IVF Pics

If you don't like looking at needles then I probably wouldn't look through all my pics :)


                                 As you can see, I had my own little pharmacy......Arroyave RX

                             The next set of pics are how I prepared and gave myself nightly injections

                                                

                                         This is how many vials I would have to mix together daily

                                         
                                           I was paranoid about hitting the same spot twice so I would
                                          mark everytime I stuck myself....this was about 1/2 way to the end

Finally the day where the doctor injected two embryos into my uterus

                                                    Me NOW!!! haha just kidding:) If I gain
                                                    zero pounds (which would not be healthy)
                                                    This is what I'll look like next June!~

                                                   11 weeks (just a few intestines being shoved up)

                                                       13 Weeks (and this is at the end of the day)

14 Weeks

I can't believe that we get to find out at our next appointment if this little baby is a boy or girl! I am about 90% sure that it is a girl and Mario feels that strongly that it's a boy! I love that we think differently bc it will be that much more exciting I think. Either way we don't care one way or the other. We just want a healthy little baby!

Not a whole lot has been going on in the Arroyave household. I have still been pretty sick;-( I did go to the doctor Tuesday and got a prescription for nausea and I also tried acupuncture yesterday. I am willing to try anything at this point! Mario finished his 2nd Masters degree!!!! Other than working and finishing his school he's been on the road a lot cycling. Today he is out with his friends putting in 100 miles....crazy! Abbie and Wade are loving that mama has been out of school all week, they love being indoors all day and sleeping on the couch with me during the day:) I did feel okay one day so they were thankful to get out of the house for a little walk.

At the docs on Tuesday I got to hear the heartbeat which was sitting strong at 161 bpm. Once again baby was super squirmy. We were listening to it and then it just stopped so the doctor would move the doppler again and bam heartbeat was back and kicking and then gone again. We for sure have an active little thing! I am ready for our next sono when we can see how big she/he is. I expressed to the doctor that I was concerned about the baby not getting enough calories through me bc I'm not eating like I should be. He assured me that the baby takes what it needs first and then leaves me with the rest so I did feel better about that. Hopefully with the meds I'll get to enjoy some great food during Christmas and can fatten this baby up!!! I love little chunky babies so I need to get on the food:-)

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and remembers the reason for this time of year which is the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ! Thank you God for sending your son into this world knowing that one day he would suffer greatly to take on ALL of our sin so that one day we can live Forever with you!

*I'm finally going to upload pics today of the IVF process and possibly a picture of the miniature baby bump (believe me you might have to zoom in to 100%...it's small)

How far along?   14 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 0 lbs 
Maternity clothes? No...just have to unbutton the pants:)
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: still amazing!
Best moment this week:  hearing the baby through the Doppler

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? eating and feeling good
Movement: No
Food cravings: Absolutely not

Anything making you queasy or sick: Food

Have you started to show yet:  just a tiny bit

Gender prediction: Girl for me...Boy for Mario

Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In (I have noticed that it's kind of flat now)
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Both
Looking forward to: Christmas with the family!

My Husband almost set our house on fire:(

Well I am now 12 weeks along! I told my students at school last week which was fun...they are so excited. They keep asking me "Mrs. A do you want a boy or girl?". I am definitly vomiting on a weekly basis and not eating like I was. Any suggestions on how to find foods to eat that sound appealing and can give me some calories? Nothing ever sounds good. The one time that Whataburger sounded awesome turned out not to be so awesome:( A kid mentioned enchiladas this last week which sent me running to the trashcan. They were all so confused...hahaha! So anyways, this is what's going on with me at this time of pregnancy...misery...which I'm thankful for.

Mario is still being the wonderful husband that he always is! Anytime I need anything, he's in the car going to get it for me. This weekend he is in Austin at a training camp with his Velossimo boys! So I'm chillin here on the couch with my "babies": baby a, Wade, and Abbie:-).

This last week Mario thought it would be a great idea to use our fire place for the first time. I completly agreed (not any more)! One night he cleaned out the cold ashes from the day before and put them into this cardboard box. He didn't move the box away from the fireplace and a some of the wood jumped out and landed in the box. He thought he got the hot ashes out but needless to say our house filled with smoke quickly (which our dog noticed first) and the box was on FIRE! Mario rushed the melting box outside while I got a towl and was splapping it against the carpet to make sure the other ashes didn't spark up....talk about an Adventure!

My friend Becca who I'm always mentioning on here...the one that told me about Dr. Le and has gone through this whole process with me is Pregnant with TWINS!!! Both of her embryos took! I'm so excited for her and her husband Scott.

Nothing new really, just trying to finish off the first semester strong at school...so ready for a break! I have my next doctors appointment on the 20th which is always exciting!

