Celebrating one week of shots!

I never leave home without my mustard seed!  Thanks Steph!!

Oh goodness, a lot has been going on and I've been slacking in the update department!  We are smack in the middle of our IVF cycle.  The adventures began on March 12 when my momma braved the early alarm clock and forecast of snow to ride with me for my baseline appointment.  Everyone except for me was slightly concerned about the forecast of snow. Denial is a happy place to be when you have to drive to another state for an appointment...it's a happy place until reality comes falling from the sky.  It took us a little over seven hours to get from my house to Dr. Morris' office.  Oh goodness, we had three close calls and I had several "Sarah Elizabeth" moments.  Thankfully, Dr. Morris' staff was so wonderful to work me in whenever we got there.  We safely arrived in Naperville, got my labs and ultrasound done, got some Follistim, and we were out the door.  Once we were on the road home, we faced sunshine!  Crazy Indiana weather!!  

After hearing that the ultrasound and lab results came back, we received the official green light to start on Saturday the 15th.  Everyone starts hormones in the church bathroom, right?  From the 15th-18th, I had one injection in the evening.  Follistim does what the name implies...stimulates growth of your follicles.  I've been on this before for IUI's and our IVF and always have responded well.  We were due back up north on the 19th for my first monitoring appointment.  Driving was a lot less stressful without the snowfall!  Joe was able to get the day off and rode along.  I was a little bummed that our first monitoring appointment was on this date because the munchkins were going to Farm Fest.  While field trips are stressful and crazy to plan, I was really looking forward to this one.  The joys of IVF, you have no control of your schedule and plan.  I was excited to see all the pictures that my preschool peeps sent me!  I'm so thankful to have a job that I love, awesome munchkins that wear me out, and a whole crew of people that remind me to take care of myself and they have munchkin land covered!!
Back to the appointment, I started off responding well to the medicine.  The nurse had me plan to return on Friday, but nothing is for certain until Dr. Morris reviews the labs and ultrasound.  We were home bound again.  Lesson for this trip was that Google maps doesn't always keep up and reroute fast enough!  It took us a minute to get out of Naperville, but then we were good to go.  We stopped in Merriville for lunch and so we could swap drivers.  Joe needed to catch up on some rest and I needed to be able to control the music selection and stop at Dunkin Donuts.  We got home just in time to do the day's shot except I didn't have my instructions from the doctor yet.  Cue a momentary panic when the directions included a low dose HCG which I hadn't received yet.  Our nurse for the day was so nice to call and let me know not to panic.  Wednesday also started another shot (that I had on hand)...Ganirilex.  This one keeps me from ovulating before I'm ready.  Walgreens was able to overnight the low dose HCG so crisis was averted.
On Thursday, I was back to the land of the little munchkins to hear about the fun field trip!  I really missed out on some fun.  Bless my mom for going to my house for the third day in a row to get medication, unpack it, and stick it in the fridge.  
I was due back to Dr. Morris on Friday and mom agreed to another road trip.  Since we were up and out the door early, we treated ourselves to Concannon's for breakfast.  Yummy!  This trip up north was less crazy and only took 4.5 hours...this country mouse is getting pretty good at driving like a city mouse!  My ultrasound looked good and the nurse thought I might have to come back today.  Scheduled the appointment and made plans to drive up solo so mom wouldn't miss her small group and church.  (My orders that she needed to go!)  On the drive home, getting up at 4:03 caught up with me.  I've been a good girl and not cheated, just having decaf coffee still.  I'm still not certain what was going on but traffic was backed up on 65 so we ventured off course.  Bless my momma again for taking over the driving!  I'm typically a little control freak and always want to drive, but I had to surrender.  When we stopped for a potty break and a fresh beverage, I got my update from the doctor.  New plan, back up on Sunday not Saturday.  I was very thankful for a change in the game plan because it let me stay home and have a lazy day...it is Spring Break after all!  My low dose HCG was increased and the Follistim is decreased.  We are venturing up to PJ's after church tonight to make our 7:30 appointment in the morning.  This girl needs to get her church in to keep sane!  Christi, one of the nurses, said we probably will trigger on Sunday and have the egg retrieval on Tuesday.  That's all tentative until after tomorrow's ultrasound and labs.  
Things are off to a good start, crazy snow trip not included.  We are so thankful for all the love and prayers we receive. 
If you pray for us specifically, here's what we need...
Please pray for our safe travels back and forth between Muncie and Naperville.  Please pray that I continue to respond well and we are able to move ahead with the egg retrieval.  Pray that the egg retrieval goes smoothly and that we have two very healthy embryos to transfer back!  Pray for me to be productive and get everything ready at school for when I will be out!  (My plan is to take off until the pregnancy test just to play it safe and avoid germs)
With Spring Break being this week, I shouldn't be so side tracked that I can't update the blog.  Between here and Facebook, I should have things covered!  Now, I've got to pack up my hormones to take to church.  HCG on ice...don't you take that to church?  There's never a dull moment!
Have a safe and relaxing Spring Break and wonderful week!
Sarah and Joe

3/12/14 Smiling with no clue of what was ahead!