Shots Shots Shots

     I think the song Shots by LMFAO may or may not be my new theme song in life. ;) It has been a busy last couple weeks in our lives! Between doctor appointments and needles, I'm about ready to just open up my own practice. Haha but I'll keep dreaming. I started my medication injections on the night of May 10th. They started me with two different injections once a day to help stimulate my ovaries and help produce follicles. (Follicles contain my eggs) Thankfully my best friend was in town visiting, who also is a nurse and offered to do the shots for me! Such a huge relief, otherwise we would of been waiting alllll night for me to get over my fear of needles. After the first shot was done, I was much more relaxed! The needles are so small that you can barely feel them which is super nice. I mean let's be honest, getting poked in the stomach multiple times isn't the most exciting thing to have to go through.

First night of shots!

     I was/am having to make visits to the doctors every other day to have blood work done along with an internal ultrasound to check my hormone levels and to see how my ovaries/follicles were doing. Every visit our doctor kept saying hoe great everything looked and kept my medication dosage the same each day because my body has been responding to it exactly the way it should be! Let me tell you, it is SO nice to hear some positive things come out of a doctors mouth after hearing so much negative for so long! :) Thankfully I have only had a few side effects from the medications as well which have included nausea, headache, little bit of bruising on my stomach and some major bloating in my stomach which has been my least favorite part. Haha. I'm naturally a skinny girl, so to wake up with a little belly is like WOAH! Luckily I can just blame the meds. ;) 

Hopefully soon there will be a little baby Hempel in that bloat! 

     It's was beyond wonderful to have Meghan out to visit us for an entire week! She's like a little piece of home and to have her here during all the chaos made this past week much easier to get through and not over stress about the little things. Unfortunately Brett was busy with work and wasn't able to make it to any of my appointments, so Meghan made a good stand in husband. ;) If only I could keep her out here forever! 

    

     This past Friday, I had to add one more injection into the mix which is to prevent my body fro ovulating so when it comes to do my egg retrieval, my eggs will still all be in my follicles instead of releasing like they do in a normal cycle. That put me up to three shots every night! Talk about a party. ;) I was able to overcome my fear of needles right before Meghan left and have been giving myself my own shots for the last three days! I was pretty darn proud of myself!

Giving a whole new meaning to body shots!

     

     Only a couple more shots left and then it's on to our egg retrieval and making those little embryos! Thank you a million times to everyone who has kept us in your thoughts and prayers during this whole process. We are so so excited that this is all actually happening and we are making wonderful progress through everything! Please keep sending good vibes and baby dust our way in the next few days as we will most definitely need it! 

     Xoxo 

April Showers Bring May Fertility Drugs?

     The month I have ever so been waiting for is finally here! I've never been so excited for it to be May 1st! The ball is FINALLY starting to slowly move towards starting IVF. Thank goodness. April was a good month, Brett's parents came out to visit us for a weekend which was great! It was nice to have a little piece of home here with us. My best friend Meghan bought a ticket to come visit us for a week in May which I'm SO pumped about. Also my Mom and brother Jaden bought tickets to come visit us for six days in the beginning of June! :) We have a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks and couldn't be anymore excited.


     On April 29th, I finally after what seemed like was never going to happen received an email from my IVF coordinator with my medication protocol! So many emotions hit me while reading it. I'm so excited, nervous, anxious, ready and a little scared to go through this whole process but Brett and I seriously have the best support system! People I have never met have reached out to us with kind words and prayers! It really is the best feeling knowing that so many people have our backs through this all and are just as ready for Little Baby Hempel as we are. <3

I'm drowning in fertility drugs and there is five boxes in the fridge! 

