New plan for IVF #2

The healing of the previous cycle is underway and we are ready to dust ourselves off and try again! We met with Dr. Honea today and discussed the previous cycle and what would be different next time. She thought our previous cycle went good but there are a few things to tweek. First, we need more good quality eggs (had 8 this past cycle) so that we can have more good quality embryos (only ended up with 2 good quality embryos). Statistics show that cycles with more good quality embryos have higher pregnancy rates. So in order to get more good quality embryos we need to get more eggs, so they are going to increase the amount of medication I will be taking (shots). This cycle I will take 375iu Follistim and 75iu menopur (previously took 225 follistim and 75 menopur). The increase in medication will increase my estrogen which was something that needed to be tweeked. It wasn't as high as they would have liked the previous cycle. But with the increase of meds comes with an increase risk of OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) so they will be monitoring closely and they can give meds to help prevent it if it looks like I am getting close to hyperstimulating. Also they are going to do a procedure called the "scratch procedure" a few weeks before the next embryo transfer where they will scratch off a chunk of my lining in my uterus which will help the embryos implant. Studies show this procedure increases implantation rates so I'm happy they are able to do this. You had to have a negative cycle with 2 good embryos in order for them to do this so I'm glad we qualified for it. I am also starting a higher dosage of co-q10 to help improve egg quality. We can start a new cycle with my next period which should be about 4 weeks from now. Will start with birth control pills for about 2 weeks then start the shots like last time. I'm happy with the new plan and glad they are able to be more aggressive. The first cycle of IVF is considered a very expensive trial run. Now they know what to do different and what to tweek. I will post more as we start up for try number 2! Thanks for everyone's prayers and support! We love u all. :)

Results

I was hoping to never have to write this post. The words I longed to never hear again have been echoing in my ear since I received the phone call at 9:55am..."I'm so sorry Stacy, you are not pregnant"...... Regardless of how much we prayed and how much we believed and how much we did everything we could do, it just didn't work this time. Like I said yesterday, it's not a NO, it's a NOT THIS TIME. I truly do believe in Gods perfect timing and I know without a shadow of a doubt this is going to work! So while we are heartbroken today and grieving that those 2 sweet embryos didn't make my uterus their new home we will heal and try again! We appreciate everyone's prayers and encouraging words, they have certainly been felt. So what's next? We will meet with Dr. Honea on Tuesday what went wrong and what we can do different for this next cycle. I don't know when that will be though. Unfortunately our other embryos weren't able to be frozen this cycle due to their quality being very poor, so we will have to do everything all over again. I am disappointed and sad but filled with Gods love and peace which is what will carry us through the next try. Please keep us in your prayers and we will post once we know what's next. God is still GOOD!!!!

The Eve of the Beta!

Well the longest week of my life is coming to an end soon. I go for my beta (blood pregnancy test) tomorrow morning at 7:30am. I am sick at my stomach, nervous, anxious and flat out TERRIFIED!!!! I was so excited and hopeful and believing I would be pregnant this time up until Monday! Monday morning I woke up at 3:30am with so much anxiety about whether this cycle worked. I cried all morning and at work I was just a hot mess. Finally got it together mid morning and was fine the rest of the day. Yesterday I woke up at 6am and couldn't go back to sleep.... Still so anxious and worried about whether it worked or not. I hysterically cried for 3 hours. My husband told me to go get out of the house and treat myself to a pedicure. I knew the devil was placing all this fear and anxiety in me so I started blaring worship music in our house and began praying out loud. Praying that those embryos had implanted and were growing. I spoke life over them and my uterus. I felt so much peace after that. Not peace that it had worked for sure but peace that would cover me whether it worked or it didn't work. I went and got my pedicure and relaxed the rest of yesterday and felt good. Today, I'm not in an emotional state like I have been the last 2 days but I'm just still playing the "am I pregnant" game in my head. If you have never had a problem getting pregnant then u don't know that infertility consumes your thoughts. That's all I think about and talk about. When someone tells me to just relax and not think about it so much I want to punch them! (Ha, not really). There is no possible way to not think about it. We just shelled out almost 20k to have a baby so there is a lot at stake here. I have come to the realization today that no matter what happens tomorrow that God is in this 100% and he has ordained our path! If the phone rings tomorrow and I hear "I'm sorry, you are not pregnant" I'm not going to lie, I will be beyond heartbroken but it doesn't mean God is saying no, it means He is saying not this time. If it doesn't work we are thankful we get to try this 2 more times for the money we paid. We will heal and try again if it doesn't work. If it does work, we will celebrate a beautiful miracle and be so ever thankful to Jesus for this blessing. Thank you to everyone who has called or text us or sent us a Facebook message, y'all have been so encouraging and positive and I have desperately needed that! I am still believing for a miracle, but also believing in Gods perfect timing! We will conceive and have a beautiful baby or babies, if it's not this time it will be the next! I will post either tomorrow or Friday with the results! Please continue praying with us! God is good!

