February 26th= Worst Day EVER!

Hey everyone. We just wanted to let you know that the doctor called me early this evening and told me that the 3rd egg did not make it. The only eggs we have that are possible for us to have babies are in me right now. Please continue praying, we need it now more than ever! We close on our house tomorrow morning, but it is hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel right now. I wanted to post this on the blog instead of telling people individually because when I try to talk about it I breakdown. Hopefully, we will have better news a week from tomorrow.
~Amy

Introducing Ten-Fourteen!

Meet our children, Ten and Fourteen. Thanks to our nurse Michelle, we refer to them collectively as Ten-Fourteen. These are the two babies that were implanted this afternoon.

We arrived at the doctor's office at 2:30 and had some surprising decisions to discuss with the doctor. We ended up having three fertilized eggs that had all their chromosomes. Our doctor discussed the development of the three with our embryologist. The embryologist recommended implanting all three. Our doctor had ethical as well as medical concerns with implanting all three. Amy initially wanted to implant all three. I on the other hand had a bad feeling about it. After discussing the pros and cons further with our doctor, we decided to implant the two strongest and freeze the third for the future.

After making that decision, we moved into the implantation room. The doctor and nurse got everything set up and prepped. A resident doctor ran the ultrasound machine to monitor the uterus. This also allowed Amy and I to view the entire process. The doctor did a practice implant to make sure she had a smooth path into the uterus. She was satisfied with the trial run and had the Embryologist bring Ten-Fourteen into the room. As our doctor got into position, we were able to see the catheter enter the uterus. The doctor let us know that she was implanting the babies, and we were able to see the babies being released into the uterus on the ultrasound. It was quite an amazing process to witness. I am so glad the implantation was today so I could be there. There are not many people who can say that they witnessed their babies attaching to the uterus. The entire implantation took less than 20 minutes. After the procedure, Amy could not move for 10 minutes.

I got Amy home safely after that and she has been resting ever since. The doctor will be taking blood on March 6 to determine if we are pregnant. It is hard to believe that in the course of two weeks you can go from retrieval to being pregnant. The next nine days may be the longest that Amy and I have ever experienced, but it will be worth the wait. Between now and then though, we will have plenty to keep us busy. The closing on the house is Friday morning. Moving trucks and delivery trucks will be rolling in and out all day Saturday, and I imagine we will spend the rest of the week finding a place for everything. Hopefully this will make time move a little faster until March 6. Thank you to everyone who had us in your thoughts and prayers.

Z

Praise the Lord!

I just got news from my nurse about 12:45pm that we have at least 2 perfect eggs and that I will be implanted at 3pm today! I am SOOOOOOOO excited. There really are no words. My husband will be there with me, I have at least 2 healthy babies they can implant (which I am so very grateful for because some couples do not get that chance), this will give me at least 36 hours to rest before we move into our new house, I have 3 days off of work, and MOST importantly I will get to have my Ash Wednesday babies! Speaking of, My husband gave up red meat for Lent and I gave up chocolate. We are giving up things that are almost crucial to our survival. We figure God has been so good to us; this is the least we can do! I am sure My husband will blog tonight about today's adventure! THANK YOU ALL for all the support, you will never know how much it means to us!
~Amy

Patience is a Virtue...

So, I got a call from my doctors office early this evening explaining that since the embryos went through a biopsy, they could be a day behind in growth. Translation- It could be Thursday morning when the implantation occurs. Of course my initial thought was - No big deal, whatever is best for the babies... The bad news, my husband will not be able to be there. He is really upset about it. He has court on Thursday morning and it cannot be continued. I asked my doctor if we could do it later in the afternoon on Thursday (if it had to happen then) and she told me that it would have to be 10 or 11am. I guess time is of the essence when implanting an egg. 3-4 hours can make a huge impact. I was going to get a massage tomorrow morning, for relaxation, but now I am not sure it would be worth it if Thursday is the day. Ugh. Standby stinks. Also, how am I supposed to rest and be calm tonight and tomorrow morning without knowing how many eggs are (1) healthy (2) still growing (3) genetically OK. I am very pleased with my doctors office, but this is (I feel) a little ridiculous. I mean really, "Get rest and be very relaxed, but oh..by the way, we won't know anything until tomorrow afternoon." Maybe if the results and the implantation were on two different days, I could rest better. If I knew tonight, I would be able to rest regardless of the results. As I sit here and think this out loud, I am not really mad at my doctors office, I am annoyed at the geneticist (who has driven me nuts through this whole process) in Baltimore.
On the other hand, here is what had brought me joy, since Oprah has been letting me down, Real Housewives of New York. They are hilarious. Crazy, but hilarious. Well Bethenny is not crazy. She is just hilarious. I would like to have a martini with her in Manhattan.
I will let everyone know tomorrow around noon what the results are!
~Amy

Time for Prayers!

