and that they both had adequate fluid levels. Baby A was measuring about 1lb 8oz and Baby B 1lb 9oz both with a good amount of fluid. She was so pleased with what she saw she does not need to see me again unless there is a problem with growth, fluid levels, or any other complication that I am more at risk for since I am carrying two babies.  This week we went and registered after getting good news, which we found challenging trying to figure out what we need two of and what they can share and purchased one of the cribs. Cant wait to finish painting the nursery and set up the cribs.

24 weeks

22-23 weeks

Not only can Jake and I feel big movements, but you can now see them move and kick my belly. It feels and looks like they are doing gymnastics inside. This week Jake was able to feel them roll around and lets just say he was a little freaked out. He was just used to their little kicks and was not expecting to feel his girls turning and twisting, lol. Next week we start doing additional testing to make sure I am not going and will not go into preterm labor. We are still pondering on names and can not seem to nail anything down. It seems harder with two!

21.1 Appointment

Today I had my follow-up cervical appointment with the perinatologist. Wheeeww, my cervix still looks good and has not shortened and still looks like it did almost 3 weeks ago! woo hoo! This is wonderful news and is very reassuring that everything is as it should be. She also took a quick peak at the girls to follow up on the last appointment. Baby A has flip-flopped and is head down and laying almost on top of her sister who still wants to be breech. They're getting so big its getting hard to tell what is what during the sono, so many parts and pieces wiggling and kicking around. My favorite part of the appointments are to feel them move and see the actual movement on the screen it is so neat. My next appointment is on Tuesday with Dr. Motley for my routine 4 week check up.

Baby B has her back turned away from us at the bottom,
 while her sister is curled up almost on top of her.



20-21 Weeks

Goodness, as you can see we have had lots of growing! And mama is starting to really feel her girls kicking and stretching. Even more exciting, daddy last night for the first time got to feel his girls kick! I think I was even more excited that he could feel them than when I first felt their kicks.  I have to admit that it made me tear up a tad bit. I am really starting to feel all the stretching and moving that comes with growing a belly and I have to say its becoming more and more uncomfortable. I have my appointment with the perinatologist this week to check my cervical length to make sure the few contractions that I am having are just normal stretching of my uterus with growing two babies at one time. 

18-19 Weeks

Crazy last couple of weeks! I can now say I have experienced what most of my patients experience and that is contractions. I started feeling a couple this week and after lots of rest, water, and phone calls to my doctor I am feeling much better. I saw a perinatologist this morning, which is a high risk pregnancy doctor which was perfect timing since I was having contractions. We are seeing her for several reasons: we are considered high risk because of IVF, twins, and Jake's CF. She explained all the risks with each and completed a very detailed scan of both babies organs including their brains, hearts, stomachs, kidneys, and measurements. She also measured the length of my cervix to make sure the contractions were not causing my cervix to shorten, which would indicate preterm labor. Our plan is to keep a very close eye on the cervical length, usually when a cervix starts shortening, preterm labor starts 3 - 6 weeks after. Oh, and I forgot to mention we also found out what we are having......

 



 





16-17 weeks

The babies are about 3-5 oz each and about 5 inches from crown to rump. I can finally say that I can feel them moving! At first I was not sure, but now there is no mistaking. Baby B is definably a lot more active than baby A, however, I can still feel movement on both sides of my belly.  They should both be able to hear now and are starting to develop fat. People are now starting to realize that I am pregnant and I am so excited that I don't just look "full" which is just a nice way of saying chubby. Below is a belly shot from 16 weeks.

15.1 Sono

AMAZING! We still can not believe how much bigger they have gotten! We were able to see them dance inside their little sacs, both of them constantly moving. Hopefully, I will get to feel their movements in the next couple of weeks.  Neither one would really cooperate with us trying to sneak a peek at genders, so we will have wait another 4 or so weeks. My belly is measuring about 19 weeks, 4 weeks ahead of what I am because I have too little mango sized babies growing, instead of just one.  We finally have let the rest of the world in on our little secret and announced our pregnancy yesterday. We could not be happier.

15 weeks



Light Reading

When I found out I was pregnant the first thing I did was purchase What to Expect When your Expecting, the "pregnancy bible." However, once I found out that I was pregnant with twins this book did not really apply to me as much. I had tons and tons of questions about how my pregnancy, delivery, and life with twin infants would be different. Unfortunately the "bible" does not cover  what to look for in double strollers, what you need for two babies, twin presentations, complications associated with twins, and the development of twins. I browsed some book selves and found these books. So these are my new bedtime reads, which have been very helpful!



