IVF Update #4: Good News & Bad News

Hello friends and family, Today's update is a little disappointing for us to share.  The good news is that Jess has responded to the medications and we are ready for Phase 3 - the trigger shot and egg retrieval.  We take the trigger shot tonight at exactly 8:15 PM and Jess's surgery for egg retrieval will be on Friday at exactly 8:15 AM.  Her follicle count is still looking quite high so we are hoping this means that they will get a decent number of good eggs.  The nurses and techs all seem to be very positive that we will and have repeatedly told her how fertile her insides look.  (Thank you, we think?) The bad news is that Jess has responded so much to the medications that she is at a high risk for overstimulation.  This means that there is a good chance that once the surgery is over her ovaries will stay enlarged and a substantial amount of fluid can build up in her abdomen.  In some cases, hospitalization can be needed to surgically drain the abdomen of fluid. Unfortunately, pregnancy can make this condition worse. Because the risk for Jess is so high, the doctor is no longer recommending that we transfer an embryo with this cycle. This means that after they retrieve the eggs and fertilize them, they will freeze them all.  Instead of having a fresh embryo transferred sometime next week, we have been advised to stop all medications after Friday, let Jess's body rest for a month, and try to do the transfer next month with a frozen embryo. While this isn't the worst news in the world, we are disappointed at what feels like yet another setback in our fertility journey.  Jess is also disappointed that this will mean additional painful injections for her next month.  We are also both trying hard not to be fearful of the potential overstimulation and the severity with which it could present itself.  The doctors have not led us to be very hopeful that we can avoid the overstimulation so we are just hoping that it will be mild. Prayer Requests:

1. Not to be too obvious, but please pray that by God's grace we can avoid the overstimulation. 2.  Please pray for peace.  As we mentioned in the last email, Jess is having anxiety over the upcoming surgery.  Add to that the new high risk of overstimulation, the disappointment of having our transfer postponed, and the cocktail of injections and hormones in her body and you can imagine the emotional roller coaster ride she is on from moment to moment.  It has not been an easy day/week/etc.  The same goes for Doad who may not be physically experiencing all the same things, but who is just as much invested in this process and concerned over the outcome. 3. Pray that we would continually seek to draw near to God, to worship him, and to glorify him. Pray that our focus would be on him and not our circumstances.  Thank you and we love you all, Doad and Jess