Here We Go: Transfer time! Updated

07/01/2022

Cycle starts, and because it is the last field trip of Summer Reading Camp there is no way I can get into the doctor. Monday is holiday. So, my appointment is set for Tuesday, July 5th. Now, this would be cycle day 5. Normally, you are seen between days 1-4, but because of the holiday I will be seen on day 5. According to the nurse on the phone, it is a possibility that we will be able to do it. I wasn't sure since it is a little bit later than normal! We are praying for the best at the appointment and then we will go from there! 

07/05/2022

I had my appointment today! My ultrasound looked great and my bloodwork levels were right where they are supposed to be as well. I spoke with the nurse and received my calendar for the cycle! Our transfer is approximately on the 28th! For right now, I take estrace (estrogen) and the blood thinner shots, and then I go back to the doctor on the 21st to check my levels and lining! 

07/06/2022

Well, I thought we were going to have to cancel our cycle. We are so thankful that we did not have too! We are able to continue even after the past 24 hours that we have had. I will tell you all about it at a later date. 

As always, thank you for the prayers! We are excited about moving forward and we are trying our best to let God continue to guide us through it. Love y'all! 

***This specific post will continue to be updated throughout our transfer cycle. There will not be a new post made. ***

07/21/2022

I had my lining check appointment. Everything looked great including my bloodwork. Transfer is set for the 28th. Also while I was there, I asked if my thyroid has gotten check while I was there last time. It had gotten check and had gone down a lot with the upping of my medicine over the last few months. Now I start progesterone shots on the 23rd! 

07/24/2022

Well Today is my birthday! 31 came so fast! I had a great time with my Church family at One Big Day yesterday morning and with my family Saturday evening! Today we are going to play Top Golf and will probably make a fool of ourselves. It should be fun! 

07/25/2022

Today I had my check-up at the hematologist. The hematologist checks bloodwork for my blood disorder, but also checks my iron levels. Unfortunately my iron levels have gone back down again. Not to where I have to have another infusion, but it was pretty close. So I have to visit them in two months. 

07/27/2022

Today is the day before transfer! So far I only have one knot from the progesterone shots, so thats not too bad. Please just keep us in your prayers that everything for the transfer goes well tomorrow and that we will find out in a couple of weeks that we are pregnant. That's it for now! Thank y'all as always for the prayers! 

 

Faith Over Fear

 The past four weeks in my Journaling Small Group, we've been going through a series called Faith over Fear. Faith has been an essential part of our journey and I do not think we could go on without it. Fear has crept in many times too. However, God brings us back with a stronger faith and ready for what He has next. 

This weeks lesson, that we will be doing tomorrow, is about a fear of not hearing God. He stills speaks to us today through scripture, the Holy Spirit, others, and our circumstances. In the lesson it asked this question, " When is a time that you have clearly heard from God?" I had a few instances comes to mind, but the first one was when I heard him tell me to share our story. I go back and think about when this all happened (during Covid). I knew that writing wasn't necessarily my strong suit. I could have used that as an excuse. I knew that there would be weeks where probably no one would read my post. I could have used that as an excuse.  I am so thankful that I listened and started this blogging journey along side our fertility journey. I can't imagine where we would be without the support we've gained and the connections that I have made with some pretty incredible women facing something hard in their lives. 

Don't only take time to pray and talk to God, but take the time to listen. Take the time to ask Him to show you what he has for you. Do we always get the answer we want? No. Do we always get an answer in the way we thought we would? No. But our faith comes into play because we believe ALL things are possible with God. 

Another time that I can remember God clearly speaking to me is when we went to Haiti. And I had the opportunity to go twice. God used the first trip to prepare me for the second where we go to do one of my favorite things: VBS! 

There are times in this journey that we are in now that I wonder if I heard God wrong? Or if I listened to myself and not Him? Or we just jumped in because that's what the doctor's recommended? I will say these past couple months I have been inconsistent with my quiet times and prayers. That is a personal thing that I am trying to get through right now, and I hope that I can get it together. 

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. 

Psalm 34:4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. 

Let your faith be bigger than your fear! God's got this! You got this! 

Three

Well I've really had a hard time knowing what to write again, which is why I haven't. 

We ended up with three embryos. Now, the first couple people that I told my words were "we only got 3." And it only took one person for me to realize that "only 3" was the wrong mentality. I was so disappointed when I got the call and immediately took our news as a negative. 

Not long after a few conversations, next was "We got three embryos!" We could have easily gotten two, one, or none. I think one reason I was so upset was not necessarily because we got only three, but we also lost 16. Now we were prepared for some not to make it, but our hearts were just broken.  

