Here We Go Again

On Wednesday, on the way from my hermitage to the main house to check out of Pacem In Terris, I made a detour to the biffy (outhouse/bathroom).  AF showed up then.  I only had a 26 day cycle this month.  No wonder I thought I ovulated early this month.

Yesterday I called the clinic to schedule an appointment for the next round of IVF.  For some reason I thought I needed to schedule blood work and/or ultrasound.  Silly me, not needed.  The nurse told me I only need to start BCPs (birth control pills) today and show up for our IVF nurses consult on June 15th.

So that's it.  We are off to our next round of IVF.  Yup, we are going for it now instead of waiting another month.  At first, I thought I'd like to wait a month.  I'm considering using acupuncture this time around, if I can find the right practitioner.  I thought maybe I'd give it some time for acupuncture to take effect, but I can do it while on BCPs.

Also, Babe does not want us to wait any longer.  He is not sure how long he will stay at his job as they are anticipating another round of layoffs.  He was surprised he survived the last one.  We want to do this while we still have IVF coverage on his insurance, just in case.

Plus if we wait another month, my egg retrieval/embryo transfer will be in August.  Yeah, I'm turning 37 in August!  Another year older, and the ticking clock gets louder!  I know it's just one month, but somehow I would feel better about doing this at "36" versus 37.

It will be around 4 months since my last egg retrieval to my next one.  Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday when I found out about my cancelled transfer.  At other times, it feels like it was a lifetime ago.  We are just praying that this is THE cycle for us.

So here we go again...

Pacem In Terris

Hi Peeps!  I'm back.  Didn't even know I was gone, did ya?

Yup, I posted the last couple of days when I was actually out of town, and with no access to the internet.  Wasn't really trying to be sneaky about it, but since I found out about the ability to schedule posts automatically, I've been dying to try it out for when I am out of town.

I have been a hermit the last couple of days.

A what, huh?

Yeah, a hermit.  I spent the last 2 nights at a place called Pacem In Terris, meaning "Peace On Earth".  It is a hermitage retreat center, a place of silence and solitude.  Just you, nature and God.

I stayed in a hermitage, a simple cabin with no running water or electricity, but a very comfortable place to be in.  It is a place to get away from all the busyness of life, job, daily responsibilities and the distractions of technology - TV, radio, internet, and yes, even blogging!

Unfortunately, Monday was also the hottest day in a long time.  We hit the 90's.

I spent my time in silence, reading, praying and just enjoying nature.  You barely see anyone else at the retreat, unless you decide to have dinner at the main house.  I took time to reflect on my TTC journey in the last few years, my journey ahead of me, my faith, and my walk with God.  It was a time I set aside for myself before I start my next round of IVF.

It was good to get away from the normal routine of life.  To get away from blogging (though I did miss it!).  To get rested and refreshed.  I could have spent a few more days there. It was beautiful out there.

Here are some pictures that I took from Pacem In Terris.

Have you done a retreat like this?  How did you like it?

My hermitage

Rocking chair facing the large picture window, I spent a lot of time here

My chair in the screened in porch, I spent most of my time here

View of the grounds (notice the cross in the background)

Boardwalk to the lake

End of the boardwalk, a place to enjoy the view of the lake

A deer showed up, view from my picture window

99 Things About Me

**Update:  Thanks to BabySmiling, I now have updated the list with #49**

This has been going around the blog world lately.  It's supposed to be 99 things about me, but I found that there are only 98 items.  In the version that I copied from, #49 is missing.

Does anyone know what #49 is supposed to be?

