All Beacause 2 People Fell in Love...

All because 2 people fell in love...

 Less than 10% chance of having children "on our own".

12 long months of unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy.

62% chance of successful IVF.

2% chance of triplets.

1 out of 535 births are triplets, quads or more.

1 out of 250 births are identical twins.

3 daughters, 1 set of identical twins and a fraternal, at 24 years old.

Born at 32 weeks and 2 days.

2 days before Christmas.

7 weeks and 5 days premature.

49 long days in the NICU.

Less than 10% chance of ever having more children "on our own".

1% chance of getting pregnant on birth control while taken as directed.

4 months between pregnancies.

4 children; 4 girls at 26 years old.

13-14 months apart.

=

1 happy and blessed beyond words family!

Visiting with Dr. Stillman!

Last week I received a call from the marketing division at Shady Grove Fertility Center informing me that they had this new website where doctors and patients can share their "joy" stories of successful treatments within the past twenty years, since they are celebrating 20 years and 27,000 births!!!  And the best part of all, Dr. Stillman decided that our family was his "joy" story for the past 30 years+ of his practice in infertility! I was so thrilled and so honored!

If you haven't heard the story of how Dr. Stillman is a legend in our family, here is the gist:

It took my parents 13 years to conceive a child; me. My mom had many surgeries with severe endometriosis, lots of reconstructive work and a very small chance of ever having a child. Of course 25-30 years ago, technology was very different than today, especially when it came to IVF! IVF was just in the very, very beginning stages. Dr. Stillman was still a surgeon then at GW, and preformed my mom's last four surgeries to clear endo out and to try and fix all of her issues. And so my mom was placed 4th on the list with Dr. Stillman for IVF, and she miraculously got pregnant the month prior, with me. She had a less than 10% chance of ever having another child and five years later my sister was born.  So we would not be here if it wasn't for Dr. Stillman.

And then 5 years ago, after an appendectomy, I was diagnosed with endometriosis also. After a surgery in 2009, I was told I had a semi-good chance of having children, even with having stage-IV endo, but it needed to be right away and my best chances would be after I had surgery each year to clean the endo out. Well, when Tim and I got married in May 2009, I had been off of birth control since January and so we started "trying" even before we were married, and in July 2009, we went to meet Dr. Stillman. Since I already had a severe diagnosis, I didn't have to wait the normal amount of time before seeing a fertility specialist. Dr. Stillman was speechless, a patient of a patient! It was really awesome to meet the man who helped my parents and little did I know how much he would help my own possibilities of a family. Dr. Stillman said that our best chance of having a baby would be to do IVF. It is the best approach with dealing with the pain of endo and surpassing all the issues that endo creates when trying to have a baby. Little did I know, how right he was. After many, many failed attempts at IUI's we finally decided to go for IVF in April/May 2010, and with two embryos and a 1% chance of triplets....here we are today with our three beautiful 7.5 month old little girls, plus another miracle surprise baby on the way! I'd say we are quiet the success story too!

Needless to say, Dr. Stillman will be forever a part of our family! I am so honored he chose our family story to be his "joy" story! We were invited to come and take a picture with him for the website and it will be posted at Family Day 2011 in September!

Thank you for all the wonderful help in our family, Dr. Stillman!!!

The girls were of course the highlight of the marketing office! Everyone was so sweet!! So here we all are, with our NEW stroller too:

Today, One year ago!

--- June 9th ---

Last year this day was one to sure remember. It was the day we found out I was finally pregnant. However, we sure didn't know that the bundle of joy in my belly was in fact THREE bundles of joy, we only thought it could be two, and not possibly three!!! Oh, how our lives were so different then, and we had no idea what was to come for our family!! It was such an exciting day and such a happy, happy memory!


---June 24th---

Last year this day was an even bigger surprise! We had no idea when we told the doctor on embryo transfer day, "What's really our chances of conceiving multiples? We've never won anything so we'll take the chance!" YEAH! God was sure laughing at us that day! I'll never forget the day we found out that we would soon be parents of three children and I will never, ever forget the look on Tim's face or the fact that I could not stop laughing in disbelief!!!! What a wonderful memory it is and I can't wait to share all these fun stories with my girls when the grow up.

And so one year later...this is what we have now...

Three beautiful 6-month-old daughters!

We couldn't be a more happy and blessed family!!

One Year Ago...

Time flies.

One year ago today

April 11, 2010

IVF Cycle Day 1.

Pheeeewwww.

Suddenly
I am hearing that song... "a whole new world..."!

Unbelievable.

