10 Week Ultrasound and Infusion

I am 10 weeks exactly today.   The lack of symptoms has been a little worrisome but I’ve been trucking along.  I’m exhausted and go to bed around 9 every night and I sleep through the night except to get up and go to the bathroom once or twice.  I’ve had several awful headaches at night as well but I have had little to no morning sickness.  Occasionally I get nauseous when I’m super hungry but that’s about it.

So today I went in for my ultrasound.  I had flown on a plane last week and was nervous about this week.  Sitting in the room made me start getting nervous.  When the doctor came in he came in with my nurse and a student.   My husband and I looked at each other.  The last time a student came in for an ultrasound it was when I found out about my loss and I think the girl was as devastated as we were.

This time we didn’t need to worry.  As soon as he got the probe in we saw the baby…and it was dancing!    I mean, the babies feet were really going in there!   I started laughing and my husband was smiling.  It was so cute.   Then he focused in on the head and baby was sucking its thumb!   This kid is going to be like me because I’m always on the go and was a huge thumb sucker (just check out my overbite).

We listened to the heartbeat again and it was at 163 beats per minute and was measuring right at 10 weeks.  SO things looked good!   This was my last official appointment with my RE’s office which made me sad.  However, I still have to go back for at least one more, if not two, infusions.

My infusion today was fine.  My arm is a little sore and red but otherwise it went fine.   The nurses were so nice and they all came in to tell us how cute our baby was 🙂  SO all and all it was a great appointment.

Next appointment is on Monday at the OB office!   We’ll be meeting our new OB/gyn since we need someone attached to the hospital in that area.   I like my current OB/gyn but do not like our hospital in town so we won’t be delivering here.

It’s a Christmas Miracle!

I can’t believe it but I’m pregnant!   I never, ever test before my beta but I just had this feeling so I took a test.   Imagine my shock when it was positive.  The next day I took a digital and it said yes!   I was in complete shock and was really worried for my beta.

On Thursday I had my first beta.  My nurse was off from work with an emergency but she wrote me at 8:25 to call her.  At 8:35 she couldn’t contain herself and e-mailed me with my number-221!  It was positive.  She then wrote an hour later and told me she called in to their weekly meeting, screamed my name and number, and they all did a group hug for me.  I love my clinic.

I went back on Saturday for a second beta and it went up to 541.   My husband and I are in disbelief.  I’m also scared to death and keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.   I have to call my nurse tomorrow to schedule our first ultrasound but it’s looking like it will be January 2nd.

I’m cautiously excited but I need to see the ultrasound before I really start jumping for joy.  Of course, I know that the first ultrasound doesn’t mean everything as I had a miscarriage right after seeing the heartbeat of our first pregnancy.  But for now it’s a Christmas miracle.

We’ve come so far and have done so much to have this baby.  My husband is already being cute and monitoring me.  He bought lunch meat today and then got mad at himself because he told me I couldn’t eat it and he forgot.   He’s been saying a lot of little things that make me think he’s done some research on his on.

So, please keep me in your thoughts that this is our rainbow baby.  That this is the baby we’ve been hoping and praying for for years.  That this is our take home baby.

We transferred!

Here it is Wednesday and I’m happy to report we were able to transfer on Monday.   I was so worried that our little embryo wouldn’t thaw properly but it turns out I didn’t need to worry.   Originally I was going to take off the entire day off from work but since it’s my easy day at school I went in for the morning.

At noon I came home and picked up my husband.   We drove the hour ride up to the clinic and arrived 15 minutes early.  I expected to have to wait but one of the nurses came a few minutes later to get me.   She had my husband and I change into our “gear” and then the embryologist came in to talk to us.

I know I’ve talked about him before but our embryologist is the best.  He’s been doing this since IVF was just starting.  In fact, he told us when he started the success rate was only 8%.   Can you imagine paying all of this money for an 8% chance??  Anyhow, he came in and told us that the embryo thawed well, bounced back, and was currently an expanding blast.  He did say he was going to do assisted hatching to make sure it could get out.  Then he left and they got us into the room.

I was reminded that this was a blast and that it was a good one.  They told me with had a 50% chance with this one which was what we had with the last one.  I know they were all pulling for us.    So we did everything we needed to do, they got the catheter in me and the embryologist brought in our blast.  A few seconds later I was PUPO!