How far along?   12 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 0 lbs 
Maternity clothes? No...just have to unbutton the pants:)
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: still amazing!
Best moment this week:  Went by fast

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? getting out of bed feeling 100%...EATING (mexican food)
Movement: No
Food cravings: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Yes....the thought of food 

Have you started to show yet:  just a tiny bit

Gender prediction: Girl

Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In 
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Both
Looking forward to: This week at school...going to be Fun!

10 weeks 4 days

Well, I've made it to almost 11 weeks! I feel like I've already been pregnant forever...knowing so early makes it kind of hard! I have felt great up til this point:) I had a great last week of school right before thanksgiving but came down with a cold/sinus issues that Friday. From Friday on, it's been all down hill. Friday I went to the doctor and got my flu shot and my head checked out to make sure I didn't have another sinus infection. Thankfully it was just a head cold. That mixed with pregnancy for some reason can put an active woman down!:-) Saturday through Tuesday I pretty much don't remember a whole lot bc I was either on the couch asleep or in my bed sleeping. I kept telling Mario that I feel "off". I couldn't really describe what was wrong I just didn't feel right or good for that matter. Wednesday we took off for San Antonio to see my mom and that side of the family. The car ride down was horrible. I think it was a mixture of car sick and the beginnings of "morning sickness" (except not in the morning). I literally said hi to everyone and visited for a little bit and was off to bed by 7:30. Thursday morning I woke up feeling a little better until after breakfast. My mom (a nurse) game me some meds for the nausea which did help for most of the day which was really nice bc we had a great time out at my aunt's house will all of my cousins. We ate, laughed, talked, ate some more, and watched the Cowboys win against Mario's Miami Dolphins. At around 5 that afternoon it was time to go bc this girl started to feel not so great! As soon as we got home I was back in bed. So much for getting to visit with my mom and aunt:( Friday we woke up and traveled home...same as ride down there. Although, Mario stopped at McD's to grab lunch  (not me) and his coke really settled my stomach:) I love Mcdonalds coke!! That night we hung out on the couch watching some House episodes and spending time with one another. Mario was been so good to me this whole week. I know it has to be hard watching your spouse feel like poop all day, but he has been a champ! Yesterday, I had a great day!!! I woke up and drove to Denton to visit with my dad's side of the family. I got to see my nephew and got to go visit my Nanny's new apartment that she moved into. Of course on the way out I swung by my granny's house to show her the sonogram pictures and to chat with her for a very short time. On the way home, I met with my best friend Tiffany for lunch. Man, did I have an appetite:) I think I definitely caught up on all the lost meals from this week. We then went by her parents to say hi and then I was back on I-35 to get home to head to my friends promotion party. It was a Great Day! It was so good feeling like myself. Today is another story....:) I know that this is part of the wonderful process of growing a baby inside your body and that it's not always easy. I feel so thankful to have felt so great for this long. I am attaching pictures of weeks 7, 8, and 9 weeks of little baby a. It's so crazy to see how fast they grow!!!!! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday and didn't get to crazy with Black Friday:) Thanks for following us and your continued prayers.

                        This was week 7 when baby was measuring a full week behind and had a super slow heartbeat.

                   This was week 8 when baby obviously had grown...still measuring a week behind but has a strong heartbeat of 156!!

       I went to my first OB appointment on Monday with Dr. Morehead here in Waxahachie (we both really like him a lot) and baby was only measuring 2 days behind. This little baby was an active little thing. It was doing a 180 on the screen:) Just a squirming around I guess having some Fun! I'm guessing it gets a little boring in there so it has to get creative with what it can do so why not dance...probably why I'm not feeling good:) :) :) He/She is so cute already! This sono was taken at 9 weeks 5 days. 

How far along?   10 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 0 lbs 
Maternity clothes? No 
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: still amazing!
Best moment this week:  Seeing the Family

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? getting out of bed feeling 100%...can't complain to much though. I felt great for 9 weeks 
Movement: No
Food cravings: No, hard to find things that I want to eat
Anything making you queasy or sick: Yes....the thought of food 

Have you started to show yet:  nope

Gender prediction: Girl

Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In 
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Both
Looking forward to: feeling like myself and Dec 21st...next dr. apt

Backing up a few weeks

On November the 2nd, we went in for our first sono and to find out the big question of how many. Dr. Escobar informed us really quickly that it was one baby and then proceeded with the measurements. Both Mario and I could tell from his tone and his facial expressions that he seemed a little concerned. He took a couple of measurements and told us that the baby was measuring a full week behind and had a pretty slow heart beat. He also told us that he wanted to see us in a week which is not typically normal. Usally after your first sono with them, they release you to your ob. So needless to say, instead of leaving all happy and excited we left speechless. It was not something we were expecting to hear. So for the rest of the week he had to rest in God's Soverignty. The verse that Mario leaned on was Phillippians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

