The Results Are In!

Okay, I'm officially the worst blogger ever...I can't believe it took me this long to post! So, here's what went down over the past week. Laura went for blood testing at 8:30am last Monday. Thanks to my wonderful friend Emily, who kindly distracted me for the whole day, I didn't pull ALL of my hair out during the wait for results. Since the clinic told us results would be in around noon, Emily and I had champagne glasses ready to go. Well, here is how they sat for four LOOOONG hours.

Even though I was pretty confident we'd get a positive result after all the home pregnancy tests, waiting for the call was still incredibly suspenseful. Laura and I both made a few harrassing phone calls and FINALLY (around 4pm) the call came in. The nice thing was that Laura got to be the one to call me with the news. We were looking for numbers anywhere between 5-426 for a good result and we got a whopping 659! So, what does this mean? WE'RE PREGNANT!!

WOOT WOOT!! As is with everything in the surrogacy world, just as soon as you think you've made progress, you end up waiting...AGAIN. So, our levels were good but the doctors require another blood test two days later to make sure the HCG (what the blood test is for) levels are climbing. In 48hrs, the number should at least come close to doubling in order to confirm a viable pregnancy (they said above 1050, I believe). Laura went for testing again at 8:30am Wednesday morning. And again, we waited...and waited...and waited......this time the clinic never called!! Though I'm normally a pretty relaxed person, I'll tell you I was NOT happy. Laura's clinic kept saying the results were faxed to the Brigham and the Brigham kept saying they didn't have them but nobody would take the extra step to figure out where the disconnect was. It was BEYOND frustrating knowing that the results were in and that we just weren't getting them because somebody wasn't doing their job. I kept saying to Laura "It's not like we're waiting for the results of a MATH test...this is a PREGNANCY TEST from an INFERTILITY clinic! It doesn't get much more suspenseful than that!" Talk about patient torture. AGHH! Laura was a lot more relaxed about it than I was because she was confident that the results were fine. I guess I was too but I was still so angry. It's hard to explain. I guess I just felt so powerless in a situation where I already feel powerless enough. Anyways, that's how Wednesday went. But we did finally get the results on Thursday and were more than happy with the news. Laura's levels had climbed to 1545-MORE than double! So, in conclusion, things are looking very promising and we are all very excited! Brynlee just can't wait to share her princess throne with a new baby brother or sister. :)

And here's the really exciting part. Laura's first ultrasound will be a week from today-June 4th. The nurse said this ultrasound won't show too much-they only do it to make sure the pregnancy is in the uterus and is not a "tubal pregnancy". But she also said that we should be able to tell whether or not there are two babies in there! Umm...not sure how that translates into "won't show much" but as you can imagine, I'm not missing this ultrasound for the world! Unfortunately, Thom can't make this trip so my mom is going to come out to GA with me. We'll be flying out Sunday afternoon and coming home on Monday evening-a whirlwind trip for sure but WELL worth it! Hopefully next time you hear from me I'll have some more exciting news! As always, thanks for reading and for all of your support. More updates soon! :)

Just A Little Update...

Well, we're still anxiously awaiting May 21...only 5 more days now! This 2 week wait is so hard, I can't even imagine what the 9 month wait will be like! I mean, I know I've done it before but things are obviously going to be very different this time. I can't help but think that the degree of separation created by my inability to actually FEEL the pregnancy will make things go a whole lot slower. But who knows? Maybe things will go faster-I guess its a lot easier to forget that there's a baby on the way when you're not actually seeing the big growing belly and feeling the little kicks and rolls. We'll wait and see! Anyways, of course Laura and I could not wait until Monday to test. I give credit to anybody who can wait it out, all the while knowing that the local drug store has home pregnancy tests!! What could be more exciting than peeing on a stick and waiting 3 minutes to see whether a second line will appear or not?? I always tell Laura that 3 minutes is like Christmas morning when you see all those shiny boxes and have NO idea what's in them. I guess I just love the suspense. I could not WAIT to go out and buy some home tests after the transfer. I know you probably all think I'm crazy but, come on, there was a time when I thought I'd never buy another pregnancy test! There's something thrilling about making the poor 16 year old guy at the register feel incredibly akward when he slides that box across the scanner and quickly tosses it into the bag like he never saw it. Haha, just kidding, I actually hate that part. But, seriously, buying those tests was a big moment for me-it was like a little nudge reminding me "Yes, Kristin, you CAN still have a baby!" Here's a picture of my big moment.

