Our Journey Through Infertility...Where We've Come From...Where We're Going

Most of you probably know our story, but for those of you who don't, here's a quick recap. Brad and I "stopped preventing" back in January of 2008. We assumed, like most others, that it would take us awhile to get pregnant, but we never thought it would take this long. After 4 months of not getting a period, my doctor decided to put us on Femara (a fertility drug) that causes multiple follicles (with eggs inside) to be produced. Fast forward 9 months, double and triple doses of the fertility meds of Femara and Clomid, months of tears, and no viable follicles later, our doctor was forced to send us to see a specialist.

Living in Northwest Arkansas, the closest specialist was an hour and a half away in Tulsa. We are now working with Dr. John Clark Bundren, a doctor who delivered the first IVF baby in this country. He is amazing at what he does. He has a 64% success rate and a 59% live birth rate (according to the CDC website). This puts him in the top 5 in the country. We couldn't be more thrilled.

We will be doing our first (and we pray only) cycle of IVF starting in August. The process consists of 10 days of shots (2x/day) which stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs, an August 19th Egg Retrieval Date (done in Oklahoma City) and then 5 days later, on August 24th, an Embryo Transfer. We are hoping that at least 2 embryos will be ready. The doctors will only implant 2 embryos (no we will not be the next John and Kate Plus 8) and any others that could produce a viable pregnancy will be frozen for later use.

As silly as it may sound, I am most nervous for how I will handle this process mentally. Beginning August 9th, I will not be allowed to work out AT ALL. I can walk slowly (is that even in my vocabulary??) and lift light hand weights. I cannot even push a vacuum cleaner! The medications I'll be on cause the ovaries to be overly stimulated. Any bouncing could cause an ovary to twist and if it did, all blood flow would be cut off resulting in the ovary itself dying. It would then have to be removed. That is serious enough to me to not take any chances.

So there you have it, August is a big month in The Pope house. In the meantime, we are doing our best to enjoy our summer. Life on the lake has been better than we could have ever imagined and life in The Ozarks of NWA has provided us with the perfect playground for our active lifestyles. I go back to school on August 12th and my students come on August 19th (I'll be in OKC instead). Summer has flown by, but you can count on The Popes making the most of what's left.

Stay tuned for more excitement. We have a few "events" that will be worth of documentation for sure =)