I am so thankful to the ones who helped me see the positive of the situation. Now we wait until our Frozen transfer cycle. Will we transfer one or two? We don't know yet, but we are looking forward to starting the process. So we wait for now! 

Dear God, We are so thankful for the three embryos. Thank you for the friends and family that helped us realize the good that was done! I pray that we continue to follow where we believe you are leading us. Amen 

IVF Update Round 2 Part II

On Thursday, May 12th, I had my egg retrieval in Birmingham and everything went well! They retrieved 28 eggs, 25 were mature, and 19 began to fertilize that first day. We will know the final embryo count later on today! Please be in prayer as we await that news! 

This weekend though, I have felt absolutely terrible. The overstimulation of my ovaries had me sick most of the weekend, with a big scare Saturday afternoon where I had to call the on call nurse at AFS. I ended up taking Monday off of work just to make sure I was good before heading back to work. 

We are so hopeful, and as always cannot express how thankful we are for each one of you and your prayers! It has been a long journey, but God's got it! 

Love, Katey

I will probably create a new post with the final count! And isn't this verse of the day perfect for today! 

IVF Round 2 Update

 We have been rolling right along with our IVF cycle. I honestly just haven't had much time to update on the blog. Last week I started my monitoring appointments. I came out of the first one really bummed. It was not what I expected especially after my medicine dosage went up from the first round. However, God showed out and the second monitoring (Thursday 5/5) appointment was so good that I didn't even have to go over the weekend as they had planned. My next monitoring appointment is Monday (5/9). 

As of right now, the plan is for the egg retrieval to be on Wednesday (5/11) in Birmingham! I will probably be back next week to update on how it went! We won't know until next week anyway how many made it to be frozen. Just continue to keep us in your prayers! We are so excited, but nervous at the same time! We have to continue to trust that God has us during this process! 

Update 05/09

Well you know plans can change in an instant. So I went for my monitoring appointment this morning, and I have to go back tomorrow. So egg retrieval will probably be on Thursday (5/12) now! 

Update 5/10

Retrieval is set for Thursday morning at 8:45! We have to be there at 8 in Birmingham! 

National Infertility Awareness Week

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. Today was specifically celebrated by many around the country by wearing orange! I didn't even think about asking people to participate in it, but I will definitely try to remember to next year! So let's share some facts about infertility awareness: 

• It was founded in 1989 by the National Fertility Association. 
• 1 in 8 couples face infertility
• It is no ones fault
• The color orange promotes a sense of wellness, emotional energy to be shared: compassion, passion, and warmth. Helps to recover from disappointments, a wounded heart, or a blow to one’s pride. Studies show that orange can create a heightened sense of activity, increased socialization, boost in aspiration, contentment, assurance, confidence and understanding. 
• About 1/3 of infertility cases are attributed to a female partner, 1/3 is attributed to a male partner, and the final 1/3 is either a combination of problems in both partners or is unexplained. 

Today was the finale of the Blessed Brokenness Group! These women have been such a blessing to be around the past few months! I thought it was a perfect ending for our last meeting to be during NIAW. 

Our update: 

Tomorrow, I go to the doctor for my baseline before starting STIMs! Please be prayerful that all goes well and we will get to continue on with our plan! By the time I write next week, I will have gone back to the doctor again for a check. Thank you all for the prayers! We are so thankful for the group of people we have praying for us! 

Love, Katey

IVF Round 2

Yes, you read the title right! We have chosen to go through another round of IVF. And I apologize that I didn't post this when I said I would. These past few weeks have been crazy! 

So we've gotten started and I am still in the suppression month. I am currently taking birth control along with the blood thinner shots daily. 

On March 31st I went in for my baseline appointment where they do an ultrasound and blood work. Everything looked great! Then last week I finally got my IVF calendar and finished getting quotes for our IVF medicine. So when we first started talking about doing IVF again we estimated that meds would be between 5,000 and 6,000. Our first quotes were 7,000 and 13,000. I was like oh my goodness! Well after some crazy phone calls about insurance and a discount program, the medicine quote from one company went from 13,000 to 11,000 to 4,000! So we were confused as to how all of this happened, but thankful that God is watching out for us! We were able to get the medicine ordered today, and it will be delivered tomorrow! I won't actually start the medication until April 29th. 

I went to AFS for my saline ultrasound and blood work. The ultrasound looked good, and I will probably get blood work results tomorrow. Praying those results come back great! 

That is kind of where we are right now! So prayer request would be for blood work results to come back in the normal range, medication to arrive safely, and for when I do start the meds that I don't have any crazy side effects from them! 

With the calendar our approximate egg retrieval will be the week of May 9th. We are not sure what day yet, and we won't know until closer to time. 

Thank you all for your love and support! I will probably not be consistent with updates, but will try my best!