I'm pretty sure Laura DID think I was a little nutty when I begged her to take a test the morning she left to go home (only 3 days post-transfer). I knew there was no way it could be positive but I thought if there was ANY chance I could be there for the moment, I was going to try! As always, Laura was kind enough to appease me and, sure enough, it was negative. She took another test on Mother's Day-what a wonderful Mother's Day gift it would be to find out we're having a baby! Laura is so good to me-she actually sent me a video of the full 3 minutes so that I could feel like I was really there watching for the line to change. She knows I'm really missing that part. Since we've heard many stories of women getting positive tests as early as 5 days post transfer, we were really hopeful for a Mother's Day suprise (day 6 post transfer). Well, that was another negative. With one test left in the box, we debated when to take the next one. Since I'm a "peeaholic", I was routing for Monday but Laura convinced me to wait until Tuesday morning (8 days post transfer). Here's the verdict...

If you're blind like my mom (sorry Moo!), you may think we're imagining this but we both saw a FAINT LINE! Do you see it?? If not, I am happy to report that Laura has now fallen victim to the "peeaholic" syndrome and actually went out and bought some more tests to be sure. I didn't even have to ask! This is the verdict from later Tuesday night...

Good news...my mom could see this one! So, needless to say, we're feeling very good about this and are very excited. However, the blood test on Monday is the real definitive "positive" that the doctors advise waiting for. There's always the chance that the pregnancy doesn't fully stick and, though you get a positive home test, the hormone levels are not high enough at the blood test, meaning the pregnancy will not be viable. So, I had to give you all an update but please keep up the prayers for some good news on Monday. I'd also appreciate lots of prayers and support for Laura-both of her kids have been sick on and off for weeks and now she's not feeling well herself. She's already sacrificed so much for us and continues to do so...this is the last thing that she needs. And I feel helpless all the way out here in MA, so prayers are much appreciated. Well, that's it for now. Until Monday...!!!!

The Embryos Are In!!

Well, the big transfer came on soooooooooooo slowly and was over SO quickly!! The embryos are officially in! It was an amazing experience to say the least. I guess I'll start from the beginning. Laura, Thom and I got up bright and early this morning to get on the road to the Brigham. Our transfer appointment was at 11:15 but they told us to be there by 10:15am. Pulling up to the Brigham was somewhat surreal-none of could believe that THIS time was the real transfer day. Of course, we got there a bit early so we dilly dallied around the hospital for a bit, took some pics, and said a quick prayer in the hospital chapel. Here is a pic of Laura and I getting ready to enter the procedure clinic.

When we got up to the clinic, they took Laura and I right in to get changed into our fancy outfits. Laura got to wear the gown and socks while Thom and I were decked out in full scrub suits. A few nurses came in and out, checked to make sure we were really who we said we were, and Laura had some blood drawn. But basically, we used this time to take silly pictures and eavesdrop on the other "surrogacy situation" right next door to us! Maybe this is more common than we thought! Here we are getting prepped.

After we goofed off for a bit, they finally let Thom come in to sit with us. Once he was decked out in his scrubs as well(he looked very handsome by the way!), it was time to get down to business. Dr. Srouji (the one who would be doing the procedure) came in to talk to us about our embryos and how they'd grown. A lot of it is just a bunch of numbers and very scientific sounding but here's the translation. The embryos are graded on cell division (how many divisions in the embryo) and percentage of fragmentation. We were told anywhere from 6-10 cell divisions is considered good, the higher being better. In terms of fragmentation, a 1 is excellent, 2 is good, 3 is average, etc. Well, we had 9 embryos fertilized (from the 11 eggs extracted) and the majority were really great quality. The doctor ended up suggesting that we transfer 2 embryos and chose a 9cell/1fragment embryo as well as an 8cell/1fragment embryo. So, in terms of grading, these are great quality! The reason they suggested 2 embryos was due to the fact that we most likely wont have more than 5 embryos to freeze. I guess when that is the case, they want to increase the chances of success on the fresh cycle because we'd most likely lose a few embryos in the "thawing" process if we choose to do a frozen cycle. Confusing, I know...but it's all determined by mathematics and you gotta have faith these guys know what they're doing!! If not, we may just end up with twins, which would be a double blessing! Once the doctor explained all of this to us, it was pretty much go time. Here is a pic of the 3 of us just before going into the transfer.

