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Monday, January 31, 2011

Round Two of Clomid - Cycle #33

Today is my first day of my second round with Clomid.  I am kinda nervous, yet excited about starting the treatments over.  Over the past three months, I think Dr. Rister has put all the pieces of the puzzle together and we have a formula that will work.  Now, everything is in God’s hands and we are hoping he will bless us with a child this time.

I will leave you one last thing from Joyce Meyer, who is my inspiration to live a happier, hopeful, and Godly life.  You can read the full article on Joyce Meyer’s website, search for The Power of Hope.

The Power of Hope
by Joyce Meyer

I define hope as "the happy anticipation of good things." Are you aggressively hoping for something good to happen to you? Do you wake up in the morning excited and expectant about life? You can do that by learning how to celebrate and enjoy this journey called life.

… God created us to be goal-oriented visionaries. Without a vision, we become bored and hopeless. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, according to Proverbs 13:12, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

There's something about hope that makes people lighthearted and happy. You're not going to be happy if you don't have hope. The more hope you have in God, the happier you become... To enjoy life you must maintain a good, positive attitude. God is positive, and He wants positive things to happen to each of us, but that isn't likely to happen if we're not filled with hope and faith.

Some people are afraid to hope because they have experienced so much hurt and disappointment that they don't think they can face any more pain. They refuse to hope so they won't be disappointed. Disappointment is painful! Rather than being hurt again, they simply refuse to hope that anything good will ever happen to them. This type of behavior sets up a negative lifestyle. Everything becomes negative because their thoughts are negative. Proverbs 23:7 says, For as he [a person] thinks in his heart, so is he....


…You are a new creation. You don't have to allow the old things that happened to you continue to affect your new life in Christ. As a new creature in Christ Jesus, you can have your mind renewed according to the Word of God: And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], and put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23,24). Things will change for the better when you keep your thoughts filled with hope.

…Everything that is promised in the Bible is for us to rejoice in now. Be glad! Raise your expectancy level. Rejoice in the hope of experiencing God's glory right now. My husband and I believe for many things, but beyond them all, we believe in Someone—Jesus. We don't always know what is going to happen. We just know that it will always work out for our good! The more positive and hopeful we are, the more we will be in the flow of God…

…Proverbs 17:22 says, A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Hope makes joy available, just as a lack of hope produces misery. We can choose to enjoy righteousness and peace or stay in the midst of condemnation and turmoil. There are blessings or curses available, and that is why Deuteronomy 30:19 tells us to choose life and blessings. What do you do while you wait for change? You pray, believe and expect to receive. Maintain a positive attitude, knowing that God is working on bringing your change and that you will see it. Throughout your waiting time, the devil will scream, "It's not going to change; it's going to get worse!" Don't listen to this and become discouraged. Instead, wake up in the morning and say out loud, "This is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad! Something good is going to happen to me today! Everything in my life that is not right is subject to change! The One who never changes is changing my situation. And while He's doing it, I'm going to enjoy my life!" Put your confidence in God and stop wearing yourself out trying to make things happen. The decision to have a good attitude while your change is coming can change you! Now is the time to decide to enter into the full and abundant life that God wants you to have.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Anointing of the Sick

January 29, 2011
Tonight we went to church and Father Anthony was going to perform Anointing of the Sick for me, since we are starting our treatments again. When we got to church, Father Anthony was not at church. Instead, Father Ed and Deacon Ken performed the anointing of the sick for us. Father Anthony and Father Ed are two of our biggest supporters. Last time I saw Father Anthony, he said Father Ed and him are just as anxious about the baby as we are. Deacon Ken is also praying for us and provided very comforting words to us last night. We are so thankful to have the support of our priests and deacon.
For those of you that are not Catholic, here is a definition of Anointing of the Sick:
The anointing of the sick is administered to bring spiritual and even physical strength during an illness.  Mark refers to the sacrament when he recounts how Jesus sent out the twelve disciples to preach, and "they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them" (Mark 6:13).
In his epistle, James says, "Is any among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:14–15).

Friday, January 28, 2011

A Month Without Clomid - Cycle #32

On December 28, 2010, I scheduled another appointment to start a new round of Clomid; however, we had another surprise. When looking back at my charts, I only have 10 days after ovulation before my cycle started. This means my progesterone is not high enough to sustain a pregnancy. Dr. Rister said my blood test showed my progesterone is low.

I told Dr. Rister about the pains I was having and he performed an ultrasound. The pains, that my past doctor said was just my intestines, were cause by my ovary being enlarged. When I ovulated, my ovary bleed back into itself and swelled to 7 cm (normal size 2 cm). Dr. Rister said we could not start Clomid until my ovary healed and it must heal on its own. He said it is like a bruise you have on your skin.

The plan: Not take Clomid this month and start back in February. When we do start back, I will also start taking Prometrium (progesterone) after ovulations.

I kept monitoring my cycle, even without Clomid, and I ovulated on my own this month. I called Dr. Rister and he order the Prometrium for me.

On January 24, 2011, I had high temporary with light pink bleeding again. I was so excited that we had another egg implant.

