Venting!!!!

I am so confused! Yesterday, I called FCI to ask what the results were with our medical tests and found out everything was fine. At that time I told the coordinator about my need for a new birth control pill prescription and she called it in. Then last night when I got home from Target, I found a completely new BCP in the bag. I had no idea it was going to change but it did for some reason. So this morning I started the new pill pack as I normally would. Then, this afternoon I got a message from the FCI coordinator asking me to call her back. So when I did she acted like we didn't even talk yesterday and she said "I just wanted to let you know your medical tests came back clear". So then I said "yeah, I know you told me that yesterday". Hello!!! So, then I brought up the fact that the BCP was a different prescription that they called in for me yesterday and she was surprised to hear that and said it should have been the Loestrin FE 24 that I have been on for 8 months. Then I asked her if I should continue taking the pill as always and then she said "Oh, wait, no you shouldn't be taking it right now, wait until Sunday to start the active pills and then just stay on active pills through July". So then I was thinking- shouldn't that have come up yesterday during our discussion about the BCP prescription????? Anyway, I felt like she may not really know what is going on so after that crazy call, I called Zara and R to talk about all of this and they suggested I call the IVF Nurse. I talked to the IVF nurse and sure enough, there was a misunderstanding with the FCI Coordinator. Somehow she thought I didn't have a period this month (even though I told her I did), so she was telling me to wait on the new pills. But after all this, I should be continuing my pills as normal with just the actives until I start lupron. Now, I need to make a 3rd trip to Target today for my original BCP! Let's hope things get more organized from here on out. What a nightmare! It's just frustrating because we haven't even started the real stuff yet (with the meds) and if they screw up the BCP, it worries me about the meds. This is so real and so important! I need- we all need for everyone to be on board so we can proceed. Sorry, just had to get this off my chest.

Phone Conversation

R and I had our first phone conversation this evening which was about 45 minutes long. It was awesome to be able to talk with her at length about so many different things. I truly feel we have a great connection and look forward to getting to know her more. (Hopefully you feel the same- R.) :)

We planned a get together for Sunday, 7/6 and it can't come soon enough. I am looking forward to an evening out with Al and of course with R & S. It will be strange to be in a restaurant without having to order chicken fingers and grilled cheese. Wow- how exciting is that? Luckily my sister Kris has agreed to watch the 3 kids that night while we visit. Yippee!

Then, hopefully within a couple weeks after that, we will plan another get together and have R & S meet our kids. I can't wait for them to see Carson, Gavin and Morgan in person and to get to know them too. Our kids are so darn cute- and funny too! Yesterday, we were at Grandma's house for a cookout and Gavin met some new people there and he decided to tell them that he bites his nails and picks his nose too. Such honest children we are raising. :)

Well it's almost 11pm- way past my bedtime and tomorrow is my first day back in the office after vacation. YUCK! I wish I could continue this time off for at least another week or two. I know I will miss the kids so much tomorrow after being with them for 10 days straight. Wish me luck to get through the day.

Medically Approved!

Well we are back from our very hot vacation to Palm Desert, CA! We spent most of the time at the large pools as well as some sight seeing. The best attraction was the Palm Springs Aerial Tram which was just featured last week on the Bachelorette. That was a great experience to ride the tram up to the mountain top and spend the day hiking in 75 degree weather compared to 115 degrees at the bottom! We also visited the Living Desert where Carson and Gavin fed a giraffe. That was pretty cool! It was actually a nice vacation despite the heat. My lovely period arrived right as scheduled on Thursday, 6/19 to spend the rest of the vacation with me. So that is good news for R & S. :)

I called Dr. M's office today to find out the results from our medical tests and heard the good news- everything was fine! So, I believe this officially means we are able to proceed with contracts and finalizing plans to start meds next month. I also had to ask Dr. M's office to call in a new birth control prescription for me since my current one expired this morning!!!!! YIKES! Yep, my trip to Target for a refill yesterday was a waste. Let's just hope they don't forget to make the call to get the refill ordered. I need to pick up this pill pack today- or tomorrow at the very latest. I wouldn't want to mess up any cycling so hopefully all will work out.

