IVF Update

Firstly, thank you for praying!  Lots to update you on.

Wednesday we woke up and dropped off Wyatt at Pastor Daniel and Tammie's; and off we went.  Well, first I had… HAD to get myself a Rockstar Roasted…yum.  And good thing I did! A mile down the road at a red light I started complaining about how somebody's car was smelling up the road.  Jennifer saw smoke coming out from under our hood and said, "I think it's us!"  Sure enough, we blew our power stearing pump hose. 

Now I'm on the phone to Pastor Daniel and the insurance company and the fertility clinic.  The insurance company arranged a tow, and Tammie and Pastor met us with one of their cars.  All in all we ended up there right on time, but admitedly irked.  I called my dad to start praying all this crap away from us!

So we went in and to make a long story short, the fluid was gone!  Praise God!  We were so excited!  I think we were really frustrated that we didn't get to see the embryos last time.  So now they are safely in Jennifer belly.  The Doc even said he was glad we waited till day 5, because one of the embryos didn't look as good as they thought it would.  So they picked 2 different ones.  All in all they transferred 2 embryos and froze 3.  So there's the potential we could end up with 6 kids including Wyatt!

Please keep praying.  We are going try to enjoy this pregnancy.  Last time we were really uptight.  Imagine that…the Pickwells uptight.  We'll go Sept 15 for a blood test to see if we're pregnant.  Then 2 weeks after that, they'll do an ultrasound to see how many!  Lots of things still have to go right.  But I believe God is going to battle for us.  Thank you all!  Oh…and here is a peak at the 2 new arrivals.

IVF Update

Saturday we received a phone call that 11 eggs fertilized.  To give you a comparison, last time we had 23 eggs, 11 fertilized, and 3 survived – 2 were transferred and 1 was cryopreserved.

Monday we got the call that all was a go.  We started our drive to Charlottesville and Jennifer gladly took her Valum.  It helps her body relax for the transfer.  We were waiting in the office and our nurse came out to give us some unexpected news.  3 more fertilized! 14 total.  So at this point we were really feeling good.

They got Jennifer ready and rolled us into transfer room.  For some reason they have it really dark in there.  It's dimly lit with a monitor in the corner so we can see the embryos.  The Doc came in and started doing an ultrasound and then gave us some bad news.  For some reason there was fluid where there wasn't supposed to be fluid.  And that would be toxic to the embryos.  Translation – no transfer.  We were crushed.  I was ticked.  Why does everything have to be so difficult for us?

So the verdict is we have to wait till tomorrow and pray the fluid is gone.  If they still see the fluid tomorrow, we'll have to freeze the embryos and wait till another time.  We really don't feel good about that because we were only able to freeze one last time and it didn't make the thaw.

So here is what everybody needs to do.

1. Pray that the embryos continue to thrive.
2. Pray that the fluid goes away by tomorrow.
3. Pray that the transfer happens tomorrow.
4. Pray that we have something to freeze.
5. Pray that we in 10 months we have a baby because of all of this.

Thank you!

IVF Update

Went for Egg Retrieval today.  23 was the count.  We'll find out tomorrow how many are fertilizing like they should. 

Jennifer took the day off, but I had to talk her into it.  The nurse found out that she was planning on working after having anesthesia and insisted she stay home.

Thank you for your prayers!

IVF Update

Ok….now we're getting somewhere.  As I stated last time, we've been on shots since August 17th.  Then recently we began a 2nd drug called Ganirelix.  Which is supposed to keep the eggs in place.  Don't understand that, but anyway… It has been slow going.  Frustrating actually.  Every time Jennifer would go to the Dr. they'd say, "Still not big enough (the eggs), so maybe another day or two of drugs."  Translation for us:  "$$$$ $$ $$$$ $".  Thanks Doc.

But yesterday we had a nice surprise.  Everything is ready!  Last night we took what is called a 'trigger drug'.  I think it has something to do with helping the eggs mature.  Today is a free day…no drugs.  Then tomorrow morning we go for egg retrieval.  It is actually minor surgery.  They put Jennifer under and everything.  By the time we leave we'll know how many of the eggs are fertilizing like they should.  Monday morning we'll get a phone call telling us either to come in, or that they are going to wait till Wednesday.  They generally implant either 3 day or 5 day old embryos.

Please pray for us.  This is going to be a busy weekend for us (another post).  Thank you all!

