3-D ultrasound ROCKS!




Vivienne is on the left (baby b)
&
 Hendrix is on the right (baby a)

Today was our 28 weeks check up and ultra sound appointment. As you can see we were able to get the 3-D ultra sound! How cool is that?!  I just cried when I saw them because they look so beautiful and perfect. Well I guess every mother and father say that about their children, but come on...look at them...they are super cute. hahehahehahe. 

Our appointment was great! I gained another 2 1/2 pounds. Vivienne's weight was 2 lbs. 6 oz. & Hendrix weighted at 2 lbs. 11 oz. which is right on target for where they need to be at 28 weeks.  My due date is still on 11/30 and as of now both babies are facing head down.  My doctor did suggest for me to invest in a tummy cradle for support. I did not want to do it at first, but with the extreme back pain I experience everyday I decided to take her advice. I will update you all on that when  I get it. Hopefully it works as well as my doctor says it does.

As for me I feel great minus my back pain. I stopped working on September 2nd due to doctors orders. It was so weird at first not working, but now I'm starting to enjoy it. ha. I just feel guilty seeing Ray go to work everyday. I feel like he should rest up too before the big event in November. Oh well...what is a mom-to-be suppose to do? hahaha. Here is a photo of my belly at 28 weeks...

I am getting HUGE!  Ray has big hands and my belly makes his hands look tiny. hahaha.  My doctor said I am measuring at 39 weeks which is FULL TERM. Oh myyyyyyy  I just have no idea what I am going to look like in 8 to 10 more weeks.  Most of my family and friends that I talk to say they don't think I will make it to 11/30, but for some odd reason I do. I guess time will only tell.

Well that is it for now. Love y'all!

-Jules

 

Strong HEARTS!!

As you all know in our last ultrasound post back in July we were going to have to have another level II ultrasound to check Vivienne's heart. Today was the day and her heart along with her brother's heart is STRONG and working perfectly!!!!!!! It was such a wonderful relief to have our doctor confirm that the babies were developing perfectly. Both Vivi and Hendrix looked so big. It amazed us to see how much they grew in one month. The ultrasound was very clear and we were able to have a better idea of what they looked like. I personally think Hendrix has his fathers nose. Vivi looked like she had nice full lips. If that is true we really have to thank Aunt Brittany for that one. hahaha. Here are two profile photos of the twins.

Hendrix is facing down and Vivienne is breech. When the ultrasound tech showed us a view of both babies Vivi was kicking Hendrix in the head. hahahahaha. They each weigh 1 pound 5 ounces. Our doctor said that each one weighed what a single pregnancy baby would weigh.


As for me I'm 24 weeks, but my belly is measuring 35weeks! My weight gain is normal although I have gained 24 pounds. So I guess you can say one pound per week. I was frightened when I saw my weight gain, but my doctor said that my weight gain is very healthy and normal for twins and not to be concerned. She said her average mom-to-be that is pregnant with just one baby can put on 25-30 pounds in the first 25 weeks. So considering that I'm pregnant with two babies versus one I'm doing really well with my weight gain. All I can say is from this point going forward I will walk onto the scale backwards. I don't want to see my weight "gain" anymore. It scared me. Some symptoms I have had are numbness in my feet and hands. When I wake up in the morning my hands are so numb to the point I can't feel them. My feet by the end of the day are so swollen that I have to prop them up. I can't fit into my shoes so flip flops have been my fashion statement for months. hahahehe. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when the cooler weather approaches New England. I guess I will wear my uggs. ha. Ray says I snore which I have never done before. I feel so bad for him because I make it difficult for him to sleep at night. When I told my doctor about these symptoms she said it was very normal for most pregnancies. I was also told that in the next four weeks I will need to stop driving so much and work from home. Please pray for me that my employer will allow this. If not I will have no choice but to go on disability earlier than expected. So I feel GREAT minus a few symptoms and I'm loving being pregnant!


Ray's update...stress (hahahahaha). Ray is busy working and then working more when he gets home and on the weekends. We finished painting our 3 rooms upstairs and tomorrow our new carpet for our family room, office, upstairs hallway and our staircase is being installed. Ray still has to put the rest of the nursery furniture together this weekend and then all that is left is decorating. YaY! We are so happy to get all of this done and out of the way before the twins arrive. Our good friends who just had their precious little baby girl gave us solid advice. They said, "get everything done and have your bag ready to go for the hospital. that way you will only have to focus on your babies when you come home." So that is our plan. Plus who knows when our babies will decide to arrive. I just think it is best to be done with it and relax before the storm comes. ha.