The Longest Week

Well it is 1 week from today that we will find out whether those precious embryos have made themselves a home for 9 months. This is going to be the longest week of my life!!!! The progesterone shots have made my rear end unbearably sore! It hurts to walk and sit! They have also sent my emotions on a major roller coaster! I "ugly cried" 3 times yesterday! Once was because I put the pic of the embryos in a frame and when I walked by them I just started sobbing! If you know me at all, you know I am not a crier! Today I was watching the tv show "Friday night lights" and I busted out crying cause the team scored a touchdown! Haha! It really is about to get fun around my house :)! My feelings about whether this will work have gone from one extreme to the other in a matter of 5 minutes! I am trying so hard to remain positive and speak life into my uterus constantly but there are moments where fear creeps in. My mom emailed me this prayer and told me to pray it over my belly daily and I have been, it is a beautiful prayer. I will post it below. I've had some twinges and light cramps from time to time. Doctor said that is completely normal and is to be expected. Implantation happens around 3-5 days after the transfer so I'm praying those sweet embryos make themselves comfy tomorrow :). Please continue to keep us in your prayers!!!

"I declare that I will bring forth a healthy child out of my womb. I call for my children to come forth out of heaven and into my womb. I speak life into my uterus. I break the power of every negative word over my body, my family, my future, and children yet to come.  I declare I will not experience placenta previa, leaking of amniotic fluid, premature miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, abnormal bleeding or any other complications. I declare that you have an appointed time for childbirth and I will not give birth before that appointed time. I declare that the placenta will adhere normally and be of correct size and in the right position to support a healthy pregnancy. I declare the fetus will implant in the right place and be securely attached to the uterine wall. I declare that all cells will divide normally and each cell will produce healing and perfect soundness as it forms new life inside of me.  I will not experience ectopic pregnancy, congenital defects, inherited disease or other abnormalities. If it is not allowed in heaven, I do not receive it. There is no disease in heaven, Father. I resist those things and declare all possible inherited generational curses broken now in Jesus name. Father, please forgive anyone in our family line that may have neglected to ask Your forgiveness for their sins. Forgive, I pray, sins of broken covenants, broken trust, idolatry, rebellion and any ungodly covenants that may have been made. Let them be broken now in Jesus name. Please forgive any inherited generational iniquitous sin and let the blood of Jesus be applied to those sins. I declare that I am a new creation in Christ and there is life in the blood. I thank You, Lord Jesus, that Your DNA flows through me to make me whole and complete in every way. I thank You for your Holy Spirit that is full of life, strength and power. Let the perfect soundness and wholeness that is in Your Spirit flow through me and release healing throughout my body. I declare no curse will pass through the blood of Christ. I submit to Your Lordship in my life and I resist the power of evil. I refuse it and declare it will not come near me. Father, I ask for a double portion of restoration. I thank You Father for continuing to show me how to pray specifically as I believe for a healthy pregnancy. In Jesus name, Amen." 

 

 

Im PUPO!!!

