Update...

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days...been a little busy. However, I thought I would post a quick note on how things are progressing in the the "Pond IVF World"! :)

Our wonderful little blastocysts did awesome. In fact Dr. Anderson was very impressed with the quality of them. So...on Thursday night we transferred two perfect blastocysts. Dr. Anderson is pretty darn confident that we should be successful with one if not both of them. He said the cells that mature, divide, and develop as quickly as our did are the best quality.

He actually took a picture of the two little blastocysts that he transferred. I have the picture, but I need to scan it into the computer. It's just too funny...how many people have a picture of their children at the blastocyst stage? Shayne says that if we do end up pregnant we are using that picture for their senior baby picture that school's ask for! He's so hilarious! :)

We actually had three that were at that perfect stage, but he would only transfer two...thank heavens! He was pretty sure that we would be able to freeze at least 3, maybe even all 5 of the other cells if they developed to the blastocysts stage.

So, now we hurry up and wait. Shayne's been giving me progesterone injections each night, and we will continue to do that until I take a pregnancy test in about 2 weeks. If that's positive then I continue with the injections until we get a heart beat on ultrasound, which should be at about 6-7 weeks after transfer.

We are being cautiously optimistic. We feel good about the whole process, and even if the test isn't positive we are at a point where we are ok with the outcome. We understand that we have done everything we could possibly do...now it's in the Lord's hands, and if we don't have children this way, then we'll have them another way.

Thank you again for all of your prayers...it's the only reason we've been able to get this far.

Update...

If you are wondering what this funny picture is...it's a blastocyst. In my world right now it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing because we have 7 of these incubating right now in Dr. Anderson's office. Actually let me clarify...they aren't yet to the blastocyst stage...but he's very optimistic that they soon will be. A fertilized egg reaches a blastocyst stage after about 5-6 days which is then transferred into the uterus. Sometimes the fertilized egg isn't dividing so well, and has to be transferred around day 3, and the rates of pregnancy are lower. So...we are very excited that we are headed in the direction of transferring on day 5 or 6, which has a better pregnancy rate. We were initially informed that we had 5 eggs that were dividing great, and 2 that were a little "iffy". However, Shayne saw Doc Anderson last night in the ER, and he said that all 7 are looking really, really well. Doc Anderson is so excited! It's kinda nice to have the Dr. as excited as we are. :)


It seems so funny that I'm so excited about a little thing like a blastocyst. However, last year at this time Shayne and I were told we would never reach this stage. So, for us to have just one fertilized egg, let alone 7 is pretty amazing! Dr. Anderson will only transfer two blastocysts, but we can freeze the others and hopefully use them later. We are still definitely not in the clear yet. Our next hurdle is for me to sustain a pregnancy which is a big deal. So while we are excited about how far we've come...we are still emotionally reserved about the whole process.



So for those of you that have been praying for us...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! IT'S WORKING!! :)

Life in the Winter

Greetings y'all and welcome back to the blog. I just thought I'd contribute a little bit to the blog for my once a quarter requirement of participation. As you can see from Pep's last few posts we've been pretty busy with a plethora of activities, both fun and not so fun and others that are a little stressful. Trust me if I could have had my waders on when we went to the Russian I'd have fished longer than 15 minutes. I've been staying busy with basketball. The wins are still avoiding us but the boys are gaining confidence in their skills and abilities. They are also working harder in practice and in the games. So I pretty much won't have a voice from now until the end of the season, and not as much hair as when the season started.

The whole IVF process has been interesting to say the least but it has been good for Pep's and myself. I'm of the frame of mind that there's really nothing else I can do, we've done our part now it's up to the Lord so I'm pretty relaxed about it and just worrying about basketball and when the next day to go fishing is going to be. We harvested Saturday night and Pep's did really well. I really wasn't required to do too much just a few minutes before the procedure started! After a bit of demerol and valium Pep relaxed a bit and Doc did the procedure. She's a little sore today but tolerated the procedure well. All told we were in there for about an hour. Today she's been a little sore. I spoke with Doc earlier Sunday after church and he said that it's going as well as he would expect it to we just have to wait and see now. We'll see what happens in the next 12-24 hours and that will dictate the next week of our lives.

