Follicle-stimulating hormone

Great news today. The terrible traffic today helped make any news feel like good news. But this were actually good news.

We woke up at 4:00 am, it was still dark and cold outside. It was too early in the morning for us. We picked up Chuy Ayala, a friend, since he needed transportation, and it was on our way to Austin, TX. We had to be at the laboratory, near downtown Austin, by 7:00 am. We left Waco, TX, around 5:15 am and arrived to the laboratory by 7:08 am. We thought we would be the only ones there, but there were already 8 other people. The idea of coming early was because Dr. Natalie Burger wanted to see us at 11:30 am, and leave early for thanksgiving break. We were a little nervous about that.

The nurse at the laboratory was an expert; she found the vein quickly and extracted three blood samples (tubes) really fast. They ordered the tests to be done as soon as possible.

Between the laboratory and the appointment, we were killing time in Austin, trying to find a McDonalds so that we could get free WiFi and find a route to a "GoodWill" store (they sell second hand items) and look around. It came the time of our appointment, and we went to the fertility clinic.

The nurse introduced herself to us (for the third time) and then she checked Nancy's vitals and weight. And even when Pablo is convinced that Nancy looks very sexy, the weight scale somehow makes Nancy think that she looks big and fat. But she is not. We waited a few minutes; and Dr. Burger came into the room announcing that Nancy's vitals were perfect, and that she would do two things: 1) measure the size of the follicles, which contain the oocytes (eggs); and 2) measure the size of Nancy's uterus.

Dr. Burger performed a sonogram to measure the follicles; she found at least 12 follicles of good sized. Good job Nancy! The Lupron that Nancy has been injecting in her belly has been working, otherwise, those follicles would have been released and that would be very bad.

Then Dr. Burger took a catheter and measured Nancy's uterus, in the old fashioned way. Nancy held on and suffered through it, and the results were good. The size was normal and they will use those measurements during the oocyte extraction process.

Overall, great news. Dr. Burger, shown in picture, approved the next step, which is injecting (another) medication in Nancy's belly. The injection is a follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) that essentially will help the follicles to mature and produce great oocytes, in other words, it will induce ovulation; however, combined with Lupron, those oocytes are not released. They first will grow healthy, and have to remain there for a while, and later, they will be extracted for fertilization purposes.

Nancy will be injecting herself twice a day. One with Lupron (morning) and the other with the FSH (evening). This new hormone may cause:

• Hives.
• Bloating.
• Pain, swelling or irritation at the injection site.
• Rash at the injection site or on your body.
• Stomach or pelvic pain.
• Coughing.
• Headache.
• Mild nausea.
• Sneezing.
• Sore throat.
• Stuffy or runny nose.

Please pray for Nancy so that she does not experience any of this side effects. It is enough having to inject yourself twice a day in your belly. Seriously, it is not pleasant. But at least they gave her a very nice little thermal bag for the medicine, which needs to be refrigerated; and they also gave her a journal, see picture.

In this visit:

• Sonogram + 15 min consultation with Dr. Burger (not covered by insurance): $279.00 dollars.
• Deposit to Texas Fertility Center (TFC) for oocyte retrieval (not covered by insurance): $1,339.00 dollars.
• Deposit to TFC for embryo transfer (not covered by insurance): $536.00
• Deposit to Austin IVF for insemination (after a discount of $1,075.00): $175.00

Total: $2,329.00

Thank you all for your support in prayer and financially. We really need your help! If you would like to support us click here to donate. Thank you, you are amazing.

Peace,

Pablo and Nancy.

P.S. Check our new videos:
Click here for video in Spanish.
Click here for video in English.

Who is the new girl?... This is how we met

It was a cold Wednesday in January of 2001.

Nancy was visiting her brother Hector who had recently moved there. He invited her to come and stay with them during that cold winter, and visit the family. Nancy suffered from the cold, she is not used to that kind of weather.

They all went to church to the prayer service. Those days Pablo was in the worship team playing electric guitar and when Nancy came in, he was perplex: "who is the new girl?" - he asked.

After the service he came to talk to Nancy and ask her about her age (bad tactic!). Still they started a friendship that later on, four years after, would end up in a marriage.

That's the short story of how we met. And 13 years after we met, now we are trying to have a baby, if you want to support us, please click here.

Peace,

Nancy and Pablo

Finished course with birth-control pills

Last pill! (for now)...

We are very happy because the treatment with birth-control pills is finished. Today we took our last pill. Of course this is not over yet, there are still other things going on. We are still on Lupron injections for another two weeks and days. But what we wanted is to take a moment and celebrate our small victories.

Also, in case you are wondering, they asked us to take birth-control pills for two main reasons. First of all, taking birth control pills prior to an IVF stimulation cycle may help the ovaries to respond better to the IVF medication. Secondly, taking birth control pills allows flexibility in coordinating your cycle, so that procedures can be planned around your work schedule, trips, and when all the necessary professionals are available. Especially now with Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Please keep supporting us by giving, or by praying for us.

Peace,

Nancy and Pablo

You just have to relax... You just have to stop 'trying'...

Here is some humor about things you should and should not say to couples struggling with infertility.

What you may not want to say to your infertile friends:

• "You just have to relax..." 
• "You just have to stop 'trying'..."

Relaxation is a great thing and a commendable practice that all human beings should practice. If you are a Christian, you should know that relaxation is biblical.