I was rolled back out into the recovery area and the embryologist came back out.  He was all excited to do a show and tell with us.  It turns out he explained the freezing process in depth and then showed us the actual tube the embryo was frozen in.  It’s CRAZY how small the hole in the tube is that they have to get the embryo in.  He says it’s stressful because they have 90 seconds to get it into the freezing medium then get it into the hole and get it frozen.  The hole is smaller then the eye of a needle and he said that the embryo is about 1/10 of that size.

He then gave us the tube that our embryo was frozen in as well as the tubing that it hangs from in the freezing chamber.   It’s pretty cool having that as a souvenir!   It has my code number on it as well as 2 colors.  The colors are for the stage and the grading of the embryo so it was one color for a blast and one color for “good” quality.

So now we wait.  My beta is December 15 so we are either going to have a miracle at Christmas or a really bad Christmas.  I’m nervous but I’m trying not to think about it.  I’m just taking my estrogen and my husband is giving me my progesterone in olive oil.  I’m trying to be positive but I don’t want to get my hopes up.  I do feel good about this cycle.  I feel like my body is more relaxed and things are going well but I don’t want to jinx anything.  Especially since we’ve done so many transfers before.

So just 8 days until we learn the fate of our first frozen transfer.  It’s funny that we’ve done 3 years of infertility treatments but this is our first time doing a frozen transfer.   I hope this is the end of our journey.  If it’s not then we have one more shot but when it’s the end of that cycle it’s the end of our journey and not in a good way.

Are You Kidding Me?

I’m pretty sure the title of this post says it all.  If I ever have a normal cycle where everything is perfect I’ll be amazed.   If you remember, last cycle I ovulated way early and had the shortest cycle ever so I couldn’t do my frozen transfer.   This time I got AF on Wednesday and started taking my Estrogen.  I’ve already been taking Lupron for a week or so.

I wasn’t feeling so hot on Wednesday, I had a stuffy nose and was coughing.  Well I wake up Thursday morning with sciatica pain.  Now I never had sciatica pain until my second IVF cycle.  When they woke me up I was in horrible pain and it was from how they had me positioned apparently.  Well the pain is back.   I managed through it on Thursday and it was ok, just a little sore.

Friday I woke up and it was awful.  I couldn’t get out of bed on my own.  I could barely walk.  But, I was deteremined to go to work. This was cycle day 3.  I made it through hald the day before I cried uncle and went to urgent care.  They said my sciatica was inflamed and swollen.  They could feel it in addition to having me do some crazy exercises I couldn’t do.  I told them I couldn’t have anything Motrin or ibuprofin based so they gave me a muscle relaxer and a steroid.

I immediately called my RE to see if I could take anything.  I still couldn’t walk.  I got home and my husband had to help me to the couch.  It was so painful.   The RE said while he wasn’t thrilled about me taking either one that both were safe enough.  As long as I only took them for 5 days I would have 14 days without anything until the transfer and that should be good enough.

Saturday was rough as well.  I spent all day on the couch and never left the house.  I was still in a lot of pain.   On Sunday I ventured to the market but was quickly exhausted and sore.  I came home and rested.  I felt sore but not in pain so I felt like I was improving.

Today I was just sore again.  However I went back to work which was a mistake.  I was so tired and in pain when I left school.  Not as much pain as Friday but I could really feel it in my hip and thigh today.  I then had to come home and make dinner and cupcakes for school.  I’m pretty sure I overdid it. I’m on the couch now, just took my medications, and am waiting for the pain to stop.  Tomorrow is day 5 and the last day I can take my pills but I’m not sure I’m going to feel ok about that.  I’m in a lot of pain but I’m going to have to try and push through it.  I’ve got 1 day to chill and feel better.

My first monitoring appointment is next Monday.  I also have my infusion that day. Please keep your fingers crossed that my lining looks good, that I haven’t ovulated, and that all of my numbers line up.  I’m so ready to do this FET before the end of this year.   I’m really hoping this is our tiny miracle.  We’ve got 2 frozen but this will be my 10th medicated cycle and I’m ready to be done with them.

