The Baby Ruth Blog

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Happy Autumn!

Autumn is here and good things are brewing for Baby Ruth. The plant sale in Hood River was lots of fun. Mom and Dad and some really nice friends and family helped us save up a little more for our fund. I'm super excited because I'll actually be starting my IVF cycle next month! Below are some links from OHSU's website that explain the basic steps involved for an IVF cycle.

Initiation of Oral Contraceptive Pills
Baseline Ultrasound
Ovarian Stimulation & Monitoring
Final Maturation HCG (Trigger shot) and Oocyte Retrieval
Fertilization
Embryo Transfer (3, 5, or 6 days after retrieval)
Pregnancy Test (10-12 days after transfer)
Early OB ultrasound (6 1/2 weeks gestation)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

My biopsy came back clear~ Yay! We're back on track now. My next step is to finish the blood tests they need before we can get accepted for the Attain Program...and lots of saving left to do. The plant sale my parents are doing to help us raise funds is coming up September 25th from 10-3 in Hood River. (589 Eastside Rd) Hope everyone can make it!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Biopsy Finished

Today I had the endometrial biopsy. They used a clamp, then threaded a catheter through my cervix and cut out a little piece of my lining. It was about 20 seconds of the most excruciating pain I've ever felt. There is a REASON that endometriums are not to be touched! I really really hope child birth is not that intense seeing that it's so much longer than 20 seconds. (Please nobody tell me if it is that horrible--I don't really want to know!)

That's all I have to say for now~ good night!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Happy Summer!

It's amazing how Summer flies by so quickly when you're a grown-up. Whatever happened to those long, lazy days filled with Mom's homemade popsicles and playing on the swing set until dark? I'm already getting the back to school butterflies, and it's only the middle of August (and I don't go to school!).

One thing I'm actually looking forward to this coming "back-to-school season" is finding out if the course of medication I've been on for three months has been effective. I was treated for a condition called "endometrial hyperplasia" which is the thickening of the uterine lining, which if left untreated can become cancer. This is caused by having too much estrogen and not enough progesterone. On Friday Aug 20th, my doctor at OHSU will be doing an endometrial biopsy to check the tissue and see if I'm better. Please pray that I'm done with the pills and able to move on!

The question is...if I'm all clear, what's next? The plan right now is to continue saving up for the Attain Program at OHSU (3 fresh IVF cycles and 3 Frozen). In the meantime, I'm planning to take a natural approach including herbs and acupuncture and pray for a miracle. I'm really thankful to have found a wonderful acupuncturist in Portland named Taya. I was recommended to her by several of the ladies in Hannah's Hope. She is such a thoughtful person and I feel so blessed to have found her. My hope is that perhaps she can help my body become more balanced and also help me with the stress of the situation. Here's her website: http://www.hawthornewellness.com/practitioners/index.php?p=acupuncturists

Also coming up this Fall is a super cool PLANT SALE at my mom and dad's to help us save for Baby Ruth! As many of you know, they are avid perennial gardeners and one of the perks with perennials is that you can divide them up into baby plants. I'll post more information when it gets closer.

Thanks friends and family for reading my blog and for your prayers! I'd love it if everyone would get a Google user-name and password so you can sign up as a "follower" (that's how you get your picture up that says you read this if you didn't know).

Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Baby Ruth Library

For a little one who hasn't even been conceived yet, Baby Ruth sure has a lot of reading material. Check out our new kid's book section in the bookshelf! On Friday, we spent the day with my parents and grandma in Hood River. My mom just retired from teaching second grade for over 30 years and she gave us loads of these gorgeous children's books! I can't wait to test them out. Thankfully we have nieces and friends to help "tide us over" until we read to our own munchkin.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Round 2

As I type, there's a little buck with just the start of antlers laying in the grass right outside my window and a cute baby bunny is chomping on some grass. It made me think of Bambi and Thumper. I love Spring!

This month, I'm going to make every effort to "betrol myself" as Hallie would have said. I really don't want the progesterone to take control of my emotions again. I'll be starting round 2 tonight and take pills for the next 12 days. I'm thankful that I don't have to do them as shots. This can be very painful, as some of my friends have experienced during thier IVF treatments. One of the gals had so much pain that she couldn't walk or lay down for a stretch of time.

