Disappointment

Doing the 2 hour drive this morning, we were full of hope for our transfer. We should have took the heavy rain as a bad sign. We had received no calls the last two days that would make us think that our final 2 embryos didn't survive. I held my pee (a full bladder ready for transfer) as I paid the receptionist our final [big] IVF payment. We waited. The nurse called us back and sat us down to wait for the doctor. Bad sign. The doctor came and immediately said she was 'sorry'. Bad news. The two embryos quit growing after day 3. Day 5 looks like day 3. Done. No transfer. No baby. No more money. The doctor kept talking about our situation, eggs, blastocysts, sperm, etc, etc. I kept holding my tears (and my pee), and I tried to listen. We can call her this weekend once we have re-grouped to ask questions and actually have a 'discussion'. But, what's there to talk about? I don't know.

Still Cookin'

Got the call that our two little embies are still cookin' as of this afternoon! Sigh of relief....they are both 6-cell at this point. I don't know much more than that, however. Nor do I know if they will make it to my Friday 9:30 a.m. transfer appointment. The clinic doesn't give any odds, but, so far, so good! Sheryl and I agreed that regardless of the embryos' fates, we will still go to the appointment on Friday to talk to the doctor directly, in more detail. Until then, I do NOT want the clinic to call me. Fingers-crossed. My heart pounds and I jump out of my skin every time my cell phone rings!

Also, a brief shout out to my dear friend (IRL), who sent me beautiful 'cheer me up' flowers today at work. My last post must have been depressing or scary enough to prompt some necessary sympathy flowers! Sorry for that - but the flowers are amazingly beautiful and bright! And just what I needed. Thank you, thank you.

One Minute

One minute, I'm fine. The next, I'm crying in the bathroom stall at work.

One minute, I can not possibly imagine my life without a child to love. The next, I think I could be at peace without one.

One minute, I'm completely positive; glass half full. The next, I'm completely negative; glass half empty.

One minute, I think it is my destiny to have a child of my own. The next, I think it is not meant to be.

One minute, I am full of hope. The next, I am full of despair.

These are the random, rollercoaster thoughts going through my brain every minute, every hour, of every day. These, by far, are the longest days of my life. No phone calls from the clinic today tells me that 'the twins' are still thriving in their little incubater 2 hours away -at least for another day - waiting for me.

Two

I received "the call" this afternoon. Not the best of news, I must say. Out of the 12 follicles retrieved yesterday, 9 were mature enough to do ICSI. Out of the 9, four of them didn't fertilize at all. Of the 5 remaining, only 2 are left fertilized as of this afternoon. Two. Really? Two. Our chances of freezing embryos for later is completely out the window.

Sheryl said there seemed to be some "egg issues". They degenerated or didn't have all their egg "parts". I'm not sure what that all means. I'm not sure if my eggs are just retarded (and have been all along) or if the protocol that was used for me wasn't the best. Sheryl hinted that my doctor was going for a certain result with my protocol based upon my past experience with the drugs I used. I tended to develop follicles quickly in the past. But, of course, this time around, I didn't. Everything was slower to develop. Does that have something to do with it? I don't know - they don't know. It's too late now.

Anyway, Sheryl will call me on Wednesday to set up the blastocyst transfer appointment on Friday. She will only contact me before then if one or both embies I've got decide to die/degenerate. Until then, no news is good news. Trying to re-assure me, Sheryl said "it only takes one". So, in the end, I hope my twins make it to Friday so that this whole thing isn't a total bust.

IVF Retrieval - 12 follies!

On a Sunday, there is really a skeleton crew at the clinic. Our appointment was at 8:30. We got there at 8:15, but had to wait in the parking lot for one of the nurses to arrive to open the front door. DH got called back at about 8:30 or so, and he was done with his business and back in the waiting room before they even called me back for retrieval. His mission accomplished, he gets the whole waiting room to himself and starts to watch "Cat in the Hat" the movie on TBS (my idea). Then, they call me back and DH gets to watch the whole movie while he waits. He mentions that he doesn't care to ever watch it again!

