I've been "stimming" for over a week now. This means that I've been getting several injections each day, which stimulate my ovaries to produce follicles, which will hopefully have a mature egg once egg retrieval comes around. This is the second time we've been through this, so we knew what to expect--bloating, cramps, moodiness, headaches, sleep deprivation. The one thing we didn't expect--a prescription for Viagra. For me. That's right, I am now taking Viagra. Apparently, the Viagra helps the stimulation meds be more effective. I'm all for it if it's going to give us a baby.
After a few days on the "stims" I had a ultrasound and blood work to see how my ovaries are responding to the meds. That ultrasound found that I had only 8 follicles--6 on the left, 2 on the right. My right ovary has a large endometrioma, which is ovarian endometriosis in the form of a cyst. The endometrioma is preventing the ovary from cooperating and producing follicles. This leaves me with fewer than average follicles. We were disappointed, but we also know that, in the end, it only takes one.
The few and slow growing follicles prompted the Viagra prescription. By the second ultrasound, I had 10 follicles--8 on the left, 2 on the right. However, many of them were still slow growing. We only had three that were growing at an almost normal pace; the others lagging behind. At this time, the nurse said one of two things could happen. One being that the doctor could recommend retrieving the largest follicles at their appropriate time, which means that the smaller follicles will not be mature and cannot be fertilized (this would leave us with approximately three eggs). Or, the doctor could recommend stimming a bit longer to grow the smaller follicles more. However, in this case, we risk losing the biggest follicles and mature eggs, and stimming for too long can result in poorer quality eggs. We knew we wouldn't have an answer until the next ultrasound and blood work.
Today, I had my third ultrasound. I now have 11 follicles--8 on the left, 3 on the right. The growth patterns indicate that I will likely be ready to retrieve on Friday, and that we may only get 8 mature eggs from the 11 follicles.
While eight sounds like a great number, it's really low, relatively speaking. The attrition rate could knock us down to 1-2 embryos (just like the first round). Not every mature egg will fertilize, not every fertilized egg (or embryo) will make it to the blastocyst phase, not every blastocyst will be chromosomally normal.
Once the retrieval happens, we will learn within 24 hours how many eggs were retrieved, how many were mature, and how many fertilized. We will then have to wait five days to learn how many embryos grow to the blastocyst phase. The embryos that make it to that phase will then be genetically tested to "weed out" the non-viable embryos. We will have to wait 2-3 weeks to learn how many embryos we will have from this process for transfer. Once we know that number, we can start prepping my body for the transfer, which will unfortunately take another 6-9 weeks. We have been advised that our transfer will likely take place in December. It's going to be a long wait, but will hopefully be worth it. What a wonderful Christmas present it would be :)
Monday, September 28, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Moving forward, round two
This round of IVF feels so much different than the first, in many ways. We were so naive in the first round, thinking that all the work and money we put into it would give us a happy ending. But, on May 1st, Chase's second birthday, we found out that we were wrong. I think this is why I don't feel excited about this second round. We haven't even been celebrating the small steps and progress we've made in this second journey. We just want to get it over with.
"Get it over with." I know that sounds terrible, but the process is grueling. In the first cycle, I gained a lot of weight, I was emotional, and (Andrew would probably say) I was extra grumpy. It's a series of highs and lows. The medications and hormones are hard on the body, but are needed to retrieve the eggs and support a pregnancy.
"Get it over with." We have our eyes on the prize, as the saying goes. We are anxious to get through the brutal stimulation phase, the waiting-while-our-embryos-are-genetically-tested phase, and the transfer phase. We want to fast forward to the date when we will find out if this was a successful round of IVF.
So, where are we right now in the cycle? Well, after all the work up and testing and a surgery to correct a problem with my fallopian tubes, we are ready to rock and roll. Last week, I started on some priming medications, and yesterday an ultrasound and blood work found that we are ready to start the stimulation phase. For the next 2-3 weeks, we will be in IVF prison. I have several injections that need to be administered at very specific times during the day. Lupron has to be injected every 12 hours; right now we are on a 7am and 7pm schedule with that medication. Menopur has to be injected in the morning, Follistim has to be injected in the evening, and Dexamethasone has to be taken at bedtime. We either have to be home at the exact times that these meds are needed, or we have to take them with us wherever we go. The latter is challenging because some of the meds have to be refrigerated (and sanitary conditions are needed). Regardless, we are ready!
Those of you that donated to our online fundraiser helped us get to this second journey. All of the money raised was used to pay for the initial work up and testing as insurance didn't pay for it all. We applied for a grant, but were told that the committee won't meet until November or December of this year to determine if we are eligible. We were finally able to take out a substantial loan, but this loan does not cover the total costs. We are still fighting to pay out of pocket for the expenses while simultaneously making biweekly payments to the lender for the loan. We initially estimated this round to cost $30k, but we are already over that amount and we aren't done paying yet.
This is our final attempt to build our family. Financially, it has to be. By the end of this year, we will know if Chase will be an only child or if he will have siblings.
"Get it over with." I know that sounds terrible, but the process is grueling. In the first cycle, I gained a lot of weight, I was emotional, and (Andrew would probably say) I was extra grumpy. It's a series of highs and lows. The medications and hormones are hard on the body, but are needed to retrieve the eggs and support a pregnancy.
"Get it over with." We have our eyes on the prize, as the saying goes. We are anxious to get through the brutal stimulation phase, the waiting-while-our-embryos-are-genetically-tested phase, and the transfer phase. We want to fast forward to the date when we will find out if this was a successful round of IVF.
So, where are we right now in the cycle? Well, after all the work up and testing and a surgery to correct a problem with my fallopian tubes, we are ready to rock and roll. Last week, I started on some priming medications, and yesterday an ultrasound and blood work found that we are ready to start the stimulation phase. For the next 2-3 weeks, we will be in IVF prison. I have several injections that need to be administered at very specific times during the day. Lupron has to be injected every 12 hours; right now we are on a 7am and 7pm schedule with that medication. Menopur has to be injected in the morning, Follistim has to be injected in the evening, and Dexamethasone has to be taken at bedtime. We either have to be home at the exact times that these meds are needed, or we have to take them with us wherever we go. The latter is challenging because some of the meds have to be refrigerated (and sanitary conditions are needed). Regardless, we are ready!
Those of you that donated to our online fundraiser helped us get to this second journey. All of the money raised was used to pay for the initial work up and testing as insurance didn't pay for it all. We applied for a grant, but were told that the committee won't meet until November or December of this year to determine if we are eligible. We were finally able to take out a substantial loan, but this loan does not cover the total costs. We are still fighting to pay out of pocket for the expenses while simultaneously making biweekly payments to the lender for the loan. We initially estimated this round to cost $30k, but we are already over that amount and we aren't done paying yet.
This is our final attempt to build our family. Financially, it has to be. By the end of this year, we will know if Chase will be an only child or if he will have siblings.
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