Waiting...

On July 28th, I went to the hospital for my egg retrieval. The doctor retrieved 35 eggs! They called us the next day to let us know that most were not mature. Only 5 fertilized on their own, so they planned to do ICSI on the rest. With ICSI, 9 more fertilized. Rather than wait for a day 3 transfer, they recommended doing a day 2 transfer.
On the morning of the transfer, I had to be sure to shower (it would be my last until Monday night), take a prometrium pill vaginally (to relax my uterus for the transfer), and then take a valium. Out of the 5 embryos, 1 didn't look like it was developing so well. The recommendation was to tranfer all 5. So at 11:00am, our 5 little embryos were delivered into my uterus. It was so quick and painless, I didn't feel a thing.
I had been doing PIO shots since the night of the egg retrieval. They don't seem to be as awful as I remembered from the first IVF 3 years ago. I took a blood test to measure my progesterone on Thursday. The RE's office called to say that my levels looked good and to continue with the same dosage 1mL/night. This morning, I began the Climara patches. 2 patches on my abdomen to help support early pregnancy.
DH asked if this time feels different than the last time we did IVF. There were a lot of differences this time around. The dosage with this protocol was so much higher which resulted in the large number of eggs and OHSS. While I don't think my OHSS was severe by any means, it was definitely worse than the first time. I was very uncomfortable and as the result of it and the medication that the doctor prescribed dealt with the worst case of constipation. After more than a week, I am finally feeling back to normal.
I did experience some cramping last night and this morning. I'm not sure if it was because of the mild constipation or if it was from walking around last night. I have to be mindful of taking it easy. I go back to work on Monday which I'm a little afraid of. I get easily exhausted and am suppose to not stand for more than 20 minutes at a time or not lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. As a teacher, that's easier said than done.
My beta tests are scheduled for August 9th and 11th. I'm preparing myself for the worst just in case, but trying to remain positive and hope for the best.

Triggering...

I had my last u/s and blood work appointment this morning. Last night was my final stim shot of 75iu's of Menopur. Thankfully, I didn't hit a blood vessel like I did the night before. That was traumatizing. The RE explained that a good stim would result in 20 follicles. I'm at about 25 follicles. This shows good ovarian reserve, but at the same time the downside is I'm at a higher risk for OHSS. I can definitely feel it with abdominal bloating, achiness in my ovaries, and mild nausea.
I'm finally ready to trigger tonight at 12:30am. The egg retrieval is scheduled for Thursday morning. Then we hope and pray for a good harvest and fertilization report, and a 5 day blast transfer. Keeping everything crossed and hoping and praying it works!

On Track

I started out the first 3 days on 300iu's of Follistim and 75iu's of Menopur. Based on my u/s and and blood work, the RE increased my Follistim dose to 400 iu's and 75 iu's of Menopur for the next 3 days. My u/s yesterday showed approximately 20 follicles in all and my levels were where he wanted them to be, so he decreased my dosage to 350iu's of Follistim and 75 iu's of Menopur for 2 days. My next u/s and blood test is scheduled for tomorrow. I can feel the difference as the follies continue to grow. Hopefully things remain on track.

Shrinking...

Today was the u/s appointment that would determine whether or not this cycle would continue or get postponed. I never thought the day would come where I'd be hoping and praying my follicles don't grow. I guess there's always a time for everything.

I had a full bladder which made it a little difficult to clearly see all the follicles, but the largest ones he was able to see/measure were about 7-8mm, which wasn't bad at all. So he gave the okay to stop birth control pills tomorrow and call when AF begins. I asked him if the large follicles he saw the last time shrank and he said that they sometimes do. He'll get a closer look on Friday when I go back for another u/s and blood test. Hopefully all remains on track. If it does, then I will start Follistim and Menopur on Sunday.

Not So Fast!

