Today, I'm officially pregnant.

By the calender, if all goes well and our babies are transferred in two weeks, then today is officially my first day of pregnancy :)

Technically, not pregnant... no babies in this womb.  But according to the calender I'll be two weeks pregnant at conception... so, I'm pregnant!

That's exciting! :)

On another note, the Gamill long arm that we rented went crazy last night and we only got two rows of my quilts done (I'm quilting them side by side to save time).  So we're going back next week to finish.  I'll have to hurry to get them bound for the trip!

The NEDC sent us a letter.  The embryos we adopted have some extra fees, $830, for transporting and storing... well, we knew this might happen but it was definitely not in the front of my mind.  Last night (after the long arm machine went kaput) I got home pretty stressed, got my shot, got the mail and found out about the fee.  I cried... Mat was amazing, as always.  Between these meds and all of the stresses we're going through right now, it was just too much!  So... that sucks.  We'll be able to do it, though, and that is a blessing.

But it's the fee for all 15 of the babies- so it's about $55/baby.  That's a good way to look at it! And when we go back for a future pregnancy with our embryos, we won't have another surprise fee.

Upped Estrace and worse headaches

Yesterday my Estrace got upped and my headache was worse.  I had to take Ibuprofn twice yesterday... I'm not sure if it's from the Estrace or the build up of the Lupron.  I could certainly still function.  I'm also a bit nauseous.  Again, nothing earth shattering, just different.

My mom and I sewed this weekend.  Almost done with the new nephews car seat quilt and I'm going to get started on a smaller version of the cut-up quilt using Papillon Charm Packs.  Tomorrow we're going to quilt the twins quilts on the Gamill :)

I like that we're getting them quilted before we go to NEDC.  We can bring them with us to snuggle up with :)

headaches but no hotflashes!

The Estrace seems to have leveled out my internal thermostat.  Woo hoo!  No more waking up in sweat!  No more stripping off layers to cool off!  It's fall and now I can enjoy warm sweaters and PJs :)

I do still have the headaches though... a bit nauseous and I'm pretty bloated. 

But babies are totally worth it!

Next week my mom and I have the Gamill rented out to quilt the twins quilts.  That will be nice to have them to snuggle up in when I get back from TN :)

Hot flashes, nephews, and starting the estrace...

Each night I wake up sweating.  And my husband is fine (last night he actually woke up cold)... so that's interesting.  I've had some tenderness at the injection spots and in the breasts. 

Our nephew was born!  That's exciting!  Yesterday we made the trek out to WI to visit him in the hospital.  He's a healthy adorable little boy!  Both he and my sister in law are doing well :)

Got the call yestreday while I was holding my adorable new nephew that I was cleared to start the Estrace today.  My ultrasound and lab looked good!  Praise God!  So I've started Estrace.  1/2 a pill twice daily for now. 

I just hope the side effects aren't as bad as the Reclipsen!  I'm praying!  But even if they are, it's all part of God's plan for us to get children.  I'll just cry... a lot... and then some more! 

It probably won't be that bad... but I don't think I've ever taken Estrace before, so I'm really not sure.

headaches, crazy dreams, and normalcy!

I've gotten headaches for the past few days.  Nothing earth shattering, just maybe I should take some ibuprofin kinda stuff.  And last night I dreamed that all of our new neighbors in ND (neighbors being a strange word... the closest is over a mile away) came over to introduce themselves.  One had made some mulberry wine which I tasted and loved... one was names Seive... they were all friendly and gave me canning tips.

But I'm relatively back to normal.  It's amazing!  I love it!  People can talk to me without me wanting to or starting to cry!  Oh normalcy, how I've missed you!

My first ultrasound and lab test is tomorrow.  I remember when we went through the IVF rounds I got poked for labs so much that my elbow was all bruised and sore.  This time, since it's a frozen embryo transfer, they aparently only need to draw blood and do an US twice!  That'll be a nice change... and we already know we have 15 babies so that takes so much of the pressure off.  My body didn't respond well at all to the ovary stimulation before, so it's nice to get to skip that step.

My dad came out to the farm today to take some pics of us for a Christmas card.  I think they turned out pretty well :)

Mookie hears things with his radar ears and turns his head for every picture :)

And my mom gave me a great sign with our name on it and a farmall... but I forgot to hold it up for the pictures!  We're still deciding where to put it... on the house, garage, or by the well pump... but either way it's a great sign!  And soon there will be more of us living here :D

My sister's getting married today!

And yesterday was my last day on the evil Reclipsen... So now it's working its way out of my system!

I woke up feeling so much better!  I was actually joking with hubby and not bawling by the time I was in the shower.  Praise God!  I'm off the crazy pills!  I feel so much better... such a blessing that I feel better for my sisters wedding!

Granted, all of the other meds I'm taking or will take have some effect onme, but not nearly so drastic.  For instance, Lupron, which I'm taking now, gives me hot flashes and vivid dreams.  Something I can live with when the slightest thing doesn't make me cry.

Last night I had a dream that if you took a picture of someone holding up a mirror in front of a mirror, that if you had another similar picture you could see what the person in the first picture was seeing.  So if you looked in the first mirror in the second pic aiming it at the first pic, you could see things that weren't actually in the picture but that you could see if you were there when the picture was taken.  It was really strange!