Cravings this week

It seems that on a weekly basis I have new foods that I want. This week is Cheez-Its, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Macaroni and Cheese, and of course my favorite (and Harveys) Marshmellows! Im sure by the end of the week I will never want to eat these foods again, but right now they are my staples.

Jake had his research study check up today and had a one percent increase in lung function! Woo hoo! I have my OB appointment tomorrow, hoping Dr. Keathley will sono, want to see the babies!





14 weeks

We have arrived at 14 weeks. As you can see the babies are growing rapidly. They are the size of your clenched fist from head to rump. I can not wait to see them next Thursday, four weeks is too long! I got very spoiled in the beginning getting to see them every other week or so.  The only thing that I can think to complain about is tiredness. Apparently it is a lot of work growing two babies.

   On a side note, Jake is participating in a clinical research trial to test new CF drugs. We will have no idea if he has received the new inhaled antibiotic or just the placebo. The plus side, if he receives the new drug his lung function could increase 10 to 12% ( which is amazing), however, the downside is he had to stop taking some of his medications in order to test the effectiveness of this one. He is going every other week for check-ups and at any point his lung function declines he can be removed from the study to get back on his treatment plan. So far he has maintained his lung function and last check up it increased one percent. He has been taking the medication for one week. Other great CF news, researchers have identified and isolated the specific protein that causes the CF disease down to the starting mutation. They have not only developed a medication for his specific mutation delta F508 (as there are 1400 mutations) but plan to get the medication out on the market hopefully in the next couple of years (they are in the last phase of clinical trials). This medication will not cure CF by any means but will hopefully prevent further damage to pt lungs and other vital organs which is a HUGE step forward.

12-13 weeks

We are officially out of our first trimester and into our fourth month of pregnancy. It seems like it has taken so long, but at the same time flown by.  The twins are going to be about 3 inches long from head to rump and have now fully formed. Now all their systems will mature over the next several months.  Hair follicles, finger prints, vocal cords, and bone marrow are all taking shape. My next appointment is not until the first of September, which seems like forever away. After that appointment I will see a sonographer who will be able to tell us what we are having around 18 weeks.  I cant wait to see how big they have gotten and start the naming process!  It is getting easier to pick up their heart rates with the Doppler, however, hard to tell if we are listening to one baby twice or hearing both babies. As you can see below my tummy is expanding, I have a small amount of "normal" clothes that still fit and finding out that Jake's t-shirts and loose fitting drawstring pants are starting to be my go to wardrobe (real cute)!

10.5

Baby A and B profile

Getting bigger and they look like little babies! You can see arms and legs and them moving like crazy. Everything is progressing like it should and both heart rates were normal. We are almost out of our first trimester and I am counting down the days to feeling a little bit more normal. On Wednesday, I am off all my hormones and just have to take my prenatal vitamins! I am very excited about this, it seems that since May I have been on quite the regimen and it will be nice just to take one pill!

10 weeks

Yay for double digits! The twins should be about an 1 1/2 inches each this week. Cartilage, bones, and hair follicles are starting to form this week. It is offical, I am defiantly starting to develop a baby bump. I can no longer wear a belt, an only one pair of jeans fit my growing waist.  I have my next OB appointment next week. I cant wait to see how much the babies have grown since last week.

9 weeks

 This week has been a roller coaster. I had my appointment on Tuesday got to see the babies moving and twitching (as they are developing tiny little muscles this week) and their hearts beating. They still kind of look like shrimp but with longer nubs. They are about the size of green olives (about an inch long) and there heads are continuing to grow (four times what it was at 6 weeks) and look more like a babies than tadpoles. The stomach organs are also growing rapidly.

After my appointment I was running errands and started to have strange symptoms (vision, memory, and confusion problems) I was able to make it home in time for the right side of my face and hands to go numb. I called my doctor, who told me to go the the ER. Once there, becuase I was pregnant, they did not want to run any testing on me. My physican admitted

me to the antepartum unit for neurology consult. After some testing and two days, they came to the conclusion that the symptoms were caused by the  hormones that I am still taking to help with the pregnacy. Instead of discontinuing the estrogen I am adding baby aspirin to my daily medication regimen to decrease the side effects of the hormones (which I only have to be on until 11weeks, when the placenta will take over). I am home now and will back to work next week.

