It finally happened...

Our donor passed the medical screening and was good to go.  That was great news after have gone through two prior donors.  After coordinating the egg donor and our surrogate, we were finally able to begin our IVF cycle in June.  Our donor started her medicines on June 6 and responded very nicely to the stimulation.  We ended up with 21 measurable follicles!  Out of the 21 follicles 17 were injected with Brian's sperm and 14 continued to grow to embryos.  What a GREAT number to work with!  Much, much better than when I went through IVF myself and only had one to work with.

Well, 4th of July was the date for transfer.  Five o'clock in the morning rolled around really quick to get ready and be downtown Chicago at 7:30 a.m.  Good thing we didn't have to fight traffic.  It was smooth sailing all the way downtown.  J & M were already there smiling and cheery as usual.  We couldn't have asked for a better couple to work with.  Our surrogate is always smiling every time you see her and M is so supportive.   Every time we talk on the phone or see each other we always share a good laugh and are so comfortable around each other.

We met with the Endocrinologist  and confirmed that we were transferring two embryos.  The two embryos were graded as a 2AB (the "Beauty Queen") and 2BB.  The men were sent out of the room and I was able to stay and observe the transfer.  The Ultrasound Tech was amazed how wonderful  J's uterus lining looked.  Two thumbs up!  :)   I told J "I don't whose more nervous me or you."  She responded that I was probably more nervous.  I have to agree.  J was so laid back like it was just another task in her day.  She is such an amazing person to give this gift of bringing a life of a child into this world for another person.  Such an unselfish act.  The procedure was over within 15 - 20 minutes.

We were planning on going to breakfast after transfer, but J was told to go home and rest and have M pamper her for the next day or two.  Oh, well, next time.

July 14 is the big day to check levels!  Let's hope it will be a 4th of July to remember!  Cross those fingers and toes for us!  Sticky thoughts until then...

Three is a charm...

Well, we are on our third egg donor.  I hope number three is the lucky one and we have no further setbacks.  Honestly, I don't know if I can handle anymore. ;)  As much as I wanted our donor to have some Greek heritage, we decided to get the next best and go Italian.  It took a lot of thinking and talking to get over that hump.  I just wanted all parts of the puzzle to fit.  After thinking about it, our children learn from their upbringing, so he or she will be a part of you.  As not to go through the expense again of having an out of town donor, we decided to go with a local donor, who has previously donated.  We are thankful that we found our third donor quickly and that she was available.  She just finished her 5th cycle and we are waiting on her results.  We will be her final cycle, as a donor can only donate 6 times in her lifetime.  We learned that 3 of her 4 cycles were with positive pregnancy results.  The fourth was no fault of her own.  One cycle resulted in twins.  She is a beautiful young ambitious lady from Illinois and has one child of her own.  Going back to the Greek heritage, the donor's first cycle was with a Single Greek doctor and her last will be with a Greek to complete her full circle of giving.  If everything goes as planned, meds will start in May with a June transfer.

Cross your fingers...

Back to the drawing board

As we thought everything was coming together to start injections/medicines for a February retrieval, they easily fell apart.  We were very excited that we were flying in our donor for her medical screening and everything was starting to come together.  Our surrogate passed all of her medical screening and psych evaluation.  Good news as we are really looking forward to working with J.  We rushed to have our donor fly in to meet the date our surrogate wanted to be pregnant by, to only learn that our donor did not pass her medical screening.  We were not only disappointed, but sadden that our donor was diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia C. Fanconi Anemia type C is an inherited disorder in which the body cannot properly produce a protein that protects DNA from damage.  The defective proteins results in an impaired ability of bone marrow to produce all types of blood cells, which can lead to abnormal bones and organs, as well as developmental delay.  A shortage of white blood cells makes the body more susceptible to infection and cancer.  1 in 100,000 people are effected by Fanconi Anemia type C.  


So, we are back to the drawing board...

Update

Since our last posting, we are excited that everything is coming together.  Our surrogate has been medically approved and our donor is currently getting her psych evaluation and genetic testing done.  We are hopefully that we will proceed with our retrieval and transfer mid February. 

This past Sunday I called our surrogate and we talked for over an hour.  I thought it may be awkward when I called since we haven't talked since our first meeting in September.  I was amazed by the connection I felt again with a person I only met once.  We talked and talked and talked about everything and anything.  I was reassured that J is the person I want to carry my child.  She has such a warm heart and really is a special person to help others in her job and in her personal life.

