It's been three weeks since our regroup appointment with our doctor. Andrew and I have had time to discuss our options and wishes, and we can now provide an update.
Upon entering the consult room, Dr. Schoolcraft said, "this must be like deja vu for you two." Well, yes, in a way it certainly was. This was our second IVF fail regroup. Except this time was easier since we weren't as naive as the first time.
When we failed at the first clinic, Dr. Schoolcraft (our current specialist) thought that the lab might have been low-quality, prohibiting some of the embryos from developing, and that the two embryos we did have were destroyed after transfer by my hydrosalpinx. Dr. Schoolcraft fixed the hydrosalpinx and tested me for any other problem that might prevent me from carrying--all is well!
So, why did we fail? It all comes down to the quality of my eggs. Andrew's sperm were tested for a number of things, and as always, they passed with flying colors. Before starting this cycle, we knew that I have fewer eggs than normal and the quality of those eggs is poor (as compared to the average 34 year old female). But, when 10 eggs were retrieved, we were hopeful. The lab at CCRM is world-renowned, and Dr. Schoolcraft said they threw in every trick they know to fertilize my eggs and grow the embryos to blastocyst. Seven of our ten eggs fertilized, but only one made it to blast.
Each day after fertilization, the cells in the embryo divide. On day one, there are two cells. On day two, there are four cells. On day three, there are eight cells. Well, that's how it goes if everything lines up perfectly. On day three, we had zero eight cell embryos, including the one embryo that made it to blast. On day three, some of the embryos were four cells, some were nine and ten cells. It seems like the nine and ten cell embryos would be great--they are developing faster than they should be! Not the case. It just means that one or more cells in the embryo are not dividing appropriately, indicating that something is wrong.
So, the one embryo that we had started out poorly, it didn't divide correctly, and it took an extra day to make it to blast (it should only take five days; ours took six). Yes, it was found to be chromosomally normal (after four long weeks of testing), but something wasn't right with it, presumably due to my egg, and it didn't implant.
At this point, Dr. Schoolcraft believes that I can still carry, but I might not be able to create a viable embryo (based on my history and test results). Although, he pointed out that three years ago I "ovulated a golden egg," which gave us Chase, and it's possible that it could happen again. So, we asked what our options are, and we were given two:
1) try another cycle with a different aggressive protocol (will likely yield the same results), or
2) try a cycle with donor eggs (with a 80% chance of success).
Believe it or not, but we've decided to go with option one. We are not ready to give up, and we want to make sure that we try everything we possibly can before it's time to throw in the towel (will it ever be time?! not likely.).
Here's the plan: I've started taking a female vitamin cocktail that is loaded with antioxidants, and I've started taking CCRM's OvaHealth, which is acai straight from the Amazon (not the online retail store, lol). This acai is a much more potent antioxidant than over-the-counter acai. I will be taking the vitamin cocktail and the acai for 12 weeks, and our hope is that the antioxidants will repair any damage that my eggs have endured. In fact, CCRM is currently conducting research with the acai, and they have seen an improvement in the number of eggs retrieved and the number of embryos making it to blast with the use of acai for 12 weeks prior to stims and retrieval.
The vitamin cocktail and acai buys us 12 weeks to come up with the large payment for a third IVF (yikes!). We did not receive a grant, so we are hoping to secure another loan. If that goes well, we will be set for our third cycle. We hope the saying is true--third time's a charm!
