10dp5dt

Hi everyone!  First of all, I need to apologize for the late posting.  Especially after my transfer.  A lot has happened since my last post more than a week ago, so I wanted to get this out right away before I forget.  My only main excuse is that I have been sick.  I have this terrible cough that has gotten worse since I got back from my trip to TN.

Anyway, I still owe you a post about my transfer, but that will be another post.  I promise.

But here's what's been happening:

• Today I am 10dp5dt (10 days post 5 day transfer)
• According to this due date calculator, I am officially 4 weeks 1 day pregnant.  
• This week we had a beautiful funeral service for Babe's grandma.  Though it was a bitterly cold and windy day.
• On Sunday, which was 4dp5dt, I had some pretty strong cramping like my period was coming.  I also spotted for a day or so.  I believe this is a sign of the embryos implanting into my uterus.  It's a good sign!  I don't think I've ever had implantation cramping or spotting before in my previous IVFs.
• My PIO shots have been getting better.  I think we in the beginning we were injecting a little too low and I was sitting on my injection sites.  Now we are aiming a little higher.  The other day, Babe hit a blood vessel on my left side.  I knew something was wrong right away because the shot hurt.  He found blood when he drew the plunger up to check for blood.  He just pulled the needle out and injected another site.  Fortunately no blood shot out like I've heard in some stories.  However, that left a HUGE bump and a nasty bruise.  It still hurts after a few days but has gotten a little better.  Then on my other (right) side, one of the injection sites left a huge lump.  Not huge in diameter, but it was tall/high.  I have nicknamed this bump "Mount Vesuvius" (don't ask me why).   I was sure everyone could see I have this lump through my pants.  This too has gotten better after a few days.  But between those two huge lumps, and the other twice daily shots, I constantly feel like someone stuck 2 bean bags down the back of my pants!
• I have not been able to sleep well since I started my PIO shots.  Because of my sore butt, I have been trying to sleep on my front which does not work for me at all.  Every so often I am able to fall asleep on my side without laying my injection sites.  This means I sleep in a weird angle, and my back has been sore.  And when I wake up in the mornings, my back and butt are just so sore I can barely walk.  In addition, because of my weird sleeping angle, I've had cramps in my left calf in the middle of the night or in the morning.  Those are still sore till this day.
• We have had to tell both my brother-in-law (Babe's brother) and his wife about our embryo adoption.  Babe went hunting last weekend and this weekend, so BIL and SIL have been my backup shot givers.  They are both nurses and live not too far away, so they were the best choice for us.  We made them promise not to tell anyone about this, unless/until it works.
• Currently I am sick.  If you remember, I had a cough that would not go away, and I was worried it would impact my surgery and transfer.  After we got back from our trip to NEDC, my cough worsened.  It is so bad, it sounds terrible and super loud, it's scary.  It's also different from before because this time, there is wheezing comes from deep in my chest.  And when I cough my whole body is just so worn out.  I went to the doctor's the other day and because there I may be pregnant, they could not do a chest x-ray on me.  Instead, they drew my blood and did a white blood cell count instead.  The count was elevated indicating I had a bacterial infection.  So they sent me home with antibiotics, nebulizers and an inhaler.  I go back on Wednesday for a follow up appointment, but to be honest, I have not felt any better.   I hope things get better soon because I am so worn out from all the coughing.
• With me being sick, we stayed home for Thanksgiving this year.  This is the first time we have not spent the Thanksgiving holiday with family or friends.  But it was nice because I got to just rest and not worry about infecting others with my cough.
• My beta is scheduled for 10:30 am on Monday.  Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, I have to wait until Monday instead of Friday.  I have not tested at home yet though I could have yesterday.  And to be honest, I don't really have a desire to test.  Maybe because I am sick.  But mostly because I have had negative experiences with POAS.  I used to always get my period an hour or so right after I POAS.  So, I'm just going to wait it out.  It's hard because just about every gal on the embryo adoption/donation group on FB who tested at home or had their betas are pregnant.  Here I'm thinking, someone's gonna have to be the statistic.  Someone has to have the negative pregnancy test.  It's probably going to be me Plus I have not had ANY pregnancy symptoms.  None.  Nada.  Zip.  But I am also aware a lot of people don't have any symptoms until much later.  So in the mean time, I am going to try enjoy being PUPO.

You may notice that I edited a few of my last posts.  Babe is concerned that I had too many identifying information and circumstances, so I edited it to keep the posts confidential.  It's hard to blog anonymously while trying to give a complete story.

