Oh Happy Day.

We have news! 

As a recap:
27 embryos were harvested, and 16 made it to blastocysts! (For all of you that got a boyfriend during biology just to cheat off, blastocysts are baby embryos.) We were excited about that number! Five days later, those blastocysts were biopsied to send to genetic testing. The genetic testing results is what we were waiting for today. (This news is what has made us nervous all along.)

During the biopsy stage, we lost 6 embryos. The biopsies are sent to an embryonic testing lab in New Jersey. (Who knew Jersey people did more than "G.T.L."? And for all of you who know what "G.T.L." stands for, we all need to stop watching Jersey Shore and commit to classier television... like the Kardashians.) 

We knew losing 6 embryos during the biopsy stage was highly unusual. We were previously told that less than 1% of embryos die during biopsy. We were confused on why we lost so many during that stage, but frankly, we were so consumed with my health that the number of embryos took a back seat. When they told us we were down to 11 embryos after the biopsies, we were too exhausted to read too much into it. 

Well today we found out that out of the 11 embryos they biopsied, all 11 are genetically normal!
(insert cheers, applause, rainbows, and french horns) 

These results are also highly unusual. (ie: My doctor has never had a patient with 100% normal embryos.) The "average" Fertile Myrtle has around 10%-20% abnormal biopsied embryos. (Which is about the percentage chance of a "normal" person having a miscarriage.) For me, she prepared us to expect around 80% to come back abnormal. 

So what does this MEAN?

1) It means we had a LOT of people praying for us. I have no doubt God probably said "ok ok ok! Healthy embryos for Kendall Pace Monroe! Enough Already!" (But in a really nice Jesus-y way.) Thank you to all of you for your prayers, strong positive mojo, and lucky thoughts.

2) It means it's highly possible it's my uterus/body is the problem, rather than the embryos. From the very beginning we expected this could be the problem. I have had some health issues in the past, and it's possible this is just a side effect of those. Dr. McKenzie noticed my white blood cell counts have been very sporadic throughout my visits with her. This makes her think that it could be auto-immune related (and my body just attacks the pregnancy every time). We always kind of wondered this, given my history of auto-immune problems, so we are not surprised by this hypothesis. In attempt to remedy this, I will be on a drug immediately after the embryo transfer that often helps those in these situations. (You can't be on the drug before/during conception, so patients unfortunately have to do IVF just so the timing is exact when starting the drug immediately after the transfer.) 

If the transfer doesn't work, and/or I miscarry again, we will conclude that I can't carry and opt to use a gestational carrier. While these are very expensive, (although we have a loved one who has volunteered to carry), we are thankful that we know that, someday, we WILL have a child.
(insert squeals, giggles, and puppies)

3) Like previously mentioned, we learned that we had a pretty high rate of loss during the biopsy stage. It's possible that these type of embryos were the ones I was carrying during previous pregnancies. Because the embryos "died" during biopsy, we'll never know what the cause was. In past pregnancies, we were never able to hear a heartbeat. This leads us to think that I have always miscarried very early, similar to these embryos. They started off great, and then couldn't continue successfully. (Think Lindsay Lohan of embryos.) It's possible that this is why the genetic testing results were excellent, because the flawed embryos had "died" during the biopsy stage.  (Hopefully this means since we've eliminated those embryos and will only transfer healthy embryos, we will have much a higher chance for a healthy pregnancy.) 

Next Steps? 
First, like Kelly said, "Celebrate with wine tonight, cause it looks like vino won't be in your future!" (From her mouth to God's ears!)

So after that, we will continue on the plan of a transfer sometime at the end of March. (We should be on track to have a transfer then, if everything continues to go well during the next round of shots and meds throughout the next 1.5 months.)

IVF is a very schizophrenic process. We're up! We're down! We're up again! (Flashback to FSU National Championship.) But while there may be more downs in the future, for now, it sure is fun in the clouds!

Love to all,
Kendall and Will

Been There, Climbed That.

So turns out, we DID have to climb Mt. Everest. (Or at least Mount Kilimanjaro.) But we're back to base camp now, and we've survived! 

I don't know exactly where to begin, but after they removed the fluids on Thursday, I was told I would feel immediate relief and then I'd go home and sleep for 12 hours due to the meds. Well, they lied. I felt great for a few hours, and then I started feeling even worse than I did pre-surgery. That morning before surgery they said my blood counts were off, so they said post-surgery I'd need to start blood thinner shots for at least 10 days. (Hey grandpa! We have something in common!) Well after we did the shot, (what's with these people and the shots in the stomach?) I started feeling a LOT worse. Fearful it was something to do with my blood, we went straight to Methodist Hospital. Apparently no one gets sick during Houston's icepocalypse, so we were attended to quickly. My parents met us there, and after a few hours and more ultrasounds, I was unable to pass the dreaded "eat or drink while on IVs without vomiting" test, so had to be admitted. (We were able to do all of this without worrying about our two pups at home because of wonderful friends like Ashley and Kelly who knew we'd be worried about them and both offered to come and take care of them. Thank you Jesus for amazing friends who love your dogs, who are actually kinda hard to love.) 

