Day 20: 2 TinyTUTTS Transfered :-)

After sharing a wonderful time with Sparky and Gina at a great Italian Restaurant in Old Town Alexandria last night and with much joy, optimism and anticipation, we awoke this morning and headed out to Walter Reed for our 1030 transfer appointment (our last appt for this IVF cycle.) To say there were butterflies in our stomachs would be accurate but also an understatement....never had we been this "close"...and faith is such a grounding blessing because we could truly feel God's comforting touch as he held us in his arms. The first great news came at 10:22, when one of the REs (Reproductive Endocrinologists) came in and gave us the status of our kids (to see if they had been good in "daycare"). Seven of our eight embryos had survived to Day 3 (today), and on their grading scale (1-5, with 1 being the best), we had: 1 grade 2; 4 grade 3s (the average "score"/quality); 2 grade 4s; 1 grade 5 (had arrested growth yesterday and was not viable.)
We were ecstatic and gave praise and thanks...that gave us the ability to have the grade 2 embryo (only approx 12% of all embies get this score) and the best of the 4 grade threes transfered today...and that is what we did. We will have a chance for our three remaining grade 3 embies to grow for two more days....if they continue to be viable and make it to Sat, they will be cryopreserved so that we can attempt another cycle with them. We'll find out their status when we call back to the clinic next week.
It was a short procedure being only 10 minutes start to finish. We entered the room, and on one side of the table we watched the sonogram monitor and on the other we had a view of the lab.
One of the team members entered from the lab and handed us a picture of our two little gems... there they were, side by side....only 3 days along, but so cute already! They looked oh so small in the transfer dish...and then they "vacuumed the two of them up and in came the nurse with the catheter containing them. Our focus turned back to the sonogram machine, where we saw the cath and then the embies released into their new (and hopefully 9-month-long) home. They showed up as a bright shining star on the sonogram; the embryologist called the transfer "a beautiful one" and they snapped a shot for us to have. You talk about a way cool experience... truly amazing for us to see and so blessed to have successfully finished the program.
After 20 minutes of lying down, Gena was able to move about and we went to wait on our friends Spark and Gina to see what their news was. They also ended up transfering 1 grade 2 and 1 grade 3; that was a true blessing and we thank you for your prayers for them. We all shared a picture and a hug, and then it was off to McDonald's to get our french fries!
So surreal a feeling surrounds us right now....for all intense purposes, we are officially "pregnant" though the validation will come via the blood test two weeks from now. To explain the amazement in words is too hard...but cloud 77 would be in the ballpark!
Gena will be resting the rest of the day and we'll take it very easy tomorrow (Friday) before we hit the road to return to GA on Saturday. In a different way, it is hard to leave here... we met some great people who are now dear friends and have a close tie to Walter Reed and all the doctors and nurses who work in the IVF program. This will always be a special place to us, and we hope that we can one day bring a child (or two) back here to show and explain how much of a miracle they are.
We are overjoyed and a bit ovewhelmed by it all....blessed beyond belief and humbly thankful for His grace, love, and awesome power. So we pray dearly for our two, that they implant successfully over the next few days....and for our growing three, that they make it and stay safe on their journey to Antarctica!

That's the beauty that made up our Thursday morning; God truly is great! Nash and Teebo want to go walk the Potomac, so we'll close for now.

Blessings for your day and all six of us here in DC Love you and thank you with a depth you could hardly know.

Until the next post

Chad, Gena, Nash, Teebo, Embie-1, and Embie-2

Day 19: 'Twas the Night before Transfer....

'Twas the night before transfer
When all through the billetting room
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a Shih-Tzu

The embryos were held in the incubaters with care
In hopes that their mom would soon be there

The 6-cellers and 8-cellers were nestled all snug in the lab
While visions of red-heads danced in their parents heads
And Gena in her jammies, and I in mine too
Had just settled to call it a night
When out of the night there came such a clatter
We sprung from our bed to see what was the matter

Wide awake we were in a flash
Quickly joined on the bed by Teebo and Nash

When what to our wondering eyes should appear
Our almighty God, his hands holding eight tiny Tuttle's so dear

With love on his face and in awesome array so divine
He uttered "I love all my children, and these truly are mine"

More rapid than eagles his blessings and grace came
As He gently called them by name

Now Taryn, now Noah, now Elijah, now Grace
On Elizabeth, on Ryan, on Jacob and Embie-8

"Good is to come in these lives to be"
"In honor of those who have trusted faithfully"

After laying his hands on my heart and Gena's belly, tears in our eyes
He gave us a nod and in brilliance rose up into the night sky

But we heard Him exclaim as He moved out of sight
"Blessed pregnancy to you...my son and daughter you have faithfully journeyed right"

Day 17: Fertilization Success

A happy and blessed Tuesday it is. We started the big-needle PIO (progesterone in oil) shots last night...one a day is better than four! Gena woke up this morning feeling very well overall, so that was great news. While Chad was still sleeping, the clinic called and Gena answered; we were blessed with extremely good news from our procedure yesterday, as all 10 of the oocytes that were retrieved were mature and 8 of them were successfully fertilized (now look like the picture above left). So we are "pregnant" with octuplets right now! :-) Our transfer appointment is scheduled for 1030 on Thursday; between now and then, our little ones will continue to grow and they will take the best two and use them during the transfer on Thursday. We will freeze those that remain and that are of the quality they require to survive the cryopreservation.
Overall, we are immensely happy & optomistic with the news from today...though we know it is all in God's hands (all 8 potentials!)