I had my SIS (saline sonogram) today. It was agony sitting in the waiting room. They asked to me to come with a full bladder. I arrived 10 minutes before my appointment time and had to wait nearly an hour before they did the procedure. So uncomfortable holding a full bladder, with a speculum, 2 catheters, the ultrasound wand, and then the regular ultrasound probe pressed down on my abdomen. Thankfully, it was over within 10 minutes.
The SIS itself wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Much less discomfort than the HSG. The main thing is that there were no fibroids, cysts, or anything irregular with my uterus. I just heard him make the comment that there's not much room in there. Hmmm..
He measured my ovaries and checked on my follicles. I have two follicles, one on each side that are larger than the rest. They're hoping that they don't turn into lead follicles, which may mean a postponement. The original dosage of Lupron was 5 ml but because of those two big follicles, the dosage was increased to 10 ml and a hope and a prayer that they don't grow anymore without being stimulated. Keeping our fingers and toes crossed.

Should we or shouldn't we?

I'm so confused. The RE called to ask if we wanted to do PGD or not. Kaiser usually doesn't cover the procedure and it would cost us approximately $5k on top of the IVF cost. I asked him what the reason would be for PGD and he explained that they would remove a cell from the embryo to test for any chromosomal abnormality. If there were an abnormality it may eliminate or lower the possibility of another miscarriage. The cost alone is a huge factor that is telling me no. But there's a part of me that wonders if it's the right decision. Should we take the chance?

I've looked up PGD on-line and there seems to be pros and cons about it. Some have posted their experiences on fertility boards about it. Two people said to be prepared to not end up with any embryos to transfer after PGD while others have been thankful they did it because they now have a beautiful baby. I am going to be 38 this month and have suffered 2 recurrent miscarriages which is why he is probably recommending PGD. However, the karyotyping test dh and I took both came back normal, along with the lupus anticoagulant antibody test, anticardiolipin antibody test, and serum phosphitidylserine test. I'm not sure what to do.

IVF #2

It's been 3 years since our 1st IVF and over a year since my miscarriage. We decided to try one last time. Earlier this year I had accepted the idea that having a family of our own may not be in the cards after 11 1/2 years of infertility. I woke up one morning feeling at peace with the idea. Dh and I weren't giving up altogether, but had finally come to terms with it. That is until I went to my "wellness woman" appointment in April. Dh had already had an appointment scheduled for the end of April to see a urologist. Something he had never done before. When I went to my appointment, I saw a nurse practitioner that I had never seen before, so she reviewed my entire medical history with me. She suggested that I go and see the clinic's new ob/gyn who might be able to tell me why I haven't been able to get pregnant on my own so easily or carry a pregnancy to term. The cynical part of me thought what could she tell me that I don't already know or that my other OB didn't tell me. But it compelled me to seek her help and the wheels started turning. Dh and I went to see her together. We didn't learn anything new. We did tell her that Dh went to see a urologist and everything turned out okay. She suggested doing another round of IVF and ordered a bunch of tests to update my record.

Fast forward to June 29th...I saw the RE for a day 3 check. I thought they would have done blood work, but it was just an u/s to check my uterus size and lining, and ovarian reserve. We were told during our consultation a couple weeks earlier that it might be better to wait until August/September to do IVF. Given the school year begins in August, I was a little worried, but went along with the idea. Well, at the day 3 check, the RE counted a total of approximately 27 follicles, more on the right ovary than the left. Because my ovarian reserve looked better than they expected considering my age (almost 38), they said we could move forward with IVF #2 in July. So the adventure begins...I started birth control pills and baby aspirin on Thursday. I'm scheduled for an SIS this Thursday and DH and I have to do HIV testing along with a semen analysis.

What's different this time around...we're seeing an RE for this IVF, we told our family and friends in the hopes that more positive thoughts and prayers will make this more successful. Most everyone knows our struggle with having a family, but the last time we didn't tell anyone outside of our immediate family about IVF in case it didn't work. Everyone that knows is so supportive and really rooting for us.