As 2015 comes to a close I can't help but reflect on the year that is now nearly behind us. In 2014 we started our journey with Dr. Nelson and the team at Huntington Reproductive Center. After 6 failed rounds of clomid, we knew that our next option was IVF. I was terrified of IVF and wanted some time to think about this. So we took a break...went to Hawaii for New Years and came back ready to tackle the scariness of IVF.
After a couple of consultation appointments and trying to regulate my body we started the process in March. My first shot, which I am sure some of you remember reading about was at a family friends house during a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner! The third day of shots was in the back of the SUV in the parking lot of the Wedding venue for our friends. Needless to say I quickly got over my fear of needles and self injection.
Our retrieval went well; we got 10, but come transfer day on 4 made it, so two were transferred... 2 girls. Yes we already knew the gender. Three girls and one boy in the freezer! Sadly, we were heart broken several weeks later when we learned that the transfer was not successful.
Rather then jump right back into things (hey I had two more embabies in the freezer still) we took some time off. Our doctor was having his own medical concerns and was off work for some time. As the end of summer neared we started our process for the frozen embryo transfer. Lots of shots and oral medications to prepare my body for this transfer. Like the first time I didn't care where I was when it was time for the shots...I did one shot at an Angel's baseball game with my parents on either side of me and another shot at the Cubs v Dodgers game on the smoking patio! I know, at this point I was telling my husband we were going to have a boy and he's going to be a baseball player!
Then we stopped sharing the news of where exactly we were in the process, we shared everything about round 1 IVF and I felt a little jinxed so this time, we stopped sharing the blow by blow process. Finally in September we were ready for the transfer of our two little embabies. Took a few days off of work and transferred...then the dreaded two week wait to see if it worked. There were several scary moments during that time; ones that lead to me breaking down in full blown hysterics, apologizing for not being able to get pregnant and crying my eyes out. It was awful. Through all of this my husband was the biggest rock! I don't know what I would have done without him.
We finally got through the two week wait and BOOM - we're pregnant!! Yeah!! We were so excited, we were...well, words cannot describe the feeling and emotions of the moment. We had a baby growing and that baby had a good strong heart beat.
I then went each week for testing and ultrasounds to make sure we were progressing and crossing my fingers for "graduation day" - the day in which Dr. Nelson and team send me off to my OB-GYN. The day finally came during week 9.
I continued with medications (and weekly lab visits) through week 14. And one medication through 16 weeks 4 days. Finally, free (as I write this I still have two more days of medication).
I have seen my OB-GYN twice now and have another appointment coming up tomorrow. However, on my appointment in early December they asked if I wanted to know the gender through one of the required blood tests, we said yes. They said it would take about two weeks for results. Finally a few days before Christmas we found out our sweet bundle of joy is a BOY!!! We couldn't be more excited. We wanted to wait and share the news with our families on Christmas day, but we couldn't wait! We told them that night.
Christmas was a special day, sweet Baby Boy G received wonderful love (and gifts) from his grandparents, aunties and uncles. Our favorite of all was a custom Mike Trout Angel's Baseball Jersey that my dad was SUPER EXCITED about. Aunt Julie and Uncle Brian also hooked him up with his first baseball glove - of course it's an Angel's one!
I can't begin to thank those who have continued to think of us, pray for us and be kind to us through our journey. It was a tough and long road and we couldn't have gotten through it without all the love and support. For that we are truly grateful.
As we enter 2016 we can't wait for the year ahead. Baby Boy G will be arriving in June and our lives will change so drastically, but we are ready and can't wait for him to be here. Here's to parenthood and lives forever changed.
