Our Next Step.....

First of all, Corey and I wanted to thank everyone again SO very much for all of your kind words and prayers. If you could only know how much it means to us to hear others are thinking of us and how many people care for us. We truly are blessed with the kindest, most loving, wonderful people in our lives. We love you dearly and thank you so so so much!

Well, by now if you've been reading this blog, you know that we are looking at going to Madrid, Spain to proceed with IVF. We are still doing research and talking with people, making sure this is the route we want to take. I understand that some people are a little skeptical about us going over seas, and I would be too, if I were on the outside too. But, I look at it as, we've come this far and have not gotten a baby...we need to keep going. I have to stay positive around this time in our lives.

We have been in contact with Ruth, who is in charge of helping us with our travel arrangements overseas and communicating with the doctors/nurses at the clinic in Madrid. Our next step is to have a web-cam consultation with the doctor who will be doing our procedure, Dr. Jennifer Rayward. She is a born American, who moved to study abroad and be co-owner of the clinic we are going to, ProcreaTec. Following the consultation we will pick a date in September that we would like to do IVF and will be starting me on the medications for one to two months and getting our travel arrangements in order.

Lots to do in a short amount of time, we will keep you posted when we know more. :-D

Gulp.......

All Monday morning at work I was SO excited for what was to come at lunch time. Even though I was sick as a dog, I still had high spirits about the blood tests that were being drawn at lunchtime. I talked to my work and they gave me the afternoon off, I was as useless at work as could be possible. I was miserable and just needed to go home.

So, I got off work at 1:15pm (15 minutes early for lunch) and quickly drove over to Aurora Medical Center, just a few minutes away from my work and got my blood drawn. I think the lady at the laboratory who was drawing it, I think thought I was crazy or just a goofball.....I was asking a bunch of questions like when the tests get picked up and how long does it take for the tests to be done and I went on and on. In all reality, I was just really excited and nervous. When I get like that, I tend to talk a lot and very fast, that somehow comforts me.

At 2:30, a short one hour and 15 minutes after the draw, my phone rang with a '414' area code number showing up, I knew right away it was my doctor. It was Molly, a very sweet nurse of Dr. Wittmaack's. I could just tell by the sound in her voice what the results were. She started off by asking how I was and proceeded to tell me what the doctor looks for in these types of tests. She says that typically the HcG level needs to be above 2. Mine.....was not. It was below 2. Meaning, Corey & I were NOT pregnant. I couldn't really respond, I was truely shocked after all, I had convinced myself that I was pregnant.

The rest of the night was...Not Good. I called Corey at work and told him the bad news, he started to get choked up a little bit but held it together. Yeah, um not me. I went ahead and called my Mom, Dad, and sisters. They have been AMAZING support behind us. They helped me see the positive in this horrible time. After awhile, Corey came home from work, bringing some beautiful flowers and some medicine to make me feel better. We spent the rest of the night cuddling and talking about what our next step is......

The Results Are In......

Well, the 'big day' came and went.....when Corey got home from Fargo on Sunday evening, we decided to do a pregnancy test together. We were both so incredibly excited while we were waiting for those three little minutes, that seemed to take an eternity...I swear...if we could replay how we were acting, I bet we looked like five year olds just waiting to open that first gift from Santa on Christmas morning!!!! Oh, we were SO excited! That was the longest 180 seconds of my life.

We went into the bathroom, I grabbed the stick and covered the reading so we couldn't peek, so we could both see it together......sadly, it said "Not Pregnant". Sucks. Really Sucks. We truly thought this was our time, I actually felt like I was pregnant. It's crazy what your mind will do to you when you're in the state of mind like I am, desperately wanting it to say we were pregnant.

Corey was right though......I was in shambles. I am so glad he was there to help pick up my pieces. The rest of the night was a blur as I was sick already, and to add this to the cake was just to much to bare. Corey comforted me and him being there cuddling me made things seem for just a split second, that things will be alright. He made me see that, there are still options out there.

However, those at home pregnancy tests, aren't always 100% accurate, so Cor reassured me that the test could have possibly been wrong.

The next day (Monday) I was to have more blood work: a progesterone level and a HcG level check to see if we were in deed pregnant.

More to come.....

To Everyone.....

Corey and I wanted to thank everyone who has been following and supporting us in our decisions about how we're starting a family. Not everyone is as supportive as others and we just wanted to let you know how very grateful we are to have those of you who are behind us. Thank you truely, from the deepest part of our hearts! We love you all!

Love,

Kathy & Corey

The count is down....

Well time is ticking slow but fast for the time for us to take our home pregnancy test. Some good news I think I forgot to mention, it looks like we can take the test tomorrow (Sunday) night...so when Corey gets home from his trip back to Fargo for the weekend, I hope we decide on taking the test. So I guess this cuts down the waiting time in half...instead of two days, it's a short one day away!

Today I'm not feeling well at all, I have a head cold pretty bad and my stomach (baby area) feels very weird, like something I've never felt before. It could be because of the meds I'm on and everything I went through for IUI, but HOPEFULLY it's more than that :)

Hopefully I'll have good news for you tomorrow! :)

4 days to go.....

Well I broke down today and couldn't put it off any longer.....I went to the store and got a couple pregnancy tests! I look at it as I did pretty well not getting them until now! :) hehe I'm so tempted to just go take a test real quick, what could it hurt, right?! But.......I promised Corey after we did IUI that I will not take a test until the doctor gave us the go to do so. So....I gotta hold up my end of the deal.....ahhh....but it's soooo darn tempting! :)

We have 4 days to go until our test date. We have decided that whatever happens on Monday/Tuesday.....we are not going to say anything to anyone, until we come home. It just so happens that we will be coming home to Minneapolis next Wednesday-Sunday for my sister's giving birth and I'm throwing my best friend Ali's bachelorette party on Saturday. Ever since we started trying to have a family...I have been very strong about no matter when it happens, we will not tell anyone unless we are in person. At least our immediate family. So.....if I don't answer my phone on Monday/Tuesday......it won't mean I am or am not pregnant, just that I want to tell my family in person what the outcome was. Does that sound selfish? :( Sorry if it does, we have lived away from our family for so long, this just means the world to me to be able to tell them in person and share the excitement with them! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening! :)

Good news!

Well we got a ray of sunshine for good news this morning! :) I got a call from Molly, one of Dr. Wittmaack's nurses regarding my blood test that I had done yesterday to check my progesterone level. She stated that the doctor likes to get at least the levels/results to be 30 and mine was a 50.8. Yippiee!!!!! I got so excited, I stepped away from work to call Corey and tell him!!!! Yay!!! What that means exactly is, that i'm not for sure pregnant, it only means that it is a very good level for the ability to hold a safe pregnancy! She went forth in telling me that, next Monday's progesterone and HcG levels check will determine if its a positive or negative. Next Monday I can go buy a take home pregnancy test and see what the result says! I'm so excited...I think I'm going to buy out the whole inventory of tests at the store! :) Corey's reminding me that now I can relax and enjoy the next week since my levels came back so great! i think I'll take his advice and just take it easy, try to enjoy this time in our lives. Only 5 days to go till we find out!!! :)

Baby dust!!!!