WOW!!! We are well beyond the 10,000 views mark now!! How exciting!!! I never imagined that this blog would have so much traffic because I could NEVER have imagined the level of support we would have through this journey! It is truly AMAZING!!! We are so thankful for your thoughts and prayers!
This step of our journey started with leaving town at 4:15 on Wednesday and heading to Rockford. We had to make it to the hotel in time to prepare for my two injections at 7:00 p.m. It was BY FAR the earliest that we have ever been in Rockford. We got there in time for the injections and we went out for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. While there we got information about an amazing pizza place, Lino's, so we also ordered a small pizza to eat with my late night meds!! Everything was delicious!! So glad we tried the pizza place!!
I actually went to bed early on Wednesday night! I think I might have been asleep by 10:15! That is NOT normal for me! I was up several times in the night and finally realized that my side of the bed was inflating as the night went on, making me uncomfortable. The beds at the Radisson are Sleep Number beds and we haven't always had the best luck with them. Once I fixed it I slept much better. But, it was inflated again by morning. When Mike woke up he said that he had the worst night of sleep EVER. I checked his side and it said that it was at a 100!!! WHAT!!! That is like a ROCK!!! I tried to put it down and it reinflated to a 75. He said I was doing something to make it infate, but I promise that I wasn't!!!
We got ready for the procedure and went for breakfast... yes, McVey's like to eat. We were finished with breakfast 30 minutes before we needed to be at the facility. So, we arrived about 20 minutes early. We sat down in the office and just like the times before we were greeted by the sign that said to let someone know if we waited longer than 25 minutes and the camera. BUT, suddenly a girl that we had never met came out and said, "Can I help you?" We were SO confused! I told her that we were early, but we were supposed to be there at 10:30. She said, "And you are?" I told her that we were Julie and Michael McVey and then I began to panic!!!! They had initially given us the wrong date... what if they hadn't fixed it and they still had us down for the 27th instead of the 26th?!?!?! The lady said, "Okay, I will let them know that you are here." and she walked away. Then a nurse we recognized peeked through the door, said hi, and went back to the back. It was SO strange. We will never know what all of that was about, but it was super weird! Embryos only take 45 minutes to thaw, so who knows if they had the right date or not!! There was totally time to thaw them before they transferred them!!! ;) HAHAH!! I am sure we were just over reacting, but it is a good story anyway!! :)
Once we were called back I asked the nurse "J" if she could look at my injection sites because I had some redness/possible beginning of hives. She acted like I was crazy for worrying and I reminded her that I have had serious reactions to the meds previously. She still acted like I was crazy and then repeatedly pushed on my bruises and red spots. She said to just keep watching them. Then she went over the post transfer directions. The first thing I had to do was let her know that the meds on the sheet were not right. There was one med on there that I don't take and one that was left off that I do take. I told her about that and then I looked at the pregnancy test date and told her that it was incorrect. It said that I was supposed to have my pregnancy test on April 3rd, which is next Friday and I knew that couldn't be right. She told me that it was right and that it had to do with my embryos. I told her that it was not the same amount of time that had passed before and she put me off again and left the room. So, when the next nurse came in ("T", who I just LOVE) I asked her about it. She said that it was right and that it was the date for blastocysts. I told her that my embryos were day 3. She said that they weren't. I said that they were and that the only way that they were blastocysts were if they were thawed early without my knowledge. She said, "Let me check with the embryologists about this. They would be the people who know!" When she came back she said that I was right and that she was really glad that I spoke up. She then left to change my paperwork and the orders for my blood test. She came back and said again that it was good that I spoke up and said to always question things when they don't seem right. If there is one thing that I have learned from this journey it is to speak up and be my own advocate. Not long ago I would NEVER have questioned a doctor. Now I feel like I do it ALL the time!! So, they said that we would be getting started anytime, but the doctor tends to get lost on his way to the rooms so it could be a while. And it was. I think we started about 15 to 20 minutes late.
I have to say that though the procedures are never comfortable this time was extremely uncomfortable. The only thing I can think of is that I was concerned about the issues that had occured with the mistakes and therefore I was tense, causing the procedure to be worse than usual. He had to tell me to relax and I hadn't even noticed that I was tense. Before long we were ready for the embryologists to bring in our little ones and he watched on the ultrasound screen and found the "good spot" to transfer them. Then the embryologists confirmed that the tube was clear and that the embros had been successfully transfered! Then it was time for the 30 minute wait. I asked him if he was born in Poland and that led to a 28 minute conversation about Poland and the fact that he moved to the USA when he was 28 and the conversation was actually really nice! I was very surprised at how personable he was! He told me to "Go home and Get PRegnant!" Then the nurse came in and said that we only had 2 more minutes to wait. She also asked Mike to change the clock because he is tall and they still hadn't sprung forward! He said that with the amount of money we pay he didn't think he needed to do that and then he said that we should get a free copay out of it! HAHA!! But, he is a great guy, so he fixed the clock for them. And finally it was time for me to hit the restroom!!! The crazy thing is that I had to pee SOOO bad that I couldn't go. This is something that sometimes happens due to my endometriosis and it FREAKS me out. I have to stand up and move around and hope that I can go. I can then usually go a little bit, but if I wait a couple minutes I can usually go again. I asked about this at an appointment once and the doctor told me to try not to let my bladder get too full in order to avoid this. Sadly this procedure requires a full bladder so I had no choice. The only reason I mention it here is because it is something that most people probably don't realize about endometriosis... not only does it cause us to feel like we have to go to the restroom more frequently, but if we don't it can cause other issues! I know it is totally TMI, but if people start to notice restroom issues like I am describing it could be a sign of either endometriosis or a cyst/tumor of some type and it could become serious!
After hitting the bathroom up twice we hit the road and headed for home! Of course we stopped in Sterling/Rock Falls for lunch!! I was so ready to get home and get some sleep! So, when we got home I took a nap. This whole process is SO exhausting. We did our evening shots and Mike got me dinner so that I could take my meds that need to be taken with food. Then I napped again and watched some t.v. Bed rest is such a riveting time!!! The awesome thing was that an AMAZING friend stopped over with Scotcheroos, which were a great treat to have with my late night meds!!! :) Yum!! Yum!! It was so nice to visit with her!
I spent today feeling pretty nauseous. I don't know why, but I am assuming it is due to the hormones. I spent the day napping, eating, and watching HGTV! Then an awesome friend stopped by and kept me company when she got out of school!! I appreciated the visit!! Mike came home and brought me dinner and gave me my injections. Now I am working on grad class stuff and paying bills. Super exciting Friday night!!!
We can't thank you all enough for all of your thoughts and prayers! I thought I was going to find out if we were pregnant on Mike's sister's birthday, but they said that we will actually find out Monday, April 6th. Thankfully I will not have school that day. It is so hard to get the news and then have to go right back to teaching... so far I have only had negative news, but I am sure it would be hard even if it were positive news. Afterall, I would probably be doing backflips if the news was different this time!!! :)
Have a wonderful weekend! I am sure I will post updates about any "symptoms" that I feel!!! :)
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