Husband 5

Big day tomorrow.  Only one thing to do tomorrow, but it's a big thing.  Have to be to the Dr. in Highland Park at 7:15 in the morning, so we need to leave here by about 5:45 at the latest.  5:30 is a much better scenario though.  I took off Monday from work so that I could be with her all day.  Hopefully everything goes as planned.  Carli has to take her Valium, or whatever it is, at about 6:45 so that she can be nice and calm when she gets there and not the nervous wreck she would be if she just came in.  Hopefully it has the desired effect and keeps her in a relaxed state because tomorrow is it.

We are going to ask them to take a picture, but I will hopefully get to watch on a monitor when they actually take the fertilized egg and put it where it's supposed to go!  I'm hoping we can put two in, to really increase our chances, but the Dr. is probably going to recommend only one because she is a firm believer in no twins.  She has them and I think that's why.  But then again twins runs in both of our families.  My grandpa is a twin and so are Carli's aunts. I think it would be pretty awesome to have them, but that's just me.

On a sad note, we found out Thursday that Carli's uncle Frank passed away.  I was able to get to know Frank a little bit because when I was job searching a couple years ago, Joe asked me to paint his whole place.  It was an interesting time and Frank was an interesting guy.  I don't think he would have hurt a fly. 

RIP Frank Bero.

Corn out.

In just 3 words...

I waited patiently for the Dr to call yesterday. On Wednesday they called at 9:30 so I assumed Thursday would be the same. Umm no. They didn't call me until 4!!!
And the 3 words that made my day...DAY 5 TRANSFER!!!
Such great news! Not that Day 3 would have been bad but Day 5 means the quality of our embryos are really good.
So, we go in Sunday for the transfer. They will call tomorrow with the time and directions for medication.
Katie took Kylee for the weekend so we can get caught up on everything. THANK YOU!!!

Keep our fingers crossed

Yesterday was the retrieval. It went very good. I see Nick explained how it all went.
I am home today just resting. Feels good to take it easy and to be told to take it easy is even better!
The office called today and said that out of 20 eggs retrieved 16 were mature and 15 made it through the first day of fertilization. GREAT NEWS!!!!!!! We are tentatively set for a Day 5 transfer which is great. That is what we want. There is still a possibility we could have to go for a Day 3 transfer but lets hope and pray they make it through the next step. We will know for sure tomorrow.
Lets keep our fingers crossed that the rest of this continues to go as wonderful as it has gone to this point.
Oh and ps...I want the street name for what they used to put me under. All I remember is thinking 10 seconds after she gave the medicine to me was, this worked fast and I was out.
Woke up in the recovery room. AMAZING!!! 

Husband 4

What a four day weekend!  Four days, three Dr. appointments, two trips to Highland Park, one trip to Glenview, and a partridge in a pear tree......

Today was day four.  The second to last step on this hopeful destination.  The curtain rose at 6 AM in Highland Park and we were told 36 hours ago so we had to rush to get things set.  Between getting Kylee taken care of and sleeping at the in-laws there was a lot to take care of.  Andy to the rescue.  Sarah said she would take care of it but that would mean getting Kylee out of her routine and that was something that we didn't want to do.  Andy drove all the way back from Cleveland and got to Bob's place got in his car and drove all the way out here.  Talk about coming through in the clutch.  On the plus side we spent the whole day cleaning, and changing sheets and whatnot so the house was in good order.

Left the Bero compound at 4:56 AM and got to Highland Park at about 5:45.  Got taken into the back area where they had Carli put on her gown and stuff and I got to see her naked butt.  Always a good start to the day!  That's when they went over the medication schedule and all that jazz.  Shortly after at about 6:20 they took me back to take care of my business.  Earlier in the process they told us that they wished that guys would come in and do a sample to freeze in case they had trouble producing on the day off.  Well needless to say I was confident that wouldn't be a problem so I naturally told them no.  Well as they are leading me back to the room, I walk in to it and there is NO TV, NO DVD player.  Nothing but 3 playboys and 1 penthouse.  All of them are over 3 years old and in disgusting condition!  I naturally panicked!  Let me just tell you that it is one of the toughest things to do.  I was able to take care of business and was out of there at 6:28. 

At around 6:40 or so the Dr. came in.  I thought she was just a shadow because in all of the times I have gone with I have never heard or seen her once.  It was nice to actually meet the woman that could possibly help us conceive.  They took Carli back and about 15 minutes later the Dr. came back and said that everything had gone perfect.  Carli came 5 minutes later.  They laid her in the chair and she slept for a good 20 minutes.  After she woke up they came in and told us they had retrieved 20 eggs!  What a relief!

There are a couple things that I have learned during this process.  First and foremost, my wife is something incredible.  I love her more every moment of the day, and to have gone through this and not end up in the Elgin Mental Health Center is something amazing.  Second is that Kylee will be an incredible big sister when she is finally given that opportunity.  She has been so good throughout the whole process.  She is always ready to help with the alcohol prep, or holding the paper towel if the shots gave out a little bit of blood.  I can't wait to see how awesome she is going to be as a big sister.

More to come in a couple days.  Tomorrow we will find out how the cultures are growing and what day we can expect to come in for the transfer.  Hopefully it will be 5 days meaning that everything has gone as planned!

Night before

Tomorrow is the big day. I am getting a little nervous. Maybe it is because I have never had to be put under before. I just don't know what to expect. The whole process will only take about 20 minutes so that is good.
Kylee will be in good hands, Uncle Andy is staying over here and getting her up and on the bus. Thank you so much Brother!!
We will be staying at my parents tonight. It will save us a half hour tomorrow morning. Not sure how traffic will be at 5 am. On Sunday we got there in just about an hour..
I will check back in tomorrow or Wednesday. Wish me luck...

We made it

I have been to the Dr 5 days in the past week. 4 of those in a row. Very tiring... 830 am in Glenview Saturday and today was 7 am in Highland Park. We are all so exhausted and Kylee is our little trooper.
We got good news today...RETRIEVAL IS SET for 6 am Tuesday morning in Highland Park. Holy early!!! Nick took the day off so it couldn't have worked out better. Now we have to figure out who we can have be at our house by 430 am when we have to leave to get Kylee up and on the bus. 2 options, my Mom stays overnight here and we stay at her house and Sarah has offered to take Kylee overnight tomorrow night and will get her ready for school and drop her off. Either one is asking a lot of somebody and is incredible that Sarah has offered something that could be quite a difficult task with a 4 month old. 
I need to close my eyes for a few minutes. I am sleepy!!

Keeps getting better

I have been to the doctor 3 times this week. Each time the news is even better than the day before.
Every nurse that I have seen or talked to said that everything is going great. I went in Tuesday, Thursday and then back today. The results yesterday were so good that I was told to stop taking one shot. The nurse said my ovaries are "rockstars". I can't even begin to tell you how great that makes me feel.
Shots are still going well. Kylee helped Nick the other day give me one and last night she said she is sorry it hurts and thank you for doing this for her. I would love to get in her little mind and see what she thinks about all of this.

All 3 shots.
 Left is the Lupron, Middle is Gonal F (FSH Shot), and the one on the right, Menopur (FSH shot, this one burns)

This weekend is Labor Day. We will not be going to the Cabin. I will probably have an appointment tomorrow in Glenview for another ultrasound and blood work.

I am so very excited for all of this and it's happening so fast...