I went into a drug-induced sleep at about 9:00 am and woke up about 45 minutes later to find that 12 follicles had been removed from my ovaries. (Can I just say that anasthesia is awesome?!) I was very relieved - I'm always nervous that I give myself too much hCG and I'll throw the whole timing off and ovulate too early or something. But they caught the little suckers before that happened! At first look, the doctor said 7 of the 12 seem of really good quality/maturity. I feel pretty good, physically. The nurse taught us to do the Progesterone shots, and we were back on the road by 10:45a.m. I'm tired and a little crampy, but otherwise, I'm very excited to find out how many of our combined reproductive products actually fertilize. Not looking forwart to progesterone shots.

The doctor said that the actual fertilization/ICSI process would begin in the lab this afternoon, and I should get a call Monday morning to find out how many they tried to fertilize. Apparently they will not try to fertilize the eggs that aren't good enough or mature enough and, of course, those follicles that don't even have eggs in them won't go through it, either. And then, of course, we'll find out how many of those actually did fertilize. Fingers crossed, there will be at least 2 good ones that make it all the way to Friday's 5-day transfer. And maybe even a couple more for freezing, would be nice. It's going to be a very LONG week!

Drug of the Day - hCG

Today, I don't have to take ANY drugs (besides the baby aspirin and prenatal vitamin!). I'm pretty excited about this. I don't think I'll get that lucky for awhile. Last night at 11:00 p.m., I took my “trigger” shot of 5,000 IU of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). In my case, the brand name is Pregnyl. This drug is derived from the urine of pregnant women. And, of course, I used hCG last night to induce my ovaries to ovulate within 24-36 hours. For IVF, my eggs will be retrieved at about 36 hours after injection, a few hours before the eggs actually would actually be released from the ovary.

Besides being used for fertility purposes, this drug also is used for:

Weight loss: Low-dose daily hCG injections (125 IU) used in combination with a customized ultra-low-calorie (500 cal/day, high-protein, low-carbohydrate/fat) diet can result in a loss of adipose tissue (fat) without loss of lean tissue. I’m not a particular fan of this use because it leads to shortages of hCG at the pharmacy and increased prices for the drug itself.

Anabolic Steroid Adjunct: In males, hCG helps restore and maintain testosterone production in the testes by mimicking LH and triggering the production and release of testosterone. hCG is commonly used during and after steroid cycles to maintain and restore testicular size as well as normal testosterone production. Professional athletes who have been caught using hCG have been temporarily banned from their sport. Also, not a fan of this use!

Tumor Marker: A subunit of hCG is secreted also by some cancers including seminoma, choriocarcinoma, germ cell tumors, hydatidiform mole formation, teratoma with elements of choriocarcinoma (this is rare), and islet cell tumor. For this reason a positive result in males can be a test for testicular cancer.

During Pregnancy: hCG natually interacts with the LHCG receptor and promotes the maintenance of the corpus luteum during the beginning of pregnancy, causing it to secrete the hormone progesterone. Progesterone enriches the uterus with a thick lining of blood vessels and capillaries so that it can sustain the growing fetus. Due to its highly-negative charge, hCG may repel the immune cells of the mother, protecting the fetus during the first trimester. It has also been hypothesized that hCG may be a placental link for the development of local maternal immunotolerance. It has also been suggested that hCG levels are linked to the severity of morning sickness in pregnant women.

All-in-all, hCG seems to be a pretty amazing drug. I will be enjoying my drug-free day as much as I can. Walking the dog, cleaning the house (not much though), doing laundry, went to Olive Garden for lunch, and even possibily going to a concert tonight (Smashmouth!). I gotta be in bed early, though, so we can be on time to our retrieval appointment tomorrow!

IVF Ultrasound #5 - Ready to Retreive!

I was waiting for the nurse to call me back for my 5th ultrasound and bloodwork for IVF today, and a friend of ours came into the clinic. I hadn't talked to her in probably 9 months, and knew that they were seeing the same RE as us. I had heard through the grapevine that she had miscarried earlier this spring. I chatted with her for awhile and found that they had done their first IVF earlier this year, got their BFP, and then miscarried in April at 9 weeks. Luckily, they had 6 frozen embryos to use later. She was in the office today to do their FET. So we will only be a week apart! We compared notes regarding our doctor and our clinic. It was nice to talk to someone going to the same clinic for virtually the same thing. If only I had known, we could have carpooled today!