It was crazy how quickly a full week went by! On November 9th, we found ourselves making the drive back to LasCalinas for another sono and to hear whether baby A was growing. After sitting in the room for a while waiting for Escobar, he finally knocked and came on it. We could tell right away from the screen that things were looking good. It no longer looked like a grain of rice but you could see a little baby! Well, it actually looked like a teddy graham but I could tell that it was definitly bigger! We could also tell by the way Escobar was acting that he was much for relaxed and didn't seem at all concerned. He proceeded to do the measurements. One showed 7 weeks 1 day and another showed 7 weeks 4 days. This meant that I was still showing a week to 3 days behind but it also meant that it grew a full 7 days within the last 7 days!! We also got to hear the heartbeat which was really cool. It measured 156 bpm which went up from either 111 or 101 bpm (can't remember). We were all smiles when we left the office that day. They released us to go to my regular ob. I will post pictures later this week of both of the pics that we have so far so you can see the comparison bt week 7 and week 8. My next sono will be November 21st which I will be almost 10 weeks at that point.

I received my first baby book of what to expect from my dear friend Ashley Davis. I came in today from a baby shower and Mario who had been gone all weekend found it and was reading it :-) Thanks Ashley, I love it!!!!! My friend Becca who has also been going through IVF finds out tomorrow if she is pregnant or not, so please keep her in your prayers. She had also put two embryos in her.  Mario's parents will be driving in from Miami next week to spend Thanksgiving with us, so we have lots to look forward to. This week is going to fly by with class elections going on and my formal observation tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great week and awesome Thanksgiving. A good question to ponder with this week is::: Is Jesus your Cornerstone or just another brick in your wall?" You can read about Jesus being the Cornerstone in 1 Peter 2.

How far along?   8 1/2 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 0 lbs 
Maternity clothes? No 
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Amazing! Usually in bed by 7:30 or 8:00 :) 
Best moment this week:  hearing baby's heart beat

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? not really 
Movement: No
Food cravings: No
Anything making you queasy or sick: no

Have you started to show yet:  just a little pudge...nothing hard  :)
Gender prediction: Girl but everyone keeps calling it a he (I wouldn't mind)
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In 
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Both
Looking forward to: Thanksgiving with my family!

Is it one.....two....or three......????

This is the question of the day! Some of you may be wondering why it says maybe 3! Well I had a crazy dream that one of the eggs splitand we were having triplets, two boys and a girl. Yes, I woke up sweating! Then, at homegroup I found out that one of my friend had the same dream...that I was having triplets. Anyways, do I think it's three? No, I don't! This mama actually has a strong gut feeling that it's ONE! Mario has a gut feeling that it's TWO! Well we will know here in about an hour. Either way, we will be thrilled whatever the outcome. Knowing that two living embryoes went in me, it would be sad if one didn't make it but Gods plan is bigger than ours and He will give us exactly what we can handle! So, question for you!!!! How many do you think were having? Is it one? Two? Or three? You'll find out soon!

The results are in...

Well our 10 days of waiting to find out are officially over. Wednesday, I went in for blood to test my Hcg levels. Anything over a 5 is considered pregnant but the higher the better. On Thursday we got the call letting us know that my levels were at 211! They want to test you again two days later just to make sure things are okay and that your numbers are going up and not down. They should double every 48-72 hours. So Friday, after a long emotional rough day at school I went back for them to take some blood. By the way,I'm now used to all the needles and bloodwork but these last two really HURT! I was really anxious today to get the phone call with my numbers. I was actually at the midlithian fall festival helping out at our church booth when the called. They told my congrats that my number was 435...it doubled! I'm pregnant! We went ahead and scheduled my sonogram for November 2nd at 3:00 to see how everything looks and to find out the question that I'm dying to know...is it going to be one baby or two babies??? We are very excited and praise God for everything! We are still very very early on in the pregnNcy so please continue praying for us. It's so awesome knowing that whatever happens is Gods plan for us. I love being able to rest in that! Yesterday at work I kind of forgot that I was pregnant (still hard to believe sometimes) and I lifted a child who was over 100 pounds. I didn't think anything of it until the nurses aide looked at me and said what are you doing??? I had my first breakdown thinking oh my gosh how could I be so careless when a co-worker of mine had to remind me...God made this child and don't you think Gods going to protect it! She is so right, I love that I have amazing Christian women at my school keeping me in check in the midst of emotional breakdowns:):)

My friend Becca who has been going through this whole process with me starts her stim meds today! Please keep her in your prayers! We have got to spend a lot of time together lately and I am so excited for her.

Stay tuned and follow us on this journey of our life!

Notta whole Lot!