The puzzle pieces are coming together...

Putting this piece of the puzzle in place was a challenge, but we are very excited to announce that we confirmed our egg donor on Wednesday, December 15th.  She is Greek, French, Russian and German.  This egg donor was a breath of fresh air compared to the run around we got from our previous chosen egg donor.  I think we got a little helping hand from above with my mother looking over us.  The donor is a 26 well-educated young lady.  She is single and dedicated mother of a four year old daughter, who is adorable!  We love her pictures.  Donor seems to be a fun, energetic, and caring individual.  She loves the outdoors and cares about animals. She likes to make people smile and is a great listener to her friends.  Donor is very determined and as a single mother at a young age managed to get through college with two majors and earned a scholarship with a beautifully written essay.  When looking for a donor these were a majority of the characteristics we were looking for in a person.  She has all of the same characteristics that I have with the exception of two majors and a scholarship that is. :)  


Our surrogate has been medically screened and waiting on final results.  FCI said everything looked good.   Our surrogate "J" is a 32 year old mother of three beautiful children and wife to a caring and devoted husband "M".  J seems to be very caring and responsible young lady with a great personality.  She loves to spend time with her family and caring for others.  Since we spoke of J and M in a previous blog, we won't repeat ourselves other than to say we are so thankful and blessed that J and M have come into our lives and look forward to our journey with them and a long and ever lasting friendship.

Starting to get frustrated...

Looking for an egg donor is stressful especially when you aren't part of the puzzle.  Well, not biologically anyway.   We have had some set backs since our last post. In a prior post in October, we thought we had matched with an egg donor, but she has shown to be not a good match.  We have been going back and forth with this egg donor (I will refer to as "L").    We thought everything was great and we would be on our way with our journey.   There were some issues of waiting until she had her IUD removed and weaning off a medication or switching to a different medication that was acceptable by the fertility clinic.  After numerous e-mails with the agency acting as the go between, we were receiving conflicting statements from "L" with regards to weaning off the medication.  One minute she didn't like how she felt going off the medicine and then the next time she went off cold turkey.  When asked for a statement from her doctor stating it was okay to go off cold turkey she stated she had been weaning off for over a month with her doctor's knowledge, but has shown no evidence from her doctor showing clearance.  It makes you wonder if she would be responsible in following the direction of the fertility clinic in taking the injections and medication needed to proceed to retrieval.

So in search again…  We have a few profiles in mind, but have to wait for a telephone conference appointment with one agency, which is on December 8th.  Wish us luck...

Our footsteps that pave the way to our journey...

On October 10 we had our phych evaluation in Glenview.  Passed with flying colors!  Did you expect anything less?  LOL  Met with our attorney in Chicago on October 11.  Travis had the day off of school, so we made a day of it in the big city.  We took the train down and met with our attorney downtown on LaSalle Street at 10 a.m.   We spent the rest of the day walking around the big city.  Started out with lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe and then walking to Michigan Avenue to the magnificiant mile.  Shopping...Shopping...Shopping.  We did a lot of window shopping.  We visited the Hershey store.  Never knew Chicago had a Hershey store.  We walked down to the Hancock building and Travis and Brian decided they wanted to go up to the observatory.  I was pooped from all the walking and told them to go and I will visit the the Cheesecake Factory.  I think I got the better end of the deal.  Yummy!  After we had enough shopping, we decided we were too tired to walk back to the train station so we decided to brave it out and take a taxi back to the train station.  Must say I think that was one of the better taxi rides I have ever had in the city.  Travis' eyes lite up when he would go fast.  He heard many of my taxi stories when I have been down town for conference.  We ended the day with fresh popcorn from Garrett Popcorn and Aunt Annie's pretzels for our train trip back home.  It ended a nice day in the big city!

Had our telephone conference with our third party nurse to get our testing done on October 14.   She coordinates the testing and makes sure the surrogate, egg donor and intended parents complete their "checklist" of tests and screenings.  Brian has his physical with the doctor on the 23rd and then we both have to get our blood work done.  Next is the surrogate and egg donor phych evaluations and screenings.

Thursday, October 21, we confirmed our egg donor.  How ironic...when Brian and I were choosing a date for our wedding, Brian choose August 21 because two become one.  I guess in this scenerio the same goes here too...two become one.  Two special people to help make one dream come true...