T is for Transfer

Good news! I had my embryo transfer Friday, April 28th. Everything went perfectly. Scott took the entire day off work. Remind me to thank Dr. Spirtos for scheduling it at noon. 😉 I woke up that morning feeling pretty good. I made sure my hair was done, as well as my makeup. My reasoning was that I wanted to look nice for the first time out baby met its mother. Scott thought I had lost my mind.

I had some blood drawn, then met with the embryologist. Keith was very nice and positive (as usual). He updated us with how our "embabies" were doing. We still had all nine growing. There were 4 of them that were questionable. They had started degenerating and would not be viable after a freeze, so they were going to be discarded. We had three perfect ones, one that was really good, and one that was borderline. He said he was going to keep monitoring it. We asked him for his opinion on whether to transfer one or two. He gave us the pros and cons.

In the end, we decided on transferring one perfect 4AA blastocyst. We let Keith pick out hopeful winner. A embryo is graded on different aspects. Our blastocyst had many tightly compacted cells that formed an innercell mass. It also had a nice ring of cells around the outside called a trophoblast. The zone pellucida was very thin, which was a great sign.

After we met with the embryologist, I had one last ultrasound with Dr. Spirtos. He measured my lining; it was nice and thick. Then we headed down to the procedure room. Jackie got the ultrasound machine all set up after I had gotten ready. Dr. Spirtos and the embryologist came in and got things started. It was not painful, but it was very uncomfortable as I had to have a full bladder and they used an abdominal ultrasound transducer the whole time.

The transfer went perfectly. I had to lay on the table for an hour afterward...with my still full bladder. Keith came in one last time and gave us the final update on our blastocysts. He was able to freeze four of them; should this transfer not work, we have four good ones to work with in the future.

I had to go back 13 days later for my beta test. A beta test checks the level of hcg in the blood. If it is over 50, I am pregnant. If it is less than 50, I am not pregnant. Scott and I decided that we are not sharing the results with anyone for a while. If it is negative, we need to grieve this loss on our own for a while and decide what our next step is going to be. If it is positive, we want to make sure it is viable. We don't want to have to do a repeat of the last time I was pregnant and tell people that we had lost it after we had already told people we were expecting. So that being said, we aren't telling anyone until we feel the time is right for us. Scott and I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that have been said for us. Keep saying them. This journey to becoming parents is not a sprint, but an ultra-marathon.

Knee Deep part 2

After Nicole was moved into another rooms she could get dressed and find her "sea legs", the embryologist came in to talk to us. He was so incredibly nice! Keith told us that Nicole did very well and they were able to retrieve 15 eggs!

Of course at that time, it was too early to tell how many were mature. He informed us that they would be fertilized with Scott's sperm the "conventional" way. I had asked if they use ICSI (which is taking one sperm and injecting it into an egg). He shared that if there was greater than 50% of the eggs that did not fertilize with the conventional method, he would go back and use ICSI. After he had answered all my questions, he said he would call me in the morning with a fertilization report. Also, he would meet with me in person on Wednesday to go over their day 3 growth AND give me pictures!! I was so stoked!

Nicole, Kelly, and Finn stayed one more night and then I took them to the airport Monday morning. Scott and I don't have to words to even begin to say thank you enough to Nicole for all she sacrificed and went through to even give us just a chance of having children. I don't think I will ever be able to say thank you enough, and yet thank you just doesn't seem to be enough to convey how grateful we are.

Knee Deep

I haven't posted in a while because things have been kind of crazy in these parts. Between doctor appointments, work, and getting to hang out with my sister-in-law and nephew , Nicole and Finn, as well as Nicole's mom Kelly, I feel like my life the past 2 weeks has been a blur. So, in case you hadn't figured it out in prior posts and social media, Nicole is my egg donor! Yay! Scott and I were so completely thankful and at a loss for words that she volunteered to to this for us (more on that in another post).

Nicole and Co. came to town Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning we both had to be at the doctor at 7:00. This was a little difficult as I am NOT a morning person, but I would be there with bells on at 3 a.m. if need be. We got some baseline blood work done and we both got ultrasounds. My lining looked nice and appropriately thick. Nicole had lots of little follicles developing. It was a good start to the week. Our instructions were for me to keep taking my estrogen pills and delestrogen (estrogen) injections as prescribed. Poor Nicole, who is not a fan of all things needles, began her drug protocol. This consisted of 2 different injections in the morning and one different injection in the afternoon/early evening.

