So, what's next?

I feel like I am finally on the mend! I am not going to be released to work until Monday, but, I feel like things are getting so much better! We are so ready to look forward past this latest "hurdle". I know that we are never given more than we can handle. Sometimes I wonder though!!! ;) Thankfully I've been surrounded by wonderful friends and family to help us through! And Weston...thank you Weston!!! What a saint to have put up with all of this lately. And, he never complained, not once. I feel so blessed!!!

So, what's next in our "Charlotte Days" world? Well, as most of you know it's IVF. So, I just wanted to explain a little bit about what IVF is. This is not going to be an "easy" path, for sure. It seems so easy from the outside. But, once you start getting into all the intricate little details...you wonder how so many couples endure and survive the process. It can be a very stressful journey and is very time consuming. Not to mention it's financial implications. We've talked and prayed about this, and are prepared for the challenges ahead. So far...


What is IVF?
Simply stated, IVF involves collecting eggs and sperm from you and your partner and placing them together in a laboratory dish for fertilization. Days later the microscopic embryos are transferred into the uterus where implantation and pregnancy will hopefully occur, as in a normal pregnancy.

Once you are on the path towards IVF...may the invasive tests begin! Both Weston and I will have to undergo many blood tests and I will be going through a lot of scans, mock fertilization techniques, etc in order to prepare for the actual process.

The IVF procedure usually occurs over a few weeks (4-6), and is a four-phase process (after the initial testing):

Phase I: Ovarian Stimulation. Medication is used to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple ovarian follicles (eggs).

Phase II: Egg Retrieval. Eggs are retrieved via follicle aspiration, in which a very thin catheter is carefully guided by ultrasound to withdraw the entire contents of the follicle, including the egg.

Phase III: Fertilization. Sperm is collected, washed and placed together with the egg to fertilize. The fertilized eggs are allowed to develop for a few days.

Phase IV: Embryo Transfer. A catheter containing an optimum number of embryos is gently inserted into the uterus and the embryos are transferred back to the mother. Two weeks later a simple blood test will verify if pregnancy has occurred.

Here's an alternative, real look, into what happens. Nice, and simply put!

So, there's a little glimpse into what our world is going to be like for the next couple of months. Before my surgery, when we talked with our Dr., she said as long as things went well with the surgery, that we could potentially be in the first phase by the end of April!!! That's SOON!!!! I am not sure if the infection will interfere with plans or not. We'll be meeting with her for my follow-up Friday and will get a better idea and start setting things up.

I've been so thankful for the massive amounts of information out there about this topic. The most helpful resources to me have been the blogs started by couples out there going through the same processes. It's so nice to get a 'real world' glimpse of this. We will be chronicling our journey on my endo blog to help others out there looking for information and someone to relate to. I'm sure we'll have some updates for here as well though!!!

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as our next part of this journey of life has just begun.