Here We Go Again...

Dusty and I have been married for almost 5 years, and as of yet it is still just the two of us. Those of you who I do not keep in great contact with may be curious why it is still just the two of us, but those family and friends who are more near know of our struggles. It is a very personal topic to discuss, however, we have finally realized that this is just one of our trials, and those who love us can be a support, and those who may be critical we just don't care about.

We have been trying to expand our family for the last 4 years with not much luck, we have been through 1 year of nobody talking to us, 3 fertility clinics, 4 cycles with medication, 2 IUI cycles, and 1 IVF cycle, 1 pregancy, and 1 miscarriage. Last fall we began the IVF cycle and if any of you do not know what that is, it is where they inject a sperm into an egg, let it grow for about 5 days in a petri dish, and then put it back in and hope it make a cozy home for the next 8.5 months. It sound very simple, however, the process is very long and cumbersome. If you are not interested in a science lesson, you can just skip to the last paragraph.

Each IVF cycle takes about 2 months. The first 4 weeks are a preparation phase to stablize all the hormones. Then the next phase is the stimulation of the ovaries. For me, this included 3 shots a day for about 2 weeks, with ultrasounds everyother day to look at the ovaries and measure the follicles. After about two weeks, and what looked liked about 12 mature follicles, the surgery was scheduled to extract the eggs. This is a procedure where they put you out and use a needle to extract as many eggs as they can. I had a huge number of 21. Then the embryologist looks at them and determines which are mature. I had 15 mature. They then take one sperm and inject it into each egg, and wait to see if it fertilizes. I had 13 fertilize. Of those 13, a couple died on day 2, 5 lasted until day 5 (Blastocyst stage) but were of poor quality (not likely to implant), and 6 were great. They put two back in, and froze the other 4.

On the left is a picture of one of the blastocysts. There are about 100 cells and the mass at the bottom left is actually what becomes the fetus. You can also see the little bubble at the very bottom, that is showing that the embryo is hatching and coming out of the shell.

After a long wait, I found out on Christmas day that I was pregnant. We were excited except for the fact that I was extremely sick. I had a condition called Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS). This was caused by me having such a strong reaction to the stimulation medication which not only made me produce 21 eggs, it increases the levels of hormones and causes the ovaries to keep being active and retain fluid. I gained a bunch of weight in my abdomen and looked about 8 month pregnant. A couple days after Christmas, I went in to have some of the fluid drained, and they took out 2 liters of fluid out of my abdomen. I felt much better until it started to collect again. They didn't want to drain again for risk of infection which would ensure that I lost the baby, and I struggled for another couple weeks in total gaining 30 lbs in my belly. In mid January, I had some complications and the ultrasound no longer showed a heartbeat, and our spirits fell. I went back to work after the miscarriage, and we decided we would try again as soon as we could.

It is finally time to try again, and I am currently in the last week of the suppression phase and the shots just began last night. We will be using the frozen embryos so there is no need to stimulate the ovaries, and therefore no risk of OHSS. The plan is to give me the proper hormones to create a good lining for the embryo to implant. It should be much easier this time on me. If you feel so inclined, please include us in your prayers and fasting, and hopefully this time it will be more successful. We will keep you all posted on the progress, but I won't know if anything works until early June.

Yeah for Wii!!

Ever since Christmas, Dusty and I have been thinking about getting a Wii. We currently have a Nintendo 64, a Nintendo Gamecube, and an Xbox 360. Why on earth would we need a Wii? We have only a couple games for each that are really fun; however, after 5 years, Dusty has finally determined that the Xbox 360 is not family friendly as I won't play it, and the family friendly games we can get for it are very limited. We have decided to switch from the Xbox 360 to a Wii, so if you know of anybody who wants an xbox, we are in the market to sell.

The problem was that Wii's are not very available (at least in the Seattle area), and we have not been able to find one, until yesterday. We went out shopping to Joann fabrics to find some springtime decorations, and Dusty convinced me that he got to pick a store to walk through as well, and he chose BestBuy. We walked in and they had 4 Wii systems sitting on the shelf. We couldn't help it, and decided to buy one. We brought it home and played a little last night, and it is just as fun as we thought it would be.

Update

I know I said I would begin blogging back in November, but things got a little crazy, so I will give you an update of how we are doing here in the Lybbert household.  We spent a lovely Thanksgiving at Dusty's Grandma's house in Yakima.  We don't often spend time with that side of the family, and I had not even met some of them until then.  It was nice to see them, and get to know them better.  We had the traditional fixings which were very tasty, but I must admit that I missed the traditional Woodward Thanksgiving dishes.  

