So this is how it works...I think

I was visiting some lovely friends the other night and we got to chatting about IVF. They were really interested in the whole process- and as I explained some of the basic procedure and timeline, I realized that other people may be wondering about it too. As I've read up on all our paperwork, I was reminded how intricate the IVF process is...so to the best of my ability, not having gone through it yet, I will attempt to explain it. Here is what I know....

BACKTRACK: We were initially going to start the 10 week process this week when I had this overwhelming feeling that we needed to wait another month to start. I was stressing out trying to organize the fundraiser and was not creating a very inviting womb:) Nor was I sleeping very well because I had lots to think about. Luckily, my lovey Russell is intuitive and agreed that all this stress would be counter-productive. We decided that we should wait till March to start, so in about 3 weeks, it will begin.

In the meantime, we are still preparing by scheduling mandatory pre-IVF classes that instruct us, in greater detail, about this process and teaches us how to give me the injections-something I'm not looking forward to. (Side note)Considering that when we were first married Russell had to literally pin me down to help me shove nose spray up my nose when I needed it...I don't like things to be injected into me- so this will be an interesting "experience," Ha!

So here's the explanation of the 10 weeks.
Starting around March 10th, the first 4 weeks will be the "baseline" testing. This means going into the Dr. on days 3, 6, 10, 12 of my cycle to draw blood, do an ultrasound, complete a Sonohystergram (SIS), a trial embryo transfer, and a Doppler ultrasound. Wow, I'm not sure what that all entails, but lets get-er-done!

The next 3 weeks are what they call "Suppression"- where I'll be on birth control to suppress hormone production. Not at lot of action during these 3 weeks besides taco bell cravings and haywire hormones.

The last 3 weeks will be the actual IVF process, called "Stimulation."
First, the Oocyte Retrieval-not even sure how to pronounce that. :) This is when the eggs are removed from my ovaries with a LLLLLOOOOONNNNNGGGGG needle. I'm under anesthesia, thank goodness! But they'll retrieve the egg-containing follicles and the Dr. hopes to get 20 eggs at my ripe age of 31. The eggs are transported to the lab and kept in spa like conditions that resemble the fallopian tubes-including special fluid designed to support the development of the embryos.

From those 20 eggs, the Dr. expects 15 to be mature eggs. From the 15 mature eggs, we hope to fertilize about 11 of them and about half of the fertilized eggs to be viable options to implant.
They will take the 2 best fertilized embryos and implant those...we're not hoping to be on the news as the newest "Octo" parents, so they will implant no more than 2 which then we'll have the option to freeze the others.
Day 5 they implant the best embryos right in the uterus, by-passing all the other possible obstacles that could affect this "baby-making" process.

The next 1-2 weeks will probably be the hardest- bed rest for a few days and WAITING. Waiting, praying, pleading, and more praying to find out if our dreams will come true. We know there are no guarantees. But we sure hope that it is the Lord's will- and with everyone's good thoughts, prayers and support, that we'll be able to see those 2 pink lines indicating the beginning of a new adventure! We feel so fortunate to be where we are at-we have never felt the love from others so strongly as we have now. People are GOOD and selfless and great examples of love, sacrifice and positivity. We love our life-with its ups and downs, and try to live by one of my favorite quotes..."Come what may and LOVE it."