8 weeks

Sorrry, this is a little late! Last Wednesday we had an 8week check up to see how they are growing. Both A and B are measuring right at 8weeks! We again got to hear there heart beats and see the hearts flickering on the screen.  Next week I have my first OB appointment to get everything set up and do all the other fun stuff like lab work, health history, vitals, etc.  We should also be able to hear the heart beats with a doppler, since we will be 9 weeks. Woo hoo! I have to say I still feeling ok, I still have not thrown up and only had to take anti-nausea medicine a couple of times. Overall I am feeling good! I have started to develop a little bump and my regualar clothes are starting to not fit right.  Below is a picture of all the labor and delivery nurses at work that are pregnant in order of how far along we are.
 

starting with me on the left- 8weeks, 13weeks, 22weeks, 32 weeks, 36 weeks, 39weeks.

7weeks, 1 day

Not only did we get to see both babies heart beats, but we got to hear them beat. Baby A's hear was beating at 135 beats per min (bpm) and Baby B's was about 150bpm. It is so amazing to hear them beating. I was not expecting to be able to hear them this early. The hearts beating looked like little things flickering inside.

This week the babies are about the size of a blueberry (they both are measuring about 11mm from crown to rump), they are forming their mouths, tongues, arm and leg buds. The kidneys, liver, and lungs are also forming.  Below is what our babies look like at 7 weeks.

First Sono 5weeks 5days

Yep, those two sacs are two babies! I cried and laughed and laughed some more. It is very strange to see them on the screen and know they are actually inside of me. I can not put into words what its like to see the screen and hear Dr. Keathley say  "two" it is very surreal. The first words out of Jake's mouth after Dr. Keathley said there are two were, "we need to get a bigger car" lol. We are both still in shock and it does not seem real. Good thing I am off today, I would not be very productive. Poor Jake's at work and has already called me twice since I have gotten home, does not appear he will be productive either.

The two circles in the middle of the gestational sacs are the yolk sacs for each baby. My next sono is on July 7th, we should be 7weeks and 1 day and should be able to see the heart beats.

HCG levels 2

I am so sorry, I am a bad blogger. Life has been on super speed. On Friday my HCG level was about 630! So everything is progressing as it should. It seemed that as soon as everything was positive that the tiredness and queasiness set in. I am not nauseous but just have this overwhelming queasy feeling after I wake up from bed or a nap. So here's to ginger ale and zofran. Tomorrow I will be exactly 5 weeks pregnant (i know that doesn't seem right but, the dating starts from your last menstrual period, even though we know exactly when we conceived) and the baby(ies) will be about the size of an orange seed. Crazy isn't it? We are in Colorado at the cabin taking it easy and enjoying the cool 70 degree breeze! When we get back on monday we will have our first sono, woo hoo!


Picture I took yesterday when we were hiking



HCG levels

Yesterday I had my initial HCG level drawn and it was 268, which means I am defiantly pregnant! I will have it re-drawn tomorrow. Normally levels should double every 48 hours, so we should expect to see the level to be above 500 tomorrow!!!!

Our Embryos

This is a picture of our actual embryos!! The embryologist took this picture an hour before they were placed in my uterus. This 5 day embryo is called a blastocyst. The one on the left is starting to "hatch" and push out of the cell which is the next step in development. The one on the right we are told is shy. They explained that the cells expand and contract and the moment when the picture was taken the cells contracted which is why it looks different than the one on the left. The actual embryo transfer took less than a min and felt like nothing more than a speculum exam. Following the transfer I had to stay laying down for 30 min. After, the nurse wheeled me out to the car where I continued to lay flat in the back seat. I have been in bed since and will stay in bed till tomorrow to allow gravity to help our embryos to burrow in the lining. We have to wait 10 days for blood work to see if I am pregnant. So here's hoping that June 16th comes fast!

Day 3 and 4

Saturday afternoon we received our embryo update. The embryologist said that 10 of our embryos were developing normally and had 7-10 cells, and 3 were still developing just not at the same rate, she said some are slow growers and will continue to monitor them for growth.

Day 3 Embryo: should have between 7-10 cells.

Day 4 Embryo: consists of 10-30 cells.

Tomorrow is our Embryo transfer at 2pm and we are both so very excited. We decided to transfer 2 embryos. The success rate for 1 embryo is 25%, with 2 embryos the success rate more than doubles with  a 30% chance of twins and 1% chance of triplets. After the transfer we will have blood drawn 10 days after to confirm pregnancy. Thanks again to all our family and friends who have been more than supportive during this journey.