Our next doctors appointment is in two weeks for another check up and my ultra sound is in another month. I do have to go take a glucose test sometime between 9/7-9/21. I heard the dextrose drink I have to take is very sweet. From what I heard I drink this sweet drink, wait an hour, and then get my blood drawn. If the blood sugar value is elevated then I will have to schedule for a three hour glucose tolerance test. My doctor said approximately 20% of patients will need to go on to the three hour test. Only about 20% of the three hour patients will prove to have pregnancy related diabetes. She said usually a patient will only have to alter her diet and exercise to control pregnancy related diabetes and that it is quite unusual for a patient to need insulin. I am just not going to eat or drink anything with sugar in it for a few day before the test. I DO NOT want to take the three hour test. It sounds AWFUL. We promise to keep you updated with our appointment and of course our many ultrasounds.


Thank you for your prayers and support. We love y'all!


R&J

Pic of my belly

Here are a few photos of my belly. Also I included pictures of me and Papa (Ray's dad). We started a BELLY CONTEST back in the very beginning to see how long it took me to out grow his belly. It has been a fun time doing this contest. I think I'm now winning, but it did take me 22 weeks to out grow him. ha. Enjoy the photos.

Me at 22 weeks!

Me & Papa, 22 weeks, 8.14.10 -I think I'm winning now!

Me & Papa, 18 weeks, 7.14.10

Me & Papa, 9 weeks, 5.15.10

Me and Papa at 7 weeks, 5.1.10


Love,
Julie

Photos from TEXAS

Here a a few photos of our trip to TEXAS for our baby shower. Enjoy.




Mom, Jeff & Ray





Me & Ray

Our Cake. YUMMY.

Christina, Me, Jackie

Last but not least...all my beautiful friends in TEXAS. I LOVE Y'ALL so much. Thank you for all your support. Hendirx and Vivi are so lucky to have so many AUNTIES that love them. Ray and I will always remember all that you did for us. We had the BEST SHOWER and we have so many memories to share with our children.

We Love you all so much.

Ray & Jules

Level II Ultra Sound Photo, July 22, 2010

Here is the ultra sound photo of Hendrix and Vivi. This is at 20 weeks.

drum roll please...........

(The above was the cake-topper at our Texas baby shower!)

We are having a boy and a girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG we are so EXCITED! The thrill of knowing what our two little twins are is the most amazing feeling in the world. We can now call them by their names instead of twin A and twin B. Our sweet boy is Hendrix Ray, yes after the one and only Jimi Hendrix. Our precious little girl is Vivienne Lynne.

As for our appointment, both twins look wonderful and are perfectly healthy so far. Hendrix is 11oz and Vivi is 9oz. They looked so perfect in the ultrasound. Hendrix was waving and moving around non-stop and Vivi was giving us the thumbs up! hahahaha. As most of you know Brittany Lynne (my little sis AKA our egg donor) goes to school at Texas A&M. At this school Gig'em is what all the students and Aggie fans say to represent their school. When you say "Gig'em, Aggies!" you need to make a fist with your thumb extended straight up. (if you curious of this tradition check out this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions_of_Texas_A%26M_University) Anyway, our point is that little Vivienne is giving the thumbs up for her Aunt Brittany!

We do have to go back to get a second ultra sound next month just to double check Vivi's heart. The doctor said it is nothing to worry about, but today she was facing down and they couldn't get a clear picture of her heart. So please keep them in your prayers that they continue to grow strong and healthy.

As for us we can't stop smiling. Neither one of us have ever experienced this much joy. It was so exciting calling the grandparents on three-way so we could tell them all at the same time. I don't think I have ever heard my mom (who will be called YaYa) and Ray's mom (who we would like to be called Mamyte which is a very endearing way to say mom in Lithuanian) scream so loud. hahahaha. It was so awesome! Ray's dad (we're not sure what he will be called yet) was very excited too, but it was hard to hear him over the loud excitement of the two grandmas! hahahaha.

Thank you for all your emails, text messages and phone calls. We are so happy you all love us and our children so much. They are very lucky to be born into a life full of love.

