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
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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! :)
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! :)
Monday, February 9, 2009
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
~Amy
Sunday, February 8, 2009
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!
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
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
Thursday, February 5, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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.
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, February 2, 2009
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
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
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