Wednesday, March 30, 2011


Here is a little bit of the ultrasound that we had done on Monday. For some reason I cannot get the whole thing on here.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Ultrasound 3/28/11

We had an ultrasound appointment yesterday and everything went well. We are 9 weeks pregnant as of yesterday and the heart rate was 158bpm. Mike and Kathy (Chris's parents) and my mom got to share the joy with us. It was so great to get to share this experience with everyone! Thanks for all your support Mom and Dad and Mike and Kathy! Jamie has a complete OB appointment on April 15th and then she will have a regular OB appointment on May 9th and then we will have another ultrasound on June 7th to find out the sex. Yay.....the wait for the June appointment is going to be long but we will get there! LOL! I will try to post the video from yesterdays ultrasound and some pics as soon as I figure out how to do it! :-)

Friday, March 25, 2011

FYI

For those of you who are interested; there is a show that will be on the Discovery Health & Fitness Channel that is called Twins by Surrogacy. It will air Saturday (3/26/11) morning at 9:00am for me but not sure what time for others. The show is a documentary about two sisters who one of them is going to be a surrogate for the other. It will show you step by step an example of what Jamie and I have had to go through. Kind of interesting! :) Hope everyone has time to watch it! Thanks to everyone for all your support!

Jamie said that she has now figured out that if she eats something right when she gets up in the morning, that it helps with her nausea. She also only has 4 more days of taking the Progesterone shots, WOOT WOOT! Soon there will be no more having to poke herself with that dang needle every night. The ultrasound day is right around the corner! We are getting so so so anxious to get to hear the little heart beat! :) We will definitely let you all know how the ultrasound goes. Until next time.............

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

uh oh!

I talked to Jamie a couple days ago and she told me that she woke up and said to Tyson "man I feel like crud today" and Tyson said "well you need to go back in the room and go to bed and shut the door because none of us want to catch whatever it is that you have" LMBO!  Ummmmm sorry to tell ya Tyson but I don't think that pregnancy is contagious, but maybe in your house it is. HA HA! Luv ya Tyson!



I talked to Jamie this morning and she told me that she got up and was walking into Riley and Caiden's room to wake them up this morning and Oh Crap! she had to stop, try and take a deep breath and hope to god that she didn't hurl all over the boys' room. Poor thing! I have to be honest though, I am glad that I don't have to go through the feeling nauseous part. Sorry sister! Luv ya!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Feeling a little yucky. . .

Yes, Jenny is right, I wasn't feeling very well today.  I was a little astonished to see that she had written a blog about it,  for me I just thought, yuck I am feeling sick and really wish I could lay around and be lazy, but with 4 kids that's just not an option.  So I put on my happy face along with my tight jeans and went about my business.  However I accidentally mentioned to my mom that I wasn't feeling the best, if you know me I don't tend to let the little things bother me, I don't have time to.  So anyways long story short my mom told Jenny that I wasn't feeling well and she immediately called to check on me, I told her I was fine and not to worry.  Then next I know. . . sister blogged about it... then it hit me... "these are the little things she wants and needs to know, but these aren't little things, this is pregnancy, and "this" is Jenny's pregnancy.  So from now I will share in more detail how I am feeling, Love you sister!

How sister is feeling

Talked to Jamie today and she was feeling a little woozy this morning, but after one bite of food at Subway and then telling Kegan and Kolter that they needed to be done right now because she thought she needed to hurry and get to the parentals house so she didn't hurl in subway or the car......poor thing! I really do feel sorry for her right now. :( It was a false alarm she said because once she got outside she felt fine! No hurling thank goodness! But besides a nauseous feeling here and there she says she feels pretty well for the most part.

more more more.................

So we called and scheduled another date to try this again. So after they couldn't do the first fresh transfer we had to freeze the 4embryos that we had. So this next one was going to have to be a frozen transfer. So right away Jamie started on medication again and we were back on schedule for the next transfer that was scheduled for November, 2010. Again I have attached a copy of the calendar for you all to look at.