Anyway, I will be working on my much delayed post about my transfer at NEDC next.  Stay tuned!

Walking The Streets Of Gold

**Edited - Removed identifying information for confidentiality**

Babe's grandma went home to be with the Lord yesterday.  We got the call when we were on the road driving home to MN.

Even though we are sad that she has passed, Babe and I are grateful that she didn't die on Wednesday, our embryo transfer day. That would have been really difficult for us. 

Grandma was quite a character. Though not highly educated, she was sharp, witty and had a lot of spunk. She would watch people like a hawk and noticed the smallest details.  In fact when Babe and I were first engaged, we were at a family dinner. She was the first to notice my engagement ring!  She was very competitive when it came to games which we played a lot.  She didn't mess around and spoke her mind as she pleased. But she loved her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. 

We will miss her terribly!  I was privileged enough to spend over a decade knowing her, and helping take care of her during the last days of her life. 

Grandma, we miss you already but I bet you are having a great time dancing a polka with Grandpa!

PUPO - The Short Version

I thought I'd do a quick update, a short version as I know some people may be waiting for details. My MacBook which I brought with me o this trip, the battery decided to die on me. So I am using my phone to do a quick update.  I will writer another post later with more details. 

NEDC thawed 3 embryos from our first choice donor family. Unfortunately only 2 survived. Two "excellent quality" ( quoting the embryologist) embryos were transferred. One was graded 6AA and was fully hatched. The other was 4AA.  Dr. Keenan said the transfer went "perfectly" without a hitch. 

We are driving home to MN tomorrow.  Grandma is still hanging on.  I'm glad because I did not want her to die on the day of our transfer. 

I will write another post later with more details when I am on a computer.  I'll include my babies' first photo too. 

Today I'm PUPO!!  Pregnant until proven otherwise. 

First beta is on December 2nd.

On Our Way To Knoxville

**Edited - Removed identifying information for confidentiality**

We started our drive to NECDC this morning.  We are currently spending the night in Indiana with my friends that we were supposed to meet up yesterday.  I guess it worked out good because there were some major storms in this part of the country.  It just so worked out that we are still able to meet up with them.  So we are about halfway there. Tomorrow we will have another 8 hours of driving to TN. 

We spent time with Grandma yesterday. That was probably the las time we will see her alive. She had not been eating or drinking for a few days, so the nurse though she only had a few more days left.  We are prepared if she goes but we really don't know when she will leave this earth.  Only God knows. 

My PIO shots have been a challenge. Here I thought we were doing so well after our first shot. But my butt was really sore that night. In fact that first injection site still hurts now.  I think it hurts more than the other shots since the first one. I don't have a problem with the physical action of the needle sticking in my butt. It's the after that hurts.  I feel the lumps in my butt and they hurt all the time. It hurts to sit down, and then when you have say down, it hurts to get up. 

The worst part for me is getting in and out of the car.  Or trying to climb into bed at night, and out of it in the morning.  On our drive this morning we took a bathroom break and stopped at a rest stop.  I could barely walk!  And that was just after sitting for 3 hours!!  It was taking me so long to walk to the restroom I was worried I wasn't going to make in time!  Needless to say I was in a lot of pain today. And tomorrow I have another 8 hours to sit on my very sore butt. 

Ahhh.... the dreaded PIO.  Five down, only 20+ more to go before the pregnancy test. And then *hopefully* (if I'm pregnant), another 2 more months of twice daily shots!

A Kink In Our Trip

**Edited - Removed identifying information for confidentiality**

We are encountering a kink in our trip.  We were supposed to start our drive to Knoxville tomorrow (Sunday) morning with the intention to stop one night in Indiana to visit a high school friend and her family.  We have decided to skip that and not leave tomorrow, and skip seeing my friend.  We may leave on Monday instead.

Babe's elderly grandma entered the hospice program.  She has heart failure and at her age, they will not be doing anything major to help with the heart failure.  Not sure you are familiar with the hospice program, but it is pretty much end of life care.  The goal is to keep a person as comfortable as possible until she is ready to leave this world.

Yesterday the nurse told us that he thinks Grandma only has a couple of days left to live.  We are saddened by this but also know that it is her time.  Grandpa also live a very long life, so they spent many many years together.  Grandpa passed away a few years ago and Grandma has been missing him terribly since.  Babe was very close to his grandparents.  He was probably the closest grandchild to them, not distance wise, but quality time wise.  He spent many many hours with them.  It's so funny to see how much of Grandma and Grandpa is ingrained in Babe.  So it is important for us to be there for Grandma.

