Here we go..

The IVF ball is rolling..full speed! I started on birth control about two weeks ago, to surpress my ovary. (Still not used to that, I always say ovaries and then have to correct myself!) It's a pretty high dose of hormone, most birth control pills these days are low doses due to complications I'm sure you've seen on TV. It's also mixed with two other hormones, so you can imagine I've been very pleasant to be around lately. Kidding! I know I've probably been a totaly nightmare, but lucky for me I was blessed with an amazingly patient husband. He definitely deserves some kind of award..and probably more after this process is over. I have three more days left on the birth control and then I start the heavy duty stuff. When the pharmacy called me last week to go over all the medications and set up a delivery date, I was shocked at how many medications there were. I've done tons of research on IVF, including reading other women's blogs who have documented the process. So I knew to expect a lot..but it seems like it's more than a lot. I did have to do some blood work on the third day of my last period, at the beginning of the month. Some of it came back not so great, so I believe that is the reason for more medications. My prolactin (hormone made by the pituitary gland) was pretty high, and my ovary showed some signs of polycystic ovarian syndrome. But it's nothing that will lower our chances of conceiving, thank God.

We had our first of many appointments last week, with the doctor who will be with us throughout the process. I thought it might have been a good sign that the appointment was on July 17th (Disneyland's birthday!) and also, Alice in Wonderland was playing in the office. Yes, I can find the Disney in any situation :) The doctor is very optimistic that our chances are the same as anyones, the endometriosis and one ovary don't change anything. He's confidant that I will produce good quality eggs. They gave us kind of an idea of when the process might take place..I won't post any specific dates just because we are keeping that kind of private (as in close family and friends..which I know MOST of you are that anyway, so ssshh!) just in case things don't go as planned. I'm hoping on our trip to Disneyland at the end of September we can take a photo that I have in mind and announce good news fairly soon after! But yes, the procedure will take place before Disneyland..so as much as I'm looking forward to the trip, I never thought I would actually be hoping I can't ride some of the rides!

One good thing about the hormones is I'm definitely putting weight back on. They told me the medication fools your body into thinking you're pregnant, and I can imagine this is what it feels like. I constantly crave all different kinds of food..mainly junk food, which doesn't make the hubby too happy but he deals with it. I wake up at weird hours of the night/morning totally starving and have to have food right then. At 4 am this morning for example, I woke up craving a grilled cheese. Like I HAD to have it. So I get up and make it, and David was in the shower getting ready for work. He was pretty surprised when he walked over to kiss me goodbye that I was wide awake sitting up and devouring a huge grilled cheese sandwich. Of course I fell back asleep soon after. On Saturday, I woke up around 6 am NEEDING to have breakfast burritos from McDonald's. I can't stand McDonald's, except for their breakfast. My husband has always thought it was funny with how picky I am that I'm obsessed with these things. I ate two, plus a hash brown. Yeah...I was at the drive thru around 6:15 am because I just couldn't stop thinking of them. I watched a little 7th Heaven, ate my breakfast, and fell back asleep. I also drink way too much chocolate milk everyday. Not your homemade, Hersey's syrup chocolate milk. No, I have to have the Producer's kind in the carton. So delish. Needless to say..my pants are a lot tighter in the rear area, and I definitely need some bigger bras (Can't complain about that!). David is definitely loving it though, he has been trying to get me to put weight on forever. Not that I refused to, I've just had a hard time keeping any on since my surgery last summer. But, I think we've found the fix!

I still need to blog all about our vacation last month, before I get even more wrapped up in this process.

We've also decided to use our video camera that we bought two years ago and have only used twice, to document the process. That way if..no..WHEN it works :) we have a lot of amazing footage to show our child. I probably will post a few of the videos to share with others who may be considering IVF or are looking for more information. I have one friend in particular whom it's looking like IVF may be her next step, but her and her husband will need to take out a loan to pay for it. So she's asked me to share anything I'm willing to with her so she has ideas of what to expect. I have to say, David and I are incredibly blessed to have my parents in our life. It's only because of them that we are able to do this, and either way, I will always be eternally grateful for the opportunity. But especially if we get the outcome we are praying for, I feel like we will owe them so much. So, summers spent at Nana's when he/she hits the terrible twos?! Potty training? It would only be fair to repay you in some way.. ;)



I'll leave you with a picture of my homemade tattoo. Kidding. There's a few verses from the Bible that I really cling to when I'm in certain situations. Such as doctor's appointments, surgeries, stuff like that. Well, there's one in particular that popped into my head the morning of our appointment. I'm not sure exactly why, but I decided to write it on my wrist while we were on our way to Fresno. Maybe this is a new habit and I'll have to do it for all of my appointments? 1 Samuel 1:27 "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to Him".