It’s Time

I owe you an apology. I posted about the beginning of our IVF journey and then I fell silent. So I’m sorry, but let me explain.

That day I took the picture of those meds, was one of the last times I felt okay. The shots, the IVF, the entire thing was pretty rough on my body. And somewhere in the middle (and now I’ll never know quite when) I seem to have gotten genuinely sick on top of it. I didn’t realize though. And then we went through the egg retrieval and I had complications with my recovery. And even as those finally started to resolve, I still felt worse and worse. Until finally I figured it out and went to a doctor. I had a rockin’ upper respiratory infection on top of everything.

So the bottom line is I’m feeling a lot better. The recovery from the retrieval is getting tons better now. And the upper respiratory infection is being treated which is making me feel better every day. I am coming out the other side now. And just in time.

Tomorrow is our embryo transfer. Tomorrow is the day that the job is no longer on my little embryos and comes back to my body. My body needs to finish the job now, and all we can do is pray that I can close the loop.

Now, after all of that, here’s is the breakdown of how IVF has played out for us so far:

  • At our egg retrieval, they got 18 eggs.
  • Of those eggs, 14 were mature.
  • Of those mature eggs, 12 fertilized successfully via ICSI

And, of my 12 champion little embryos:

  • 3 are abnormal and have stopped growing
  • 4 are doing okay
  • 5 are excellent

My little embryos have done a great job. We will get another report in the  morning before our transfer and will make the final call then on how many they transfer back to me based on that report. And then on Monday we will get a report on how many, if any, were frozen.

So that’s the story of my IVF so far. It’s not the best story, but hopefully it’ll have a happy ending!

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Loxed and Loaded: All the small things

Like many a bride before me and since, I was all about the details on our day. And while you’ve been seeing them as we went along, I know one of the things I’ve always loved most are the posts full of the lovely details that made someone’s day special. So all through my planning, I’ve been looking forward to writing this for you.

I was very lucky that our photographer understood how important these details were for me and took extra time to make sure they were captured forever. For me, and for you. So, without further ado, my muchly awaited (even if only by me!) details:

I love a gorgeous hanger shot, but didn’t want my name on mine. So instead, I had this.

Forever hanger

One of my favorite details of the entire day was my flowers. Oh how I loved those gorgeous flowers. I never get tired of seeing them.

FlowersI had envisioned this sweet background to our ceremony of vellum hearts, hanging at varying lengths behind us as we got married. However, due to the weather forecast that weekend (humidity!) the vellum didn’t hold up as intended. Instead, it looked like a soft romantic cascade of petals behind us.

Ceremony backdropAn important part of our ceremony was our toast and drinking of the wine, and also a wine box and love letters ceremony. The details for each along with our rings were waiting patiently on a table in our ceremony space.

Ceremony tableAnd this is a great shot of our ceremony space. You can see the tissue paper flowers on the ceiling, the tissue paper and small round pomanders, and the flower petals down the aisle.

Ceremony decorationsAnd because I loved them so much, here is a good close up of the tiny little paper lanterns that were strung up around the pavilion like garland.

Paper lantern garlandOn the way into the ceremony, guests were asked to take a stone with them.

Take a stoneAnd on the way out of the ceremony, the guests wrote something on their stone and left them for us to keep forever.

Finished stones

We also made sure our guests were hydrated during the ceremony by having bottled water available for them.

Customized water bottles

At cocktail hour, there was our escort card table. Also on the table were our guestbook papers and some of our engagement pictures.

Escort card table

I was especially proud of the last minute escort cards we devised and the set up I threw together for them.

Escort cards

Also at cocktail hour were… well, cocktails. Okay, beer and wine actually, but cocktails was more catchy. At the last minute, I wrote up a sign for the bar so folks would know what their options were.

Bar and bar signI loved the way our reception tables turned out. Here you can see our centerpieces and photo sharing cards. We also supplied the napkins.

Reception tablescapeHere’s a closer view of the centerpieces from the front.

Centerpieces - FrontAnd the centerpieces from the back, with the photo scavenger hunt card.

Centerpieces - BackOur cake table may not have been super elaborate, but I really loved our cake.

Cake tableAnd who could ever forget how much I loved that cake topper.

Cake topper - Front

Cake topper - BackOur fauxtobooth props definitely felt the love throughout the afternoon.

Fauxtobooth propsSome of them even might have escaped and romped around outside of our fauxtobooth too…

Senor duck umbrellaAnd finally, our ribbon wands, waiting for their big moment.

Ribbon wands

All signs designed by Gator Bride Designs. All photographs courtesy of Chad Lippiatt Photo.

What is/was your favorite wedding day detail?

 

Miss a recap?

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Preparing

Today I stopped by our friendly local FedEx facility and picked up an eleven pound box of IVF medication. As I was unpacking it onto the kitchen counter, all I could do was stare at it and shake my head. All of this medication, and I still may not have everything I need to get through this one cycle. If that’s not terrifying, then you clearly are not properly imagining the oodles of medication I received. Let me help you with that.

IVF Medication

 

Admit it, now you’re terrified. At least, I know I am. Injections start Saturday!

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