Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad.

We know you have been praying for us in recent days, we appreciate it. We are finding peace in the midst of our suffering. And we are finding joy in the times of difficulty. 

We have a family that loves us.

We have friends that still love us.

We have God who loved us when we did not deserve it. 

For all that, we are grateful. 

We wish you a merry Christmas. And please, this time of Christmas, take a moment to:

• remember who is the birthday boy: Jesus;
• give thanks; if you have children, give thanks, others are not as lucky as you;
• pray for us; this Monday/29, we have a follow up appointment: it could be our last one;
• pray for us; we want to hear God's plan for us; we want to hear God's voice.

Thank you for your support. This month of December, we have received the support of Family in Mexico: Ezequiel, Julisa, Librada, Martha, Pedro, Pilar, Porfirio, and Zheila. And also, from our good friends in the US:  Ana, Johanna, Josue, Mauricio, Nicholas, Poornima, Sarah, and Seth.

Thank you for your generosity. Your gift makes us feel loved and supported.

Feliz Navidad
Pablo and Nancy

No joy

It is with profound sadness we have to announce that we no longer have living embryos.

On Friday, December 12, the day after Nancy's surgery, the embryologist called to inform us about the progress of our embryos. She said that out of the 10 oocytes only four were inseminated. However, only 3 of those were mature enough to go through the process. The embryologist said she would be monitoring the progress of the eggs and she would call us again on Sunday. Nancy and I were devastated by the news. We thought everything was perfect. There was no evidence that the eggs would not be mature enough. We thought that God was with us. Why did God allow this to happen? Why only three eggs? We spent several hours thinking about it, trying to understand. But that day we remembered that prior to starting the in-vitro fertilization study we thought it would be a good idea to have three embryos transferred into Nancy. Perhaps God hear us, and God is giving us three embryos after all. We still had hope.

On Sunday, December 14, we went to church. There was a church-wide breakfast, very exciting day. Pablo went for the rehearsal with the worship team, they were preparing for an acoustic christmas church service. Nancy went to the breakfast with the entire church and was helping serve. After that, the service started. We knew they could call us during the service; but, is there a better place to receive good news than the church? We could praise God for the good news right here in church. So, Pablo was worshipping with the guitar, Nancy was singing. We were singing "The first noel", a christmas song about how angels communicated the news about a child who was born. How ironic, because at that moment the doctor called with news indicating almost the opposite. Nancy stepped out of the sanctuary to answer the phone. The doctor said that out of our three embryos, only one was still growing. The cells on two of our embryos simply stopped reproducing. There was only one that was showing progress. Only one. The doctor said they would wait until day five (Tuesday) to see how our last embryo was growing and hopefully they could freeze it. It was terrible news for us. Only one embryo survived. And you know what is more ironic? The fact that Pablo had to preach about joy that very same morning. Joy. It was really hard for us to have joy on that day. Yet we prayed, we hoped, we trusted in God.

On Tuesday, December 16, Pablo was at work with a student when the embryologist called. She said that our embryo was not ready for cryopreservation (freezing). It seems that although the embryo grew, it was not as expected, it was not sufficient. The embryologist wanted to keep it under observation one more day, and hopefully the next day it would be ready for cryopreservation. Pablo went home and told Nancy the news. It was not all bad news, there was still hope. We decided to trust in God. We gave God our hope of having a baby.

Today, Wednesday, December 17, it was a cloudy day, a day with rain. It was one of those days that invite you to stay in bed for a little bit more. Pablo woke up and did exercise. We had breakfast together, and then Nancy did some exercise as well. While Nancy was doing exercise, Pablo received a call from the embryologist. She said that our last embryo stopped growing. It is no longer alive. She said "I am sorry. Have a good day". Pablo stayed in shock for a few seconds while his eyes became full of tears. Nancy said "who is it? what happened?" Pablo shared the news. We hugged. We kissed. We hugged each other some more. Today is the day we celebrate Pablo's mother birthday, and it is also the day when our embryo died. This evening we went to a christmas party for the community; we went there to bring a moment of happiness to children and parents; but when will it be our turn?

We wonder what is going to happen in our future. What does all this mean? Are we done? Why would God allow this? What about all this money that we owe? What are we going to say to our donors? Do our friends still love us?