Good evening, everyone! I hope everybody had a pleasant Monday... The embryologist flew in from Georgia today and performed the biopsies on the babies! Of the 15, 8 were strong and 7 were average, at best. The biopsied cells were sent overnight-mail to Baltimore about 3 hours ago and the geneticist will be looking at their chromosomes tomorrow. Hopefully we will have an answer Tuesday night, but it seems like Wednesday morning before implantation will be when we really hear something. I think that is kind of stressful. Now is the time to say your prayers! We need as many of the 8 eggs to come back OK. The embryologist did complete the biopsy on all 15, so maybe one of the weaker ones will pull through as well.
Sorry my blogs have been so short lately, but I am not feeling my best! I am convinced it is all the medicine that is being pumped through my body. Progesterone is what I am taking now. 1 shot a night! Hooray!! (This is the shot in my hip and it is SOOOOO much better than the others!!)
I will make sure everyone knows how Wednesday goes. It is still bizarre to me that Wednesday I could be pregnant!
~Amy

We've got babies...(almost)

Good evening, all! If this blog does not make sense, heads-up, I am still on Percocet! We got a call from the doctor this afternoon telling us that 15 eggs fertilized! WE ARE PUMPED! I told my mother and mother-in-law that today they can tell everyone that they have more grandchildren than the crazy octuplets mom! We will find out Monday, after the biopsy, how many are strong enough to survive the genetic testing. We are hoping for 12 and then after the testing, 6 strong eggs. Everyone hold on to that number and pray.
As for my procedure yesterday, I will admit that my recovery was a little harder than what I thought. I will tell you though my nurse, Michelle, is the REAL DEAL. She is awesome. We are so glad we have her. I am feeling fine today, I just have some soreness. Look for an interview with my doctor tomorrow on Channel 9!
More importantly, 6 days until we close on our house!!
Talk soon
~Amy

Two Dozen Plus Two

The retrieval went wonderfully. We arrived at the doctor's office at 9 and Amy was nervous about being put under for the procedure. She handled it great though. The procedure lasted about 30 minutes and Amy was talking to the nurses on the way out of the procedure. It surprised the nurses how quickly Amy was aware of everything.

The most exciting news of the day came after they had a chance to count the numbers of eggs that were retrieved. The total number ended up being 26! Even our doctor was a little surprised. She told us that she did not expect quite that many but was nevertheless excited.

Looking forward, the embryologist will fertilize the eggs later this afternoon. By tomorrow, the doctor will be calling to tell us how many eggs were mature enough to fertilize. The biopsy will occur on Monday and be shipped off to Baltimore. By late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning the geneticist will call our doctor to let her know which embryos can be transferred. The implantation will happen Wednesday morning.

Amy is at home resting comfortably. She is a little out of it thanks to the pain meds, but she did great. She is going to take it easy this weekend to get ready for this busy next week. We appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers from everyone during this time.

Z

Thank you all!

Tomorrow is the big day for the retrieval. We wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone for all your support and prayers. We will let you know tomorrow how everything went. We went to the hospital tonight with our friends, Jarrod & Magan, to see their new niece Chloe and she is absolutely precious and it reconfirmed how ready we are to be parents. Also, check out these cute socks that Magan got me for my procedure tomorrow! Thanks, Mag!

I am Free!!!

Tonight marks the last night of multiple shots, and tomorrow I do not have to take ANY shots!! (Friday will start 1/night in the hip- for I hope, 10 weeks, if I am pregnant).

I am showing you all this picture as a memorial, because I am done! We took this picture to put into our IVF journal right before I took these shots tonight. (I affectionately added the red x.)

I have to stay up until 11:00pm tonight to get one more shot to prepare my body for the retrieval. I really hope I can do it, that is late!

Congratulations goes out to our dear friends Jarrod & Magan! They are an aunt and uncle yet again, within 2 weeks! Welcome to the world, baby Chloe!