Hugs & Kisses,
Ray & Jules

23 more days...

Well we didn't find out the sex yesterday. I got there and my doctor said it would be on July 22nd instead. We were so bummed. I guess I misunderstood the doctor when I scheduled my appointments. Oh well...we all just have to wait...

Other news...Ray did not get the job in NJ so we will remain in NEW ENGLAND! It was bitter sweet when it happened. We were sad that Ray didn't get his promotion, but very happy we didn't have to leave our beautiful home to move into god knows what in Jersey. We were very sad that we didn't get to move closer to our family (which would be wonderful since we are having babies), but happy that we have developed such great friendships with people in CT and know that they are always here to lend a helping hand. We were both bummed out because this Jersey job would have allowed me to be home with our children, but so grateful that we both have two wonderful mothers who have committed to help us out no matter what. So now even with me going back to work my mom and my Ray's mom (my mom too) have made plans to help us for as long as we need. THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM's. We LOVE y'all. Regardless of what we wanted we always know God has a plan for us. We have learned through experiences like this that we need to stay faithful and keep positive because something good is coming our way (it always does when doors close on us).

As for me I am doing well. I started feeling better after month 3, but that didn't last for very long. Last Tuesday I had an emergency visit to the ER. I had a horrible migraine that worsened throughout the day and by 9:30pm it was so bad Ray and I decided to call the on call doctor to see what we need to do. To both of our surprise we were told to head straight to the ER because I could be hyperstimulating and migraines are a sign of this condition. We had no idea what the meaning was for hyperstimulation so for others that don't know here is a definition:Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a complication from some forms of fertility medication. Most cases are mild, but a small proportion is severe. Since severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of assisted reproduction, the focus of attention in such cases is placed firmly upon the health of the patient, with the endeavour to achieve a pregnancy being considered of secondary importance. Now keep in mind this is the WORSE case scenario and my doctor just wanted to play it safe and make sure it was not OHSS and it was just a migraine (A really bad migraine). My doctor checked me and the babies out to make sure everything was OK. Ray and I did get a chance to see them in another ultrasound and it was so awesome. We saw their ribs and spine. They were moving around and one was kicking the other one in the head (well that is what it looked like to us and the doc). I was given a med called Phenergan for headache and nausea. I really started feeling so much better when I took that med. Around 3am we were sent home. It was a long and crazy night and poor Ray worked the entire day. As for me my doctor put me on bed rest for 48 hours.

Now my headaches continued and thank God I had my Phenergan to help reduce them before they got so severe like on Tuesday. Both the ER doc and my OBGYN said that migraines are common in pregnancy if you have had them in the past. As the days went on and I kept getting these headaches I started to notice one of my upper crowns were killing me. So I went to the dentist and sure enough there was something wrong with it. YAY...I think I figured out why I was getting all my headaches! There was a gap behind one of my crowns and well...this could be too much info, but here it goes...and food was getting stuck in it. YUCK! So my dentist (well my dentist is in GREECE for two weeks and this was her wonderful dad! Nicki I love your dad. You too. ha.) cleaned it up and fixed it. So ask me if I'm having headaches....NO SIR. :) So I'm started to feel better and sure enough I think I have an ear infection. hahahahaha. Honestly does it ever stop? I'm just staying positive and hoping that this ear thing will pass too.

Ray and I leave on Sunday to go to TEXAS! We are so excited to see our southern family and friends. I am however a little bummed because my doctor told me once I'm there to limit my travel. With everything that I have been going through and with being high-risk pregnancy she would prefer me to rest more than travel to be on the safe side. So due to that I can't travel the Lone Star State to see all my family. Hopefully they will all be able to come to me. I mean I did travel from New England so that is more than half way. hahaha. My sister, mom and a few of my best friends who I love so much are throwing us a baby shower on July 11th! We just want to say THANK YOU to all of y'all! We love you so much. Another thing we are looking forward to is my mom's gorgeous back yard with pool. That is where Ray and I will chill for most of our vacation. We will come back to New England with beautiful tans (hopefully no burns) and relaxed ready to start the game plans to prepare our home and lives for the two newest members of our family! OMG...I'm so excited!

Well that is the Mykolaitis/Twin update for now. I will post again on July 22nd with the exciting news! Until then we wish you all a wonderful 4th of July! God Bless America!

