Day 11: Amazing Transfer...TWINZ :-)

We arrived at Shady Grove at 0955 this morning and waited to be called back for our transfer. It was reassuring when they gave us the "all clear" call that our seven embryos had continued to grow and that we did indeed have our desired two to transfer. And much to the hopes of the both of us and in fitting resemblance of the dream Chad had last night, Dr. Simon Kipersztok, a former Israeli military ejection seat repair technician who was filling in for Dr. Chang today.....and no, he didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night and DOES have exceptional medical credentials (as do all the doctors at Shady Grove)...gave us the latest report on our embryos.

Our most dear hopes and prayers were answered when he said that they would be transferring two 8-cell, Grade-1 embryos....for a three day transfer, it just doesn't get any better than that... truly, it really doesn't. And the other five our continuing to grow, with at least one Grade-1 embryo among them which makes the prospects of having an embie(s) for cryo at day-5 a very good possibility.

So at 1047 this morning, two beautiful 8-cell Grade 1 (red-heads)...I mean, embryos, were transferred to their 9-month home (we pray so much!)

Monica came in and greeted us...and went over our discharge instructions. We handed over some Cake Love cupcakes and a hug to her as we said our "so long for now" and headed out the doors of the clinic. Amazed by our results and cautiously optomistic, we keep it in the hands of God and trust His will be done.....we have done everything we can and prepared our field for rain....we're leaving the rest and the results up to God.

Walter accompanied the retrieval on Monday and the transfer today, offering supervision and words of encouragement to the Shady Grove Staff. And in keeping with tradition, we went to McDonalds after we left Shady Grove to get our post-transfer french fries. So it was a cheeseburger Happy Meal with Girl toy for Gena and both and Nugget Happy Meal and Hamburger Happy Meal both with boy toys for Chad (had to get one for each child :-)) What a day filled with so much joy and excitement....and cautious hope. We'll be here for a few more days to relax and enjoy some more of DC before we head back to GA....and when we do, we'll have two Baby's on Board :-)

Day 10: Embryo Math

It's day 10 of our trip, and our 8 embryos are multiplying under God's watch in the care of the Shady Grove lab. There they were....1x2=2; 2x2=4; ...while they were busy working on their elementary math skills, we received a phone call report this morning on their progress; and we have seven that are still growing along with one having made it's way to heaven. Of the seven,

their first report card looked like:

5-cell

4-cell

4-cell (15% fragmentation)

2-cell

2-cell

2-cell (20% fragmentation)

2-cell

That is awesome...meaning we have 5 embryos with zero fragmentation and two that have what they consider mild degrees of fragmentation. For us, that was a great piece of news because all seven of our embryos for our cycle at Walter Reed had fragmentation. That put us on a great course to have at least one grade-1 embryo to transfer. Speaking of transfer, they have it set up for a 3-day transfer to happen tomorrow. While we might wish for a five day, the top three have clearly distinguished themselves as ahead of the pack and thus we don't need to wait the extra days for the frontrunners to highlight themselves...the best place for the embies (even though the lab is great at what they do) is the human body, so it's best to get them back where they belong as soon as you can...so absolutely no issues with having a 3-day transfer. So we will show at 1000 tomorrow for a 1030 appt time. We'll get one final report tomorrow morning before the transfer to let us know where they stand. Dr. Chang and our nurse Monica are extremely happy with our progress and are very hopeful for positive results based on how things have gone for us. While it's true that we had a good cycle at Walter Reed, we are even better off with this cycle because of the better quality of the embryos as well as Gena's E2 levels being far more under control than Walter Reed kept them. So it was great news today, and tomorrow we'll head over to the day care to pick up our children (well two, that is) and bring them home (to stay, hopefully). With our numbers, there is a solid chance that we will have one or two that make it to day 5 and will be eligible for cryopreservation...we'll know more on that on Saturday or Sunday. Here's to a successful transfer tomorrow.

Day 9: Octuplets!

Eight must be the magic number for us because that's just how many embryos we have after retrieval and fertilization...which is exactly the same number we had at Walter Reed. So overall, it was 14 follicles---11 eggs retrived--10 mature--8 fertilized....very good numbers across the board, especially considering we are operating off one ovary (well, Gena, that is :-) ) Our octuplets are in the hands of God and the lab technicians and embryologists as they continue their development. Our doctor or nurse (Monica) will call tomorrow with an update on how they are progressing and what their decision will be regarding our transfer date (Thurs or Sat). Gena is feeling good following the procedure, but still trying to kick the cold that she picked up...and Chad is trying to fight it off as well.....foreshadowing of that old adage that when the kids come home sick, mom and dad are sure to follow! Things are well overall and it has been a great stay here in Silver Spring thus far....no big plans for today due to the need for rest, but tomorrow we are on tap to go to the Melting Pot with Spark and Gina....that promises to be a great time! So we'll wait for the phone to ring tomorrow and see what is in store.