After spending over an hour in the waiting room (highly unusual for my clinic), I finally was called back for the ultrasound. I was hoping for huge eggs all over the place - ready for the plucking. And there were some, just not as many as I had hoped. When all was said and done, we have 11 follicles measuring more than 14mm. Only 2 of those were at the ideal goal of 18mm. The rest seemed to be between 9 and 13mm. I was hoping that there would be a whole bunch at 18mm, but I guess you get what you get. They asked me if I felt bloated, and I said I didn't think so….who knows?! Maybe a little - but I could still be constipated, too?! As for my lining, it is still "gorgeous" and "awesome" measuring at 15.5mm. At least my uterus knows what to do and is ready to take on some eggs!

I asked if I would need more drugs to make the follicles a little bigger or if we were ready for retrieval. After discussing it briefly with the doctor, we're going ahead with retrieval on Sunday, 07/25! My bloodwork came back and that rose from 754 to 1,672! This is also good and we've got "great momentum". This means that the only concern they have right now is overstimulation - as my follicles will continue to grow through Sunday. Sheryl mentioned that the doctor would monitor me on Sunday, and assess my risk for hyper stimulation. If needed, they will give me a different drug to keep that risk at bay. But for today, I didn't have to make a stop at the pharmacy!!

My schedule is to take 5,000 IU of HCG tonight at 11pm sharp. This is half the vial. Saturday night, the anesthesiologist will contact me to go over the procedure. I am not to eat or drink anything after midnight. We are to be at the clinic at 8:30 am on Sunday morning. This means I have to get up by 6am on a Sunday morning to make the drive. Yuck! Then on Monday, I will start the progesterone, which is used to help prepare for and then maintain pregnancy. I have a choice on how to take this. I can either do it by oil, intramuscular injection (lower back/hip) once per day at the cost of about $4 per day. Or, I can take a newer drug called Endometrin. This is taken vaginally, 3 times per day, at a cost of up to $18.00 per day. Mind you, I would have to take this for up to 6 weeks. $168 vs. $756. We're going to go with the injections…at least to start...DH would have to give me the shots though - I'm a bit nervous for that. On Sunday, they will let me know how many are retrieved. Sheryl will tell me on Monday how many are fertilized. Then on Friday, 07/30, I'll find out how many made it to the blastocyst stage, and we'll do the transfer.

Anyway, it's all very exciting, and it should be an interesting weekend!

Drug of the Day - Ganirelix

I will take 3 doses of Ganirelix during this IVF cycle. I took one yesterday at the clinic, I took one this morning (at work!), and I'll take another one tomorrow morning. So now I'm up to 2 injections per day! Ganirelix comes in a ready-to-use pre-filled syringe, which makes it easier to administer because mixing isn't required. However, I gave myself a big ol' bruise yesterday. Ouch! I must have hit something...I think it is because the needle is bigger than what I was used to. Also, one good thing is that I already had 2 doses left over from my cycle in August 2009. They were almost expired! But I got to use them and only had to pay for one more new one ($87). One pre-filled syringe contains 250 micrograms of ganirelix acetate. Now a little bit about the drug of the day:

Ganirelix Acetate is a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist that is used to suppress premature luteinizing hormone (LH) surges. This prevents eggs from being released prematurely. Women who are using an injectable gonadotropin, (like Menopur), may also be prescribed Ganirelix because drugs like Menopur, stimulate the growth of multiple follicles, which can cause an early rise in LH. Ganirelix is effective in preventing LH surges and rapidly acts to prevent the LH surge after its initial injection.

Ganirelix is given on average up to five days mid-cycle (so far, I've only needed 3). This translates to several benefits:

•Shorter treatment days. (not really in my case)

•Lesser total medication is used. (not really in my case)

•Fewer injections are needed. (not really in my case)

Like the Menopur, OHSS is a possible side affect of using Ganirelix. This possibility is pretty slim, though. One more dose for me at tomorrow's ultrasound!

IVF Ultrasound #4 - Gaining Momentum

I had my 4th IVF ultrasound today. We're making progress and gaining momentum, but not as much or as fast as I had hoped. My largest follicles went from about 11mm to 14mm in 48 hours. They're growing, but not fast. During the ultrasound, Sheryl had a hard time finding or seeing all of the follicles. She thought there may have been some bowel obstructions to her view. I told her I wasn't surprised at that because I've felt constipated the last couple of days (I know this is TMI!). This usually happens to me mid-cycle, close to ovulation. No fun. But anyway, Sheryl was digging around pretty good to move things around to try to see things better. It was not comfortable, and she apologized for it. I was glad when it was over.

