So Much To Update

My oh my how I've needed to update. Time flies when you're baking a baby! We have so much fun stuff to share so let's just jump right in!

On Nov 20th we found out that Baby E is a HE!!!!!!!! We are so so so excited and in love with our little guy. He cooperated very well for the anatomy scan and passed everything with flying colors. The ultrasound tech said several times that he had a text book heart. This really blessed Josh and I, especially remembering back to when we thought we lost him and his heart rate had dropped. What a fighter :)

So here are some pics of us revealing the gender of Baby Boy Eckhardt!

This is how we told Josh's family at Thanksgiving in IL

And here is our handsome little guy just yesterday at 23w4d

Hand behind head and leg way up by his head, he wanted to show us how flexible he is.

Here he is again with his hand on his head and gearing up for a good kick.

Speaking of kicking, he moves so much these days! I've been able to see him from the outside kicking and moving for about 2 weeks. Yesterday Josh saw it for the first time. I will never ever forget Josh's face. You would've thought he won a million dollars, priceless. Baby Boy gave a really good kick and shook my whole stomach, it's so much fun. I am saying that as much as possible because I can already tell he likes to be in my ribs. I'm sure it's because I have a short torso and he just doesn't have a lot of room to stretch out. But I love it and feeling him move is something that I treasure.

We got two 3D ultrasound shots for free and fun! It was really cool, he looked so...human. Oh I just gushed over his sweet little lips and tiny nose. Then he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out...then excitedly placed his tiny thumb in there. I cried. This is my son and he sucks his thumb. 

Here is a 3d shot. He has his hand by his eye, sleepy little bambino.

So everything is going really well, thanking Jesus everyday. If you have a spare prayer or good thought we'd appreciate it. My placenta is covering my cervix (known as placenta previa) and in order for us to have a natural and med free birth that we desire we need my placenta to move out of the way! Good news is that in November it was completely covering my cervix and as of yesterday it was partially covering it. So it looks like it's trying to move up and as long as I don't spot or bleed I can stay at my birth center for a bit longer. I will go back in 6 weeks (I'll be 30 weeks then) for another ultrasound so they can see if the placenta has moved. My midwife feels very optimistic that it will move because my placenta is in the front of my uterus as opposed to the back. My belly will grow out even more and this should help push the placenta up. Also, little guy is breach right now (which is normal at this point) and when he turns head down this will also help the placenta move up. So lots of things to makes us feel optimistic. In the mean time I'm still on pelvic rest, cannot exercise at all or lift anything over 10 lbs. 

I cannot really articulate how amazing Josh has been. It literally makes me teary eyed to think about. He takes such good care of me (and baby). Our safety and care is his number one priority. He does so much around the house and always goes grocery shopping with me. At first I was feeling really helpless and almost handicapped. But he helped me understand that right now my only job is to keep myself and our baby safe. I need to do everything in my power to keep this little guy baking til full term. So, he gladly goes above and beyond without complaining.

He loves us. And boy do we love him.

So I think that pretty much catches us up. Tomorrow I'll be 24 weeks and we only have one more "monthly" appointment left which is 1/16. That appointment will include my 1 hour glucose test. I'm a little nervous about it just because I have PCOS. But I've always passed my glucose tests so I'm hoping the streak continues. After our 1/16 appointment then I'll start going every other week then I think at 36 weeks I start going weekly. Woooooooow.

Josh and I are looking forward to January. We are going to start working on the nursery and hopefully knock off several "to do's" off our list. We have a lot to do before April comes, but we decided to get through the busy holiday season before we started any projects. I'm also getting excited thinking about baby showers. It's still hard to believe that I get a baby shower this time, I'm not going to be a guest. This will be the end of February or beginning of March. Probably should start making some decisions...but that's what January is for :)

Here are a few updated bump shots. 

I think I hit a growth spurt this week, belly seems to be growing right on track! My weight is doing really well and I'm hoping to keep it that way. Easier said than done with my birthday and Christmas thrown in there. Portion control and try to not eat a ton of sugar...wish me luck!

