Baby Miano IVF Update-Day 5-First Monitoring Appointment

Oh Happy Day All!!  I have been a human pin cushion for the past 4 days and I finally got to go for my first monitoring appointment today to see what is going on inside!

Let's back up......we were able to finally start the IVF meds last Saturday night.  This consists of shots to my lower abdomen every night.  Shots that are going to make my follicles (where the egg is produced) grow and multiply.  The more follicles the better, as when I go in for retrieval, we want as many as possible to fertilize.  This increases our odds of getting pregnant!

The shots have been rough, painful and bruising me.  My husband gives them to me.  He has been incredible.  Incredible!! He has gone to the store and gotten healthy foods, he has taken care of our pups when I feel horrible, keeping up with the house, rubbing my feet.....He is just the sweetest, kindest man.  He keeps telling me he loves me and is proud of what I am going through.  I can only imagine how great he will be when we get pregnant :)

This is possibly the hardest thing I have ever done.  Mentally and physically.  I am scared of needles, so the anxiety every night is pretty intense.  But today I got to find out if it was working.  And it is.  I have 2 small follicles on my left ovary and 2 small on my right.  But I also have 2 large on my right. One at 16 cm and one at 12 cm.  Estrogen is rising nicely at 572.  So now 2 shots in the belly for the next 3 days and off for labs again!

The retrieval of these follicles will be performed surgically next week.  Not sure on the exact date yet.  They will put me under and remove all the follicles.  We will then fertilize them and wait for 3 to 5 days.  The ones that fertilize and are the "best of the bunch" so to speak, will be implanted.

We want to implant two.  God willing, we will get two to implant.  The goal is to have a healthy child, not to get pregnant, so the battle has truly just begun.  But so far I have learned a lot about myself.  I have learned I will do whatever it takes to become a mother and my husband will do whatever it takes, too.  My mother has been my rock throughout this.  Her and my girlfriend Heather check on me daily and talk it all out with me.  Even looking up tips for me!  It truly means the world.  Because in between the mood swings, bloating, headaches, stomach aches and hot flashes, the end result is the most precious gift I could ever ask for.  I truly hope it happens for us this time.

Thanks for following us on our journey to Baby Miano xoxo

If you have any advice, suggestions or feedback, please let me know!

Have a great day! xo

Our Journey for Baby Miano

I just wanted to write a quick blog post and let you all know that although I do a lot of beauty reviews (most requested by readers), my vision for my blog has always been to talk about whatever is going on in my life and what I love and share it with the world.  And the most important thing in my life, and my husband's, has been trying to get pregnant.  So going forward, I do plan on journaling our journey to making that dream come true.  I hope I do not lose any followers by doing so and in fact hope I gain some.  1 in every 10 couples have problems conceiving and I wish more people talked about it.  It took me a while to confide in people about the issues I was having and once I did it helped so much.  But support groups an forums can only do so much.  And while I know I have people in my circle, being able to write my feelings and my pain as raw as it can be sometimes helps, it has always helped.

The reason this is starting now is because my employer provided insurance plan (BCBS of Florida) never covered fertility treatment, only diagnostic.  And last year my gyne said that we would be a great candidate for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).  We just found a plan through BCBS of Illinois that will cover fertility treatment (after meeting our large deductible) and will be starting the process in January.   Thank god for state mandated coverage.

Let me back up,  I was diagnosed with endometriosis before I was 20.  I was not worried about ever having children until I was married, so just went through the motions.  To date, I have had 5 surgeries for cysts, etc.....which has left me with a lot of scar tissue and I still have those cysts in my uterus. Those things have been making conception quite difficult.  I have been with my husband for about 9 years and we have been TTC for over 3.  Trying to conceive for over a year with no luck, gives you the medical diagnosis of infertility.  We go for our consult with Chicago IVF on December 9th and I am so anxious to get this started.  Although we have had all necessary testing done with my gyne, we will do them all over again so they are all up to date.  Then when all the results come back, we will meet with the doctor for a treatment plan.

On average, one round of IVF can cost $12,000 before medication and that can cost up to $5,000. Why don't we adopt??  Adoption can cost $10,000 to $25,000.  Without insurance, we never would have been able to even try.  And this plan will only cover 4 rounds annually. This is a huge investment, both financially and emotionally but it may be our only shot at ever having a child.  The good news is that at age 35, there is a 50% chance of pregnancy.

I am more nervous then I have ever been in my life.  I am scared of more failure and I am scared of success.  I am afraid of getting my hopes up and being excited and I am afraid of being too pessimistic.  I am a whirlwind of emotions and have been for the past 3 years.  It is an all consuming desire to become a mother and give my husband a child and my mother a grandchild.  It is always on my mind from the minute I wake up until I go to bed.  I yearn for what I was created to do and it is utterly taking every ounce of strength that I have to fight so hard for it.  But I will do whatever it takes, we will do whatever it takes.  And I hope that you follow us on this journey, get some information, provide insight and suggestions when you can and enjoy my ramblings.

Thank you and have a great day!! xo