Back to the Real World

I'm happy to report that I have had so much improvement over these last few days.

I don't have any more back aches/pains, my belly is decreasing in size about 1/2" every day and I haven't had to take any medicine, not even tylenol, in several days.

My biggest issue now is having to get up at least 2 or 3 times every night to go to the bathroom. I was waking up like clockwork every morning at 3:30 am and staying up for an hour and I haven't done that either for almost a week.

Another huge milestone is that Steve finally gets to sleep in his own bed again! He has had alternative sleeping arrangements for three weeks now because I couldn't have him tossing and turning in the bed and I needed so many pillows to sleep there wasn't room for him anyway. Me waking up in the middle of the night would have disturbed him also. I actually feel like I've been sleeping better with him, and of course Elly, back in bed just like it should be:)

I know that I must be feeling better if I was able to get out and go shopping this weekend. My mom took me out to help me find some pants so that I can go back to work Monday. Although I am progressively "shrinking", I still have a baby bump and can't wear my normal pants. I'm not near the size I was a week and a half ago so I can definitely handle this.

It's going to be hard going back to work after two weeks hiatus but I have been working from home this entire time so I wouldn't get too far behind. I have heard a comment about "you should see all the stuff piled on your desk". I'm not excited to see what that means.

After the past three weeks, I guess back to normal isn't looking too bad.......

Doctor Appointment Update

Today I went to a doctor appointment with my new obgyn. I had to wait 45 minutes past my appointment time to go in so I hope that just means they're so good that everyone in town goes to see them.

I had a good consultation with Dr. S. She said they work with my doctor at the clinic all the time and they really like them so that made me feel good. Before I told her I was an IVF patient she said she thought I was six months along. That's even with my swelling starting to go down! She confirmed everything my doctor at the clinic said about my overstimulation and she assured me that all the medications I am on are safe. That has been my biggest concern at this point that I have been on all these meds but when you deal with hyperstimulation of your ovaries, that is a serious condition and it needs to be dealt with.

Fortunately, I began to see some progress Monday morning. I woke up and felt a little stronger and didn't need to take a pain pill all day. I did wake up several times in the middle of the night and ended up having to take a pill at 4 am but I haven't had one since then. I also have been measuring my stomach to keep track of the swelling and it appears that I have lost 2 inches. I'm getting a little better now day by day.

I'm not scheduled to have any other doctor appointments until after Derby. Right now I'm just focusing on getting past this hyperstimulation and trying to get back to work. I've tried keeping up with things at home but I tire very easily and I'm moving slow so I'll be glad to catch back up.

I just want to thank everyone who has helped us these past couple weeks. My mom has helped us so many times with cleaning, laundry, and so many more things I couldn't even possibly list them all. My sweet mother in law made sure we had fresh groceries and that Steve was taken care of on his birthday when I was in no condition to do so. Others have brought us food and just given us words of encouragement and every little bit has meant so much to us.

This weeks prayer request is for me to just get back to "normal", whatever that is:)

In case you haven't heard.......

The official results are in!

Happy Birthday Steve:)

For this child I prayed, and the Lord granted what I asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27

Bedrest Day 1

Well I've officially declared myself on bedrest throughout the duration of this swelling. The fluid I had drained yesterday is already coming back little by little. The more I'm on my feet, the more I can feel the pressure building up. Even if I stand up for 5 or 10 minutes, I can tell a substantial difference. I am able to lay down now which is a huge relief because I wasn't able to do that before yesterday. I think if I just take it easy for a little while then it will speed up the process.

I am a little bit of a busy body so this will be a challenge for me to sit still. It is very hard for me to let other people do things for me instead of just doing them myself (except Steve, I have no problem asking him to help me and he's probably getting tired of it!). I have trouble with simple tasks like putting on pants or socks. It's hard to stand up to take a shower but it's hard to wash my hair if I'm in the bath. Shaving my legs has not even been an option for a few days. Ha!

My Dad came to get me today and take me to Kroger to pick up a few things. I had to ride in the scooter grocery cart. I am happy to say that I didn't run into anything:) Just that little trip wore me out though so I'm on the couch for the rest of the day.

I'm going to have to take this day by day just like when I first started this process.

And no matter what, I know that my God is the same today as He was at the beginning of this process and He will continue to carry us through.

Trip to Cincy

We made a trip to the clinic today and my doctor decided that I go ahead and get some fluid drained. They ended up draining 3 liters worth of fluid. My stomach went down immediately and I haven't had hardly any back pain. I'm also not having as much shortness of breath. It's nice to have a little rest.

I had weighed myself yesterday and I had gained 25 pounds of water weight. After the procedure today I'm down to 18 pounds worth.

There is a good possibility that the fluid could come back but according to my blood work today, I should be plateauing now and hopefully it won't come back as bad.

Please keep praying that my swelling will continue to go down. Right now I have to stay off my feet as much as possible and I need to go back to work by Thursday so I can keep up with my appointments.

So today was filled with some good news and I hope there's more to come for the rest of the week:)

Eventful Easter Weekend

Sorry I haven't been able to update lately but I've had a rough few days.

Friday afternoon I started feeling exhausted and run down. By Saturday, I had grown 3" more in my stomach area. I'm running out of room to grow so now I'm expanding in my sides. Late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, I began getting upset to my stomach and having increased pains. I finally had to break down and contact my doctor at 1:30am. I told him I wanted to go to the hospital but I wasn't sure if they could do anything for me. He agreed that I could go in since I couldn't keep any liquids down.

He said he would call ahead to the er we were going to and give them instructions on how to treat me because most er doctors haven't seen this kind of condition before. It turns out that he called the wrong hospital and when the er doctor came to see me he said "oh my gosh, why does your stomach look like that!". That was encouraging. Steve immediately gave him our doctors phone number and the two of them worked it out.

I ended up having to have 3 bags of iv fluid, some pain medicine and nausea medicine. We didn't leave there until 5:30 in the morning and neither of us had been to bed yet. Needless to say, we were exhausted.

We weren't able to go and visit with anyone on Easter sunday but we were blessed with some visitors who came to see us. My mom came over to bring us lunch and she helped clean my house (Thank you, thank you, thank you, MOM) and Rebecca and Jeremy came over to bring us dessert. Thank you everybody for thinking of us while we were unable to leave the house:)

My doctor is going to call me everyday now to check on me and I'm supposed to go back to Cincinatti tomorrow for them to examine me and see if they can drain some of this fluid I am retaining. They said there is a possibility it could come back. The good news is, that I'm being told that since I am still having these symptoms, it means that the process is more than likely working. I think that makes this somewhat more bearable but I'll still be relieved to have some of this fluid subside for now. I would like to look 6 months pregnant when I am actually 6 months instead of 6 days!

Please keep me in your prayers and pray for these symtoms to subside as quickly as possible. I'm having to stay home now more times than not and I don't want that to interfere with my work. There is no one else in my office that can do my work except me so I want to be able to stay on top of it.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend and I hope to have nothing but good updates from here on out!

Transfer Day Pictures

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This is where it all started--in our Petri Dish
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Me & Steve before the transfer. I told you he was too cute in scrubs!
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Mom snuck back in our room to take these pictures
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I don't think you can really grasp how big my belly is right now from this photo but it was the only one I had
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Here are our two beautiful embryos that were transferred
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