I started reading back at some of the posts that I had written last April and May. I can feel the pain I was going through each and every day, not knowing what the future would hold and if I ever was going to be able to give my husband a child. I wanted it to happen so bad, but God did it the way He wanted and I am so glad He did.

This past weekend, Tim and I caught up on a show we love, Gulianna and Bill. I love them. They went through IVF and became pregnant with twins but then lost the pregnancy and then did a second round with no success. I cried and cried through the whole show. I couldn't help but think how blessed we were to be sitting there on a Saturday night snuggled on the couch with our three little peanuts. We are so lucky and I cannot thank God enough.

Some days I wonder how I deserved such a wonderful life. I find it hard to believe God had such a wonderful plan for me. I know I should never doubt His plan but during times of hardship, it's easy to do.

I don't miss those days of wondering when or if, but I wouldn't take them back for anything.

All those shots, prayers, tears and doctors appointments made me a mother.

What I always dreamed of.

I thank God every day for the blessings He has given me.

I can't believe it's been a whole year. Last year, I had no idea what would happen. I had no idea what IVF was like. I had no idea what carrying multiples would be like. I had no idea of would become the proud mother of beautiful and healthy triplet girls. 

Today, Tim and I took the girls for a walk, as most days now.

It's 86 degree here and beautiful.

However, the humidity this morning at 4:45am was 93%!

I hate summers in Maryland, but I love having four full different seasons.

The price to pay.

The girls got to wear a super cute outfit that our wonderful friends, Kristin, Jeff and their beautiful 3 girls got us. I didn't think the girls would be able to wear them but they fit in them perfectly and I think we'll be able to get a month or so out of them.

Here's just a few of the couple hundred photos we took tonight. The girls are just so darn cute, I just snap away and then look down and I've taken over two hundred! Ha!

Claire is on left, Natalee in middle and Madelynn on right!

 Claire

 Natalee

ALL SMILES!!!!!!!!

 Madelynn

 Claire is farthest, Natalee in middle, and Madelynn closest.

I caught Claire grabbing Madelynn's shirt..she's been grabbing onto things lately...so it looks like since she is grabbing Madelynn's shirt, Madelynn's thinking, ok I'll get your hair Claire! I love their expressions!

 Save me Mom!

Piggy Toes!!!!

 Natalee

Natalee

Ok, picture overlaod...but I love these little beauties!

LIFE IS GOOD!

4w3d - Beta #2

Today I went in for my beta #2...and I just got the call from my Nurse and my number went from 641 to...

1255

That is great news. I have also managed to go well-over 24 hours with NO pain medication (just some extra-strength Tylenol)! No episodes of vomiting or rolling around in a fetal position like I'm going to die! I'd say that is improvement!

I was concerned a little about the stretching and pulling feeling that I am having from the top of my rib cage all the way down. So, this morning when I signed in for my blood draw, I asked if I could speak with the Nurse too. The lady said, "Sure, go on back," so I did.

I saw Dr. Stillman standing there and I just decided I would skip the Nurse and go to him. After all, I'm practically family.  I said, "Oh Dr. Stillman, thank you for calling me. We are so excited, I just can't believe it, thank you so much for your kindness and help"...blah, blah...and then I said, "is it normal to have all this pressure and bloating and soreness"? I just kept going on and on. He says, "well ya know, there could be four babies in there.." Insert here -- an almost completely white faced woman practically on the floor -- haha! I was like, "no really, it's ok, this is normal...I've never been pregnant before ya know". So he said, "well lets go take a look"...I'm like awesome!!! He mentioned over to the Nurses and I was in the room ready before I could say ok. No worries though, I just have HUGE ovaries and some fluid. Nothing major, he said my lining was more than perfect and plush. I thought, wait, are we describing a couch or my uterus here! I asked if it was too early to see the babies and the Nurse and Dr. Stillman looked for a few minutes but it's still too early to se some saks. Heehee...I was just tickled to death! I got the royal treatment!

So, all and all it was good! My tummy is still very sore and anything that touches it hurts. I hate sleeping on my back and my side, so it's been hard to get used to this already. I just NEED to sleep on my tummy. And I have been peeing a lot! Whahhooo! I love this already though! I'm so excited. I just keep thanking God for giving us this gift. It is such a wonderful gift. Last night, I forget what we were watching we were watching Bill and Guilana (LOVE that show) and this couple said they had done 5 IVF's and I just started bawling. Tim kept asking what was wrong with me, and I'm like, look what a gift we got, on our first try!! We are so lucky, and I will never forget that. Such a miracle God has given us. I am forever thankful.