Figured I'd get on here during my conference period and update ya'll on what's been going on in the Arroyave household!  Not much of anything!  Since the egg transfer we've been taking it easy and just waiting patiently (as patiently as we can) for signs of life inside of the wife, haha.  Christen has been great about taking her meds and even came home last night with some gummy pre-natal vitamins.  Our weekends have been awesome because we've just been hanging out and not really doing much of anything.  The week has been keeping us busy with after-school conferences, Bible studies, meetings with church folks and football games.  Things are just moving along, so we will get God's answers soon enough.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers and let us know if you have a spiritual need that we can be praying about as well. 

Catch up time!

Well lots have gone on in the last week, so here we go!

Last Wednesday, Mario and I headed to Las Calinas for my egg retrieval. Upon arrival, they called me back to change and to wait for mario before we met with the the anesthesiologist and doctor. Well while I was sitting in the white comfy leather recliner, the doctor poked his head in but it wasn't my doctor. He informed me that he would be doing my egg retrieval. Doctor Le didn't tell me about having another doctor, so I got a little worked up! Fortunatly I didn't have time to even process what was going on bc then the anesthesiologist came in, asked me some questions, and then took me back the room shortly after. She gave me a shot of anti-nausea medicine before she started the IV so I wouldn't get sick coming out of it. Once the IV was in, she told me that she was going to give me some relaxing meds but that she would wait to give me the sleeping medicine until the doctor came in that way I could ask any questions. I could literally feel that relaxing medicine go through my veins. It felt like I had had 10 alcoholic beverages in my system and then bam I don't remember anything. I don't remember the doctor coming in, me waking up, or them walking me back to the recovery room! I hate it when I miss out on things! I remember waking up in the room with Mario and the nurse. After 30 minutes of normal vital signs and being somewhat coherent, I was able to go home! Once home, the fun began! Every 5 minutes I was running (with a limp bc I was in pain) to the toiltet. I threw up around 20 times. It was awful. I called my work and took the next day off and then called the doctor to let them know what was going on. They called me in some meds and then I slept the rest of the day/night.

They retrieved 13 eggs from me that day but only 10 fertilized. On Saturday (day 3) we got the call from the embryologist saying that out of the 10 eggs, 10 were in really good shape. 5 of them were rated an 8B meaning they had 8 symetrical cells which is the highest it could be for that day. The other 5 were rated 7B which was also really good. We were told that it was excellent news and that they would see me on Monday October 3rd to implant.

THat brings us to today! At 2:00 today they put two of the best looking embryos in me. They also said that one other one looked really good so they went ahead and froze it. They said they are going to continue to watch the others and then when they are ready they will freeze them. Its looking like 2 of them will for sure make it but maybe not the others meaing we would have 3 frozen altogther. So we will just have to wait and see! After, they inserted them through a catheter into my uterus then tilted my chair back and made me lay still for  30 minutes. I even got wheeled out:) Right now I'm writing this from my couch. Don't worry, I'm on my back! I have tomorrow off work, so I will be taking the next 24 hours easy! I will have my pregnancy test next Wednesday, so very soon we'll know something! It's weird to think about 2 embryos trying to blast through their cell and implant in me as I'm writing. Thank you everyone for all your prayers! I feel very overwhelmed by the responses from this, emails, and text messages from all my family and friends. Whatever happens God is soverign and to Him be the Glory!

We're gonna do what when!

Ok it's time for the husbands installment once again on this journey we've embarked on.  Many things have happened since I last posted but Christen has done a fantastic job of keeping ya'll up to speed.  It has been amazing to watch the way that Christen has handled herself throughout the IVF process. She has had to give herself shots, take medicines and drive back and forth to numerous doctors appointments.  Christen has done all of this without complaining.  She has endured and carried on despite being extremely tired and bruised up (literally).  If  had ever lost sight of what an incredible woman God has allowed me to spend my life with, this journey has simply solidified and re-focused me to how truly blessed I am to have Christen.  All the while Christen was preparing her body for the retrieval date, I was also preparing..for a bike race that is.  I have been training extremely hard to finish out my season on a high note at the state championships.  Couple our jobs with having to be at different places at different times and what you get is Christen and I not getting to spend a whole lot of time together.  This feeling of separation has worn on us in the last few weeks and I am glad to say that I am officially in off-season mode!  As I crossed the line on Sunday, the last race of the season, my mind quickly forwarded to what lied ahead for me.  After the soreness and dehydration wore off, I couldn't help but have a big smile on my face because we are almost there!  I think about us starting a family daily, but it has always been amongst thoughts of cycling and work and other things.  After this weekend, Christen and I's journey became what has consumed my thoughts!  It's been one of those things where you don't really want to start thinking about the end product too soon because it seems a long ways off.  Luckily our business has us standing at the front door even though I feel like we had our initial consult with the doctor yesterday!  Tomorrow is a huge day for Christen and I.  We will be visiting the doctor and providing the eggs and semen needed to hopefully create a life!  It's my turn at 9:30 and Christen's at 10:30, so I ask that you be praying for us at that time if possible.  Thanks for reading and allowing us to share our thoughts and feeling with ya'll! 

