13 weeks 1 Day

Well after bleeding heavily again today we had another ultrasound. Thank god our lil Pineapple is good. It was SO cute! Jumping around, waving it's arms, kicking it's legs, opening it's mouth. ADORABLE! We still do not know why I am bleeding have not spoke with my Dr. yet, but I am just so relieved our baby is ok that is what is most important! Here is our most recent pic of our baby.

A look into the first 10 weeks

Here is exactly how baby develops during the first 10 weeks just to give you all a perspective

WEEK 1



Week 2


Week 3

Week 4

Baby's size = Poppy seeds

Week 5

Baby's size = An Applseed

Week 6

Baby's size = Sweet Pea

Week 7

Baby's Size = Blueberry

Week 8

Baby's Size = Raspberry

Week 9

Baby's size = Green Olive

Week 10

Baby's size = A prune

9 weeks 1 Day

Well here I am 9 weeks pregant! My time has flown! Sorry I've been MIA things have been busy, and honestly there wasn't much to report until now. This is our 8W5D ultrasond the baby is looking more like a baby and less like a blobby!!

Here is our video from that appointment, which was our last RE appt.






See the big picture
How your baby's growing:Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

7 Weeks 1 Day

We went today for our follow up appt, and all looks great!!! Heartbeat is great, baby looks great! We go back on March 28th and will hopefully be discharged, and then we'll meet with our OB/GYN on April 3rd.
Babys size this week: The size of a blueberry!

How your baby's growing:The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.

6 weeks 3 Days

How your baby's growing: This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

Houston we have a heartbeat!!!!

After a scare that sent us the ER yesturday, and the dr telling us we were having a threatened miscarraige, we went to our Dr's office this morning. The baby is growing beautifully!!! Has heartrate of 105 beats per min which is perfect, and is measuring 2mm. To see the heartbeat more clearly, and strong was AMAZING! I am still measuring 5w6d, and they gave us a due date of 11/3. I go back Next Monday for a re-check. Now, the fun stuff, what is going on with me, why am I bleeding? For starters, I am on strict bedrest until at least Thursday. My nurse said I can go back to work on Wed only if I have no spotting and bleeding. When I return to work, it must be light activity. So the ultrasound shows the baby is stil high in the uterus, and on the ultrasound she saw a sac of fluid kind of bubbling out from the gestational sac. I can't explain it like she did, but we understand it, basically it's like fluid or something like cycst type thing, that will bed rest should shrink down, and go away on it's own. It's not quite as bad as sub hemo bleed, but still enough to constitue bedrest. The pregnancy is not as threatened as we thought last night, however by NOT resting it can put the baby at risk, anything could unfortunately still happen, but we have faith, hope, prayers, and love. So that is the update...long story short..Hugs to you all thank you so much! Here are the two most recent pics. The baby is in between te two plus signs.

Had quite the scare today

Thank you all first and foremost for all of your prayers and thoughts. So...this is what happened I was sitting on couch talking a friend of mine this morning, drinking my morning sickness tea, and I stood up and felt a gush, I assumed it was the prometrium supplement, so a few mins later I went to the bathroom wrong...there was Blood everywhere heavier than a normal period (sorry TMI) I yelled to Bob and said I am hopping in the shower to clean up call the RE on call, let them know we are going to the ER. The Dr. called back after I got out of the shower. At first he had me totally mixed up with another patient, after a min or two of him rambling on about my chem pg, and how we'd have to see how my draw is tomorrow, and this is common and it sounds like a miscarraige. I said I think you have me confused with the wrong patient I am 6 weeks along. He apologized, asked what was going on, and then basically told me there is nothing we can do to just relax and come in the morning. Completely not useful, and well we basically said SCREW THAT we are not sitting around bleeding heavily with NO answers!!!! So off to the ER we went, they got me right in, I was a mess in tears, and the Nurse, and Dr. we had were AWESOME. Apparently, BMC doesn't do ultrasounds on Sundays unless it's an emergecny, and my case was not seen as an "emergency" but when I told then told the dr all we had been thru, he looked as us and said man you've been thru hell and back...I am gonna really push to get you an ultrasound. We informed him that we transferred 3 embryo's and only one was visable it became a life threatening emergency. (Possible, ectopic, of one of the embies..etc..)So he gets us to ultrasound stat! Also they were watching my bloodpressure closely, it was high, then dropped, then back up. Needless to say I have the headache from hell right now. So we go off to ultrasound, bleeding has lessened at this point but still pretty steady. The Gestational sac is still in tact, as well as the yoke sac, and WE SAW THE HEARTBEAT!!!! Amazing to see for the first time..there was the yolk sac, and then above that we saw this grey pulsating blob. It was very faint but there, I am however measuring at 5w6d instead of 6 weeks, and EDD is 11/4. Now the diagnosis..We get back to our room and the gives us the news. I have what is called a threatened miscarriage. I am on Strict bedrest only to get up to go to the Bathroom only! I cannot return to work tommorrow per the ER Doc, and have to go to my RE in the morning. My HCG levels are a huge 15,338! My white blood cells are slightled elevated, which isn't necessarily uncommon, but still alaring. My beata is a doubling time of 51.4 hours. I feel so bad for Bob he's been working straight since Friday morning basically coming home to just sleep, and today was his day to recoop and relax, So we aren't out of the woods yet by anymeans...I want this so badly, and this baby is my world already, I do not know what I would do if we lost it...thanks for listening girls, and for the prayers, we need them....

Yolk Sac is visable!

These are the two newest pictures of Baby Heck. You can see a Yolk Sac has appeared in the gestational sac, which the ultrasound tech labeled for us. In picture #2 if you look directly to the left of the arrows you will se a circle, that is the yolk sac. The yolk sac nourishes the baby

for now until the placenta takes over =0) So far so good. We go back on Tuesday for a Heartbeat Check!

We went to BMC today b/c I started having bad cramps, followed by bleeding. Thank god everything is ok!!! Thank you everyone for keeping the prayers up, and for thinking of us!

5 weeks 3 Days

How the lil pineapple has changed ....

You won't believe the changes that the baby has already gone through in such a short time. The baby's heart is 3/4 of the way formed and will begin beating this week! Also developing are the brain, cardiovascular and nervous systems and the reproductive and other major systems. Early this week the baby becomes pear-shaped. The rounded end will become the head while the pointed end will become the baby's spine. The baby is now known as an embryo and is about 1.5 - 2.5 mm or 0.05 - 0.09 inches in length.

What baby looks like





We go in on March 11th to see the heartbeat!! Fingers crossed!!!

Symptoms so far

Tired....very tired
Heartburn
Cravings

We have a visable sac!!

" While a gestational sac is sometimes seen as early as during the 4th week of gestation, it may not be seen until the end of the 5th week, when the serum HCG levels have risen to 1000-1500 mIU." Just something I found on a IVF Site...


I woke up this morning with some more spotting/bleeding. I was to go in tommorrow morning for another beta test. I called my Dr's office, and they told me to come in today to be seen, so I made the hour plus commute to my RE's office. They set up to do an ultrasound first to see where the bleeding is coming from. My cervix is long and closed, which is good, so they think it's just an irritation from the Prometrium. The nurse asked u/s tech if we can scan for anything visable, and Poof right away we have ONE perfect sac visable!!! I am measuring exactly 4weeks 5 days so they are estatic with that, so good I don't need any more blood work! In order for anything to be seen on ultrasound you must have HCG levels of at least 1000 I was only 320 on Tuesday, and nothing showed on ultrasound then...so it's pretty obvious my numbers more than doubled! WOO HOO this is such a huge hurdle for us....and the nurse said everything looks perfect, just to take it easy, and I could even have a glass of red wine tonight if I want to. I guess Red wine is ok during pregnancy only occasionally though and right now I would be fine if I wanted to. I was so nervous, the nurse also reassured me if something looked off they would see that and would certainly tell me. We are over the moon right now...so for right now we have one TTP ( Teeny Tiny Pineapple) that will be our babies name until we know the sex...lol =0)

Here are a couple of snaps of the ultrasound. To find the sac...look directly under the "GE" on the left hand side. The black circle with a Gray sphere next to it is the Gestational Sac =0) Measuring exactly where I need to be =0)

Here is a close up You need to look dead center, and for the black circle that is it =0)

What is going on this week..