Embryos Day 2

Picture of a 4-cell embryo on day 2 of in vitro development. The embryo has gone through two divisions and has four evenly sized cells.

We should expect to hear from the embyrolgoist tomorrow about the status of our embryos. They have scheduled our embryo transfer for Monday at 2pm. In a normal pregnancy the sperm and egg meet in the fallopian tube and start the trek to the uterus where it would implant in the uterine lining, this process takes about 5 days. This is why we wait the 5 days until the egg is at the same stage for implantation.

Embryos

The embryologist called this morning and of the 21 eggs that were retrived, 20 were mature enough to inseminate with sperm (ICSI). This moring we had 13 embryos still growning. Below is a picture from the Texas Fertility website that shows what our embyros look like today!

Picture of a fertilized egg observed in the morning of the day after the egg retrieval procedure or 17-19 hours following sperm injection (ICSI). The two circular structures observed in the middle of the oocyte are called pronuclei, which contain the genetic material from the parents. A normally fertilized egg should have two of these structures one derived from the sperm (paternal) and the other from the egg (maternal).

Retrival Day

This morning was a success! They retrieved 21 eggs from me and got the tissue that they needed from Jake! We are both resting at home and expect to hear from the embryologist in the morning about the status of our embryos!!

Egg Retrieval

This is an overview of the procedure tomorrow for me. I will be under sedation and will be sleepy afterward. The whole procedure will take about 15-20 minutes. Here is a clip that explains the procedure: 

 

Jake's procedure is called  TESE, which stands for Testicular Sperm Extraction. Jake will also be under sedation and a local anesthetic. Below is a picture of how his procedure will be performed. 

Final Sono

At our appointment this morning Dr. Le re-measured the follicles and decided that I should not receive any more stimulation. My follicles were measuring 16-18mm. And are the right size to complete the egg retrieval. So tonight at 10:15pm I will take my final injection of HCG. This medication will mature all the eggs that are developing inside each follicle so that on Wednesday they will be ready for the retrieval. After the injection it will take 36 hours for the eggs to fully mature and float within the follicle. On Wednesday they will remove each egg out of the follicles.

Todays Appointment

Today is day 8 of using Follistem for follicle stimulation. I had my estrogen level rechecked this morning and it came back at 1826 (1000-2000 was the range Dr. Le wanted it at) my follicles were re-measured and looked like they were packed in my ovaries like sardines. They averaged about 10mm-14mm, he wants them to be about 18mm Dr. Le dropped my Follistem dose down to 125 tonight and 100 tomorrow. We have our next appointment Monday morning where Dr. Le will give us all the final dates for the retrieval based on that appointment.

After Dr. Le found out about our situation with the Urologist he made a physician to physician phone call and got everything straightened out! Dr. Chaung will be available to do Jake's sperm retrieval when needed. Other good news, Jake is now home from Kansas City and is able to go to all my appointments with me, as well as give me the two nightly injections! A special thanks to my other "baby daddy"- Jen, for going to all my appointments with me in Jake's absence, you are the best!

Follicles

Today I had my estrogen level re-checked and Dr. Le measured the maturing follicles. He counted 19 follicles measuring anywhere from 8mm x 8mm to 12mm x12mm. He also checked the lining in the uterus and said that everything looked as it should. This afternoon Dr. Le's office called to tell me my estrogen level was 586, up from 118, which is very good. So good, in fact, that he lowered the dose of the Follistem to 150units and the Lupron to 5 units. I have my next appointment on Saturday to make sure my estrogen level continues to increase, and my follicles continue to grow! Jake comes home tomorrow and Dr. Le estimates our sperm and egg retrieval date to be Thursday, June 2nd!




Sono Pictures of Left and Right Ovaries:
The black circles are the maturing follicles

 

Bump in the Road

I just received a phone call from Dr. Le's office. Unfortunately, the urologist that was to perform Jake's sperm retrieval the day of my egg retrieval is unable to do it because of a scheduling conflict. Dr. Le's office gave us a number to call to try to use another doctor, which needs to be done in the next two days. UGH! For one thing the new doctor, Dr. French, needs to do a consult with Jake and unfortunately Jake is still in Kansas City, Missouri until Friday. To top it off,  even IF Jake can come home early Dr. French does not have any availabilities. My possible egg retrieval days are June 1st through June 4th, so hopefully we will be able work out the scheduling before this time! Ahh!

