Hello wonderful friends! The past couple of days have been very exciting, all because of a little smiley face. When we had our first appointment with Dr. Steinkampf he gave us a sheet detailing the procedure for intrauterine insemination with donor sperm. We have been carefully following the directions. Start my period and purchase sperm. Check. Arrange for shipment of sperm to Alabama Fertility Specialists. Check. On day 10 of my cycle call the office to let them know I am planning to do an IUI this month. Check. Also on day 10 start doing ovulation tests between 11:00 and 2:00 daily. Monday was my day 10.
Testing timing proved to be a bit of a challenge. My class has lunch from 11:35-12:00 so I knew that was my only possible time window. Thankfully my sweet friend Tonya Adams agreed to meet my class in the hall and walk them to the lunchroom so that I could pop into the bathroom and test. The clinic recommended the digital Clear Blue test. When no LH surge is detected you get a empty circle. When the surge is present you get a smiley face. The tests I did in March had been positive on the 22nd so I was expecting to test for several days and see a blank circle.
Monday - circle
Tuesday - circle
Wednesday - SMILEY FACE!
I was blown away! Shocked and excited I almost jogged back to my classroom to call the doctor's office. The instructions said on the day the LH surge was detected to call before 2:00 to schedule the IUI for the following day. Wow! I couldn't believe it and I have to admit, I was worried it might be a false positive. I have not been feeling great this week because I'd managed to pick up a cold and had been dealing with some "feminine itch". I was really worried that those two issues could mess up the procedure. Isn't it amazing how, in the middle of something wonderful, we can let doubts plague and worry us? When I called the front desk, it took a couple of tries to get through. When I reached the receptionist and told her I had gotten a positive ovulation test she said, "Yay! Ok, you will need to come in tomorrow!" Wow! It all became so very real!
It was fun to be able to join my teacher friends in the lunchroom and announce, "I got a smiley face!" Then I wrote Donny a quick text to give him the good news. I was thankfully able to contact a sub and stayed late at school putting together sub plans - never a small undertaking! The procedure doesn't' take all that long, but with my cold I knew I could use a day to rest anyway.
Today was THE day. In the car on the way to the office Donny asked me if I wanted to pray. He grabbed my hand, I closed my eyes and prayed for God's will and guidance. I prayed that God would bless our procedure the first time if it was his timing and thanked him for all the people that were lifting us up (THAT'S ALL OF YOU, FRIENDS!). We had a 10:00 appointment so we got there at 9:40ish. It began with a visit to lab to draw more blood and confirm that I was ovulating. That of course meant another visit with Mr. Sperm the stress ball. It lasted a little longer than I would have liked. They couldn't get the vein in my left arm, so they went to the right one and got it. Ow. On our way back to the waiting room, we ran into Karen, the nurse practitioner we spoke with on our first visit. She greeted us with, "it's my favorite couple!" and huge smile. She wrapped me up in a warm hug. Then she asked my permission to hug Donny too. She really set any butterflies in my tummy to rest.
We sat in the waiting room for a bit, holding hands and talking. A nurse poked her head through the door and called us back to a room. She gave me instructions and informed us that Karen would be in in a few minutes to do the insemination. That was exciting news! I purposefully go to female OBGYN doctors. It just makes an awkward situation a bit less awkward. I feel very comfortable with Karen so that made me feel better about the procedure. It is amazing how long a few minutes feel when you are sitting on a table with stirrups adorned with a stylish paper drape. Donny tried to help me stay relaxed, he grabbed my hand and prayed for God's blessing on the procedure.
After a bit Karen rapped lightly on the door and entered the room chirping, "let's make a baby!" She had me confirm that the vial of sperm was the correct one. It was pretty crazy to think that the pinkie-fingertip-sized drop of milky liquid was the sperm that could make me a mommy and Donny a daddy. Karen drew the droplet of sperm up into a syringe equipped with a catheter and had me scooch into place. She expertly did her work threading the catheter into place, then she motioned to Donny, "Come do this insemination." It brought tears to my eyes! To allow Donny to truly be part of his child's conception was so kind and thoughtful. I will always be grateful to Karen for that! She put the syringe in Donny's hand and said,"Ok, send in the clowns!"
That was all there was to it. I lay back on the table and she gave us our next instructions. In a week I have to do a blood progesterone serum test. In two weeks we will go back to see Dr. Steinkampf. In two weeks we will learn if we are pregnant! Now all we have to do is wait. I am so very glad that I have school to keep me busy during the week and prevent me from obsessing. There is about a 20% chance that we will be pregnant. Please keep praying that God's will is done in our family! I will keep all of you up to date!
No comments:
Post a Comment