Transfer....CHECK

Well yesterday was an ...umm, interesting day!  Our transfer was scheduled for 11:30am so we leave the house at about 9:15am.  I'm waiting for about 10 minutes for my *darling* husband.  We get down the street & he tells me he forgot something at home. WTF!!  So I go back and wait a few more minutes.  Now we are cutting it close to time & still need to stop and get my 2 liters of water since my bladder needs to be full.  I drove down there so he could get some work done on his lap top.  I was averaging about 80-85mph to try and make up some time.  An hour before transfer I need to empty my bladder and start drinking.  Luckily there was a rest stop so I did that quickly.  We were about 20 minutes from the clinic & what happens????  I get frickin PULLED OVER!!!!!!!  We try to explain to the officer that we are going to the Dr for IVF.  He had no idea what that was so we had to say "invitro fertilization" and it is very time sensitive.  He seemed like he was a little understanding & then says he still needs to give me a ticket.  Thanks A$$HOLE!!!  It was a speed trap and I got clocked by a cop that was on a bridge...83 in a 65...oops!!  So I made hubby call the office to let them know we will be late...I was a nervous wreck at this point.  So I get a whopping $120 fine but he didn't keep my license & I won't have to go to court.

We finally make it to the office & they all had a good chuckle about me getting a ticket!  At least they weren't mad that we were late.

OK, now on to the good stuff.  They give me valium to relax me & the tech comes in to tell us they are going to transfer 1 blast.  OH NO, I don't think so!!  I put up a fight for my 2 blasts!!  He kept telling me...well according to the American Reproductive Society (or what ever he said) and your age, they recommend one.  I told him this is my FOURTH transfer, we've always transferred 2 and they've never worked.  He said he would go ask the Dr about doing two.  Dr agreed & we got our two!!! YAY!!!!!  We had transferred an "awesome" grade 2 & an "OK" grade 3...both with GES of 70's.  The transfer took maybe 10 minutes & then I just layed there while we talked with the embryologist.  Betas are next week on 5/25 & 5/27.  Originally they had them for 5/27 & 5/31 but we leave for Florida on the 27th so the nurse moved them up for us. =) 

Ive been a couch potato ever since yesterday and it's actually kind of boring.  Today while I was watching some TV I got a call from the embryologist.  She said unfortunately none of the remaining 6 embryos will be frozen.  This is so upsetting!  She did say she has high hopes for our "over-achiever" though.  Please pray that this one works!!  We only have 1 more cycle left in the package that we purchased.

5 more days until beta #1................

No Day 3 transfer!

So ever since Sunday I've been wondering how my babies have been doing.  I've been anxiously awaiting the phone call from the office manager & the day has finally came.  She said we are being pushed to a Day 5 tranfer & I couldn't be HAPPIER!!!!  Finally!! 

Here is the updated fert report:
5 grade 1's w/ no fragmentation: two 7-cell & three 8-cell
3 grade 2's: one 7-cell, one 9-cell, & one 10-cell
GES scores are: (2)65, (3)70, 25, & (2)100

Originally they told me I had 7 embryos but they mis-counted and I really have 8 that are still growing strong!  Transfer is set for Thursday @ 11:30am!  How many we are transferring is still pending.  We've always done 2 & never have gotten pregnant.  I emailed Dr H to see if we can do 3 and I'm waiting to hear his thoughts on that.

Oh, another good thing.......insurance covered my intralipids!!!!!  I only have to pay $43 instead of the self pay rate of $500!!!  What a relief since I will need those every month until 26 weeks.

Egg Retrieval & Fert Report

Saturday morning was my egg retrieval & all went well.  We got 14 eggs!!  I was feeling a little more sore this time around but I took advantage of our 2hr drive & napped on the way home.  All day Saturday was spent either laying on the couch or sleeping...it was great!

I got the call this morning with my fert report:
14 retrieved
12 mature
7 fertilized

I'm a little worried that we only have 7 to work with but I'm just hoping that they are great quality ones!!  We are tentatively on the schedule for a day 3 transfer for Tuesday @ 1pm.  They will call me that morning to let me know whether we go in or will push it to a day 5.

Time for a trigger dance!!!!!

OK, I finally got the call............HCG will be given tonight @ 10:30pm & ER is set for Saturday morning @ 9am.  We will need to be there at 8:15 so it will be an early morning since it's a 2hr drive.

Let's hope for some normal eggs and that we can make it for a day 5 transfer this time!!!!!

