Off to Australia.....

I dropped Jared off at the airport this last night. Lucky duck gets to go to Australia for a two week visit full of adventures with out me. Wow! That sounds really sad! I am very excited for him!! I wish I could go with him, but the doc recommended that I not fly right now. But I am more than ok with that because I am at home resting and growing our little baby.


We have a couple of friends that are living there for a couple of years attending Hillsong Bible College. So what a great opportunity for Jared to go visit and explore Australia with the guys!! I guess you could say that it is his one last big trip before the baby comes! We are hoping that next year we can take the baby on his/her first trip to Australia. Pipe dream...to take a baby on a 14 hr flight, but crossing my fingers because I would love to visit Australia too!

Pray for safe travels for Jared!!

WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!

05.03

To all of the readers...I am so sorry for the late post!!! We wanted to call as many people as possible before we posted it on the blog! So sorry!!

Jared and I found out on May 3rd that God has blessed is with a little baby!! AHHHHH!! I went in at 8 AM for a blood draw and just two hours later a nurse from NCRS gave me a call with the great news!!! I was home alone at the time and Jared didn't want to find out till later tonight when we were together, so I really didn't know what to do!!! So, I jumped up and down and praised Jesus!! All the glory goes to Him!!

So, now starts the great task of sharing the awesome news with the people we love!! First, I headed out to get baby balloons to surprise Mama Peg. I purchased a mylar baby/stork balloon, pink latex and a baby blue latex balloon. Went to her class room and stuck the balloons into the classroom door!! She knew exactly who it was and what it meant!! It was a great site to see and a wonderful moment! It was so sweet....all of the kids in her class started clapping and said congratulations!! It melted my heart!

After leaving Mama Peg's class I spent some time telling other family members the great news. Then off I went to get yummy groceries to make a romantic dinner for Jared. I couldn't wait to tell him that I was pregnant!! On the menu for dinner tonight...steak, bread, veggies, and of course a chocolate cake! You can't have a Dodson dinner without chocolate cake!!

Candles were lit, dinner was cooked, and I was ready and excited to share the news with him! He got home at around 7 PM (mind you...I found out at 10 AM. Not calling him was one of the hardest things ever!) He walked up the stairs and could tell by the look on my face that we were going to have a baby!! It was the sweetest moment! One that I will never forget!! I love Jared so much and I can't wait to make him a father!! He is going to be the best dad!! We thank God for giving us this wonderful blessing! We are so excited to raise our children to love and praise God with all of their hearts.

Ps. we haven't stopped doing our little dance of praise!!

TWO babies on ice!!!!

I just got the call this morning!!! That the two babies that we didn't put in made it to day five and now they are in a little freezer waiting for us to come back in a year or two and get them!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!

I can't believe it! I didn't think that our odds of viable, fertilized, freezable babies were good! But, God is bigger!!! And now, out of all four fertilized babies...two are in my tummy (growing...In the name of Jesus) and the other two are waiting for us!! AHHHH!! I just can't believe it!! Again, GOD IS SO GOOD!!

It is so neat to see God's hand in this whole experiences. From the very beginning with my first surgery to remove the cyst to the transfer of the embies...God has been beside us every step of the way.

We have six days to go till we go into the clinic for the preggo test (blood draw)! I am so excited! These last couple of days have been rally calm and great. I have such faith and with that comes God's peace!!

Signing off for now....going to take a nap, rub my tummy, and talk to the babies!!

Is it May 3rd yet?

We are now in the "waiting" process. From the day of "retrieval" they have you wait 14 days till they have you come in for a pregnancy test. From today we have 8 days left. The waiting hasn't been that bad at all because Jared has been home keeping my company. Let me tell you ...I was so happy that Avatar came out this past week. We have watched that movie a couple of times!! Great movie!! We'll see how tomorrow goes when Jared goes back to work. Haha! I have some light shopping to do to keep my mind a little occupied, so cross your fingers I don't freak out!