 

Day 5 Update

I was pretty much a wreck yesterday.  I had the sound on my phone but I was hoping I wouldn’t hear it.   I was busy running around trying to get ready for the day.  Not only was I supposed to transfer if we had any blasts but we were going to my parents house for a picnic.  I figured they would call between 7-8 to let us know.

Around 7:30 my husband comes running to me with my phone telling me it was my nurse.   I started shaking so badly I couldn’t stand it.  I answered the phone and my nurse was really not herself.   She said a few things and I thought for sure she was gearing up to tell me that none of my embryos made it.

Instead she said that she had my 3 day report and that out of the 4 embryos THREE made it to blast!    I was so shocked I said, “NO WAY!”   She laughed and said, ‘YES WAY!”   I looked at my husband and gave him a thumbs up.  He looked very relieved.   She then went on to say that I had 2 full blasts and that one was good quality and one was fair.  I also had an early blast that was good.  She told me she’d see me at 9.

Well, I was flying high!  I really didn’t imagine having 3!    I had 3 blasts on day 5 my very first IVF cycle (over 2 years ago) and that was from 22 eggs retrieved and 10 eggs fertilized so having 3 blasts from 4 eggs fertilized was  shock.   We were planning on transferring 2 even though my husband was very nervous about that.

We got to the office right at 9.   I was supposed to drink 8 oz. water at 8am, pee at 8:30, then drink 8 more ounces.   Well I did that, but then right before we walked in we stopped at McDonald’s and I peed then too which was bad.  Little did I know that was going to save me!

When we got to the office it was packed!  There were no nurses or doctors in sight.  It was very odd.   After waiting until 9:30 (and being really happy I used the bathroom at 9) a nurse comes running out and shouts (yes shouts) we didn’t forget about you!   Apparently they had had an egg retrieval go badly.  Something about not being able to start an IV and then the woman having trouble during the surgery.   By the time they called me back it was 10 and everyone looked frazzled.

My nurse simply said it was a rough morning and she was really sorry we had to wait so long.  I handed her the cookies I had made them and I got a big hug for them.  I think they all needed a little sugar.   I quickly got into my gown and onto the bed.   The woman next to me must have been the one with the bad retrieval because she was hooked up to a heart monitor and there was a lot of whispering over there.

The embryologist came over and said hi to me, then the other nurses did.  Finally my doctor came in.   He told me that all 3 of my embryos were now full blasts and that the embryologist says they were all high quality.   For that reason he was only going to let me transfer 1 instead of the 2 they thought I was going to transfer.   I was a little shocked but I went with the advice of my doctor.   I think my husband was a little relieved.

So in we all went to the transfer room.  It was me, my husband, one of the nurses, and the RE.   They left the door open which was crackign me up because of course I was naked from the stomach down.   Apparently the egg retrieval woman had left and I was the only one in the office since it was a Sunday.   My RE had to leave to get something and the nurse told me he was tired because he’s been up for 24 hours!   Not exactly what I wanted to hear but he was on call and there was a college football game (WVU if that tells you anything) and the ER was insane the night before.

But my RE is a champ.   He told me to relax, think pregnant thoughts, and told me this is the best chance we’ve had since coming to this practice.  I knew he was right.   I’ve been officially a patient there since November 2014 but I had gone to them for monitoring from March 2014-November 2014 so they know me pretty well.  We’ve been through 5 IUI’s, an IVF monitoring, and 3 actual IVF cycles together.

Not my actual blast but it looked a lot like this one!

The embryologist came in, told us he was ready, and a few seconds later I was PUPO!  My husband actually saw the blast go in this time.  I’m not sure I did though!   Boo!  We waited, they checked the tube, and we were good.   The nurses rolled me out and the embryologist came out with his computer.

The thing I like about this practice is they sit with you for 30 minutes while you are on your back not allowed to pee.   The embryoloigst shows you pictures of your embryos and explains things.  He actually explained ICSI in detail to us and showed us him choosing the sperm, we saw the ICSI injection.  We saw all 10 eggs, the 6 mature ones, and the 4 that fertilized.   Turns out actually 5 fertilized but 1 did it a day late and was always behind.

