Friday, July 27, 2007
My period started. Hooray! (Who knew I’d be cheering about starting my period?) The IVF cycle is ready to begin.

Saturday, July 28, 2007
The day began and ended with IVF activities. This morning, we made a visit to the infertility specialist for another ultrasound and a blood test. After hitting our pocketbook for a cool $2000, they sent us home with a big bag of goodies. Two kinds of injectable drugs (Follistim and Menopur) and nifty stuff like vials, needles, alcohol swabs, and bandaids. The instructions: Two shots to be given twice a day, twelve hours apart — in the abdomen. Luckily, it’s a subcutaneous injection (skin only), so the needle is small and thin, so it’s not too horrible — although, I will say that it is not without a tiny pinch of pain and a little shedding of blood now and then. The egg retrieval is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, August 7. If successfully fertilized, implantation happens about 3-5 days later. But, as always, everything is up in the air and contingent on whether my body responds to the treatment as expected.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Yet another ultrasound and blood test today. Apparently, the doc wasn’t completely pleased with the way my left ovary was responding to the treatment, yielding only one or two eggs visible on the ultrasound, while the right ovary produced about six. I’m not sure how many would be a “good” number, but I guess a few more days of injections will be necessary in my case and the egg retrieval now has to be pushed back. This whole IVF process is such a wait-and-see thing. My Friday ultrasound will tell us more. In the meantime, I’ll be praying for my body to cooperate. I also have another injection (Ganirelix, again) to add to the mix starting on Friday morning. That will bring my shot count to five per day: 4 shots in the tummy and 1 in the leg.

I have noticed that the hormones have been making me a little more emotional than normal. As I was driving home listening to Josh Groban, I nearly broke down in tears as I sang along with the song, “In Her Eyes.” I have always said that Josh’s voice was so beautiful that it could bring me to tears. I guess that wasn’t too far-fetched a statement after all. I also got all teary-eyed this afternoon as I was telling Hubby about a “Focus on the Family” radio broadcast that I heard today that explained the challenges that parents of autistic children face. Hubby should just be thankful that hormones only affect my emotions and don’t turn me into the Wicked Witch of the West.

The IVF experience has been growing my faith and also teaching me that I need to just “let go and let God.” There are some things that I simply cannot control and this is a prime example of one of them. As hard as I try, I cannot force my body to do anything. All I can do is rely on God, trust that Father knows best, and that He is in control, even when I am so not. This experience has also taught me that I can trust Hubby with anything, even a needle. He has been so loving and supportive throughout this whole ordeal, I could not ask for a better man to share my life with — with or without children. I am so truly blessed either way.

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