I just want to say that this whole IVF process has really been a blessing! We've had a couple of hiccups throughout the process, but nothing that has stopped it. I wont go as far and say that I have "loved" the process, but with my job being to focus on this and all of the wonderful support, it has been pretty good. The shots weren't as bad as I thought they would be, the meds didn't tweak me out emotionally (lucky Jared), and the team at Northwest Center for Reproductive Science was AMAZING!!!! Oh, I did get a bunch of hot flashes, but oh well!

Funny, cute little thing...I keep rubbing my tummy talking to my babies!! Telling they to stay in there and how much I love them, and can't wait to meet them! Sounds a little silly...I know, but it is all I can do right now. I want to enjoy this time and not freak out...so for 8 more days (and hopefully 9 more months) I will rub my tummy and talk to my babies as much as I can!!

Baby Embies snuggled nicely in their new home....

04.23

I don't even know how to describe today...eventful. blessed. suspenseful. nerve racking. exciting. important...just to name a few! I couldn't sleep at all last night. I told Jared that I felt exactly the same way the night before we got married! LOL! Well, maybe no exactly, but pretty close. I woke up early and started sewing! An easy distraction to what was ahead.

We arrived to the clinic, so giddy and excited! Both Jared and I couldn't stop smiling! Headed back to get ready for the transfer and to wait for the news of how our embie babies were doing. When the Doc came in and said "I have good news" God's peace enveloped me! It was amazing! As you know, we had four fertilized embryos and out of the four, one of them was great and another of them was perfect! Perfect? We haven't heard the word "perfect" all throughout this process! What a blessing to hear the word "perfect" when referring to one of our embie babies! Doc said that the embryologist rarely gives out perfect scores (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best) and one embie was a 5 and the other one a 4!! YES! YES! YES! Jared and I were beaming!

We decided to transfer the two best embies and hopefully freeze the other two. The other embies are scored at 3 and we are praying that they grow and make it to day five so that we can freeze them so Jared and I can add to our family in a couple of years.

Jared was suited up in scrubs and we headed to the surgical room for the transfer. Right before the transfer they showed us our embie babies on the TV screen and I started to tear up! I couldn't believe that those little circles of bubbles would turn into our children. How awesome is God!! We were able to watch the screen during the transfer, but couldn't really tell what was going on! Haha! It is hard to figure out what is what on an ultrasound.

Transfer went perfect, had to lay flat for 30 minutes, then we headed home. Pretty short and sweet! Instructions for the rest of the weekend is to take it easy! And that is exactly what I am going to do!

Thanks to EVERYONE for your awesome prayers!! We are so blessed! God is so amazingly awesome, He has blessed us more that we every thought imaginable...All the glory goes to Him!!

"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:8


Here is a picture of our two sweet litte perfect embie babies!!

Just Breath....

04.22


It is the night before transfer and I can't even sleep! My mind keeps racing and thinking about those babies in the petri dish. I thank you Father ahead of time for how awesome and perfect those embie babies are.

I didn't feel so well today, but that was due to me being allergic to the antibiotics that they gave me. I was pretty sick all morning and didn't get my check list done. There were so many things that I wanted/needed to do before the transfer, but I know Jared will step in and get all of the house work done. I just wanted to be a sweet little wifey and have it all done so that he can have a fun/chore free weekend. Oh well! I guess he needs to start some time. And now is as good as time as any!

After I started feeling a little better I needed to get our of the house for some fresh air something to do. It being Thursday night...I guess I already had plans...Date night with Mom (Peg)! We always get together on Thursday night because Jared has poker night with his growth group (church group). We usually do dinner and just hang out and talk. It was a very nice distraction, but you know Moms...as giddy and as excited as I was, so for a good amount of the time we talked "babies". I love our time together!

I am very excited for the transfer tomorrow. We have put all and everything in God's hands. And I thank Him so much for the peace that He has put in our lives all throughout this process! It really has been a great experience. And no matter what happens, I know that some day we will have our family...Why? You ask...because God knows our hearts desires and I know that He will ALWAYS take care of us.

Lord...I LOVE YOU!

4 Embie Babies...

04.21

We got the call today!! 4 eggs were mature enough and ALL 4 eggs fertilized! How awesome is that?!?! 100% success rate which is above average for mature eggs getting fertilized. Blessing!!

