Off to the Races...

I got my period yesterday so we are officially starting the suppression stage of IVF! I have a call into my dr. to see what to do next, but as I understand it, we will "suppress" my system this month and then "stimulate" next month with shots and hopefully have enough good embryos to implant!!! I'll let you know when the doctor calls me back with more info!!

I love this song! It just repeats that we all have so much to be thankful for! I with it was titled "Lucky Woman" - ha ha

Lucky Man lyrics

I have days where I hate my job
This little town and the whole world too
Last Sunday when the Bengals lost
Lord it put me in a bad mood

I have moments when I curse the rain
Then complain when the sun's too hot
I look around at what everyone has
And I forget about all I've got

But I know I'm a lucky man
God's given me a pretty fair hand
Got a house and a piece of land
A few dollars in a coffee can
My old trucks still running good
My ticker's ticking like they say it should
I got supper in the oven, a good woman's loving
And one more day to be my little kid's dad
Lord, knows I'm a lucky man

Got some friends who would be here fast
I could call em any time of day
Got a brother who's got my back
Got a mama who I swears a saint
Got a brand new rod and reel
Got a full week off this year
Dad had a close call last spring
It's a miracle he's still here

But I know I'm a lucky man
God's given me a pretty fair hand
Got a house and a piece of land
a few dollars in a coffee can
My old trucks still running good
My ticker's tickin' like they say it should
I got supper in the ove, good woman's loving
And one more day to be my little kid's dad
Lord, knows I'm a lucky man

My old trucks still running good
My ticker's ticking like they say it should
I got supper in the oven, a good woman's loving
And even my bad days ain't that bad
Yeah, I'm a lucky man
I'm a lucky lucky man

Happy Day!

I wish I wrote this because it's SO true!!

Good morning. Do you desire to be happy? (Remember this) The proof of
desire is pursuit. You must go to happy places.. Pursue happy people..
Create happy days... If you really desire happiness in your life, you
must be willing to reach for it! Never blame anyone or anything for your
unhappiness. Life rewards reachers. I have always said, "Happiness is
never placed within your life, happiness is simply placed within your
reach!". Now go out there and have a happy day! :) :)
God is Love
Rev Run

Update

This is from my mom in an email to the family...I'm too tired to retype....I'm exhausted, feeling crampy, but sleeping lots and glad it's over! Painkillers are my friend right now! David and I are going to an amazing hotel on the east coast for an impromptu vaca so the R&R will begin like never before! Such perfect timing!! Thanks for caring and loving us so intensely!!

From Mom to Fam:
David just called and the surgery is over. The blotches on the view of the uterus turned out to be mucous the he scraped out and may have disappeared on its own, but it is good that it was all cleaned out. She is fine and there is nothing to worry about. These blotches could have been polyps or other things, so the presence of some mere mucous was the very best scenario. All of this has been sent over to Dr. Maxson, who will make the determination, but it appears that they will have to wait for probably 1 cycle before beginning IVF - still be able to probably get the process begun soon so they have summer to work with.

So, we once again all breathe a collective "whew"!

Love you all! On they go in their journey to meet Baby Hutcheson, with their incredible supporting cast of characters close behind.

I havent heard from Maxson since the surgery, but I'm guessing we'll only have to wait 1 cycle and then start IVF!! Great news bc we'll be in the heart of summer and I can take endless trips to Margate without any stress of getting back at any specific time. Leaves lots of room for lunches, shopping, and galavanting on the east coast!!! Also, my good friend from college will be going through IVF at the same time! Although she lives in another state we can be a source of support and comfort for each other!!

I saw pictures of my uterus before and after the surgery and it looks BEAUTIFUL! It was like it had a makeover!! Actual photos like you'd see at Sears Portrait Studios!!! We wouldnt've gotten pg if we did get rid of it bc the wall of the uterus was blocked with this junk. I thought it'd be too weird to post my pix of my uterus; I dont want to sound cocky, but I was very impressed with my uterus if I do say so myself!! ha ha

Wanna Play a Game??