Hope you have a very beautiful Christmas, we're crossing our fingers for the snow that the weatherman mentioned! 

{P.S. Our very dear and best friends in the world are going to have their baby any day now. Please say a prayer for John and Tenisha and the healthy arrival of their sweet baby. We cannot wait to meet him or her in January when they come "home" from Florida. We are secretly (or not so secretly) hoping they have a boy too. Our little ones ages will be the exact age difference between John and Josh. John is 4 months older than Josh and John and Nish will welcome their baby first! Be a boy or girl, we are so excited and will love him/her dearly. But if it is boy then we have quite the adventure ahead of us. Little John and Josh's...oh Lord help us.}

Eighteen

That's right, today we are 18 weeks! Baby is the size of a sweet potato (one of my favorite veggies). I'm so excited to be nearly half baked. Do you like how I just dove in and didn't even apologize for the lack of blogging?! ;) Things have been quiet...which is how we like it!

Let's start with baby stuff. This Sunday I'll take my 18w bump pic but here is one from last week that I took (actually Josh took) so I could post for my friend Anna on FB.

How far along: 18w 
How big is Baby: Head to rump, baby is about 5 1/2 inches long. About the size of a sweet potato or bell pepper.

Maternity Clothes: Yes please! I love maternity jeans and leggings. So comfy.
Sleep: Sleep is getting better. I finally bought a body pillow and it has helped a ton. I actually go back to sleep now after I get up to use the potty. Sleep is sweet. 

Movement: Yes! How awesome is that :) started feeling movement the beginning of week 17.

Food cravings: Spicy things...but then I have terrible heartburn. Still love my sour candy too.
Food aversions: It's a day by day thing. I am happy to say that I can finally eat yogurt again! I still don't really like sweets which is a good thing.

Gender: We'll find out on Nov 20th! Prayers for a healthy baby are much appreciated.

Nursery Progress: We are going to start working on the nursery in January. We are very excited and looking forward to creating a space that we love and we want to be in. We feel like if we're cozy then baby will be cozy too.

I'm feeling really great. I'm dealing with low blood pressure which has been a bit of a struggle. Last midwife appointment my BP was 90/60. Low. I've had some scary fainting episodes, almost constantly shaky, thirsty as heck, migraines from hell and very hungry. It seems hard to get full...and stay full for over an hour. So I'm just trying to do what my body wants me to do and on the 20th we'll talk about my BP again if it's still low. Trying to increase my sodium intake, I read online that it helps. Low BP during pregnancy is very common so I'm not too concerned. I just don't want to faint anymore.

So I went to Chicago last month with my sister!!! I was so much fun, time went way too quickly. She went for business and I tagged along for fun and we hung out as much as possible. I walked too much. I probably over did it but I was trying to take in the sights while I was there. Chicago lived up to its nickname, it really is a windy city. Here are some photos, I took so many!

Our hotel was gorgeous. We stayed at the Hyatt downtown right across from the river. It was stunning. We had an amazing new, especially at night. We were on the 16th floor.

This was a really cool piece of art at Navy Pier. It's just a ton of canoes :)

Riding the Ferris Wheel was cool, it was really calming.

My beautiful sister, Melissa. It was so much fun to take a trip together!

If you go to Chicago, you have to visit Sears (Willis) Tower! My sister and I were amazed at how blue Lake Michigan was. It looked like an ocean rather than a brown lake like we're used to.

The Sky Deck was ammmmmmazing!

Sue the T-Rex!!!

We visited the Field Museum. Literally could have spent all day there. We had to kind of rush through and our feet were really tired. Then we got rained on the whole walk back to the hotel...not fun. It was cold too and we couldn't find an empty taxi. This was our last night and we were pooped. We ordered room service and stayed in. It was so relaxing to just snuggle into bed and watch a movie.

My first full day I walked so so so much. I landed upon a Ghiradelli and had some much needed and deserved chocolate ice cream. It was even better than it looks! 

