Good News/Not So Good News

Hello Everyone -

Ok....(good news) I'm moving forward with retrieval of my eggs on Friday morning. I went in today and I'm down to 4 follicles (not so good news). Doc says that's probably all they will be taking. I have two others showing but they won't be the size we need in time. (good news) Those 4 follicles are growing and healthy. One is already 18 mm in size which is the minimum they need to be to retrieve. The others are between 12.5 - 14.2. Those should be to the 18 mm by Friday.

Merlinda was with me at my appointment and she's really good about speaking up and asking lots of questions. We found out today that someone my age with no problems should produce 15-20 follicles, but because my endometriosis is so severe, this is all I will produce on the meds. This answers a lot of questions about the past few years. If I only produce 4-6 on a high dose of stimulating meds, I'm probably not producing any on my own or it's really hit and miss.

Eggs get damaged through-out the IVF process and some may not fertilize. We will only have 4, so it's all in God's hands now. All we can do is pray that one will do what it needs to do. As I mentioned before, it's going to take a miracle and we have no reason to not believe that it can happen.

I've been talking with my sister about this whole process. She has gone to appointments with me as well. We are all SO invested in this. If this doesn't work, my next step is egg donation. Sheila has already stepped-up and agreed to donate her eggs. She's truly amazing. She's always been the big sis who took care of me and it's very ironic to think that this may be a road we go down together. That's the next step though and right now, we are going to remain hopeful and trust God.

Thank you to everyone who's reading my blog and sending me email and text messages. I love you all very much and probably wouldn't stay sane without your encouraging words.

On another note, Josh just found out that next week he will begin working 6 days a week, M-Sat and working 10 hour days. This will go on for several months. With that said, I will need each and every one of you over the next few weeks. Especially after the transfer next week (when they put fertilized eggs in me and I have to wait to find out if it worked). Movies, shopping, dinner whatever....I will need to keep my mind busy. Email me your schedule as of late next week and we'll start planning stuff.

We love you!
Ang and Josh