Please pray for us.

Peace,

Pablo and Nancy

Surgery for extraction

Two days ago we received the bad news about an increase in progesterone that would postpone the implantation (transfer) of embryos. It was a little bit disappointing, we thought we would be pregnant very soon. But we decided to trust God in spite of this minor setback.

We were in the car by 4am, the sun was not up yet. We drove in the night and we arrive in the night. We were excited to be there and a little bit nervous.

The nurse called us into a room and asked Nancy to put on a robe. They brought several pages for us to sign; waivers, consent forms, instructions post-surgery, and so on.

They connected Nancy to a serum bag and measured her vital signs. We were both praying for everything to go well.

After a few minutes the embryologist came and introduced herself; she told us that she would be analyzing the oocytes and the sperm and performing the insemination. She was a red-headed young woman and sounded smart.

A few minutes later the anesthesiologist came and introduced himself; he looked kind of creepy. He was an old bald man with huge glasses. Pablo asked him, when would be a good moment to record Nancy being under anesthesia, but he did not think it was funny and left.

Later Dr. Burger came to the room and explained to us that she would be performing the extraction of oocytes and also about the problem with the progesterone. The life of the embryos would not be in line with the optimal conditions of the uterus and the chances of a successful pregnancy would be greatly reduced. She told us to postpone the implantation procedure. We think is a good idea as well, as long as it increases the chances of pregnancy, we should postpone.

Finally, when Dr. Burger left the room, in a matter of minutes they came to take Nancy to the operating room. At this moment Pablo was very nervous. He became instantly worried and anxious. He started to post on the Facebook page to ask for prayers.

Post by Baby.

The embryologist came into the room and told Pablo it was his time. They took Pablo to a room and gave him a cup. After Pablo deposited his sample, he returned to the room and Nancy was already back there. Nancy was something between asleep and awake. She was speaking and acting strange, repeating the same things over and over. She kept saying "it was fast, right?". Pablo took a video of Nancy at this point, but we don't think the world is ready to see it. If you want to watch it, you can ask Nancy.

The nurses kept checking Nancy's vital signs, and after an hour of monitoring her they authorized her release. The embryologist came for a last time to inform us that they collected 10 oocytes and the sperm looked great. She said that they would call us the next day, on Friday, to tell us more details about the process.

At that moment we went back to Waco. Nancy did not want to eat, the anesthesia caused some nausea.

The rest of the day we stayed home. Pablo was watching the status of Nancy, who experienced some pain, and gave her a Tylenol.

The day ended, we were tired, and anxious about that phone call with an update from the embryologist. We prayed strongly for our future baby. Please God be with us. If you want to help us pray, please do.

Thank you for all your support. Thank you for prayers. Thank you for being good friends to us.

Peace,

Pablo and Nancy.

Progesterone elevated - the phone call

Today, now that our surgery has been scheduled, Pablo went to seminary and made arrangements to miss class due to the surgery on Thursday. After that he went to the Department of Computer Science to pick up the final exam from his students and post the grades on-line. By the end of the day, Pablo went to the parking lot to get the car and pick up Nancy for her class in seminary.

When Pablo tried to start the vehicle, there was a problem, the electric system was completely dead. The car would not even attempt to show signs of life. It was past 5pm and most of the faculty was already out. Pablo asked a couple of faculty members for help, but they did not help, they had other more important things to do or places where to be. Pablo lost hope for a little bit, until Dr. Greg Hamerly showed up, almost by miracle. Pablo is sure that he Dr. Hamerly had other more important things to do, yet, he was willing to take Pablo back home.

Pablo called Nancy on the way home, sharing with her the problem with the car. Nancy had to wait for Pablo for a few extra minutes. Hopefully they will be on-time for seminary class. It was the last day of classes in seminary and Nancy had prepared delicious tamales. She will bring them for all to eat afterwards, celebrating the end of the semester.