With this latest development, we have decided to wait and see how things play out tonight and tomorrow.  We will most likely still leave for Knoxville on Monday.  It has been interesting because we told the family we are going through the Chicago area to visit some friends.  But now that there's a possibility that Grandma may be leaving us anytime, we have had to tell Babe's family that really we are driving all the way to TN for "adoption related" stuff.  We have never told Babe's family about embryo adoption, but just that we are adopting.   We only plan to tell them if it works, and only after we safely pass the first trimester.

I think for a while there, the family thought it was weird that we would still go out of town to visit friends at this critical time.  We have now told them that this visit is time sensitive and cannot really be changed.   Because my transfer is on Wednesday, and there is a 24-hour bed rest, we won't be able to leave until Thursday morning.  That means the earliest we can be home for a funeral would be Friday, with us driving 14 hours straight.  If worse comes to worse, we will just start driving home for the funeral after the transfer on Wednesday (and go against NEDC's policy) if we need to.

Right now, we have no idea how long Grandma will remain with us.  She could leave us tonight, or she could be here for another week.  I have spoken to Babe's aunt who is the primary care giver about our situation and she assures us that she understands.

For for now, we continue to wait and see how things play out.  If nothing changes tomorrow, we will plan on driving to Knoxville on Monday.

Please keep Grandma and Babe's family in prayer.  Also, pray for us as we figure out all this.  This is a difficult time for us as we want to be excited for the transfer, but at the same time, we are preparing ourselves to say good bye to Grandma.  Pray for God's perfect timing in all this.

Thanks everyone!

Mammo, PIO... Oh My!

I had an interesting day yesterday.  I had a post-op follow-up appointment for my surgery to remove polyps in my uterus.  Everything looked good, and I found out I actually more than one polyp though they were pretty small.  So everything should be all set.  I also asked the doctor about if I should have a mammogram done.  I had called the clinic a couple of weeks earlier asking if I should schedule one now since I had just turned 40 in August, or if I should wait till my next annual physical in April.  I also mentioned that I may getting pregnant soon with a frozen embryo transfer.  When I spoke to the nurse then she said I could probably wait till next year to do it.

Anyway, back to my appointment.  When I asked the doctor about it, he suggested we should just get it done right away.  Like the same day.  He wanted to be safe and get it done now.  If I were to get pregnant, they won't do a mammogram as it is an x-ray procedure.  I won't be able to get one while breastfeeding either.  So, I may be 41 or 42 before I could have one done.  He said we could probably wait, but why take the chance when we could take care of it right away.

Wow!  My first mammogram!  And an unexpected one too.

So, the doc had the nurse walk me about 50 feet down the hall to the imaging clinic right next door and they were able to get me in right away.  It was a new experience for me.  I've heard lots of horror stories about getting a mammogram.  I didn't know what to expect.  Usually, I am pretty well prepared and researched for anything new.  But the technician was very nice and explained everything to me, step by step.

All I can say is that it was not excruciatingly painful, but it was pretty uncomfortable.  But I am glad that is done and over with.  I will get a letter in the mail with the results and any follow-up steps if needed.

Image from http://www.funnypart.com/funny/mammogram.shtml

I started my PIO shots this morning.  I have been super nervous about it.  Of all the things about the embryo transfer process, this is what worries me the most.  At NEDC, you take the PIO shots 5 days before your transfer, and then continue until your pregnancy test.  If you are pregnant, you continue taking the shots for 10 - 12 weeks.  In my past IVFs, I have never done PIO shots.  Instead, I have always used the progesterone suppositories.

Babe has been super excited to "shoot me"!  This morning, I started off by warming up the heating pad (buckwheat filled pillow/pad) in the microwave.  I also have a smaller rice filled pad that I heated up as well.  I used the heating pad on my butt while warming up the bottle of PIO in the rice pad.  I read somewhere to warm up the oil as it will help thin it out and makes it easier to inject.  I filled the syringe with the 18G needle and made sure there was 1 CC of PIO. Then I switched out the 18G needle with the 22G needle.  

I laid on my bed on my front and told Babe to let me know when he was ready.  I made sure to exhale when he quickly stuck the needle in me.  I felt it go in, but no pain.  It was kind of ticklish actually since he was being gentle and careful.  He even let go of the syringe and let it stick straight up, with no hands!  Then he pulled the plunger back a little to check to make sure it did not draw up any blood.  If there were blood, it would mean that he struck a blood vessel and he would have to pull out the syringe, change the needle and stick me again.  Luckily there was no blood.  So he SLOWLY injected the PIO.  I showed him a couple of videos of where people injected really slow.  I told tell he was counting under his breath.  He's so detail oriented like that, and that's why I love him!