Jared and I were chatting about everything that happened and we actually realized that we were going to create babies tonight. Not your normal way of course, but in a petri dish. It all makes for a better story! People don't usually know the exact time that they conceive, but with the IVF process we know each and every step. That is so neat to know that we have created 4 embie babies!! Just keep praying that those embie babies grow and divide like they are suppose to. Healthy embies!! So exciting!

I am so thankful because God has giving us an inexpanable amount of peace all thoughout this process. We are so blessed to have so much support from our friends and family! Keep the prayers going!! Now, all I have to do is rest up and get ready for the embryo transfer!!

This isn't our embie baby, but this is exactly what is going on in that petri dish right now. We get to see pictures of our embie babies on friday!! I can't wait to see this first pictures of our new little ones.

Retrieval Day...

04.20

We have passed through another gate on our IVF journey. YES!!

Retrieval is when they go into my ovaries and retrieve the follicles that are in there. The whole procedure isn't so bad. I had to go in a little early and get a DDAVP infusion from the Cascade Cancer Infusion Center due to my Von Willebrand's. The DDAVP medication will help my blood clot during and after the retrieval. Everything went great with the infusion! After, Sarah from NWRS picked me up in a wheelchair and swooped me on over the clinic. Here we go....

The retrieval procedure went great! I was in and out of the surgery room in about 30 min. Of course I don't remember any of it because I was under anesthesia. The nurses and the anesthesiologist said that when I woke up I was talking about sewing curtains and Taco Bell!! HAHAHAHA!! Too funny! I guess we knew what I was dreaming about while I was under! They all said that I was such a delight, full of happiness and chatter! That was really sweet of them to say that.

The nurse said that it was normal to feel pain and have a little spotting, but I wasn't feeling either of those things!! Blessing!! Before we left the clinic we were able to find out how many eggs they were able to retrieve........and that number is.......5 eggs!!!!! WAHOOOO!!!! That is pretty good considering they only had one ovary to work with. Tomorrow they will be able to tell us how many were mature enough and how many fertilized. Cross your fingers!!

Guess where we made a stop before we headed home....TACO BELL!!! Love my husband!!

Trigger Day...

04.18


Trigger day? What's trigger day?

Well, trigger day is the day when all the good stuff starts to happen!! The term "trigger" refers to a hormone injection that basically tells your ovaries to release the follicles. Once the follicles have reached a certain size, or are "mature" enough then it is time for retrieval. The trigger happens 36 hours before scheduled retrieval. So, today being trigger day (Sunday) that puts retrieval day at Tuesday @ 10:30 AM!

SO EXCITED!!! In order for everything to be times perfectly I had to do the trigger injection at 10:30 PM! It was a little nerve racking thinking that this one shot was going to start the "BIG" week, but it was exciting as well. I have a blood draw tomorrow morning to see how the meds are doing in my system.

Week FOUR...

04.11-04.17


WOW! This has been a very busy week! Since I have started the stimulation medication I have been going into the clinic for a blood draw and ultra sound every other day. Traveling back and forth to the clinic has definitely made this week fly by! All of the blood draws have been great! The meds are doing what they are supposed to be doing and my estrogen levels are rising which stimulates the ovaries to produce follicles. So everything is right on track in that department. In the ultrasound department...not so super!

Here is a little back story on why. A couple of years ago I had a 9cm cyst removed from my right ovary. With that large of a cyst they Doc wasn't able to remove all of the tissue, because he was trying to save some of my ovary. Well, the part of the ovary that is still there isn't very viable. In layman’s terms...it isn't going to produce jack crap!! So, when the IVF cycle started we knew that we weren't going to get much from that ovary. My left ovary "the good one" is doing just fine! Producing those follicles!! Go left ovary, GO! I know that we are not going to get the same amount of follicles as the average couple, but then again...are we the average couple...not at all...we have to make it a little exciting for the doctors and nurses!! =)

Excited for the next week!! That's when all of the good stuff happens!!

Be Blessed Everyone!!!

Week THREE...

04.03-04.10


Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend with you loved ones!

