April 1998: Marry my best friend.
August 1998: I start grad school.
Fall 2002: Hubby decides to go back to school to finish his bachelors degree. We move in with his mom.
2002: Diagnosed with fibroids and an ovarian cyst. Laparotomy reveals serious endometriosis. Cyst comes out. Fibroids stay....just in case removing them "affects my fertility." Hahahahahahahahaha!
September 2005: The hubby and I finish all our schooling, we move out of his mother's house and begin eagerly on our family planning!
2006: No luck on the pregnancy front. Let the barrage of testing come! Recommendation: surgery to remove the fibroids and then see what modern science can do for me. Results: my reproductive organs are a mess...no chance of getting pregnant w/o IVF.
April 2007: Start with IVF #1. They have had "good results" with women with high FSH.
May 2007: IVF #1 cancelled due to poor response. Devastation ensues.
July 2007: IVF #2. It's on baby! I stimulate. I make follicles (8). They harvest 6 eggs! Four fertilize! Two make it to a three day transfer. End result: BFN.
September 2007: IVF #3 cancelled due to poor response.
Oct.-Dec. 2007: "Big Talk" with IVF doctor about what's next. Get donor egg talk. Husband and I go speak with social worker at fertility clinic. After much crying, reading and praying, we decide to try for a pregnancy with donor eggs. Routine test show that I have ANOTHER FIBROID that must be removed.
March 2008: Laparoscopic surgery to remove the elusive fibroid. LOTS of time for recovery and mental health therapy.....
May 2008: Pick donor.
June 2008: Get the OK from the doctor to start with donor egg procedure.
June-Mid-October 2008: the longest time ever to test everyone....
Mid-Oct 2008: It's a go! Everyone passed all of the tests. Start with lupron and birth control pills.
November 2008: Donor stimulates VERY well. 2-8 cell embryos are transfered. Result: BFP! with twins! After some initial drama, I think we are on our way.....
December 2008: holy crud we are pregnant....with twins! Doctor says that we should reduce because of the risk of uterine failure due to the stress of carrying twins. We are devastated....
January -February 2009: after consultation with multiple specialists, we get a split decision: 2 for a reduction, 2 against. Since there is no hard evidence to support a reduction (just a gut feeling on the doctors parts), we decide to carry the twins and pray for the best.
February-July 2009: besides being sick as a dog the whole time, I have a completely uneventful pregnancy. The super supportive OB declares that I was "made to carry twins." Oh, the irony compared to just a few months ago!
July 12, 2009: deliver J and A via C-section at 36 1/2 weeks. Each weigh almost 6 1/2 pounds. A is admitted to the NICU following delivery for 36 hours because he thinks that breathing regularly is highly overrated. His brother, J, stays with us in the room for the 4 days in the hospital. Not to be outdone by this brother, however, he is admitted just as we were about to be discharged to the NICU for 'apnea of prematurity,' a condition that they did not detect until he had to face the dreaded car seat challenge test.
July 15, 2009: my parents arrive and Mom starts to get ready help me with the boys.
July 28ish, 2009: J comes home.
End of Sept. 2009: Mom leaves and Mother-in-law moves in with us to act as Nanny to the boys as I prepare to go back to work.
