6 Little Belknaps

I got a call from the embryologist yesterday. Six of the eggs they retrieved were immature and could not be fertilized, which we expected based on my sonograms. Out of the six mature eggs, all six fertilized. 100% success in my opinion!

We are so excited. I cannot even describe how amazing this process is. It's so fascinating. I can say that it's unlikely I would ever do the first part of the cycle again. Brutal! But this part is crazy exciting. They are going to do the transfer first thing tomorrow morning. We will go in, discuss the eggs' progress and decide on the two best for transfer.

I will let everyone know how the transfer goes tomorrow.

The Retrieval

After a week of sonograms and blood work, I finally had the retrieval today. It was a bit of a roller coaster over the past week: my ovaries were a little sluggish and didn't want to cooperate. At my last sonogram, we had 5, maybe 6, follicles that were responding. Better than the 3 from my second sono! Well, they told Mike when I got out of surgery that they were able to get 12 eggs! Amazing! 

We will get a call from the embryologist tomorrow to let us know how many were fertilized and when we can expect the transfer date. They initially thought, since they weren't expecting many eggs, that the transfer date would be Sunday. But since there were considerably more than that, it may be Tuesday so that they can evaluate all the embryos and choose the best two.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. My nurse even told me she was praying for us specifically! Please continue praying for those little Belknaps, and for us too. :)

Shots and Sonograms

I started my shots on Saturday. One in the stomach in the a.m. and one in the stomach in the p.m. The one in the morning must be made of liquid fire because it burns like crazy! The one in the evening is cake...no burning, no fire, just a little pin prick. I just finished my fourth day of medication; only approximately six to go! Until the next medicine, but that's for another day.

This morning I had my first sonogram since I started the shots and so far everything looks good. I have seven follicles on the left ovary and six on the right ovary. Lucky thirteen!...did I just hear someone say paluthda? (I know someone knows what I'm talking about!) Anyway, the follicles are small, which is normal at this stage. I have sonograms on Thursday, Saturday, Monday and possibly Tuesday to measure the size of the follicles. I will probably have a better idea after the Saturday sonogram when the retrieval will be.

I will post a follow up on Thursday.

Go MAVS!

Belknap Family Update

I know blogs are so last year, but I wanted to have a place where I can make sure I keep everyone up-to-date and not forget anyone. So, blogging it is. My commitment is to try to keep this as updated as I possibly can, and when I cannot, have Mike do it.

On to our news. For those that already know, sorry to repeat myself. For those that don't, this is for you. After many unsuccessful years of trying to get pregnant, Mike and I have chosen to do at least one IVF cycle and then adopt after that. This is my attempt to keep everyone informed of our journey. I am not shy and intend to document every gory detail. I'm sorry to those who feel uncomfortable with over-sharers.

Today was my first sonogram to determine my baseline for the next couple of weeks. I got my call from the doctor this afternoon advising that we were good to go, that I am to start my injections on Saturday, and what the dosage was for each shot. Here we go! We are off and running!

This post is to simply ask for everyone's thoughts and prayers. We are cautiously optimistic about this and are praying for success...if not for the IVF to work, for the following adoption process to be seamless. Please pray for my health (physically and mentally), for the success of the treatment, and most importantly for our marriage. I know that this can be so stressful on a marriage, and our main focus must be our relationship with each other. We believe in the power of prayer and know that God hears and answers them!

More updates and doctor's reports to follow.

G and P

If anyone wants to see the cutest pictures EVER of Gaite and Paige, head on over here.

Christmas Contest

So, we had a Christmas party at work where there was a prize for the ugliest Christmas sweater. I won. I'm sure you can see why. Ugliest, most hideous, and homemade...and a special thanks goes out to Lisa who helped make this possible.

Yes. Those are cotton balls tacky glued to a t-shirt, with jingle bells for buttons, and a felt carrot nose with a felt top hat and scarf. Hideous!!! And a winner!!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

One of the ONLY things that I like about this time of year is that when it gets cold, that means it's time for FIRESIDE COFFEE!!! Woo-hoo!

I love holiday cheer.

I love the smell of fires burning in chimneys.

I love having a fire in our fireplace.

I LOVE sleeping when it's cold.

I love getting days off of work.

I love guiltless eating.

I love my Christmas tree.

I love Thanksgiving.

I love giving gifts.

And I really, really love Fireside Coffee!