The retrieval is 100% going to be Friday at about 10:30am. We will let everyone know how it goes! Keep us in your prayers!

~Amy

Oh My Bison!

Good evening everyone! First, I will let everyone know that my retrieval date has been moved to Friday. I am actually excited about it, regardless of ONE MORE DAY OF THESE HORRID SHOTS!! You know when you are eating a meal during the holidays, and you know that you are full, but you take that last bite anyway and then you are sick? Well, that is how my body feels about all these drugs. My body has had it. It is the most bizarre feeling, and I know that I sound completely insane, but my body is just telling me, "No more medicine!" Thank God tomorrow night is the last night! Anyway... Friday is now the official day for the procedure. The good news is it will be one more day for my eggs to mature. Also, I have a big meeting on Thursday that I was afraid I would not be able to attend and it is a crucial part of my job, so all in all I am OK with it. Oh! Another positive is if everything goes as planned the babies will be implanted on Ash Wednesday. Nothing wrong with my babies being "conceived" on a Holy day!

Also, the big news in the Bradt family today is I am back to being a brunette. It is not super dark, but it is no longer blond. I am happy with it, my hair dresser is great. It is lower maintenance, and that is always a plus. As far what my husband thinks, it is a crap shoot. He used to have the biggest crush on Jessica Simpson, but now his love is Selma Hayek. He is across the board, so who knows. And, everyone who knows my husband knows that if I came home with green hair, he would tell me that he loved it (and probably mean it). He is pretty sweet.

So, I will end my blog with what I just saw. Apparently Chewbacca and Satan had a child and it is the new Thunder mascot. Seriously... have you seen it? What is wrong with Oklahoma? I am starting to think that our state takes pride in giving off the "Inbred-redneck" persona! If it is not the toothless wonder from the trailer park, usually in his undies, talking about the "nad'ar" that ripped through his and "his woman's" home (even though the tornado hit Oak Tree and $800,000+ homes) it is the trash that (Yes, all you OSU fans, I will say it) have never step foot in an OU classroom show up for the game (where of course, ESPN is televising) in their crimson painted bodies and mullets cheering for my Sooners. Oh! Another thing that I love is apparently the only talent we have, or can, ever produce in Oklahoma, are country-western lyricists that cannot write songs without using improper English. Another lovely stereotype.... Ugh. Back to my original thought.. what in the world does a bison have to do with thunder? If they had to think of some random animal to be the mascot because the franchise (the Thunder) cannot be represented, then maybe we should not have named the Thunder, the Thunder.

R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!

I will let everyone know how Friday goes.... unless it happens before then!
~Amy

Short & Sweet...

Today I had another appointment with my Reproductive Endocrinologist. Well, not mine, but her partner, Dr. Hansen. He was really nice. You can tell that he is highly intelligent and when I asked him why he chose fertility, he told me because it is so rewarding. Isn't that nice? He won me over. If anyone reading this blog has a friend, family member, or even personally needs some fertility help in the OKC area, I highly recommend this clinic. They are amazing. Here is the website, if you would like to check it out: http://www.okivf.com./ They also had to get my blood, through the forearm, because they cannot find my veins. I am telling you all, I am out of blood!! :)

Anyway, it was confirmed this morning that it is about a 90% chance that the 19th will be the day for egg retrieval. I am anxious, nervous, panicked, stressed, excited, the list could go on and on! I just hope that it is quick and easy and the Percocet knocks me out so my husband can get a little peace & quiet! I go to the doctor again tomorrow morning and I will let everyone know if there is a change, otherwise I will talk to you all Thursday.... if I am not to loopy!
~Amy

Blood, Blood and More Blood!

I am starting to think I might need a blood transfusion, or if I wear short sleeves people might think I have a drug problem. I have had my blood taken every 48 hours for the last 2 weeks. Just to give everyone an idea of what it is like for me, I have "hidden" veins, they roll and usually the phlebotomist has to use a butterfly needle. I have prick marks and bruises all over my arms, from elbow to wrist. Unfortunately, 90% of the time they have to take my blood out of a vein on my forearm. I am completely used to it, it just honestly looks like I am on heroin! So, this synopsis of my blood experiences brings me to Saturday. My husband has great veins. He used to give blood all the time. On the way to OBI we were concerned that I might pass out, or we might be there for hours due to the amount of blood being taken. Well, we get there and the lady prepares the usual... the ice bag under my neck, the reclining chair, asking me to take deep breaths, etc... Before I had time to ask her if I was about ready she was done! She was PHENOMENAL! I was so happy! My husband, on the other hand, took a long time. They had to switch arms and dig for veins. When we left, he was deflated. I honestly felt for the guy because I have been there sooooooooo many times!