Your pregnancy: 5 weeks (4 Weeks Gestational)

How your baby's growing:
Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.

The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.

His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.

The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

First ultrasound is scheduled

Our first ultrasound will be on March 11th. One week shy of our two year wedding Anniversary.
How am I feeling...well I believe what is called Morning Sickness is rearing her ugly head.

Last night after eating a slice of pizza, I felt sick, and so fatigued, I was laying there watching TV at 6:30 the next thing I knew It was 8:10. I went up to bed at 9:30 and couldn't get out of bed this morning when my alarm went off at 6:00am, so I slept until 7:00.

I got up and showered, and I felt like hell throughout most of the morning. Between Heartburn, a gagging feeling, cramps, gas, pressure and bloat, I am just unfreaking comfortable right now. When I roll over in bed, it feels like someone has put a knife into my ovary, and is pulling at it. My nurse says that is completely normal, and so is feeling like hell. She said I may be one of the unfortunate ones who experiences m/s earlier than most. So I go for another round of bloodwork on Saturday, and then the wait begins until March 11th..I am praying we hear/see a heartbeat. This journey has been wonderful despite feeling poorly....and I don't want it to stop..=) Thank You all for your prayers, and thoughts..onto phase II..heartbeat...

2nd Beta is back!

So on Saturday which is 13DPO or 10 dpt 3dt Beta #1 = 112
Today which is 16DPO or 13dpt Beta #2 = 320

I more than doubled...My doubling time is 47.54 and is a 101% increase.
I can finally relax, and enjoy this wonderful ride a lil more!
We go March 11th for our first ultrasound just 2 weeks! WOW!! My 2ww wait fast let alone another 2ww for our ultrasound, and best part is it's a week before our 2nd Wedding Anniversary!

Keep the prayers going we aren't out of the woods yet!!

4weeks 1day

I go in tommorrow for my 2nd beta. I am soooo freaking nervous, this is by far worse than the 2ww and finding out if you're pregnant or not! I am praying for a double we want this so freaking badly, and I honestly feel like if this ends up being loss #2 my faith and trust in god has been seriously demoralized, b/c he hasn't been very fair or kind lately. But, I am trusting in him to give us our miracle, and hopefully he will come thru! So how did today's HPT's pan out..
So which is darker the top or bottom you tell me.. and i'll tell you which is which..lol

Our Pineapples progress at 4 weeks....

Our pregnancy: 4 weeks

How your baby's growing: This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until ten weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when she'll be most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development.Right now your baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed, consisting of two layers: the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all of her organs and body parts will develop.The primitive placenta is also made up of two layers at this point. Its cells are tunneling into the lining of your uterus, creating spaces for your blood to flow so that the developed placenta will be able to provide nutrients and oxygen to your growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week.Also present now are the amniotic sac, which will house your baby; the amniotic fluid, which will cushion her as she grows; and the yolk sac, which produces your baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to her until the placenta has developed and is ready to take over this duty.

4 weeks today

So I am exactly 4 weeks pregant today. So far I am feeling ok. I have KILLER cramps though! Which I hear is "normal". Only 2 days to go until our next beta! I am praying it doubled! We've been testing at home still hoping to see that line get darker and darker, and this is what we've got....MUCH DARKER!!! And this taken after I went to the bathroom about 10 mins earlier...I had to go again, so I said screw it!!! LOL

This in comparison to the one done yesturday morning with FMU. As you can see MUCH darker already! So that is the update here so far. I'll update again soon!

It's confirmed and offical

Well just as I thought, and what we already knew by the HPT's it's confirmed by the blood test.

WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!

My levels are great...our last pregnancy my first beta was only at 70. This one is........... 112 baby!!!!!!!!!The RE is very happy with that number! I go back Tuesday for a recheck! Please please please please please please please double and sticky lil bean(s)..you're mommy and daddy are waiting and have been for SO long! Thank you all so much as I said last night for everything ladies!!!!!!! BTW, my nurse said the spotting is nothing to be worried about, most women doing IVF experiecnce irritation with the Prometrium Capsules (progesterone supps), and that they see it alot in IVF pg's

So for now we are cautiously optomistic...and our EDD is November 2, 2008

3 Weeks 4 days

Well this was an expirement at best. I used the ladies room before taking this test, I to Dollar Tree got more tests, went home and tested again. Keep in mind that this one may is fainter too b/c I tested 20 mins after going to the bathroom, and I didn't leave alot of time for HCG to build back up. The first pic is the test from today, the bottom one is our test with our first valid BFP!

Beta is tommorrow!!! I hope I have a high # and it doubles nicely!

Friday 2/22

Wednesday 2/20

And finally the two tests from today...Late Afternoon, then Later Evening..already darker!!!! AGAIN!

A line really is a line!!!!!

3 Weeks 2 Days

Hi everyone, So I tested last night at exactly 7 days past 3 day transfer... it was POSITIVE!!! We are pregnant! We are tentatively due November 2, 2008 and are 3 weeks 4 days along.We are so incredibly excited, although we are still cautious until we see that heartbeat, so if you know me in person SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We will spread the news after we confirm heartbeat etc...but for now we are cautiously expecting!

I called my RE's office this morning and while my beta isn't due until 2/24 I am going in a day early so they can do a CBC as well =) Thank you everyone for your well wishes! Unfortunately the OHSS will only get worse until about 8-10 weeks of pregnancy.

Your pregnancy: 3 weeks

How your baby's growing: What's going on in your womb now? A lot. Your baby-in-the-making is just a tiny ball consisting of several hundred cells that are multiplying madly. Once the ball of cells (called a blastocyst) takes up residence in your uterus, the part of it that will develop into the placenta starts producing the pregnancy hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which tells your ovaries to stop releasing eggs and triggers increased production of estrogen and progesterone (which keep your uterus from shedding its lining — and its tiny passenger — and stimulates placental growth). HCG is the hormone that turns a pregnancy test positive; by the end of this week, you may be able to take one and get a positive result! (If your test is negative and you still haven't gotten your period in two or three days, try again then.)Meanwhile, amniotic fluid is beginning to collect around your ball of cells in the cavity that will become the amniotic sac. This fluid will cushion your baby in the weeks and months ahead. Right now, your little blastocyst is receiving oxygen and nutrients (and discarding waste products) through a primitive circulation system made up of microscopic tunnels that connect your developing baby to the blood vessels in your uterine wall. The placenta won't be developed enough to take over this task until the end of next week.

1 Week Pregnant

Update 6 days past transfer

Well things are going I guess....
Just a lil catch up in case some missed it...I had my 3dt Transfer on Wed the 13th. At transfer ultrasound tech noted quite large swollen ovaries, and immediately recognized it as an early warning sign on OHSS.

I went in Sat Feb 16th for an ultrasound and it was discovered at that point that my ovaries are quite enlarged, and one is lying on top of the uterus, and the other is sort of wrapped around underneath the uterus.