So, again, the doctor (a different one this time - the same doc that removed the polyp) took a look at my scans. Basically, it is a repeat of my last visit on Monday. I get two more days of Menopur at the 4 vile dosage each night and will go back on Friday morning for yet another ultrasound. I dropped some more money at the pharmacy - they should know me by name by now! The doctor also said I needed to take a shot of Ganirelix before leaving the clinic. They didn't want to wait for me to take it when I got home. This drug will prevent me from ovulating. I'll take another one of those at the same time tomorrow. We're trapping my follicles inside my ovary until they get big enough to retrieve. At this point, this might even be on Sunday.

The good news is that my uterine lining is, and I quote, "gorgeous"! Apparently, it is nice, thick, and juicy! My lining was 12mm, and the clinic aims for at least 8mm. I, at least, passed that milestone! My bloodwork showed an estrogen level of 754. It more than doubled from last time, so that is a good increase. I would guess I would be above the 1,000 mark by Friday. Sheryl also said that my progesterone and LH levels were down - which is what they want at this point. The lower levels indicate that I'm not yet ready to ovulate.

So, all in all, we're moving in the right direction. This IVF process is so frustrating though. I can't wait for the injections to stop and the driving and the ultrasounds to stop. This is a wait-and-see game and much longer and scarier than my IUIs were. I have no motivation to do anything else but think about my next dose of meds or my next ultrasound. This process consumes your life and every waking moment. I'm constantly thinking about how my body feels and how I'm responding. Is that a side affect? Do I feel bloated? Am I feeling the way I'm supposed to feel? Are they growing? Is that headache related to the meds, or do I just have a headache? Am I going to poop today so my scans are easier to read?! (I did make a #2 this afternoon! whew.) Ugh.

DH agrees that this is a frustrating process, and he can't wait for the IVF cycle to be done either. I can't imagine how frustrating it is for him, as he doesn't get to do anything at this point in the process. I feel bad. At least I feel like I'm accomplishing something with every injection, every drive to the clinic, and every ultrasound. He just waits for my call with the news of the latest ultrasound. However, he might go with me for Friday's appointment. He wants an excuse to be off of work, and it would be nice to not have to drive myself.

IVF Ultrasound #3 - Stalled!

My follicles have "stalled". What does this mean? I had my 3rd ultrasound and bloodwork today, and my follicles have grown, but not much. Often, IVF cycles aim to get the follicles to between 14 and 20mm for retrieval. My clinic wants them to be 18mm. The largest that I had today was only 11.5mm. Since I had a later morning appointment, the doctor (whom I rarely see in person) was there to review my scans right away. She decided that I probably would need another couple of days of Menopur - double the dosage. This means that I will be taking 4 viles a day! This is quadruple the amount that I took for my IUIs. This also means I just doubled my cost of meds for this cycle. I'm dropping about $270 with each injection I take. Ouch.


At the appointment, they mentioned that my estrogen levels were low at the last appointment, but that's to be expected after taking Femara. The clinic called this afternoon and let me know that my levels had rose from 53 pg/ml on Friday (less than 60 is typical at baseline) to 351 pg/ml today. Sheryl said this was a good increase, but we're sticking with the protocol for the next 2 days. Peak levels of estrogen at trigger should be between 1,000 and 4,000 pg/ml. I got a ways to go...but as I've always said with this process - one day can make a BIG difference - especially with the "numbers". My next appointment is Wednesday morning. Another 4 hour round trip...yeah!

Drug of the Day - Menopur

Tonight I take my last dose of Menopur before tomorrow's 3rd ultrasound appointment. Menopur (a.k.a. menotropins) is a preparation of gonadotropins (extracted from the urine of postmenopausal women!) which has undergone additional steps for purification. Each vial contains equal parts of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). My body already makes these hormones naturally, but we are bringing in reinforcements with this drug. The additional FSH and LH will help the ovaries to make eggs.

I am taking Menopur through subcutaneous injection. For IVF, I mix up two viles of Menopur to one mL of saline (this is twice the dosage that I took with my IUIs). Then, I inject it into my belly. I've been going back and forth between each side of my belly button. I don't think it makes a difference, but in my mind, I want to be fair to both my left and right ovaries! I've also been trying to take it at the same time each day. Again, I don't know if that makes a difference either.