Looking forward to telling everyone at Softball this evening. Tim's team never has games on Memorial Day Weekend and then they had a bye last week, so we haven't seen everyone in three weeks. So excited to tell them all. Everyone was so sad to hear we still weren't pregnant (I wrote about this briefly before) on the first game, so I'm sure they will be surprised now, however, it was no secret that we were doing IVF!

And then this weekend we are heading up to PA to visit with Tim's family. He has four aunts that will all be there, so to tell everyone our good news together will be awesome. Something I have been dreaming about for over a year now! We have some fun things planned so it should be a great weekend!

So next beta (#3) on Monday!

I guess I should get used to eating a jar of pickles in one sitting...

I mean, if you know me, you know I love pickles and eating A LOT of pickles is not that big of a deal but I have heard that you should watch your salt intake when your...

PREGNANT!!

That's right, after our first attempt at IVF....

WE ARE HAVING A BABY (OR TWO, OR EVEN MAYBE THREE)!!!!!!!!

I AM PREGNANT!!

I cannot believe it! I have been in so much pain the past few days that they moved up my blood test from Monday to Friday. Then yesterday, the pain got even worse and I started vomiting. Nurse My Favorite and Dr. Stillman were getting very concerned and wanted to get the blood test asap, so that when it came back negative (or not), I could stop the drugs immediately that were causing the pain. The pain has been unbearable. It's all because of one thing:

ENDOMETRIOSIS

That lovely disease that attacks organs and the abdominal cavity (or even the brain) and causes so much pain and discomfort. In my body, because I have Stage IV (severe), my abdominal cavity is full of endometriosis, so because my uterus is now growing (at a rapid rate) it is aggravating all of the endometriosis which it's surrounded in. So when I eat, it's painful since my stomach expands and pushes against everything. UGH...it's a never ending battle and it will be for the next few months. They already said, this will not be an easy pregnancy in the beginning. 

That's ok. As bad as the pain is, it's all worth it now. I am pregnant. Holy crap! 

This morning, not an ounce of me thought that I would be pregnant today. I didn't take my Estrace or my Progesterone. I brought my calender with me so that I could start penciling in my next cycle. I was so depressed. I put my arm out to get my blood drawn and almost started crying. I wanted to cringe at the other people in the waiting room. I thought well I guess I will be the next RESOLVE leader for Rockville (the current leader just became pregnant after 5 IVF cycles and I said that I would love to volunteer) because I know wouldn't be pregnant.

I went back to my Mom's house, so that I could get the bad news there and around 9:15 I saw "Shady Grove Fertility Clinic" light up on my phone and I thought, here we go. Nurse My Favorite said "Hi Holly"...."It's positive"..."It's REALLY positive"! I literally grabbed the garage door and mom started screaming. I don't even know what came out of my mouth other than crying and screaming and oh my gosh, all in about five minutes. I started shaking. I could barley control myself. I just kept asking, "what's my number, what's my number"? My HCG number, well it was...

641

Yes, 641...the normal for a "day 15" after fertilization should be around 130 or so. Me---641!!!!!!! She then went on to say, "we can almost assume multiples here".

Ummm.....wait, are we still talking about me? My belly? My babies?

OH MY GOSH!

The rest of the day was a blur, between my episodes of severe pain and nausea, I was calling everyone I knew, I'm sure the mailman heard me screaming. I was shaking for two hours. I still cannot believe it. We are in such disbelief. Tim thought I was joking, he heard me crying and thought I was going to say it's negative, but boy was he wrong. All I wanted to do was hug him. I couldn't let go of him for an hour. I think he's already kissed my belly a hundred times just since he got home from work. Sweet man, he will make a wonderful daddy.

My stomach is SO sore! I am SO bloated. It feels like someone has taken a rubber-band from the top of my chest and pulled it down and it won't go anymore...the stretching is really weird. I want to "pop" my stomach already...that's what makes me think that we have more then one little one in there.

And I have to take the pain meds every 4 hours or I'm back on the bed in a fetal position rocking back and forth. I managed to eat three meals today and not vomit, so that was a successful day.

We just had dinner with my Mom and Dad and they along with Tim enjoyed a bottle of champagne, while I had ginger ale. I wanted to come home and finally take that pregnancy test and actually see two lines pop up FOR REAL...and within 2 seconds the line was there, brighter than the freakin' test line. I just can't stop starring at it. Tim was like "let me see it, let me see it"...haha, I'm like "do you want to take it for show and tell tomorrow with the guys"? He's so funny!

So, after 13 months, we are finally pregnant!!! Next beta on Friday and then another on Monday. First sonogram is at 6 weeks. Today I am offically 4w1d...AMAZING. Simply amazing.