We went back to the doctor today and she thought I was progressing very well. I am moving along at a fast pace, so she thinks that Thursday, the 19th, will be the date of my retrieval (if not sooner). We are still on for 24 eggs! That is so wonderful. If we have 24 eggs, hopefully 12 will be viable and then 6 will be good eggs. That is what I am praying for. Today at church, the sermon was about not being able to change what God has planned for us. It was another good lesson for us during this time in our life. I know that this process is ultimately out of our hands, so what He has planned for us, is what we have to accept.

Also today, we went furniture shopping AGAIN! I am burned out. I think that we are finished. At this point, if we are not, we will live like the Japanese and use pillows. My mom and I like to laugh at my husband because he has very ornate (sometimes gaudy) taste. We are not sure where he gets it. We went to El Paso Imports today and bought a buffet. It is really neat. All of their stuff is. It is very unique and all the furniture is imported from around the world. As soon as we walked in, my husband took off for the pieces that had the most carvings, metal embellishments, etc... I think he would thrive in India! All of our stuff is to be delivered to our new home on the 28th. If anyone is coming by and does not know which house it is, just look for the 4,000 delivery trucks with the disgruntled drivers because they are going to have to wait in line. I really did not think about this when we went on our furniture adventure. We literally have 4 different furniture stores, 1 appliance store and professional movers coming on Saturday. If anyone knows an air traffic controller that would not mind me borrowing his vest and lighted batons, will you let me know? You know how "un-organization" puts me over the edge!

Lastly, I want to show everyone what our friend Hilary got me for my procedure:

It is so sweet and it made me tear up when she gave it to me. (I have since cried reading it.) It is a wonderful shawl made by women at her church and I have ever intention of taking it with me when I go on Thursday.

I will keep you posted! Everything is going by so quickly, it is hard to remember which day it is!

~Amy

Happy Friday the 13th!

Since we will be at the Oklahoma Blood Institute for Valentines, I am celebrating today. This is what I received at work today:

I love my husband. I needed a pick-me-up and here he was to the rescue! Tonight we are also going to dinner with our friends Scott & Neilly. We will just celebrate the "Hallmark Holiday" tonight!

Last night was the worst thus far. I had a headache ALL DAY LONG. I dozed off and on although, I forced myself to be awake for 30 Rock. That show is hilarious. It is so politically incorrect, and that is what I love about it! I am a true believer that I have a little "Liz Lemon" in me. Today I feel pretty good, hopefully it will last for the next 5 days and then we should be done with the medicines! My stomach looks like a dart board but instead of holes in the board, I have bruises!

Today I had a follow up appointment with the doctor and everything is going great! They have not had to increase my dosage of medicine AT ALL! Good news! That means that my body is reacting perfectly to everything so far. I am just getting anxious to get this over with and see if it works! It is a little creepy/exciting/bizarre that I will know if I am pregnant or not in less than a month! We will find out more information about a date for the extraction on Sunday.

We got some more good news today about the quest for furniture. The furniture store found the bed I want and they can have it in by move-in day! Everything is falling into place. 2 weeks from today we will officially be "Edmond-ites!"

I hope everyone has a GREAT Valentines Weekend!

~Amy

Full Speed Ahead!

Yesterday, we received the results of Amy's most recent blood tests and everything is right where it needs to be. The next doctor's appointment is tomorrow with more blood tests over the weekend. The entire process is really picking up steam these days. I gave the shots on the go again last night. After work, we went furniture shopping for the new house. Amy handled the shots like a pro. We found our new mattress that was a steal. It is an adjustable bed with a wireless remote that also included a massage feature.

Today, Amy has been enduring her worst headache yet and it just will not go away. I feel so sorry for her. Headaches are the one thing that I cannot do anything for. On top of that, the shots really hurt her tonight. The day the shots end will not get here soon enough. We are spending the evening relaxing and watching the big Thursday night television rundown.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is already February 13. The retrieval is about a week out followed by implantation the next week. Tomorrow is also two weeks from closing on our house. We are getting super excited.