Getting closer!

I know I haven't been on here in awhile but things are moving along AWESOME!!!  Monday (5/9/11) was my first u/s & E2 draw.  I was a little discouraged at that appt.  I had about 6 or so follicles on each ovary measuring 10mm and below.  They told me I would most likely be doing 2 more nights of stims & to make an appt for Wednesday but wait for the call from the nurse.  The nurse called in the afternoon & confirmed what they told me.  My lining was a beautiful 11.3 & E2 was only 422.

Today I took the 2 hour trek back to SIRM for the seocond u/s & E2.  Things were looking MUCH better.  For some reason my lining went down to 9.4 but that is still good.  There were 8 follicles on my left ovary & about 6-8 on my right side.  Alot of them were 14mm & some were even 16-18mm.  After that I met with my coordinator & she gave my my HCG instructions!!!!  I am to do one more night of stims first though.  We will be triggering tomorrow night (5/12/11) but she will call me with the time & egg retrieval will be Saturday (5/14/11) and she will also confirm the time for that as well.  I'm so excited to get things moving!!!!  Now let's hope & pray that these batch of eggs are normal and develop into healthy babies! =)

Getting closer....

I've been on Follistim since Tuesday.  I started out 2 days on 225iu.  Thursday I made the 2hr trek to get my intralipids done.  Hopefully they supressed my NK cells enough and lets my embyros implant ;)  Last time I had mom with me but this time I did it on my own.  It went good, just laid there for 2 hours & studied for my upcoming final.  After the IV was done I met up with one of my online friends & had a great time.

Once I got home it was shot time.  I had lowered the Follistim to 150iu & added in 1/2 vial of Menopur.  I always get nervous when mixing the Menopur so I had to watch the video online for it LOL  It all came back to me and it was all good.

Monday morning I will be heading back to see Dr H for my first u/s & E2 draw.  Hoping to have a good number of follies brewing and we will know more of when ER will land.

So to make my life even more stressful..........Monday I have my u/s and I also have my final at school.  We now also have a relative staying with us for awhile.  Oh boy, should be an interesting time. =)

Almost stim time!!

Well it's almost that time again.  Since I've gotten my calendar the coordinator called to let me know they reveiwed my protocol & decided to bring down my Follistim dose to 225.  She says every month they have a "lab meeting" to go over everyone's calendars and realized mine was too high.  DUH...what did I email you about WEEKS ago!  I'm just glad they caught it before I came down with some major OHSS!!!!  I've been on Lupron for 10 days now & all i have to complain about it a few hot flashes here & there.  I did warn DH though in advance. LOL  I start my 225iu of Follistim on Tues, go in for intralipids on Thurs.  Thurs I also cut back on the Follistim to 150iu & add in 1/2 vial of Menopur.  Things should be moving pretty quick from this point on.  E2 yesterday came back good so I don't have to worry about that.  First u/s will be on the 9th...which is also the same day as my final...YIKES!!!

About a week ago I had some major bloody nose incidences that scared the CRAP out of me!!  I thought it was from the Lupron but it turns out it's this stupid midwest weather.  I did get it under control. 

Calendar has arrived!!!

It's been slow moving lately.  I've been taking my BCP & baby aspirin for a few weeks now.  My May IVF cycle calendar & consents all came last week.  I was a bit taken back though.  When we had the WTF happened appt with Dr H after the failed cycle, he said he wasn't going to change anything on the protocol.  Well my calendar says otherwise.....he increased my Follistim from 225 to 375!  What?!?!  So I decided to send an email to my coordinator.  I suffered from mild OHSS on my first IVF and it was no pice of cake so I don't want to walk down that road again.  She responds with, "Dr reviewed everything & he wants you on the 375.  Blood work from Jan showed you could've used more Follisitm."  OK, then why wasn't that said in our consult??  Then she says that I shouldn't worry about OHSS & to leave that up to them.  Yeah, OK!!  I guess I will just pump the Gatorade from the beginning to avoid it.

Most of my meds came on Monday & the few remaining ones are arriving tomorrow.  After that I start Lupron on Arpil 20th, go for my E2 draw on the 28th, and stims start on May 3rd.  I had to have "the talk" with my boss today.  This is the 3rd supervisor I've had since starting ttc so it's a pain in the butt to have to explain things.  When I first told her, she didn't know what IVF was LOL  She was cool about it though.

Other than that, school is keeping me busy!  Until next time.....

Here we go again.....