I didn't do a lot of shopping because I wanted to stay outdoors as much as possible. But who could resist a four story Crate & Barrel?!? Not I. It was incredible. I loved being able to take my time too :)

There was one thing that my sister and I did that I was absolutely forbidden to take photos of. We went to the theater and watched Kinky Boots. It was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!! We agreed that it was our favorite thing we did while there. So entertaining and well done. Oh and the theater...breathtaking. But like I mentioned, they forbade photos. They were not joking either. We witnessed some girls getting yelled at because they took a photo of themselves-in the theater. So we decided we better not chance it!

Whew that was exhausting, long posts are hard work. If I'd just update more often it wouldn't be such hard work! Next post we'll reveal the sex of Baby E and talk about the anatomy scan. Also, I want to talk about our decision to leave our OB and switch to the Birth and Women's Center. We are very hopeful that if all goes well we'll have a natural/med free birth in a home like environment. We are lucky enough that our birthing center is right across from the hospital with a great NICU. So if by chance we need to be there it will take no time at all. But we'll pray that things go well and we can birth at the birthing center. More about that next time. Much love and I don't know about you but I'm ready for Thanksgiving!!! We're traveling to IL to share the holiday with Josh's family and we'll tell everyone the sex of Baby E on Thanksgiving. Couldn't ask for anything more, our hearts are so full of gratitude and peace.

Much love-Josh and Bran

12w5d

No real update here...just a bumpdate :)

Had to go to the lab for 5 vials of blood to be drawn, a urinalysis and a flu shot this afternoon. I'm now trying to decide if I want a chocolate milk shake or a caffeine free Dr. Pepper to reward myself. I'm up 5 lbs and very proud of that number. Doing my best to keep the weight in check, next week I'll start prenatal yoga. But  I think I do deserve a special treat today :)

Oh, Hi

Lots to update so I'm just going to jump right in! Today I am 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant!!!!!! So awesome, only one week until I'm in second trimester :) I'm about to start prenatal yoga and hoping to walk more since I'm getting more energy and not as nausea (thank you, Jesus). Let's rewind a little, shall we??

Before I post some bump shots I want to post a photo I took of myself the night before I started injects. I wanted a "pre IVF/baby" bump shot. I am glad I took it too because I did bloat quite a bit after our treatment was all said and done.

Then my IVF bloat just turned into good ol pregnancy bloat...plus I was on extra progesterone supplements which caused more bloating then the "normal" pregnant gal gets. Ahhhh...the power of hormones. Anyway, I felt like the bloat finally started to go down around 9ish weeks and I noticed a spot above my pelvic bone was starting to get hard. That was such an exciting moment, I remember pushing and touching it. I had Josh feel it and of course he couldn't tell. But I know my body better than anyone, and I could tell things were changing.

We graduated from MRC on 9/4/12.Oh my, was that bittersweet. I held it together while we were in the clinic but as soon as I pushed the button to fetch the elevator I cried. I couldn't believe it, we were done with MRC (for now). I will miss them so much but know that I can't stay with them my entire pregnancy. They were some of our biggest cheerleaders and their 5 star care and service was everything and more I prayed for. I could go on and on about how much I love MRC but I won't...for now anyway. And since I've now been away from them for nearly a month I an honestly tell you that my heart has been sad lately. I had my first 12w appointment with my OB here in town and I wanted to throw a fit on the floor like a child and scream "I want to go back to MRC!!!". But not for fertility treatments, because they "get it". They are so much more fragile and compassionate with infertile women. They understand the pain and roller coaster "we" go through to have a family that so many people take for granted. I saw two teenagers in the waiting room...it hurt. I still ask why???

That's just going to take a long time to work through, maybe even my whole life. It's between my heavenly father and I. But I will say, his peace and grace does surpass all understanding. I am thankful.

Here are some sweet "graduation" gifts we received when we graduated from MRC. I was so excited, totally not expecting gifts. And look at that onsie...cannot wait to put our newborn in that precious thing!!!