Follistem

Today is day 5 of stimulation meds. On Monday my Estrogen level was 118, (they want it to be 100-200) which means the medication is doing its job. I have another sono and blood work done tomorrow to see if the level has increased. So far so good, I am getting braver and am able to give the medications to myself every night. The effects of the medication are very strange. I feel that my lower abdomen is growing and always fills "full".  It does not hurt, but is a very strange sensation. Its hard to wear a belt or anything across my lower abdomen because it feels sore and restricting. However, the good news is I am halfway done with the stim meds and next week are our retrievals!!

Sono and Estrogen Level

Yesterday I had a follow up sono and lab work to check my estrogen level. They wanted my estrogen to be below 60 which would  suggest the Lupron was adequately suppressing my natural hormones. My level was 8, woo hoo!  This means that we will start the stimulation medication Follistem on Saturday and start tapering off the suppression meds. The Follistem is used for 10 days to stimulate the follicles to mature for the retrieval. During these ten days I will have to go every 2-3 days for sono's to make sure I am not getting too much medication causing over-stimulation, which is one of the possible side effects of the medication. On a side note Jake's office is flying him home for the weekend, I get to pick him up tomorrow, I can hardly wait.

Medications and Updates

All my IVF medications

These are the vast array of all the medications that were mailed to me last Tuesday. A little overwhelming? Tell me about it. They all work in conjunction to help stimulate eggs, minimize inflammation, prevent infection, grow uterine lining for implantation, and support the embryo after implantation.

I have been taking the daily Lupron injections for about of week now and I have to say now I am a pro! I do not get as squeamish and learned a couple of tricks to minimize the pain. I have to say thanks to Jenn, Julie, and Jake for putting up with my fear of injecting myself and have all taken their turns giving me my daily injections.   I have one more day of birth control pills, which is kind of exciting because that means that this will hopefully be the last period in nine months! It will also help calculate the due date, based on my last menstrual period! But again, I am no stranger to road blocks, challenges, and last minute rearranging so we welcome continued prayers and support!

Jake update: Jakes CT scan came back with minimal bacterial growth which is great news! This along with improved lung function is a welcomed distraction. Because of the lack of design jobs in Jake's office, his boss decided to send him and another employee to Kansas City, Missouri for 3 weeks! Perfect timing right? I am keeping my self busy at work, school, and with all my appointments, medications, and sono's.  It might work out better for Jake to be in Missouri as I hear that once I start the stimulation medication my hormones will be crazy. He is planning to be home May 27th a mere couple days before the real fun starts.

Lupron

Tomorrow I start daily Lupron Injections. Lupron is an injectable medication used at least 10 days before the start of ovarian stimulation. Under normal conditions, only one egg is allowed to develop and mature in a cycle. When there are multiple follicles (the beginning stage of an egg) growing at the same time, our body reguates this process by preventing the other follicles from maturing. Lupron stops our body's process by allowing multiple follicles to mature at one time. So for the next several days I will be taking a combination of Birth control pills and Lupron so that all of my follicles will mature for the next stage in IVF treatment: stimulation.

3 Doctors Appointments

Today we left home early this morning to make it to Dallas by 0730 for Jake's CT scan and his PFT (pulmonary function test) appointment and my trial transfer appointment. Jake's PFT showed a 3% improvement from 2 weeks ago!! Woo hoo! We should receive the CT scan results back next week. For our trial transfer appointment  Dr. Le want to make sure my uterus was conducive for the embryo transfer, he measured the depth of my uterus and made sure there were no abnormalities that he would need to consider.  Next we spoke with the IVF case worker to determine my medication plan, sono and lab work appointments. So here is my schedule:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1 Birth Control	2 BCP	3 BCP	4 BCP	5 BCP	6 BCP	7 BCP
8 BCP	9 BCP Lupron Inj	10 BCP LI	11 BCP LI	12 BCP LI	13 BCP LI	14 BCP LI
15 BCP LI	16 BCP LI	17 BCP LI	18 LI Sono/labs	19 LI	20 LI	21 LI Follistem Inj
22 LI FI	23 LI FI Sono/labs	24 FI dose pending based on estrogen level	25	26 Sono/labs	27	28 Sono/labs
29	30 Sono/labs	31	1	2 Possible sperm/egg retrieval	3	4
5	6 Possible embryo transfer	7	8	9	10	11