reality check

upon returning home from our san francisco trip life has really hurled one curve ball after another at us. one of the biggest was the loss of my future nephew on wednesday.

last tuesday irina, my sister-in-law, went into the hospital with some heavy spotting, she was about 2.5/3 cm dialated. basically she was in premature labor. luckily they were able to stop the progression and ordered her on strict bed rest for 10 weeks. she was supposed to return home from costa rica on wednesday but that trip was quickly revised with her returning in may.

this tuesday, brian headed down to costa rica to give her a little moral support. he called me on wednesday afternoon and told me that irina's water broke and she lost the baby. she was about 19 weeks which is way too early for the baby to survive. brian said that irina had prayed he would be there if this should happen and he was.

they believe that irina has a weak cervix and the weight of the baby may have caused it to open prematurely. hopefully a cervical cerclage will prevent this from happening in the future. although this has been quite a devastating blow for them, both brian and irina are anxious to get started again. they are very strong-willed people and this doesn't surprise me. sending much love and prayers their way.

while i was in san francisco i did have a scare myself. i felt a huge lump in one of my breasts. aaron was pretty sure it was a cyst but wanted me to get it checked out when we returned. so yesterday i went in for an ultrasound and it indeed was a cyst. it looked like two separate cysts, both measuring about 2 cm each. the doctor suggested we drain it right then and there. turns out it was one huge cyst. so technically i had a 4 cm cyst that practically popped up overnight. they are pretty sure it might be from all the hormones i've been taking for my IVF cycles. some people are prone to getting cysts and i just happen to be one of those people. so i have to keep monitoring myself, hopefully this was a one time occurrence.

luckily this has not interfered with our current IVF cycle. i received all my meds on wednesday and started lupron injections that night. i thought i'd be a pro since we've done this all before. but i did get a little adrenaline rush when i gave myself that first shot. it'll take some getting used to again. so we are officially underway.