 

This pic was right before we went back for the embryo transfer! We got back in the procedure room and the embryologist, Dr. Honea, and ultrasound tech were all present. The embryologist went over which embryos were of the best quality today and Dr. Honea agreed and we transferred the 2 of the best quality. The transfer itself was a piece of cake, I didn't feel a thing. However, they did give me a Valium to relax so maybe that helped, lol! After the transfer, Dr. Honea wanted to pray for us so we all held hands and Dr. Honea said a beautiful prayer, I cried! I had to lay on the stretcher for about 20 minutes afterward. I had acupuncture done before and after the transfer to help me stay relaxed. Here is a picture of our 2 beautiful embryo's that are now safe and snug in my uterus!

So now I am officially PUPO which means pregnant until proven otherwise!!!! WOOHOO!! I will be resting and staying off my feet a lot today and tomorrow! My pregnancy test is a scheduled blood test at the clinic at the end of next week. We will tell our families and then announce on the blog the results regardless of positive or negative. So stay tuned and pray for those sweet embryo's to implant and grow!!! We are both just so excited and filled with hope and belief that God will give us the desires of our hearts!

Embryo Miracle!!!!

I have been a nervous wreck waiting for the phone call I just received! The embryologist just called me to give me a report and progress of our 4 embryos! She said all 4 are doing great and are growing perfectly. She said they were textbook Grade 1 which is what you want them to be! WOOOHOOO!!!! I can now breathe a sign of relief and thankfulness to God! But....she wasn't done with the update just yet.... 2 of those 4 split and are growing and multiplying their cells also so now we have 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What?!?!?! Its an embryo miracle!!!!!! I had originally prayed for 6 and the Lord has now blessed us with 6!!!! The 2 that split are not as good of quality as the original 4 but she said they are still good...grade 2. I am just so happy! I almost started crying while on the phone with her! GOD IS SOOO GOOD!!!! The plan is still to transfer 2 of the embryos on Tuesday at 11am.... The others will be frozen and saved for future pregnancies :) Thanks again for all the prayers! We certainly feel them!

Fertilization Report

So I just got the call from the clinic.... Out of the 12 eggs that were retrieved, 8 of them were mature. They have to be mature eggs in order to perform ICSI (injecting the sperm into the egg). Out of the 8 eggs that had ICSI, 4 of them fertilized and now there are 4 baby Wooten's growing!!! YAY! My personal goal was to have at least 6 that fertilized but I am very happy with 4. I didn't want a bunch of extra embryos...I wanted just enough to have possibly 2 children with so 4 is a great number! The embryologist will call me again on Sunday morning to tell me how they are growing! Please pray that all 4 continue to grow, I will be a nervous wreck until then! I will continue to pray for peace and for Gods perfect timing and will to be done! I am believing those babies were made for such a time as this and believing that they have a God given purpose! I cannot believe Keith and I conceived babies yesterday! What a miracle that is! I am filled with emotion just writing this post as I think about how amazing this process is and that God is allowing us to experience life in a different way than most do but what an amazing journey this has been so far. I am filled with belief, promise and hope that the we will meet these babies face to face very soon!!!

So what's next in the process??? Tonight I will start taking progesterone in oil injections and will be taking 1 shot every night. Those are pretty painful and can cause terrible soreness in the buttocks and also will make me all kinds of emotional and hormonal so this next part should be lots of fun! Pray for Keith that I don't drive him crazy! :) haha! I will go back in for the embryo transfer this Tuesday at 11:00....We have to be there at 10:30am and I have to come with a full bladder which helps things apparently. I will have acupuncture before and after the transfer which helps with relaxation which is super important the day of and several days after. How many we will transfer will depend on the quality of the embryos but as of right now we want to transfer 2! Continue to pray for us and thanks so much for everyone's support, prayers, and encouragement thus far! This blog was intended to show God's faithfulness through a journey towards a miracle baby to our friends and family but we never knew how much prayer would have been directed towards us in the process so thank you all so much!