Cruisin for a Bruisin

Last Wednesday I had another appointment for a sono and then immediately following my annual exam with Dr. Daum. I showed up in Arlington for my 9 a.m. appointment where they drew some more blood and took a sono. Everything looked good. Progesterone level was right where it needed to be, so they informed me to keep on with my calendar. My calendar told me to start my stim meds that Saturday. Well, I had been waiting and waiting and waiting for my Flex Plan Credit card to come into the mail so I could order all my meds through that but it hadn't come in. So I starting getting a little antsy, especially when the doc said "you haven't ordered your meds yet??" Oops! So on my way to the next appt I told myself that I would call the insurance people as soon as I got to the office since I would have about 20 to spare. Well, I was about to turn on to the road to Daum's office when they called and cancelled on me. GREAT. I have to have this done before the trial transfer date I told them sounding frustrated. So anyhow, they scheduled me for that next day at 4:15.

Now that I had some time on my hands (since I didn't have to be back at work until 11:45) I went back home and got on the phone with the Flex Plan people. They informed me that my card should be in the mail either that day or the next. I couldn't wait any longer for the card so I went ahead and ordered the rest of my meds that I would be starting 3 days later. Now I'll have to send in the invoice of $2400 to the Flex Plan peeps so they can send me a check in the mail, since I had to put in on my credit card.

Thursday, right after school I rushed over to Daum's for my pap (the one they cancelled the day before) and sure enough as soon as they call me back the doc gets a call to go deliver a baby. Just my luck:) Surprisingly, he was back within 15 minutes. CRAZY! He came in to the room and said "It was a Boy". After the exam I got back home to see the huge box with my medicine sitting on the porch. I went through all of it to make sure it was all there. Check. Good to go.

Last night was my first night having to mix 5 different things together into one syringe. It was a complete and utter disaster! I ended up spilling meds all over the counter. It was not good. So I wasted a whole day's worth of vials. Finally after another 20 minutes I mastered it (well kind of). The syringe is pretty thick but the needle is really small, which means it takes some time squeezing all the meds in you once the needle is in your stomach. Let me tell you...not fun! And to make it even better, I hit a vein. Yup, a vein! So if you have a weak stomach, don't read any further!!! I stuck myself which this time made me jump a little bit, then started squeezing all the juice in. Well, I guess after all of the meds were gone and I started taking the needle out, I let go of the "button" (not sure what it's called). This caused the syringe to start filling with blood. Yes nasty, I know. I honestly started flipping out a little bc that had never happened to me. I was already flustered from the whole mixing experience. I called my mom who is a nurse. She is the one who told me I hit a vein. I must say though, tonight was a completely different story. I mixed everything without spilling a drop! It was amazing. The shots do not feel to great anymore but it's okay I can take it:) I am bummed though about the bruises that are beginning to form. I was determined NOT to bruise. I have even been marking my spot with a sharpie after each stick just so I don't hit the same place twice and cause bruising. Oh well, I guess my goal now will be to see how many bruises I can get...jk ;)

Tomorrow in the morning I have to go to Arlington again for more blood work. No sono this time just more blood. Needles are becoming my best friend. Afterwards I am seeing my new Family Doctor, Dr. Vick. I am going to find out about this aerosinusitis that I have when I fly in an airplane! Then, back to school!

The Retrieval day is still set for September 29th (give or take a day). We are literally a week and a half out. Time is flying by. We are so ready! Hope everyone has a great week...off to do my Daniel study!

Mario turnes 32

Yesterday Mario turned 32.I still remember being newlyweds at 22 and 26. I thought 26 was old then but now I'm passed that! Crazy! I came home from work with Mario passed out upstairs. I'm glad he got to enjoy a little nap. When he awoke, we quickly scrambled around getting ready to head to Arlington with some friends. Some friends of ours from church went to BJ's brewery with us for some Delicious pizza. Afterwards we headed to some coffee shop to watch our friends friends play the fiddle and sing. We had a nice relaxing time hanging out and visiting.