The embryologist got really excited when he came to the day 5 pictures.  He told me that they checked the embryos at 7 and I got the report on that.   At 10:30 they rechecked them before they chose one and he was happy to tell me not only were they all full blasts but they were all high quality blasts.   He was smiling and really excited.  He told me that I surprised them all with these beauties and he would be really surprised if one of them didn’t make us a baby.

He’s a really interesting guy.   After showing us the photos he asked if we had any questions.  He then told us that he was in the group that did the first IVF monkey.   He apparently was written up in an article as being Dr. Frankenstein because he was the embryologist on the monkey.  How crazy is that?   He was also part of the team that has the 3rd IVF baby.  Talk about having a champ as my embryologist.  He said when they made the 3rd IVF baby the state actually made it illegal in between the retrieval and the transfer so they ran to a senator who happened to be a patient, and he added an addendum that made it legal the day before they had to transfer the embryo!   Crazy!  He’s a really fascinating guy.

He then explained the freezing process which sounds insane.  They have 90 seconds to get the blast frozen once they put the medium on it.   It sounds so stressful.  He said he and the other embryologist are dead silent and he gets nervous every time.   He says his success rate for freezing is pretty high.  I was also worried about their 2013 and 2014 SART data regarding frozen transfers but he made me feel a little better when he said that in July they thawed a blast and that woman got pregnant so this year seems to be better already.

So the question is what made the difference?   Why do I suddenly have high quality embryos when last time (10 months ago) I had 2 not so great ones and had to do a 2 day transfer?   There are so many factors.   I’ve been on CoQ10 for 1 year.   My AMH is back in the normal range.   My office got a my filtration system and new incubators.   I had the experienced embryologist and not the younger one.   I’ve been doing the NK cells infusions.  So many different factors.  No matter what I’m happy that our last cycle worked out so well.  I’m also happy that hopefully my 2 other blasts are frozen and we’ll have another chance if we need it.  They will call today to tell me if they froze.  Sorry for the novel but yesterday was really an exciting day for us.

Egg Retrieval 4.0 Complete

So today was egg retrieval.   My husband and I were both really worried about it.  He got up at 1:30 am and I got up at 4 am.    Neither of us went back to sleep.   So we were pretty exhausted.

I got to the clinic at 7.   My nurse took my husband back to one room while I went with another nurse to get dressed.   I met the anesthesiologist and he was super nice.  He and my nurse kept up some banter that was pretty funny.   He asked if this was my first time and I laughed so he just handed the paperwork over for me to sign.

My husband came back to give me a kiss and then I went in to the surgery area.   The nurse got me ready and then my doctor came in. Next thing I knew I was waking up.  I was crampy but otherwise felt ok.  The nurse got me some medication and an apple juice.  Then they brought my husband back.

After 20 minutes the embryologist came in to talk to us.   He said they collected 10 eggs and he was happy because none of them appeared to have endometriosis in them which was part of the problem last time.   He talked to us about our options with PGD, freezing, etc.   He gave me some options I hadn’t thought about which was good.   It gives us something to think about.

The man is a wealth of information.   He talked all about endometriosis.  It turns out that was his specific area of study so he told me a lot of information and gave me some different options into pain management as well.  My husband then asked him if he watched the series Masters of Sex.   While he didn’t he was familiar with Masters and Johnson and so we talked about infertility and the sex studies.

Then we got back on track.  He told me that he was actually surprised I didn’t get pregnant last time.  He said both embryos we transferred were good quality and he would have thought it would have happened.  Given my history he says as long as we have a few embryos this time he thinks we have a good shot.  It was really nice to hear that.

So we have 10 eggs.  My guess is that 7 or 8 will be mature.   My other guess is that 3 or 4 will be fertilized.  I will be absolutely crushed if less then 3 fertilize.   So the nurse will call me tomorrow and let me know the fertilization rate.  I’m so scared and nervous.  I know it could be 0 but I’m hoping we have some fertilize.

As for how I’m feeling, I was ok when we got home and I took a nap.  When I woke up I was in some pain.   My lower abdomen is very tender and hurts some.  I’ve been sitting on the couch and laying on the floor all day. My husband made dinner so that was good.

So, now we wait….again.  I hopefully will update tomorrow…with good news.