Oh, God is good! 

7dpf/2dpt

Well, I don't have much to report.

Back to work tomorrow. Not like my job is super stressful, but it will be nice to leave the house for a few hours. The kids can't wait to see pictures of "the egg babies" from "the egg lady" as they have been calling me ever since last week. I'm sure they are going to be confused when I show them the photos because they haven't made it to Kindergarten yet, so explaining the photo will be interesting. They actually do understand that they are "babies" surprisingly. One of the sweet little girls asked me last week, "so when they put the babies in your tummy, can we water you like we water the flowers and your tummy will grow?" I almost died. They just learned in preschool about vegetables and fruits and flowers growing, so it was so funny! They are super sweet. They also kept asking me, if they would be here when the babies came to "their" school or if they would already be in Kindergarten. So cute!!

I was super hungry today. I ate lunch at 10:00am and literally didn't stop eating all day. Before Tim returned home from work, I ate a WHOLE, yes, WHOLE jar of dill sandwich pickles. I could not for the life of me, put the jar down!! It was so good. I knew I would regret it in an hour or so and sure enough my stomach hurt for two hours. I love pickles, I always have loved pickles. They are probably one of my favorite foods and in my fridge right now there are a few many different types. For some reason I must have been craving salt. Maybe I am eating for 2 or 3, or a 2% chance of 4. Hmm...we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Nurse My Favorite called this morning and was super happy to talk to me and catch up. She called the embryos "good quality" twice, so that made me happy again. I told her I was concerned because I haven't had any spotting yet...and I have been looking for it constantly. She said of course not everyone does, but I'm just wondering, how many other women do? Anyone not notice it and still get pregnant? I'm hoping I will wake up tomorrow and see some, because that will be a little confirmation to me that maybe there is some real hope here. I just go back and forth, I get myself psyched but then I feel like I might be let down. Such a stressful ride. My boobs are hurting and are HUGE! Tim was going crazy when I was asking him if they seemed bigger, he was like ugh, DUH! LOL! They are so sore, but I know that's from the drugs. 

On a super good note, I had an awesome job opportunity come my way from my wonderful past supervisor. It is for probably the best private practice sex offender treatment clinic in Maryland, as a Forensic Social Worker...whaaaawhoooo. I got the message and within five minutes called. The lady was really nice and I sent her my resume. She said they aren't looking to fill the position until the end of June, which is perfect for me, since I still have to take my licensing exam in two weeks. I am so keeping my fingers crossed on this one. This would be a dream job and I am sure the salary is quite good also. This place has a waiting list for years and people pay unbelievable amounts of money to have therapy by this guy. He is one of the best. I'm sure I would be managing a case load of sex offender therapy or something along those lines. Totally up my alley and if I can't work (at this moment, no open jobs) in the courts or in the jail, this would be close enough.

Tim just read the babies their bedtime story. He read Guess How Much I Love You...one of my favorites. He kept saying Big Nut Hare instead of Big Nutbrown Hare...I'm like, "dude, you got to get that straight before the babies really get here!" We were cracking up!!!

Transfer Day!! (5 dpf)

Today was a beautiful day!!

First, here are the sweet miracle babies that are in my belly this evening and hopefully for nine more months!

I woke up this morning hoping that today would be the first day of my nine wonderful months of pregnancy! We can only wait and see. My mom, dad, sister, Tim and I all went to the clinic today around 12:30pm. Only my mom and Tim were able to be in the room (the weekend staff is NOT nearly as nice as the regular staff) while they did the actual transfer.

I'm really glad that I took the advice of some of my friends from RESOLVE and did not drink a lot of Gatorade before the procedure (even though they ask for a full bladder). I was comfortable and not freaking out about going to the bathroom, which made me feel relaxed.

The Dr. Not So Nice was saying that we had two really good and healthy embryos but that they were only going to put in one...SAY WHAT?

HOLD UP!

She even said, "Dr. Stillman would not want to hear that you had two put in.....there are so many more complications with twins.....you will have a 2% chance of having triplets....here let me give you the stats...."

BLAH, BLAH...I wasn't hearing any of it. My babies, my money, my time, my decision...

PUT THEM BOTH IN!

She was not happy with the decision, but I didn't care at all what she thought. Her professional opinion is one thing, but you have to remember the only statistics that fertility clinics want is "singleton" pregnancies. Twins and multiple births are not good for their statistics, so they really stress against more then one embryo is under 37 years old.

Getting ready!