-Z

Hot Flashes and Power Flashes!

Well today has been an eventful day! First of all........

CONGRATULATIONS UNCLE JARROD & AUNT MAGAN!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the world baby Max and baby Maris!

Also, for those of our friends and family who are not in Oklahoma we had a ton of tornadoes today! I am keeping SE Oklahoma in my prayers because a pretty violent tornado is ripping through their area as we speak. The night tornadoes are always the worst! At about 2pm today our sirens went off and all employees had to make a mandatory evacuation to the basement. Let me tell you about that experience.... about 100 people in a room fit for 30! It was hot, there was no circulation, barf-ola! Finally after my husband texted me that it was at least 10 miles NW of us, women in their 50's and I left the basement and went into the parking garage to get some air. That is one thing I have in common with the ladies 50+...menopause symptoms! If anything, this experience will prepare me for that day! I am telling you, between the headaches and the hot flashes - Woo! Once in the parking garage I could get good service and called my husband. The only thing I wanted to know is - Was the tornado by our home????- Isn't that awful? Luckily, we escaped it by 1 mile! Yes, 1 mile! 1 mile east of us had damage! The Lord is watching out for me! He knows that could have put me into a straight-jacket!! After I knew my house was OK (Selfish, right?) I instantly thought of Magan and her family that were at the hospital with the newborns about 3 miles north of where the first tornado hit Chuck E. Cheese! Luckily she texted me back that they were all in the basement and the tornado missed them. Then, my final thought as I heard that they were not allowing any children to leave Edmond schools was my friend Hilary. She is an elementary teacher in Edmond and I was concerned for her as the tornado was heading her way. Now, of course I was worried about her safety, but her sanity as well. Can you imagine being locked up with a bunch of 8 and 9 year-olds for 2+ hours???? Hopefully she is taking a hot bath or having a margarita tonight... I will call her tomorrow and check on her once she decompresses!


On a lighter note, the shots went a little better tonight, I was more prepared for the internal fire in my abdomen. After the shot I cried, fanned my stomach and had my husband ice it down. I am not sure why that burns so bad, but it can make you fall to your knees!! Tomorrow I have a Dr.'s appointment to check my blood levels and make sure I am producing enough hormones for egg stimulation. If my blood does not show it, my mood swings will! Thank you guys for standing by me, we could not get through this without you!

~Amy

Oh - p.s. I love you too Aunt Jan!!! Thank you for being a GREAT aunt! :)

Three shots, two words... It SUCKS!

Ok. Today I am foul. I cried for about 30 minutes today at work because my job stresses me out. I did not just cry, I bawled. I just put my head down, like I was sleeping, and bawled my eyes out. All afternoon I had a headache and then it was time for the shots. The first one was not bad, I could not feel it at all. The second shot hurt, but it was not awful. The third shot, however, was horrible. I was warned by my doctor that it stings and most women complain about it and she was right. It hurt going in and then about 1 minute after the medicine was in, it felt like someone shot gasoline into my body and then lit a match. I was miserable. I am still cranky about it. Wednesday is my next doctors appointment, but it will not be anything exciting. They will check my hormone levels (via a blood draw) and then let me know where we stand. I am anxious to get some dates set in stone. I have a huge meeting on February 19th that I really do not want to miss. Anyway, I am going to sleep tonight and hope tomorrow is a better day.
~Amy

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Let me start tonight's blog by telling you about my mothers -success- at giving me my Friday night shot. Bless her heart.... she was panicked! She tried to put it in the first time and it bounced off of my skin, causing me to bleed. She was so nervous. On her second attempt, she did get it in but by the time it was time to actually administer the shot she was so distraught that she almost forgot to push through the medicine. She did a great job, but needless to say she is happy my husband is back!

Saturday my mother-in-law and I went to Affair of the Heart with our friends Tammi and Amy and Amy's PRECIOUS daughter, Elly. She has to be the cutest baby I have ever seen. She has the sweetest face, the greatest baby hair and the chunkiest thighs ever! Not only is she the prettiest little thing, she is a fantastic baby. She did not cry, whine, nothing. Just sweet. Everybody that saw her just could not get enough. Speaking of, there was this creepy lady that put her hands all over Elly and just would not stop. For -seriously- about 2 minutes I watched this woman rub, pinch, tickle, Ms. Elly and thought to myself, I am not going to handle this well when I have children. Amy handled it with grace, I am not so sure I have that in me. I might get pure ghetto when that happens! People like that creep me out. They rank right up there with the people that think their dogs are really human. Anyway, I had a great time. There is so much stuff there! I realized that it was a good thing that I was not pregnant or already had children, because I could have spent $1000 easily! I did get this cute sign to put up in our backyard.