I was put on coach potato rest aka bed rest for the weekend, and instructed to take precocity, and just relax. I had an episode Sunday where a surge of sharp pain came on and I proceeded to be sick to my stomach, and called the Dr. on call, and well didn't get much of an answer or help for that matter, except that I could come in for another ultrasound. I went in today Feb 20th for an ultrasound, and nothing much as changed.

My ovaries are still really big, infect a wee bit bigger, and are still in the same position. One on top of uterus the other behind, I was instructed that is we are in fact pregnant the OHSS will only get worse. My Estridol level is at 3426 which is extremely high! My ultrasound tech whom I love also advised me that last week at their weekly meeting, she had said the meeting to the Dr's this is a patient that we need to watch, and if she calls be alarmed..She is at a very high risk of OHSS, and here is why, yet somehow the Dr. on Sunday was telling me how "Rare it is to have OHSS after retrieval"

Anyways...I have to call them on Friday and update them on how I am feeling, and Sunday is the big Beta day =0) Will keep you all posted.....

As far as symptoms I've pretty much have had nothing..until last night I noticed those lovely blue veins across my chest, and then at approx 11:30 this morning a strong feeling of sleepiness, mixed in with wanting to hurl came on, is this good or bad, could it be =0)

5 days past transfer

I am not feeling to hopeful this cycle. Infact my spirits seem to be really down...
I went in Saturday for an ultrasound, and they found that my ovaries were still extremely big. Infact one had twisted behind my uterus while the other is laying in front of sort of on top. I was put on bedrest throught the weekend until Tuesday when I go back to work. Yesturday I had some really bad pain, and was throwing up. I called the RE on call, and lets just say today I cannot wait for my regular RE to be back from Maternity Leave. I feel sort of dismissed, by the dr that called back last night. There were so many things this cycle that just has left me discouraged, and down. Between the OHSS, and not being able to make our OWN decision on weather to do a 5 day trasnfer or a 3 day transfer has left me sort of feeling resentful towards the lab, and annoyed. We were told from day one that as long as we had 6 or more embryo's growing that we would do a 5 day transfer seeing the last 2 3 day transfers failed, and the only BFP we ever got was from FET using 2 blasts. Well we were told the morning of transfer that we had to come in that day b/c we only had 4 embies left. WE find out AFTER the fact after we are there that there were 6 more they were cultruing to blast stage. So you mean to tell us that we had 10, and we weren't allowed to make our OWN decision about 3dt vs 5dt? Are you God? Are you us?Have you been thru this over and over and over again? Didn't think so. I know alot of this seems harsh, but I am just so frustrated...beyond frustrated..why is it that this is my body, our family, our future, and after 3 failed attempts you're not chaning our protocol, looking at WHY we aren't getting pg, and keep us at the same level, same meds...etc...If we don't get pregnant this time, I am having a very LONG talk with our RE. OK rant over for now....I am tired, and going to close my eyes for a bit, maybe I'll blog some more later.

Had a surprise ET today

Quite a shock to us, as we were told and planning on a 5dt. I got up this morning, and went to work as usual, as the lab never called at 7:30am, as I was instructed they would if I needed to go in today. At Approx 8:45 I get a message on my cell phone that I need to be in today at 11:00am for an 11:30 transfer. DOH!!! We live over an hour away, and have quite an ice storm here! So I frantically called MH, ran home to get my RX to bring to pharmacy, dropped it off at CVS, picked up DH and off we went. I was told on the phone that we had 4 top grade embryo's hence why transfer was today. I was shocked! We were told that we had to have 5 or more embryo's to be considered for a 5dt we found out once we got there that you have to have 5 or more top grade embryo's to do a 5 day. We had 4...so we transferred 3 of the four, a 7 cell and 2 8 cells. These were the highest grade embryo's we've ever had in any cycle, so they are feeling quite good about it. The 4th embryo will be frozen today at 3days, and the other 6 they are going to culture out to see if they make it to a blast stage, and then freeze those! I am PRAYING we get snowbabies...this cycle has been an up and down cycle as always with any cycle.

I also found out I have a mild case of OHSS, which they aren't sure will get better, so we've were given a list of things to watch out for, as my HCG will peak in the next couple of days which makes OHSS worse. OHSS is an over stimulation of the ovaires, and they get really big and puffy and cause complications. Usually after retrevial the ovaries go back down to normal size, mine are not, and are still just as puffy. And will cause upset stomach, fluid in the abdomen, diaherrea, and make you really sick. I was advised to not ignore any symptoms I have between now and my beta. I was told I can take a percocet tonight (even with embies transferred) b/c I've been having alot of lower back and abdominal pain and pressure. I pray this was our cycle, and that this will be it. I go back to work tommorrow but was hoping to have a couple of days off for R&R now that's not going to happen. Usually I have to pull a ton of files, and lots of up and down, and etc..I may tell work Dr. said not to do anyof that due to the OHSS....I just don't want to aggrevate anything or jeopradize anything going wrong~ So this is my offical request for sticky BFP Dust...and I am officially in 2WW. Thanks ladies for all the support!

Embie update

Well we are doing a 5 day transfer on Friday 2/15/08.

My nurse called today and out of the 11 Embryo's that fertilized we have 9 beautiful embies. Most are Grade A 4-5 cells, the rest are top grade 1-3 cell. A fresh blastocyst has a higher implantation rate, than that of a 3 day embryo/frozen blast. Sooo now we wait 2 more days, and then a few more, and then hopefully share wonderful news in the upcoming days! Grow and stick lil Embies!

Fertilization report is in

Out of 20 eggs, 12 were mature.
All 12 were ICSI'd, and 11 fertilized.

We will find out on Wednesday if we are doing a 3 day transfer on Wed or another 5 day on Friday. I am praying we get a 5 day b/c blastocysts tend to implant more than 3 day embryos. SO please send us lots and lots of Embie dust!! =0)

IVF #3 Retrieval report

Things were great...except for when I woke in pain...this one was by FAR the worst pain wise afterwards..however, it paid off! I thought I was dreaming when the RE came in to say we got 20!!! Yes 20 beautiful eggs!! I am PRAYING that at least that a majority of them are mature enough! First time around we got 6, and only one fert. 2nd IVF we got 7 with 6 being able to be ICSI'd and all 6 fertilized...now we have 20, and we are doing ICSI again! Cmon lil eggies....please be good eggies!!! I will find out tommorrow what our fert report is. I am praying this is our string of good luck FINALLY coming our way after all the bad we've had. I will just be crushed if they call tommorrow, and say "Sorry we only have 6 now" I guess I am being paranoid, b/c I've just had nothing but bad news with my other cycles...and let downs, and just have little faith in all good news lately. Could things be really turning around for us?

Last night of Stimming

Many people asked what is Stimming? How do you do your injections? What is involved well this video done on the last night of stimming is the answer.

** JUST MAKE SURE TO HIT THE PAUSE OR STOP BUTTON ON THE MEDIA PLAYER ABOVE BEFORE CLICKING VIDEO SO THAT YOU CAN HEAR VIDEO"

I mix Menopur, Lupron, and Gonal-F

1st U/S and bloodwork since stimming

Well looks like this cycle FLEW by!!! I will most likely be going in for my ER Sat or Sun, which means trigger (HCG Injection) tommorrow of Fri night. I am hoping for Saturday is the day that I go in so I will have all day Sunday to recover as well, which I've never been able to do before. It's always been surgery, then back to work the next day, which given on how much they had to dig has sometimes been painful! It will also give my body a chance to heal a lil bit before taking in those beautfil Embies!
We will be doing ICSI again this round, and will transfer 3 if it's a 3 day transfer 2 if we make it to blast.