We had to go back Monday morning and pretty much every other day until Friday. Friday morning everything looked good on my part. Nicole was told she had "several dominant" follicles. My delestrogen dose was increased. We were hoping and praying that she would have the retrieval done Saturday morning, so that they could go home Sunday. They said Sunday it could happen, but more than likely it would be Monday. Well, we got a phone call Friday afternoon saying that Nicole's blood work showed she was ready to get her trigger shots that night, for her retrieval on SUNDAY! I had to ask the nurse a couple times, "you said Sunday, right?!". I thought I was hearing things.

That meant poor Nicole was done being a pin cushion after her two trigger shots that evening. Scott and I had made plans a few weeksor so prior to go up to North Olmsted for a fight night with some friends of mine. I had to frantically find someone who would be able to come to the house to give Nicole her injections. Thankfully, Julie (my sister) was able to come play nurse.

Sunday morning I took Nicole to the fertility clinic. We were taken into the little surgical suite they have onsite. I was walked into the waiting room and that was the last time I would see her or talk to her until the procedure was over. Luckily, the waiting room was right next to the surgical suite so I could hear everything...until they shut the door. Nicole was a trooper!

I will tell you how well everything went in my next post.

How goes it?

As I said before, there is a lot of hurry up and wait in the world of IVF. Hurry up to get your meds ordered and delivered. Then wait to use them. Hurry up to get call the doctor with the start of your cycle. Then wait for day 3 or 4 to actually be seen. Hurry to get blood work completed to evaluate your hormone levels. Wait for a phone call to either up your dosage or lower it. The list goes on and on.

In my last post I had stated that my donor would be coming to town on day 3 or 4 of our cycle. That was a lie. For months, MONTHS I tell you, we had been synced with our cycles within 24 hours of each other. We went on birth control to "sync them" even though our March cycle started on the same day. Wouldn't you know it, after finishing our birth control protocol, we are no longer synced! My donor started 3 days before I did. Due to this little "hiccup" our plans have changed. She is now coming to town on day 6. THREE DAYS from now!! I can't believe it!

I called the doctor's office on my day one. They instructed me to come in this morning and to bring all my meds and needles. If a police officer had pulled me over, they might have demanded quite an explanation for all the syringes and such I had seated next to me in the car. So my beautiful Sunday morning started off with a date with Wanda and Dr. S. Wanda was gentle on me today (she isn't always very gentle). The doctor said me lining was pretty thin and my job was to grow a nice and think lining over the next 2 weeks.

 They started me on two new medications today. One pill and one injection. I think there will be a time where I am on like 5 meds at once specifically for this process (not including my prenatal vitamin, thyroid pill, and aspirin regimen). I am preparing myself for a stretch of days that are laced with massive headaches. I feel blessed that I have only had one since I finished the first week of birth control. My hormones are out of wack from the Lupron I have been taking, which I have to continue to take until at least Thursday (April 14th).

This is my Estrace pill. Estrace is estradiol (estrogen).

This lovely vial contains Delestrogen (estradiol). This one is really fun because it is in oil, so it is really thick. You have to draw it up with an 18 g needle and then luckily it gets injected with a 22 g needle. Scott is responsible for giving me this. Unfortunately it goes in my posterior!

Just because he is so cute! Scooter is loving the warm weather today!

Anka is always cute and makes my heart melt! She was showing Scooter all the places to try to escape the backyard.

The other afternoon he was very cuddly and I was having a rough day emotionally (from all the hormones). Oliver nestled himself in under the soft blanket that was across my lap. Unfortunately, said blanket needs washed now to rid it of his fur.

I is for Injection

I went to the RE yesterday morning. They took some blood and I had a date with old "Wanda". I just closed my eyes during the ultrasound. I didn't want to see how big my endometriomas had gotten. I now have one in each ovary which means I have jumped up from stage 3 endo to stage 4. Boo!  As the doc was leaving the exam room, he told me I was just going to be in a holding pattern for now. This made me laugh on the inside as I have been comparing to this whole experience to begin on a flight.

What directives he did give me were to finish my birth control pack and to start injections of Lupron. I finished my pills this afternoon, yay!! I just finished my injection for the day. It stung a little, but it was easy. Now we wait. I have my marching orders to call when I start my cycle which could be as early as tomorrow or Monday. Once my donor has started and called the office, she will need to come to town by cycle day 3 or 4. Then the real fun starts!