When we got into the OR, Laura hopped up on the table and Thom and I were given stools to sit right beside her. The doctor did a test run and then it was time to put the embryos in. The embryologist brought the embryos out of the lab in a tiny little catheter that was inserted into Laura's uterus. The whole procedure took about 10 minutes and Laura said it wasn't painful at all, just akward! If you saw these stirrups, you'd feel akward too! Well, the rest is history...now we just wait! The clinic ended up telling us that Laura does not need to be on strict bed rest but we're still happy she's here for a couple days so that she can take it easy and we can get in some quality time. Even though she likes to be active, she has been very good about relaxing so far. She even waited hours to pee because she was afraid she'd "pee out the embryos"! I keep telling her to look at this as a mini vacation for her anyways-no kids, sleep as late as you want, get waited on, ENJOY! It's not often one is forced to relax, right?? So, anyways, all in all it was an amazing experience. People have asked me if it was hard watching our embryos go into Laura's body. Its definitely a bit sad knowing that, if we're successful, I won't be real close to the baby/babies until I actually hold them in my arms. But I guess that's what the dad experiences in a pregnancy and children certainly don't love their daddy any less for it! It's just not something a woman expects to happen but I feel so blessed that we even have this opportunity. So to answer the question, I wouldn't say it was hard. It was bittersweet...but mostly sweet! I couldn't have picked a better woman to take my place-thank you, Laura! Alright, that's about it for now. Our pregnancy blood test is scheduled for May 21-seems so far away but hopefully it will fly! Here is our first ultrasound picture. People say they look just like us! :)

Keep up the prayers and, once again, THANK YOU for all your support!

We've Got Eggs!

So, the big retrieval day went well! The docs said the procedure went great and they didn't have to retrieve abdominally, which makes a much easier recovery (thank you everyone for your prayers)! The sedation made the procedure very comfortable and the post-procedure pain hasn't been too bad at all so far. I've been drinking a whole lot of Gatorade, which helps draw the extra fluid out of the ovaries and decreases discomfort. I thought that was pretty interesting! Anyways, the docs were able to successfully retrieve 11 eggs-we'll hear sometime today how many actually fertilized. Laura will be flying in on Sunday evening and, thankfully, her husband was able to get leave to stay with the kids so she will be able to get in a lot of relaxation time. Yay! Transfer is still planned for Monday. We'll find out when we get there how well the embryos have grown and, based on this, the docs will recommend how many/which embryos to transfer. It won't be more than two but, if we have one REALLY great embryo, we may only transfer one. We'll just have to wait and see what the docs say. Well, I'll post an update sometime after transfer on Monday. Please keep the prayers coming for lots of healthy embryos, an easy transfer for Laura, and peace of mind for all of us as we wait for the big news!! Here are some lovely pictures from before and after the retrieval yesterday-pardon the "feelin loopy" eyes!!

The Day Has Finally Come!

Hey everyone! Well, I was wrong about Tuesday's ultrasound being the final one which is why I didn't update sooner. I went for another ultrasound this morning and I can finally say for SURE that it was officially the last one. Nurse Kathy called me today and gave us the wonderful news that we're ready to go. At this point, I have 16 follicles and more growing. Thom will give me the infamous "trigger shot" tonight at 11:30pm, which will finalize the egg maturation process and prepare them for retrieval. The actual retrieval will be at 11:30am on Friday morning at the Brigham. After retrieval, the doctor will let us know exactly how many eggs were retrieved and then, on Saturday, we will get an update on how many actually fertilized. Kathy said that generally 50% of the eggs extracted will fertilize into viable embryos. Eight isn't too shabby-as Laura kindly reminded me, that's four sets of twins!! Yikes! Laura will be coming out here on Saturday night so that we can spend some time together before things really start moving. And finally, the LONG awaited transfer date will be..(drumroll please)...Monday 5/7!! Thom and I have decided to transfer the two best embryos (they are graded on cell division, etc) and the rest will be frozen for future cycles. Many people wonder what is done with any frozen embryos left over after we decide that we are done having children. After much thought, Thom and I have decided that if this happens we will donate them to an organization called "Snowflake Children", which provides embryos to couples having fertility issues of their own. We feel that we have been so blessed to find an amazing couple willing to help us grow our family and we'd love the opportunity to be able to do this for another struggling couple in a different way. But all that that is way in the future so let's get back to the present. What happens after transfer?? We WAIT a loooong 14 days until Laura has her pregnancy test out at her clinic in GA. So, that's it for now! Kathy said that everybody at the clinic is very impressed with the way my body has responded to this process after the trauma that it has been through. So, it looks like everybody's prayers and encouragement have really helped-thank you!! Please keep the prayers coming for safe retrieval/transfer, patience for Laura as she's on bed rest, and peace of mind for all of us as we wait for some (hopefully) good news!