After Methodist's docs finally got in touch with my IVF docs the next day, it was decided I couldn't be treated at Methodist because my IVF docs didn't have privileges there.  Long debacle later, I was seen by my doctors at Houston IVF who were able to get us back on track, feeling like I wasn't going to die at any moment. The fluid in my body was causing all my organs to become irritated and not perform like they should (ie: allowing me to drink water without vomiting.) Then, the dehydration caused my blood to get too thick and be at risk of blood clots, hence the shots. (It's like the pessimists' version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".) Needless to say, we are now back at home and I'm feeling pretty good! I can walk upright, eat toast, drink liquids, and sleep without sitting up! 

The truth is, we know this wasn't close to being Mt. Everest. I was upset in the hospital and said "When will this end??" My parents laughed and said "It doesn't! You'll be back when your baby's fever is too high, or for a broken bone, or when your 28-yr-old daughter is admitted... " (Ha!) We know this is just one of many times when things may not go our way. Luckily this was something that could be handled in just a week or so. For that, we are so thankful. 

While this was one of the hardest weeks, we've been amazed at our friends' and family support. My Mom and Dad sat with us until the wee hours of the night. My mother in law sat with me when Will couldn't be there and helped make sure we asked the doctors all the right questions. Kate and Sarah brought dinner before they even knew we'd have a huge mountain to climb. Coatney brought over an ADORABLE box of yellow things for when we need our dose of sunshine. Kelly cooked a salty and protein filled dinner when she heard the doctors said salt helps alleviate the pain. My mom's best friend brought over Will's favorite food, to make sure he had his dose of TLC, too. Ashley was texting at 3am to ask for updates. Jessica and Treadway cried with me and sent pictures of puppies. (Does that ever NOT cheer someone up?) Laura was updating our sunday school class and then they all sent flowers. One of Will's best friends offered to blend up his dinner for me when he heard I was only on a liquid diet. (That's creativity!) I even had a best friend in Finland checking-in constantly and a sister on vacation in Jamaica calling for updates! (We like to ensure our prayers went international.)  SO many people have texted or called with their cheers of support or prayers of concern. I'm telling you... the love we've received has been incredible. I'm taken back by how friends can rally together when a mountain needs climbin'! Thank you to ALL of you. You helped us tremendously. Who knew you guys would come in handy so much?

One of my friends struggled for years to get pregnant and now has a precious son. She emailed me to tell me that those sleepless nights that people warn you about seem like a cakewalk after going through everything to get there. I like her attitude, and am looking forward to that cakewalk! (Also, God, since I DID have to endure this whole OHSS thing, can you go ahead and make my kid sleep through the night at a really young age? I'd appreciate that.) 

Here's to a week of not climbing!
Kendall and Will

ps. For those of you actually following this crazy cycle, we have 16 blastocysts! 27 were harvested, and 16 have made it to the "frozen" state. We'll get genetic results back on those 16 embryos in a couple of weeks. 

pss. To my biggest comfort buddies of all, thanks for being champs this week.

 Mom? You're taking a bath? I'll wait here the entire time. I think something is up. Oh- it's time to sleep? That's cool, too. I'll just hang out within 3 inches of your face in case ya need me.

I don't know what to do so I'll just crawl on Goldie's bed and hang extra close to her and she'll let me know if you need something.  

A Bump in the Road

Sometimes a bump in the road seems like more of a huge mountain. I'm not sure how to make the bump seem more like an anthill and less like Mt. Everest. (I think the answer is time. But since I can't control time, I don't like that answer.) 

After the harvest surgery, we've had a complication. I have severe OHSS, or Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. We were told there was about a 1-3% chance this could happen before the process began, but of course we never dreamed it would happen to us. While I was being monitored during the stimulation shots, the doctor said my risk of OHSS increased some based on so many eggs forming in the ovaries. (Which we thought was a good thing!) I got on some additional medicine to help alleviate the risk of OHSS. We thought we were good to go.

After the surgery on Monday, I was in pain but the nurses said it was normal. As the days progressed, so did my pain. Vomiting, extended stomach, and not being able to sit-up or walk alone continued to get worse and worse. Today (Wednesday), we went back for an ultrasound and was told I have severe OHSS, which requires surgery. (This is what happened to Giuliana Rancic, for any E! watchers out there.) I check-in tomorrow for my meeting with the anesthesiologist at 8:30am, and then surgery will follow immediately after. 

