NUMBERS and SOAP

Hey everyone!  I'll start this update with NUMBERS first.  I recieved some good news from the ultrasound I had today.  It appears that I have 10-11 follicles!  That is 2-3 more follicles than in my 2 former IVF stimulations. It looks as if the suppliments and growth hormone added have some done some good!  Not to mention ALL of the people praying!!!! Also, estrogen level is 646...it's jumped over 500 in 3 days.
Here are the NUMBERS, if you care to know.

Right Ovary:                                             Left Ovary:

Follicule 1   10mm                                    Follicule 1    7.3mm

Follicule 2    7.1 mm                                 Follicule 2    8.1mm

Follicule 3    5.6mm                                  Follicule 3    10mm

Follicule 4    8mm                                     Follicule 4    5.5mm

Follicule 5    6.2mm   

Follicule 6    7mm

When these follicules start reaching 18, 19 or 20mm that means my body is ready to have the eggs retrieved. Could be another 5-6 days of shots until they are mature. 

Now to the good stuff, have you ever heard of SOAP?  Not Dove or Safeguard but an inductive and yet simple way to read and study the Bible?  I've been doing this daily Bible study for over a year and a half now and it has done amazing things in me and for me by reading the Bible every day.  SOAP stands for Scripture, Observations, Application and Prayer.  Wayne Cordeiro's book, "The Divine Mentor" (and my good friend, Lauren) got me rolling on this and I don't think I'll ever stop this program. It seems that every day God speaks to my heart through His Word either through a verse, a theme or the life of one of the saints I am studying.  Today's chapters were in 1 & 2 Thessalonians.  Paul was exhorting and encouraging the Thessalonians when he said, " May God give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with Him." 2 Thess. 1:11b -12a

These words Paul spoke went directly to my heart and encouraged me that our family's past 8 month's journey was prompted by our faith and by our desire to please Jesus.  Faith compells us to do all sorts of things; leave our comfortable homes, take risks, believe for physical healing, move over-seas.  Paul prays that God would give them the power to accomplish the honorable things that their trust in Jesus compelled them to do. Why? What for?  Verse 12a says, "Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with Him."  It's all for the Fame of His Name.  Everything we do, every choice we make. He gives us longings, desires to step out in Faith and then equips us with His power.  After that He gets all the glory.  How cool is that!
I hope Paul's words have encouraged you.  May God give you the power to accomplish whatever your faith has prompted you to do!
Until Wednesday...

Amazing Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving meal we had yesterday!  Not expecting to go anywhere or eat anything resembling a Turkey dinner, we were delighted when our guesthouse host, Ginger, invited us to her Thanksgiving meal.  What an event!  Many people from many different walks of life, cultures and beliefs came together.  The food, wine, and fellowship were rich and we feasted on it all! Thank you, Ginger, for welcoming us into your family!
There is good news on my 5th day of stimulation.  Reports from this morning's doctor's appointemen are positive.  It appears that there are 4 follicles on each ovary (8 total), which is very good news this early on in the game.  (My first cycle I only had 4 total by this date). They are very small but each day they will grow and when they are mature (long enough) we will take the "trigger" shot to retrieve as many eggs as possible.  Of course, not every follicle will harbor an egg but the more follicles, the more chances of eggs and then there's more chances for embryos and then...perhaps a possible healthy embryo match for us and for Julia!
Every day in the IVF stimulation phase has it's hurdles, the ups and downs.  But today I am thankful that it's an UP day and so I'm reveling in the positive results.   Next appt. for an ultra sound and blood work will be Monday, November 29.  Three days of shots and waiting until we can see just how much growth there has been.  I've probably got at least 7-8 more days of stimulation until my body is ready for egg retrieval.
Until then, Happy Black Friday!

Bittersweet day; headaches + Edy's fudge p.b. chunk ice-cream

     Third day with a slight but irritating headache.  Is it the meds?  Is it allergies?  Is it the homeschooling?  Or maybe it's all of the above.  I am, however, very thankful that it's nothing like the first time I took the Lupron hormone shot back in August.  It gave me a migraine that lasted for three days!  I got wise quickly and now I just take tylenol 20 minutes before that shot and it curtails the reaction.
     Edy's ice-cream.  This is a luxury we don't have in our area of France.  Reeses pieces folded into fudge ice-cream makes a wonderful thing. I spent 20 minutes with Annie staring into the glass of the ice-cream section of Jewel yesterday, trying to decide just which ice-cream we wanted.  Luckily it was buy one-get one free.  She chose peppermint bonbon and I chose the fudge p.b. chunk.  Since when did ice-cream start costing $6.69 a pint?  Yikes.
     Had some challenges yesterday with A.L.  She is tired of homeschooling, tired of not having friends to play with, tired of moving, packing then unpacking and it hit an all-time low yesterday.  All the attention given to Julia the past 6 months has also created some jealousy that is now showing it's self.  Please pray for Annie that she will feel God's comfort in all of this.  On a positive note, she is very happy that Steve invited her on a "daddy-daughter date" for this afternoon.  We are hoping that her love-tank will fill up and that it will help her face these daily challenges.
     Julia is doing well.  Her biggest concern is which hospital she will be having her next transfusion at.  It's likely it will be somewhere here in the Chicago area this next week. Never done it here before so I can understand her apprehension.  It's always a bit chaotic to do it at a new hospital.  Prayers would be appreciated as start the process of finding the best hospital.
     Very excited that we got invited to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow!  Steve kept threatening me with going to Boston Chicken.  I'd rather stay home and eat Mac-n-Cheese than sit as a family in a fast-food restaurant on Thanksgiving.  Ginger, the owner of this missionary housing, graciously invited us to come to their turkey dinner; 22 adults, 4 kids and 5 babies!  It will be nice to be "with people" on this American holiday.  (I am thankful that I will not be sitting at Boston Chicken...)  There is much to be truly thankful for!!!!!!!!