We won't have any updates until after the procedure on Thursday, so we will post another update after we return from the hospital that day.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and for our friends (Sparky & Gina).

Love from DC

Chad, Gena, Nash, and Teebo

Day 16: Retrieval

It's a cold one this 20th day of Jan. After enjoying a great evening with the Ogawa's, we checked in this morning to the clinic at 0630 for our retrieval surgery. After patiently waiting an hour and 45 minutes, things finally got rolling and Gena was first into the operating room. It was a short procedure (less than 25 minutes from the time they walked her in until the time they wheeled her out and into the recovery room. Our number of "follies" had fluctuated between a low of 12 and a high of 17 (at our last sonogram)...after the procedure, the doctor informed us that they retrieved 10 eggs; Chad's numbers came back with a count of 24M and 100% for motility and progression....all of which means the embryologists will be fertilizing them via ICSI (pictured above left) ate this morning. We will get a phone call tomorrow with the number that were successfully fertilized and what time we will show on Thursday for the transfer. 10 is a good number...though tomorrow's number of successfully fertilized eggs will be the more meaningful number...it truly is all in God's hands. Gena did very well during the procedure and will be resting today. Tonight, we'll start the one-a-day progesterone shots for two weeks (and hope for an additional 4 weeks of shots, because that will mean we are pregnant.) Thank you for your continued support and prayers for us and our friends Sparky and Gina. We'll post another update tomorrow after the clinic calls Love from DC Chad, Gena, Nash, and Teebo

Day 15: Pre-Retrieval

It's a frigid Sunday here in DC; we completed the HCG shot last night at exactly 2130 and went in this morning for one more blood draw to ensure our levels were good and that the HCG shot "took." No phone calls from the clinic means all is well.
Our retrieval appt is tomorrow morning at 0700; and Spark and Gina will be there at 0730 for theirs. Tuesday will be the next "numbers day", when they will call us to let us know how many eggs they retrieved and how many have been successfully fertilized. This will allow us to see how many of our 17 follies "made it"...for really curiosity sake only, because we have seen that numbers don't mean a whole lot...God's plan is everything.
So a light day today, and we are headed out to dinner with the Ogawa's this evening....heading to the Bonefish restaurant, which if you have never tried it, is awesome seafood!

Hope all is well for you and we'll post tomorrow just to let you know things went well.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Love from DC

Chad, Gena, Nash, and Teebo

Day 14: Time for HCG

It's was a cold Saturday morning (but little traffic due to the weekend) as we reported today for our blood/sono appt. Our BABY Swiss continues to age nicely, and the count is now up to 17 follies according to the sonogram. The average of the lot is 15.5mm, with the specs:
19mm (the Red-Headed one), 18, 18, 18, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14, 13, 13, 10, 10.

We recieved a phone call from the clinic earlier this morning instructing us to take our HCG shot tonight at 2130. So after that shot, Gena will have a couple of days off from shots and then be down to one shot a day. Based on our HCG shot timing, we'll go back tomorrow morning for a blood draw and then Monday morning for the retrieval; that will set up a Thursday transfer.

Overall, we are doing great...eager, hopeful, and humble as we enter this portion of the program. We had a blast spending time with Spark and Gina at their place yesterday evening and then again with them this morning during the Pentagon tour that they took us on. They got a phone call right after we did saying that they would be taking their HCG shot tonight as well...giving them the same retrieval and transfer days....good news all around.

That's all for now...next big update will be on Monday, when we know how many eggs they obtained during retrieval and how many are successfully fertilized.

Until then

Blessings be yours

Chad, Gena, Nash, and Teebo

Day 13: "Lucky" BABY Swiss

Happy Friday to you. The snow has started to melt and the sun has shown its rays again today. It was another early riser for our fourth blood draw/sonogram appointment. The past few mornings, few had been there when we arrived...but at 6AM today, a group of 35 and over had shown to start their program and thus there was a line and a very full waiting room. Yet time is artificial and the wait not at all bad because it has been a long and trying journey to this point and everything that we are trying for is a miracle worth waiting for.
So after two and half games of Sadoku, we were called back. We had a new doctor from the team this AM (our third since we started)...an AF Maj who was, as all the others have been, extremely nice, considerate, and excellent. Watching the screen on the machine, we observed the source of Gena's pains that have just started....our BABY swiss, which now is 13 follies...strong and growing. Our "Bakers Dozen" is progressing very nicely, with the average size now 14.5mm (one of them, the red-headed one, has hit the magic number of 18mm...two brunettes are in second place at 17mm) :-) Gena's hormone levels are progressing "beautifully" according to the doctor. And earlier this afternoon, the clinic called and said that we need to show tomorrow for another blood/sono appt...which should be our last one. We anticipate our HCG (ovulation trigger shot) to be between 10pm Sat and 2AM Sunday morning; that will mean a Monday retrieval surgery and a Thursday (24 Jan) transfer. Overall, that would put us one day ahead of the plan they initially gave us. So just one more four-shot day left....Gena's abs applaude that!

In a few hours, we'll be headed over to Sparky and Gina's place for dinner...looking forward to spending time with them and we continue to request your prayers for them too.

We will be entering the "busier" portion of the program, so we'll keep you updated each day.
Thank you in advance for your continued love, support, and prayers.

His blessings be yours

Love from DC

Chad, Gena, Nash, and Teebo