My friend Kelle mailed me this game yesterday.(with a tearjerking card)

Would you like to play? It's quite fun and makes you laugh the more you play! What good timing to get this in our mailbox yesterday!!!

Click on picture to get an up close view.

Directions:
Instead of the game "Where's Waldo?", here's the game "Where's Dr. Maxson?"

Kicks keep on kickin'...

I know I like soccer, but this is taking it a little far don't you think? HSG showed some irregularities in my uterus. The contrast dye should puddle and make a dark pool with no white spots on the x-ray, but didn't have that. They need to take a closer look at it and the only way they can do that is through a surgery called a hysteroscopy. Yes, a surgery! I have to go under and everything! (blech-throwing up in toilet at thought) I'm having it done on Thursday! Yes, this Thursday! yikes! Here's more info:
http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/guide/Hysteroscopy

It is a good thing that we did this because he said we probably wouldnt've gotten pregnant through IVF this time bc the embryo would not have something stable to grasp onto. Obviously, we're disappointed because this puts IVF on the backburner for a few months, but glad we didnt waste $20K on IVF just to not have it work. Of course, Dr. T said it could be nothing, but they need to take a closer look to see just what it is. He said it could be from the dye getting under the lining and altering the xray, could be leftover from the D&C, or it could be something more serious, but they'd be able to take care of it during the surgery. Either way, this is one step to get my body ready for another round of IVF! We still hope to have it done this summer so I dont have to take off work, but it's too early to tell when we'll try again. Thursday will be telling. Thanks for caring!!

Planting the Seeds

Look at what my friend Kelle made for David and I - She gave us a pouch of seeds with this on the outside! OOOOHHHHHH my adorable!! WOW! Her creativity is too much for words!!! Click the image to read the fine print :)

Have my HSG today - wish me luck - say a prayer that all goes well and we have good results!!! (or 2)

Clean Bill of Health!

Maxson finally called me back and they said my blood levels and u/s were perfect and normal!! When I asked her about the # of follicles, she stated that they are called "antral follicles" and what they want to see at this stage in the game! Well, that's a how do you do!?!? Why didnt someone just come out and tell me that instead of letting me be down in the dumps and let me catastrophize for 24 hours!!?? I guess that's the downfall of not having my u/s done in Margate and having them done in Naples by people who don't specialize in IVF. But, I did save 4 hours of drive time for 24 hours of worrying so I guess it's an ok trade-off! Needless to say, I was happy with their good and normal report and we keep moving forward from here.

There are a few more hurdles to jump before going through IVF like the HSG next week and I must ovulate on my own. Once I ovulate (which I'll know by using an ovulation predictor kit), then they'll give me the projected dates for stimulation. (i'm in suppression stage now) Both things are out of my hands so say a prayer for us :)

I had another session of acupuncture and it was GREAT!! I felt like she gave me drugs bc she left me alone for 30 minutes with the needles in me and I was ZONKED out like a baby! I was on my back with 10-15 needles in me and I passed out! I swear there are drugs in those needles! ha ha If I ran in a marathon, swam 50 miles, biked 100 miles, didnt sleep for 72 hours and then you asked me to fall asleep on my back, I absolutely, positively could NOT do it! But, you put needles in me while I'm laying on my back and I pass out like a baby! It was bizarre! She also did something called "moxy" where she lit a cigar-like incense tube and placed it close to my stomach until I said, "hot" and then she pressed down on my skin to trap in the heat. Sounds crazy, but she said this has been around longer than acupuncture which has been around for 2,000 years! Then she left me alone for 30 minutes and that's when I zonked out! It was strange!! I swear I was shot with a

tranqulizer gun!

Ultrasound and Bloodwork...