Reproductive Care Center
Controlled Endometrial Development Frozen Embryo Transfer with Lupron and estradiol Calendar
Patient's Name: Jamie Dennis
Continue Prenatal Vitamin
once daily
Start Lupron
10 units Daily, Continue Estrace 3 mg twice daily and Progesterone x1 Thursday, October 14, 2010
STOP
Estradiol and Progesterone, Continue Lupron 10 units once daily Saturday, October 23, 2010
Suppression Check:
Re-Start
Start at night, then the next day start taking it morning and night 3 mg
Ultrasound and blood draw for Estradiol Thursday, October 28, 2010Estradiol Thursday, October 28, 2010
Decrease Lupron
Dose to 5 units Daily Thursday, October 28, 2010
Blood draw
for Estradiol Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Lining Check
and Estradiol blood draw if needed Friday, November 5, 2010
Final:
ultrasound and blood draw for estradiol and progesterone Thursday, November 11, 2010
Start
Type of Progesterone Crinone 8%
Take 8% gel vaginally once a day
progesterone Friday, November 12, 2010
Stop Lupron
Day Embryos were Frozen 5
Extended Culture No
if progesterone is started and Continue Estrace Friday, November 12, 2010
Target Embryo Thaw Date
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Target Embryo Transfer Date Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Start
Take 8% gel vaginally twice a day
Secondary progesterone Crinone 8%
Pregnancy test
If positive continue meds
Ultrasound to confirm Fetal Heat Rate Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Expected Date of Delivery Thursday, August 05, 2010
 

We head back to SLC then to have this transfer done and everything goes well the transfer is done and we head back to Rock Springs the same day. Now we have to wait a long 2 weeks until we can take the pregnancy test. The good thing was that the waiting was right around thanksgiving so we got to spend some time with family and take our minds off from it a little. 
Chris and I head to Casper for the results of the pregnancy test and low and behold the test results come back negative........dang it! So after we get the negative test results we then are discussing if we should wait a little bit to try another time or go ahead with another try right away. We decided to go ahead and try again! The next transfer was scheduled for February 4, 2011. So Jamie starts all the medication again and we are on to the next transfer.
 
Reproductive Care Center
Controlled Endometrial Development Frozen Embryo Transfer with Lupron and estradiol Calendar
Patient's Name: Jamie Dennis
Person completing the schedule: Heather Riley
Date Created
12/22/10
continue active birth control pill daily - do not take placebo
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Start
Lupron Dose (units)
Lupron Daily Monday, January 03, 201110 units
Last day of
Expect vaginal bleeding (may be light) before
active birth control pill Friday, January 07, 2011Friday, January 14, 2011
Monitoring
- Suppression check ultrasound and blood draw for Estradiol Friday, January 14, 2011
Sign
thaw and assisted hatching consent with witness at RCC if not done previously Friday, January 14, 2011
Start Estradiol
(if suppression is confirmed [no cysts and low estradiol]) Friday, January 14, 2011
Type of estradiol planned (primary source)
Estradiol generic pill
Route of administration (primary)
Oral
Estradiol dose - 3 pills
3 mg
Estradiol dosing frequency
every 12 hours
Start
decreased Lupron Dose (units) Friday, January 14, 2011
Lupron Dose (units)
5 units
Blood draw for Estradiol testing
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Extra Monitoring
blood draw
if indicated - ultrasound lining check, estradiol and progesteroneFriday, January 21, 2011
Final Monitoring
(day 11) - ultrasound lining check Friday, January 28, 2011
Start
date)
progesterone therapy if adequate lining thickness (adjust if needed for transferSunday, January 30, 2011
Recommended
progesterone type Crinone 8%
Progesterone
dose 8% gel vaginally once a day
Stop
Lupron if progesterone is started Sunday, January 30, 2011
Continue
Estradiol, Prenatal Vitamins and Low dose aspirin
Target Embryo Thaw Date
Friday, February 04, 2011
Target Embryo Transfer Date
Continue Progesterone therapy
Friday, February 04, 2011Crinone 8%
Progesterone
dose - beginning the night of embryo transfer 8% gel vaginally twice a day
Pregnancy test
(may be done 1 day earlier or later if it falls on a Sunday) Wednesday, February 16, 2011
If pregnancy test is positive, continue estradiol, progesterone, prenatal vitamins and aspirin (if applicable)
First Pregnancy Ultrasound
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Expected Date of Delivery
Sunday, October 23, 2011

