God is so Faithful

Today's Dr. Apt made me really nervous. I really need to not only say that I am giving this to God completely but actually do it with all my whole heart. I was really nervous about how many follicles I was going to have. Going through IVF, numbers become really important. That is with your estrogen levels, how may vials you will be doing, how many follicles, how many embryos, and finally your BETA numbers to see if you pregnant or not.

Isaiah 25:1
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

This morning I was doubtful that the injections were actually working. During the sono the Dr. said there were many follicles but he only could measure some of them. He got to see 7 follicles today and hopefully more will wake up and he will began to see many more. He also said my estrogen levels started really low. He didn’t act like it was a problem and only said my size is the reason I do not have high estrogen levels.  He was really hoping my levels would raise some.

This afternoon I got a call from the nurse, she said my levels were UP to a normal level. Praise GOD J I was so excited. We are changing my meds a little bit. I will be taking 2 Bravelle and 1 Menopur in the A.M. and the same at night. I will go back on Saturday to see how the follicles are doing. I hope we see a lot more.

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23 RSV)

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” – Phil 4:19

Notice the above verse says “ALL.” It doesn’t say “some” or “most,” but it says that He will meet all of our needs. It doesn’t say how He will meet our needs and I have found from experience the way He does it is often not what I expected. But the bottom line is that God is faithful and He does what He promises.

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail). Psalm 55:22 (AMP)

I will let you know how many follicles show up on Saturday :)

1st Check up since injections

These injections hurt a lot more than the Lupron shots did :( I have to keep thinking about holding my precious baby. Even writing that brings tears to my eyes. I am praying that this is God's will for Kelcey and I. I went in this morning and gave blood, of course my veins rolled so she had to end up using my hand. I just got a call with the results from my blood work and the nurse told me to add another vial of Bravell. So I am doing a total of 6 vials now. Pray for Kelcey ( I have been super emotional lately).  I am so glad they thought me how to mix them or I would definitely look like a pin cushion. My tummy already has some bruising and you can see little red needle marks. Tonight will be my first time to give the big injection without Kelcey. I feel more comfortable when he is home to supervise. I am having trouble with letting go of all the details and remembering that God is in control. I am worried about my body responding well to the medication and I am nervous about how many follicles I have. They still haven't started to count them yet. I guess they are waiting for the meds to kick in first. Hopefully on my next Apt, Thursday morning, we will know how many I have. God is in control of every detail 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast your anxiety on God by trusting that he cares for you." And Philippians 4:6 says, "Cast your anxiety on the Lord by praying and letting your requests be made known to him." The connection is simple. Trusting that God cares about your anxiety is expressed in prayer.

First day of Stims :)

I went to the Dr. on Wednesday to check my ovaries for any large cysts and to see if my ovaries were asleep. They did find a small cyst but my blood work showed the cyst was nothing to worry about. I am so thankful that we did not have to cancel this cycle. The Dr. said it is very common for women to develop cyst after Lupron, thankfully mine was small and it should dissolve soon. I also got the ok to start my Stim meds for today. I pray that my body responds well to the medication and that I have strong follicles that make it all the way to retrieval. We are getting so clos e and I am very excited. I will go back to the Dr. on Monday to see how my body is responding and possibly count my follicles. We pray for a high number of follicles to get us to a great start. It is so awesome to see God work in every detail throughout this journey.

This will be my daily injections until retrieval, which is set for Oct. 6th

We are starting :)

Last Friday we had our Trial Transfer appointment. This is where our Dr looks at the uterus and cervix to ensure easy passage of the embryo(s) in the future. A flexible catheter is used to measure the depth of the uterus and to determine the best location for embryo placement. This process was a little painful since they discovered my cervix is curvy.  The catheter was shaped like a L when he was finished :( . He says everyone is made different and this will not affect anything. They will put a stich with a string in during the retrieval and keep it in until we transfer. This will help straighten my cervix when he puts the embryos in.  We met with a nurse to talk about the injections and go over our protocol. Our big egg retrieval day is OCT 6th!!

I got my meds in today. I was so excited and nervous about seeing everything that it takes to do IVF. Seeing all this makes me realize how big God really is. Our bodies are so perfectly put together and this experience has shown me so much. We are so blessed to be able to use these medications to make a gift from God. None of this would be possible without him working in our lives.

 Tonight I started Lupron injections. I was so excited to finally begin the injection part but I was extremely nervous about doing it right. The thought of injecting my self never bothered me. I just was scared that I wouldn't do it right or I mess the amount up. It was so easy and I think I did it right :) My wonderful neighbor Jonna, came over to support and supervise since Kelcey was working. Thankfully, I haven't felt any of the bad side effects yet :)

Our journey begins

Our first Dr. apt starting our IVF journey was yesterday. I had a sonogram performed to make sure I did not have any cysts and see how everything looked. Everything checked out well and we are good to begin :)



I started birth control pills yesterday to help suppress my ovaries. I know it sounds crazy to be on BC when we are trying to get pregnant but this will help my ovaries to rest during this cycle and lowers the risk of an ovarian cyst prior to ovarian stimulation. The pill also facilitates the planning and timing of the start of the stimulation cycle.  I will go back Friday to have a trial transfer and order all my meds. The trial transfer with measure my uterus and see where the best place to transfer the embryos next month. Our Dr. will meet with his team and develop a protocol for me. So, we should know the timeline on Friday.

God is so good! He is so faithful!

 

Standing on this mountaintop

Looking just how far we've come

Knowing that for every step

You were with us

 

Kneeling on this battle ground

Seeing just how much You've done

Knowing every victory

Is Your power in us

 

Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts can say

Yes, our hearts can say

 

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

 

Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone

Carried by Your constant grace

Held within Your perfect peace

Never once, no, we never walk alone

 

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

 

Every step we are breathing in Your grace

Evermore we'll be breathing out Your praise

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful