Started

Well Kathy started with out me Sunday. I was at a bachelor party for one of my good friends, so her mom was nice enough to give her the first and second Lupron shots. She is still taking the birth control pills as well.

Of all things you would think a bunch of guys at a bachelor party would be talking about, one of Aaron's friends and I started talking and it turns out he and his wife are going through the same thing this summer. They are at a different office in Minneapolis that has a three try program. It was kind of nice to talk to another guy about the whole process and everything.

My cousin Shannon is having a birthday party for her daughter July 9th, a daughter she had doing IVF. Kind of feels like a good omen, considering they are predicting we will do the egg removal around July 10th. It is always nice to see families that have went through this, started a family and moved on to happier times.

Lots more to come :)

All ready to go...

Well we are all ready to go for the first shot June 19th. Kathy ordered the Lupron ahead of time, the doctors told us there was a shortage, so we should get our order in right away, that arrived this morning. I called in an ordered to an online pharmacy, Fairview Specialty Pharmacy, which funny enough is located next to the U of M campus. So I was able to pick all of that up after work. Below is a list of what we all have for medicines right now.

Lupron

Follistim

Menopur

Generic HCG

Tetracycline

Valium

Vivelle

Progesterone in Sesame Oil

Kind of seems like a lot, but it should be too bad. I took HCG shots three times a week for 6 months and when we were at Pracs we got stuck many times a day. Now that I think of that, I wonder if all those meds I took, caused this little problem...Hmmm. Oh well. I think the hardest thing for Kathy will be all the hormones. Some people say that the hormones get a little out of hand, others say it isn't too bad. I guess we will see. If I start asking if I can stay with you, you know it's getting bad. I'm just kidding.

Today is Kathy and my 8 year anniversary. We met 8 years ago May 24, 2003 at Tim and Sam's wedding at the great Doublewood Inn. I was DJing my first wedding dance (technically assistant DJ, being it was my first). I saw Julie, who I knew from NDSU, and visited with her after the dance was done. Kathy walked up to me, a little drunk, and asked if I had seen her shoes. I found them and returned them to her. The next day I invited Julie and Kathy to a bonfire at my parents house. Unfortunately, it was Sunday in Minnesota so no one could get beer. The only people to show up to my last minute bonfire...Lance & Kelly and Dustin. We still had a good time, and Kathy called the next day to thank me for the bonfire and I asked her on a real date. The night of June 3, 2003 we laid in her room watch a movie, I wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend, and I really wanted to do it that day, because I knew I would remember it, because "3" is my favorite number : ) Unfortunately by the time I got the nerve to ask it was 1AM on the forth. Kathy was nice enough to pretend the 3rd was our anniversary untill Sept 9, 2006, when that became our new anniversary date.

Kathy,

The last 8 years have been a lot of ups and downs, here and there, but I wouldn't change a thing. We are so close to having our dreams come true, with a child of our own. There are some tuff times ahead with all of these shots, but if everything goes well, our dreams will come true. I love you so much. Thank you for saying yes 8 years ago and making me the happiest person alive.

Mock Transfer

Well I figured out why it is called a mock transfer and not mock extraction. I guess they were just seeing how easy the catheter would go in to place the eggs, so it really was a transfer. That went well, they also checked to make sure she didn't have any cysts or fibroids. Good news everything was clear.

I haven't heard anything back on the STD tests, I guess no news is good news. My semen analysis came back at about 4 million per milliliter, not great but about in the middle for where they have been the last few years.

We also got accepted into the Attain program, although not sure it was much of a long shot for a couple our age, they returned it as accepted with a few hours. The attain program is where you pay one set price and get three fresh transfers and three frozen transfers. If you come home with a baby the contract is done, if you exhaust all options and no baby, you get 100% of your money back, minus medications. It is a really good program, because it takes the pressure off, and you don't have to worry if it doesn't work on the first try. They say it is about a 57% chance of success on the first try, so it could very well take a few tries.

Not much else going on the rest of this month, we have a nurse consult next Monday, not sure what all will be discussed, but then the next date is June 5th, that is when we have to sign up for the Attain program by. Then the 19th , when Kathy starts the daily Lupron injections.

So far so good :)

Day One...

So Monday was day number one, opening day if you will. We also had a 9:45 class to teach us about the medicines and shots Kathy will be taking, took a good hour to hour and a half. Very complicated, we have three different calendars to keep track of everything. As you can see on the last post there is a Google calendar if you wish to follow along. The extraction and transfer dates are just planned at this point, they could shift. At 1PM Monday I had to do a STD test, I guess if you refuse this test, then they store your eggs and semen with other unverified specimens. Kind of weird that it would matter, but it was just a blood test, no Q tip up the pee hole. Then I had to provide a semen sample for a semen analysis and to freeze a sample incase the extraction day comes and I have to soldiers left, that would be sad if I didn't have even one :(. Kathy had a blood test Tuesday for her FSH levels and Estradiol, She starts birth control pills tomorrow and is on them until June 22. This prevents her from ovulating early, so no sugar pills. On Monday the 16th she has a Mock transfer, where they go in and see how hard it will be to get access to the ovaries on the day of the real extraction. Which now that I write this, why is it a mock transfer and not mock extraction? Not sure on that one. She also has a Saline Infusion Sonogram on Monday, this is similar to when they put a dye in her tubes and make sure they are open. She has o take a Z Pak the day before the SIS, I believe that is an antibiotic. Sorry I don't have more detail on some of these things, there is so much to know and remember. We were also supposed to have the cash ready for next Monday, but we are still waiting to see if my insurance will cover the ultrasounds and medicines. So probably be a few weeks before we need that. And that is basically May. June will involve a lot of medications and shots, and July will be the big procedure. I've heard from people that all the medicines will really take there toll of Kath, but I have also heard that it is a slow and steady increase and it should be too bad. I really hope for Kathy's sake it is the second options.

We love you all so much, thank you for your prayers and support.

almost there...

One week from today, Kathy and I have three IVF appointments. One to discuss how we administer the shots and medicine. Kathy also has the mock transfer, not 100% how close they actually get to the real transfer, but it has to do with seeing how easy they can get to the ovaries. Then at 1PM I have a STD test ( I guess if you don't do this part, then they store your sperm and eggs next to other none verified eggs...scary), semen analysis and a sample to freeze. Backup incase implantation day comes and I don't have one good sperm :( that would be pretty sad. Getting pretty exciting. Kathy was supposed to have day one of her cycle this past week, hasn't made it yet, kind of pushes the schedule back a bit. But hopefully it will be soon. The clinic is also doing a pre-authorization to see if our insurance will pay for the monitoring and/or the medicine. That would sure be nice. We've know for a long time they won't pay for the procedure, but if they picked up one or both of these, it would sure be nice.