I wish I could say that this was a mellow week, but of course with my body you never know what is going to happen. I have a blood disease called Von Willebrand's Disease. Nothing super serious, it just means that my blood doesn't clot very well and that I need help with medication to help it clot. I am so grateful that there is a medication readily available for me to take...a quick fix to this little problem, the only issue is that I have to take it every six hours and it makes me crazy dizzy! That sure doesn't help with the fatigue that I am already experiencing, but what can I do...it is what it is.

We had our suppression check (an appointment where they want to make sure that my ovaries are nice and quiet before they super stimulate them) on Friday and everything is right on tract. The 4cm cyst that they saw during the ultra sound in week one was totally gone!! WaHOOO!!! Thank you Lord!! Now it is time to start the stimulating medication! This step super stimulates the ovaries allowing them to produce as many follicles as they can. Cross your fingers for tons of follicles.

Can I tell you that I love LOVE love my family and friends! Ever since I have been (sort of) out of commission they have really stepped up to help us out where ever we need anything, even if it is just being a sounding board when I am feeling frustrated. I have had very many visitors at the house and it has been nice having company! I had quality time with two of my sisters (in-laws) this week (oh. and the nieces!) Another neat thing to mention this week is that a good friend of mine had a couponista class at her house. Amber from Coupon Connections NW http://www.couponconnectionsnw.com/ came over and taught us how to cut our grocery budget in half with savvy couponing!! Learned a ton!! Now I am ready to be a savvy couponista!!! I know this will put a BIG smile on Jared's face. =) He actually said that it was "cute" how excited I was about couponing!! What ever makes me "cute" and saves us money...I am all game!! LOL!

Well, that is it for week three. Getting ready and rested for week four!!

Week TWO...

03.28-04.03

The injections begin!

With the first injection being on Monday, I was really nervous all weekend long. Finally, on Monday morning, I got the medication ready, poked my belly, injected the meds, and I was done! No biggie at all! What was I even worrying about?!?!?! I guess I am alittle weirded out about having to stick a needle into my tummy every morning. It really helps having Jared by my side telling me that I am brave!! Little does he know, I put on a brave face for him because I don't want him to worry.

That was the first shot! The next couple of shots for the week turned out a little bumpy. The needles hurt going in and the medication burned a little, but we got the job done. I guess it takes a little while getting used to. It is all going to be worth is....so all I can say is "bring it on!!"

One of the many things that I am grateful for is that I have been able to keep my emotions in check. And I know that Jared is thanking Jesus every moment he gets. So glad that I am not wigging out, but it is only week two...lets wait and see what week three and four bring. LOL!

On a little sweet note, my sister took me out on a date this week! Love her! We headed to the movies and watch "The Last Song" Let me tell ya...if you haven't seen this movie, you need to go out and watch it...oh, and don't forget to bring tissue! It is a tear-jerker!!

Week ONE...

0.3.21-03.27

Here we go!!

I can’t believe that we are actually physically starting IVF! AHHHHH!!! So excited! God is so good!! His had is in every part of this and Jared and I are truly blessed.

Nothing too exciting in the first couple of weeks, but awesome none the less. We start birth control pills (BC)first…I know that sounds a little weird…you ask your self “wait, what? they are trying to have a baby, but then why are they starting BC pills?” I thought it was crazy weird too when I first heard. So here is the low down of how this whole IVF thing works…

First step: Suppress ovaries (with BC)
Second step: Super stimulate ovaries (allow the ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible)
Third step: retrieval – they go in and get as many eggs as the ovaries produced
Fourth step: Party in a petri dish!!! (I know that you are all creative enough to figure this one out! HAHA!)
Fifth step: Transfer – they take the viable eggs and try to make a cozy home for them in my uterus.
Sixth step: We wait and wait and wait…for two weeks exactly then we go in for a blood draw to see if the babies stuck..

Whew! I know that is a lot, but I know that it is all going to be worth it! This is a 47 day process from start to finish if everything goes according to plan!

We went in on day 2 for an ultra sound and a blood draw to see where all of my hormone levels are and to take a look at my ovaries. During the ultra sound they found a 4cm cyst in my left ovary!! I could have started to cry right then and there, but didn’t. The doc said that we needed to wait for the labs to come back to see if the cysts us producing hormones. I guess if it was producing hormones then we would have to stop the IVF cycle and take care of the cyst. PRAISE GOD! The cyst wasn’t producing hormones and on we go with our cycle! That mad us very very happy! The rest of the week was pretty lame. Taking the BC pills and being as chill as possible.