Nothing real new with the whole IVF process. Last Tuesday I took off work for the Trial Transfer and more bloodwork. I can't remember if I already blogged about this but it was a nice easy procedure. They just wanted to make sure that my uterus was clear from polyps and to find a good place to implant the eggs when the "real" time comes. All they had to do was take a tiny catheter and insert it all the way up and squirt a saline mixture up. It was not painful at all. They had given me a tylenol and antibiotic beforehand for some cramping I might experience but it wasn't bad. He said everything looked great. I only have 4 more days of taking birthcontrol and 7 more days of the lupron injections. YAH! After the lupron injections comes the stim meds. This means were getting super close! I'm a little nervous about having to mix all the stim meds together everyday. When I went in to learn how to do it, I was squirting the medicine everywhere! It was embarrassing. The hardest part about it, is making sure you hold the syringe in place bc of the pressure it will want to squirt the meds out. I'm sure it will be fine! So far every sample prenatal vitamin that I have taken has been great...so far no nausea! I think that's about it, nothing too exciting:)

I did it!

Yesterday after church we headed North to Denton for my Dad's 50 birthday, my Aunt Kathy's 46th, and Mario's 32nd! We had a great time playing with the dogs, wrestling, eating, eating, visiting, and eating:) It was so good to see all my family. Some times I miss the Big D (aka Denton). I love love love living down here in Waxahachie but I miss being with the fam.

At 8:00 last night it was time for my first injection. I feel horrible about the whole thing because I didn't realize that Mario wanted to watch me. I literally was shaking and so I grabbed the medicine and headed to the back bedroom. My cousin Drew who is 10 and my other cousin who is 4 followed me bc they wanted to watch. No one else knew I was about to stick myself and I didn't want to say anything bc I was nervous. I was telling Drew and Jack, "I'm so nervous". Drew's response was "just do it, pretend like it's a dart and stick it in", so I said ok and sticked myself. I honestly did not even feel it. Now the medicine burns! Not for just a couple of minutes, but it burned for almost an hour. Crazy strong serum. Afterwards, I ran in there and said "I did it, I gave myself the shot". Everyone was excited except for Mario who wanted to watch. Don't worry, I apologized and told him that he could watch the next one...which is tonight:)

Hope everyone had a great restful Labor Day weekend! Off to do my Daniel Study!!!!!!

Package arrives

Well my first box arrived with 30 syringes and the Luphron. I won't lie, it's a little creepy having a bunch a needles and the red box sitting at our house. This morning I met with a nurse to learn how to give myself injections and how to mix the medicine together. I practiced putting the needles into this fake squishy stomach, which was kind of entertaining. Now tomorrow when I get to stick myself might be a little different:) Maybe not so entertaining! I also got to look at my calendar of exactly when everything will take place. They are anticipating the egg retrieval date is going to take place September 29th. Yes, that's this month! This last week was a little rough starting on the pill. Definitely got my hormones going and my stomach upset. I started feeling better towards the middle of the week. Only cried once:)  

This last Wednesday, I started a Daniel study. I am very excited about studying this book. It will take a whole year to work through but I'm ready! God's word is so amazing.

Tomorrow, we are heading up to Denton after church to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday with the family. Granny wants me to bring the dogs and stay the night which would be fun, but my granny's dog would be like a scooby snack for Abbie and Wade:) That might not be good ending. So, I think we'll head back and then spend some time with friends on Labor Day.

I'll let everyone know how my first prick goes tomorrow!

August

On August 12th, we met with a new doctor. The reason we went to see this doctor was because the friend of mine who is also going through this was telling me that her doctor was almost $4000 cheaper than Kaufmann. So on the 12th Mario and I met Dr. Le. We went back to his office to wait. I walked around and looked at all the precious babies that he had hanging on his walls. It must of been close to 500 pictures of babies conceived with Le. Le came in and gave us a very in-dept lesson of how everything would work with him if we decided to use him. He pretty much told us the same thing as Kaufmann. He knows Kaufmann and Pinto (doctor who we saw last year) pretty well. From the sounds of things, they all refer patients to one another depending on the situations. We left feeling good about him. Mario liked him more than K and I personally like K more than Le. After thinking about it though, the reason I liked K so much was bc of his personality. Le is not from the US and so you could not throw small jokes out there bc he didn't understand them:) But from a knowledge standpoint and success rate, they are pretty equal! Le charges $6000 and Kaufmann 10k. So pretty easy decision. Now none of that is including the medicine but thankfully my school started a flex plan. So the medicine will be paid from that which is pre-taxed from my paycheck every month! Decision Made...Le!