So as of right now, our chance of pregnancy is 62%, the chance of twins is 51% and the chance of triplets is 2%. She thought she could stress me out and change my mind...HA, she doesn't know who I am! We'll take our 2% chance of triplets...I am confident God won't give us anything we couldn't handle, so if it's meant to be then so be it. 

So, I layed back and they started. It was simply amazing; when they put them in, we saw them float right to the top of my uterus. It was like two little angels floating in and settling in. My mom even started crying. It was just so amazing. I will never forget that.

Future Grandma...hopefully

Mommy and Daddy to be...hopefully!

I really thought that the mock embryo transfer was more painful, I guess because they put a lot more fluid in the uterus then.

We came home and the bed rest began. I guess the fact that I have to stay in bed, makes it more difficult because any other day I would be glad to take a nap and do nothing. Today, I have already been so bored. However, tomorrow I plan on watching The Hallmark Channel all day and catching up on some sweet movies since their having a marathon of movies. Going to also make some phone calls that our very overdue to some family members that are dying to hear how this all has gone.

Oh, and my bed mate all day....

Tobie...with his momma

Day 3 (3dpf)

Today is Day 3...supposedly it was Transfer Day today because the babies weren't doing so well, however Nurse My Favorite called me early this morning and said we are back on for a Day 5 Transfer!!!!! The 8 babies are all at 8 cell with 0% fragmentation!! I am so so happy because yesterday they were all 10% fragmented! I was literally in tears when I heard this news today. I was so upset and depressed yesterday when I found out they weren't as perfect as we hoped but I prayed that they would be strong and make it through. God always answers prayers.

I couldn't sleep all night and I was tossing and turning just thinking about them and hoping they were doing well and they were! I cannot wait to see pictures of them on Sunday! SO exciting. This whole process really makes you aware of the whole "conception of life" miracle and just how much of a miracle life really is!

I am ecstatic! Yay for our 8 beautiful and strong babies!!

8 Still Holding On..

Yesterday didn't go quite as well as I thought after I blogged. I layed down and was in a lot of pain for the rest of the day. My stomach was SO bloated and full of air that it looked like I was four months pregnant already. I haven't had any bloating at all until after the retrieval and still today it looks a little better but not too much. I was SO nauseous yesterday and when I finally couldn't take it anymore, I called Nurse My Favorite and she called me in a scrip for Zofran. That little pill helped sooo much and I was able to eat dinner and go to bed.

I did manage to work today, but I am home resting as of right now before going out a little later to run some errands and a quick Dr.'s appt.

Ok, so about the babies...

Today we have 8 embryos still fighting for a chance. I have to say, I am a little concerned because they are not "beautiful" embryos, they are "just alright". When Nurse My Favorite said that, I said what do you mean they are "just alright"? She said that they are all between 2 and 8 cells and all are 10% fragmented. Of course I did not want to hear that my babies were anything but perfect and beautiful; but this is the reality. In a "perfect" embryo, 8 cells and 0% fragmentation is the best and they grade them as an A. Well there are plenty of women who get these grade A embryos and still do not have children and they are plenty of women with fragmented embryos and even "poor quality" embryos and they still go on to have beautiful, perfect children. That's the thing, there is nothing to say what's better or what's not as good, everything is just up to the make-up of that particular embryo.

I am a little concerned but I didn't have my retrieval until 1:30 on Tuesday and Nurse My Favorite was already calling me with my Day 2 Update at 9:50am this morning. My embryos haven't even been out for 48 hours, so they really are right on target; and they shouldn't be giving me a Day 2 Update when it hasn't even been two days yet. I know so many people have told me that they could look at the embryos one hour and see one thing and then the next hour they could be completely different, so I am not loosing all hope here. They have a lot of growing still to do.

With that said, we are going to do a Day 3 transfer, which will be tomorrow at 4:15. They decided to do Day 3 because if the embryos are fighting a little harder than they should be, the best place for them to be is in my uterus. I am glad for that, because then I know they are safe and warm and I will be giving them the best possible home. If for some reason, they do well over night and then embryologist changes her mind, then we are on for a Day 5.

Either way, I am optimistic and hopeful. It's all in God's hand's and I trust He will do what's best for our family.

9 FUTURE BABIES!!!!!

I just got the call from Nurse My Favorite and she said, "You have VERY good quality eggs and even BETTER looking embryos developing. Out of the 12 eggs, 9 have fertilized on their own and are growing perfectly!" She continued, to say that she was sorry again for not being there and asked how I was feeling. She also said that we are looking at a Day 5 transfer most likely!! Whaahoooo, praying for these babies big time. It's so amazing to think of my eggs with Tim's sperm are finally together at last! Unbelievable and such a miracle!! We are so excited!