Anyway, here is the logic behind the 'relaxation' reasoning: some problems in the body are a consequence of mental illness, such as depression and such. Therefore, if you treat the mind, the body will heal automatically. Remember the refrain "a sound mind in a sound body". But here is the problem... infertility is a diagnosable medical problem that must be treated by a doctor. It is not caused by stress. Please try not to ask people to relax in order to become pregnant.

Think about this: your car does not start, even though you have the key in, and you are following correctly the ignition procedure. Yet your car does not start. Just try to tell your car, "dear car, you have to stop trying", "you just have to relax". You do that and let me know if the car starts. Usually, you will try several times until you are tired of trying, and only then you will call someone for help; someone who know how to fix the car and that can really help you. I know, this is horrible example, but it is a good analogy.

Now, before you start arguing against this, let us acknowledge that there are stories, and it is likely that you know, about couples that, for a few months, tried to get pregnant, and then they just relaxed and became pregnant. Yes, we acknowledge those cases, and cherish those moments, when a child is born; it must be an awesome experience. However, people who relaxed and became pregnant were likely not infertile to begin with. So, if you know those stories, you need to know that they were likely not infertile; they probably had other issues, but not infertility. We say this with all respect, again, admiring and cherishing the moment when those who relaxed became pregnant.

This is what you could say to your infertile friends:

• "Infertility must be stressful. Would you like to go watch a movie one of these days? It may not alleviate the stress, but we can have a few minutes of distraction." 
• "You are my friends. No matter what happens, I love the two of you." 
• "I have no idea how you feel. Please let me know if there is any way I can support you."

Remember, we know you are our friend, and we know that you love us. So whatever you say, even when it hurts us, we know that you do it with the best intention. But remember the three things in the list above, and if this is how you feel inside, say it. We only want to know that, because our infertility, we are not failing you or all society for that matter. We want to know that you still consider us friends even if we never have children.

One last thing: try not to give us any advise. In all honesty, infertile couples, like us, have tried all sorts of things, things beyond imagination: from relaxation, cold/hot showers, to jumping up and down giving seven turns around and standing head-down. We love you, but try not to give advise, unless we ask you for it.

Simply give us a sincere hug; and we will know that you really care.

-OR- you could also donate to them if they are raising funds for an IVF cycle, just like us.

Peace,
Nancy and Pablo

Nancy is on temporary menopause

At 5am of this Sunday, we initiated a treatment with Lupron. This medication practically induces menopause on women. This is essentially used to prevent ovulation by preventing the production of a hormone that releases the eggs. This seems fine except these are injections! We are not sure there is a person in the planet that likes injections, they are not fun. Anyway, we will be waking up early in the morning, at 5am, in order to have this medication injected. If you are curious, these are the side effects:

Mild burning/pain/bruising at the injection site, hot flashes (flushing), increased sweating, night sweats, tiredness, headache, upset stomach, breast changes, acne, joint/muscle aches, trouble sleeping, reduced sexual interest, vaginal discomfort/dryness, vaginal bleeding, swelling of the ankles/feet, increased urination at night, or dizziness.

So, pray for us. Pray for Nancy because we do not want her to experience any of those side effects. And pray for Pablo because he needs to take good care of Nancy during this difficult time. Thank you for your prayers!

Also, many thanks to those who have supported us financially this past week:

Dr. Gloer with $50
Ulises Flores with $7

If you want to support us too, click here.  Thank you!

Nancy and Pablo

Excited about taking medications

There is something about taking fertility drugs that feels right. First, there is the sense that we are actually doing something, our part, in the process of conception. It ultimately does not depend on us, but it starts with our willingness to take the risks associated with medication. Second, we know that this kind of medication is really not something that we will take forever. This type of medication is for a certain period of time, a few weeks, not longer than a month. We have been there before, taking pills for months, years, seriously! It is not pleasant. But knowing that this will be something short term is also something to consider as positive.

Please pray for us as we start with all the treatment. We appreciate your support so far.

Doctor visit, including ultrasound: $200 dollars.
Medication: $204.41 dollars (with insurance, with cupons, and with discount).
Total: $404.41 dollars.

Peace,

Nancy and Pablo

Fundraising started during the weekend

We are not so sure that the fundraising was a good idea. It's been a few days and I am the only one who has donated so far. And possibly my pastor, but I can't be sure because the donation was sent anonymously.
We have a few friends who are helping us with the whole fundraising thing: Caroline, Sarah, and Seth (see picture). Our friend Caroline decided to be one to help us kick off the campaign while Sarah, and Seth will be helping us more during the longer process. They are in a very small group of people we call our best friends and we are glad that we are not alone in all this.
They always have our backs, even if sometimes we want to be alone. You know that is a strange thing, sometimes we push our friends away to be alone. Somehow the thought of us being there for each other is all we need and all we want. I don't know why; I don't understand why. Maybe it is the introvert personality in both of us. Maybe it is because we don't want to drag other people down with all our suffering. Or maybe we want to love each other more intimately during our difficult times, I don't know. But whatever the reason is, we are thankful for having friends like them. They are a blessing from God. They don't care if we are weird, and they respect and support us when we disconnect from them to be alone for the two of us.
That's why I say we are not so sure about the fundraising thing. Not because there seems to be little or no progress. But because the mere thought of being out in the open sharing our journey, our suffering, and also our deliverance from it, feels as if we may drag other people down with us. But whoever you are, dear reader, be sure that we will be honest with you in our journey, no matter how things turn out to be, pretty or ugly, because God has been with us, is with us, and will be with us no matter what.

Peace,
Nancy and Pablo