Day 8: GoodSWISS Hunting

Sleeping in until 1030 this morning was a much needed luxury after yesterday's 0230 shot appointment. Chad was still shaking off the sleep rust and Gena was still trying to kick the persistent little head cold. We showed at the clinic today just prior to 1300, and were escorted to our own waiting room while the nurse, anesthesiologist and RE all came in and talked with us to give a rundown of what the next two hours would hold. With our assigned doctor out of town on vacation, Dr. Jeanne O'Brien performed the retrieval. Gena did really great with the procedure, having virtually no after-affects and feeling less groggy than she did after retrieval at Walter Reed. It was a fast procedure, over before Gena even knew it and barely enough time for Chad to get from the 4th to the first floor to pick up meds at the pharmacy and then back up to the fourth floor waiting room. We spent a short 15-20 minutes in the recovery room before Gena was cleared to go...and off we headed back to the hotel. We left with a smile on our face and much hope remaining in the lab...11 eggs had been retrieved from the 13 follicles we had, which was a great number and one more than we had at our cycle at Walter Reed. So now, it's awaiting the phone call tomorrow afternoon that will let us know how many of them were successfully fertilized. As it's always been, they are in God's hands now and we pray for his care and feeding to our little gems of life as they begin their journey at the touch and skill of Shady Grove's embryologists and lab. Can't wait to see how they are doing.

Day 7: "Pull the Trigger!"

We burned the midnight oil from last night into this morning so that we wouldn't be late for our 0230 HCG shot; and under the steady hand of a Health Careers Graduate, it was flawlessly on time and mostly pain-free :-) The rest of this Sunday, 20 Jul, was spent: for Chad, trying to catch up on sleep; and for Gena, to try to kick the head cold she had come down with yesterday. Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy helped fill some of the downtime in the evening, as we thought about tomorrow's retrieval surgery and what our numbers would be. A burrito from Chipotle quenched the hunger pains of dinner and a piece of apple pizza topped it off.

Overall, today was a lazy day, and you definitely need one of those every now and again.

Day 6: Legal Swiss

Starbux was the aroma of the morning as day 6 of our trip began. Once again successful at the sleep preservation methods, our appointment was even later than the last: 1115 this morning. It was yet another great checkup, this time having follicles both of legal drinking and legal driving (separate, of course!!) sizes....the leader of the pack is at 22mm, with a total of 5 over 18mm. Our baby swiss is indeed aging nicely and we await a call later this evening that will likely be the one to confirm that we are triggering late tonight or early tomorrow morning. We had a candid chat with Tina, on the of nurses, to review the procedures for the next couple of days. The good news about trigger is that it drops Gena's shots from three per day to just one.

The call came in just after 5pm today with confirmation of trigger....which is a day earlier than we did at Walter Reed and good news to us....the "ooof" part of the news is that we have to give the shot at exactly 0230 in the morning tomorrow (Sunday morning)....that doesn't help the sleep schedule very much, but it's a necessary sacrifice, of course. So we'll burn the midnight oil and ensure we are on time for the injection. That means will have the rest of the day Sunday off and go back in to the clinic on Monday afternoon at 1300 for a 1430 retrieval surgery. Then we'll just wait and see how many they get, how many are successfully fertilized, and how they end up growing. Things are progressing well, and we've hoped and prayed they would. It'll be a late night, but it's the start of the next mini-phase for this cycle.

Day 5: Driving Age

It's day #5 of our trip and it started with a trip to Starbux and then a trip over to the clinic. We have successfully obtained later and later appointments...started with 0930 and by today are up to 1o15. At this rate, if we don't have our trigger on the earlier side of the timeline we might need to bring dinner to our checkup appointments!! :-) But can you blame us for wanting the extra sleep if we can get it? At any rate, it was another very good checkup. The staff is extremely happy with the way that Gena is progressing. We still have a baker's dozen (or more) of follicles, with two that are are above 18mm and one that is just below it; the other's fall in line all the way from 14-16mm. One marker they use is driving age, as they want at least three follicles to be 18mm or greater before they will look to trigger. So it's not enough for the follicles to have their permit...they've gotta have the license to "drive". So we'll go back for another checkup tomorrow morning to get another assessment....which we figure will be the one that will have us trigger either late Sat night or early Sunday morning for a Monday retrieval. E2 level is progressing nicely and was 1306...which was right at 200 points less than on the same cycle day at Walter Reed. That being one of our concerns, it's nice to see where it is at for this cycle.

Overall, another great day. Spent a few hours after the appointment over at the mall in Tyson's Corner...enjoyed some TGI Friday's while seeing what Pottery Barn Kids and Restoration Hardware had to offer....lots of fun things to deck out a nursery with....so we sure do hope we can spend some money with them in the not too distant months! :-) Silver Spring continues to be a great place to stay as were getting to enjoy the perks of downtown living....which, yes, is a far cry from they way things are back in the stickland they call Warner Robins, GA.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Day 4: Teenagers!