A DOZEN EGGS!

Yesterday I went in for the egg "laying" or retrieval. I was put in the room for prepping at 11:45. I changed into the lovely get-up they give you and then my IV was started. I was finished with the prep at 12:15, so we had a whole hour to wait. ONE WHOLE HOUR. I was soooo hungry!!!!! And I was bored and Tim was being childish and doing things that the nurses I'm sure wouldn't like, for example, taking the break off of the gurney and wheeling me around in the room, touching the oxygen masks and wires all around, and then asking if I could scoot over so he could lay with me and take a nap. I won't go into the other obnoxious things he was doing but all in all, he was making me laugh so hard and totally took my mind off things so I guess I should be thankful to have such a fun and crazy husband; at times.

Terrible quality I know, taking with my Blackberry, but oh well.

My IV

The Dr. came in and I was pissed because I didn't want him to be the one to do it. He is a newer doctor there, and at the location I go to, the four most experienced, older, more wise, founders of the practice, and best work there, and I was stuck with the newbie. Pulease. I was pissed but never-the-less I smiled and was very nice. Immediately after he left, Tim googled his name and read me his info from the Shady Grove Fertility Clinic website and I was very surprised. He was quite a great candidate and I felt horrible for judging his expertise. Yes, he didn't go to Georgetown, Harvard and Duke, like my doctor wonderful, but he still has quite a lot of experience.

I peed about 3 times before I went in (I am so freaked out that I will pee during the procedure, I know, I know I AM weird!). They walked me in and I sat down on the table. I didn't even want to look around. When I sat down the anesthesiologist shot something in my IV and placed his hand on my left shoulder and then the embryologist came in, who's name was Kim (just like my BFF) and she asked me what my name was and my social security number, which I was already feeling quite woozy and I gave my name and my birthday (I'm so used to that combination of the two because in every appointment for monitoring that's what they ask you, so without thinking that's what I said) and since I couldn't think, I looked at the paper and said, "yeah that's it". And that is all I remember.

"Wake up, Holly, you are in the recovery room"...wow, it's already over. I didn't even get a chance to lay on the beach in Aruba like I wanted, I thought. Boo.

Tim came in and started saying my name and I couldn't even think of wanting to open my eyes and talk. I was so sleepy. The nurse said, "oh you have been out for little longer than normal, it's ok". My mind was obviously working because I thought, and why?? I honestly, didn't really care, I just said I was in pain and feeling nausea. She came in a gave me meds and a heating pad, which helped. She stayed with me for a while and also stayed while Tim went downstairs to pick up my pain meds. (A quick side note...my pain meds, 10 Oxcycodones, we paid $2.47. My experience of working with inmates and individuals addicted to drugs, these little pills could go for A LOT on the street...oh the money I could make...and no I am not that stupid, it's just funny, because not many people know what I know from working in a jail.)

The doctor came in and said that we had A DOZEN EGGS! I was ecstatic, even though I figured we would have that many because I have had that many everyday.

Anyway, I made it to the car and we went home. Our parking lot in front of our house is being paved, so I had to walk awhile to get to our house, which was not good, along with all the men working in front of my house were watching me stumble to my house. Lovely, oh well.

For the rest of the day, I layed on the couch and watched TV. Since my procedure was so late in the day, I didn't want to come home and sleep and not be able to sleep any at night, so I ate (because I was still starving from almost 24 of no food), and ate some more, showered and then had a brownie sundae, took pain pills and went to bed. Oh, and my mommy came over and brought me a beautiful gerber daisy! I was asleep by 7:00pm and woke up many times during the night from the pain. Peeing is the worse, it hurts so bad. I just kept taking Tylenol and keeping the heating pad on my tummy.

Today I am relaxing and going to take a nap of course. I can't wait to hear how my babies are doing and how they are growing. I should know later this afternoon.

Trigger Shot

Early this morning, we set our alarm for 1:10 am so that we would have enough time to prepare the shot and ice my tushy. I got it ready and Tim got the ice and then I got really nervous. I just didn't know how it was going to feel and I was worried that it would hurt like the Menopur did. I told Tim I was scared and he knew I was. We said a quick prayer and I rolled over and said DO IT! It didn't hardly hurt. Just a little, and I was surprised. I looked at the syringe and it was really all in me, so I was happy! I put the heating pad on it and Georgie came and layed on me while I thanked God for that going so smoothly. Went back to bed and this morning my tushy is a little sore at the injection site. Apparently it bled some during the night which I was surprised, but no bruising, just a sore area.

