Invitro fertilization (update 2)

Amanda met with our doctor today, the first time he's been in town since last Wednesday. Since Sunday, we've had quite a few stressful conversations with his nurses. His reputation is very good and he has a great bedside manner, but over the past few days he's really begun to take his "kid gloves" off. He and his nurses have had some frank discussions with Amanda and me. They're intent upon having her released from the hospital ASAP.

Our concern has been with knowing how to manage her water weight gain, pain, and the side effects associated with taking narcotic pain medication (nausea, among others). Before she was admitted to the hospital, she was stuck in a downward spiral where she couldn't keep food down and couldn't take the pain medication on an empty stomach without losing it.

Due to cost considerations and knowing that her condition will persist for potentially 4 more weeks, the doctor is moving towards releasing her, but with the understanding that she leave armed with tools that will help us avoid the problems that have brought us to this point. We're hoping they will find some pain medication that won't cause the nausea or the other aforementioned symptoms.

So thanks for your prayers, and stay tuned. Amanda might be home by Thursday or Friday.

Invitro fertilization (update 1)

Well, it looks like Amanda will be staying at the hospital for the next few days. They drained another 3 liters of fluid from her adbomen on Friday and formally admitted her to the hospital. Her "vital signs" (for lack of a better term) are beginning to look better, but they want to keep her under observation because of the continued pain she's experiencing.

I'll be staying here at the hospital with her through Monday morning, but will need to return to work tomorrow. If you're in the neighborhood, I'm sure she would love the company!

Please continue to pray for her.

Invitro fertilization

We had the IVF embryo transfer done on Monday, June 4th. Amanda's been feeling quite a bit of pain because of her condition. She was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries before the IVF. The medication she was on to help her ovulate on command has caused her to have hyper-stimulated ovaries.

Over the past 2 weeks, we've been to the hospital 45 minutes east of town 5 or 6 times for scheduled checks-ups and to have fluid drained from her abdomen. This procedure is called paracenthesis. The fluid has been a byproduct of her hyper-stimulated condition. This Monday, they drained 4 liters (approx 1 gallon) and another 2.5 liters on Wednesday. Her ovaries are supposed to be about 2 cubic cm but have been 7-8 cubic cm. You can imagine the pain she's been in!

The good news in all of this is that, the longer this condition persists, the more likely it is that we're pregnant. If we are, Amanda will continue to suffer through this until the end of the first trimester, when the placenta takes over the pregnancy from her ovaries. Her mom and sister have been up to visit and care for her, but starting next week, we're on our own for a while.