It's day four of our stay here, and we were back at the clinic this AM at 1000 for our checkup. Margaret, our ultrasound tech, was her enthusiastic self again and commented that things are looking very very good. We've got a baker's dozen for the follicle count, with the leader of the pack measuring in at 17 millimeters; the others range from 10-15mm. We are continuing on the lowered dosage of meds and it appears to be working very well. E2 level today was 946 and we are projected to trigger on Saturday, 19 Jul. That would be a day earlier in the cycle than we triggered at Walter Reed...and actually the day we feel that we should have triggered when we cycled with them. So overall words today were once again great, and they are truly keeping a close eye on our progress which is such a good and reassuring feeling.

Today's "tourist" travels took us to the White House....went and took in the views from both the North and South lawns....was a short but great trip. Riding the metro is always a fun adventure, and we took in some lunch at Uno's Pizzaria in Union Station.

Overall, another great day on our journey with Shady Grove and another great day overall here in DC. Staying downtown in Silver Spring continues to be a fun experience, with so much within walking distance. Day four finished up with some good relaxin'; we'll be back at the clinic tomorrow morning.

Day 3: Growing Up

Day 3 started with another trip to the clinic. Dr. Chang joined the ultrasound tech, Margaret, this morning for the appt. It was Chad's first chance to meet him, and it was great to see him come down for a first hand checkup...he showed genuine interest and explained his view of how things were progressing (which was well); targeting us, at this point, for a potential day 10 trigger on Sunday, 20 Jul. The ultrasound showed solid follicle growth; the count stood at 12 follicles...the largest of which was 12 millimeters...so they are right on pace. Overall, another successful and short appt at the clinic (they surely are efficient in processing their patients)...so nice to have an actual appt time as opposed to Walter Reed's Southwest Airlines-style cattle call of getting seen in the order that you rumbled in, which started at 0600.

Shady Grove's Rockville office is an extremely nice facility, and the staff has been exceptional thus far. There's an extra degree of comfort and peace of mind when you know that you are valued as an individual patient/case rather than seen as just another number in an endless cycle of procedures.

This evening's call from the clinic confirmed Gena's excellent progression thus far and has us going back tomorrow morning for another checkup. E2 level was 556 (Gena won the bet for closest to the actual number) and was the recipient of two scoops of ice cream from Ben-and-Jerry's (seven layer coconut bar and Whirled peace...two new flavors and oh they were good!!)

That's it for Day 3....all is well.

Day 2: Nice Ovary!

Today was our first appointment at Shady Grove. Chad got to get the indoc of the facility, as it as his first visit to the clinic. It is extremely nice and the staff is cordial and prompt. Our visit lasted 40 minutes, and we were headed out with good news and a picture to prove it.

Margaret, our ultrasound tech commented, "You go girl" when she saw how many follicles Gena had (and in just one ovary.) The progress was solid and the growing group numbered 15 in total.

Gena is on 3 shots a day right now; it may be one less per day than our last cycle with Walter Reed, but it's still three pricks a day and that's not fun!

The clinic called this evening and lowered the dosage on one of the drugs; a change which we fully expected and one which showed us that they truly are closely watching us as an individual case rather than trying to fit us into a standard protocol. Tomorrow was an expected day off, but they want us to come in for a checkup so we'll be back at the clinic at 0945 tomorrow.....guess it's Panera Bread for breakfast, once more :-)more

Nash and Teebo stayed back in GA this time...and we sure do miss them!

We spent the evening over at Spark and Gina's place....had a great dinner and they took us to a great custard place called "The Dairy Godmother" for dessert. They are doing very well and are expecting the birth of their son Samuel in Oct. They are treasured friends!

Well, that summed up day 2 of our trip. More to follow as we continue through this cycle.

Day 1: "Interstate" SHADY GROVE

The curtain has once again opened on our parenthood journey; with our first cycle at Walter Reed putting us on the exit ramp with a negative, we have re-merged on the road...now traveling down Interstate Shady Grove, as we work with the Shady Grove Fertility Clinic here in Rockville, MD (just a stone's throw north of Washington DC.) We are participating in their
Shared Risk program, which had a mountain of an expense to enter into but offers as much "comfort" (and there is often very little on the infertility journey) as is possible. If at first we don't succeed, we'll get to try-try again.

We drove 12.5 hours yesterday from Kathleen, GA, to get here. Arrived at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Silver Spring, MD. This was one of our fun spots to come to during our last trip, so we decided to skip staying at Bolling AFB like we did last time and stay downtown where all the action was!

We're settled in and ready for part two of this journey, which has now encompassed three plus years. And we come here knowing one thing...that we've done all we can to prepare our field; and we trust that God will, if it is part of his plan for us, let it rain. We've given everything we have, and leave the results up to God.