They also included a $100 coupon to a 3d/4d imaging center in Kansas City. Josh and I decided a long time ago though that we wouldn't do the 3d/4d thing, we're happy with a traditional ultrasound. I'm sure it's fun and really cool...maybe if we hadn't already spent so much getting pregnant we might think about it. But we're really fine with not doing it.

So here was my 10w3d bump shot that I meant to post on here and time got away (sorry!). I felt "wow I'm getting a little bump here" on this day.

And then last Sunday at 11w3d I woke up and put my hand on my belly to tell the baby good morning and I thought "wow this thing is really sticking out and it's MORNING!" So here is my bare belly shot at 11w3d.

So lately I've been lathering up on loads of cocoa butter...I better take stock in that stuff. That is no squishy belly...starting to wonder if I'm either going to have a big baby or if I just have a large uterus. As of Thursday at my 12w appointment I am up 5 lbs! I'm proud of that number, I expected it to be more. Not because of my diet (which has been pretty good...I really crave fruit) but because of the size of my belly. 

My final update is that we got a new (to us) car!!! We've wanted a Subaru Outback for a couple of years and we finally sold my car and bought a 2008 LL Bean edition. It's awesome and we love it. Last night I was able to test out the heated seats ::swoon:: How did I ever live without those?! Looking forward to winter (more than usual) so we can test out the AWD on snowy roads.

I'll post better photos later of the inside and out, these were just from my phone the day Josh drove it home from Omaha. We love our little wagon and are thankful that we will have precious cargo to put in the backseat in about 28 weeks.

Today is supposed to be my next "official" bump photo so I might add that later. We're trying to do those every two weeks. As of right now we're really looking forward to touring the Birth and Women's center on 10/11 and we'll make a decision where we're going to give birth at (hospital vs birthing center). We are so fortunate to have a birthing center right a cross the street from the hospital, so if we need to be transferred over it's just a hop, skip and a waddle away.

P.S. HAPPY FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alive and Well

Hello friends and family. Sorry for the lack of blogging. Funny thing when you are pregnant...you have zero energy. My spare time usually involves either A) Sleeping B) Eating or C) Attempting to sleep but too to nauseous actually go to sleep.

This is our first photo of our baby at 6 weeks exactly. We were able to see it's precious heart beating at 128 bpm. That is a very strong heart beat considering it's heart had just started to beat!

Josh and I stared at this photo forever, just admiring our little dot. The round thing around it is it's yolk sack. We did it, we really made a baby!

We have been doing really good, thanks for all of the well wishes, thoughts and prayers. So far this pregnancy has been a test of faith. Boy we thought our infertility journey was tough...being pregnant is a whole different level. Without going into great detail, on the 21st we had a really bad bleeding scare and were afraid our worst fears had come true. We had just saw the baby earlier in that day and actually heard the heart beat for the first time! Baby was measuring right on track at 6w5days and the heart rate was 121 bpm (they like to see it between 120-170ish).

We had to wait all night long to visit Dr. G to see if the baby was okay. It was terrible. Josh was my rock though. We prayed for so long and just held onto each other the whole night. I'm so thankful to be married to a man who does not doubt God's faithfulness. He was so strong for the three of us.

When we went in to the clinic, it was everything in me to hold it together in the waiting area. Dr. G came in and go right down to business. I appreciated that he didn't make us wait long to check out the baby or ask a bunch of questions. At that point the bleeding had stopped so there was a tiny amount of hope in me. I couldn't even look at the monitor, I just prayed for there to be a heartbeat. Josh held my hand tight and within seconds Dr. G said "and there is your baby" and we heard a "whoosh whoosh whooosh". Baby was fine but the heart rate had dropped to 105 bpm. This wasn't awesome news but Dr. G and the nurses told us to try not to worry about it and we'd check it out again in a week. I felt terrible for putting my baby through so much stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation and I hadn't eaten breakfast. We had a really rough 12ish hours.