When he was done injecting all the oil, he left the syringe in for couple of seconds before pulling it out.  I then rubbed the site vigorously for a few seconds.  He put a bandaid on, and then I put the heating pad on and rubbed it for a few minutes.  And to be extra safe, I used a handheld massager on the spot for a few minutes.

I can honestly say it was a breeze.  All the worrying for nothing.  The worst part of it was Babe's freezing hands!  He really seem to enjoy doing this.  I think it gives him an active role in the whole process.  In the past, I did all the shots myself except for the intramuscular trigger shot for my IVFs.  The whole morning, I did not have any pain and barely even remembered I had a PIO shot. 

However, this afternoon, about 6 hours later, I can tell my butt is sore.  I guess it is not going to be as easy as I thought.  I read somewhere, after a week, you can REALLY feel it.  Oh well, it will all be worth it eventually.  I hope.

Here's to TWO firsts for me.  A mammogram and my first PIO shot!

I leave you with a couple photos of my PIO and the needles used (sorry they are not of the best quality).  The top one (18G) is used for drawing the oil into the syringe.  The bottom one (22G) is the one used to inject the oil.  Notice the huge size difference in the needle!  You have to make sure you don't forget the change the needle before injecting, or you could be in a lot of pain!

PIO, and the two needles used

Top needle used to draw the oil, bottom used for injecting.  See the difference in size?

We are a GO for November Transfer!!

We are a GO for November transfer!!  

Sorry if you have been waiting all day for an update.  I had my ultrasound and blood work this morning.  My lining was at 9.3 mm, so I knew it was looking good.  But I had to wait for my blood work results to come back and the clinic had to fax the results over to NEDC before I would hear anything back from Katie, the NEDC nurse.

After my appointment, I met up with some ladies from our infertility/adoption group for lunch.  It was really nice to catch up with everyone.  We had met about 3 years ago in the infertility support group and now all the ladies have baby girls, with the exception of Katie who adopted embryos, who has a set of boy/girl twins.  It was so fun to catch up, see the babies and just see how far we have all come.  I am the only one yet to have a baby, so everyone was super supportive and just very excited for my upcoming transfer.

By 3 pm, I still had not heard from NEDC, so I called and left a message with Katie.  I also called my local clinic to make sure the results had been faxed over since they had an issue with getting the fax to go through back in September.  The clinic assured me they had already faxed it and it went through just fine.  So I called and left another message.  By 5 pm I had given up hope that I would hear from Katie (as it was 6 pm at NEDC) and just assumed that I would get a call tomorrow.  I was pleasantly surprised to get a call after 5 pm from Katie.  I was happy and excited to hear from her.  I said "Isn't it a little late for you to call?  I thought for sure you would have gone home and I was expecting you to call tomorrow".   Right after I said it, I thought oops, I hope it didn't sound wrong, like I was complaining about it.  She said Thursday is the long day for them and they were crazy busy with appointments that go late.

So, my lining looked good at 9 mm and my estradiol numbers were good too, though I didn't ask her what they were.  On Saturday, I start progesterone in oil (PIO) and reduce my Es.trace to 2 times a day.

My transfer is scheduled for 11:45 am on Wednesday, November 20th.  We are to arrive at the clinic at 11:15 am.

Yay!  We are officially a GO for our transfer next week.

PUPO In A Week!

If all goes well, I will be PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise) in a week!

It seems pretty unreal that in a week, I could very well be pregnant.

Am I excited?  Kind of.

Am I nervous?  Kind of.

On the FB embryo adoption/donation group, there are a few ladies that will have their transfers next week like me.  It seems like everyone is pretty psyched up about the transfers.  I guess I kinda am too.  Though, like I have mentioned in the past, cautiously optimistic.

After years of IUIs and IVFs, it all seems too familiar.  Excitement ....... kind of.  I'm also familiar with the feeling of failure when it doesn't work.  So for now, cautiously optimistic.

After waiting almost 2 years in the adoption process (first international adoption and now embryo adoption), it feels like we have finally arrived.  Like being matched in a traditional domestic infant adoption, or receiving a referral in an international adoption.  In a week, I will finally get to meet my babies for the first time.  And hopefully I will be able to meet him/her/them in 9 months!