     I drove down to La Jolla, CA this morning and picked up my fertility drugs! It was kind of an overwhelming feeling when she handed me THREE full bags of medicine along with a sharps container. They definitely are not messing around. ;) I take my last birth control pill on May 7th and meet with my IVF coordinator the same day to have an ultrasound done to make sure everything is good to go and also to have her go over all my medications with me and how to inject them! I then will start injections on the morning of May 10th for 10-12 days. (Hopefully starting my injections on Mother's Day is a positive sign!)  Every two days after starting my meds, I have to go have blood work and an ultrasound done to check my hormone levels and to make sure my follicles are growing like they should. We are set to have our egg retrieval done on May 22nd then the embryo transfer five to six days after that! It's all going to happen so so fast but we are more then ready! :)

     Please continue to pray and send good vibes our way that everything goes smoothly and soon we will be making our dreams a reality! <3 I will be most likely be posting more blog updates throughout my medication journey just to keep everyone up to date and share my lovely horemonal feelings. ;)

Thought I'd share a little IVF humor! 

     Xoxo

Thank Goodness It's a New Month!

     My oh my, what a crazy and busy month it has been! I feel like I blinked and April was here. March was filled with lots of doctor visits and needles along with a few tears. It is no joke when they tell you how stressful IVF is going to be! Brett and I completed all of the blood work and diagnostic testing we needed to and are so thankful everything came back great. I had a mock transfer and hysteroscope done on Match 19th to check out my uterus and make sure all was good to go for when we start treatment. Talk about the most uncomfortable procedure though! You are awake for the whole thing without any pain medication as they check everything out with a scope and catheter. My doctor did find a tiny tiny pollup and removed it, but said everything else looked perfect! Thank goodness! It's nice to hear some good news after so much bad news.

What would life be if you didn't take a selfie in a hospital gown! ;)

After having all my testing done and everything coming back good, we were set to have me start my injections on March 30th and the egg retrieval on April 10th! It was all going to be happening so fast, but we were excited to get this show on the road. I received a call in the afternoon on March 27th from my nurse saying my protocol was ready and I needed to pick up my medications that evening! I could not believe that this was finally happening. We were that much closer to baby Hempel. I gave our loan lady a call to make sure everything was finalized and good to go,like we had discussed. Of course with my luck though, she didn't answer. She never once picked up her phone the entire hour and a half I spent calling her. I couldn't believe that she really wasn't answering and insisted that this was just a joke. We had been talking all week and she knew that everything had to be ready by that day. With no answer from her and then finding out from the company that is working with us on getting a discount on our medications that they had me fill out the wrong forms, all I could do was cry. We were finally here at this point to start  everything and it was all shot down because of a few people who weren't doing their job. To say that Brett and I were beyond frustrated with them is 

putting it pretty nicely. 

     I strongly strongly believe that everything happens for a reason. As much as I don't understand what the reasoning behind this was, I have to accept it and know that it's for the best. We are now scheduled to have the egg retrieval on May 22nd and I will be starting my injections somewhere between the 9-11th of May.  Until then, we will just continue to enjoy life and all of the wonderful things it has given us. 

If you would like to donate to our IVF fund, the link is: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/our-road-to-little-baby-hempel/302568

Xoxo

Making Progress! Surgery and IVF Timeline.

     What a busy week it has been in the Hempel household! Between all the doctor appointments and everyday life, I'm ready to binge watch some Netflix for a few days. I had my 5th surgery a week ago (the 13th) and it went as good as can be expected. My doctor was able to remove the cyst from my right ovary without having to take any of my ovary! That was a huge plus. He also said that the D&C went well and that my uterus looks good. The only somewhat of a difficulty is that my colon is sitting on top of my left ovary. There's not really anything he can do about it because that's just the way my body healed itself after having so many surgeries and things removed. He did say that it could cause some difficulty when it comes to retrieving eggs for IVF because of them being so close together and making sure not to puncture my colon with the needle. Just lots of prayers that it doesn't give us to many complications!

I had the greatest little nurse! She gave lots of cuddles and never left my side.

You would think after multiple surgeries I'd be over my fear of needles. Definitely not. 