Once Pablo got into a car to pick up Nancy, while he was driving, he received an urgent call from the doctor's office. They said two important things:

1. Nancy should take one last injection specifically at 8pm. The injection is called Ovidrel, and it is shown in the picture. This injection is essentially the hormone called "Human chorionic gonadotropin" (HSG), which has been neutralized by the other injections controlling Nancy's cycle. This injection will begin the process of ovulation, which prepares the follicles for extraction on Thursday. The nurse gave Pablo instructions for Nancy to be fasting and ready at the surgery center by 6:45am.
2. The nurse also said something we did not know. She said, the implantation of the embryos had to be postponed most likely due to an increased level of progesterone in Nancy. The laboratory results of that morning revealed that Nancy had a progesterone level of 2.1 and ideally it should remain 1.5 until the transference of embryos. Apparently, this increase of progesterone levels indicates that the uterus is ready to host the embryos. The endometrial cavity is mature. However, this happened too soon. It should happen until the embryos were transferred, otherwise, the uterus would be old and the embryos would not survive in the uterus. The nurse said, we will probably have to freeze the embryos once they were ready and schedule the transference of embryos until later, probably next month. 

This news were shocking for Pablo. He did not know how to tell Nancy about this, especially because they were going to a party for the end of the semester. So, Pablo told Nancy on the way home, when they were going home for the tamales. 

We asked ourselves questions about the causes. Why would this happen to us? Was it because we were stressed? Was it because something we ate? What was it? Where is God in this? Did God abandon us all of the sudden?

We agreed to focus on one thing at a time. The most important thing was to focus in the extraction surgery. And later we will worry about scheduling the implantation or transference of embryos. We have waited for seven years; we can wait one more month if necessary.

Pray for us. We don't know what is going to happen. 

Peace,

Pablo and Nancy

Doctor said we are ready for surgery

God we are so tired. We are exhausted. This week has been really hard driving back and forth from Waco to Austin and from Austin to Waco. Sometimes in the rain. Sometimes is still dark. Sometimes with heavy traffic. Sometimes with sleep depravation due to school assignments and work. Nancy's arms and belly have bruises due to many blood samples and many injections. We pray to God and ask for all this to end soon. Hopefully today will be the last day, we need a little break.

We woke up early that day in Waco, TX. The day was strange, the morning was dark and foggy. The fog covered us all the way up to Austin, TX. It was like a horror movie. 

We arrived at the Doctor's clinic and she performed the sonogram. The ultrasound examination revealed good news. It was what we were waiting for. We had good-size follicles. There were a few with size 21mm or more. Others were 19mm, 18mm, and 17mm. The doctor needed at least one follicle of size 20mm or greater to schedule the process of extraction. And she did. Dr. Burger scheduled the extraction this next Thursday. 

This means that we do not have to have any more injections or blood samples taken for a few days. Except for today, of course. But we want to celebrate our small victories. We are glad that the extraction surgery has been finally scheduled and that we are moving forward. It is a good feeling. God is with us.

So after consulting with the doctor we went to the laboratory to have Nancy's last blood samples taken out.

In the laboratory, there were so many people. We have never seen that before. There were about 20 people waiting, there was no chairs available when we checked in. People at the front desk were so rude with Pablo, since there was no place to sit, Pablo was standing by the front dest, but they asked him to move away. Pablo was angry. Finally, there was a seat for Nancy and she sat there for a very long time.


Finally they called Nancy and the nurse inserted the needle on Nancy's right arm. Nancy had bruises because of so many needles. And this time, not a single drop of blood came out of her arm. Pablo felt really bad about this. The nurse had to try the left arm, which is also bruised, in order to finally get some blood out. Nancy is really brave. They put needles in her two already bruised arms today.

After this, we returned to Waco. We still had to make arrangements for our surgery on Thursday. We had to pre-pay the anesthesiologist, because otherwise, they will charge a higher fee for the services. And also, Pablo had to tell his preaching professor, Dr. Joel C. Gregory, to allow him to be absent on Thursday's preaching class. So, Pablo went to seminary, that day it was the turn for Stephen Ballard, Shawn Boyd, and Sean DelBeccaro to preach their sermons on Jesus' life. They all did an awesome job, seriously remarkable. At the end of class Pablo spoke with Dr. Gregory and he was very understanding about Nancy's surgery and allowed Pablo to be absent.

So, everything is ready for surgery on Thursday. We are excited and nervous. But we know god is with us, what or whom shall we fear?