I haven't done this in a while, but I just took some time and looked at the pictures of both sets of twins of our donor families.  It brings me such joy to see these beautiful kids, knowing that I will be meeting with their siblings for the very first time next week.  I get so emotional it brings tears to my eyes.  I'm already crying and blowing my nose.  We could potentially have children that look a lot like them!

I am so grateful for these two families that have decided to donate their beautiful embryos so that we could have hope and the chance to became parents.  I pray that God will allow us to have a successful pregnancy, not just so that we can be parents (though we want it so badly!), but also so that we can have a relationship with one or both these families.  I really like these families!!  I also do not want to disappoint the families if this does not work.

I have to remind myself to trust God.  A friend once said, enjoy where you are at, no matter what the future outcome may be.  Be excited that I could potentially be pregnant next week.  Savor being PUPO after the transfer.  Even though things may not turn out the way we hope in the end, enjoy it while we can.  Because if things do turn out wonderfully and we didn't savor the moment, we would have missed out on enjoying the moment while we had it.  We can't take back what is in the past.

So this is a note to self to be more excited.  Trust that God has a perfect plan.

In the morning, I will have my appointment for my ultrasound and blood work to check to see if my lining is thick enough and my estradiol numbers high enough for my transfer on Wednesday.  Please pray that my lining is at least 7 mm at the appointment.  If not, we may have to delay the transfer a couple of days, like we would have had to do in September.  But we ended up canceling altogether due to the polyp in my uterus.  I will post tomorrow on whether we are a go on Wednesday.

10 Days!

10 Days till transfer!

Last night was my last Lu.pron shot.  Yay!  This time the shots didn't give me any problems.  No headaches or hot flashes that I noticed.  Maybe I was too distracted by my cough.

I also increased my Es.trace to 3 times a day instead of 2 yesterday.  I'm praying that my at my ultrasound appointment on Thursday my lining will be at least 7 mm.  I have been using a heated pad on my lower abdominal area to try and get more blood flow to the uterus. I also trying to eat raspberries everyday day for the same reason.

I feel like the transfer is here too suddenly!  I feel like I am not ready!  If all goes well we leave on Sunday and start our drive to TN.  But we will stop halfway in Indiana to see a high school friend.  Suddenly I realize I only have one week to have sushi and alcoholic drinks!  I need to start thinking about packing! And starting PIO!  Oh the dreaded PIO.......

This week is going to pass by too quickly!

Doctor's Visit

I went to the doctor's today to have my blood pressure checked out.  I started off with getting my flu shot.  Then I met my new doctor who will be my primary care provider.  All these years, I have never had a primary doctor.  Most of my doctor's visits were either to my RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist, i.e. fertility specialist) or to my gynecologist who does my annual check ups and have my hysteroscopies.  I have always been healthy and never really saw the same doctor because I only went to the doctor's so rarely.

The doctor and I went over how my BP (blood pressure) was elevated at my surgery last week, and how I was to monitor it over a week and since it was still high, I decided to have it checked out.  We also went over the fact that I had a cold more than 3 weeks ago, and had been coughing for 3 weeks.  We went over all my previous and current medications, including those related to my frozen embryo transfer - birth control pills, Lu.pron and Es.trace.  He agreed that coughing and hormones can cause my BP to be elevated.  

My BP is higher than normal but not high enough that he would be terribly concerned right now.  I am not excessively overweight, do not smoke and rarely drink.  However, because of my family history of high BP, he wants me to incorporate lifestyle changes - exercise more, eat more fruits and veggies and reduce sodium in my diet.  He wants me to monitor and track my BP for the next couple of months.   I am happy that he decided not to put me on medication.  At least not yet.  

He is aware of my frozen embryo transfer coming up and noted that there are a few different types of BP medication that is safe for pregnancy.  If I do get pregnant from this upcoming transfer, he said I will need to be monitored more closely anyway by my Ob-Gyn because I would be considered high risk.  Hopefully my BP will get back to normal before becoming pregnant.

The doctor listened to my heart and lungs and everything was good.  Lungs was clear so no bronchitis.  He looked into my nose and saw some swelling and congestion.   Since I've had this cough for 3 weeks, he decided to prescribe me some antibiotics for the cough and possible sinus infection.  Especially with my travel to TN and my transfer coming up, he wanted to make sure I get over whatever it is that is causing my cough.  I told him I'm so worn out from the coughing.

