Busy week ahead!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We started off the holiday at Midwest, but I'm going to rewind back to yesterday.  Tuesday, Allison called and said I should order one of the medicines and they could loan the other in case I needed it.  Because I'm paranoid, I made my momma come over and spend the day Wednesday waiting for Fed Ex.  Wednesday morning I navigated through some nasty fog for another monitoring appointment.  Overnight, my ovaries were busy getting follicles mature.  Dr. Bopp came in and gave me a hug, excited that we were finally rolling.  He wanted to wait until my labs came back to confirm that we would do the trigger and then retrieval on Friday.  Allison reviewed two possible triggers that could be used, depending on my blood work.  One was a Lupron & HCG, which she sent me home with.  The other was a full 10,000 units of HCG.  Allison called me later to let me know we were ready to trigger, which is exciting but we ended up not needing the medicine I'd ordered the day before. (the medicine incident that included the minor meltdown)  Although, if we hadn't ordered it we would have been in a pickle.  I think after Allison called me with the retrieval instructions, I may have called her 4 times with various questions.  Bless her for answering all of them and talking me off the ledge!  Also, bless my dear girls at work for keeping me off the ledge, too.  
The HCG shot was to be given at 8:30 since my retrieval was scheduled for Friday morning at 8:30.  
I really wish I would have taken a picture of these needles!  The ones I did in my belly weren't too traumatic, they were pretty small.  Not so much for this one!  The first needle was huge because it was used to mix the HCG powder with the liquid....still pretty intimidating.  We worked together to follow the directions step by step to get it ready, and then came the slightly smaller but still large and scary needle.  Fast forward a few minutes and then trauma was over, and not too bad.  Joe Jones gets 4 stars for his shot giving techniques.
The reason we had to go to Midwest today was Dr. Bopp wants to make sure the HCG is being absorbed to get us ready for retrieval.  The downside to cycling around the holiday is not seeing Bopp and Allison as much because they're off enjoying the day with their families.  Thankfully, everyone I've seen at Midwest has been caring, encouraging, and supportive so I'm not too worried.  
Today, we went over all of our instructions for the next week...it's a little busy!
No food or drink after midnight tonight, thankfully we have to be down there early so I won't be too whiny about being hungry and thirsty!  No artificial sweeteners or heavy lifting after tonight either.  I'm going wild on caffeine free diet coke today!
Tomorrow, Dr. Will (makes me think of the guy from Big Brother) will go in and retrieve my eggs.  We will speak with the nurse, the doctor, and the biologist.   We will leave our goods to fertilize in the lab while Joe drives home and I become one with the couch.
Saturday, they will call in the morning and let us know how many fertilized.  
Sunday, I start progesterone and estrogen support.  
Monday, they will call between 3-4 and let me know what time are embryo transfer will take place on Wednesday.
Wednesday is the big day!  Our hope is for two healthy embryos to make it to day five to get put back in.  Transfer doesn't require anesthetic, so I won't be whiny and hungry.  They do give me some medicine to help me relax though.  She said we'll stay there a little bit and then it's home to bed rest.  I can get up for potty, showers, and eating.  Just to be safe, I'm taking off from transfer day to pregnancy test day.  I love my job and my kids, but want to make sure I stay as germ and stress free as possible while our embryos are sticking!
We will go to Midwest for the first pregnancy blood test on December 8.  This is called a "beta" test where they look at HCG.  If it's below 5, they won't have you come back for a second test and you schedule a post cycle appointment.  Between 5-50, it's not clear either way so you have to come back two days later for another blood test.  If it's over 50, they say it's positive but encourage cautious optimism and bring you back two days later.  They gave us a paper that says to be cautious until we have an ultrasound where we see the fetus and a heartbeat.
So, there you have it.  Please pray specifically for us and all we have going each day for the next week.  I may be a little loopy after anesthetic tomorrow, so it may be Saturday before I do another update.  
Enjoy a blessed day with your families!  We are very thankful for our family and friends and for the Cade Foundation that helped us get to this point in our journey.

Love,
Sarah & Joe