January 25, 2011, I called Dr. Rister to request more Prometrium and he was excited again how smooth everything was going. That evening things started to change and I felt different.

January 26, 2011, I woke with bleeding and a drop in my temperature. I called for an appointment with Dr. Rister, so we could start Clomid again. During the exam, Dr. Rister said he did not see anything that would indicate I was not pregnant or that I was pregnant. He thinks I jumped the gun too soon and I might be pregnant; however, due to the drop in temperature he wants me to double my Prometrium. The good news is my ovary shrunk to 3 cm (yay!).

January 27, 2011, My temperature went back up and everything is looking great, so we thought. Later that night I started bleeding heavily, again we were very disappointed. The good news is I made it to Day 12 past ovulations (normal range is 12 o 14 days). We are finally putting the pieces together and maybe next month we will have a little bambino or bambina.

First Round of Clomid - Cycle #31

On December 1, 2010, I had my second appointment with Dr. Rister. This time the appointment went very smooth. The cyst on my ovary went away and I was all clear to take Clomid. If my ovary is too enlarge, then it is dangerous to take Clomid because it will cause ovarian hyperstimulation.

On December 10, 2010, I went to my 12th day appointment to ensure my egg follicles were developing. My left follicles had one egg that developed, which is low for someone on Clomid. We held our hopes on the one egg. At this time, I started using my Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor, which I love. Dr. Rister said if I do not have a peak day on the monitor, then I need to come back on Monday.

December 13, 2010, still no peak day at this time. I received HCG shot to make the egg release and cause a peak day. The HCG shot is one of the worse shots I received in my lifetime. They put half of a shot in one hip and other half in the other hip. I could not walk for two days after these shots. Now it is a waiting game to see if we are pregnant.

Between December 22 through 24, 2010, I had the worse pain in my uterus and ovary. It hurt to walk, move, stand, etc… I thought maybe my uterus is getting ready for the egg. I was not sure why I was in pain. I again had the pains in my ovary, the same as 2008. Also during this time, Dr. Rister schedule a blood test to ensure my hormones were balanced.

December 24, 2010, I had light pink bleeding with a high temperature. I was so excited because I knew this meant an egg implant. As we attended Midnight Mass, I prayed God would protect and develop our little egg.

December 26, 2010, Today is a very sad day. We found out we lost our little egg. We were very disappointed because we had lots of hope this time around.

Taking the Next Step

Starting in 2010, my cycles started to become more regular and I thought we were on the path to having a baby. In October 2010, my cycle was longer than normal and I thought I was pregnant. We were so excited; however, the HPT were all negative. I scheduled an appointment with my primary care physician, Dr. Horner, for a blood test. To my dismay, the blood test was negative.

We decided it was time to schedule an appointment with my OBGYN and start being more serious about baby making. When I called my OBGYN, I was told they could not see me for three months. Are you serious? I knew it was difficult to make an appointment, but three months was ridiculous. A nurse friend (a wonderful friend) of mine recommended Dr. Rister and called ahead to ensure they could see me. Dr. Rister’s office may an appointment for me a week later.  Dr. Rister said I did not ovulate and I developed a large cyst on my ovary.

The next step, birth control pills. Dr. Rister said “This is going to sound strange, but I am placing you on birth control for a month.” I agree, I thought it was strange, since we are trying to have a baby. Dr. Rister said the pills will make the cyst go away and he wanted to see me back within 5 days after my 1st cycle day to start Clomid.

Beginning of our Baby Journey


Welcome to my blog. I hope you find this blog encouraging and inspirational. How our baby journey started….

Almost 4 years ago, Mark and I were at Westfest resting in the RV. Our talk went from wedding talk to baby talk. We both decided in that moment, we could not wait to have our own baby. Shortly after the wedding, November 2007, I stopped taking birth control pills and we started trying for a baby.

Now, stepping back one year before the wedding (August 2006). I underwent a surgery to remove a fibroid in the muscle of my uterus. The fibroid was a size of a grapefruit and was very painful. Due to the fibroid, my doctored wanted me on birth control pills to keep additional fibroids from developing and to reserve my eggs. I always hoped this surgery did not damage my chances for having a baby some day.

Nine months after Mark and I started trying we decided to speak with my OBGYN to determine our next steps. Our doctor at the time decided to start scheduling test to determine if we had any problems. I had an ultra sound around February 2008. Our priest started the anointing of the sick the Friday before Easter 2008.

My doctor dismissed my concerns about the pains I had in my ovaries. The doctor said it was my intestines, but I did not agree (this pain is later understood).  I decided to see the reproductive endocrinologist who performed my surgery. Dr. Barnett did not think I had any damages from the surgery and thought I was not ovulating. Immediately Dr. Barnett ordered Clomid and Ovidrel (HCG). Clomid develops your eggs and HCG is the “trigger” shot to make the eggs release.

After we returned home, we decided not to use the assistance of Clomid at this time. My OBGYN scheduled a Hysterosalpingogram to check my tubes and ensure I did not have any blockage. The test showed my tubes were open and no damage from the surgery. After these results, we decided to keep trying on our own.