So glad that I'm off Reclipsen for my sis's wedding!  There will be dancing tonight :)

God is awesome!

Our nephew is about to be born (BIL and his wife are having a baby) and I made him a quilt.  I put the first verse of "Jesus Loves Me" on the label.  Maybe I'll post a pic if I get time...

Thaw and transfer agreement

Well the whacky vivid dreams started last night.  There were zombies... hehe.  Lets hope tonight's dream is not about anything scary!

I'm so lethargic... and stressed.  I can't stand being less-than-rational but it seems I really can't get around it right now.  Hopefully rationality will return on Friday, because Thursday is my last day with the OC!  Yay!  Three cheers for not taking evil hormones...

Last night my injection site really hurt and turned red.  It only lasted about 15 minutes... but Mat was amazing and calmed me down and took great care of me.  I am so blessed :)

We sent in our thaw and transfer instruction form today.  It's just the form that says how many embryos we want thawed and transferred, but it took a lot of thought and prayer.   Eventiually we settled on 2.  But if (and only if) they were both of very low quality we want a third. 

The one time we had surviving embryos (from the 6 eggs they got out of me through two IVF attempts) there were two of medium quality and I had a twin pregnancy (with weak heartbeats from the beginning).  So, apparently my body is ready to hold on to babies, just the mix of hubby and I doesn't create viable children who'll live past the first trimester. 

I'm hoping and praying that our new babies will!  Their sibling embryos gave their biological parents twins :)

I'll be pregnant in a month!

That's exciting.  Also exciting is the fact that I started Lupron yesterday and get to stop OC soon!  Woot!  God willing the pregnancy will last... and we'll get live babies as a result :)

I'll take Lupron injections (or even progesterone injections!  which I will shortly...) any day over the evil OC they have me on.

Every time I've been on Lupron I get some really wacky dreams.  Nothing that I remember from last night... maybe the Unisom is counter-acting the dreams.

Babies on the brain

I start the lupron on Sunday... the rest are dependent on how my body responds at the ultrasounds and labs.  It's exciting that it's getting so near!

I'm so insanely excited about taking my last OC... they have been the death of me!  When/if we go through this again, we'll definitely request a different OC.  They knew that Yaz worked well for me with past fertility treatments, but still prescribed a different one. Probably because Yaz has so much bad stigma with it now...

I'm starting to not sleep the best.  This happens whenever I get excited/nervous about something.  The adoption, plus the move, plus my sister is getting married in a little over a week!  I've asked the nurse if Unisom would be ok to take.  I hope and pray that it is!  Just a half of one of those babies and I sleep like a baby!  Baby baby baby!

Homesteading weekend

What a wonderful weekend!  Full of work- but it was the stuff that doesn't seem like work.  God is awesome!  Every time we look around our homestead we are in awe of His greatness!

We got a snow blower for our tractor (much needed in ND)

 Mat loves his tractor!

 Did some canning of apple pie filling and a few pints of applesauce.  First time using Tattler lids!  They worked well when Mat tightened them... when I tightened the rings (and then loosened the 1/4 inch as per the instructions) one of them boiled out!  We used that one to make some pastry pockets last night.

We got the garlic planted.  Mookie and Bindi were anxious to watch the process.  We ordered our planting garlic from seedsavers this year; rather than just planting some garlic from the farmer's market.  We're hoping that it gets larger.  (we covered them later in the day with pasture grass).

We also ordered some trees, fruit trees, nut trees, raspberreies, and blueberries in root stock from a nursery for spring delivery. Apple trees grown from bare root stock will produce in 3-5 years!

Life is wonderful... God is wonderful.  We are so blessed! 

Meds ordered!

The meds are ordered, they're looking into what my insurance will cover.

Just the normal Lupron, Estrace, Progesterone in oil, and valium.  They should be delivered next week.  I'll start taking them shortly after for next months transfer!

Lupron keeps me from ovulating.

Estrace prepares the uterine lining.

Progesterone in oil matures uterine lining and makes it ready for pregnancy.

Valium helps me relax my muscles during the procedure.

I'm actually excited to start these meds and get off my current crazy hormones meds (aka BC pill).  There is some overlap, but I should be able to stop the crazy pill soon!

Quilts for the twins we lost

This weekend was the annual quilting retreat with my mom's church (the church I grew up attending) and as usual, I attended.

This years quilt top was a tad easier than quilts of years past, so I opted to make 2- one for each of the twins we lost last August.  We named them Freedom and Liberty (we didn't know if they were boys or girls) so we thought the Americana colors were appropriate.

They're large lap size quilts so we can snuggle up in them to always remember them.  My mom and I will rent out the Gamill to quilt them up nicely.

On the adoption front, no med protocol yet.  They've assured me it's coming by the 15th.  The meds I'm already on are making me moody enough!

Funny thought for the day- I never went on the birth control pill until we started trying to have a baby.  Good thing, too.  I don't think I could deal with these hormones for any extended length of time!  I read on another EA blog that God had designed her so well that any extra hormones made her out-of-whack.  How true that is!