This transfer takes place and we wait another long 2 weeks for the pregnancy test................................we are all a little scared this time to get the results. The phone call comes in and it is a...........................POSITIVE RESULT! WOOT! WOOT! We were all jumping for joy we were so excited that it finally had worked, but the nurse tells us that her levels are pretty low at this point so she wants her to wait 2 days and take another PG test. We wait 2 days and take another one and the results come back and the nurse tells us that her levels went up so that is a good sign but they should have doubled from the time before and they weren't quite double at this point so she wants us to wait another 2 days and take another pregnancy test again to make sure the levels are still going up and she tells us that after this PG test if the levels have went up that we will schedule a ultra sound and that this would be the last PG test. So again we wait another two days and have a PG test and the levels have went up but again they have not went up by the amount that they like to see. We then schedule the ultra sound for the 4th of March. Chris and I head to Casper again for the ultra sound and we are a little nervous because supposedly with the low levels it could cause a mis-carriage and who knows what else but we go to the ultra sound and get to see a little "kidney bean" as Chris referred to it on the ultra sound screen. Yea Yea Yea! it is confirmed that she is pregnant 100%! WOOT WOOT!  The doctor then tells us that she wants us to schedule another one in 2 weeks just to check and make sure things are progressing the way they should be. So another ultra sound was scheduled for March 14th, 2011. At this ultra sound regrettably I couldn't attend but my mom was so graciously willing to go with my sister and call Chris and I on speaker phone so that we were able to hear everything that was going on and the Doctor was awesome at telling us step by step what she was doing and what she could see. She did tell us that there is only one baby in there, but that is completely ok with Chris and I because at this rate we feel so blessed that we are at the point that we are with this and also one kid is plenty these days. LOL! The doctor is going along telling us that this is the time that the little brain is starting to develop and that she can see a little arm starting to form and of course my wonderful husband pipes up and says "wait a minute is there only one arm" LOL! gotta love him! He was kidding of course but not everyone gets his humor as most of you know. Ha! Ha! The doctor informed us that she recorded everything that she did on a DVD and gave it to my sister to mail to us. I am pretty excited to see it when I get it in the mail. (hint hint sister) don't forget to mail it! :-) So now that you all are caught up to date with the whole thing, we have another ultra sound scheduled for March 28,  2011 @ 11:15am. We are so excited for this one because Chris, me, Jamie and  Chris's mom and my mom all get to be there for this one and we also get to hear the little heart beat! SO EXCITED! Until next time...........................

Thursday, March 10, 2011

and more.......

April 2010- So to make a long story short we all had all of the tests done, some we had done here and some in Utah so we did a lot of traveling but we all passed with flying colors. :) We met with the lawyer and had all the legal stuff drawn up in a contract and then communicated with him over email, phone and fax to get it finalized. We had to have the legal stuff done before we could start the IVF stuff. So now all of our ducks are in a row. We then got to take a medication class in Utah at RCC. Jamie and I had to learn how to give ourselves injections.  Jamie and I then got put on birth control so that our bodies could get synchronized with each others cycles and ovulating. Once that was done then we got to start giving ourselves injections and Jamie got to start taking pills and we both had to take prenatal vitamins and that fun stuff. I have attached a copy of both our first calendars just so you get an idea of times and dates and all that we had to do and also so I don't have to type all that out. LOL!
This first calendar is for me and the second one is for Jamie.

Reproductive Care Center 
Egg Source/Intended Parent Calendar (projected) - Oral Contraceptive/Long Term Lupron Protocol 
  
Egg Source/Intended Parent Name:Jenny Pompy
Person completing the schedule:RN
Date Created6/16/10
  
Date Menses (Bleeding) Expected (if known)NA
Call Nursing Coordinator 801-878-8888 with actual menses start date and leave message 
Coordinate with nursing coordinator or call office to make appointments for monitoringNow
Start active Birth control pills one daily 1-5 days after starting menses (or as directed) and prior toMonday, June 28, 2010
Start a Prenatal vitamin daily (if not already taking)Monday, June 28, 2010
Updated signed (and witnessed) consent forms should be turned into the nurses by this dateSaturday, July 10, 2010
http://www.fertilitydr.com/fertility-patient-information.html 
Schedule Lupron injection training prior to:Saturday, July 10, 2010
Contact Billing office - Complete Cycle PaymentPrior to starting Lupron
Start Lupron (subcutaneous injection)Saturday, July 10, 2010
Lupron Start Dose10 units
Last day to take active Birth control pill (stop pills)Saturday, July 17, 2010
Total days of active pills19
Menses/bleeding expected to start beforeSaturday, July 24, 2010
  