(Dusty's Mom's siblings)

(All the cousins & kids)

On the weekend, we went over to Aunt Mary's house and I got to eat some of the leftovers that I had missed.  We also played games, and did puzzles.  I also got to enjoy black Friday shopping with my Dad; a tradition that I love.  

Also in November began our car trouble.  Dusty's car was broken into during a YW stake leadership training at the stake center of all places.  We had a bunch of stuff in the trunk that was stolen including a drill, our video camera, and Dusty's scriptures.  We also lost our athletic clothing and shoes.  We

 reported it to the Federal Way police, and they said they couldn't do anything.  We spent the next few days getting the lock on his door replaced and trying to figure out how to replace the things we lost.  We then got a call from an unfamiliar number.  Apparently, the offenders were caught in a stolen vehicle that night by the Kent Police, thank goodness they are doing their job.  We went down to the station to see if they had any of our stuff.  Fortunately, they had everything there, with the exception of some sweatpants, and a jacket.  We felt like the Lord had really watched out for us.  The door was fixed, and is functional, but not pretty.  

Then in December, our trusty red Honda began to be not so trusty.  The clutch was acting up, so we took it in to get it fixed.  They fixed a cable and it seemed to work okay; however, the night we took it to the shop, it was broken through the window.  Fortunately, nothing of significance was stolen, but we had to fix the window.  

We finally decided that we had had enough of car thefts, and decided to buy a new car.  So after Christmas, we purchased a Toyota Corolla, and we have had no problems so far, and we are thrilled to be driving a much more comfortable car.   

During December we had the opportunity to host Christmas for my family.  Sam, Melissa, and little Owen were our house guests for a couple weeks, and we had a surprise visit from my sister Becky, who came home early from Iraq due to the most exciting news of a pregnancy (she is due mid July with a little boy.)  Mom, Dad, and David were also here for a couple days during Christmas.  It was a little crowded in our small home, but we didn't mind.

With all the family, we were able to attend the Pike Place Market, which is a tradition since before I can remember, and participate in the family ornament exchange.  We also had a Disneyland trip planned between Christmas and New Years, however, Dusty and I did not get to go as I was fairly ill and unable to travel.  

(The Poe children on the pig at the market.  

Mom promised this would be the last year)

Christmas day was filled with fun traditions including Egg McMuffin Sandwiches, pork chops, and fried rice.  I think the family enjoyed it thoroughly, however, Dusty and I were in the emergency room.  For me, the day was all kind of a blur between dehydration and the hospital.  Although I was sick for the entire time my family was in town, I still enjoyed them being here and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Once Christmas is over.  I always look forward to busy season at work.  Busy season typically entails working 60-70 hours a week and eating 3 meals a day at work.  My typical busy season last from the beginning of January until mid February, however, this year was different.  Due to my illness at Christmas time, I did not go back to work until the beginning of February.  Also, I was assigned a new client, so I had my busy season from the beginning of February through mid April.  It was a hard busy season, but I got through it and learned a lot.    

Dusty has also been keeping very busy.  In September, be was asked to be a seminary teacher.  He accepted the assignment, and team teaches with another guy.  They teach the freshmen and sophomores in our ward.  He has been enjoying teaching, and it comes naturally to him; however, he tends to

 be a little selfish, and sometimes wishes he was the only teacher.  He also coached gymnastics at Thomas Jefferson High School for the second year which kept him busy through February.  Then in March, he got the itch to coach track and started looking for 

opportunities.  He settled on Kentlake High School, and he is coaching long jump, triple jump, high jump, and his favorite pole vault.  He is really enjoying the group of kids he has, and feels like he is really making a difference.

Another exciting piece of news is that finally, I was able to pass the CPA exam.  I started studying in April, and took all four sections by October.  I found out I had passed the last section just before Christmas, and now I am actually a CPA.  (click here).  That was such a relief for me.  

Work has finally started slowing down a little, and I have plans to plant a garden.  I have already started the tomatoes, and I plan to include zucchini, squash, beans, and carrots.  I do not have much of a green thumb, so anything we get from the garden will be more than I expect.  I just thought it would be a fun project.   I will keep you posted with the garden.

That is about all I can think of to get started.  Hopefully, I will be able to update more regularly.