Listen to JMykolaitiss Playlist

Our Babies are Growing!!

This is the last week (week 12) of my first trimester. Next Tuesday marks the beginning of my second trimester (13 weeks)!!!!!!! Time is flying by and the twins are growing so much. Most of my early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue have subsided.

As for our babies their fingerprints have formed on their tiny fingertips, their veins and organs are clearly visible through their still-thin skin, and their bodies are starting to catch up with their heads — which makes up just a third of their body size now. If we are having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Both babies are almost 3 inches long and the size of a peach weighing nearly an ounce each. Their intestines, which have been growing inside the umbilical cord, are now starting their trek to their permanent position in their abdomen. Also, their vocal cords are developing. We are so amazed every week how much growing and developing they do and it is all inside my growing tummy. Speaking of my tummy all I will say is POT BELLY. hahahahahahaha.

Last Tuesday was our 12 week ultra sound. Check out the photos. On the top is both twins. Twin B is to the left and Twin A is on the bottom right. The next photo is twin A. It might be hard to see, but if you look close you can see her/him look right at you. Below this photo is Twin B. Now look close...the head is on the right pointing down and again he/she is looking at us. Also to the left are his/her feet they are crossed. HOW COOL IS THAT?!!! hahahahaha. We just love it! Oh yeah, one more thing... it looked like Twin B tried to punch Twin A through the membrane wall that separates them while we were watching! Our doctor laughed and said, "Looks like they're fighting already!!!". Freaking awesome.

This appointment was so special. Ray's mom and dad drove up from New Jersey to see the ultrasound. It was dad's first time ever to see an ultra sound and mom said she has only seen a few of them. Both of them were so excited to be there. Mom cried and dad...well dad did not have much of a reaction. hahaha. I think he was a bit confused on what was going on. No matter what they both were so happy and now they are even more excited and thrilled to be GRANDPARENTS! Now I need to get my mom and Jeff up here to join us for an ultrasound!!!!

Our next appointment is on June 29th and we think this might be the ONE were we can find out what sex they are!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know...I know...God only gives us so many suprises and some family and friends say, "why find out?". Well here is what we think...FIRST we are suprised. TWINS...let's say we are super suprised. SECOND we feel like what is the difference in finding out in four weeks or 6 more months. Boy? Girl? We really don't care as long as they are healthy. With everything going on in our lives...moving to NJ again (maybe? we will know hopefully in a few days.), our jobs, our busy schedules, we just need to be as prepared as we can be and have everything done for these wonderful babies so when they get here we can focus on them. With that being said hopefully the next time we blog we will be able to introduce you to our twins by their names!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One more thing...we would like to send a few blessing out to a few close friends. Jason & Jennifer we are so EXCITED for your new addition to "our" family...JORDAN!!! We can't wait for you to have her and we can't wait to hold her. Only three more weeks! Joe & Carisa we are on pins and needles waiting for Oliva to join "our" family too. The end of July seems so far away, but it will be here sooner than we think. One request...PLEASE don't have her while we are in TEXAS. We love both of y'all so much and we can't wait to see our two beautiful little girls.

Hugs,

R&J

The greatest little sounds...

This is from babycenter.com...How your baby's growing:Though your babies are barely the size of a kumquat- a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your babies have now completed the most critical portion of their development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature. They are swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. Their hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over Their heart, and their feet may be long enough to meet in front of their body. The outline of their spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Their forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of their body. From crown to rump, there are about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your babies will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.
_______________________________________________________________________
We are just in such amazement every day reading and learning about the development of our babies. Yesterday was such a thrill going seeing them again in our 2nd ultra sound. We heard their hearts beating so fast. It was the greatest sound we have ever heard. I instantly started crying and Ray jumped out of his chair as if he was bit by something. We both were hit with such excitement and it did not matter what type of day we were having after that our day was perfect. These little blessing have already improved our lives. We just could not stop smiling for the rest of the day.

Monday is our first appointment with our OBGYN. We are not sure if we will get an ultra sound, but if not I'm sure we will have many more in our future. :)

Love you all so much and thanks for all your prayers. We are doing GREAT!

Ray & Jules

Initials OUT...

