My baseline appointment went excellent yesterday! My uterus is in good shape and my ovaries are free of cysts! I haven't been in a situation that left me otherwise, so I wasn't really surprised. My reproductive doctor gave me the okay to start the follistim injections (ovary stimulator), and the RN on staff gave me all the information I needed in order to start today. I will be taking small doses over a 10-14 day period, and then (God willing) we will get one or two big follicles that we can then release with the HCG trigger shot. I was a little stressed yesterday because working with infertility specialists means you will be dealing with finance and your insurance company quite a bit. The medication I needed is coming from Oregon and before the pharmacy could even send it out, they needed a preauthorization from my nurse...Something about codes needed in order to verify that my insurance company would be paying for a majority of the drugs I'm using. I was so frustrated with the entire situation that I seriously called to pay out of pocket util the preauthorization was dealt with, just so we wouldn't have a delay in treatment. Turns out all I needed was a little patience! It did take 2.5 hours, but luckily the company that picks up ground shipping was late yesterday, so my medicine will definitely be here at some point this afternoon.

This is the part of conceiving Ava bug that I remember most vividly. The shots aren't actually as bad as some people think, and after the first couple days it just becomes the routine. The one thing I've noticed off the bat that's different about this experience is the amount of times I'll be going into the office for my follicle growth to be checked. With this clinic, I will go six days without having my growth measured. In Georgia, I was going in every two days to measure the growth of my follicles. I'm not too worried about the change, and on the upside our clinic is literally ten minutes away from our home. I plan on vlogging pretty regularly as I take these injections and I go in for my growth measurements. I vlogged during my appointment today, and I'm debating on whether or not to share it with you guys. How many people are actually interested in seeing this journey every step of the way? Definitely shoot me an email and let me know. I'm going to try and post little images here and there on instagram, so if you don't follow me, click the link on the right side of my profile. I'm sketchy about who I add, but if I know you personally, feel free to shoot me a follow request!

We picked up two new trying to conceive outfits yesterday like I mentioned. Justin said we needed a new baby boy outfit since the last one "didn't work" for us. I seriously laughed so hard when he said that. Ava bug helped daddy pick out the little brother outfit, and we even got Bug a couple shirts that say, "I"M GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER" so she can be apart of this journey every step of the way. I wanted to wrap this up with giving a huge thanks to all of those that gave such positive messages and emails yesterday! Having support from my family, readers, and friends is what has made this process a little easier.

Happy Wednesday all!

♥- Leilani

Baseline

So, I vlogged last week about taking Provera, weaning, and waiting for my menstrual to arrive... the menstrual arrived Sunday! I was pretty shocked at how fast it happened, considering the nurse told me that it could take up to 14 days for a menstrual to arrive. I hadn't made it a complete four days before mine did. I'm excited about starting my baseline appointment sooner, and I'm excited about starting my FSH injections sooner. Ironically, we are in the exact same position that we were in when we were trying to conceive Ava bug. We had only one shot to try and conceive the month we did because Justin was due to deploy to Afghanistan shortly after. While he's not deploying this time around, he will be gone for seven whole weeks, which leaves us with one shot at trying to conceive before he has to leave. A lot of things from our past experience and this experience are matching up and it's been calming to see how similar this journey has been to our journey with Ava. My baseline appointment is today which just entails blood work and an ultrasound. I'm extremely thankful that Justin is in a company that allows him the time to be actively involved in this trying to conceive business. When we were in Georgia, It was like pulling teeth for him to be present for anything. Granted, they were deploying soon, so I understood.

I think today we are going to pick up another baby girl trying to conceive outfit. We did this prior to having Ava, and that's how I actually announced I was having a baby girl. We still have the baby boy outfit, and I'm thinking this will be a fun way to involve Ava in the process. That has honestly been my main goal these days. Finding ways to introduce the fact that Ava bug could potentially be a big sister soon. I purchased a ton of board books last night and a couple of them are "I'm going to be a big sister" geared books. With the weaning, toddler room sleeping, and incorporating the idea of changes.. I'm hoping it helps us. It's all of these new emotions and changes that I'm trying to figure out how to handle. Prior to Ava, we had no clue about anything. We also didn't have to worry about making our home comfortable for Ava because of the potential arrival of another.

Also, I'm 97% sure we already picked out the names for baby # 2. I have to say this is my favorite pre-conception ritual. This truly is the fun part for Justin and I when discussing adding babies into our lives. I'm also ecstatic that it looks as if he'll be present for my entire pregnancy this time around! While I'm completely grateful that Justin was here for Ava's first milestones, It'll be nice to have him home for the birth and entire pregnancy of the next baby. Having my rock during the most vulnerable time of my life will definitely be needed. I plan on vlogging about our baseline appointment and hopefully giving you guys a tour of the facility we are utilizing to assist with our fertility treatments. It means the world to me that I have a strong reader base and that you guys are sending your good vibes this way! I appreciate all of you and God willing, I'll be able to share the ins and outs of mothering two Howl babes!

** If you have any questions about the route Justin and I will be taking, feel free to comment below or send an email **

Happy Tuesday all!

♥- Leilani