Yesterday Corey and I had our IVF class in Little Rock! This is the day it all really begins.  Here's us in the car, right before we went inside.  We are feeling good and feeling ready.  Let's do this!!

The first thing we did was meet with the IVF coordinator, Debbie.  She walked us through the entire process, step by step. She is a pretty funny, slightly cranky older lady who has been doing this for 30-some years! We sat in her office and talked for about an hour. She explained things and we asked questions.  The main topics were when and how to take the various medications,  when labs and ultrasounds would be done and what to expect on egg retrieval day and embryo transfer day.  It was a lot of information to take in, but it is really nice to know what to expect and have a pretty good idea what the next month is going to look like!  

 Below is my medication schedule.  4 different kinds of pills, 3 different kinds of shots and 1 vaginal suppository.  All I can say is, it should be super fun! Hopefully all of these hormones, steroids, needle sticks and vaginal ultrasounds don't turn me into a green eyed monster!  I've had a lot of medications and procedures in the past several years, but never this many of both in this short of time.  Just be glad you're not me (or my husband) right now.  Ha ha!

After we signed all the consents, Debbie took us out to the lab area and drew our blood.  For me this blood work was to test for Hepatitis B & C, HIV, Rubella titer and blood type/screen.  For Corey it was for Hep B and HIV.  This is the first time in the 4 years we have been trying to have a baby that Corey has actually had to get something done to his body!  I was kind of excited that he got to be a pin cushion with me for a change ;)  I hate to say that guys have it easy when it comes to infertility... but guys have it easy when it comes to infertility.  But I guess he does have to put up with me, so it's not a complete walk in the park!  

We then went into the procedure room so that the doctor could perform a few tests on me.  The first thing he did was a vaginal ultrasound to look at my uterus and ovaries.  He measured my uterine lining.  Then looking at the ovaries, we found that my left ovary had a few small cysts on it and my right ovary had one larger cyst.  He said if that cyst on the right ovary does not disappear over the next few weeks, it may delay things a bit because it is too large to ignore.  If that ends up being the case, I would have to take a certain medication (lupron shot) a week longer and may end up having to come back down there to have the cyst surgically drained. All of this would delay the process about 1-2 weeks.  But he feels pretty confident that it will shrink down on its own and we will be able to stay on our current schedule.  The next thing he did was a "trial transfer."  What this means is he threaded a catheter through my cervix and into my uterus to make sure it went in easily without any resistance and also used it to measure the depth of the uterine cavity. The last test was a hydrosonography.  He injected saline into my uterus to evaluate my uterine cavity and make sure there were no polyps and that all of the edges appeared smooth.  Everything looked good, but man that was an uncomfortable 15 minutes!  I survived though. 

After that was all done, we went into his office and talked for a few minutes and that was it for our first official day of this IVF cycle.  Oh wait, I almost forgot the most painful part.... when we paid our $1,500 down payment on the way out the door.  Ouch!!  It will be worth it, it will be worth it, it will be worth it....

Here are some really neat pictures from Debbie's office.  Top left is an egg (way smaller than a period on a page).  Bottom left and top right are sperm fertilizing an egg.  Middle right is a fertilized egg.  All 3 middle pictures are early stage embryos that are multiplying (zygotes).  Bottom right is a blastocyst, which is an embryo about 5 days after fertilization, consisting of a few dozen cells.  They like to wait until day 5, when the embryo looks like that, to transfer the embryo to the mother.  But if the embryos are not thriving in the incubator, they will be transferred sooner, on day 3, before they get to this point.  

All very fascinating isn't it?  I'm blown away by the intricacy of new life being created.  Our God is an awesome God!  He is the giver of life and of all good things.  

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  Psalm 139:13-16

"Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you.  Before you were born I set you apart..." Jeremiah 1:5