I've been working on an application for an IVF scholarship from the organization INCIID the last few days. I'm waiting to connect with the IVF coordinator from OHSU since they will have to write me a letter of referral. If we win the scholarship, they will pay for 1 free IVF cycle. We would be required to fundraise $3000 of it, which has already been saved in the Baby Ruth Fund thankfully.

I can't beleive it's June and school just got out. It's freezing cold--just had to turn on the heat. I think I'll cozy up in some pj's and watch the show 24 with my hubby.

Good Night!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Correction to two things and a Congrats

I am not just a little irritable. It has progressed to REALLY REALLY irritable (I'm blaming progesterone because there's no other reason for it). Poor Samir--my dear business "partner-in-crime". He nicely reminded me to make calls today and I bit his head off. Ugh--I hate hormones.

Also, I had my friend's blog address a little off. It's www.paulandgretchen.blogspot.com
I'm not telling her results here, because I'm trying to bite my tongue and let people tell thier own stories!

Lastly~ Big CONGRATS to my mom Carolyn for retiring in 10 days. She had a really nice, well attended party tonight at Tommy O's. I hope she felt loved and supported.

Goodnight!

Our Infertility Journey

Like many young couples, we thought that we would decide it was time to have a baby and it would just magically happen. We were the "perfect" ages..in our mid twenties, and we had been married for 3 years. It's embarrasing to admit, but I was so excited, I even bought some miniature Baby Ruth candy bars to hand out for when we would make our big announcement to friends and family! (Cute, huh?)

Well, after a year or so we began to worry. We were both tested and the doctors could find nothing wrong with either of us. I had a history of bad mentrual cramps, so I requested a laparoscopy to search for endometriosis, and nothing was found. We went through a couple years of the unsettling diagnosis of unexplained infertility, were treated with Clomid and underwent five unsuccessful IUI’s.

In the Fall of ‘07, we began to see a reproductive endocrinologist. After making sure that Bryan was tested more thoroughly and finding that he was very healthy indeed, our doctor performed another laparoscopy on me, and he found stage-two endometriosis. Because the clinic was outside of our medical insurance network, we had to pay for the procedure out of pocket. The specialist felt that after the laser procedure, we should have a good chance of conceiving naturally, so we knew that we were making an important investment. Unfortunately, many months of trying to conceive passed and nothing happened.

In May of ’08 I followed my dream of starting a support group for women who were going through a similar journey. It had been a long, hard, lonely five years as a barren woman! Through the support of our church, I was able to find eight other women who desperately needed someone to talk to. It has been a miraculous, life changing experience to have this group to laugh and cry with. We have come a long ways emotionally and spiritually together and have become great friends.

With the encouragement of the support group, we started to consider IVF. Our specialist felt that this was a very logical next step as well. After months of praying and discussing the financial side, we scheduled our IVF for October 2008. We decided that we would take out a loan from our home equity to cover some of the expenses. The doctor was able to harvest ten eggs, five of which fertilized. In the end, he transferred two six-day blastocyst embryos, and we all felt very confident! Despite so many things going for us, the babies did not implant and our dreams of becoming parents were crushed once again.

Just recently, in the Spring of 2010, we began seeing a new specialist and had some more tests done. Thankfully, an ultrasound helped the doctor discover a tiny polyp on my uterus that needed to be removed. After surgery, the biopsy revealed endometrial hyperplasia, a condition when left untreated can result in cancer of the uterus. We are so thankful that it was caught before it could cause trouble. To treat this condition, I was prescribed with a three-months of progesterone. With one month down and two to go, we are certainly looking forward to the next step in our journey.

I hope that by sharing this, we can connect with our friends and family on a deeper level. I know that many have been concerned, but not known how to show their love and support for us. It's a difficult subject, but if there's anything I've learned, it is to be open and honest, not ashamed. When we share our hearts, we can reach out and encourage others. If you have read this and struggle with infertility, or another battle, don't be afraid to talk to someone about it. Life is a roller coaster ride, but we're all on it together, so buckle up and let's go!