OK...so I started our blog using the initials of everyone involved to keep them all private from people who we don't know that are reading our story. Well for some of my family members the blog had been a bit confusing. Sorry Y'ALL. So now I have decided to just be as open as I ever was, but with real names. hahahahaha. Hopefully those who had a hard time following my blog will now have an easier read. I hope they will start enjoying all the updates like the rest of you. :)

I will be 9 weeks on Tuesday! Time is flying by. I am so ready to start looking like a pregnant women instead of a "fat" woman. :) I am in that weird stage where my clothes are super tight, but my maternity clothes are a little big. My entire body is changing and some of it is not in a good way. I don't care because I am with child/children and could not be any happier. Matter of fact I cry every so often because I am so happy. I have everything I ever wanted, my health, my husband (who by the way is the most wonderful man in the world), I'm pregnant and the list just keeps going on and on. I hate that I'm about to say this, but I keep getting this horrible feeling that something is going to go wrong because I am so happy. My life is complete and it never has been before. I guess I am so used to dreaming of having this life and now that I have it I'm so scared it will go away. I told this to one of my closest girlfriends and she said it is normal to have these feelings especially when you are pregnant. She said she had the weirdest feelings during her pregnancy and also had very vivid weird dreams. I hope she is right.

As for our appointments we have one on Tuesday the 11th with our IVF doctor. I think it is another ultra sound and more blood work. Then the following week on 5.17 we have our first appointment with my OBGYN! Ray (DH) is making sure to be at every single appointment. He has been by my side the entire way. We will post our new photos from our ultra sound for you all to see.

ONE MORE THING...I would like to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms & moms-to-be! I pray that God will bless you all and your beautiful families. I love you and I am so blessed to have such wonderful, strong and loving woman to look up too as I start my journey as a mom.

Jules

Please meet Twin A & Twin B...

Meet out two little bundles of joy! The first photo at the top right is both Twin A & Twin B. As you can see they are Fraternal Twins. (What Does Fraternal Mean?
You'll find just about everything you need to know about fraternal twins here. We've also gathered together some facts and stats to help you understand this part of the twin world.
Fraternal twins make up approximately 75% of the twin population and can be boy/boy, girl/girl, or boy/girl sets. Fraternal, or "dizygotic", twins happen when Mom releases two eggs (either at the same or different times during her cycle), and different sperm fertilize each egg. Fraternal twins share up to 50% of their genes, and are no more alike or different than any two siblings would be. The similarity between fraternal twins can be close to identical - there are many fraternal twins that look identical - even more identical than some identical twins!
The difference between fraternal and identical twins is that fraternal twins are two separate eggs fertilized by two separate sperm to form two separate embryos and then make two separate babies. Identical twins are formed when one fertilized egg divides into two separate embryos to make two babies.) Directly below that photo is Twin A and to the right of that is Twin B. Dr. B said Twin A has a heartbeat of 140 and Twin B has a heartbeat of 131 which is perfect! Everything seems to look perfect!

DH and I are super excited and still on cloud 9. However we both agree that our parents in TX and NJ are showing a little more excitement then we are. hahahaha.

Our next appointment for our second Ultra Sound is on May 11th with our IVF doctor. We think this will be our last IVF appointment and then we will head off to my OBGYN. We don't know the sex of our twins, but hope to find out in the next four to six weeks. We promise to blog right away when we do find out.

Thank you again for all your support and prayers. We are so blessed so have you all in our lives. WE LOVE Y'ALL!

DH & Jules

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU, baby Jesus!

POSITIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all DH and I are so sorry for the delay in our posting. Since Tuesday life has been a dream for us. Most of you all ready know that our blood work came back POSITIVE, but for all of you who have not heard please forgive us for our late update.

We want to think you all for all your prayers, support and positive energy that you all have sent our way. DH and I always knew how lucky we were to have such great family and friends, but we have been completely overwhelmed with the love and support most of you have shown. God is GOOD and he has been GOOD to us. AMEN!

I had another blood test today and everything came back looking perfect as my nurse would say! I will go back again next Thursday for more blood work and in 4 1/2 weeks I have my first ultra sound.

We promise to keep the blog updated at all times! Love y'all so much!

J

The Big Day!!

Hey, everyone. Sorry for not updating you all in a few days, but as you can imagine it's been extremely hectic.

So, since the Retrieval of BLT's amazing 24 eggs on Tuesday, we found out on Wednesday that 20 were mature and 15 fetilized! This was also great news.

More shots and meds for Jules every day since....