My lining is triple lining...which means the bleeding I had last week is unexplained.

My RT Ovary is progressing slower than the left. I have around greater than 14 follicles on it, and about 6 or 7 or 8mm-14mm. The LT ovary is greater than 14 on it as well, showing quite a few at 19-21mm. So one is progressing more than the other.
They also cked my cervix, and for polyps, cysts to explain the bleeding last week. I had some free fluid, so they aren't sure what the bleeding was. That is it for now...sprinkle me with baby dust please =0)

Cruise Videos

Some videos from our recent Cruise..again remember to press pause on the Music Media Player above before starting youtube video.

Started Stimming

Well I started my Stims tonight.

These are the meds I am doings this round

1 Viale Menopur
10 Units of Lupron
150 iu's of the Gonal-F
1 Baby Aspirin
1 Pre-Natal
2 Antibiodic's per day

I had to call the Dr. on call tonight b/c I started bleeding again so I called to make sure it was ok to move forward with Stims. She said it was fine to go move forward, and we'd see more of what is going on when I go back on Wed. Hopefully all is ok!!!

NLC PEARL REVIEW CONCLUSION

DAY 3 - COZUMEL

The day begins around 8:45 or so when my wife calls me at the new room, and said reception called and wants to know if we want to move, we need to answer now as they need the room for another guest getting on the ship. 8505 is at the extreme front of the ship, and my wife is prone to seasickness. We decided the chance that my wife gets seasick is a gamble we're willing to take when the other option is the high pitched squeal all night. She had to get to her message so I packed up the room and just as I finish there's a knock on the door and outside stands a guy with a giant pull cart there to move our stuff. He wore a halo and was back-lit by a huge white light....ok that may have just been my perspective, but I was dreading moving all of this stuff and suddenly this guy showed up....thank you NCL.

We were quickly up in the new room and I had everything unpacked when my wife returned from her hot stone message. $149 plus tip was a bit pricey, but hey we'd had a rough go of it so far and she deserved it. So we shower and get off the boat and do some shopping. We passed by Carlos and Charlies and I immediately got sick to my stomach. The last time we were in Cozumel I hit C&C's pretty hard...and it hit me back...pretty hard.

So we did some shopping (if you have people to buy souveniers for, this is definately the place), ate at the Hard Rock cafe, which was the smallest Hard Rock I had ever seen (which was later confirmed by the giant sign on top of the bar that said "This is the worlds smallest Hard Rock Cafe.")

We got back on the ship and took a nap, showered, got ready and caught the Second City show. Very Funny...and it was supposed to be too! After that, off to Dinner in Indigo, service was pretty slow, but not a huge deal. Then it was off to the Spinaker for the 50's and 60's sock hop. Which was pretty much the same as the other 2 50's and 60's sock hops we have been too on previous NCL cruises, we hung out there for a bit, went back to the casino and off to bed. We slept like babies.

DAY 4 - Grand Caymen

The last time we were in Grand Caymen we made the mistake of going during the Heat and Humidity festival of 2006. It wasn't a real festival...it was just brutally hot. This time is was quite comfortable. Did some more shopping and grabbed lunch at the Margarittaville in Grand Caymen. We grabbed dinner at Summer Palace again and it was off to the Spinaker for another couples game show and the unscripted performance of the Second City. I got my times messed up and we were there a lot earlier then need be, which actually worked out, the place was already packed, and they were still calling the first game of bingo. We decided to jump in and lost again, the couple game show was hosted by the ACD...Paul I think his name was. I wish I new what his name was for sure because he was outstanding. Very energetic, very funny...and he sounded like the Geico Gecco to boot. He should've been the CD (I should say here the rest of the cruise staff was outstanding as well). We caught the Second City show, and decided to head to the nightclub "Bliss" before we made our nightly trip to the Casino. The place wasn't bad, they had music videos to accompany the music, they played a little from today, a little from the 70's and 80's, everyone was having a great time. Then it was time for the Bollywood party. Everyone, not so happy anymore. The DJ announced it was time for everyone to get an education in Indian Music. The dance floor cleared. We went outside for a smoke where everyone was wondering why this guy was still playing Indian music when it was clear that no one wanted to hear it. He finally got back to other music after about 20 minutes.

I appreciate the fact that they tried to change things up with the Indian music, but it wasn't working and no one wanted to hear it. We hung out there and did some people watching for a bit, I went to the bathroom and came back and saw my wife talk to two guys at the bar. It was Kevin and Chris from the Second City Troupe. Very funny guys, we had a lot in common (I'm in the entertainment biz as well), next thing we knew the lights came on and they were playing Closing Time by Semisonic...by the way, closing time is 4am...we made it to bed that night close to 5...yikes. Most days I'm up at 3am for work.

DAY 5 - SEA DAY

My room phone rings at 8:45am...Somebody was about to make my nasty list. It was reception...they were calling to inform me that because we had to change rooms and because of the High Pitch squel they decided to give us a $100 OBC. How quickly they go from the nasty list to the Christmas Card list. I never asked reception for a credit...the way I viewed it, I picked the room, I asked to move, I moved, I apologized for inconveniencing them. They sent me someone to help me move and gave me a $100 OBC. I knew if I complained I could get an OBC, but that's not the way I operate, I viewed this as my fault and a learning experience never to pick a room on the 4th floor again. Kudos to NCL for going well above the call of duty here. I hung up the phone and went back to sleep...till the captain came on about 9:30 to make his announcement...At this point I got up not wanting to spoil my last day on the ship sleeping.

We went out to the deck, where it was packed and the chair hogs were out in full force. We sat at the sky high bar and watched the volleyball tourney hosted by the Gecco dressed in all black...long sleeve shirt and pants....absolutely insane. It was brutally hot. After the tourney he looked like he had been in the pool.

We did a little shopping on board and found some NCL Christmas ornaments, they had the Pearl the Dream and the Jewel, so we bought all three to commemorate our past and current voyages. We went back up to the pool area and miraculously found two lounge chairs right next to the pool. Finally...some relaxing time in the sun!

We did dinner at Summer Palace again (we tried to get reservations at La Cucina to no avail) and back up to the Spinaker for the Trivia game show. Second City's adult only scriptless show was coming up and we wanted to get seats this time, so we got there early. My wife went back to pack while I watched Kenosis for an hour and saved the seats. Kenosis was OK for the most part. The male lead singer can really sing. The female lead can sing a bit, and gave me a couple of chuckles when she forgot the lyrics to "I've Had the Time of My Life," the male lead did a great job bailing here out, I was probably the only one who noticed having heard the song 200 millions times (I DJ weddings ). They were OK...my favorite Spinaker act has to be Jose and Patty on the Dream, they should be on one of the bigger ships...unfortunately they are a 2 person act, and I think NCL wants more of a band on their bigger ships.

Second City was great again (see all of their shows if they are on your ship), then it was off to the casino to get smoked one more time.

DAY 6 - GETTING OFF THE SHIP AND GETTING HOME

Very Sad! I'll never do another 5 day again...with the hell we endured getting to the ship, and by the time we got into the swing of things it was over. 5 Days was just too short. Getting off the ship was very easy, we had no problem getting a ride back to the airport where we had to deal with Delta again. We asked for an earlier flight, and they could get us back to Albany 4 hours earlier.........for an extra $50 a piece. God I hate Delta!

