Another day of enjoying the holiday season and baking with my little helper, Liliana. Today she discovered the joy of licking the spoon after mixing cookie dough. She is such a precious gift, especially in the midst of these topsy-turvy days. Tender moments with Liliana are constant reminders of the reason we are so willing to go through difficult treatments to have more children. There is nothing on earth better than being a mommy.
Things are looking up on the IVF front. I had bloodwork and an ultrasound this morning, and the results were better than anticipated. As of yesterday, even the great Dr. Silber was unable to explain the bleeding. The nurse said they had never seen anything quite like it. Through analysis of my hormone levels and ultrasound images, today Dr. Silber concluded that my uterine lining was shedding (hence, the bleeding) at a very odd time in the cycle. As a result, the lining is now only 4mm. It needs to be 8mm in order for embryo implantation to occur. Everything else looked great: multiple follicles are growing (slowly but surely) and hormone levels were within normal ranges.
All in all, we plan to charge full speed ahead, praying that at least 10 eggs mature (preferably more) in time for extraction and that my lining doubles in size by Dec. 20th. If the lining does not reach 8mm, Dr. Silber will extract the eggs, fertilize them and freeze them for a later transfer. The freezing technology is so advanced that less than 1% of "pre-embryos" are lost during the process. Worst case scenario: we create embryos this month and transfer them at a later date. Although that situation would be somewhat disappointing (since we'd really love the New Year's gift of pregnancy), we still wouldn't lose all the time, effort and resources we've invested so far. We're very thankful for that!
Please pray specifically that at least 10 eggs will be viable at the time of extraction (Dec. 17th) and that my lining would be ideal for implantation of embryos (Dec. 20th).
I truly feel the Lord's hand guiding this situation. And although I don't understand all the drama, I do know that He has something wonderful in store for us.
Say tuned...
3 comments:
Ramona-
It's so fun to hear about your precious moments with Liliana! And it's good to know that things are not as bad as they seemed with the IVF. I will keep praying for success this month and that you will have peace whatever God's timing is. We've certainly learned that our timing isn't always best, but God's is perfect!
Julie bauer
Hi Ramona!
We love reading about Liliana's new experiences with cookie dough. Hopefully she won't take a liking to chocolate chip so you get to pick out all the bits in the ice cream.
We will continue to pray for you.
Tim and Chris
Hi Ramona -
I'm so glad that things went well on Friday. I thought about you over the weekend. I will continue to keep you in my prayers.
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