Since the Transfer was today, Friday, and BLT leaves for Texas on Saturday morning, last night was the last night for the three of us to hang out since Julie now has to be laid-up for 48 hours (more to come on that below). But first:

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Some fun photos from last night. I took my two favorite ladies out for a fun night before the BIG day!

(So excited for tomorrow. 3.25.10)

(BLT & DH trying to take pictures. 3.25.10 )

(BLT and DH enjoying a wonderful shot of saki)

(The Power of Three enjoying a fun night out before transfer day!)

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Here are some photos from this morning we would like to share with all of you. Enjoy.

(Happy parents-to-be in waiting room waiting to go in for surgery 3.26.10)

(waiting to go into surgery room. 3.26.10)

(make up on...check. hair done...check. check. pray like crazy this will not hurt and most of all work. CHECK. CHECK. CHECK. OK...ready to rock and roll. 3.26.10)

(time: 10:50 am on 3.26.10. Jules after surgery. Meet my babies momma! The doctors have her head tilted down and feet up.)

(3.26.10-Happy parents-to-be! Yes, DH and wife are crying like babies.)

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So, we also know for sure that we have at least three more embryos that will be frozen for potential future use, with the possibility of a few more over the next two days. We'll have the final count on Monday.

Jules has to chill on the couch for the weekend (which I won't mind helping her with!) to make sure everything works out well.

NOW, we have to wait for the official pregnancy test on April 6th. It's going to be a long week+, but with everyone's prayers we know it's going to work out.

We'll keep everyone updated and much love to you all!!

DH

PS...

In honor of my two beautiful ladies...LOVE Y'ALL!

AND...

(meet our little EMBRYOS! They are an 8 cell count. That is really good for those of you who don't know what that means.)

Two Donzen Eggs! Oh My! :)

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Hippity, hoppity,Easter's on its way...
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Oh YES! 24 EGGS we got from our beautiful little donor today! 24! We really could not be any happier at the success of our retrieval today. All our doctors and nurses had smiles as wide as Texas when they walked out of the surgical room earlier. BLT is recovering well. She has been sleeping since we arrived back home from the hospital. Sis is in good spirits and so are we.

Our donor nurse told us that we will find out how many of the 24 eggs become embryos sometime tomorrow. It only takes ONE good one to make a baby. We (DH and I) have to make one more trip to the hospital tomorrow for ME to give blood just to make sure all my levels are ready for the transfer. Everything seems to be on track, BUT I have learned not to count my chicks before they hatch. So far so good Dr. B said to us today!

Thank you so much to EVERYONE for all your prayers and positive energy that you have sent our way. We love you all and are so grateful!

I will be in touch on Friday!

-----------------------------------------------
Now in spirit of Easter I will finish my song...

Bringing' every girl and boy
Baskets full of Easter joy,
Things to make your Easter bright and gay.
He's got jellybeans for Tommy,Colored eggs for sister Sue,
There's an orchid for your Mommy And an Easter bonnet, too.

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,Happy Easter day.

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Look at him stop, and listen to him say:
"Try to do the things you should."
Maybe if you're extra good,
He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way.

You'll wake up on Easter morning
And you'll know that he was there
When you find those chocolate bunnies
That he's hiding everywhere.

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Happy Easter day.
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I LOVE this time of year! LENT, DH and I got married in April and hopefully we will make a baby in the spring!

Peace, LOVE, Happiness!

BABY MAKING TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring is knocking at our door here in New England. Our beautiful bulbs are about to bloom and all our trees are coming back to life. This is why I LOVE living up here. No offence to my TEXAS friends and family. Texas will always be my first love.

Time has flown by so fast with our journey to blissful parenthood. It seems like yesterday DH and I were talking to BLT about being our egg donor and now come Friday, March 26th (just one week away) I will have my embryo transfer! Excitement does not even describe what we are feeling. We are all walking on cloud 9 and praying for the best outcome possible.

BLT got here last Friday, March 12th and she will be leaving Saturday, March 27th. DH and I are having so much fun spending time with her it will be very hard to say good bye. No fights, No arguments, NOTHING! We are getting along so wonderfully it is very surprising to us all especially with all the situations we are dealing with on a day to day basics.