I haven't had any problems giving myself injections. A little over a year ago, we did our first IUI with injectibles. Then, I was scared about doing the injections. Needles -ick! My mom (who is a nurse) came to my house and helped me do the very first one. After that, I've been doing them myself. In an attempt to involve DH a little more with this process, he did one injection. Let's just say there was bleeding and bruising, so he was fired from that job! Now, 3 IUI cycles later, I feel I'm an old pro at this injecting thing. No biggie.

There are side affects of using Menopur, but I haven't had any (that I know of). The scariest side affect is OHSS (Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrom). Like it sounds, the ovaries go into overload and this can be very dangerous, and even deadly. I'm not too worried about it, since I'm being monitored so closely, but it's definitely something to be aware of - especially if I start feeling sick.

I'll find out at my next appointment if my 23 follicles are still all accounted for. I'll find out which ones grew like gang-busters thanks to the Menopur and look like they are going to make the cut! I should also find out, if I need to continue with more Menopur, or if we are ready for retrieval.

IVF Ultrasound #2 - Follicles!

I had my 2nd ultrasound for our IVF cyle today, 07/16. It was an early morning, an 8 am appt, and I could barely keep awake on the 2 hour drive to the clinic. I think I'll change my next appt to later in the morning. I made sure to drink lots of water so my blood would be easier to take. So, of course, I had to GO as soon as I walked in the door - even before I checked in with the receptionist. I do my business and check in. The receptionist then tells me that they have to take urine today, so I better drink up. Really? - I just went! So I proceed to guzzle about 3 glasses of water before they call me back.

The tech takes my blood, but it doesn't want to come out. She only got one vial and decided that since I have my appt on Monday, the remaining blood tests could be run at that time. So all the water didn't really help - but at least she found a vein!

They take me back to the ultrasound room, and I realize that now I have to pee. I hold it, but wonder if the U/S will be any good if my bladder is full. Usually, they want it to be empty. The nurse comes in and reviews my chart. Sheryl is awesome. She's done my ultrasounds in every IUI with this RE, and is super nice. She mentions that my protocol doesn't involve too many drugs - this is good, I think, but also strange to her. I told her that the doctor wanted this IVF cycle to look like my first IUI (actually IUI #6) with the RE. I tell her I've taken 5 days of Femara and only one injectible of Menopur so far (starting last night). She reviews my chart and seems to agree with the doctors protocol this time around....Sheryl uses her magic wand to check out my ovaries. She mentions that I must "have to GO". My bladder is big and obvious on the screen! She said it doesn't bother her or the pictures, but it may be uncomfortable for me. I was a champ and held it some more. The nurse proceeds to take pictures. They kept coming, one after another. Measuring, and measuring. Every time she moves the wand, more little black dots show up on the screen, she takes a picture, and measures them. Lookin' good!

Sheryl finishes up and leaves the room. I get dressed and go find my pee cup. I do my job, hand over my [very clear] pee, and then go to the nurse's station to find out what are collectively cookin' in my ovaries. The Femara seems to have done its job! Sheryl took pictures of and measured 11 follicles in the left ovary and the right ovary has 12 follicles! 23 is a pretty good number, I think.

I'm pretty happy with the result of this appointment. We are on the right track. The doctor's instructions for me is to continue with 2IU of Menopur over the weekend and "we'll see you on Monday". Fingers crossed!

Drug of the Day - Femara

I didn't realize that there were so many different drug protocols for infertility procedures. Up until this point, I have just taken my medicine like a good little girl, and hoped for the best. I haven't questioned what I was taking or really understood what these drugs might be doing to my body and to my hormones. So, in honor of my first (and hopefully only) IVF cycle, I thought I'd educate everyone and myself about the variety of drugs that I am taking for my particular IVF cycle.

Of course, I've already done birth control pills and anti-biotics. I won't go into those things as I'm pretty familiar with both. I was on birth control for 10 years - but who knew I didn't really need them?! DH and I both took anti-biotics back in May as part of the IVF regimen. However, we didn't have to do that over again when we got delayed to July.