After the Affair of the Heart, we had to go to our house inspection. We still LOVE it and I cannot wait to move in. My biggest dilemma to deal with in the house is: Do I paint or not? You know I love color, but this house is all painted a really cool taupe/khaki that I love. Since the home has such an open floor plan, I think that one color might be the way to go. I'm not sure, let me know what you think. My in-laws stayed and the "girls" went and bought fabric for a sofa and chair I am upholstering. After dinner they drove back to Watonga and I was sound asleep by 9:30!

Today we woke up and went to breakfast and church with our friends Jimmy and Jessica. We had a really nice time. After church my husband, Jimmy and I went furniture shopping. Ugh. As I get older, I hate to make decisions. Those who know me know I do not window shop and refuse to shop at 5 different places for what I am looking for. These enormous furniture stores, down by Reno, overwhelm me. My husband and I ended up going with my family to Ballengers Furniture in Edmond and bought some great pieces. My husband found a dining room table that was hard to detach him from. I imagine that it was something like what it will be like when our child is wanting candy they purposely put at the register aisle right before you check out. You know what I mean; parents pretty much need heavy equipment to pry the kid off! Anyway, it was fabulous but it was 48x96 excluding the 24'' leaf (which there were 2 of). This is still excluding the chairs, or the buffet for our china. It got so bad that my mother told my husband that if he found out the dimensions of our room, and it fit, she would buy it. Well, of course it didn't...He is still upset.

Tomorrow night starts 3 shots a night. Not-looking-forward-to-that! But, if it will bring me a baby, or babies, I would do it 5 times a night! I will keep you all posted. I am sitting here watching the Grammy's disgusted. How do these people make so much money to entertain and some of them are quite possibly the most ignorant people alive? That says a lot about our society. No wonder why other countries think that we are idiots, look at our representation! I have been thinking for the last 3 hours, "Where has all the good music gone?"
~Amy

Eggs Galore!

First of all, when they tell you that Lupron causes headaches, they are not kidding! I am going on 31 hours of having a headache that I cannot do anything about! Anyway, we had our doctors appointment this morning and received nothing but good news! It looks like I am on my way to producing 24 eggs! Now, before everyone starts freaking out and thinking that I am the next mother to octuplets, that does not mean that they all will mature or that even if they did I would be implanted with that many. My doctor will only put 2 fertilized eggs in at a time. Also, I am not trying to brag, but I have a great uterus... everything is going as planned!

So, here is my latest reason to freak out... My husband will be leaving at 9am tomorrow morning to fly to St. Louis to depose an expert in a medical malpractice case. He will not land back in OKC until 9:30PM!! Yeah, that means 2 1/2 hours AFTER I am supposed to receive my shot. So, that means Norms (my mom) will be the one to do it. Now, am I afraid that she will hurt me or that she will somehow mess it up? No.. she is my mom and I trust her 100%, however those of you who know my mom know how much of a scaredy-cat she is! Say your prayers! If Watonga was not so far away I would drive there and have my mother-in-law do it. Why? (1) She was a dental hygienist so she has experience with needles, medicine, etc... and (2) She raised two boys, one of whom (my husband) tried to show off for the older neighborhood girls on his bike (I guess he always liked older women) and had to get stitches in his forehead. Some high school kid carried him from the scene of the accident to her house where she opened the door to a bloody mess! What is a small needle to her, right?

We also went in today and signed all the paperwork for our home loan! 3 weeks from today we will be in it~ well from Saturday when the movers bring our stuff from storage~ We are pumped! If anyone is in Edmond on the 28th call us and come by! I am sure I will have food catered in for all of our generous friends and family (Have I mentioned how lucky we are??) that do not want me lifting, moving, etc... That will cause me to have a nervous breakdown; you all know that I hate to be still!


On a happier note, I have not cried today!
~Amy

Balanced vs. Unbalanced Translocations

I am answering a comment that was left on my last blog and I am glad it was brought up because it is confusing! We are going through this and barely understand it!! Let me see if I can explain this better. It gets to be so complicated that unless you love genetics, you cannot keep up!

