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!

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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.