A lot of people have requested that we keep them updated on our IVF journey so I thought this would be the perfect place to do it. That way we can keep in touch with all of you incredible people that wanted updates and hopefully raise awareness as Sara and Big Mama at B103.9 have been doing! It has been quite an eventful time in the Rivera household! There has been so much going on in the last week or so. Apologies for the novel sized update! Anthony is officially done with chemo and home recovering like a champ! ???? March 8th he will have scans done to be sure no surgeries are necessary. We are praying nonstop that nothing else is needed but in the meantime we will enjoy the fact he’s finally free from that unbearable chemo regimen. ???????? We have been seeing Dr. Alford, discussing the process and our IVF options over the last couple weeks. Due to my good health I am at high risk for OHSS which is ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome. Basically the medications and procedures they would have to put me through to perform IVF could potentially overload my already normally functioning ovaries. Due to this, we have to complete a frozen embryo transfer at least two months after eggs retrieval to give my ovaries a break from the craziness. OHSS does not sound pleasant so I am thankful to Dr. Alford for being on top of things and making sure we do everything we can to avoid it. We are disappointed about having to wait to transfer, but it is what is best for my health and the health of our baby. I started some medications and I start stimulation shots on February 3rd! I learned how to give myself the shots and while practicing changing the needle on the pen I stabbed my thumb. ???????? My amazingly sweet nurse said plenty of people do it, but I’m certain she was just being nice. These shots are going to be quite the adventure! In the middle of working out all of the IVF details I found out that I am a Golden Apple finalist. ???? ???? It is sort of like teacher of the year in our district. My inspiring CF warrior of a friend, Alex Catherine is a finalist too and I am so excited for her!!!! It is a pretty intense selection process of surprise observations for a period of 6 weeks and IVFMD has been so incredibly supportive. They are making sure to get me in to all of my blood work and ultrasound appointments bright and early so I don’t miss any observation times and they have been so genuinely excited for me. They make my heart melt! I have never met a more caring and competent medical staff. My egg retrieval is set for the week of February 12th so we will know how many embryos we have to freeze fairly soon! We are so excited about all of the blessings we have ahead of us. Thank you again to everyone for all of your love and support! ???? ????