Hello, again...

Well, we can certainly tell this is our third IVF attempt.  I haven't been blogging as much this time around.  In fact, I haven't been thinking about it as much at all.  Andrew and I both feel fairly numb to the experience at this point.  We are only a few days away from our third embryo transfer, and we don't have many emotions towards it.

But, we are doing what needs to be done.

A few weeks ago I had an ultrasound and doppler.  At that time, they found cysts on both ovaries and low uterine blood flow.  I have been going to electroacupuncture twice a week for four weeks now.  I just had my follow up ultrasound and doppler.  The cysts are still present, but don't seem to be a problem since they are stable.  My uterine blood flow has significantly improved, so we are happy with the effort spent on electroacupuncture.

We also consulted with our fertility specialist about a reaction that we realized my body has every time I have been pregnant (twice) or have had an embryo transfer (twice).  Each time,  a few days after the positive pregnancy test or a few days after the embryo transfer, I have painful stomach cramps that turn into 24-36 hours of vomiting and diarrhea (I know, yuck).  So for this transfer, our doctor has put me on the antihistamine protocol.  I'll be taking a cocktail of antihistamine medications to help prevent this reaction, which is another thing that could be destroying the embryos each time (except the indestructible Chase embryo).

I have also been working with a Certified Nutrition Therapy Practitioner to ensure that I am getting adequate nutrients while avoiding harmful foods.  Until now, I didn't realize that some of my favorite foods are high histamine foods, such as strawberries, cashews, and chocolate.  I am doing my best to avoid these foods while eating more low histamine and anti-inflammatory foods.

We are hoping that all of these efforts will give us a successful outcome. So far, things are looking up.  Along with improved uterine blood flow, my recent ultrasound also found good perfusion, adequate uterine lining at 8.6 (they like to see it in between 8 and 10), and a triple stripe pattern of the uterine lining (a must!).

Our transfer is scheduled for Wednesday November 9th.  At this point, we have two "day 6 grade 4BB" embryos.  As long as they both survive the thawing process, we will move forward with the transfer on that day.