Curlee Cues

 Wednesday, May 19 Surgery Day 6:00 AM Ben and I left the house heading to Birmingham. We were supposed to be there by 8:30 AM for check-in and pre-op procedures. We got there a half hour early and got called back shortly after. The nurse got me settled and as comfortable as one can be in those awful gowns and socks. After about an hour in holding, the nurses came back to start my IV and discuss my medical history.  If you want to see the bruise from said IV, be warned. It's pretty wicked.  Finally, around 11:30 AM, they came to roll me to the OR, and of course, I don't remember much after that until I woke up in recovery. When I got back to the room, Ben was waiting to tell me what Dr. Bouknight had told him. The polyps were smaller and there were fewer than before. She remains optimistic for our retrieval cycle and will continue to monitor for a potential transfer, whether fresh or frozen.  Thursday, May 20 Post-Op Day 1 The day after my surgery I was back at work....

Today, we went for our final consult before officially beginning our IVF cycle. After bloodwork, a trial transfer, and a water ultrasound, we learned that my polyps have grown back. Dr. Bouknight wants to remove these again before proceeding with a transfer.  This obviously isn't the news we were hoping to hear. It has been almost a year since my first hysteroscopy, and they've already grown back. Will I have to have this surgery before each transfer in the future? These polyps seem to be recurring, which is what our doctor said last year. Some women are just "prone to polyps." That familiar, sinking disappointment met us in the ultrasound room like an old acquaintance who always shows up at the wrong time.  Once again I'm left questioning – "well, why me?" But I can't live there. God has us in this time and these circumstances for a reason. I know He is teaching me to fully rely on Him for my joy and peace. We are going ahead with the procedure on W...

  There hasn’t been much development over here, but we just wanted to give a little update. We are officially on the schedule for a June IVF treatment. I have spoken with the IVF nurse, Michelle, several times over the past few weeks to get our final consult on the books and meds ordered. I will be getting a calendar in the next week or so.  Side note : I appreciate that I’m able to talk to the same nurse every time. She is very nice and helpful! We have an appointment scheduled for May 17th. That is when we will proceed with payment and sign paperwork. She also wanted to go ahead with bloodwork and a water ultrasound.   Now, just a little background, we started the process of IVF at the end of July last year. When we got to this point, Dr. Bouknight discovered that I had several polyps in my uterus and recommended laparoscopic surgery to remove them. We did that in August of 2020, and she removed 8 polyps. We were hoping that would solve our infertility issues, but ours,...

Wait. You would think we’d be used to hearing it by now.   We spoke with the IVF nurse on Thursday and got the word that we are first on the waiting list for the May cycle. Unless someone drops off in May, we will begin IVF in June. The schedule they gave us at our first consult has the June cycle stimulation meds starting around June 4 and retrieval the week of June 14-18. We are eager to begin! We will know more specifics in the next few weeks when we are able to go for our final consult.   Once again, our timeline is not God’s timeline, but he continues to confirm His plans in our hearts and minds. With me being a teacher, the end of the school year is always hectic and would not have been the ideal time to begin hormone injections and have surgery. I am thankful His plans are better than mine.   The Lord further affirmed His will for us this morning when we gathered for worship with our faith family. Ben preached in Philippians 3 using for a thought “A Singular Respon...

Our journey began on April 8, 2021 with a consultation with our fertility specialist, Dr. Janet Bouknight. Waiting in the consult room, I couldn't help but feel the weight of everything we were about to hear. Ben and I came in with our research done and a list of questions, but when the doctor came in, I broke down. Thankfully, she is used to the emotions that go along with the IVF process.   After an hour of information overload , we were ready to give our consent. Here are the highlights:  Follicle stimulation with injectables Egg retrieval surgery Fresh embryo transfer or cryopreservation Frozen embryo transfer Dr. Bouknight is very optimistic about our case. She thinks with proper stimulation, we could get 20 eggs. Usually about half of the eggs will be mature enough to fertilize. Fertilization will be the major catalyst for us. She recommended we use ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) for fertilization. From there we will wait 5 days to see how many fertilized e...

May is a crazy month for all who have chosen the field of education. Kids be cray. But I made it through my second year of teaching small humans unscathed. Thank ya, Jesus. So far, June has been no less crazy. We took our teenagers to PCB for a joint youth camp with Iron City Baptist. Seeing our teenagers respond to the truths of Scripture is nothing short of amazing. They truly understood the depth of the passages read from Philippians throughout the week. Plus, I just love spending time getting to know our girls on a deeper level. We also got to see our favorite family band, the Housleys, play amazing music during the worship services. June 11th was our 1st anniversary. We spent the week before traveling from Flagstaff, to Sedona, to Phoenix and seeing some of the most amazing sites we've ever seen. This was Ben's first time out west. He'd never seen the Grand Canyon, and his reaction when he did was priceless. I love doing new things with him! We had m...

It's been a busy weekend, ya'll. Saturday we were invited to serve with Ben's cousin, Jason, and his new church plant. We passed out flyers and door hangers concerning their Easter service. All were invited to come, with no regard to the "right" church clothes. It's important to meet people where they are, and let's just face it, some don't have the "right" church clothes. We should be more concerned with sharing the good news than with sharing our fickle opinions of others. It truly was a great way to help our sister church in their time of need. If only I had not been sick as a dog... Two hours in, I was down for the count. I couldn't even hold my head up. The sinus sickness hit me like a train. After a two hour wait in the doctor's office, I got two shots and was sent on my way. After almost passing out in the lobby, having only eaten a bowl of cereal that morning at 9:00, we went home to rest. And eat pizza. Sundays are al...