     Yesterday afternoon Brett and I had our first appointment at HRC Fertility in Oceanside with Dr. Coffler. It went SO so well! Everyone that works there was so friendly and welcoming. They didn't treat us like we were just another dollar sign walking through the door, which was very comforting! Dr. Coffler and his nurse were very in depth with their plan for us after going through my history and talking to us. We each have to do some blood work to check for diseases like HIV and Hepatitis along with some other testing to check my uterus just to make sure we're both healthy! But as soon as I start my menstrual cycle in March I will be starting on birth control for a couple weeks followed by hormone injections. We're looking at the beginning/middle of April to do the egg retrieval and then six days after retrevial we do the embryo transfer!  It's all so exciting to know that we are finally on this road to hopefully start our family! Lots and lots of prayers for everything to keep going smoothly! 

Xoxo 

I'm Baaaack!

     After what has seemed like the longest 7 month break, I'm glad to be back to blogging! I decided to take a little bit of a break from here because our lives just became SO busy! Brett received orders to Camp Pendleton in California from 29 Palms which was quite the move for us, I went back home to Minnesota for a few months to finish up last minute wedding details and plans for the big day which was this past October 4th! It was hands down the best day and I wish we could relive it all over again. I started nannying a two year old little boy named Wyatt in October who has brought so much joy and happiness into my life. Brett and I also went to our first USMC Birthday ball together in November and celebrated our first Christmas together after spending the last two apart. 2014 definitely was a busy and exciting year for us!





Our wedding on October 4, 2014!

     2015 has been a wonderful year so far with a few little bumps in the road but nothing that neither one of us cannot overcome! On January 20th, I ended up back in the emergency room 8 hours for yet again another cyst on my right ovary. Some days I feel like I'm never going to catch a break from those darn things. The cyst measured at 1.9cm and the doctor informed me that I needed to make an appointment to be seen by an OBGYN. I was able to schedule an appointment for the following Tuesday, January 27th. I met with the doctor and we discussed my extensive history of cysts and surgeries and agreed that I would come back a week later to have an ultrasound done to see if the cyst was getting any larger and determine from there whether or not I would be needing surgery again.

     On February 2nd, I went in for an ultrasound and a follow up with my doctor. In just 13 short days, my cyst went from 1.9cm to 2.5cm! That's quite the growth if you ask me. They also noticed that I have an abnormally thick lining inside my uterus. My doctor also said that the cyst is either filled with old blood or endometriosis but cannot be determine unless he were to do surgery. After discussing everything with him, he decided that the best thing to do would be to do surgery to remove the cyst along with a D&C (scrapping of the uterus) to remove the thick lining. The doctor also told me that if Brett and I were planning on trying to have children through IVF that we needed to start the process ASAP. That my body is working against me and pretty soon we will not have the opportunity to try and have a family of our own.

     It has been a rollercoaster of emotions the last few weeks knowing that yet again I'll be having surgery for the same issue. It definitely gets beyond frustrating for both of us because it just seems like it is a never ending battle that we are not going to win. But all in all we keep a positive mindset through it along with a smile on our face knowing that everything happens for a reason and that we will get through this together. Surgery number 5 is scheduled for Friday, February 13th. Happy Valentines Day to us! ;) We then have an appointment with a second fertility specialist on February 19th to discuss our treatment and plan to start IVF!

Thank you all so much for the outpouring love and support we have been receiving! We honestly could not do it without each and everyone of you.

xoxo

 

The Road to Infertility

     I've always had this feeling that having a family one day was going to be difficult for me. I started my period at 15 as a Sophomore in high school and it has always been irregular since. Being young, I didn't think much of it or was I really concerned that it was coming whenever. I wasn't sexually active, so I had nothing to worry about. I stared taking birth control for acne when I was 18 and then all the troubles seemed to head my way.

     In March of 2010, I had went to grab a bite to eat at Burger King (horrible choice). After eating I started to get horrible stomach pains, severe cramping, hot and clod flashes and some nausea. I figured it was probably food poisoning and just went to bed. A few days had passed and I was still having the same symptoms and nothing was helping to get rid of them. I talked to my mom about it and decided we would give it a few more days and if nothing had changed that I'd go into the doctor.

