It's Happening!

It’s happening, y’all! Just typing those words make me smile. I saw the doctor today and everything looks good to go for me to have my IUI on Wednesday! EEEKKK!

Here’s what that means and how you can help/pray:

If you recall, I had 5 follicles on my baseline sonogram day. We only want 2-3 follicles (what eggs mature from) per cycle to mature and grow, otherwise the risk for multiple births (5 mature follicles could mean 5 babies) is too high and the IUI is cancelled. Since this was my first cycle of hormone injections and oral meds combined, we weren’t sure how my body would respond. Last Friday I saw my doctor and she said that 3 of the 5 were maturing, 2 more than the 3rd. This was great news! She sent me home to take more hormone injections and give my little follicles more time to grow to full maturity, and give my uterine lining time to thicken, too (this is important because a fertilized egg needs a warm, thick, cushy “pillow” (if you will) to snuggle up into and implant). So, I went home… continued my super low stress Spring Break on the couch, and did some natural at-home remedies to help my uterine lining thicken.

Today I saw the doctor again and 2 of the 3 follicles that were growing looked really really good. One was completely ready, the other was “just about” there. Our third probably won’t make this cut, but we feel really good about 2 and the possibility of twins. I’ll take my trigger shot late tonight (like past my bedtime, which isn’t hard since I’m a night owl and now I have a legit excuse to stay up late and continue binging the Vampire Diaries haha). Wednesday will be my IUI.

I realize this part is kinda weird to discuss, but my “mission” in sharing my journey is to be completely honest and help others understand this process, so I’m going to share the cool science-y biological parts, too. Skip the next paragraph if that grosses you out.

So, for the IUI- or Intrauterine Insemination (sometimes called artificial insemination), they’ll actually take and clean the sperm sample. I don’t know about you, but I thought this was pretty cool ha. The “cleaning” process removes toxins and anything else that can hinder the sperm's ability to move and fertilize an egg. Ridding it of those purities is overall helpful for it to do its job. This process takes about 45 minutes. (I would love to be a fly on the wall and see how lab technicians do that hah) From there, I come in for my IUI. My doctor said it feels like a pap smear and takes literally 30 seconds once they’re “in”. The doctor will inject the clean sperm through a tube that runs up into my uterus right outside my fallopian tube opening. She drops those suckers off and the whole thing takes under a minute. I’m legit shocked and in total awe of modern medicine and science. The timing is very important for all this (and why I was given such an exact time for my trigger shot, which triggers ovulation). If I understand correctly, we want the IUI done just a few hours before my body will ovulate and release ALL the eggs (in our case, 2). That way, when the eggs release, the cleanest, fastest, toxin-free sperm will be ready to attack and fertilize. (Y’all think I could teach biology with these incredible descriptions?!? lol)

Since IUI is different from IVF, I go home and resume normal life. I won’t have “limitations”, but I will have some things to be mindful of, like lots of water, eat healthy, get good rest, keep stress low (HA). From there I have the “two week wait” to see if baby Z(s) took or not. To be honest, I’m not sure what I’ll share moving forward. On one hand, I want to shout it from the rooftops if we’re pregnant, but I also understand the risks with announcing before I’ve entered my second trimester. But, I’m bringing y’all along for the whole rollercoaster, and that includes highs and lows, so… that part is a little TBD.

Specific things you can think about/ pray on/ send good vibes on are:

• My stress. School is like the devil for me when it comes to stress. Oddly enough, it is the biggest worry for me in this entire process. Also, I’m nervous about the big needle and full syringe I get to stick in my stomach tonight.

• Our 2 little eggs! For them to stay strong, mighty, and healthy!

• The actual IUI- everything goes smoothly and it works!

• (& if you wanna start visualizing two baby ziggys, I’m fine with that, too ha!)

We're feeling really good about this. Our families are feeling really good about this. So many of you have sent me messages saying you have a good feeling or had a dream, etc. I'm not afraid- just excited!

Thanks for following this journey with us. I never thought I’d be sharing all these details with you all, but I’ve found it so helpful for my soul. Your messages, check-ins, and prayers are felt and SO appreciated. In some strange way, I think the best thing I’ve ever done in our fertility journey is be so open and honest about it all. I’m so hopeful that you’re finding following our journey helpful for you in some way, too.

Have a great week and send me all the “baby dust”!

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One day I'll see a baby on that sonogram screen, but for now I'm giddy seeing mature eggs! Ha! (It's a blank sonogram right now, folks... nothing to see on it. ha)

Got this quote as part of a "screenshot while watching this reel to see what quote you need for the day" thing... and it fits so perfectly. Signs like this bring me peace.