Monitoring Appointment #3 (IVF #4)

So I had another monitoring appointment yesterday.  My old RE did the monitoring because my new RE was doing an egg retrieval…on my OB/gyn!   What a crazy beginning to the day that was!

My old RE is super thorough.   He measures follicles from 3 angles instead of 2 so it took a while longer.  My nurse was off yesterday so the insurance coordinator, who I love, was in with me taking the notes.

As of right now it looks like I had 7 follicles on the right between 12-20, most of them being between 15-17.  On the left I had 5 follicles between 11-16.  They wanted to wait for my bloodwork before deciding whether or not to trigger me.  My RE came in, reviewed the data, and stated that he really wanted to push me another day if the numbers came in ok.   I’m all for that since I’d like some of those 15’s to mature.

I went home feeling ok.   Some of my follicles were clearly bigger while others looked similar to my previous appointment.  I’m worried I’m going to lose the 20 and that the 11 and 12’s aren’t going to make it.   I hate the waiting game.  This is like the worst time during monitoring.  I always feel like the worst times are the day you do your AFC, the day before egg retrieval, the day after egg retrieval when you get the fertilization report, and the day of transfer.    Of course the very worst is beta day but those other 4 are pretty sucky too.

So my husband and I decided to go shopping while we had some time and while in a store my nurse called.   She said they are pushing me back one day because my numbers came back good.  Guys, my E2 is 2115!   WHAT?!  I haven’t had an E2 that high since my first round of IVF.   I’m getting really nervous, scared, and excited over here.  Is it too much to hope for that I get 10 retrieved (which has happened the last 2 times), all 10 are mature, and 4 fertilize????   That’s what I’m hoping for since the last two times I’ve had 2 and 3 fertilize.

If we get 4 and they make it to day 3 they will send them out for PGD and I’ll have a day 5 transfer.   Again, I haven’t had a day 5 transfer since my first cycle.  That would almost be too good to be true.  PLUS, as a recap, on that first cycle I had 22 retrieved, 17 mature, 10 fertilize, and only 3 make it to day 5 so I’m a little worried about waiting.  However, I’d love to have 1 or 2 to freeze just so we can have another shot if needed.

So, I did my last day of stims last night.   I’ll trigger tonight at 9:30.   Egg retrieval is at 7:30 on Tuesday morning.  I have to be there by 7.   Please keep me in your thoughts as I’m already beginning to freak out!

Second Monitoring Appointment (IVF #4)

So the second monitoring appointment this morning was a party.   It was my RE, the new RE, a med student, my nurse, and me.   Everyone was all up in me this morning!   I made a comment about the party being in my room and the med student got all embarrassed.  Toughen up young buck!

Anyhow things are looking good.  I had 6 good looking follicles on the right side ranging 12-16 and 4 on the left ranging from 14-16.   There could be more on the left but he couldn’t see the whole thing.   They are thinking he’s going to have to go through my uterus again to get to the ovary.  That means more pain which sucks but if it means more eggs I’ll do it.

My lining was at 12 and that made my RE really happy.   He had a big smile and the nurse looked at me and told me that thick, fluffy endometrium makes him really happy.  I guess that means me really happy too!

My nurse wanted my E2 to be about 1000 by today but when she called it wasn’t.   It was almost 1400!  That’s almost triple what it was on Monday.  She was very excited and said that was higher then it was on my last 2 cycles at trigger and I still have 2 or 3 days to go.

I quickly grabbed my old paperwork and she was right.  On my first cycle, the golden cycle, I was at 1700 at this point, went 2 more days, and they got 22 eggs, 17 mature.   I know I don’t have that in me but I’m hoping they can get more than 10 this time even though he’s only counting 10 at this point. I’m also hoping the quantity is better then the past 2 tries because it has sucked.

So I’m feeling pretty good at this point.  I go back on Saturday and my nurse thinks I’ll trigger then.  I think I will too.

I’ve been feeling bloated and heavy.  The doctor asked me how I’m feeling and if I’m not nauseous then he says I’m ok.   I’m hoping it’s just heaviness from my enlarged ovaries.   My stomach is also sore from the bruising.  It sucks.  I took a photo (you don’t have to look) to see what it looks like after 9 days of stims.

So, two more days until my next monitoring appointment and I might actually trigger!  I’m starting to feel hopeful which could be dangerous but I can’t help it this time.  Things are going so much better then last summer!