No problems getting back home (first time I've ever not been delayed at the Atlanta airport...has anyone ever uttered the words...Oh, you have a layover in Atlanta, what a great airport, you'll have a blast. Actually most people's airline horror stories start off...so I had a layover in Atlanta and...). Just a funny note, we ate at TGI Friday's at the Atlanta airport, and I had a couple of beers at dinner...my bottle of Coors Light was MORE EXPENSIVE at the Friday's then on the Cruise ship.

I'll wrap everything up when I get back from Grocery shopping, we'll have some aftermath from the Hotel and from Delta as well as a wrapping up the Pearl.

Day 1 Aboard the NCL Pearl

Day 1

REVIEW WRITTEN BY BOB

We got to the port around 11:30 and we're on the ship by 12:15. Very quick, our room was not ready yet so we went to the Sky High Bar for a drink. After we called everyone who knew about our previous days escapades and letting them know we indeed made it on the ship OK, an announcement comes over the PA saying that the rooms are ready, we were in 4596 with a porthole oceanview. Decent sized room, good sized bathrooms, not bad at all. We immediately called Teppanyaki to get a reservation, and we were set for 8pm that night.

My goal was to find a place to watch the Pats-Chargers AFC Championship game, and we saw that the place to watch it was in the Atrium. We explored the ship before kickoff and found the Bliss lounge where they had bowling alley's and they had the Nintendo WII set up in there. It was quite cool, after a couple of games of tennis we were off to the Atrium to watch the game on a 40 FT, yes 40 FT big screen TV. Unfortunately right after kickoff we were informed that everything was shutting down for the muster drill. I stayed until I saw people coming into the Atrium with the lifejackets on (how lucky were you if your muster station was right in the lounge.) After the drill I watched a little more of the game and at 4:15 we took a little break to take in the Sailaway party.

It wasn't bad, however my head was elsewhere (and anyone who saw my bright red lucky Tom Brady jersey knew it). Just then a Carnival ship passed us, I thought it was cool I had a 40 FT TV to watch the game on. They had a giant TV on the deck. I could clearly see what the score was on their ship. The TV Had to be a good 2000 yards away. After the sailaway party wrapped up it was back to the Atrium for the 2nd Half. San Diego was trying to make their move. Everytime they made a big play most of the crowd cheered. My wife couldn't beleive how many San Diego fans were on board. I had to explain to here they weren't all Charger fans, and that the Patriots were basically the Yankees of football.

After the game ended we got ready for dinner, I hit the casino while my wife was getting ready and promptly lost $80 at the black jack table.

TEPPANYAKI

I wasn't exactly looking forward to this one. I'm a Pizza, Burger, Steak guy, and just didn't see Japenese food appealing to me. My wife really wanted to go, so we went. I WAS IMPRESSED. The chefs put on a great show, the food was excellent! I was kind of dreading it on the way in and was expecting to stop at the Garden Cafe afterward so I could it...I left thanking my wife for insisting we go. Teppanyaki is a must do!

After dinner it was off to the Spinaker for the 70's party. This is our third NCL Cruise since Nov 2005. It was the same 70's party as the first two times. NCL, you have a lattitudes program where you want people to come back for cruise after cruise, yet everything is the exact same thing cruise after cruise. I propose somebody comes up with another week or two worth of activities and parties and rotate them. If they had two weeks worth of activites what are the odds I'd see the same one three times in a row. What are other activities on a 14 day cruise, is it the same itinerary on a back to back?

Then after the party it was Karaoke. It was much better run then on the Norwegian Dream, good selection of songs. It only lasted about 45 minutes so get there early if you want to sing. Then back to the Casino (broke even this time). A late night meal at the Blue Lagoon and off to bed.

We get back to the room and hear this annoying noise...but we were both just so tired from the previous day we passed out.

DAY 2 - DAY AT SEA

It rained, the seas were rough but we were going to make the best of it. At breakfast we bypassed the Garden Cafe and went straight to the Great Outdoors (we learned that trick on the Jewel), plenty of seating, no line for the buffet. Had a few drinks, and went off to play Bingo (we usually don't play but there wasn't a whole ton of stuff going on with the bad weather). After Bingo we went outside to see it had finally cleared out and the Caribbean band was playing so we stayed there, had a drink or two and it was off to the Summer Palace for dinner. Food wasn't bad, then we noticed it was about 9:25 when we walked past the Stardust lounge and we figured we'd check out the Jean Ann Ryan Company production of Sea Legs.

It was a funny show...granted it wasn't supposed to be. The people who did acrobatic stuff were outstanding. The lead vocalists weren't bad. The dancers did some back-up vocals...the dancers needed to just be dancers. Take 12 of your friends and have them start singing songs, most of them will be off key, singing different notes...well thats basically what this sounded like. The song choices were pretty bad too. I mean, a show like this is clearly geared to an older audience, so why are we singing "Sexyback," by Justin Timberlake and "Crazy Right Now" by Beyonce and Jay-Z...and more importantly, why did they include Jay-Z's rap part? They could've done the song without the back-up dancer who looked like Kirk Cameron doing the rap part. Didn't Kevin Federline teach us that back-up dancers shouldn't be rapping under any circumstances? Anyway, they whole show seemed flawed, do a show that'll attract parents and grandparents, and basically do songs that drove those same parents and grandparents insane when their kids and grandkids played them on their stereo.

Then it was time for the Not so Newlywed game hosted by Ray Ray the cruise director. Ray Ray was a mediocre CD. He had a very deadpan, sarcastic delivery, his jokes often fell flat. His deadpan delivery just doesn't do it for a cruise ship IMHO. It didn't help that the couples he got weren't that great for the game. He had to force a couple of them out to play. Boring couples, boring CD (though it's the hosts job to make the couples more interesting...it's not the couples job to be entertaining on their own) made the game...well kinda boring.

After that it was back to the casino (up $60 whoo hoo) and off to bed. Well that annoying noise was back and this time I wasn't overtired. It was this high pitched shreik that would last 6 seconds then go silent for 2 seconds and back for 6 more seconds. After a few hours I couldn't take it anymore and went to reception to see if they had anything else available, they got me in 8505 for the night. My wife had somehow fallen asleep so i went off to 8505 and finally crashed around 5am.

I'm gonna take a little break here, before moving on. I just want to say we had a blast on this cruise and I still love NCL. I know I'm doing a lot of bashing...This is my 4th cruise, and I am comparing some aspects to the other 3, maybe a bit unfairly so. I'm totally in the camp of a bad day cruising is still a great day (and to say we had bad days would be incorrect), so try to keep the review in that context...and I'll answer any questions you may have about the Pearl or the review so far. Again, we had a lot of fun.

Coming up Cozumel, Grand Caymen and how NCL handled the high pitch noise.....

Bob's Review of NCL Pearl

Bob's review on Cruise Critic:

My wife and I went on the five day NCL Pearl cruise Jan 20 - 25th, overall, it was a beautiful ship with lots to do. We had kind of a rough year heading into the cruise so we were REALLY looking forward to getting away....we ran into a few issues however, some were handled very well, others not so much.

PRE PRE CRUISE (1/18)

Since it was only a 5 day cruise we decided to make sure we got on the ship as refreshed as possible. We were scheduled fo a 7:40 flight on 1/19 out of Albany, NY and we live an hour away. Granted our original flight was scheduled for a 6:50 AM departure until Delta changed the itinerary a couple of months before hand (kind of funny how if I wanted to change the itinerary they would whack me with re-booking fees, but they can change it whenever they want!!!)