Meet with Billing staff to review and sign financial consents if not done previouslySaturday, July 24, 2010
Turn in updated medical history questionnaire  bySaturday, July 24, 2010
Monitoring - Suppression check - ultrasound and blood draw for EstradiolSaturday, July 24, 2010
Total days on Lupron prior to suppression check13
Start stimulation (FSH and/or low dose HCG) injections (if suppression confirmed) that nightMonday, July 26, 2010
Complete Infectious disease testing egg source and intended fatherMonday, July 26, 2010
Decrease Lupron Dose onMonday, July 26, 2010
Decrease Lupron Dose (after FSH started) to5 units
Low Dose HCG daily dose in units20
Low Dose HCG start dose in volume (ml if concentration is 100 units/ml)0.2
FSH (Bravelle, Gonal-F or Follistim) start dose (IU)225
FSH (Bravelle, Gonal-F or Follistim) start dose (# of ampules if 75 IU amps)3
Monitoring - 1st visit after starting FSH (blood draw for estradiol)Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monitoring - 2nd (blood draw and ultrasound)Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monitoring - 3rd (blood draw and ultrasound)Monday, August 02, 2010
Expected Monitoring - 4th (blood draw and ultrasound) - continue as directedTuesday, August 03, 2010
Expected day for "trigger" High Dose HCG (do not take until specifically instructed)Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Stop Lupron, FSH injections and low dose HCG (day of "Trigger" HCG)Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Complete urinary pregnancy test at home before 1 pm - if not positive call the officeThursday, August 05, 2010
  
Expected day for egg retrieval (variable depending on response)Friday, August 06, 2010
On the day of the egg retrieval - nothing to eat or drink for 6 hours prior to the egg retrieval, arrive at the office 60 minutes prior to the scheduled retrieval 
Expected date for sperm collection (day of egg retrieval)Friday, August 06, 2010
# of days embryos are anticipated to be in culture3
Target  Embryo Transfer Date into Gestational SurrogateMonday, August 09, 2010
Call the office for increasing pain or significant abdominal distension or difficulty breathing 
Abdominal swelling may increase untilSaturday, August 14, 2010
Expect Menses byFriday, August 20, 2010
Pregnancy test for gestational surrogateMonday, August 23, 2010
  
If gestational surrogate is pregnant: 
2nd pregnancy test (if HCG < 100 on initial test)Thursday, August 26, 2010
Ultrasound if pregnant (confirm location and number of sacs and R/O and ectopic pregnancyFriday, September 03, 2010
Ultrasound, second to confirm fetal heart motion and good interval growthFriday, September 10, 2010
3rd ultrasound if fetal heart motion is less than 100 to confirm continued fetal growthFriday, September 17, 2010
Recommend obstetrical appointment be scheduled around this date:Friday, September 17, 2010
Stop progesterone and estradiol 8 weeks after embryo transferFriday, October 01, 2010
Consider prenatal aneuploidy screening - ultrasound for nuchal thickness and blood tests for PAPP-A,  free HCGFriday, October 08, 2010
Stop low dose aspirin (if taking) 10 weeks after embryo transferFriday, October 15, 2010
  
Expected Date of DeliveryFriday, April 29, 2011



Reproductive Care Center 
Controlled Endometrial Development Fresh IVF Gestational Surrogate Calendar 
  
Gestational Surrogate's Name:Jamie Dennis
Egg Source/Intended Parent NameJenny Pompy
Person completing the schedule:RN
Date Created6/16/10
  
Start Prenatal vitamin Daily (if not already taking)Saturday, June 12, 2010
Call office 878-8888 to make appointments for monitoring as noted belowSaturday, June 12, 2010
  