Dr. Appointment Recap

Well, yesterday was our appointment with Dr. M. Al and I both had blood and urine tests and then I had a saline sonogram and pap smear. I am thrilled to say it was no where near as bad as I expected. (Perhaps I should stop reading all the posts on the internet!) It was basically just like a regular pap but also had the liquid saline shot up in my uterus. Everything looked good from the exam so now we just need to wait about a week for the other test results. The Dr. seemed very nice although we only spent about 5 minutes together and of course I was extremely nervous at the time. (That's what sitting on a bed dressed in nothing but a ripped tablecloth will do to you when you are meeting someone for the first time!) I was so nervous with the Dr. and nurse that I just kept saying funny things to lighten the mood. For instance, the dr. asked me if I have ever had any breast problems and I said "yes, major shrinkage from nursing 3 kids for a year each!" :)

After the medical appointment, we met with an IVF surrogacy coordinator along with R & S. I was totally nervous at first. It was a bit awkward sitting in the doctors office with all 4 of us seeing eachother again for the first time since 5/12, but once we all started talking again everything went smoothly. I was so happy to finally get to see them and be able to talk about everything. I feel so terrible about everything they have been through over the past couple of years. No one should have to deal with all of that.

It looks like I will start lupron injections sometime around 7/25. Luckily, this clinic only uses one type of injections- the Lupron. All other drugs will be in the form of suppositories or patches. Whohoo! What a relief. Again, I have read so many bad stories online about the horrible inter muscular- oil based injections. I am thrilled to hear I will be inserting these elsewhere instead of more shots.

The egg retrieval would be somewhere between 8/17-8/23 and then the transfer would most likely be 5 days after. We are still discussing how many eggs we would transfer. This will really be finalized at the time of the contract. I am very scared to transfer more than 2. I really want to make sure I am making safe decisions for myself and not putting myself in a position where my own children will suffer if I am on bedrest. But, on the other hand, I want to make sure this will actually work and that R & S will get a baby out of this! It is hard to believe this is actually happening. It feels surreal to me.

We are leaving in 4 days for a family vacation to Palm Desert, CA and I am really looking forward to a relaxing time as a family. It will be great to get away from work and responsibility and be able to spend time thinking about this amazing journey. I pray that all will go well for us and of course for R & S.

Happy 40th birthday to R today!!!!! I hope you get everything you want. :)

Medical Appointment News on Monday!

I received an email yesterday afternoon from Zara saying that we officially passed our psych test! YIPPEE- we are not crazy. That is comforting news. :)

But, the best news of all is that Zara told us on Monday, 6/9th, after our medical screening appointment at 1pm we will have a meeting with the IVF team at 2pm and R & S will be there! Wow, I am shocked. We actually get to see them again- FINALLY! We are not sure what the appointment will entail but we are excited to hear we can sit down and spend more time with R & S. It will be a little strange meeting with medical professionals all together since we haven't even been able to talk since 5/12. Hopefully my nerves will settle down by then. Maybe if we are really lucky we will get done in time to go somewhere afterwards with R & S for a drink to get to know each other better. I feel guilty suggesting liquor as a potential SM, but it may be the last (and only) time we can sit down and have a glass of wine all together. We'll see how the day goes. We may have an issue anyway since we have to be back in time on Monday to pick up the kids from day care.

Psych Test

Well, we made it through the appointment on Friday with the Psychologist. We met together for about an hour with her and then I had the horrible task of completing the 567 true and false question psych test. Yikes! That brought me right back to school filling out scan-tron tests for an hour and a half! Let's hope I passed the test considering most of the questions were CRAZY! For example: "I want to kill myself", "I hear voices", "I am afraid of dreams" etc....... We should know the outcome very soon. Next Monday, 6/9 is our medical exam for both Al and I so I am looking forward to completing another step. And, the best part is once we have clearance from both of these, we might actually be able to talk to R & S again! Wouldn't that be nice?