Processing. I've been processing since last Wednesday.

We had our official IVF consult on Wednesday. Very glad Travis was with me just in case, but turned out everyone (including rude nurse) behaved well. Between the calendar with my appointments and the notes I took on when the drugs start, I put together the below so you can get an idea of the plan:

The consent appointment is preceded by a DVD we have yet to watch but will before the appointment. Basically it will include our legal preferences. For example: what are our wishes for embryo's we do not use in this cycle, how long are they to be kept, if something happened to both of us how would we want the embryo's handled etc. We haven't watched the video so this is our guess.  I can tell you right now:

• We will be transferring one embryo for this cycle. Transferring two does not increase our chance for a pregnancy. Basically either it is a good cycle and whatever you put in takes, or it doesn't.  If God decides to split the one we put in to give us twins, than so be it but we will only be putting in one embryo.
• We will not be 'disposing' of any mature embryo's.  No baby of ours is going to get tossed.
• We will use however many embryo's we have left. It could be none, two, or 8. We made this decision a long time ago. 
• If we have more embryo's than we transfer, we would opt for a non-stimulated cycle transfer for each one.
• 'Snow-flake' babies is an option where you put the frozen embryo's up for adoption for the couples who do not have strong enough sperm or eggs to create one on their own. We will not be using this option. 

Okay, back to the calendar.

The stimulation shots will be given in my stomach (by previously mentioned, gracious nurse friend of mine and neighbor). There is one shot, the Novarel, that is a one time shot and will be given in my thigh. I think this is the 'Trigger' shot, which tells my follicles to release. The steroids will continue through the first couple weeks after the embryo transfer to help it grow. This is part of it that is customized for me as mentioned in previous posts.  

As you can see there are lots of appointments. This is to monitor the growth of my follicles and how quickly they mature to time everything just right. Lots of blood work done in there as well. All the medications are flexible and will be altered depending on how my body/uterus/follicles respond. We do not want too much growth or too little. My doctor told me it will feel like my ovaries are going to burst.  That should be interesting.

A normal cycle produces one egg. The stimulations will produce several so the weight of it will be noticeable. 

The hardest part, I am predicting and letting myself get ready for, is from July 3-16. 

Waiting for the blood test results. 

I can take a home pregnancy test.  However all the hormones and steroids I will be on, the likelihood of a faulty positive is high and I don't want to do that to us. I would rather wait for the blood work which will be a sure thing. Of course, I may take a pregnancy test, who knows. But right now, I am planning on waiting for the blood test results. 

Thank you for your prayers during this time for me and for Travis. This journey is already emotional. Add anticipation, nervousness, a full calendar, hormones, and steroids, and things can get interesting. I wish it could all be condensed down to a week's time. Five weeks seems like forever. One day at a time is all I can fathom right now. One day at a time. One step at a time. One appointment at a time. Looking too far ahead makes me dizzy. Just focusing on what is ahead of me.

Right now I am excited about choir Sunday tomorrow. I get to direct my first A Capella part! This is very exciting! It will be on www.napleschurch.com then 'media' and 'past services' if you want to check it out and are reading this after Sunday morning.

My immediate future holds getting a good night's sleep for tomorrow.

To all my friends who have given me really good hugs since reading this, thank you. They feel good!  Keep 'em coming!