Download Consents and ReviewPrior to starting Lupron
http://www.fertilitydr.com/fertility-patient-information.html 
Start Oral contraceptive pill daily (1-7 days after menses start but prior to this date):Saturday, June 12, 2010
Start Aspirin 81 mg DailySaturday, June 12, 2010
Start Lupron DailyWednesday, July 07, 2010
Lupron Dose (units)10 units
Last day of oral contraceptive pillWednesday, July 14, 2010
Expect vaginal bleeding (may be light) beforeWednesday, July 21, 2010
Monitoring - Suppression check ultrasound and blood draw for EstradiolWednesday, July 21, 2010
Sign Consents with witness at RCC if not done previouslyWednesday, July 21, 2010
Start Estradiol {Estrace} (if suppression is confirmed [no cysts and low estradiol])Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Estradiol dose (If you have generic estradiol please inform us as additional monitoring may be required). Suggest that Brand name Estrace be purchased if possible.3 mg orally twice a day
Start decreased Lupron Dose (units)Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Lupron Dose (units)5 units
Blood draw for Estradiol testing - adjust Estradiol dose if neededSaturday, July 24, 2010
Ultrasound for lining check and possible blood draw for Estradiol if thin liningSaturday, July 31, 2010
Nursing staff will provide intermittent updates regarding the stimulation status of the egg source 
Estimated Monitoring (day 15) - ultrasound lining check  day of egg retrievalThursday, August 05, 2010
Start progesterone therapy the morning of the egg retrieval (expected date) if vaginal progesterone used or that evening if IM progesteroneThursday, August 05, 2010
Recommended progesterone typeCrinone 8%
Progesterone dose8% gel vaginally once a day
Stop Lupron if progesterone is startedThursday, August 05, 2010
Continue Estrace, Prenatal Vitamins and Low dose aspirin 
# of days embryos are anticipated to be in culture3
Target  Embryo Transfer DateSunday, August 08, 2010
Come with almost full bladder for embryo transfer. Diazepam (Valium) is available at the office. 
If IM progesterone was started, add vaginal progesterone the evening of embryo transferSunday, August 08, 2010
Recommended progesterone typeCrinone 8%
Progesterone dose8% gel vaginally twice a day
Pregnancy testSunday, August 22, 2010
If pregnancy test is positive, continue estradiol, progesterone, prenatal vitamins and aspirin (if applicable) 
  
If pregnant (may be additional costs): 
2nd pregnancy test (if HCG < 100 on initial test)Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Ultrasound if pregnant (confirm location and number of sacs and R/O and ectopic pregnancyThursday, September 02, 2010
Ultrasound, second to confirm fetal heart motion and good interval growth (optional, may be done with OB)Thursday, September 09, 2010
3rd ultrasound if fetal heart motion is less than 100 to confirm continued fetal growth (optional)Thursday, September 16, 2010
Recommend obstetrical appointment be scheduled around this date:Thursday, September 16, 2010
Stop progesterone and estradiol 8 weeks after embryo transferThursday, September 30, 2010
Consider prenatal aneuploidy screening - ultrasound for nuchal thickness and blood tests for PAPP-A,  free HCGThursday, October 07, 2010
Stop low dose aspirin (if taking) 10 weeks after embryo transferThursday, October 14, 2010
  
Expected Date of DeliveryThursday, April 28, 2011



Okay so now that you know both of us on a personal basis, ha ha! So we went to Utah on August 7th, 2010 I believe for the first embryo transfer date. We get there get all ready and Jamie, my mom and I are all in the operating room and only seconds away from the transfer and the doctor says ummmm hang on there is some dried blood in here that I don't like. The doctor then asks the embryologist to take the embryos back and put them in their safe place because he wants to clean this up and make sure nothing is wrong. Well we then explain to the doctor that Jamie started to have some spotting earlier that week so we called the nurse at RCC and ask her if this was normal and she told us yes it was, so we went on with the original schedule. Well you could only imagine what was going through our heads at this moment but I actually wasn't too freaked out at this point, not until the doctor came back in and said "I am sorry to have to tell you this but I don't feel comfortable doing the implant today because if we implant there is a chance that neither of the embryos will take and I don't want to take that risk and basically waste the embryos because we already know the chance is lower with the bleeding than it would be normally. We then agreed with the doctor and left Salt Lake with our heads hanging pretty low, but for the most part we all stayed pretty positive about the whole situation. What else can you do, right? So from here the game plan was to call RCC the next week to get things started again so we could give it another shot! :)