Egg donation to this point

Okay, this update is for all of you who have been interested in the egg donation.

This is what has happened so far.

Step 1:
I have had the nurses consult, where they just went over the general information, and took my photos for the all the recipients to see, so someone could pick me.
I have had the psychological evaluation and was told that I would be an "EXCELLENT CANDIDATE".
I have had the physical exam, lab work and cultures where they checked for over 100+ things like genetic disorders, STDS and so forth.

Since everything came back awesome, I started Step 2.

Step 2:
I started the birth control pills. This is why I was on birth control pills for egg donation, there were some questions about that..
"Most stimulation protocols involve suppression of ovarian function for on cycle, followed by vigorous stimulation in the next cycle. Our [Texas Fertility Clinic] protocols are designed to obtain a greater number of mature oocytes than would ordinarily develop in a natural cycle. As a result, we allow a large group of developing oocytes to become synchronized. The purpose of oocyte synchronization is to increase the chance that multiple oocytes will develop at the same rate, resulting in a large number of mature eggs. The pills also reduce the likelihood that a patient will have an ovarian cyst when she is ready to begin stimulation. This is important, as the presence of a cyst could possibly delay the stimulation start. "

So after doing a month of the birth control pills, I have started the Lupron injections.
" As an oocyte matures in a natural cycle, it produces increasing amounts of estrogen. Once this estrogen level reaches a peak, it stimulates the production of a hormonal surge from the pituitary gland called the LH surge. This surge causes ovulation to occur. In the IVF procedure, we do not want ovulation to occur - rather we want to be able to retrieve the maturing oocytes directly from the ovaries prior to ovulation. We therefore must prevent patients from having an LH surge. TThe way we prevent a patient from having a sponaneous LH surge is the use of a medication called leuprolife acetate (Lupron).
Lupron administration is usually initiated during the final week of oral contraceptives and continued until 2 days prior to the egg retrieval."

So right now I am currently doing the Lupron injections. Thank God for my husband who has been able to do them every morning for me, since I have had issues doing it myself. First off, I have a fear of needles, second off, the stuff burns. The first time we did it I got a HUGE bruise on my leg at the injection site. My injection yesterday left me with another lovely bruise. I experienced side effects from the Lupron, for the first time last night. It started off with a slight headache around 5:45pm. By 10:30pm I was in tears and ready to be in bed. I was exhausted, my body was aching, I had a really bad headache along with being dizzy and being nauseous. Tim and I had been watching "Yes Man" and as soon as it was over, I went to bed.

I hope that was a one time thing, because I don't know how many nights of that I can handle. I am to continue taking the shots til 2 days prior to the egg retrieval, which is the first week of June, I hope I don't continue having the side effects til then.

The next step in the process is my base-line sono. The appointment is to just make sure I don't have any cysts before starting the Gonal-F. I will take the Gonal-F ( to stimulate the growth of multiple ovarian follicles.) for about 9-12 days until I recieve an injection called Ovidrel. Ovidrel is the most important injection I will take as it is the one to induce ovulation. Retrieval of my eggs will happen approximately 36 hours after the injection.

Well, that's it so far. I'm sure I'll update before or after the egg retrieval.

Mackenzie is three!

So yesterday Mackenzie turned 3, we had an awesome day planned for her, until we looked at the weather yesterday morning. There had been a forecast for rain but it wasn't suppose to start til the afternoon, so we had planned on hitting up the zoo in the morning and leaving in the afternoon when it started to get rainy. Well, we decided against that when it showed the rain was suppose to start at 11am. It ended up raining all day yesterday.lovely.

But we made a fun day for her anyway. Here are some photos.

The birthday girl and her daddy



The birthday girl and her momma



Yes, we got her the Lady Gaga cd. No it's not normally what a 3 year old wants, but she has been begging non stop. So we did, she was THRILLED!


Then we took her up to her Oma and Opas and she got her presents there. All of my pictures turned out blurry for some reason. She got a purse with cute head bands, and lip stuff. She also got a wallet with some money in it so she could go shopping. Along with that she got the wagon we were suppose to use at the zoo, a movie and a puppy (not real).





The girls waiting!



We also had cake, which Michelle and Sandy made, delicious!



Later that day we went back to Grandmas and opened more gifts and had another cake. Her Grandma got her the movie Bolt, and the trip to the zoo.




Her blowing out her candle!



Madison licking the icing off the container top

An update

An update about our lives.

Mackenzie turns 3 on the 16th, oh my gosh where did the time go?! She has grown so much, I am so proud of my beautiful baby girl.

Her first professional photo


Her daddy holding her, look how small she was.



Madison has started saying 'no', which is very exciting. I know everyone thinks its cute the first time their child says it, and as they get older and say it more frequently the charm fades, but right now we are so happy. She doesn't talk, she just babbles. At this age Mackenzie could speak, tell you animal sounds, body parts, the whole deal. Madison...no speakage...just babbles. So the fact that she says no, is awesome. (It has been discussed with her pediatrician that if she isn't speaking by the time she turns 2, we will look into speach therapy.)


Anyway..on to the stuff that everyone wants an update about, Tim and the military.

Tim had originally thought he would join the air force, but he has been offered higher pay in the Army. He will be paid more for doing ROTC in high school and for speaking fluent German. The air force wasn't willing to pay him anything more for those two, so we decided Army. He was also having a hard time finding a job that he was interested in within the Air Force. He had planned on studying for about a month then taking the ASVAB, but on Friday our plan was set in to fast pace when he was laid off at work. The economy sucks...
So he is studing for his ASVAB and will take it within the next two weeks. Tomorrow he is going to go talk to an Army Recruiter just to see what they have to say. He has been speaking to my brother Trenton, who has been in the Army for a good while now and he has been talking to his dad who was also in the Army. Trenton has been speaking to one of his friends who is a recruiter and he has been completely honest with Tim. He has no reason to lie to him, seeing as he wouldn't be the one signing Tim up.

So where we are at right now is, Tim needs to take his asvab, see what his score is and talk to a recruiter.

I will update again, when the next steps have happened.

I am also looking for a job between now and then so Tim can stay home with the girls as much as possible before having to go to basic and AIT. If you have any good job suggestions let me know. I don't do food, retail or pet poop, haha.