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, in Albany NY for $52. I'm still confused on the whole advertising other website thing here on CC so lets just say Denny Crane got us a great deal. A very nice hotel with a shuttle right to the airport, we left our car at the hotel. Everyone was very helpful. We had dinner at the Olive Garden (everyone insists on getting us Gift Cards to restaurants we have to travel an hour or more to get to for Christmas...it was nice to get an opportunity to use one). Overall an A+ to the Hilton Garden Inn.

PRE CRUISE (1/19...aka the day from HELL!)

We arrive at the airport at 6:20 AM after a quick shuttle from the hotel. We check in at the airport and are told that our 11:55 flight from Atlanta to Ft. Lauderdale had been cancelled, but "it's no big deal, you're rebooked on the 2:25 flight, so grab a bite to eat in Atlanta and you'll be in Ft. Lauderdale by 4." OK...4pm, not a huge deal we can still relax for a bit, we may have to push back our reservations at Tiramasu (an outstanding italian restaurant at the Lincoln Mall in Miami Beach, the whole reason we booked a hotel on Miami Beach was to go to this restauarant) but we can still make it. As we waited for our flight in Albany I called Delta reservations to see if there was a way to get an earlier flight to Ft. Lauderdale or even to Miami, but after being told how important my call was and listening to horrible music for 20 minutes I hung up cause we had to get on the plane. I'll see what we can do in Atlanta.

As we push back from the gate the captain says there's a little rain in Atlanta, nothing to worry about.

We get to Atlanta and the rain had changed to snow. It wasn't much though, we'll grab a bite to eat and be off to Ft. Lauderdale in no time. I look at the big board to see what our options might be and I'm greeted with a sea of red "CANCELLED" notices on the big board. But I do see two flights to Miami and an earlier flight to Ft. Lauderdale, so I talk to the ticket guy behind the counter, and he says, "oh, the other flights are booked up, but they'll probably all get cancelled anyway because of the snow." You see, they don't get much snow in Atlanta, so snow removal equipment is pretty much non existent. He goes on to tell us that it's all supposed to freeze overnight so getting out tomorrow might be a problem too. It's about 11:15 AM at this point and renting a car for a 10 hour drive suddenly looks like and excellent idea.

There's a Miami flight at 12:15, so we try to get stand-by on that flight, we get to the counter and our told we'd have to go back to ticketing to try and get on the flight because it was a different destination. While in the long line to try to go standby on this flight we stood next to another couple whose cruise left THAT DAY. Their earlier flight got cancelled and getting on this flight was their only hope of making the cruise. I don't know how they made out, but I felt horrible for them and was glad we were flying in the day before.

We go back to a different ticket counter and after waiting in line we are told that we'd be better off sticking to what we have because we would be 61st on the stand-by list, and she was pretty sure our flight would go out on time.

So it looked like we'd make it to Tiramasu after all to re-live some memories, not before we re-lived some memories at the Sam Adams restaurant in Atlanta, where we had dinner that last time we got delayed there for a few hours.

So after ending up 44th on the Stand-by list for the 1:30 flight to Ft. Lauderdale (I figured an hour trying to go stand-by would be moderately more entertaining then sitting at the gate for two and a half hours we go down to our gate, only to find out the gate was changed and we had to walk all the way down the other end of the terminal, where our flight was scheduled to leave on time. I talked to the guy at the counter to be sure we were set on this flight and he said yes. I asked him if this flight was 100% a go and he said 100% this flight would leave. Excellent, we'd be in Ft. Lauderdale by 4:30 at the hotel by 5:30, showered, shaved and ready to go by 7 to enjoy our night.

Then we hear an announcement, "We're getting ready to board you for you flight to Ft. Lauderdale...(at this point everyone in the gate area broke into a riotous applause)...unfortunately the flight your flight attendent's were on got delayed a bit, but their on their was from a different terminal and they'll be here in a bit." Fifteen minutes later they arrived and we were about ready to go. Then another announcement....

"All right, whose ready to go to Ft. Lauderdale (annother riotous applause). All right, we're set to begin boarding, but the captain has informed me that there is a line for de-icing and it looks like we'll be on the runway for about 2 1/2 hours before take off (a collective groan from the passengers at the gate), but then after that we're off to Ft. Lauderdale. Sorry for the inconvenience."

OK, OK...that sucks but at least we're getting out, we'll be at the hotel by 8 and at the restauarant by 10 then back to the hotel for sleep and begin the cruise tomorrow...not a huge deal.

After we get on the plane the captain, not once, not twice, but three times says "it appears that things are moving more smoothly then anticipated so we'll be our of here sooner then expected." They put on a movie for us and even decided that they'd give us free earphones for our inconvenience (YAY, I just saved myself $2 bucks, things are starting to go my way!)

So we sit and we sit and we sit and we sit, the movie ends...a new one begins, that's when I look at my clock and realize it's 5:30...we've been on this plane for 3 hours now and haven't heard a thing from mister "things are moving quicker then expected." Finally he comes on and says "it's moving slower then expected" (WELL NO $*^%) but we're next in line for de-icing and we'll be first for take off.

We de-ice and now it's 6:15 and we're informed that we're now number 2 for take off (didn't he just say there was no one in front of us). We finally take off at 6:45pm...we had been sitting on that plane for 4 hours and 20 minutes for a 90 minute flight. People were yelling at the flight attendants, it was a horrible scene. While we were waiting I went back and talked with the flight attendants for a bit amidst the other screaming passengers. The flight attendents were upset too...they wanted to get home, it had been a long day for them too, and this wasn't their fault.

Finally we arrive at Ft. Lauderdale around 9:15 pm, where we get our luggage (which is absolutely soaking wet!), but we didn't care, we had missed our 6:30 reservations at Tiramasu, we called them and told them what had happened and they couldn't have been nicer about it. They said they would have a table ready for us when we got there. We wanted to get a taxi and get the hell out of there. A woman approached us and asked if she could share a ride with us, she would pay (it was a business write off for her anyways) she just didn't want to be alone. I could understand, and we dropped her off at the Doubletree in downtown Miami about 10:15, the cab drops us off at the Ocean Spray Hotel in Miami Beach at about 10:30pm (just a reminder that our original flight plan had us in Ft. Lauderdale at 1:15PM).

THE OCEAN SPRAY HOTEL

We booked this for $120 and we didn't use the services of Denny Crane, but after I booked it through another discount website I had something orbiting around my head, I don't what the heck that was, but here we were at the Ocean Spray...FINALLY!

I gave the guy at the counter my name and waited for the room key. Then I think I heard "I'm sorry Mister Heck but there was a flood today and your room won't be available." I was pretty shocked, but not nearly as shocked as the guy at the counter when my head did a full rotation like Linda Blair. I didn't know what to say, I started looking around the place, my wife was wondering what I was doing, "where are the camera's, this has got to be a joke, where's Ashton Kutcher, I'm getting punked right, this can't be real."

He tells us the Days Inn up the street always has rooms available...so I called them, and they DIDN'T HAVE ROOMS AVAILABLE! I ran across the street to the Best Western, no rooms available. I ran to another place and another...nothing. I get back to the Ocean Spray and the guy in the red suit (at least I think it was red...though it may have been white and turned red after the blood shot out of my eyes) says he has a place called the Paridise Hotel that has rooms available.

So we take the room and the cab driver, who had never heard of the place pulls out in front of the hotel. We weren't sure if this was the place or not. It could have been the place it did say "HOTEL" in big letters on the side, then a strange man came out of the "HOTEL" and start yelling at our cab driver to move his cab. I asked the man if this was the Paridise "HOTEL" and he said yes, so I asked the cab driver if HE would stay there and he said "yes". So I go in and the guy who yelled at our cab driver was the counter guy. I think he was confused though, he wasn't dressed like a hotel counter guy, but I left that up to my imagination (Ohhh, I work tonight and get drunk and watch soccer tomorrow...ohh, my mistake). I didn't care at this point and it was up to our room, we tried the elevator...soccer guy tells us it's not working, so we carry our bags up two flights of stairs and into the hallway, where we find what we think is rat poop. Gil Grisson wasn't available for comprehensive testing of what we found so I can't verify that it indeed was rat poop, but we got into the room.

