Transfer booked!

- by Kim

Well, it has been a busy few days!

This past weekend, I worked at the Vancouver Island Baby Fair, which was really amazing. I've been there many times as a patron, but this was the first time that I got to go as an "exhibitor". My cousin Jen has a company that makes organic baby linens and toys, and thanks to a last minute sick call from one of her staff, I got to help her run her booth at the fair. Check out her site, they have some really beautiful things!

Dress Me Up Organic

Talk about full submersion into the world of babies! I think just about every woman there was either pregnant or with a baby. My cousin and I joked that our uterus' were thumping! How could it not when you're jacked up on estrogen!? They had so many cool exhibits to look at, with literally everything you could possibly need for this stage of life. It was really fun to be a part of, and I even found some interesting exhibits for what we're going through.

This weekend, it was also the 2nd birthday of Janelle and Joel's son. Hard to believe how the time has passed. It's been 2 years since the miracle of his birth, and the loss with her hysterectomy. It makes me feel so grateful of where we are today.

Lily also had her first day of soccer, which she loved, so we were pretty happy about that. Her U5 team is called the "L'il Kickers" and they're pretty cute out there on the field. 

And then the big news:

I had another appointment at the fertility clinic on Saturday for another lining check. According to the doctor, my uterus looked "a hell of a lot better!" The ultrasound picture was even better than last time, and he even printed off a copy that I could put on my fridge. My uterine lining was now at 6mm, which was not yet where we'd like it to be, but making good progress. They usually like to see it at 8 mm before transferring. It was enough to keep us in the running to potentially transfer this cycle, and we're now able to see the 'triple stripe' that we need to have before transferring any embryos. It was pretty exciting, and I left feeling hopeful that we might be able to move forward this time. My hormone levels were good, so my estrogen was increased again to see if it would help my lining to get even thicker. We left it with the plan that I would continue on the increased dose, and that if didn't get my lining to where we wanted it to be, and thought it could be even better still, we would wait and try again next cycle. In that regard, it's nice not to have the pressure of time restraints. Now I just had to wait until Tuesday for my next lining check.

Here's the ultrasound picture from the weekend. Even though it's "looking good," really...it's still not all that exciting to look at. It's not like there's a baby in there or anything....YET!  :)

This morning I went to the clinic again for another monitoring appointment, and our transfer date has been set!!! 

                                                               PARTY TIME!

                                               When:    October 5, 2012 - 10:15 a.m

                                               Where:   My Uterus

                                               Who:      By invitation only; for a select embryo or two

My uterine lining is still measuring at 6 mm, but the appearance of it was so good that they want to move forward anyway. They told me that the number itself is not everything, and appearance is a big factor as well. Being that I've never had any problems with fertility, and was lucky enough to get pregnant quite easily with both my girls, they said that this measurement might just be my norm, and not to get too hung up on the number. It would be a different story if I had struggled with infertility myself, then they might attribute it to a thin lining, but that it's obviously not the case for us. They said that for all they know, this may very well have been where I was at when our own girls were conceived. The technician told me afterwards, that they've had a lot of 6 mm babies, and we wouldn't be moving forward if they didn't think it was worth it. That the doctor would not risk their embryos if they didn't have a good shot at sticking.

So, now I'm pretty excited and nervous too at the same time. Janelle and I have been on the phone, trying to organize things and make plans for the weekend, and I need to sort out some scheduling with work. I'm booked to work all weekend so that's one thing I need to change. 

My head is still spinning as I process it all. I can't believe it's so close! 

This is my new medication protocol until Friday now. Hard to keep track of them all. 

- Estrace (estrogen) 4mg orally twice a day

- Estrace 2 mg intravaginally at bedtime

- Prometrium (progesterone) 200 mg (2 tabs) intravaginally three times a day

- Prometrium 100 mg orally twice a day

- Doxycycline 100 mg orally twice a day

- Aspirin 81 mg every day

- Prenatal vitamin, along with Vitamin D, E and C once a day

It's amazing at how far we've come, despite how far we still have to go, and it really seems so surreal. 

I think tonight will be a "wine night," as those days are now numbered. 

And I couldn't be happier about it.