     April 1st, my mom and I flew out to Maine because my great grandpa was really sick and they didn't think he was going to make it. We spent all day at the hospital for a good week. One day while sitting there, the pains in my stomach started to come back. I told my mom and grandma and they both said that I needed to be seen.  I met with the doctor and explained that this had been going on for a few weeks and no matter what I did they just wouldn't go away. He felt around on my stomach and told me that it was just a bad stomach ache and gave me an 800mg ibuprofen. I probably could have hit him because everyone knows that stomach aches do not last three weeks. After we got home from our trip I was at work one day and started to have another spasm. I was hunched into a ball and in tears because it hurt so bad. They let me leave work early and insisted that I go to the hospital.  I went to the emergency room (it was late at night) and told them what had been going on for the last month. They did some blood work, pushed on my stomach and told me it was a UTI and sent me home with antibiotics. At this point I was pretty sure a monkey could be a better doctor then the ones I had been seeing.

     In the beginning of May, I went to see my moms doctor. She had delivered my brother and did a couple surgeries on my mom,  so she was pretty well trusted. I explained to her all the problems I had been having over the last two months and what the other doctors had said the problem was. Right away she said that we needed to switch my birth control and that I needed to take it consistently and skip the sugar pills so I would not get my period. She also ordered for me to get a ultrasound done to check things out. A few days after getting the ultrasound done I had a follow up appointment with the doctor. She informed me that I had five cysts between both ovaries and that there was fluid in my right fallopian tube. She said that we could give it about a month to see if the cysts went away on their own and to see if the new birth control helped. I refused to continue on with this pain for another month when I had already been dealing with it for two months. We talked about the risk of surgery and how it would be my first one but decided it was the best choice.

     So on May 11, 2010 I went under the knife to have two cysts removed which were the size of a golf ball and the other a size of a softball. She also took a sample of the fluid that was in my Fallopian tube to do some testing.  A week after surgery I had a post op appointment with the doctor to how over what she saw in surgery and to see how I was feeling. I told her that I was still having the same pains I was having before surgery and I was really uncomfortable. She told me that she still did not know was wrong and wanted to refer me to a specialist at the Mayo Clinic. I agreed to be seen because at this point all I wanted was answers and to be pain free.

     In the beginning of June I met with Dr. Jenson who is a fertility and reproductive specialist. She went over my previous surgery notes and wanted me to get an ultrasound done to check for cysts again. I had no signs of cysts but it showed that my fallopian tubes were dilated (damaged). Over the next six months she put me on multiple antibiotics to try and help get rid of pain, suggested I try a high fiber diet, keep a pain journal and had multiple the stings done to see what was going on. After doing all that and still not seeing any results, surgery was brought up once again. As much as she didn't want to put me through surgery, there really was no choice because she had to physically see inside to see what the problem was.

     September 12, 2010 I went under for my second surgery. Both of my fallopian tubes were closed and my left fallopian tube and intestine were twisted and attached to my bowel. Dr. Jenson had to cut incisions into my fallopian tubes to open them back up and also untwisted my left one. I was finally no longer in pain! I learned to deal with pain everyday that it was weird to live without it, but I was thrilled. I continued to take my birth control consistently in hopes to skip my period like the doctor requested.

     Over the next couple years I would get occasional cysts on my ovaries that would pop but I just dealt with the pain for a few days because there was really nothing the doctors could do. I stopped taking my birth control in November of 2012 because it was just messing with my body so much and I was still getting my period like crazy when I wasn't supposed to. Plus my husband (boyfriend at the time) was stationed in California and was getting ready to deploy, so I didn't have to worry about any babies. Even though my biggest fear from having surgeries was not being able to get pregnant.

     One day towards the end of January of this year, I started to have really really bad pains in my stomach, hot and cold flashes, nausea and my whole body was shaking. I had no idea what was going on and I could barely get up to walk. My husband insisted that he take me in to see what was wrong. After a long 8 hours in the emergency room, they determined it was yet another cyst. The naval hospital out here is stupid and wouldn't let me see a doctor, so I went to the hospital in the next town over and I'm so glad I did. I had my records from back home sent out here for the doctor and right away he wanted my fallopian tubes to be looked at. He talked to us about having to possibly remove my tubes and how that would lead us to only being able to have children through IVF. It was really hard to wrap my mind around, that this is what my life had lead to at such a young age but I knew I had a big decision to make.