99 Things About Me

1. Started your own blog - Yeah, obviously
2. Slept under the stars - Camping under the stars in the mountains of Colorado is amazing!
3. Played in a band - drums in middle school, played the flute in the marching band with the Girls Brigade, and sing on a worship team at church.
4. Visited Hawaii - Maui rocks!
5. Watched a meteor shower - Very cool!
6. Given more than you can afford to charity - I give to a few charities but can't really say I've given more than I can afford
7. Been to Disney World - not yet, but have been do Disneyland L.A. and Disneyland Tokyo
8. Climbed a mountain - No, but I know someone who just made the summit of Mt. Everest on Saturday!  He's finally completed his climb of the 7 highest summits on each continent.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo - In church when I was little.
11. Bungee jumped - in Hanmer Springs, New Zealand.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm - On my birthday last year, while tornado sirens were going off even though we were supposed to be in the basement! Even video taped it.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - Unfortunately, yes.  Not something I hope to experience again!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - Not all the way to the top though, they closed off the top when I was there.
18. Grown your own vegetables - Most credit goes to Babe though
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France - It was smaller than I thought 
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch-hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - I call those "mental health days"
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb - I always worry they would poop while I'm holding them!
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon - Why?
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - On Babe's birthday a few years ago, actually
29. Seen a total eclipse - Very cool!
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - Who hasn't?
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - 3 times
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - I was in China, but it's a huge country!
35. Seen an Amish community - Does it count if it's from afar?
36. Taught yourself a new language - I think our husbands speak a different language, don't you?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - I'm hoping one day I will
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David - Seen the replica in it's original location in Florence, but not the original sculpture which is in the museum.
41. Sung karaoke - Yeah, baby!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant - Done this many times at drive-thrus.
44. Visited Africa - Was in Mauritius which is an island off the coast of Madagascar.  Technically, it would be considered Africa, just not the main continent.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - A group of us were in a car accident after bungee jumping in New Zealand (see #11).  I was fine.
47. Had your portrait painted - I'm counting my caricature portrait done by a street artist!
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person - Very cool....
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - I've scuba dived in Maui during whale season.  You could hear the whales singing in the water.  Pretty freaky but so cool!
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class - Tried kickboxing (the REAL kickboxing, not the cardio fitness class) in college.  I was so sore I never went back!
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 
62. Gone whale watching - Incredible!
63. Got flowers for no reason - Thanks Babe!
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - Not proud of it
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - Wish I had.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - Does making a quilted pillow cover count?
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone - Thankfully not!
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle - Whee.......
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car - What's wrong with used cars?
83. Walked in Jerusalem - Some day.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper - Made the front page of the Sunday papers when I was in college.
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - Caught, cleaned and cooked fish
88. Had chickenpox - There was a time I was certain I would catch it since everyone else around me did, but was lucky enough not to.  I'm immunized instead.
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - Michael W. Smith signed my t-shirt.
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby - Someday, please?
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

IVF Schedule

On Friday, I received a packet in the mail for my next round of IVF.  In it, a prescription for BCPs, my list of drugs I will be on, and my IVF calendar.

For this round I will be doing the Antagonist protocol versus the Lu.pron protocol from last time.  I will be on Ganire.lix instead of Lu.pron, Follis.tim and Meno.pur.   Thankfully, no PIO this time either, I will be on Endome.trin suppositories again.

The antagonist protocol is much shorter than the Lu.pron one. I will not be suppressed for 12 days with Lu.pron.  I will go on BCPs after AF shows up, stims will start on July 2nd and the estimated egg retrieval/transfer will be the week of July 11th.  My nurses consult is scheduled for June 15th.

It's coming up fast.

I could have started earlier, with stims starting on June 25th, but then ER/ET would have been the week of July 4th, and I didn't want to risk it in case we decided to go on vacation that week.  To be honest, I'm not even sure if I want to start that quickly.  I'm thinking about taking another month off before doing IVF again.  I have my reasons, but that will be for another post.

For now, we are have a plan, though that plan could change.

Embryo Adoption

At the Patiently Waiting Infertility support group on Tuesday, I met a girl named Katie.   She is pursuing embryo adoption.

Yeah, embryo adoption.

When I first heard about her from K (Patiently Waiting also has an adoption group) I thought wow, that's so cool.  Then when I met her on Tuesday, my heart jumped a little.

I'm not sure what this means yet, but the thought of embryo adoption is exciting.  If IVF does not work for us, and if we decided to pursue adoption, this is an option.  I heard about embryo adoption on Focus on the Family a few years ago.  At that time, we were just starting our fertility treatments, and it never even occurred to me that we would have considered IVF.  So I didn't even consider it.  But now, embryo adoption seems like a possible option. Though Babe and I have not talked about this, I did "casually" mention Katie to him.  Couldn't really tell how he felt about it though.

With embryo adoption, we would have to go through the regular adoption process.  Unlike regular adoption, I would actually be able experience pregnancy and childbirth, which would be a big plus!  There is also no risk of a failed adoption where a birthparent decides to parent or reclaim a child.  Plus, since we have gone through IVF, we can relate to the pain and heartache of infertility, and we know how much the biological parents wanted and desired to have children.

It is estimated that there are around 500,000 human embryos in cryopreservation in the US.  Because some parents that have gone through IVF have extra embryos, but have decided that their families are complete, they are faced with a dilemma: donate the embryos to research, thaw them and let them die, or donate them to couples that cannot conceive.  With embryo adoption, we would be adopting these donated embryos, a decision that is life honoring for both the biological parents and the adoptive parents.

Like I said earlier, I don't really know what this all means for us yet as we are planning on another round of IVF.  I haven't taken time to research any of this but I'll probably meet up with Katie sometime in the future just to chat.  Still, it's exciting just to think about it.

Have adopted an embryo?  Have/Would you ever considered it?