My Nurse called also this morning, since she was off all weekend and she was all happy and giddy knowing that we triggered, and I thought it was so nice that she called. She asked how graduation went and said that she was sorry but tomorrow is a planned day off for her so she won't be there for the surgery. Oh well. I still thought it was nice that she called, because to be honest I was sad that she wasn't the one giving me all of my instructions yesterday, but oh well.

I made my fruit salad, which I plan on eating for the rest of the week if I can keep Tim's hands off of it. Also, I made some brownies...at Tim's request. He said that if I get what I want, he wants something too, so he picked brownies, which I was of course fine with!

I'm sitting here watching Make Room for Multiples on TLC, and the couple got pregnant with triplets on their first IVF! Oh twins, I dream about, but triplets, I pray that God knows what I can handle. LOL.

Tomorrow Tim will go to work for the morning and then be home around 11:00am to take me in by 11:45. The surgery is set for 1:45pm. This morning my mom said "tomorrow is the day you lay your eggs"...and I almost died. When my sister and I were little she would joke about how we were born, saying, "I layed an egg and we cracked it open and watched you hatch", we were so gullable that we bought it for the longest time. So, this morning I almost died of laughter when she said that.

So, tomorrow, yes, I will be laying my eggs.

Brad Paisley Concert, ONE YEAR Anniversary and Update on Cycle

Yesterday started out like many other this week...a monitoring appointment. We we're up early and got an early start...must have been all that sleep the day before. Ha.

We left around 2:00pm for the Brad Paisley concert, since we wanted to get something to eat before hand, since food there is SO expensive and it takes about an hour to get to Nissan/Jiffy Lube Live. I was feeling kinda nauseous so I just told Tim to pick something cheap and quick and I would try to stomach the idea of it, if possible. He picked Burger King. Not exactly what I had in mind but whatever. We got some burgers and made it to the pavilion. We ate in the car and it started pouring. It was hilarious to watch all the "children" running around in the rain as they were trying to put food away and cover up things in their tailgate area. I say "children" because most of them were probably between the age of 15 to 23 years old, DRUNK, obnoxious, ignorant and apparently irresponsible. Tim said, "oh, they're just having a good ole time, leave them alone"..I thought obnoxious and we discussed the fact that our children will never go to a concert alone until they are our age. I never acted like that and I would be appalled if my children ever did. These "children" just think it's so cool to walk around wet, covered in mud and with their big-gulp cup with beer in it (to cover it up of course, news flash....cops DO know what's in there!!).

After we ate and the rain slowed down a little bit we gathered everything and started to make the LONG walk to the pavilion. We made it about half way and I realized that I didn't have the tickets. Lovely. We turned around and went back to the car to get them. Tim was just a little mad...not at me, just that we had to walk all the way back and get them in the rain. But we did and turned around and walked all the way to the pavilion, through the drunk fest of "children". There were a few even wilder "children" that were getting citations, which I thought was funny, and the highlight of the walk over there. We went to go in, and the guy checked my bag and asked, "is that a professional camera"? I said no, and he asked if the lens comes off and I said yes. He then proceeded to tell me that "professional cameras" were not allowed. I looked at him, and said "Are you kidding me, I am far from a professional photographer. I am in the freakin' fifth row to see one of my favorite artists and you are telling me that I will now not be able to have a camera?????"1 I was LIVID. He said sorry and said I would have to take it back to my car. That meant walk ALL the way back to the car, in the rain and mud and back AGAIN. What??? I was soooo mad. I cursed at myself for not bringing my other camera/less professional camera for a just in case scenario such as this one. I never thought this would happen. I pouted the whole way and through the night, especially later on when I saw other people with detachable lens camera taking plenty of photos! UGH!

We made it in and went to go sit in the pavilion and the security guard informed us that no one could get in until 6:30pm and it was only 5:15pm. That meant standing in the rain for one hour and fifteen minutes. We stood under a tree with our umbrellas and other people waiting. It was miserable. Finally they decided since it was raining so hard that they would let people in at 6:00pm. Amen. Our seats were so awesome! I was psyched that they were only $45 bucks and we were in the 5th row! People around us said they had paid $150 bucks per seat and wondered how we got such a deal. I said, well thanks to Citi Card, I got a great deal!

We watched Justin Moore, which was really good. he sings some great country songs and reminds me a lot of Jason Aldean, which we love too.

