Happy Anniversary to Us!

Yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary. Time flies when you're having fun! I can't wait to see what the next 6 (and beyond) hold for us.

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Happy Birthday, Mr. C! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day!

Newport, RI

Mr. C and I just returned from a trip to Newport, Rhode Island. It was beautiful and we had a wonderful time! Check out some of the pics from our time in New England:

Day 3 Labs and SHG

We're back in the game again! Last week I had my day 3 labs and today I had my sonohystogram (hello cramps!). Everything looked good with my numbers last week and my FSH is the lowest it's ever been, coming in at 7.5. Yay! My highest number (after the Clomid Challenge Test) was 11.4. My RE says your highest number is your official FSH, but I still feel good when it goes down. It's been 2 years since the 11.4, so I was terrified that it was going to be even higher than that! At least we're starting off with some good news! My SHG was uneventful this morning and everything looks normal. Now we just wait until AF when I'll start BCPs. I can't believe we're doing this again. I hope and pray that it works this time.

Here's a photo of us from a wedding in Asheville we attended a few weeks ago. It was at the Grove Park Inn and was beautiful. Unfortunately, the bride and groom announced they were PREGNANT right before cutting the cake! I started crying and ran out. Very dramatic. I'm very happy for my friend, but seriously?! (Incidently, this photo was taken BEFORE the big announcement!)

Another Visit with Patrick

Last weekend we traveled to Colorado to visit my cousin Heather, her husband Craig, and their son Patrick (our godson). Heather's brother Rocky also flew in from Washington. We had an AMAZING time together. It was so nice to connect with family and to spend quality time with Patrick. He's 11 months old now and is so much fun! He's a very happy boy and his personality is delightful. Every morning, Mr. C. took Patrick on a hike in the backpack. Heather and Craig are so laid back and let us have lots of alone time to take P on strolls, to the bookstore, to the playground, etc. Mr. C. is amazing with Patrick. He is going to be an wonderful father. I hope he gets that chance soon.

We went to Estes Park (where I worked at the YMCA of the Rockies one summer), to Boulder (where Craig and Mr. C. ran the Bolder Boulder 10K) and spent time tooling around Denver. When it was time to go, we were both beside ourselves and Mr. C. shed more than a few tears. We are so blessed to have Patrick as our godson and to have Heather, Craig, and Rocky as part of our family. Now we're back and we can't stop looking at all the photos! Here are a few for you to enjoy:

Update - We have a plan!!!

I FINALLY had my follow-up appointment with the RE yesterday after my FET c/p in March and my RPL panel bloodwork. I am so impressed with my RE. There is a reason that he's one of the best! He had spent a long time reviewing our chart and previous history and had a plan ready for us.

He first went over our RPL results. Everything came back normal EXCEPT that I have heterozygous Factor V Leiden. It's a blood clotting issue that means my blood is more prone to forming clots. He says that he does NOT think it has anything to do with our three loses, though. Apparently it's a big debate in the IF world because 10% of the population have Factor V, but only .5-1% of people have repeat pregnancy loss, so it may or may not be related. He said that our treatment options are taking aspirin or H.eparin injections. He discourages H.eparin, though, because the risks outweigh the gains.

His main conclusion is that our problems are a result of poor egg quality. With an FSH of 11.4, I'm above normal, which could indicate egg quality issues. His goal with our next IVF will be to try and improve egg quality by using "softer" stimulation and by adding growth hormone, which recent studies have shown to improve quality. He is also swiching L.upron to GnRH antagonist which won't give me such extreme headaches. We're hoping to get fewer eggs of better quality. In the past, they've retrieved 23 eggs each time but only about 14 have been mature and 9 fertilized (both cycles were pretty similar), although in the first cycle, my embryos after day 3 had poor quality and poor morphology. So, if we can have fewer eggs that are better quality and more able to fertilize, plus take aspirin for the Factor V, then maybe this is a recipe that will work!

Mr. C and have had our hope restored a bit after hearing what our RE had to say. We're ready to move along with this next cycle (probably in July). Mr. C. is feeling positive and supports this new plan, so that makes me feel so good!

Mother's Day Angel Exchange

Today is a difficult day for a lot of us. I can't help but have the thought creep in from the back of my mind that I've had two due dates come and go in the last year and I should be celebrating my motherhood today. BUT, I'm choosing not to dwell on my own situation, but instead focus on celebrating the amazing mother that I have been blessed with.

Speaking of amazing women, I am part of a group of strong, supportive ladies on the Trouble Trying to Conceive board on The Bump. They continually provide information, support, and cheerleading to anyone who is struggling with IF and I have found such comfort in their words. One of the ladies (Tarah) had a wonderful idea to make us all feel better on Mother's Day and organized an Angel Exchange. We drew names on Elfster and bought our secret pal a Willow Tree angel to open today.

I received two beautiful angels from Manda; Thinking of You and Angel of Wishes. They are beautiful and made this a happy day worthy of celebration. THANK YOU Manda!