I have heard that when people conceive they sometimes get very forgetful and I have heard it called “baby brain”. Well I have a question…can you get “baby brain” without being with child? Hahahaha. The reason I ask is because I am so forgetful these days. BLT had to take two flights to get up here. Well I looked at her schedule and told DH we have to be at the airport early to get a good spot to hold our welcome sign I made for my sis. Yep…DH is going crazy already. Anyway…we leave with Layla (this is Layla on the car ride there)

and we start our half hour drive to get there in time. As we pull up to the parking area I check out the flight information and realize that the time I was looking at was when she landing in Ohio for her connecting flight and she would not be here for another 3 ½ hours. Well this was DH on the drive home…

Hahaha. He is trying so hard not to get upset. Mom and Daddy O would be so proud.

So we go home and we start off three hours later for our second trip to pick up our babies egg donor.

STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When BLT arrived DH and I were holding up a sign that said “The Power of Three Let It Be! We LOVE you BLT!” This was her face when she saw it.

I have to say it was a GREAT sign. Sorry I don’t have a photo of it. Needless to say when BLT got here we all got in a better mood (all meaning DH) and from that moment on we have been enjoying each other so much.

Every day either BLT, DH or myself are making trips to the hospital to have blood work, ultrasounds and being prodded and poked left and right. Not to forget all the SHOTS and MEDICATIONS we all have to take. It is scary to think about what we are putting our bodies through, but we all have strong faith knowing God is carrying us the entire way.

There are so many different medications for sis and I to take that we really have to stay super organized so we don’t mess up. Here is what the dresser in BLT’s room looks like.

My room looks similar. DH has to give me shots in my derriere and I even put a guide on the wall in our room for him to follow so he does not mess up. This will give you all an idea of where I have to receive my injections.

OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Not a fun way to wake up in the morning. Although I really can’t complain since I have to give sis a shot every morning at 9am and every evening at 8pm of two different meds. She is such a trooper through all of this.

Our donor nurse tells us everyday how beautiful BLT’s ovaries look. She has given them names like lil’ rascals, feisty lil’ ovaries and today’s new name was good looking bee hives. Hahahahaha. Our nurse is GREAT and she has a wonderful way of putting a smile on all of our faces no matter what kind of day we are having and believe me that is very important.

Tomorrow DH is taking me to get my ultra sound and blood work. We are looking for my lovely uterus to be a level 8 (we still don't know what that means). Dr. B has me on not one, not two, BUT FOUR vivelle dot patches (estradiol). This medication truly makes me feel horrible. I have had one ER visit two weeks ago while working a HUGE event for my job and I feel so emotional at all times. I cry all the time and then I am laughing. I just don’t understand how women do this more than once. I really hope this works the first time.

BLT goes to the doctor on Saturday then again on Sunday to monitor her levels. She will have blood work and ultrasounds each visit. We were told Sunday would be her TRIGGER DAY (that is the day she starts her THIRD injection to start the retrieval process). Our donor nurse said she would not be surprised if her trigger day is Saturday instead because her body is responding so well to all the meds. Now if SUNDAY, March 21 is her trigger day then BLT’s surgery for egg retrieval will be Tuesday, March 23rd and my embryo transfer will be Friday, March 26th. 11 days later (April 6th) will be the blood work and results confirming pregnancy (hopefully).

Well it is time for me to go and give BLT her night-time belly shot. We will keep you all posted as the week goes on.

Love Y'ALL!

Did someone say multiples?! What?

Today was my last follow-up appointment before the "real deal" appointment. Dr. B had to check to see if my uterus had grown enough for the embryo transfer. I want to back the bus up and tell y'all that in the beginning of this journey we were told that my uterus was small, and Dr. B was worried about transferring one embryo not to even think about doing two. He said that he was worried even with taking the proper drugs he did not know if my uterus would grow. Well with all the months of taking HRT (hormone replacement therapy) my lovely little uterus has grown triple in size. Dr. B did the trial transfer test today, and was very surprised to see a large "normal size" healthy uterus. :) He looked up and said well...do you two want to try for twins? hahahahaha. Yep no joke. Ray and I looked at each other and said, SURE. :) So now we are cleared to transfer TWO not one but TWO embryos! Yeah! Our friends J&E said this is the way to go. That is what they did and now they have two beautiful baby boys. This does not mean twins will be the end result. It does mean that we have a much greater chance of ONE embryo working. However Dr. B did say it does increase the chances of having a multiple births. Ummm one baby GREAT, twins great great...more than two babies...not so great...kind of scary just thinking about it.