OHSS is when pockets of fluid form around the organs. In simple terms, the ovaries were so enlarged that after the eggs were removed, they didn't want deflate so they started pulling fluid from the intestinal system. This causes fluid pockets to form around the intestines. This can be very dangerous to your organs, so it requires immediate surgery to remove the fluid if it reaches the "severe" stage. 

This new little "bump" has caused us to be pretty down, to say the least. Luckily we have amazing friends and family who have lifted us up with jokes, prayers, dinners, and trashy magazines. A "thank-you" to those who allow us to lean on them during these harder moments will never be enough. 

We will keep you updated on what comes next. This blog update seems to take 1-2 days to send out, so it's possible I'm home already and feel like Mt. Everest is in our rearview mirror! 

Love,
Kendall and Will

Harvested.

Welp, I've been harvested! Trigger shot went great on Saturday night, and we went in first thing yesterday morning for the surgery (Monday morning.) Everything went well, I'm just very glad it's over. I won't write a lot now because I was taught that if I don't have anything nice to say, to not say it all. I'm hoping I'll start to feel better physically very soon and will be a bit more optimistic about this process!

They were able to harvest 26 eggs which is really, really good. We got a call today that 17 were able to become embryos. We'll know in 5 days how many survived to become blastocysts (the next stage of an embryo), and then in 2 weeks we'll know the genetic results. Fingers crossed that as many survive as possible throughout each stage.

We will write more when we know more. Love to all!


Before photo:
(I won't show the after. It aint pretty.)

First Shot, Worst Shot

I read that the first shot is the worst shot. If that's true, then we've succeeded already! 

Our anxiety was higher than usual throughout the day, and Will probably watched the "how to" online more times than the average user (he's an overachiever even in his shot-giving skills),  but we did it! Excited that after all this waiting, it's finally time to DO something.

One of our wonderful cheerleaders sent me a box full of "treasures." Just like when you were a kid and got a shot at the doctors and then a reward out of the treasure chest, we each get to reach in and get something out of the box after each successful shot. Two prizes before bed makes for not a bad Monday! Bring on the next 3 weeks!

Here's to hoping 2014 is a year of magical things!

Happy New Year!,

Kendall and Will

I chose an ice-cream pen and Will chose a sucker. Success!

A Game Plan

Many of you have been so wonderful to text me this week to check up on us... Thank you! And now we can finally report that we have a game plan! After going to the doctor this week, we have successfully completed IVF “training”, signed all the paperwork, Will is a pro at giving shots to a fake stomach, and we have an EXTREMELY detailed calendar telling us what we medications and shots we take each day until “harvest day. 

The irony of IVF is that you start the process by taking birth control. I’ll do this for 3.5 weeks to begin stimulating follicle growth. (Apparently follicles make eggs. Who knew.) Then, the shots start on Dec. 30^th, just in time for New Year’s. The 1^st round will just be one shot, twice a day, for 10 days. Then I’ll go in for a “suppression check.” They’ll check to make sure both ovaries are producing follicles at the same rate. (This will maximize that both sides are creating eggs, rather than the normal process when only one side does. This is so they can “harvest” as many eggs as possible from both sides.) If all is well, we start the harder shots (4 a day) on Jan 11th,  for 10 days, then they do the harvest.

A "harvest" is when they go in and open up my ovaries and take all the eggs out that they can. Women “usually” (aka: when they aren’t partaking in a fertility science project) produce one "mature" egg at a time, and then there are some extra eggs that are hanging out preparing to be "chosen" the next month. In my case, because of the pills and the hormone shots, both sides should have very active follicles and be producing WAY more eggs than usual. (Remember when they said women were born with the number of eggs they have in their lifetime? That's only partly true. We're born with the number of follicles, which create the eggs. I know... we've been lied to.) "Harvest day" is the hardest part of the whole process since there's a "recovery" afterward. However, luck is on our side! January 20^th, “Harvest Day”, is known to the rest of the country as Martin Luther King Day. So the market will be closed, as well as MD Anderson’s Development Office. So Will and I will only have to focus making babies in petri dishes, rather than emails or stock prices.

After harvest, there’s a continual game of “how many”:

- How many eggs did they extract?

- How many eggs became embryos? (they will make them embryos immediately after harvesting)

- How many embryos survived the freezing?

 

Then they're shipped to be genetically tested, which is the big operation. This is what we're the most nervous about. The big question is "how many embryos are genetically 'normal'?" (Results will take about 2 weeks after harvest.) 