IVF Update

Here is an in depth update on how we are progressing.  Jennifer began her shots on Sunday.  These shots cost about a million dollars a piece. Not really, but close. An interesting twist to the whole thing is that we were in NYC for our anniversary, and one drug in particular – hCG – has to be refrigerated.  So when we were in between hotels, we had to pack it on ice. 

Anyhow, the whole process goes like this.  We have a box of Gonal-F.  This is the million dollar box.  We mix up the solution included, draw out a certain amount, put the cap on.  Then we use a separate needle to pull out the hCG.  THEN, we use a 3rd needle to combine the other 2.  We simply twist off the needle, shoot the other 2 into it, then put on a new needle.  So at the end of one shot we throw away 3 syrnges with needles, plus an extra needle.  Sheesh! Our hotel maid probably thought we're druggies.  And to make things more fun, we have to do this at the same time every night.

Jennifer went today and everything is progressing very slowly.  It looks like Sunday she'll go back to get another check up.  Which isn't easy because our Dr. is in Charlottesville – we're in F'burg.  Translation: 1.5 hrs each way.

And the paperwork!  It is worse than buying a house – no exageration! What do they do if one of us dies?  What do they do if both of us die?  What do they do if they can't find the person we donate the embryos to?  What, what, what?  They think of every possible, if even impossible, scenario they can think of.

So there is the latest.  You'll know when we know when everything else takes place.  Please keep us in your prayers!

Anticipation

• A week from yesterday I pick my mom up from the airport.  And Jennifer has her preliminary tests to see how things are progressing.
• A week from today…nothing really special happens.  But…
• A week from tomorrow, we leave for NYC!  Can't wait!
• Then while we are there we begin shots for the IVF process.  Fun.

IVF…again…

In our last episode, the Pickwell’s had to postpone their IVF journey to take care of their current IVF product – Wyatt.   But all is well now and they begin again….

So here we go.  Another stab at the IVF prize…screaming babies.  [Side-note: If you can get through the 1st 8weeks, I think it just gets better and better.  Wyatt has to be the cutest, funniest, happiest 1yr old I know.  I love him!  End side-note]

We would have started last month but the fertility clinic closes for 2 weeks in June – guess they have to take vacations too.  But alas my wife has reach the point of the month where we call the clinic and say “Let’s GO!”  And the first thing they do is put us on birth control….so strange and cruelly ironic.

Thanks to good insurance, Wyatt’s incident only put us back 1k – which translates that we were only that far behind on paying for a baby.  Seriously, its like we’re going to the baby-lot to pick out a baby.  Costs the same, only we don’t get to pick the baby.  God does.  Actually if we were really demented we could pick the sex, screen for disease, etc.  Very Sci-fi.  But we’ll leave that in God’s hands.

So I think it will be fun to instead of saying to Wyatt, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.”  I can I say, “I paid good money for you kid and I can take you back.”  Of course I would never do that just as my Dad would never ‘take me out’.  Though he probably came close.

So stay tuned to ‘IVF Journey’ to see what is going on.  I’ll keep you posted!

IVF Update

Well after helicopter rides, ER trips, MRI’s, Cat Scans, IV’s, X-rays, blood cultures, spinal taps, and four nights in the hospital, we thought it best to hold up on the IVF.

As posted earlier, we were just in the beginning phases of the process.  We’re going to let the EOB’s settle from last week and see where everything stands.  Hopefully, after moving and returning back to normal we’ll start the process over again in about a month or two.

Stay tuned!

IVF Update

Well after helicopter rides, ER trips, MRI’s, Cat Scans, IV’s, X-rays, blood cultures, spinal taps, and four nights in the hospital, we thought it best to hold up on the IVF.

As posted earlier, we were just in the beginning phases of the process.  We’re going to let the EOB’s settle from last week and see where everything stands.  Hopefully, after moving and returning back to normal we’ll start the process over again in about a month or two.

Stay tuned!

IVF Update

Wondering what is going on huh?

Well the update is we’re still waiting.  Jennifer is having to take birth-control pills even thought we can’t get pregnant naturally.  Cruelly ironic huh?  But the Dr’s use them to get her hormones just right.  What does that mean for me?  Lots of dish throwing and uncontrollable crying. 

Ha!  Just kidding.  Actually it just means we wait.  She’ll go back on the 29th to get a blood test and if everything is good, we’ll find out the date we start all of the drugs. 

Until then I just remind my wife to take her pill so we CAN have kids.  Weird.