I was born with a balanced translocation. People that have balanced translocations do not have any medical problems except that they have issues when it comes to reproduction. They will be able to tell with the biopsy whether the eggs are normal, have a balanced translocation (like me) or have an UNbalanced translocation. If that is the case, the chance of survival is very slim (this mostly due to where my chromosomes "switched places"). The amazing thing is that this was all determined by my doctor from taking my blood. Isn't that insane?

I have included a picture of a balanced translocation and an unbalanced translocation. Notice the difference in chromosomes. In the balanced translocation, there are still equal amounts of chromosomes (purple and pink), they are just out of order. In the unbalanced translocation, the purple amount is more than what the person should have and the pink amount is less, causing genetic abnormalities.

With my personal translocation, I think chromosomes 3 and 12, my eggs that are unbalanced have a VERY VERY VERY HIGH likelihood to be miscarried or still born (less than 1% survival rate). Every chromosome has different meaning, it is WAY over my head!

I hope this helps!
~Amy

Monday, Monday

Thank goodness Monday is almost over! Today felt like every bit of a Monday! I think the Lupron is starting to take a toll. Yesterday we went to church and lunch with our friends Jeremy and Melodie (and their PRECIOUS son Holden) and had a great time!

Speaking of churches, if anyone here in OKC has a good church that they recommend, will you comment us? We are trying to find "our" new church. First, let me say that it needs to be OK to let adults in the pre-K Sunday School class. Seriously, I need to go back to drawing Adam and Eve with my fellow under age 5, inexperienced brethren or singing the song "Rise and Shine and give God your glory,glory!" ....I think I still remember the moves.... Growing up Episcopal, I did not study the bible like my Baptist friends and when I learn a new story I feel like a imbecile! Yesterday in church I acted like I knew exactly what the preacher was talking about when he referred to the story of God trying to kill Moses, and then when we got in the car, I "outed" myself and felt much better when I was not the only one! So today, a coworker and I looked in her Bible and found it in Exodus 4, maybe 5, and then it went from God showing up with a knife to Moses' wife circumcising their son, and I thought, Yeah, I need to start back at "In the beginning, God created...."

Sorry, back to the original thought...as soon as we left lunch, like almost instantly, I began to get tired, cranky and had a crazy headache. It was bad timing too, because our friends Jarrod and Magan's little sister had her baby shower. She is pregnant with twins, due in March and is precious. She is such a petite little thing and is absolutely too cute pregnant. Jarrod's sister was also there (on her 3rd child) and looked like a pregnant supermodel. I thought to myself, "Yeah... these are the girls I will grow to despise when I look like someone added helium to every inch of my body." Some girls are just gorgeous pregnant! I really saw the glow on the ladies yesterday and I sure hope we get to experience that. I did not get to stay at the shower because I was feeling so bad and I did not want to be the "Negative Nancy" at the party. Instead, I came home and slept. When I woke up, at 5pm, I proceeded to cry at the simple sight of the Flight 1549 crew (Hudson River crash) on the field at pregame. When will it stop???

So, I talked to the doctor via his cell phone while he was in the airport in Memphis. (Hey, I am not complaining, at least he did not cancel his appointment again!!) He went over PGD with me and the risks. I feel like it was kind-of a waste of time. Not that I don't appreciate him talking to me, but I know the risks. The embryologist could damage the blastocyst while biopsying the cells. (That is a less than 1% chance); his clinic in Baltimore could misdiagnose a blastocyst and say that and egg is viable that is not- causing another miscarriage- (1 in 4502, so far). I will take those odds! The one thing that made me a little discouraged though was that he told me he will not be able to tell the difference between an egg with a balanced translocation (like me) or an egg with a normal chromosomal karyotype (like my husband, or anyone else). That made me sad because if we are blessed to have a baby, I would hate for him or her to have to go through what my husband and I are going through. The doctor did remind me that medicine will advance in the next 20 years and this might not even have to be a thought for our children. He also reminded me that 5 years ago, if I was trying to conceive there would be nothing that they could do for me. That put it into a more rational perspective. Then, my girlfriend at work, who is HYSTERICAL told me, "Girl.. ain't no thing, everybody gets something bad from their parents...some babies get big (explicit) noses from their parents and that is right on their face, or what about dumbo ears, have you thought of that?!" I just lost it! Thank God for humor!!
~Amy