My wife broke out in tears, I had decided we were only going to be here for a few hours and this room was fine. I went down to the lobby to have a smoke (I've pretty much been chain smoking since we got off the flight.) and came up with a movie idea, it's called Paradise "HOTEL" and stars Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th. After realizing how perfect the location was for a horror movie I decided my wife was right and we needed to get the hell out of there.

We found a room at the doubletree by the port for $231 dollars...it could've been $1000 a night, I would've taken it, so we hop in a cab and he drops us off at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Miami around midnight (yes, the same exact hotel we dropped the other girl off at an hour and 45 minutes ago.

We check in and the guy says, "well if you stayed at a doubletree before you know we give you a chocolate chip cookie when you check in.....but we are all out of chocolate chip cookies." And the hits just keep on coming...........

(BTW...we never did make it to Tiramasu)

My next post will actually be about the cruise.

IVF TIME AGAIN

Well IVF #3 is underway. We were praying this cycle wasn't a bust. AF wasn't due until 1/26 and instead she showed up the day we go on our ship. Which means I had no syrings no lupron with me to start the supression phase in IVF. I went this morning for my baseline, all looked good, and as long as my E2 levels are good, I can start stimming on 2/1.

ER & ET is tentative for the week of 2/11 ~ 2/15

I will keep you all updated thru monitering, the next couple of weeks! Pray for us that this is the one...I just can't take another BFN or M/C.

Back from our Cruise Good & Bad

Well we are back from our Cruise on the Norwegian Pearl….

Our vacation started off as a complete nightmare. First and foremost I came down with a nasty cold the day we left. By that night I was feeling very shitty. We drove to Albany after work, as we were staying over for our early morning flight. We went to Olive Garden for dinner, and were in bed by 9:30 or so. We woke up at about 5:00am Saturday morning for our flight. We get take the shuttle to the airport, and the when we check in our luggage the Delta ticket agent advises us that our connecting flight in Atlanta had been cancelled, and that were on the 1:35pm flight instead. Not really a big deal to us, we are only going have a 6 hr lay over in Atlanta. We finally arrive in Atlanta, and see it's snowing, and everything is icing over. I am not talking about little flurries, I am talking about the big ass snowflakes we get here in the northeast. In Atlanta even the smallest of snow flakes equals chaos. Needless to say countless flights were being cancelled, and it was just a disaster in Atlanta. I called my good friend back in Boston , and she and her husband (God Bless them) were trying to figure out for us if it was just better for us to rent a car, and drive down to Florida. We were looking at about an 11 hour drive time. We tried to get on the standby list to two different flights but there were about 130 people on each flight already on standby....we didn't have a prayer. We were finally able to board our new flight at around 2:25. We were suppose to take off at 1:35, and we had to wait for the crew to get a "bite to eat" we are already now an hour behind scheduled take off time at this time. They finally allow us to board, and there we sit on the aircraft for a whopping 4 hours on the runway!!!!! We finally take off, after de-icing, and being the 105th in line for take off. We arrive in Fort Lauderdale at about 9:00, get our luggage, and get a cab to take us to South Beach Miami. A 45 min cab ride later we finally arrive at our hotel. We get inside, and my ears and head at this point are so painful, and congested the guy at the front desk sounded like the Teacher from Charlie Brown and all I heard was "Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa we can't accommodate you tonight wa wa wa wa" I go up to Bob and say "What did he just say? They can't accommodate us?" Apparently a pipe burst and flooded that entire floor. Bob just looks at the guy and say's "You're kidding me right?" Then turns to me and says ok where the hell is Ashton we're being Punked right? Nope...we were shit out of luck. Apparently there was a big comedy festival in town that weekend, and every hotel in the South Beach area were sold old. We were screwed....it was raining, and a muggy 83 degrees a record high for Miami in January. After about 45 mins of my friend back in Boston calling hotels in the area, the guy at the front desk tells us he got us a room at a hotel down the street. We hail another cab, and tell him where we need to go, the man says he's never heard of the hotel. This can't be good.....they've never heard of it...oh lord. So we tell the guy to go ahead we'll figure it out...we are told it was right around the corner, yeah not so much. We hail another cab, and after 30 mins of driving around Collins Ave in Miami we find the hotel, however it's not at the address that the other hotel told us, and it isn't even the same name. The cab is now parked on the street, and the guy from the new hotel comes out and yells at him to just park his cab. Bob goes in to check out the hotel, and to him it seems ok. So we lug our luggage in. As soon as I get in the lobby I got a bad feeling...there were NO other people..no signs of life. So we get our luggage inside, the man tells us our room is on the 2nd floor, we head towards the elevator, and the man says oh the elevator doesn't work. We end up having to use the back stairs, and of course the man doesn't offer to help us with our bags. We make it upstairs, open the door, and the theme music from a horror movie starts to play in my head. The floors are disgusting, spots of mouse/rat feces I spot on the floors...we trek on to our room....Now I am in tears. God knows how many murders or whores had been in these rooms..I can usually rough it but there was no way in hell I was roughing it here. Needless to say we spent about 4 mins in our room, and hightailed it out of there. My friend back in Boston was able to get us a room at the Doubletree....THANK GOD!!!

So we hail yet ANOTHER cab, and make the 40 min trek back towards the port, and get to the Doubletree. At this point it's about 11:30 at night...we get in, shower, and head downstairs for dinner finally!!!

The next morning we get up early, have breakfast, and head to the ship..finally our vacation is going to go right. Well wouldn't ya know temps dropped down, and it was raining...EXCELLENT.

The Norwegian Pearl is the biggest ship in the NCL fleet, she was beautiful! 2 Pools, 4 Jacuzzi's and a huge water slide. There were 2600 total passengers, not including crew. We went to the sail away party for a little bit, and then headed inside to watch the Patriots came on the 40 foot yes I said 40 foot TV in the main part of the ship..it was packed. more Packers fans than Pats fans though. We went to dinner, and were in bed pretty early as we were exhausted. Our first night was good We went to Teppernaki (it's like a Bennihanna's) and it was so good! I wish I wasn't so sick so that I could have enjoyed it more, but Bob loved it, and was so happy...that was good enough for me. He had worked so hard in planning this trip, and I felt terrible that I was sick, and I didn't want anything more to happen on this vacation...then 2nd night nightmare hits again. Apparently we were buy a mechanical room, and at night all you could hear was this screeching noise, that bob calls the "retarded Teradactyl" so Bob wakes me up at 230 am and says he went to reception and they have one room left on the ship however it's not made up yet, and it's at the front of the ship (aka AFT) Me being a person who gets seasick this is not a prime stateroom for me. At this point I am in tears...I have been sick for 3 days at this point, very little sleep, and just not a happy girl. Bob ended up going to the new room, and I stayed in the old for the night I just didn't care I just wanted to sleep. I got about 3 hours that night, and reception calls at 8:00 and says if you want to move your room you have to do it now b/c we have guests coming on the ship in Cozumel and we need one of the rooms so we need to know what you want to do now. Mind you I was to be at my massage at 9:00 so now I have about 15 mins to pack all our stuff up and move it to the new room. Bob told me to just go ahead to my massage and he'd take care of everything. I get to my massage and the woman asks if I want to upgrade to the Hot Stone Massage for an extra $20.00 heck yes!!!!! It was the best $159 I have ever spent. I got back to the new room, and told Bob I spent the extra $20 and he just looked at me and said "honey, after the night we've had whatever you want to do today is just fine with me" It was so cute...he felt so bad, but it wasn't his fault how was he to know that was going to happen? By the next day we finally getting into the swing of things. We enjoyed the food on board, and were happy with the staff, service was slow some nights, but we understand how demanding their jobs are. We felt the cruise director lacked…he was just ok not to excited about anything, and just "I am here to do my job" type attitude. The Activities Manager was a hoot…he sounded just like the talking Gecko from the Geico commercials so that was hysterical to us. We also met the cast of "Second City" sort of a cross between SNL and Whose Line is it Anyways…some of the biggest comics started off at Second City. So we hung out with 2 of them until 4am one night that was fun. They were an absolute riot. Cozumel and Grand Cayman were great. We went to the Hard Rock in Cozumel which is the "Smallest Hard Rock Café in the World" and the Margaritaville in Grand Cayman was one of the biggest we have seen/been in. The last day on the Ship was an at sea day. There wasn't to much to do aside from shopping and Bingo and the Casino, which as one fellow passenger said is not one designed to win. There seemed to be a massive amount of small children on this ship too, more than we've ever seen on a cruise. That was fine, but sometimes it was just more annoying. For instance when you're trying to have a nice dinner for two at the restaurant, and the child at the next table over is crawling under the tables, over chairs, screaming and crying…umm hello…parents feel free to step in and tend to your child at any point now….

