IVF: Keeping the Results Simple

In case you haven't been able to figure out the "cryptic coding" over the last few weeks on Facebook, the IVF process has worked for us.

thought I would start out the day with another vague status that read "Big Day Today." Again, most people who have known that we have been doing this should have known what that meant. By the 10th (or so) response, anyone who came across my status could figure out what we were talking about, even if they have not been in the loop.

After working in the morning, Leandra and I had lunch with some of my co-workers and then did some stuff in preparation for the big bike ride. At 3:30, we headed over for our ultrasound.

As I have been joking around in preparation for this day, I have been saying that this test was to determine if there were "one or two heads in Leandra's belly." We headed to the back room to see the results.

Even though Leandra's levels implied that there may have been twins, the ultrasound only showed one. Being this early in the process, there wasn't much to see, except for a tiny heartbeat...but there was only one. (The arrow in the picture shows where the heart is. It's not determing gender...which we decided we don't want to know in advance so don't bother asking.)

But that's OK. We still have two more eggs stored away should we want to give it another go. We have another ultrasound scheduled for late October and there should be a little more to see by that time.

Keeping with tradition, my Facebook status only said "One." Seeing the response I got, I think everyone figured it out...except for the couple of "A Chorus Line" references. Funny, I did that show in high school ("I Can Do That").

IVF: The Results

If you've been on Facebook over the last couple of days, you probably caught wind of an unofficial announcement regarding our IVF process. Today was the day for us to find out if the implantation was successful. It has been a long two weeks.

My last post regarding IVF had to do with whether or not we should take a home test before she had everything done at the doctor's office. Almost everyone said to wait, which we did...kind of. We opted to take a home test (we had one sitting around) Friday morning before we went our seperate ways for work. The idea of knowing together was the deciding factor. Leandra "peed on a stick" and got a positive result. At that point, everything else was gravy.

She still went to the doctor who was able to confirm everything we already knew. I guess from Leandra's response over the phone, she was able to tell that we already knew the results.

So here is where we go from here:
1.) She still has to take this drug which is shot into her butt. Yes, this is the one this that will continue to be a "pain in the ass.". She will have another test on Monday to see if we can stop injecting her.
2.) We have an ultrasound appointment in two weeks to see if we have two heads...on two bodies. Of course.

On a personal note, I'm happy that this has worked, but let's not get on the "daddy" train just yet. We are still considered to be in a high-risk zone and I tend to be a realist. Give it a couple months and then go ahead and start dropping "d-bombs."

Reflecting on the People Who Matter

Over the first half of last year's television season, I was a big fan of Glee. After the winter break, I stopped watching it. Not that I lost interest, it just wasn't on at the right time and I forgot to preset my DVR. As a result, I've been trying to catch the summer reruns to get up to speed for the next season.

As it turns out, after watching the finale I deleted it from my DVR and I can't find it online, but there was a point towards the end of the finale where "Mr Shu" is talking to the kids about the choir experience being a distant memory and how over a number of years you will forget people's names. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

It made me reflect on my high school choral experience and how it made me the person that I am today. To be honest, it wasn't the music that we did that I found to be most memorable, but the people who I made the music with. The individuals with whom I was closest were those who were in the Madrigals group.

The 15 of us had numerous rehearsals, shared the high and lows of our lives..., and wore some awesome costumes. I still value the time we spent together in Room 604 at Pius XI High School during my senior year. In no particular order, these people were:
Jimin Kim
Jodi Schwalbach
Kristin Redig
Liz Raven
Katie Neuman
Jill Kramer
Kathy Talsky
Angie Becker
Tricia Simono
Dan Byrne
Peter Parker
Nic Banach
Brian Wroblewski
Nick Denor
Bonnie Scholz (then Bielawski)-Director
(You're going to have to take my word that I remember these names off the top of my head, but I did. My apologies for not getting any married names on here.)

Having graduated in 1993, some of these folks I haven't seen in years, some I have recently connected with on Facebook. They were my best friends in high school and I will never forget that.

IVF: The Waiting Game

We have a couple of more days until Leandra goes in for blood work that will give us the answer to our "investment." I'm not trying to sound impersonal...but we did throw down a good chunk of cash.

We have a friend who is also going through IVF (and reads this blog) who suggested that we could do a home test one week after the eggs were implanted. There is the obvious "need to know right now" reaction that would dictate doing the test.

On the other hand, there is the possibility of getting undesired news before the actual blood test is done. What if there was a false positive...or even a false negative? Is it worth the potential build-up or let down?

With a home test, we could know on the spot and then deal with the aftermath together (positive or negative). With the blood test, Leandra will go to have blood drawn and then wait until the lab produces the results which could be sometime in the afternoon. We'll both be at our respective jobs...not the exact way I would want to share the moment.

We've already waited the majority of the the two-week span. With only three days left, would you take the home test now or wait until the doctor tests your blood?

Self-Inflicted Boot Camp

Boot Camp was cancelled on Labor Day at Bob's Gym. It's a bummer, but you move on. A few class attendees tossed around the idea of meeting up anyways and running it on our own. I connected with a few people on Facebook to spread the word.

As it turns out, most people couldn't make it, but Will Lambert and I were there and did our thing. I put together some music for the hour-long session and figured out the "itinerary" once Will and I got to the gym.

Here's what we did:
Run a lap (outside)
Walking lunges
Run a lap
Walking Lunges
Run a lap
(Come back inside)

Each of the following were in sets and were done individually for a minute each:
Upright rows / Lateral Flys / Mountain Climbers (2x)
Military Press / Burpees (2x)
Bicep Curls / Line Jumps (2x)
Tricep Kick Backs / Wall Sits (2x)
Note: The first wall sit was done for a minute, the second was held for two minutes.

Then we did 7-8 minutes of core work.
Cool down/stretch

YEAH!

IVF: Early Evidence

Today is the day. Perhaps it is better to say "was" because the main purpose has already been completed. At about 9:40 AM, we had two fertilized eggs implanted back into Leandra. Now we play a waiting game.

If you look at the picture, the white ovals where the arrows are pointing are the eggs. The one on the right is harder to see than the one on the left.

Leandra has a bunch of meds to take, which includes some pills and a shot to the butt. (Heh, heh.) These will conitue for at least a month. After two weeks, we will take a pregnancy test and she will have some blood work done to see if we were successful.

And for "fun-sies", if you are feeling a little creative, you can include some other possible picture ideas. Here are the ones that I listed:

• UFO in the night
• Picture of the Milky Way galaxy from 700 light years away

IVF: The Final Chapter

Last Monday, Leandra had her ovaries "cleaned out" as the doctor went through 30+ follicles and found 15 eggs. We were later told that five of them were "really good."

Since that time, we have been waiting for the last stage of the the IVF process which is implanting two of the eggs back into her. It is my understanding that two pf them have already been fertilized and are currently incubating.

After the eggs are implanted, the drugs/hormones she will take will help her body with the transition of thinking its pregnant. This is done because conception didn't happen naturally and her body might few the eggs as foreign bodies and would normally attack them (like a virus).

Our appointment is at 8:30 am tomorrow morning. We'll see what happen.

On a side note, I really hope this works. I don't want to have to pay anymore money.