We found out that I have a SCH (Subchorionic Hematoma) above my uterus and that was the reason why I was bleeding. There is nothing I did to cause it to happen and there isn't really much I can do to prevent it from happening again. It should absorb or bleed out on it's own. But scary, really really scary. But the best news of all is that it's not from the baby or inside my uterus.

So I made a decision that fear and worry would not control me. I had put my body and the kid through so much all because of fear. I mean I know I didn't know, when you're pregnant you do not want to see blood. I decided that I would not google anything about the heart rate dropping or worry about the SCH. I really didn't tell many people about it because I didn't want to hear any bad stories or people worrying about it. Josh and I prayed a lot, worshiped a lot and experienced the most overwhelming sense of peace ever. We were smiling, laughing and enjoying life. We were fully confident that God would show himself faithful over and over again.

We listened to three songs a lot. The first song is called "Healer" (I like the Kari Jobe version), the second song is what got us through our IF journey the most called "God Is Able" by Hillsong Live, and the final song that really got me through this battle is called "The Everlasting" by Fellowship Church. Normally I'd post them all in this post but since I already have a lot going on I'll just let you youtube them if you'd like.

So Wednesday the 29th had come to check on our baby. We had been believing for a heart rate above 130 and for the hematoma to be gone. We were not scared, we were not worried. We knew it would be ok. Dr. G came in and did the ultrasound. There the kid was...I couldn't believe how much he/she had grown in one week!!! Baby measured right on track at 7w6d and had a strong heartbeat of 151 bpm!!!!

I cried and laughed. I was so so so ecstatic, we all were! Then Dr. G said "well I can't find the hematoma." Ha!!!! Such an awesome moment that I will never forget. I cannot wait to tell Baby E about it one day. We left the clinic on cloud 9 :)

I did have one more day of bleeding but it only lasted a few hours and I really think that it was the hematoma leaving my body. Without going into detail, it was different than the last time. I wasn't scared at all when I saw it, I knew the baby was fine. Peace of God people. It's awesome.

So that should fill you up pretty much on how our lives have been going so far. Luke has been acting pretty crazy lately and I think he knows something is up. I had a little talk with him this morning telling him he has 7 months to get this crazy puppy phase out of him. He'll be almost 7 when the baby comes. He normally is really calm and chill but lately he's just been annoying and needy. He prances around me and just won't move thus results in me kneeing him out of the way and then I feel bad about it. But he isn't exactly little...he knows I'm boss. We already have a rule that he has to go down the stairs first just to make sure he doesn't accidentally bump me or something.

This Tuesday should be our last appointment at MRC. I get all teary eyed when I think about it because I love and appreciate them so much. I'll be 8w5d at that appointment and baby should really start looking like an actual baby. I'll have my first OB appointment on 9/27 and I'll be exactly 12 weeks that day. Once I see the OB I'll just be like a regular ol pregnant woman. No more 5 star treatment and attention from MRC. Bittersweet.

Here is me today at 8w3d. I told Josh I wish I had taken this photo before I had eaten lunch :)

How far along: 8w3d

Total weight gain/loss: none!
How big is Baby: Baby is about the size of a raspberry
Maternity Clothes: Not yet but I did buy a pair of maternity jeans and they are SUPER comfy. I cannot wait to wear them full time. I have been wearing a bella band since about 6 weeks. The IVF left me pretty bloated and now my bloat is starting to firm up. I have a really small torso so I'm sure I'll "pop" before 12 weeks.

Sleep: I love it and wish I got more of it. I've been waking up at night really hungry and then cannot go back to sleep for a good 2-3 hours. I'll lay there wide awake tossing and turning. It is not fun at all. 

Movement: Not yet. I can't wait!

Food cravings: What sounds good one minute sounds gross the next minute. I have been living on Jolly Ranchers for about 2 weeks now. I really like sour things and today I am embarrassed to admit that I craved pickles and pickled okra (dipped in ranch dressing of course). I love applesauce, grilled cheese and fruit smoothies (homemade ones though b/c everywhere else adds too much sugar). Oh and mashed potatoes.
Food aversions: Eggs, fast food or anything greasy. 