All in all this trip had it's good and bad…We would never do a 5 day cruise again it's too short, and we really feel we need a vacation from our vacation now. I am still sick, and have to really painful, and blocked ears still. What was important though was that Bob and I got to spend some quality time together away from the rest of the world., well for a little while anyways.

Oh and when we were at Fort Lauderdale aiport waiting for our flight back home, Fat Joe, and Terror Squad sat next to us...that was interesting..lol

Babies..Babies...everywhere

There are certain feelings that we women dealing with infertility cannot hide, we don't want to be this way nor did we ask to be, it is just what it is. Bitterness, and jealousy. It seems lately everywhere I am there is a baby shower being talked about, there has been an explosion of twins on the IF support boards, one of my closest friends got a BFP during her struggle with IF her first time around, and my cousin gave birth just this morning to her second baby. I am so happy for them all, but at the same time I can't help but scream "WHY NOT US!!!!!!"

Seriously haven't we suffered enough????

Things NOT to say to a woman going thru IF

As a woman dealing with infertility there are classic lines that are NO NO and a DO NOT SAY TO a woman going thru miscarriage or dealing with infertility...this was a list taken from my support forum...

"It's probably for the best."
"It probably wouldn't have been a healthy baby anyway."
"At least it happened early."
"You probably should have waited longer after the last miscarriage."
"My friend had 3 miscarriages before they found the problem." (said after my 2nd)
"Are you pregnant yet?"
"I don't know what to say, I never had any trouble having babies."
"I'm pregnant!"
"Just relax"
"Stress wont help"
"your still young you got plenty of time"
"God has a plan"
"it will happen, I just know it"
"you need to calm down" If it is meant to be, it will happen"
"You shouldn't have children anyway because you have such a busy and full life now"
"Once you stop trying you will get pregnant"
Enjoy this now while you have your freedom"
"--any complaint about your current pregnancy--"
"Do you need to borrow some my husband's swimmers!"
"I had a neighbor who tried for years, and once they adopted, poof! - They got pregnant!"
"Maybe you're trying too hard."
"Miscarriage is just soooo common you know."
"This is just a speed bump."
"Be glad you still have your figure."
"Sometimes you just need to not try so hard"

Only 10 days to go until V day!!!!

Until we are on vacation! A much needed vacation at that!! We are embarking on The Norwegian Pearl..here is a couple of pictures of our ship, and where we are visiting!















We are spending the night before we leave for cruise we are staying in Beautiful South Beach Miami it's going to be so nice and relaxing!! We are so excited about this vacation just the two of us, no dr's appts, no where to be, but together, in love, and enjoying vacation. =0)

Headaches are really getting to me!

It's been weeks with a constant headache...the ones that start off sharp, and on one side, and over the yes, and then I get so tired as well as out of wack feeling that I can't function! They are small migraines brought on by hormones mainly BCP, and the IVF drugs. Maybe even throw a little stress in there.
THIS BLOWS! I just want to freaking feel NORMAL again! I want to not feel like I am going to throw up, or fall over any minute, and feeling as if someone slipped me a sleeping pill. At the very least if I am going to feel this shitty it should be for a good cause such as BEING PREGNANT! But of COURSE not...I have to continuously feel every symptom, and not have anything to show for it. Infertility sucks! People do NOT realize just how much bull**** we infertile's go thru on a daily basis, and all the while we are suppose to smile, suck it up and just deal right? Wrong!

God our vacation can't come soon enough!

Our Angel

It is with a very heavy, and sad heart we report that we have an angel. Our miracle baby is now our guardian angel. My HCG levels were increasing in a week all looked well at first however my blood work on Friday showed a significant drop from 185 to 90...this miracle will not make it.

Once implantation occurs, the pregnancy hormone HCG will develop and begin to rise. This is the hormone that signals on a pregnancy test that you are pregnant. HCG can be detected through one of 2 different types of blood test or through a urine test. A quantitative blood test measures the exact amount of HCG in the blood and a qualitative HCG blood test gives a simple yes or no answer to whether you are pregnant or not.

Doctors will often use the quantitative test if they are closely monitoring the development of a pregnancy. After implantation occurs, the hormone will begin to rise and should increase every 48-72 hours for the next several weeks.


My stats were:
12/1 Beta #1 70
12/3 Beta # 2 119 70% Increase
12/5 Beta # 3 185 55% Increase
12/7 Beta # 4 90 Decrease the pregnancy will not continue to thrive, miscarriage is inevitable.


We are going to get thru this the best we know how, and we realize in the end we will be stronger a loss of child is unbearable, it's not a blessing as some may see it to be, and to us this child was meant to be. Thank you to our friends who have been a huge help by keeping me company, and taking my mind off things, letting us be sad, and for just being there.

Thank you all for your words of support and kindness, it is truly appreciated, and words can and will never express how much!

Christmas Miracle

We had our First Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) on 11/23/07. We transferred two beautiful blastocysts. Well everyone...it's finally happened...our third attempt with....has been a success!! Our Christmas miracle has been given to us early....today we found out for sure that we are pregnant!

Baby Heck is on way his/her way and the estimated due date is 8/10/08 =0)

It's been a crazy, emotional, hard, enduring roller coaster, but has been so worth it!!! We thank you all for your support, love, prayers, and look forward to sharing this wonderful journey with you all =0) My level today is 70, so now we just look for it to double, and increase as it should.

I would die for that

I found this video on YouTube, and it's perfect for what Bob and I are going thru. The Song is "I Would Die For That" by Kellie Coffey...very touching, and moving song, and everyword is heartfelt for us.

Yet another friggin' BFN

Another failed cycle...unreal can't we just catch a break? Why does it seem we are being denied the family we so badly want? I know right now a big part of me is angry,and hurt right now, but for the love of god..what more do we need to do? How much more do we need to endure? Have we not sacraficed enough? We've basically walked to the edge of the earth and back, and for what?? Completely devastated again..no the pain isn't any better second time around..it's worse...

Thank you all again for your support...Bob and I appreciate it...