Tim couldn't relax until it was time to take my injections. You know we swore that we would not let IVF control our lives and let us stop living and this was a perfect situation. Saturday morning, I called Nissan and informed them that I was coming to the concert and needed to take some injections at 8pm and if the First Aide area would be available to use and they said no problem. I brought my prescription, my doctors name and number, my ID, and everything I needed. Finally, we went over to First Aid, which was right next to where you would go if you were arrested or too drunk to function...it was so funny listening to all the people there from inside First Aid trailer. The nurses were so funny and they were like, oh this is nothing! Tim gave me the iinjections and we were back in our seats right at the start of Darius Rucker.

Brad was wonderful, as usual. He was so good last year and again this year he didn't let anyone down. He was so close to us, I like almost got emotional. I blame that on the meds. Everyday, I swear I fight back tears like 3-5 times, since these meds.

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We made it out of there and we're home by 1:30am. The alarm went off way too early at 7:00am and Tim was less than thrilled to get us and get moving for my Dr.'s appointment. We stumbled out of bed and made it on-time. The doctor and nurse were going back and forth about whether I would be ready to trigger tonight or if I would have to wait another day.  The nurse gave us all the instructions and I asked for her to mark the "X" on my butt to show where Tim was to give me the shot and when she did, she said, "oh you don't have much of a butt, let me get the smaller needle for you guys to use"...AWESOME! So instead of the 1 1/2 inch needle, we will only use the 1 inch. I know that doesn't seem like a lot but when you see a needle that big, an 1 1/2 seems HUGE!!

Ultimately, it would come down to my blood work and what my estrogen showed. On Saturday it was 1800. Today when I got the call from the nurse, it was 3391 and so they were convinced that the other follies would definitely be ready and mature by Tuesday. So, I still have around 12. We will take the Trigger shot tonight/early Monday morning at 1:15am and that makes my retrieval Tuesday at 1:15pm!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!!!! I am so glad to see the Menopur and Gonl-F done with! I have a nasty bruise on my tummy from them and my Sharps container is FULL to the max. Not bloated at all (which surprised the nurses because I have so many good eggs) but my boobs hurt and the nausea is TERRIBLE! But no complaints here...I hope I am nausea for nine more months! :)

Oh and today is our ONE YEAR anniversary! I cannot believe it has been one year already! I am so happy. Being married to your best friend is the best thing in the world.

Ok, I think I have rambled on enough. Tomorrow, I will update on how the shot went. Going to make a fruit salad and some extra good food to eat while I'm home recovering and then on bed rest.

UMB School of Social Work Graduation!!!!

Today is Graduation Day! We woke up at 4:15am and we made it to Baltimore by 7:00am! So, yes I did figure out what to wear, iron it and and my gown and I made it on-time (I AM ALWAYS on time!!). I was a little stressed when we weren't even on the highway at 6:15am, but I calmed down.

We ate a quick bite to eat and I had to line up almost immediately...I found Kim and we put on our gowns and hats...and officially looked like weird-os! We just laughed at one another because it messes up our hair, makes us look fat and I could help but of thinking that I would have really looked like a wale if I was 8 or 9 months pregnant (when I thought I was so pregnant those first few months, I would have been  BIG in that gown today).

The ceremony was very quick and there were 380 School of Social Work Master's Degree graduates and 3 PHD graduates. One interesting point - our school is in the top 10% of social work schools! Whahoooo! 

I think I was more nervous today then I was walking down the aisle at my wedding! I was so afraid I would trip over the wires everywhere! It was neat that we had to go in a "buddy system" and Kim and I of course were buddies! Normally, they do these things in alphabetical order but they didn't so it was super cool to walk beside each other the whole time. It was like a commencement of our own time together through this whole process for the past six years. Secretly, I loved that.

The did say my name wrong. Stupid Assistant Dean I Can't Read and Pronounce...she said my last name as Guidos instead of Gaydos. I even wrote on the card, "it's pronounced exactly like it's spelled, Gay-dos" but apparently she didn't understand that. Ugh!

We walked across and didn't fall! We got "hooded" and officially became social workers! Now please, I would like my first pay check....

On to pictures and then we went to lunch where I couldn't eat because the nausea is kicking in really bad now, along with the cramping. Then Tim and I came home and took a nap relaxed.

I got so many wonderful and lovely text messages from friends and family that couldn't be here and it means so much to me that you are thinking of me today! Thank you!

In a few minutes we are leaving for softball games, Rita's and then to Kim's party!

So below are a few photos from the day! Enjoy!!!!

Before the ceremony

Here we come...

Best friends FOREVER

Proud Parents

Proud Husband

Roger, Kim, me, Tim

My family

My sister, Christine

All in all it was a wonderful day and I am glad that I decided to go!