Two Thousand Ten

Everyone else on TV or in the blogging world seems to be doing a yearly review... so I thought I'd join in on the fun! Since this blog is called MorgansRoadToParenthood, I thought my review should look back at the past year of our infertility journey.

January | ... still trying

February | I had my first divine appointment with Dr. Powell. Yes, divine. I believe whole heartedly that this appointment was one arranged by God. I had a battery of blood tests done, and Nathan had his first and only infertility test... checking in with "Grade A" goods.

March | I had my first infertility related test, an ultrasound, and another appointment with Dr. Powell, which I was advised to started charting my temperature at the same time every single morning.

April | ... more charting {Nathan turned 24}

May | I had another appointment with Dr. Powell where she started me on Metformin for suspected PCOS. Dr. Powell was unsure I had PCOS, but said I was more on the borderline of having it. I tolerated the Metformin well, and it actually seemed to give me an amazing energy boost in the first couple of weeks. Dr. Powell also schedule my Hysterosalpinogram, HSG, which was scheduled and done at the end of the month. You may remember how this procedure sent my to my absolute pain threshold. This month, I realized how solid of a rock Nathan would be throughout this journey. The HSG also was huge in finding the cause of our infertility, two blocked fallopian tubes. We were told IVF was our only option, treatment wise.

June | ... more Metformin and time to process our diagnosis.

July | I had my final appointment with Dr. Powell to discuss the HSG and the next steps we'd be taking. She told me a little bit about IVF, mostly scary stuff, and said it'd likely be 6-12 months before we'd be able to begin treatment. At the end of the month, I had my first appointment with Dr. Shamma at IVF Michigan where we were given great hope and chances of success... 60-80% chance of success. I also started birth control (funny, huh?!) {3 days later, we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary!}

August | This month marked the beginning of our first IVF attempt with four appointments in two weeks. We also started the shots! And I had my first of three IVF surgeries, this one being called a 'test run.'

September | This was the most eventful month of IVF. Tons of shots, appointments, blood work, and ultrasounds. The first weekend of the month, while we were Up North with Ryan and Angie, I had my first bout of IVF related pain, which included an after hours call to the nurse on call. Then came the trigger shot, which I accidentally fell asleep for and ended up in a panic because I took it an hour late and I accidentally over diluted it! This incident included another call at midnight to the on call nurse. The trigger shot is the shot that signaled the eggs to mature in prep for travel! Two days later came the egg retrieval... 14 eggs retrieved, 7 mature enough for fertilization, 6 matured into embryos. Over the next six days, I began experiencing symptoms of hyperstimmulation which sent me to the ER and included a few more after hours calls to the nurse. This was a very scary time, but again I saw what a strong and supportive husband I have. The hyperstimming subsided enough for us to continue on with the transfer six days post retrieval. We decided to transfer one embryo instead of two as we had originally planned because of the hyperstimming and risk for further complications with the more embryos transferred.

Then came two weeks of blood tests and waiting. On Sept. 28th I went in to the office for my pregnancy blood test at 8:00 am. I waited all day, certain the results would be negative. I even wrote a letter to myself, consoling myself and encouraging myself to push on ahead if our first attempt was not a success. That afternoon, we received the call. Pregnant!

October | This was an exciting month as we first saw my hormone levels steadily climbing, then as we saw something so tiny via ultrasound begin to grow. We also got to see our baby's heartbeat!

November | This month was also very exciting as I graduated out of Dr. Shamma's care and into the care of my midwife, Lynda to continue my pregnancy as any other normal woman would. I also made it through the first trimester without an ounce of morning sickness! I also was very excited to have my first appointment with Lynda this month, which I couldn't have been more pleased with... especially since we finally got to hear our baby's heartbeat!

December | This was a wonderfully normal month. No worries or scares. I began feeling the baby's movements this month! And ended the year at 18 weeks pregnant on the very last day of the month.

In a matter of 12 months, we went from ... still trying through infertility diagnosis onto to IVF and ended the year 18 weeks into my pregnancy. While 2009 did hold some major ups and downs in other areas, we cannot deny that God has been so good to us. He made 2009 a year we would never, ever forget. A year in which he gave us a miracle. And I could never accurately express how truly thankful we are to God and to our Moms and Dads, family, and friends who supported us through such an uncertain and amazing time in our lives. We know this baby will be born into a family of people who will unconditionally love and support him or her.

As for our hopes and dreams for 2010. Our first hope is that we will welcome a beautiful, healthy spring baby into the world. Our second hope is that God will open a door back to Bowling Green, KY. Our third hope is God would continue to mold and shape us in to the Mommy and Daddy he needs ands wants us to be for our coming child.

***And we were so grateful to be able to celebrate the New Year with my Mom and Dad who ventured Up North to negative temperatures to be with us. Our time with our family is always cherished!***