Us Time...

Before all of the exciting madness starts Jared and I thought it would be a good idea to take a mini-vacation to Vancouver BC. So, off we went for an extended weekend in March. everything about our trip was perfect, the condo, the city, the sleep, the food, the sites, the aquarium, the park, the Olympic sites, and of course the company…my love!

We didn’t talk about IVF or babies the whole trip and that was refreshing. Actually, I didn’t really even think about what was going to happen in the next month, I just enjoyed the time with my hubby.

One of my favorite stops on our trip was Granville Island! This perfect little treasure is the best farmers market that I have ever been to. The selection on meat, cheese, fruits, chocolate and bread was endless! I could have stayed there the whole time and just ate! We picked up fresh goat cheese and a flakey baguette to enjoy later in the day..YUM! Another favorite of mine is always the aquarium! I love LOVE love the baby beluga whales! They were stinkin’ adorable!

We spent a lot of the time walking all around the city and let me tell you…Vancouver is a beautiful city! There are many different sections of the city that are totally unique, but beautiful and lively in their own way. Vancouver just hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics (We missed it by a week), but a lot of the sites and the cauldron were still up, so it was really neat to be able to experience that.

We had a wonderful time. And now we are energized and ready to recieve God awesome blessings!

 

Early Christmas Gift...a phone call.

We left off with needing to raise the money for INCIID The Heart Foundation. With our awesome and amazing friends we reached out goal in ONE day!!! Wahoooo!! We are truly blessed! A bunch of friends took charge and threw us a fundraiser that was appropriatly named “Buy-a-Baby Bash”. The fundraiser was a  real joy! We were surrounded by everyone who we love and care for and it was exciting to share this very special moment with all of them.

With the money raised all we had to do was wait...and wait...and wait...and the waiting went on for a couple of months. It wasn’t that bad because the holidays were coming up and shopping for Christmas gifts is a good distraction. Finally, like an awesome Christmas gift we got the call letting us know that we got matched up with a clinic in Kirkland, WA. The clinic is 20 min away from our house! Thank you Jesus!! I can’t even begin to tell you what a blessing that is. A BIG THANK YOU to everyone that has helped and supported us in our dream of a family! You are all truly amazing!


The Dodson Project is finally in motion. Get ready world because the Dodson family is going to grow!

The Dodson Project Begins!!

As most of you know Jared and I have been trying for quite some time now to start a family. To put it short, this journey has become long and difficult. We have been actively working on this now for three years. I suffers from a whole mess of stuff along with severe endometriosis which has complicated the process and created road blocks along the way. As a result she has had many surgeries over the past couple of years to keep the condition at bay. Unfortunately, the endometriosis has forced us to remove her tubes thus making it impossible for us to get pregnant naturally. So we are down to one option at this point: IVF.

IVF (invitro-fertilization) is an elective procedure that most of all insurance companies do not cover. The problem is that this procedure is extremely expensive and averages around $14,000 per cycle with no guarantees. It did not take us long to do the math and realize that there is no way we could come close to affording it. This would be something we would have to save a long time for. The problem with waiting for this treatment is that my endometriosis continues to worsen as time goes on. So when we would be financially ready we might not be able to do it anyway.

Despite these challenges, we are not giving up! God knows are hearts and we believe He will bless us with a family. We just need a few more doors to open.

Lately, some of those doors have already begun to swing. We have been selected to work with a non-profit organization that pairs wanting couples with doctors and clinics that donate their services for the purposes of IVF. In order to have the opportunity for a free round of IVF we have to raise money on behalf of the organization to help supplement the costs of such a costly procedure. So we can see a potential finish line. There is just one more door to push through. We need to raise $4,000 and awareness for INCIID and the “From INCIID the Heart Scholarship.” This is another step closer to our family.

If any one you know is struggling with starting a family and it seems that IVF is the next step, please direct them to this website: http://www.inciid.org/faq.php?cat=infertility101&id=22#239