The Golden Egg

As my Dad so aptly pointed out during his last visit, my whole life right now seems to revolve around eggs (I've recently been on a hard boiled egg kick as well as a "let's fertilize every egg in my body" kick).  At my ultrasound on Tuesday they measured the eggs in my ovaries to see if there were any ready to be released and to see how well the drugs worked.  There was one egg in my right ovary that was 18 in diameter (I don't know the units of measurement) and the nurse doing the ultrasound said they would do the artificial insemination the following day (which was yesterday).  I was in shock-everything was moving so fast.  I didn't even know the nurse's name.  She told me to call my husband and see what time worked for him to "collect" his sperm, and then to go make the appointment.  Felipe was surprised when I called him.  The decision to do artificial insemination was made just one week to the day from my very first appointment.  We were absolutely jumping right in!

We made plans for Felipe to be at the clinic at 1 for the "collection" and then the procedure for the insemination was scheduled for 2:30.  They needed an hour to wash and prep the sperm.  They gave me a trigger shot of HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) to stimulate ovulation. That shot is the only one I can remember having that made the injection site sore for a couple days.

I was also given a prescription of Estradiol to help thicken my uterine lining.  Over the course of one week I put 4 different hormones into my body, which hopefully won't cause any long-term effects.

I was really nervous for my next appointment.  I worried that they might find something wrong with Felipe's sperm and it wouldn't be usable, but I was mostly nervous for how sad I would be if the procedure didn't work.  We said a lot of prayers and did a lot of reminding ourselves that the Lord has a plan for us and our family.

Felipe gave me a priesthood blessing the morning of the procedure which didn't give me much hope for this cycle, but it did give me peace.  And peace is what I need.  With peace you can remember that the Lord has a plan and with peace you can face each trial and disappointment with confidence and faith.  Throughout this long experience of ours I have been very grateful for a husband who holds the priesthood and can give me priesthood blessings, for a husband that  lovingly reminds me the Lord has a plan and is looking out for us, and for a husband who will just hold me while I cry. This is the clearest example of a trial in my life when I could honestly say that I am grateful for the trial.  It has really truly brought me closer to the Lord and closer to Felipe. I feel so blessed to have this foundation.