This last weekend I had my first "real" appointment with Le. I had to go in for a base line sono to start this whole process. Once again they got great results from me. My uterus lining was very thin, which is what it should have looked like on that day, my left ovary had 7 eggs and my right ovary had 5 eggs. So just like K had said, Le thinks he will take anywhere from 10-15 from me the day of the egg retrieval. As I was leaving he gave me a box of birthcontrol and asked me to start on them Sunday. We also have to get in to a LabCorp this week for more blood work. They have to do an STD/HIV screening on all patients. Fun Fun. I also scheduled my next appointment for September 6th. I will go in on this day to sit down with a nurse to order all the meds and plan out my calendar of when everything will take place from here on out. I will also learn how to give myself injections at this time..ugh! I got home from the doctor and a couple of hours later Dr. Le called me. He told me that we was putting together my protocol and he changed his mind...he asked me to start on the pill that day. So last night I took the first pill. If you know me, then you know that today I'm in bed feeling like I need to throw up. I don't know what it is with my body but for some reason I do not handle pills well! Hopefully by tomorrow I'm feeling a little better. Usually the first two days are a little rough. So there we have it. The process has begun and both of us are very excited. I promise to do better keeping this updated. I can honestly blame being so busy on school! This year has been great but for some strange reason I feel as though I'm drowning at school...I can not get caught up for any reason! Hopefully this will be the week!

Sorry for the delay!

Well it's time for the man of the house to get involved with this blog, haha.  Like the title says, sorry about the lack of posts recently.  There just really hasn't been much going on in the Arroyave household.  Let's see if I can come up with an accurate template of what our days have been like.  I wake up early and am on the road riding by about 645 or so.  Unfortunately my alarm wakes the pups up, so by default Christen is now up as well.  That means it's time to get the pets some exercise.  After a run the pets come back home and go to sleep, as does Christen occasionally.  I'll usually arrive back home around 10 or so.  After a shower and eating my first lunch, I usually take a nap.  I awake from my slumber about 1. Lately I've been hitting the blue-ray player pretty hard.  Recent movies have been:  Tron, True Grit, Machete and Just go with It (chick flick that was really good!).  Christen has been having to go back to work the last few days so it hasn't been all sunshine for her.  As you can see not much of anything happening...which includes no stinkin' rain for what seems like an eternity now. 
OK so now to the reason why you peeps tune into this thing, the IVF process.  It's looking like the Arroyave's are going to be saving some coin!  Christen has a friend that is also going through IVF at the same time and it turns out the doctor she is using is lots cheaper than Dr. Kaufmann.  I know cheaper is not always better, so I called Kaufmann's office to get the skinny on why they charge so much more than other clinics.  The answer I got was that I didn't get one.  The way I explained it to Christen is this, a not-so-good doctor at this stuff will quickly show.  I mean let's face it, you either have some folks walking out of the clinic with kiddos or you don't (I know that IVF is not always successful BTW).  With that being said, we have a consult with this new guy, Dr. Le, next week on Wednesday.  We'll see how it goes but I'm thinking this might be a smart move for us. 
The days keep ticking away and we are getting closer and closer to kicking this process off.  I think about it several times daily and the excitement continues to build!  Please continue to be in prayer for us and keep tuning in.  I've gotta run and get ready for a wedding we're attending tonight.  Time to get my dancing shoes polished up, haha.

The Best Of...

Here are some fun pics of Abbie and Wade

Abbie trying to go to bed:)

This picture cracks me up....seriously Wade, you look crazy!

Wade always has to have a toy next to him...when he's excited he carries two toys in his mouth at the same time...TALENT:)

Those are Wade's paws on Abbies head...Abbie is just looking at them like get your feet off me.

Look at the top of our fence to get a good idea how high Wade jumps to cath the frisbee. He's so good at it.

Wade in mid air

love this little guy!

My sweet girl Abbie!


Mario and I are heading to SanAntonio to see my mom and the rest of the family tomorrow! This will finish up the rest of our summer. Can't belive I have to go back to school next week! I will be ordering all my medicine next week so I won't have to worry about it when school gets started. So one more week to find superb deals:) Until next time.

Adventure of the Meds.

Yesterday after my Gifted and Talented training I spent the afternoon researching where I could find the cheapest medicine. Here are the meds that my insurance thankfully covers:
Lupron
Progesterone
Vivelle dot patch
Doxycycline
ASA

Here are the meds that my insurance does not cover and how much the first pharmacy quoted me:
Follisim 300iu  =  $277.98
Follistim 900iu (x2)=   $1,669.98
Menopur 75iu(x 10)=   $739.80
Ovidrel          =   $99.97

So, as you can see I'm on a desperate hunt to find Cheaper! Yesterday I made around $800 in "sales" but I am determined to do better! Remember how I told you I had a friend who was going through this at the same time as me? Well we talked for over an hour yesterday about all of it. It's so good to have someone to talk to who is going through it at the exact same time. I also emailed the nurse yesterday because some of the forums that I have been reading say that instead of Follistim you can take Gonal-f, which is cheaper. So I'm waiting back on an answer for that!  So for the next 4 weeks I will be a crazy woman calling specialty pharmacies ALL over the country. If you know of any please let me know!

What has Mario been up to?
-riding his bike (today he is racing)
-taking daily naps:)
-teaching Wade how to jump up in the air and catch the frisbee
-cleaning  the house (yes he's amazing!)

