One Shot Down. . .Many More to Go. . .Hopefully!

Today I started my Delestrogen shots.  Our neighbor who is a nurse gave us a little lesson and gave me my first shot.  It was pretty painless and I have great confidence in Dan's shot giving abilities.  I am just trying to get good sleep, keep up with some exercise, and take my vitamins so I can get over my bad cold which is just lingering!  We are really looking forward to our transfer in three weeks!

Meds, Shot Lessons, and Face Time with Dr. K and Mrs. A

(FYI:  Details are provided for those extra interested in embryo adoption.)

Today we drove two hours to Dr. K's office to do our first of three pre-FET check ups.  He did an ultrasound to look at my insides and show me my ovaries - don't really know why.  Then they drew blood to check my estrogen levels and I found out later today that my levels are good.  Then we met with Mrs. A (the embryologist) and Dr. K (our FET Dr.) to discuss our embryos.  He told us that all of our embryos are expanding 5-day blasts and that each of them has around 35% chance of implanting and developing into a pregnancy.  He felt that the fact that they were expanding and from a very young egg donor they had a much higher chance of implantation.  They were graded 5AB, 5BB, 5BC, 5BC.  (The grading has to do with the quality of the embryos.  If you want to know more go here.)  I really don't care so much about the grading.  I mean every EA mom wants to hear "Your embryos look great!" but I've known EA moms who had great embryos and they didn't implant and others who had "poor" embryos and they are now cute little kids.  At this point we are just praying that all of our embabies make it out of the thaw and get a chance at life.

We did find out that all of our embryos are frozen individually.  This is REALLY great news for us because we have to decide how many embryos to transfer and embryos must be thawed the way they were frozen.  This gives us the option to thaw each embryo individually until we get two that survive to implant.  We won't have to thaw too many or too few.  We will only thaw enough to transfer two. 

Lastly, we scheduled my appointments that lead up to our transfer. (We go once a week.)  Then Mrs. A gave us a run down on the first two weeks of medication.  We will both take Doxa......pills (can't read her writing) twice a day for a week.  And next Monday I start my Delestrogen injections twice a week until further notice.  (Supposedly I will take these injections until several weeks after the embryos implant.)  We will find out more about my Progesterone(PIO) shots at my Oct. 4th appointment when I have my mock transfer.  The PIO shots are the ones that have to be taken daily I believe until the second trimester of pregnancy.  Dan feels pretty confident about giving me my shots.  I guess it pays to be married to an EMT.  I am pretty excited that our meds only cost $275.  We were expecting to pay up to $500 for those.  I suppose this might not be all of our meds.  We might have to order more if we stay pregnant.  Our big bill comes next appointment when we pay for our FET - $2200.  It's a lot of money but when you have waited almost 7 years to be a mom and dad another $2200 doesn't seem like such a big deal.

After our appointment we decided to have lunch at the Farmer's Market at the Grove in LA.  That place is so fun!!!  Today we decided to have Brazilian BBQ, Little John's English Toffee, and get some Moroccan olives and French cheese (Midnight Moon).  Then we scouted out what we will have for lunch on our next Dr. appointment day.  If we have to drive two hours each way to Dr. K's we might as well add in something extra fun right? 

Mission Accomplished!

Official Results:  Finish Time- 1:51  
(Swim- 21:33  Bike- 49:30  Run- 34:17)  
Placed 14 out of 36 Athenas

Today Dan and I had a great day in Long Beach at the Long Beach Triathlon.  Last night we checked into the Courtyard Marriott (they upgraded us to a large corner room with a view of the Queen Mary and the ocean) and had dinner at one of our old favorite dinner spots when we used to live in the LBC.  We went to bed early hoping that I would wake up feeling well enough to race.

We headed down to the transition area at 6am to set up my bike and other supplies and then I nervously forced myself to eat half a protein bar and some Gatorade.  We headed over to the beach area where the swim portion of the race was to begin.  This is where I got really nervous.  Everybody looked so athletic and experienced.  I mean there were tons of seriously in-shape people at this race.  I huddled in my wave the Athena and Clydesdale wave and the Queen Mary blew her horn for each wave of competitors as they started.  I have been sick all week with a chest cold and I wasn't sure if I should go through with the race.  I almost did turn back when I saw the first wave of competitors take off in the water.  It looked so intimidating.  But I knew that if I could get through the swim I would be good.  Right before the QM blew her horn for our wave a guy next to me touched my shoulder and said "Alright let's do this!".  I looked at him and said, "This is my first triathlon."  And he just smiled and said, "You'll do great.  Good luck."  Then I saw the wave in front of us start and a couple of women were carrying a paralyzed competitor into the ocean.  She competed in her wheelchair bike for the last two legs of the race.  That did it for me.  I thought to myself, "If she can do this with no leg power then I can do this!" and I was really to go.

I loved competing in the Athena and Clydesdale division.  It is full of people like me who have come to this race with the attitude of "The victory is that I had the courage to be here at the starting line today."  We all threw up a yell and then ran off into the gray, cold ocean.  The cold water, the taste of saltwater in my mouth, and seeing fish swim by me was a little uncomfortable at first but I soon found my rhythm and made it to shore.  The transitions from swim to bike and bike to running were the toughest part of the triathlon.  I enjoyed how encouraging and friendly everybody was in the race: fellow racers encouraging each other, my husband and friends from church and strangers on the route cheering me on.  Everything went well and I felt good throughout the race.  I finished around 1hr 50min about 5 minutes over my goal of 1:45.  Not bad considering I almost didn't complete because of my chest cold.  I don't know my split times yet, but they will be posted here soon.

I am soooo glad that I did this!  I always learn so much about myself and others when I do something to push myself.  I marvel at the bodies and abilities God as gifted us with.  The top finishers completed the entire triathlon in 52 minutes!!!  Yeah. .  that is an hour faster than me!  Isn't that amazing?  Then there is the 59 year old woman (they write your age in body marker on your calves for all to see)  that I passed on the 3 mile run.  She looked sore but she refused to walk.  She slowly jogged along and I was excited for her when I saw her cross the finish line later on.  What determination and perseverance!  I hope I am still challenging myself when I am 59.  Many thanks to Dan for snapping the photos, cheering me on, and giving me a nice long back rub when we got back to our hotel room.   Mission accomplished!

Transfer Date - October 18th!

Yesterday I scheduled our embryo transfer with Dr. K.  We will go visit him on Monday to set our appointment dates, get my medication protocol, learn how to do the shots, and pick up our medications.  (I say "our" because Dan is going to have to help me with the shots.)   I am excited that we have an official date to look forward to although October 18th feels pretty far away.  I suppose at our appointment we will learn a bit more about our four embryos too.  We don't know how they are frozen yet but my best guess is that they are frozen in pairs.  Let's get this show on the road!!!

Adjusting

We are back in the states but the transition to full time work with jet lag has not been so fun.  I've been waiting to post the perfect trip summary post but haven't found the energy or time.  Our trip to Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Croatia was AMAZING!!!  While we were gone our four embryos were delivered to our doctor's office in California.  We are waiting to sort out a little problem with some missing legal paperwork before we get an official transfer date which will most likely be October 18th or 19th, somewhere in there.  I am trying to fight a bad cold and finish up some last minute training for my triathlon on Sunday and adjust to a new school year.  Just wanted to write a let everyone know that the Shacks are still alive.  =)