In vitro 101

As many of you already know, Cash and Camp were far from accidents. In fact, they were the result of many prayers answered through a modern miracle. After several failed attempts to conceive with fertility drugs, artificial insemination and of course the old fashioned way, Jason and I decided to resort to a complex fertility treatment called In vitro Fertilization.
While preparing for this process, I was aware that my physical, emotional and financial thresholds would be tested. However, I never anticipated how my tolerance for ignorance would be so strained.
I was shocked and a little bruised when well-meaning, seemingly intelligent people would ask questions such as…So you're gonna have test tube babies? Why don't y'all just quit trying, then it will happen. Is it going to be your biological child? Wouldn't it be easier to just adopt? How can you afford that?
In virto is a grueling process that involves, among other things, surgery (to harvest eggs), many,many self injections,days of bed rest and much uncertainty. In an effort to educate, raise awareness and hopefully spare some poor infertile woman some stinging questions, I am going summarize the process as simply as possible.
Self injections of stimulating hormones are given (usually in the stomach) for two to three weeks to assist a female in producing mass quantities of eggs. This process is closely monitored with almost daily Dr.'s appointments and is an EXACT science. Literally minutes before the eggs are to be released (or ovulation is to occur) they are "vacuumed" out of the ovaries during a minor surgical procedure. The harvested eggs are mixed with a "sample" from a donor (generally a spouse) in a pea tree dish. The eggs and the sample "dance" together overnight and the next morning you get an exciting phone call to find out how many of the harvested eggs were fertilized by the sample and created embryos. These embryos are then monitored for the next 3-5 days as their cells multiply (more exciting calls giving "progress reports" on the dividing embryos are received during these days). If all goes well, the strongest two or three embryos are selected and returned to the uterus to hopefully thrive and create full term babies (if you're lucky enough to have remaining embryos they are frozen and stored for future use). At this stage of the game, self injections of large doses of hormones are given to "simulate pregnancy" and make the environment as inviting as possible for embryos to implant. After the embryos are transferred to the uterus, you are required to lay for several days so gravity can work for you. Over the next two three weeks more injections are endured, (only at this stage they are "deep muscle" self injections) to ensure hormone levels are at their prime to support a possible pregnancy. After a character building two and a half week wait, a standard blood test is taken to see if HCG (or pregnancy hormone) is present and indicates pregnancy.
That is the very short, abbreviated version of the complex in vitro process. It is important to know in virto DOES NOT replace Mother Nature; it simply helps her do her job by fertilizing the egg outside of the body then returning it to the uterus for implantation.
There is NO test tube involved, only pea tree dishes. Couples who resort to in vitro have exhausted all other options. Babies conceived through this complicated process share just as much of their parents' DNA as babies conceived through traditional methods. While in vitro is expensive (between $7,000 and $10,000) some insurance companies do help cover the cost and the procedure isn't any more costly than going on a nice vacation , buying a used car OR getting breast augmentation which ,oddly enough, I have found, the mentality of modern society seems to support all three more than assisted reproductive therapies.
In vitro is not right for every couple trying to start a family, it requires complete physical, mental, emotional and financial commitment by a couple but it was the right decision for Jason and I. Cash and Camp were conceived on our 4th attempt at in vitro and while it certainly wasn't easy, I feel the experience helped to"toughen me up" and prepare me for the beautiful adventure of raising twin boys as well as strengthen my faith and my marriage.
I hope is this short explanation clears up some of the myths and misconceptions of in vitro and prove there's more than one way to make a baby (or in our case two babies)!

Goodbye

This evening in a lovely, private sunset service, I said goodbye to the most adventurous and fun-loving loving spirit I have ever known, my maternal grandmother, Janet. Her wishes for her ashes to be scattered in the White River were honored and we celebrated an accomplished and interesting lady. The service was a beautiful and fitting tribute to her unique life, it was a wonderful way to say goodbye.

A Return To Cheap Thrills Mondays

This morning we made the short trip to Heber Springs for a family outing. Our first stop was a tour of the fish hatchery which the boys enjoyed thoroughly. It was just as smelly as I had remembered but the boys certainly weren't bothered by the odor. They meandered beside the long holding tanks pointing and declaring "Lotsa fish! Lotsa fish!" Next we headed to the water, Sandy Beach to be exact. We arrived to find the swimming area unoccupied and were lucky enough to have the place to ourselves for almost an hour! The sun, the sand, the water...it was summer fun at its best!

Since the ususal $4 admission to the lake is waived Aug 1st-9th we ALMOST got away with a completely free outing...HOWEVER, we made a pit stop at Sherwood Wholesale on the way home and their new arrival of Christmas decor appealed to my sweet spot in a BIG way. I couldn't resist picking up a few ornaments and my first Christmas gifts of the season.

A great time was had by all and I consider any outing that combines swimming and Christmas a huge success!

Called Home

My silly little blog about nothing lost its most devoted fan last week when my maternal grandmother, Janet Louise Boney Webb, was called Home on Friday July 31,2009. Keeping her connected with our family was my biggest motivation for blogging. Since she became ill in the spring, I haven't as much inspiration to document our daily events but I plan to get back to it in the weeks to come. She left us with many sweet memories to delight in as we reflect on her accomplished, interesting, well-traveled and unique life.

Snakes...follow up

I called the pest control company again this morning and was informed they don't service snake infestations, however one of their employees does desnaking on the side. I spoke with the "desnaker" and explained the problem. He is scheduled to come out at 8am on Friday to evaluate our property. He said he could not guarantee I would be snake free, although he did sound confident he could help get things under control. I am interested to see what he finds!

No Laughing Matter

Our snake situation that I joked about last spring and summer has regretfully gone from laughable to serious. Last year during the warm months we killed nine snakes in our yard, all shapes and sizes. Two were venomous copperheads, one was a large but harmless black snake and the others were a patterned brown snake that were small and very feisty but we still haven't been able to identify. All last year I somehow managed to laugh off each incident while hoping my husband would get serious and be proactive about ridding our yard of the problem. Unfortunately that never happened and it has become blatantly obvious in the last week the sake problem did not take care of itself and we have a real issue on our hands. We have killed 3 of the same patterned brown snakes in the last eight days, all of which were in close proximity to the boys. Today was truly the last straw when I bent down to pick up a toy Cash had dropped out of the wagon onto the driveway and a snake lifted its head less than 3 inches from my hand. It could have just as easily been one of my precious sons the snake was hissing at. After getting the boys a safe distance away I killed the snake with a shovel. Afterwards, I immediately went inside and called our pest control company, unfortunately they had already closed for the day. Jason put a call into the co-op and they had closed too. I pledge to get back on this first thing in the morning and not stop until we are able to get concrete answers as to where they are coming from and why they are here. I talked to two of my neighbors today and they again said they have seen no snakes. My fear is they are going to get in our house. Not likely I know, but we seem to be so saturated with them, it is not totally impossible for one to find its way inside.
As for now, all the wonderful outside play the boys have been enjoying is over. I will have to take them to a friend's or to a park to play outside. I will keep everyone posted on what we find out. If it weren't my residence, this would be relatively interesting.

party pics continued...

A few more photos of the day...