He also ordered a bunch of tests for me.  I think it is mostly related to checking for my BP and cholesterol.  I did a urine test, blood work for cholesterol and I think also for my thyroid, and even an EKG!  I'm familiar with urine test and blood work but the EKG, that was new for me.  When I had my EKG tested, the nurse noted that my heart was really strong.  I wasn't sure what she meant and if it was related to my BP.  She said no, it's just that I have a strong heart which is a good thing.  She showed me my graph compared it to the other patients', and said it looked really good. 

The nurse also said that my doctor is really good and very thorough.  He takes time with his patients and listens to them.  She said he is one of those doctors that put his foot down and refuses to be rushed with his patients.  When I was researching which doctor to see, I saw that he has over 25 years of experience and has good reviews from patients.  Looks like I picked a good doctor!

So right now, I'm pretty happy with the outcome of this doctor's visit.  I am taking antibiotics  and Muci.nex for my cough.  

I am not on any BP medications yet, but will do the following:

• Monitor my BP daily for the next couple of months
• Increase my activity levels - need to exercise more
• Lower my salt intake
• Eat a diet high in fruits and veggies (I should be doing that anyway!)
• See the doctor for a follow up visit in 2 months.

I'm so happy I don't need BP meds (yet)!

I'm hoping this antibiotics will do the trick for my cough.

12 days to transfer!

2 Weeks! And Prayer Request

2 weeks!!

I am scheduled to have my transfer in exactly 2 weeks!  It seems like getting to November 20th has been a drag, but at the same time it has flown by.  I guess being sick kinda screwed up my momentum.

I have the following prayers requests.

I had a cold about 3 1/2 weeks ago.  Then I started coughing.  The cold went away, but the cough lingered. I have been coughing for about 3 weeks.  It has gotten better, but it has lingered.  I was actually worried that the cough would be a problem for my surgery but it wasn't. It's been a week since the surgery and still I'm coughing.  I keep thinking it is getting better and it will eventually go away, but it is still here.  It's really tiring and wearing me out.  I would like to be in my best health for my transfer in 2 weeks.  Please pray that this cough will be gone soon.

When I was at the hospital for my surgery last week, they found that my blood pressure was pretty high.  At recovery after the surgery, my BP was still pretty high.  The nurse told me that I need to monitor my BP and if within a week my BP is still high I need to see my doctor about it.  My BP has been fairly normal in the past.  I did some research and found out that BP can be elevated by things such as taking birth control pills, cough medicine and estrogen.  All things that I have had the last few weeks.  Also, coughing can also raise BP.  However, high BP also runs in my family.  Both my sis and my brother, both in their 40's are on BP meds.  My parents are also on meds for this.   On the other hand, I am not a prime candidate for high blood pressure..... I am not heavily overweight (though I could use to lose a few pounds), don't smoke, rarely drink, don't eat much processed foods, and don't deal with a lot of stress.  The things that are going against me are family history, possibly too much sodium in my diet, and being not very active.   I am praying that this high BP is only a temporary issue for me right now.  The last thing I want to do is to go on BP meds before my transfer.  But at the same time, I also want to make sure my BP is controlled before getting pregnant (hopefully!).  High BP can cause complications in pregnancy such as preeclampsia.  Please pray for my blood pressure.  I've always been very healthy and didn't think that high BP could hit me so early.  I suppose turning 40 is the magic number.

If you recall, my before my September transfer was cancelled, NEDC was going to delay it a couple of days because my lining was not thick enough at the ultrasound appointment.  But then they found the polyp and the cycle was cancelled all together.  Anyway, I am nervous that my lining will not be thick enough again when I have my ultrasound appointment next Thursday.  First, September proved it took a while for my lining to get thick enough (though in the past, my lining has never been an issue).  Secondly, I just had a hysteroscopy last week and they also did a D&C and scraped my lining.  That could be a good thing as then the lining is fresh, but it also means it might need more time for the lining to build up.  Thirdly, I started spotting a little today.  Not sure why, but I am.  Maybe it is nothing, but I'm a little concerned.  Finally, for the September transfer, I had spent 2 months of weekly acupuncture sessions, and yet my lining was not thick enough.  Because of the timing of my surgery, I will only have had 4 sessions of acupuncture before my transfer next week.  Not sure how much that will  help.  Anyway, I could use prayers that my lining will be thick enough so that I can have my transfer as scheduled on 11/20.  The good thing is this time we are driving, so we have more flexibility if we have to delay our transfer.

So, I could use your support and prayers in the following:
1. Cough to go away.
2. Blood pressure to go back to normal and not go on medication.
3. For my lining to be thick enough next week so I can keep my 11/20 transfer date.

Thanks!