In this visit we spent on:

• Sonogram + 15 min consultation with Dr. Burger (not covered by insurance): $200.00 dollars.
• Anesthesiologist pre-payment for follicle-extraction surgery (not covered by insurance): $400.00 dollars.

Total: $600.00 dollars.

Thank you for all your support. Thank you for prayers. Thank you for being good friends.

Peace,

Pablo and Nancy

Are no good news, bad news?

Things did not go exactly as expected today. We got up early and we drove to Austin for laboratory tests on Nancy's blood. Traffic was really bad near Austin. We witnessed a car wreck very close to us. But we made it on time to the laboratory in spite of that.

When Pablo was with the laboratory nurse providing patient's (Nancy's) data, we had a little problem. We could not find Nancy's drivers license and we realized that we have lost it. But Nancy remembered that last Saturday, when we went to a different laboratory, they asked her for her identification. But Nancy does not recall if they returned to her her drivers license. Pablo called the laboratory at the hospital and confirmed that they actually had Nancy's drivers license. It was a great relief.

When we went to pick up Nancy's drivers license we noticed that they had just put up christmas decorations in the Saint Davis Hospital, and we took a picture. Nancy looks very pretty. 

Then, we went to the clinic. After waiting, we went to examination room #6, and Dr. Burger performed an ultrasound. What we found was not what we expected. We wanted to have size 20mm follicles, but since Saturday, the follicles grew from 17.5 to 19.5mm. And the doctor wants to wait one more day and let the follicles grew a little more. So Dr. Burger wants to see us tomorrow to confirm the growth of the follicles and possibly schedule the extraction surgery for Thursday.

So, this is not exactly good news. But it does not mean anything bad either. It is just a matter of waiting 24hrs. The problem is that we were already considering the possibility of having the surgery on Wednesday. It was perfect that day. Especially because Pablo has to give a final exam to his students in computer science class, and also take a final theology exam in seminary, all on Thursday. 

This was one of those days when we needed God the most. We were really anxious and worried about everything. But God was with us. Pablo spoke with his TA and she can give the final exam to the computer science students. Furthermore, Pablo spoke with Dr. Kimlyn J. Bender, his professor of theology and a Karl Barth scholar, and he was very gracious and understanding and is going to let Pablo take the final test one day early. So, in a matter of hours, everything was arranged so that we can be together in our surgery. Now it is just a matter of studying hard and dedicate ourselves. But our desire for a child is so great that we will do whatever it is in our hands to do. The rest we leave to God, who has been faithful to us.

In this visit we spent on:

• Sonogram + 15 min consultation with Dr. Burger (not covered by insurance): $200.00 dollars.

Total: $200.00 dollars.

Thank you for all your support. Thank you for prayers. Thank you for being good friends to us.

Peace,

Pablo and Nancy

We have a 17.5!

Saturday, November 6, 2014.

We had an unusual appointment on Saturday at the Texas Fertility Center (TFC) in Austin, Texas. It was unusual because, first, it was on a Saturday; second, it wasn't super early in the morning; third, the site of the blood test was in a hospital rather than a laboratory; fourth, everyone at the TFC was wearing regular clothes, they all looked like regular people. Our doctor was wearing jeans and the nurse was in sweat pants. 

Pablo was a little worried about this appointment. He was nervous and did not speak much on the way to Austin. But Nancy found a way to make him feel less nervous. When we were inside of examination room, Pablo noticed that they changed the socks of the examination table. It was good news already. 

The doctor came in for the sonogram and measured Nancy's follicles. Dr. Propst found some big follicles, the biggest was 17.5, and others were 15, 14, 13, 12, and 11. Optimally we want them to be size 20 at the time of extraction. So, at this point, all is good news. This is a normal progress, apparently, and we are coming back on Monday. They said that if everything was well on Monday, we could even have an extraction on Wednesday. 

We are very excited.

At the end, Pablo and Nancy "enjoyed" some salad and water as a reward for Nancy. She is doing great, even when they bruise her arm with so many needles. 

In this visit we spent on:

• Sonogram + 15 min consultation with Dr. Propst (not covered by insurance, and charged as "outside business hours"): $240.00 dollars.

Total: $240.00 dollars.

Thank you for all your support. Thank you for prayers. Thank you for loving us.

Peace,

Pablo and Nancy