Consult with Kaufmann

This morning at 8 we had a consult with Dr. K to go over the whole process of IVF. We left early so we could stop and get some breakfast in downtown Fort Worth. It was Delicious. When we got to the office we were called back to the "conference" room. On our way to this room we passed this lady with tears flowing from her face:( So sad to think about what kind of news she just received. While waiting in the room I was flipping through the magazinge of the Best Fort Worth Doctors. I took a picture of Kaufmann's page but I'm not sure how to upload pics on here yet! I believe he has three older kids. I know that one of his sons is a 5th grade math teacher. Shout out. Kaufmann also has two younger kids which were conceived through IVF. I asked him today if he was the one who did her (his wife) egg retrieval...nope! He said he did everything else but that. The two younger kids were also in the picture with him. Mario thinks that Dr. K looks like Dr. Oz, you'll have to let me know what you think when I figure out how to get the picture on here:)

The first 15 minutes of our time with the doctor was spent talking about the tour de france. I just sat there and nodded my head:) I have no idea what's happening in the tour! Then he proceeded to tell us all about the process. I will need to call on day one of my next cyle so they can put me on birthcontrol. Sometime during these three weeks that I'm on the pill, I will need to go back in for a consult with the nurse. The nurse is going to explain all the medications and show me how to give myself shots. Then we will wait again for my next cycle so they can begin watching my eggs to determine when they are numerous and muture so we can schedule for the egg retrieval. On the day of the egg retrieval, I will be sedated for a short amount of time while they extract the eggs with a  needle. Don't worry, I hear that you're actually not in a lot of pain aferwards! When the eggs are retrieved, they are going to do a process called ICSI, which I found out today is another $1,700 ahhhhhhh! This process is where they take the sperm and the doctors implant it into the egg themselves. Not everyone has to have ICSI  but we will have to. Then it will be a waiting game to see how many embryos form. The doctor did tell us today that he would only put the two strongest egss in me. There will be a 60% chance of having twins. He also informed us that if we did not want twins, he would only put one egg in me and freeze the other for when we were ready for another child. This would be free of charge. So that being said, we will have lots of decisions to make. We will just have to take it one day at a time.

So what's going on for the next 4-5 weeks while we wait::::
SCHOOL STARTS back for me on Aug 4th and Aug 15th for Mario.
I will be on the phone with different pharmacies trying to find the best deals on all of this medication.
Going to SanAntonio to visit family.
Gifted and Talented Training (why do I always wait until last minute)

*Just FYI, the doctor wanted to warn me ahead of time that I WILL be gaining weight with all of this medication and that during the whole process I can NOT work out:( SO, when you see my lovies hanging over my jeans...dont' ask:):):) Thanks ahead of time!

* sorry about grammatical errors, not going to proof read and don't know how to use spell check either on this thing. Hope it makes sense!

Our life today

In 10 days Mario and I will have been married 5...yes I said FIVE years. Crazy. This last weekend I met one of my granny's friends who has been married 69 years! Now that's Crazy. How amazing is that? I told the guy, "Wow, my five years is nothing". We just laughed.

We attend Stonegate church in Midlothian which we feel very blessed to be apart of. They speak biblical truth and their aim is to show the application of the bible in all areas of life. On Sunday nights we meet with a group of amazing couples/singles our age who we can be completly honest and open with.

Abbie and Wade are our two sweet sweet dogs. Abbie is an American bulldog and Wade is a Pittador (Lab/Pit mix). They make us laugh, smile, frustrated, angry, happy all at the same time. An example of Angry and Frustrated would be:::: we walk in our house and find all of our neighbors movies chewed to pieces covering our living room floor. Thank you Wade. Other than seldom examples like this, they are great dogs. Abbie is 3 years old and weighs 54 pouunds and Wade is 7 1/2 months and weighs 60 pounds.

Abbie::  cuddler, licker, sleeper, runner.
Wade::  energetic, warter lover, food loving, runner, FUN.

I wanted to start this blog so family/friends could follow us as we start the process of IVF. This morning I met with a wonderful, godly woman named Laura Hobbs. She had IVF with their first child and then conceived her next two children without. She gave me some great advice as far as how the medicine might make me feel, how to get a great deal on medicine, and the timeline of everything. She gave me the name of this pharmacy in California where I can order all my medicine super cheap. They say that medicine is anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000. Laura got all her medicine for $300. This made me super excited. Mario and I have our first consult to strictly talk about the in vitro process tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes! I also found out today that a friend of mine will be going through the process at the same time as me. We can pump each other up as we give ourself our daily shots:( ugh!

Ways that you can be praying for us
-that through this all, we never forget that God is in control and knows what's best for us.
-that financially, we will make smart choices
-pray for Dr. Kaufmann and his staff