  

All funds are in and just in time!

Amazingly all the funds needed for our 3rd IVF procedure are in!  I got a call in the car yesterday as we were driving to Chicago from Jocelyne, friend and president of Association Julia, calling to say that all the funds had just come in!  What a miracle!  So many people put their hearts, time and money into this project.  Thank you, God for always being on time and never late.
Now to the practical ins and outs of this process.  Today I started the stimulation phase of my 3rd IVF attempt.  7:45am this morning was my first of many appointments for an ultrasound and blood work.  All systems are "go" and tonight I begin the nightly regimine of  hormone shots, I'll spare you the details.
We've arrived at our missionary housing last night and it is a wonderful apartment.  So appreciative for a comfortable place to stay with our family for the next three weeks.  Lots was accomplished today here;  homeschooling went well,  Steve got his "office" set up (computer, internet, skype) and we did a grocery shop.  It will take a few days to get back into the Chicago groove but we're off to a good start.
Gotta run and start mixing up all my meds! Good night!

Belly dancing and Moroccan Coucous

My family made a video today  (not belly dancing) but saying "bonjour" to all of our friends in France.  Tomorrow night this video will be shown at our village community center where Julia's Association will host a Belly dancing and Moroccan Coucous extravaganza to raise funds for our 3rd IVF procedure.  My good friend, Agnes, dances and asked her dance company to do this show gratuit and they agreed.  Then an algerian restaurant, Le Palmier, downtown Tarbes jumped in and said they would come and cook for free for the event.  Someone, then donated 40 chickens and the rest is history!  Is it faire we are in Minnesota when there is so much goin' on in Azereix this weekend?  I will be dying to see the pictures on fb as soon as possible but I don't expect them to be posted until Sunday afternoon sometime.  These parties go late...or should I say early...early into the morning that is.  Merci Jocelyne, Raymonde, Agnes, Denis, and Andree and everyone else who has put such hard work to make tomorrow night a success!  Missing this party is kind of like missing your own birthday party.  Je suis la avec vous en pensees et avec tout mon coeur!  Merci.

Mind-blowing Generosity!

Ever have one of those days when someone's kindness just overwhelms you?  Today started when I received an email from a friend, Dore, who I met through a PKD (Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency) support group 4 years ago.  Dore is one of the bravest and selfless PKD patients I've met.  She is a 22 yr. old lady who has been dealing with the severe effects of this disease since birth, and they are severe.  Today she emailed me asking where she and her family could send their financial donation to Julia, saying they wanted to do more than just encourage us with words.  I was floored, honored and humbled by her desire to help Julia especially when she needs a miracle herself!  This gift is very special to us as we know that she has never had the opportunity to have a bone marrow transplant herself, no sibling donnor was available.  Thank you, Dore and thank you everyone who has selflessly given to us in prayer and or in financial support.

Steve's on his way back from France!

Today is the day we pick up Steve from the airport!  It's been a long two weeks with him gone and we are excited and relieved to be together as a family again.  Reunited, don't it feel so good?!.

Good news! My IVF schedule is still on target.  Sonia, the head nurse at RGI (Reproductive Genetics Institute) texted me yesterday to let me know that all systems are "go" for me to come to Chicago and begin my 3rd IVF cycle as of Monday, November 22.  What does this mean?  Moving once again, organizing, chucking stuff, packing up the car with all of my hormone shots, meds, suppliments, extra needles, homeschooling supplies, food, toys, etc.  Am I ready to do all of this again for the 3rd time?  Yes, because this is the final time.  After four months of upheaval, it's all down to this last 3 week trip to Chicago.  We are all more than ready!

We leave MN this Sunday and drive to West Chicago (3o miles west of Chicago) where we will be staying in missionary housing, thanks to Ginger.  It can be a 2 hour drive into the City for our appointments, when there's traffic(and there's always traffic), but we can't turn down missionary housing and besides, many of our friends are on home assignment in Wheaton right now.  It's so good to visit with longtime friends!

So much more to write about but my girls are ready and waiting for their French teacher to get off the computer and start school!  A bientot!

First Blog

Hello everyone from snowy Minnesota. I finally decided to start a blog, with the encouragement of my husband, to share with you all just how everything is progressing with our 3rd and final IVF procedure.  This won't be a professional blog as I don't have the time or energy to make everything sound like a newsletter.  I do hope, though, to bring out the humanity and spirituality of this journey that I and my family are on.  Thanks for joining us on this blog!