     On April 9, 2014 I went under for my third surgery. We had decided that if my tubes were closed once again, that we would remove them for my health and to prevent any ectopic pregnancies. Well just my luck, they were closed and had to be removed. My left fallopian tube was also twisted with my intestine and the cyst and had attached itself to my bowel. Knowing that I no longer had my fallopian tubes at just 22 years old was difficult to accept. I didn't understand why this had to happen to me and the intimacy of making our children with my husband was gone. I just continued to remind myself that God obviously had a plan for us and we just needed to continue to put all of our faith into him.

     Just a couple weeks ago I was having sharp pains on my left side and had mentioned to my husband that I was almost positive that it was a cyst again. I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy seeing that I had just had one removed two months ago but we decided that I should make an appointment to be seen. Low and behold it was another cyst on my left ovary measuring at 6cm. The doctor tried to pop it with his hand and had no such luck. Which I'm glad, because that hurt so so bad. He said the cyst needed to be removed right away and admitted me for emergency surgery. Yay me! The next morning I went in for surgery and they removed the cyst and had to remove part of my ovary as well because the cyst had taken over. He also said that my intestine had attached itself to my abdominal wall and that it would cause problems with my colon if I didn't have it looked at soon.

     So as of now I am missing both my fallopian tubes and part of my left ovary. It's so crazy where all this has lead to in the last four years. I am thankful that as of now I am still able to carry our own children through IVF but that could change at any moment seeing that I still have some health issues that need to be taken care of. I've been blessed with wonderful friends, family and of course my husband who have been the absolute best support system through everything.

Our Story

     November 18, 2012 was just like any other ordinary day in my life. I got on Facebook to check out the latest gossip/drama and stumbled upon a status from a friend that said something along the lines of "My best friend Brett is coming home for Christmas and I need to find him a good girl as a present. Lol". Basically just for laughs I 'liked' his status and went on my day to hang out with my friend Rebecca. A few hours go by and I get a friend request notification from Brett Hempel himself. I laughed and told Rebecca about how I had 'liked' the status but didn't think anything of it. She insisted that I accept it because we both agreed he was rather good looking, so I figured why the hell not and accepted his request. Shortly after I received a message from Brett introducing himself and telling me the he was enlisted in the Marine Corps and was currently in Engineer school in North Carolina. We messaged back and forth for about an hour, exchanged numbers and then said our goodbyes. I was smitten by his charm but was not wishing on anything. I had never done a long distance relationship. 

     Brett and I talked everyday and all day for the next month. We talked about our hopes and dreams,  what the military was like, where we both grew up and how we could not wait for his Christmas leave when we would actually be able to meet in person. During the time of getting to know each other, Brett found out that he would be going on his first deployment in April. I was the first person he told and as soon as he did, my heart dropped. I knew in that moment that I was really starting to care about him. 

     December 17, 2012  was finally the day that we were going to see each other in person! I was so nervous that I couldn't eat a thing. I had to work for a few hours that night and we decided that we would meet up after I was finished with work. Time felt like it was barely moving but 9pm finally came around and it was time to go meet this good looking Marine I had opened up to over the last month! I called Rebecca freaking out. After all she had been there since the beginning of this whole thing him and I had going on and I needed to release some nerves before I saw him. I talked to her for a few minutes and she assured me that everything was going to be alright and if I needed anything to call her back. I pulled up next to his truck on the passenger side, looked through my window at him and he smiled. The second I saw him all my nerves went away and it was like I had known him forever. We both got of our vehicles and stood in the parking lot just staring at each other and smiling ear to ear. I finally was able to spit out some words and mentioned how good it was to finally meet him in person. He gave me the biggest hug and said how he was glad to finally be home. We went back to my apartment and just talked for hours and hours and watched The Notebook. 