I had bloodwork and u/s yesterday and am waiting anxiously for those results. The nurse who did my u/s in Naples was kinda clueless, but said that I had 13 large follicles in my ovaries. She said she didnt expect to see that in me bc I havent been stimulated since 1/15. She usually counts up follicles after stimulation. The nurse does not work for Maxson bc she's a separate center and I went to a place that does mammograms, etc for the general public.
They are not an ob/gyn nor related to the ivf clinic so that made me hopeful that they're nothing to worry about. I asked her if she thought they could be cysts and she said "maybe". That sent shockwaves through my heart bc if they are cysts, then I'd have to go on the pill for many months to starve them and stop them from growing. I "catastrophized" the worst case scenario last night, but I talked to another IVF friend today and she said not to worry. They are normal and could be leftover from the last IVF cycle. Needless to say, I have a call into the dr. to see if he thought my tests were all normal and we can proceed as expected. I'll keep you posted!! Feeling a little anxiety today waiting to hear if it's nothing or something! I REALLY want to capitalize on summer break by being able to attempt IVF again and not have to worry about missing work so I feel like im in a time crunch bc I have 10 weeks to play with this summer. I dont want to miss anymore work if possible. Every hour I miss is taking away from my maternity leave and I'm trying to save up every second for that precious time!

Curvy Roads Ahead....

This is the sign in my head when I think about the upcoming month or 2!! Not sure what to expect, but we're ready for any curves in the road!!

To catch you up, I got my period on Sunday (FINALLY)!! I've havent had a period since January 1st!!!!!!! Of course a lot has happened between then and now, but it was still shocking to think about it like that!
Anyway, here's the skinny as far as I know. I go in tomorrow for ultrasound and bloodwork to make sure my levels are ok and all looks well. If we pass that test, then I'll have an HSG next Monday where they shoot dye thru my tubes and take xrays of my insides to make sure it's all ready for IVF. I'll have that done in Margate or Naples - that is still TBD! (long and boring story as to the why)

If we pass those tests, I'll start an ovulation predictor kit on CD10 to see when I ovulate. Once I ovulate, they'll wait 8 days and start me on Lupron shots which helps suppress my hormones. I should be on those shots for 12 days and then I'll start the stimulation phase. I'm guessing I'll start that the first week in June, but that is all determined by when I ovulate this month. All dates are pinned to that.

For now, I just have to get my bloodwork/ultrasound tomorrow and have an HSG on Monday - those 2 will happen no matter what. Then I have to wait to ovulate which will be around 5/12ish and we'll go from there. Lots of hurdles to jump first, but if all goes well, then we'll start the stimulation early June, implantation mid June and find out if we're pg in July!! WOWOWOWOW!!

We wanted to start this month bc if there are unforseen delays we still have a lot of summer to play with to try again. It all happens so fast! It is much nicer knowing what to expect for both David and i and I'll be floating in my pool in between appointments to avoid any stress whatsoever!!

Hope that all makes sense!!! Thanks for caring!!! We're ready for the race to begin again! Get on your marks!!

Appointment Went Well

I'll give acupuncture a thumbs up!!

I loved the acupuncture!! I was really surprised as I did it years ago and didnt enjoy it bc I was so stressed about the needles the entire time! This time I didnt feel a thing!! She left them in for 30 minute and I zonked out like a little baby! Hopefully, this'll work bc it costs $110 the first time and $80 each additional week!!! Insurance does NOT cover it!!! UGH!! I spent almost 2 hours with her bc she was counseling me so much asking me all sorts of questions about my lifestyle, history, my coping skills, etc and it was very interesting!! She kept asking how I was grieving all this and the emotional pain might be leading to some other ailments (insomnia, constipation, etc) The whole session was much deeper and therapeutic than I expected! I thought she'd come in, pop me with a few needles and I'd be on my merry way. I didnt think I was going to a therapist!! I'm looking forward to going back next Thursday!!!

No af yet so it's hard to plan my IVF schedule.......they said 4-6 weeks from the D&C and im in week 5 - i keep thinking anyday, but not so much! maybe the needles will help her come along!!