 

Infusion and Playing the Waiting Game

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I’ve last posted.  Sorry about that!  Unfortunately life got in the way.  I feel like all I’ve been doing is going to work, running errands, then coming home, making dinner, and crashing.  I’ve had no extra energy to do anything.  Work has been seriously crazy lately with the end of the year almost here.   I’m looking forward to slowing down a bit this summer.

So to catch you all up on me I did my first IV infusion at the beginning of May for my elevated NK cells.   It wasn’t too bad and it took about an hour and a half.  The nurse who gave it was new and she was a bit nervous.  I assured her I was fine and would yell if I needed something.  My nurse finally came in, told her I was a pro with needles and IV’s, and the new nurse left.

The infusion looks like an IV of milk. It’s very bizarre.  It made my hand and arm cold but otherwise I didn’t feel anything.  It was just boring.  While sitting there my nurse and I talked about the protocol and she gave me all the forms we need to fill out.   Writing this I realize I have yet to fill them out and get them back to her…ooops!

A few days after the infusion I got sick.  I haven’t been sick all year and now that it’s May I finally got sick.   It was the sinus headache, stuffy nose, sneezing, and general body ache sickness.  It lasted 5 days in full force and was rough.  I could barely make it home and go to bed.   After that I just had a cold and was feeling better.

Last week my meds were delivered.   I’m surprised and happy to report it’s much less then normal.   Apparently they are going with 450 of Follistim this time instead of the 600 or 750 I’ve done the last 2 times so that was a nice surprise.  The pen only dials up to 450 so only one stick instead of 2!  I’ll also be doing a whole vial of Menopur and a Long Lupron protocol.  I’ve never done long Lupron before, only ever Ganarelix so this is new.  I’ll also be doing EPP starting with my cycle instead of before and I’ll be using suppositories (Oh boy!)  Then I’ll follow ET (hopefully) with PIO.  I will again be using olive oil so I won’t have a reaction.

This is a different protocol then I’ve had in the past so I’m a little leery of it.  I’m also hopeful though since my AMH has increased by .75 which is is now just the low end of normal instead of the “you barely have a chance” range.  I’m hoping that even if we don’t get more eggs this time that they are better quality and more then 2 fertilize.   Honestly, I’m just hoping for 4 embryos.  I don’t think that’s too much to hope for.

So I’m about 2 weeks out from my period and starting BCP’s.  I’ll be on them for 14 days and then I’ll have my baseline and start my stims!  I also have an appointment June 8 for my next IV infusion.  After sitting on the bench for over 6 months I’m definitely ready to get this cycle started!

Here We Go Again

Take a deep breath and…..here we go again!   After a month of not really talking about anything IF related we went out of town to do a little shopping last weekend and it just happened to be in the town our RE’s office is located.   As we drove past it on the way home I turned to my husband and told him he didn’t have to talk about it now but that we needed to decide what we were going to do because hanging in limbo was really weighing on me.

He surprised me by saying that while he hates me being put under anesthesia, since another cycle would be mostly covered by insurance he said he thought we should do another cycle.  Since that’s what I’ve been leaning towards as well we decided to go for it.

I thought I threw the book at my cycle last time but it’s nothing compared to what I’m going to do this cycle.   I plan on quitting drinking the cycle before, cutting caffeine to 1 cup of half caff per day, trying any and all supplements I can, and adding in HGH this time around.  That is, if my RE is ok with all of this.  He doesn’t know it yet, but that’s what I want to do next time.

I wrote my nurse on Tuesday.  She wrote me back telling me she was on vacation and would it be ok to wait until Monday to write me back or did I need answers now?  How awesome is she?   She didn’t have to write me on vacation.  I wrote her back and thanked her for replying but told her I could wait until Monday.

So now I’m doing so research on supplements.  I’m also looking into the IVF diet.  I’ve already been trying to add protein to my diet but I need to limit my carbs.  We’ll see how that goes.

Now, I just wait until Monday and see what the nurse says.  I asked her about 500 questions before we go ahead and do this.  I want to be tested for a few things before hand too.   We likely won’t cycle until June, which until February hit seemed so far away.  Now it’s just 4 short months away!