Here we go again.

Our first consultation appointment with Conceptions went...oddly.  HA!

We go in to chat with Dr. Bush and ask some questions we have about the Invitro Process and try to get some reassurance about it, weigh our options, etc..  to see if we want to move forward. We didn't really get a chance to talk to each other about it before the next thing I know I am sitting in a chair,  looking at 10-12 empty test tubes, a tourniquet is being strung around my arm and they hand me a stress ball.

"ummm.... are you taking THAT much blood from me?!"

"Yes we are testing for EVERYTHIN"

"I haven't eaten a THING today!"

"Would you like some juice?"

"Yes please"

Then she hands me the cyanide Applejuice and I start drinking it... all the while thinking: DOUBLE YOU TEE EFF?  What JUST happened?  haha... that Dr. Bush is gooooooood.

OH but that's not all... after all my blood was taken from me and the applejuice kicked in, I am being shoveled into that room...you know, the one with the bed and the place to put your feet.

"Undress, just the bottom and place this cover over you.  I will be right back"

Wait a second!  We just had questions about our options! Why am I laying on this table, naked from the waist down?! (its actually humorous to me)  Then the nurse returns and starts examining my ovaries and uterus..
"Everything looks really good!"

"uunnhh...thank you?"

So, yeah... we walked in for a talk and I walked out with a WHOLE LOT more.  Johnny and I were cracking up about it because we didn't even get a chance to talk to each other before they started stealing blood and sticking things in places...  I actually mentioned this to them and they said "well, at least its all done now..muah ha ha...one less thing to do"

"ok"

So the COOL stuff we learned while we were actually TALKING to the doctor...

He said that IUI's are out for us.  Totally ineffective and just not the right fit.  Which we kind of figured since 4 rounds didn't work last time.

We still are not interested in getting a donor.

So IVF.  Johnny and I have always felt really weird about it because we come from the mindset of once an egg is fertilized it is a baby... therefore, there are all of these babies being kept frozen on a shelf for years and years.   We also don't like the possibility of more than 2 at a time and having to start being selective about keeping some and not all... The first time around things were totally different!  We were a little more desperate for a baby.  When he told us there was only a 60% chance of this working we did NOT like those odds.  Since we were spending so much money, we wanted something that was 100%. I don't think that is totally unreasonable... so with all of that we landed on adoption.  Of course we went into TOTALLY blind!  but it worked out.  Saying perfect or 100% doesn't even seem to cover the amount of perfection that choice was for us.  Ryker is hands down our world and beyond. God had is hand in that for us  NO DOUBT!  Ryker is right were he belongs. 

This time around, we really don't feel desperate (for lack of a better word)  since we have Ryker and he is beyond perfection, we already have everything we need.  However, our desire is to grow our family and somehow get Ryker a little brother or sister. Even though when you ask him which he wants he says "no baby."  :) so needless to say, if we were to never have/get another baby we are ok with that.  Which is why we are weighing our options.

GOOD NEWS!  The success rate is up to 75%!!!  AND Johnny's insurance covers 90% !!!  WHAT?!  So we only have to pay around $2000?!  That is phenomenal!  We have to keep ourselves in check to make sure if we go with this option we aren't JUST doing that because we will be saving $28,000...although that is a factor for sure.

Something else pretty interesting that we learned (and don't know how we feel about it)... they will take 10 eggs from me after a series of natural hormone injections that I will take over the course of 4 weeks.  They will then take 10 sperm.  They find the best swimmers from the bunch! ;)  and they will fertilize all 10.  They usually have them grow for 3 days and then implant them...however, our doctor has them grow for 5 days!  He said just adding those two additional days makes a huge difference because an average of half (5 or so) will naturally stop growing. (this is where I asked him if that is something that would naturally happen anyway..he said yes...and it happens a lot and women never know, they just go on having a normal cycle)  So then there are around 5 embryo's left.  Of the 5 he will put 1-2 'back' (as he called it).  I asked what happens to the other three.  He said they get frozen to 170 deg below and therefore there is no viable life... which also means they aren't getting a shelf life or anything ;) (which was another concern of mine).  We can donate those or go back to them.    Anyway, after he puts the 1-2 back...we wait.  He said with 2 the chances of multiples is 50% and triplets is 3% (thank GOD!). 

ONE more interesting thing about growing them for 5 days, he can test for chromosomal problems AND he can tell the sex of the baby (because a boy would carry a Y and a girl would not)!!  WHAT? Not that we care about any of that but I thought it was interesting what science can do these days.

We have another appointment coming up which will take half of a day and that one is to answer more questions and address concerns, etc... and to go over EVERY little detail of the IVF process to see if it's something we want to pursue. We shall see...

So much has already happened.

Happy New Year!...?.....! (hopefully)

This new year has already had Ups and Downs and its only 6 days in!!  I hope its not an indicator of the rest of the year.

Well, I was SUPER sick through the New Year. I actually fell asleep at 10:00pm the 31st and slept right through it.  I couldn't even be my normal self at the Paddock's party because I was just feeling awful!  By the next day I did feel much better.

On the 2nd Reepi had to have his anal glands removed because they kept getting infected.  It was a rough surgery. The doctor said he has never had one as hard and involved EVER in his 22 years of doing this.  Reepi is not recovering good at all.  I pretty much have to follow him around and sit with him all day to make sure he isn't messing with the wound AND to make sure he is going to the bathroom, eating, etc...  Since there have been so many complications we have to take him in every other day to see the vet.  It's not fun and I feel so sad for him! He must be in so much pain.

That same day (the 2nd) Johnny and I had a consultation with the doctor (Dr. Bush) and Conceptions.  The last time we did that was 4 years ago almost to the day. We have decided to re-weigh all of our options again this time around!!  We've been saying that adoption is our only option but we haven't sat and analyzed if this is still true for us.  So much has changed in 4 years. So we have decided to start here...again.... and it feels so strange.

See how our first appointment went here.