Gender: We still cannot decided if we want to find out. We're leaning more towards yes but we still have time to decide.

Symptoms: Nausea (constant) and a lot of other unpleasant things that I'm not going to mention b/c I don't know who all reads this ;) Also, I have to snack all.day.long. It's crazy and I feel like I'm growing a giant baby. But if I don't snack then I will throw up...so snacking wins.

Best moment this week: Seeing our baby's heartbeat at 151 bpm!
What I am looking forward to: Seeing the baby again on Tuesday and graduating from MRC. I cannot wait for the day when we get to send them a birth announcement of our little miracle :)

The Results

I'm really without words right now so I'm just going to post a lot of photos. After all...they're worth a thousand words.

8.2.12

We are pregnant!!!!! Over the moon, jumping for joy, high fiving over and over again. Finally.

For those who want to know my betas-111 and 235. Doubled perfectly within 24 hrs.

Very blurry, Josh and I were shaking so badly. But boy are we giddy :)

Happy mama.

Josh is going to be a dad!!!!!!!!!!

So worth the wait, shots, tears, prayers, money and miles to MRC. Worth it all.

Baby E @ 6w2d (yes, just one baby). Heartbeat is a healthy 128 bpm!!!! 

We are so in love.

Thank you IVF for the bloat :) Mama and baby @ 6w4d

Thank you all so much for everything. Josh and I are so glad we shared our journey with you. The love, support, prayers and peace has been incredible. We are doing very well and basking in the joys of pregnancy. I've never been so hungry in my life. Josh says he won't keep up lol.

Much love,

Josh, Bran and Baby E :)

Thing 1 Thing 2

Tuesday was our embryo transfer and everything went very smooth. By that morning we were told we had 1 super star embryo, 2 good ones and 1 that was fair. Josh and I had a very very hard time deciding if we should put one or two embryos in. It's something that we've talked about for a while now but we just weren't really lead one way or another. Josh and I were literally in the room for the transfer...minutes away from the transfer and still hadn't made a decision. I was very impressed with Dr. G's patience, he didn't rush us at all. He answered some questions we had and then our ultimate decision was based on fresh is best. Frozen embryos may be healthy prior to the freeze but there is no 100% grantee on the quality when they are thawed. And because we are dealing with male factor infertility, we are very limited on our embryos.

So we chose to put in two beautiful embryos. For those of you who are curious of their "grade" and are apart of the IVF world, one embryo was 5AA and our other was 4BB. 5AA was already hatching and 4BB was a mature blast. We are affectionately calling them "Thing 1 Thing 2".

We are all doing very well and just taking it easy. Yesterday I received a gorgeous bouquet of summer flowers from my sister, her hubby and daughter. It totally melted my heart. They're sitting on my coffee table so I can look at them all day long :) Josh's mom came over and cooked us dinner and brought me more flowers! It was nice not having to worry about dinner. My friend Nish sent me a gift card to buy a movie and a really interesting magazine and today a couple of friends (Amanda and Kim) had an Edible Bouquet of fruit delieved! I was SOOO happy to see that most of the fruit was covered in coconut...drool. Tomorrow night Josh's grandparents are making us dinner...my favorite BBQ meatballs. Josh and I have felt so loved and cared for. Thank you all for the texts, well wishes, prayers, cards, dinners (still eating on The Giltner's enchiladas!) and just love. We are so thankful for our family and friends!!!!

This morning our embryologist called and told me that two embryos made it to freeze. She is so optimistic and kept telling me how great that was. I smiled and agreed with  her but when I hung up I felt really sad. I'd like to clarify that I am over the moon happy that we have two extra embryos! I keep thanking God that I have two in me (and praying they stick around til Spring) and two waiting for us. But everyday since our retrieval we've had embryos not make it. I have felt emotional pregnant since last Friday when I heard that 10 were successfully fertilized. I know these little embyos are just clusters of cells and aren't actually babies yet. But those clusters of cells are a mixture of me and Josh. They could have been our children. But I remind myself that they just weren't strong enough, they weren't healthy enough.