     I've never really believed in the whole 'love at first sight' thing, but there was just something about Brett that made my heart skip a few beats. We hung out with each other as much as possible while he was home because soon he would be leaving for his next duty station in California and didn't know when we would be seeing each other again. He introduced me to all his close friends and even his Dad and Sister. Some may say things were moving a little quick, but it felt right to us. After all he was in the military. 

     He left December 26th to fly out to California and I thought my world was going to crumble. We had spent a total of seven days together while he was home and they were the best seven days of my life. We didn't know if we would be seeing each other again before he deployed in April but all we could do was pray. Brett and I would text all day and talk on the phone every night. Our relationship with each other was being built on distance and trust. Even from 2,000 miles away, he always knew how to make me smile and that I was always on his mind. 

     Towards the end of January, Brett bought a plane ticket for February 12th  to come home for three weeks on pre deployment leave. Talk about the best Valentines Day present! My heart was ecstatic. We had the best time together meeting each other's families and friends, and just taking in every minute we had with each other. As always time went by to fast and it was time for him to leave again. This was the going to be the hardest 'see you later' for both of us since we knew we wouldn't see each other again for eight months. I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I knew I needed to be strong for him since he was soon going to be headed to Afghanistan. 

     We still had a month before he would be leaving to keep in contact, but Brett was busy doing training and I was finishing up college, so time was moving a little faster than we liked. One night while we were on the phone with each other, we got this wild idea that I should come out to California to see him one more time. I was going to be done with school on March 20th so it worked out perfectly. Everyone thought I was crazy to just pick up and drive out there last minute, but I knew I just had to see him! I left early in the morning on March 28th to spend just one final week with Brett in sunny California. All we wanted to do was take full advantage of our time together and not think of the dreadful deployment day that was soon approaching. We went to the beach in San Diego, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and hiking in the Joshua Tree National Park. But as always, time went by quickly and it was time for him to leave. 

     Brett was told to be on base by 10pm on April 4th for him to get everything ready so they would be ready to go. They were supposed to leave by 1am but of course the military is never on time and they didn't end up leaving till 6am on April 5th. It was seriously the longest eight hours of my entire life! I loved being able to have a little extra time with him, but it felt like torture not knowing when they were going to load them up on those evil white busses. We said our 'see you laters' one final time and then he was off. The worrying, sleepless nights, hoping to hear from him and praying for the next seven months started instantly. I had never in my life done anything like this, but I knew that we were going to make it through and he would be home in no time. Some days were longer than others but technology is so great these days that we were able to talk more than either of us had expected. 

     On July 25th I received a surprise package from Brett but had very specific instructions on when and where to open it. I was a little confused, but did what I was told. First I had to read the letter that belonged with it and then I was allowed to open the package. I also had to go sit down at the lake and wear his favorite sweatshirt while doing so. I had my best friend Meghan come along because it was dark and I didn't want to be alone. I began to read the sweetest four page love letter and was soon in complete shock. He was asking me to MARRY him!! I instantly started to cry and couldn't believe it! I ripped open the package and there inside was the most beautiful and perfect ring. He was 8,000 miles away and had planned the sweetest proposal when he had much bigger things to worry about. About two hours later I received a phone call from my FIANCÉ and was the happiest girl around.   

     Finally his homecoming day had arrived, October 28th, 2013! I flew out to California to be the first person he saw once he stepped off those white busses. It had been a long and stressful 206 days since we had last seen each other and in just a matter of hours it was all going to be over. No more worrying or sleepless nights. Brett was finally back on US soil and there really was no better feeling. I could not stop staring at him or touching him. It didn't seem real that we actually kicked deployments ass. 

     Brett and I got married on October 30, 2013 out in California and I moved out here January 8th. We will be having a wedding ceremony and reception with friends and family on October 4, 2014 in Minnesota. It has definitely been probably the craziest thing either of us has done but we wouldn't change a second of it. Brett has two years left in the military and then we'll be moving back home to the Minnesota/Wisconsin area!