 

You would think the ideal results would be "100% of the embryos that were genetically tested were normal!" But we actually don't want that. We want most to be normal but a few abnormal. Let's say they were able to genetically test 10 embryos. If all 10 are genetically "bad", then we don't have any to implant and our option would be an egg donor. (Or adoption, obviously.)  However, if all 10 are good, that means for whatever reason, I can't carry. (I have some auto-immune issues, so it's possible my body just attacks the embryo.) If that's the case, we have to make the decision on whether to continue with IVF, although the chances of a positive outcome are very low, or we can move forward with finding a gestational carrier. (Someone to carry a "baby" that is genetically 100% ours, but she would just carry. Gestational Carrier and Surrogacy are different. Thanks for teaching me that E!'s “Giuliana & Bill”!) 

All of these "what if's" are hard to comprehend, so we've decided to stick to the questions like "what wine should we drink tonight" instead, and try to not worry about the “what ifs.” 

 

After we find out if we can make the final "transfer", I will do about 3 weeks of shots again to prepare my body. The transfer is a lot easier to do, and isn't as intense as the harvest. However, we’re not even asking about specific dates regarding the transfer (will probably happen sometimes in March), because we just want to get through this genetic testing first. 

My on-earth guardian angel, Annie Wells, emailed me a few days ago that she was at church and the sermon was about Advent. She was reminded how Advent is really just a time that we “prepare ye the way of the Lord.”  While my little science baby will be funniest, smartest, and most adorable kid on the block, he/she won’t compare to the gift that came on December 25^th so many years ago. (Not to mention my situations got NOTHING on Mary’s.)  And yet the lessons of anticipation and preparation of a gift are as real as ever. Prepare ye the way!

Love to all,

Kendall and Will

 

we're normal!

Turns out... we're normal! Despite my parents questioning my normalcy for years, science gives us both two thumbs up.

This past month has been full of getting the "tests" out of the way as we prepare for next month. We took a blood test that would sequence our DNA and look closely at our chromosomes. There can be 'chromosomal switching' that would allow us to still appear to be normal, but when passing it down to the embryo, could cause miscarriage repeatedly. It would be impossible to fix.

When we met with the genetic counselor, she explained everything I wish I remembered from Sophomore High School Biology. The blood test showed that all of our chromosomes are exactly how they should be. This is also good news because it increases your likelihood for a successful IVF by a few percentage points. This gave us the green light to continue.

So what's the timeline and game plan? Got me.  We're kinda like the Texans over here; we think we know what's happening, but when it's time to answer questions or execute, it's obvious we have no idea what we're doing.  We're trying to listen to everything the doctors tell us, but there are so many "if this, then this" situations, that it's very difficult to follow.  (Kubiak seems to be having the same problem.) 

Our IVF process will begin the first week of December. The schedule will constantly be in flux; I'm monitored the entire time I'm taking the shots/medicines, so nothing will ever be 100% set in stone.  Generally though, pills and shots will happen in December/January, with the egg harvest in mid January. After embryonic genetic testing results (assuming results are positive), I would have the embryo transfer end of Feb/Mid March. I'll explain more of what that all means later. (Note: when I know more of what it means.)

Will and I have been completely humbled by the outpouring of love from so many of you. We even started a little book of the sweet cards we've received to be able to show our child, however we get one someday, "Look at how many people knew you were a pain before you even got here!" (I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Sorta.)

Thank you for all your support through texts, calls, emails, hugs, and encouraging words. Many of you have asked Will or myself "So, how are you doing?" My only answer is "Depends on the time of the day."  We left the doctor on Friday and Will pointed out it was the first time we left without crying. We are beginning to feel encouraged, and even a little excited. However, I have this constant pit in my stomach similar to when you're on a roller coaster and you start ticking straight up. You haven't even done anything yet, but you know you're about to fall and all of the sudden you want to say "ok, never mind. I don't want to do this anymore." I feel a lot like that. (I also know half the time the roller coaster ends with me vomiting, wishing I never did it, and half the time I want to go again. I'm anxious since I don't know how this roller coaster will end.)

Every year we go around our table at Thanksgiving and say what we're thankful for. This year, I know Will and I are thankful for all of your support.  I also am thankful to be in this position, when so many women have gone in to my same doctor and have been told there are no options for them to conceive through any avenue. I'm thankful I have a husband who declined going to the National Championship for FSU (knock on wood they're going), because he doesn't want me to leave me when I'm doing shots. I'm thankful to have a family who says things like "Kendall, when you have kids..." rather than "if you have kids." I'm thankful this is just a fertility issue, and not a life-threatening issue. I'm thankful I have the resources to be able to do this without having to remortgage our house or get a second job. I am thankful.  (I try to remember this on the days when I just want to get off the roller coaster.)

We'll update more specifics later, but had to share the good news that while my husband may not always portray it, we are, in fact, normal!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Kendall and Will