Week of appointments GOD help us!

So BLT flew up here two weeks ago. Her first appointment was 1/11/09 and everyday for the next five days she was at our infertility clinic being violated by Dr. B, Nurse C and not to forget our therapist Dr. MCJ. BLT was in and out of appointments and she was such a good sport about it. Thanks again sis. :)

Going through this process IVF with using an egg donor is like going on a blind date. You have NO IDEA if it will work out. ha! First someone had to donate their eggs. (check) Then we had to get that person here for numerous doctor's appointments. (check) Bloodwork done at certian times. (check.) Not to forget that our donor had to be a good match. Meaning have healthy eggs. (check. check. check.) Let me just say BLT will have NO PROBLEM at all when she wants to conceive. hahahaha. She is a walking baby maker. hahahahahaha. Thank the LORD! Just so you know if non of this lined up then we would not be moving forward. I don't want to be a crazy religious person, but I have to say I do thank God everyday for the blessings we receive. I truly feel without God we would not be on this beautiful path to parenthood. Through our faith we have found strength to not break down or give up in this process. Financially we are stressed. Emotionally we are stressed. Physically I am stressed. The only way this is even somewhat enjoyable is by the GRACE of GOD.

With all the appointments, stress and just being completely overwhelmed our week togeather was actually a wonderful week. My DH and I really enjoyed spending time with our lil' sis. She really has blossmed into a beautiful young woman. She is so smart, talanted, funny and intriguing. Just thinking about what our baby will be like gives me butterflies in my stomach. (I mean that in an great way.) Being that our week of appointments went well we are now just couting the days until BLT returns for egg retrieval and embryo transfer. We are not 100% on the exact dates, but our Donor Nurse thinks we will do the egg retrieval on 3/24 and the embryo transfer on 3/27 or 3/29. Either way if it all works out I should be pregant by the end of March! OMG I feel like I'm dreaming. :)

So many people tell me not to get my hopes up. They tell me that it might not work. Well I don't care. I know it might not work, but IT MIGHT WORK and that is what I choose to believe. Why should I think negatively? POSITIVE. POSITIVE. POSITIVE. That is the only way I choose to live. Whatever happens God will give us all strength to survive through it. I am more scared of it working too well then it not working. hahaha. Or should I say my DH is scared. hahahaha.

Well I will keep you all updated dear family and friends as we take this wild ride. Please pray for us. We love you all.

So it begins...

I have known since I was 19 that there would be challenges for me to conceive a child. It was a hard reality to face being a young woman still in high school, but with the love and support of my mom and sister along with close friends I got through those dark moments.

When I met my DH I was very upfront about my infertility. If I remember correctly I told him there was a chance I would not be able to have children, and if that would be an issue for him this was his opportunity to walk away with no hurt feelings. Amazingly he didn't walk away. He has always from that very day been encouraging and supportive towards me and my fear of not being able to start a family.

So here we are almost 10 years of being with each other (8 of those years we have been married) and we are starting our adventure to expand our family. We considered adoption and that is still a dream that we will have one day, but we really wanted to try and have our "own" baby first. Call me selfish, but I wanted to experience pregnancy, breast feeding and every moment of creating a child. I just wanted to try to conceive and then later on down the road I would love to adopt.

Our first appointment with our infertility doctor was 11/20/09. We were so nervous. DH and I both could not sleep the night before. We were so EXCITED! We both knew what would happen. We knew from past doctors visits that my ovaries were small and the chance of me using my own eggs were slim to none, but of course we had our hopes of being able to use my eggs. So when our doctor (let me just call him Dr. B for BABY) told us we would need an egg donor it did not shock us as much as you would think. Yes, I cried a lot. However I knew that I had so many wonderful women in my life that offered to be our egg donor. That reminds me to thank J. Wacky Hall, H. Chea-Chong, B. Mann, My Soul Sister, M. Taylor and my cousin E for always offering up their eggs for donation. We love y'all and will always remember your generous offer. Luckily we did not have to take our friends up on their offer to help us because we had our very own BLT, our lil' sis, who was willing to step up to help us make our baby. :) Tears...always tears when I think of how my lil' sis has given us such an amazing gift. She will never know how much this means to my DH and I. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you BLT for everything. We love you.