It's terrible timing as I'll be out of town next weekend for a work meeting in Washington regarding a computer documentation program that the hospital is putting in the ER. I've become way too involved in the goings on here, I should just stick to fishing right!! Anyway, we'll keep y'all updated when we find out what's happening. We both really appreciate all of the sacrifice everyone has made on our behalf. It's very humbling to know we have such great family and friends.

So until next time, tight lines and bent rods and in our case fertilization and cell division!! (although I'm dreaming of tight lines and bent rods!)

The IVF Life...

So...here's why I haven't posted in awhile. We are living the IVF life. It's definitely not my most favorite thing, but I've heard it is worth it in the end. It's been interesting that's for sure.



So...for those of you that are lucky enough to have children the fun and spontaneous way...here's a brief synopsis of what Shayne and I have been going through since Dec. 31st.



The medication on the far left I've been giving myself in a SQ injection every day since the 31st. The next two medications I've been taking once a day since the Jan. 9th. They are given SQ and IM respectively. Shayne helps me with those. The next one I'm hoping to take tomorrow to make me ovulate so Dr. Anderson can harvest the eggs. That's a whole different experience that I'm looking forward to being done with, but not actually doing. The medication on the far right I will be taking through IM injections every day for 6 weeks if all goes well. If it doesn't go all well, then I'll only be on it for 2 weeks. It tricks my body into thinking it's pregnant...yup...loads of fun!

Shayne has been giving most of my injections, and he's awesome. He hates hurting me, and has informed me this is the last time we are doing this...he doesn't like seeing me go through this stuff. I have to admit...it's not the funnest thing I've ever done in my life! :)

The good news is that I'm responding much better to the medication protocol than I did in October. Yeah...I did most of this once before, but my body kinda freaked out and hyper stimulated so we couldn't go through the entire process.

So there you have it...All I can say is, if any of you have every complained about being pregnant or having kids...You need to be kicked in the chins, and I just happen to know someone who'd be happy to kick you! :)

3 Years!!

Today is our third anniversary! It's kinda funny, because our other friends our age have been married for 10 years...three doesn't seem that long compared to 10, but you have to start somewhere right?!

So...it was three years ago today that Shayne and I were married in the Idaho Falls temple amidst the worst snowstorm in 10 years. In fact, they closed the freeway from Malad to Pocatello during our reception. This meant that we couldn't get to our hotel room that night...so...we slept in my parents horse trailer! Yup...our honeymoon night in a horse trailer. It's not quite as bad as can be imagined, but it was no honeymoon suite! :) It makes for great memories though.

Anyway...it has been a very good three years. Shayne is by far the bestest friend I could ever ask for in the entire world. We have been through quite a lot in our short three years, but our relationship is pretty darn rock solid. He is my rock. He is more patient with me than anyone should ever have to be. I love him for so many reasons that I could expound upon here, but he already knows them and that's the way it should be. And I know without any question that he loves and adores me as much as I love him. He shows and tells me every single day...without an exception.

All I have to say is...How did I get so lucky?!

Russian River

So...do you recognize this background? You should if you've checked out our blog. If you scroll far enough down, you will see Shayne and I in this exact same spot...but with some added green foliage, and a little more warm looking sunlight. :)

On Wednesday the 2nd, Bob Malvin (a nurse in the ER w/ Shayne), Shayne and I snowshoed into the Russian River Falls. It was about a 6+ mile round trip hike, but was a blast. It was a little colder than the Lost Lakes hike, but was still fun. We hiked in, ate some lunch, explored around the river (while Shayne practiced his nymph drifting), and then hiked back out.

Can you tell that Shayne is a die-hard fanatic when it comes to fly-fishing?! He didn't catch anything, and he knew he probably wouldn't. But, how could he pass up the chance to cast a fly in the Russian River...even with all the snow and ice?! Crazy!! That's all I have to say!!

This will be the last fun outing for a bit for us...Shayne went back to work tonight, and I go back to school on Monday...ugh. Between work and basketball, our next adventure will probably be our Mexico trip over Spring Break in March. I'm hoping we can do some small snowshoeing hikes, but we'll see...I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a lot of sitting on school bleachers for the next two months! Yeah for me! :b

Hey...did I mention we are getting more light everyday now?! Just wanted to make sure you all knew! :)

p.s. Happy Birthday to my Mom today!!! I can't believe you're only 29!!