So please believe with us that Thing 1 Thing 2 are strong healthy babies and that our other two on ice are the same. I have to continually control my thoughts and fears, this is such a roller coaster. We are not doing IVF again, this is it. These little guys need to hold on tight, our journey has not yet ended.

We are going to lay low for a little while and try to not think about everything. The next post you see from us will be the results of our pregnancy test (I should say tests because we all know I'm going to take a lot of them). We aren't sure if we will reveal the results right away or not. Though we are grateful to share this journey with those we love, we might take a few weeks to soak it all in. I'll leave you with a photo of how I go to sleep every night. My dear friend, Angela, sent me this prayer puppy. It has been prayed over by many people who are believing with us for our miracle babies. 

Seven

We have seven embryos that are still growing and dividing. A couple are right on track, some good and a couple that are fair. It's been such a roller coaster of emotions. I'm grateful that we have seven but I'm believing God that they all keep growing and stay healthy. On Friday morning we found out we had 10 then yesterday it was 9 now today it's 7. My heart feels so connected to these little guys, I don't want to lose anymore.

I'm done with infertility. I am ready for Tuesday 8:30 am to be here to have one or two of our embies to be in my ute safe and sound. The remaining embryos will be kept on ice until we are ready for more children down the road. But right now I'm having a hard time keeping my mind at rest and my heart at peace. I'm angry at infertility for what it has done to me and to so many of my dear friends. I'm tired of worrying and I know I need to let it all go and relax but it's much easier said than done.

Tomorrow when the embryologist calls for my daily report I want to hear her say "all seven embryos are looking awesome". That's all I want right now.

Hang tight sweet embies. You are loved so much already.

IVF Egg Retrieval

So 28 eggs!!! Dr. G called around 3:30 and told me that 18 were mature and all 18 were fertilized using the ICSI process. This morning the embryologist called and said we have 10 embryos that are cleaving and progressing. She said they're going to keep watching the other 8 but for sure right now we have 10 good looking embabies. She said we should be very pleased with this number since we are dealing with severe male factor infertility. Which we are very happy with the 10 and pray that they keeping growing and stay healthy. We're looking at a 5 day transfer which would be on Tuesday morning.

Yesterday was a little rough as far as recovery. I took some pain medication at the hospital and they just didn't settle well. We had to pull over three times on our way home from Olathe (which is about 75 minutes away from Topeka). It didn't help that it was a million degrees out. I never thew up which is a miracle, I seriously don't know how I held it in. I knew I'd hurt so bad if I got sick so maybe it was a little mind over matter. I felt nauseous until around 8 pm. I have decided that I'd rather deal with the pain than take pain killers and feel sick all day. Good ol regular Tylenol will have to do.

I am feeling better today. I am going to bum around and watch some movies (ok, I'm planning on watching all of the Twilight movies...don't judge). I'm still pretty crampy and sore but that is to be expected. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be feeling like myself and get get out of the house. I think that's all for now, thank you soooo much for all of the love, support and prayers. Please keep our 10 embryos in your prayers too, we're hoping they all make it and we can freeze them (other than the ones we put in on Tuesday) for later use.

BLOAT

It's intense and I'm ready for this belly to have a baby in it.

{pssst..."Bella"/Linds. Like our new MCM find!?! 9 dresser drawer for $75 on craigslist! ::swoon:: It's going in the nursery and will also serve as a changing table.}

I know it'll take a few days for the bloat to go down after the egg retrival and I'm ready for it! Not being pregnant but looking pregnant is not exactly fun. I love when Josh rubs my belly and says "I can't wait for there to be a baby in there". Me too babe, me too. Speaking of Josh...he thinks he has IVF bloat too.

Tomorrow our babies will be made. Guess what boys and girls....tomorrow night there will be a FULL MOON!!!!!!!!!! :D Let the high tech baby makin begin!