IVF #1, embryo transfer

I started the morning off with an acupuncture treatment. Dr. Lee used the most needles yet, with them in my head, face, ears, belly, wrists, legs, and feet.

After that, Chad dropped me off at PRC for the transfer. I ended up waiting for over an hour, still not knowing if we had anything left to transfer. Good thing I brought a book with me!

Anyway, eventually I was finally called in to the ultrasound room. The nurse did a quick ultrasound to make sure my bladder was full (um yes it was) . Finally the doctor and embyologist came in to give me the good news. While one embryo had arrested, we still had two -- a grade A blastocyst and a grade B morula. The transfer was over with quickly and painlessly.

I'm supposed to stay on bed rest for the next 3 days. The scientific studies don't support this as being necessary, though. Hrm.

My pregnancy test is scheduled for December 7!

IVF #1 Egg Retrieval

We made it to the clinic bright and early this morning, while it was still dark. While in the waiting room, we chatted with a woman who's niece was donating eggs to her daughter. Their journey has been even more harrowing than ours, with her daughter developing life threatening blood clots in her lungs and legs.

Anyway, by 6:30 I was prepped and ready and Chad was given his sample cup and told to get busy. Ha!

When I woke up, the nurse told me that they retrieved 4 eggs! I think I asked a few times since I was really groggy from the anesthesia and kept thinking I must have misheard her since I was only expecting three.

We went home to recover with our new calendar of injections. I start progesterone tonight and continue the lovenox. Assuming we have embryos to transfer on Monday, I'll start estrogen as well.

At the moment I'm trying to remain very still. I have no idea how much discomfort is normal for this sort of thing, but even with extra painkillers at the clinic and some Tylenol with codeine, moving isn't very pleasant. Hopefully I'm back on my feet tomorrow for thanksgiving.

Update:
3 eggs were mature and fertilized. :)

IVF #1, Day 12

This morning's ultrasound went fairly well. I have 3 large follicles on the left (18mm, 16mm, and 19mm) and my lining is at 13mm. Unfortunately the two follicles on the right are still too small to produce a mature egg. I took a Ganirelex injection to prevent ovulation, and tonight at 8:30 I take the HCG trigger shot to mature the eggs. Retrieval is scheduled for 6:30 AM on Wednesday!

My doctor does 5 day transfers, so assuming we get a couple of healthy embryos, the transfer will be next Monday. I'm crossing my fingers that we make it that far.

Update: My estrogen level is up to 672, which is great! It means that I almost definitely have an egg in each follicle. =)

Tracy took a couple of pics of my lovely needle tracked & bruised belly last night so you can all see how attractive the blood thinners make me. My belly is also really swollen and distended from the stims and steroid pills.

She also took a still life that makes all of my drug paraphernalia look downright pretty!

IVF #1, Day 8

The rollercoaster ride continues! Today I had my second ultrasound of the stim phase and amazingly, my ovaries decided to join the party! I have 3 12mm follicles on the left and 2 tiny follicles on the right. My lining is at 7mm and my estrogen went up to 199.9.

We trigger when my follicles get to 20mm, so I will continue to stim through the weekend. Most likely I'll take the trigger shot on Monday after my ultrasound, and the retrieval will be Wednesday. Cross your fingers that the 2 small ones catch up by then!

I ordered another $1000 worth of follistim and menopur to get me through the weekend. Hopefully it does the trick...

IVF# 1, day 6

Today isn't going well.

I had an ultrasound to monitor my progress and grand total of ZERO follicles were present. It's really upsetting as I had 5 by this time during my last iui cycle back in April. Either I'm not responding to the meds at all, I just need more time, or the meds I purchased overseas are crap.

If it's the former, it may mean we waited too long. :(

My next ultrasound is on Thursday. Cross your fingers for some follicle growth!

Update: My estrogen rose to 88, which is great. Maybe something is happening afterall?

Update2: I saw my acupuncturist today. He thinks maybe the birth control pills over-suppressed me and now my ovaries are asleep. He gave me a more aggressive treatment to wake them up: more intense electro-stim needles. It feels like getting pricked in the belly in 12 spots at once every second or so for 20 minutes. Fun!