I'll let that soak in while I back up... Steven and I embarked on what we decided would be our last IVF cycle at the beginning of September. We got off to a very slow start when we found out my thyroid level was elevated and we couldn't start the cycle. I was put on thyroid medication and told to wait 30 days. 30 days came and went and sure enough not only did my thyroid not go down but it went up.... Needless to say I was frustrated. So they upped the dose and I decided to do the whole30 and see if my food intake could effect my results as well. 30 days later and sure enough both did the trick. We then got the go ahead to start the injections and cycle. Once again we hit a wall. I was not responding to the meds and had to purchase more and take more. We were just feeling defeated and concerned maybe this was the end of the road for us. Steven and I trust God and we really did during this. We believed if Hope would be our only child then we would be more then satisfied! Anyways back to the cycle:) we finally made it to retrieval and things went well! They retrieved 16 eggs and then the waiting started. You wait until the next day to hear how many were mature, then how many fertilized and then how many make it to day 2,3 and 5. It's exhausting. It's emotional. It takes a lot of support from friends who listen to all your fears and hopes and dreams. Would never have made it without them.
Transfer day! We arrived at the clinic and waited to hear how many survived to day 5! When we got ready and headed to the transfer room the embryologist came in and explained we have 9 embryos that had made it to day 5. 9 NINE 9! Did she say 9????? We felt so grateful. Long before this day Steven and I had already decided we would transfer two embryos. Hope was a single embryo transfer but we have had so many fail since then that we had made our choice. The doctor and embryologist tried to talk us into just one since the two they had picked out for the day were both 5AA which is the highest grade you can get, but we stuck to our guns and did both. Now more waiting!!!! About 4 days after the transfer I noticed I was not feeling well. My stomach started to feel full and painful. When I went in for a blood drawl for progesterone they weighed me and realized I had gained quite a bit in a short amount of time but not enough to do anything about it.
Family to the rescue!!! Thankfully my mom and dad already had a trip planned the the two weeks before Christmas because things got a little crazy around here. I went in 10 days after the transfer to get my Pregnancy blood test but that would not be all I would be doing. When I arrived they realized I was very uncomfortable, severally bloated and miserable. They weighed me and I had gained 12 pounds in 10 days of fluid. I definitely wasn't leaving the facility. I had developed a condition called OHSS( ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome) While they did the paperwork to find me a room and get me admitted I waited in the room all alone wondering if all this pain was for something. At that point I wasn't even able to eat or drink. Before I knew it all the nurses had entered the room and collectively told me that it was all for SOMETHING! We were pregnant!!! When I saw what my HCG number was I was shocked! To put it into perspective on the same day I was pregnant with Hope her number was 49...this time it was 452!!! We put two in and knew that it was a possibility to get two. Not always does the number indicate how many you have but based on our previous with Hope we had a good idea. I stayed in the hospital for 2 nights while I waited for my body to start releasing some of the fluid. I can't tell you how lucky I was that my family was here. Hope had really no idea what was going on! I on the other hand missed my families entire trip which sucked.
Flash forward two weeks! Finally the day of our ultrasound. Basically everyone was making bets as to whether we had one or two. While everyone was talking numbers I just wanted to see at least one heartbeat. Ultrasound started and right away there were two sacks and two babies! We could see and hear both heartbeats. We were so excited and yes shocked even though we put two in. We just had tried so many times and nothing and here this time TWO!!!. We spent the next few days adjusting to the idea of twins! Crazy how different the idea of two verses one is!
Feeling a little off.... about a week and a half later I just felt off. I was concerned something was wrong. I just can't explain how I felt so I called the clinic and asked to be seen on the Friday instead of Monday. Steven was able to leave work and be there for me. So here we were waiting to be seen and praying we would still see heartbeats. Little did we know everything was about to change. As the ultrasound started the doctor immediately said "well we have a full house here" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? The next thing we knew he was counting off three. 3. 3. 3. What did he say? 3? Suddenly twins seemed so easy:) They all had beautiful heartbeats and were measuring identical to each other. So what happened? Well both embryos we transferred took, and one split! The spitting is not related to IVF at all, it was just spontaneous! Not the best picture but he did get all 3.
Triplets!! So here we are still in shock and trying to figure out how we will get through this amazing challenge. We are so grateful, excited, nervous, overwhelmed, confident, and so very thankful. So we ask for prayers....lots of prayers! We are expecting these littles to arrive in July!
~The Hopper's
PS: We still have 4 Frozen Embryos:)
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