Today, I took my 5th and final pill of Femara. This tiny, yellow, 2.5 mg pill is also known as letrozole. It has been widely used in women with breast cancer. Since breast cancer grows under the influence of estrogen, letrozole helps block tumor growth. One good thing about this is that since one of the main uses is NOT infertility, my insurance covers it for a co-pay. However, many pharmaceutical companies are trying to get FDA approval to market it specifically as a fertility medication. Until then, my five little pills of Femara cost a $25.00 co-pay instead of $40.00. Gotta save where you can, right?!

Now a little bit about the ol' letrozole: It belongs to a class of medications known as 'aromatase inhibitors'. Aromatose is an enzyme that is responsible for the production of estrogen in the body. Letrozole works by inhibiting aromatose thereby suppressing estrogen production. (Clomid works by blocking estrogen receptors). The result is that the pituitary gland produces more of the hormones needed to stimulate the ovaries. These hormones, FSH and LH, can cause the development of ovulation in women who are anovulatory or increase the number of eggs developing in the ovaries of women who already ovulate (me!). Some studies have suggested that Femara pregnancy rates far exceed those with Clomid!

Like any drug, there can be many side affects of taking medication. Luckily, I have not experienced any issues while taking Femara. The side affects can be similar to Clomid with hot flashes, headaches, or breast tenderness. There also can be allergic reactions, chest pain, or vaginal bleeding. The biggie with Femara is to not take this medication if you are pregnant. Before pregnancy = ok. While pregnant = bad. It can cause fetal death and birth defects.

Basically, Femara is tricking my brain into making less estrogen which tells my hormones to put my ovaries into egg-making overdrive. I have my next ultrasound and bloodwork tomorrow, 07/16. I should hopefully find out how many follicles I have cooking, and to see if the Femara pills have done their job.

IVF Ultrasound #1 - All Systems Go

Today, I drove the 4 hour round trip to the clinic to have my baseline ultrasound (again) for our first IVF cycle. I went by myself, so had a fun time singing out loud to the radio. At the appointment, the doctor did the ultrasound. There were no polyps to be found, my ovaries were "in hiding" but had some tiny follicles, there were no cysts (luckily, I've never had one), and my uterine lining was thin and "good". So no more birth control pills for me! I went to the pharmacy and purchased my drugs for the rest of the cycle (Whew. $$). I'll start Femara for 5 days on Sunday, the 11th and then I'll start the Menopur injections next Thursday, the 15th. My next ultrasound and bloodwork appointment is the 16th.

All systems are a go!

Happy 4th!

Today is the 4th of July. It is not only Independance day, but also my husband's 33rd birthday. He is a firecracker baby and isn't shy about telling everyone that it is HIS day! Yesterday, we went to his cousin's farm to sit by the pool, hang out, and have a pig roast. It was fun, but it was humid and mosquito ridden! Both DH and I got bug bites on our cheeks which have swollen our face right below our eyes. It looks like we got punched! There was one little girl there that must have gotten attacked by a swarm of mosquitos. She looked like she had a very bad case of the chicken pox. Crazy!

DH's cousin had her 5th child seven months ago. With her kids, my 5 nieces and nephews, and various other children, there were 21 kids under the age of 10 at this get together. Needless to say, it was kid overload. It made both DH and I want one of our own even more. So, we took advantage of it and held the babies (got puked on) and played with the kids helping them do smoke bombs (by the way, kids will do ANYthing you say if you're about ready to light a smokebomb!)

And, just like DH is not shy about telling everyone that it is his birthday, he also is not shy about telling his family about our infertility struggles. So, I got approached more than once last night about our upcoming IVF cycle. The way they ask about it makes me not know what the heck they are talking about. A suggestive, "How is IT goin'?". How am I supposed to know that I'm supposed to respond more than just, 'fine' or 'good'? It's like they expect me to say, "It worked! I'm pregnant right now!". And, of course, I'm not.

So, because most do not know what IVF stands for, let alone how it works exactly (because why would anyone have to?), I have to simplify our process for them: "I will take drugs and have ultrasounds on July 8th, 16th, and 19th. Then they take out my eggs and inject his sperm. We go home for up to a week while the eggs fertilize, and then we go back to get them implanted. We wait a couple of more weeks to find out if it worked (meaning, pregnant). We won't know if it worked until the first or second week of August." This is my why of saying - don't ask me until at least the end of August. Ah, well. Everyone is well-meaning and they all hope for the best for us.

Happy July! I hope, I hope, I hope.