So it's been a few weeks since the dreaded BFN.  Honestly, it went by so fast for me.  Another dream of mine came true & has kept my mind occupied.  On March 3rd I got accepted into nursing school!!!!  I've been doing all sorts of things for school that it didn't occur to me that time is rolling around for another IVF cycle.

So, after our consult the clinical manager had told me to call with AF or call on 3/21 if I hadn't gotten it yet.  On 3/12 & 3/13 I had some spotting but didn't think much of it since that's as far as it had gotten.  I emailed the manager on 3/21 (like I was told) and told her of the spotting.  I also wanted to make sure we could still proceed with the cycle since I've been getting vaccinations for school.  She had gotten real snotty and asked if emailed the nurse with my spotting.  No becasue you told me to let you know when I got a full flow.  So I tell her I will send the other nurse an email & she replys "it's too late now".  I emailed the other nurse anyways.....

So after a few emails & phone calls back & forth RE decided to have me start birth control on Tues 3/22.  I was shocked he didn't want me on provera to bring on AF but I'll take it.  She also told me as long as I get the vaccines by 3/31 we are good to go......I'm going on the 28th for those. =)  Now I just wait for the calendar & to plan my work schedule out.  First u/s will be May 9th which is also the day of my final....oh boy!!!!  More details to come as April comes.......

Phone Consult with RE......and Next Steps

I was really hoping there was a clear cut answer why this cycle didn't work.  Once we were talking to Dr H he said he looks at a few things after a failed cycle. (1) Stimming: he said based on my age he likes to see 8-15 follices & we got 18 so that was good.  He said my E2 2 days before trigger was 1700 and I was on the L3 stim cycle (whatever that means).  (2) ER: he said based on my E2 nothing was missed there.  (3) ET: they base the ET on grades from 1-5, 1 being the best.  He graded my ET a grade 1. (4) Other factors: he felt that my eggs were genetically abnormal....really?!?!  All 18 of them??  So I asked if he thought we should do genetic testing on the next round and he said he doesn't see this happening again so no.  We trust what he is telling us but if this happens again I'm going to rethink that.

The coordinator called me shortly after and asked when we want to do another cycle.  I didn't know right then so I said I'd call her next week.  DH & I discussed it and we decided on May.  I called the coordinator that Monday and let her know.  She said I either need to call with my next AF or if I don't get AF by 3/21 to give her a call.  So in the meantime it is hardcore diet & exercise time.  Oh joy!!! =)

IVF #1 at new clinic......BFN :(

Wow, I haven't updated in a long time.  Things were going so great this cycle (or so I thought).  Jan 24th was my first u/s & E2 draw.  We had about 15 follies brewing ranging from 10-14mm.  I wasn't sure if they needed me back the next day so me & mom stayed at the hotel one more night.  I got a call that night saying to do stims that night & the next then I'll be ready for trigger!!!!!  YIPPIE!!!!!  Then we decided to go home.  Wed the 26th I drove back down for my HCG instructions.  What a waste of a 4 hour drive.  All she did was give me a paper of my instructions & told me how to mix it.  Friday the 28th was our retrieval.  WE ended up with 18 eggs!!  I was thrilled with that and NO OHSS this time!  They called me the next day to let me know the fert report and check up on me.
-18 eggs retrieved
-14 mature
-11 fertilized
They had me tentatively scheduled for a Day 3 transfer on the 31st.  They would let me know that morning if we're coming in then or not.  I thought FOR SURE we would be doing a Day 5 but nope!  They called that morning and said to come in.  We transferred 2 embyos then was the hard part....waiting!  My first beta was scheduled for 2/10 & the second one 2/14.  On the 9th we got a letter in the mail that said none of the remaining 9 embryos had made it to freeze.  I was shocked & upset!!!  How is that possible?!?!?  So then the negativity set in.  The next day I found out my first beta was below 2.  Lovely.  I was having such "pregnant" symptoms that I thought this was it for us...apparently not.  I cried alot that day but had a glimmer of hope that maybe it would rise by the 14th.  Yesterday's beta was below 1 so there went that.  Now I have to call and make an appt with Dr H to see what the heck went wrong.

Supressions stinks!!!!

Today is day 6 of Lupron.  It seems every day at work I get a MASSIVE headache & the night sweats are horrendous!  The things we have to go through to get a baby.

Let me back up a bit.  My meds have arrived last week.  Due to my insurance I had to get them from a certain pharmacy.  Then there were 2 meds that they didn't carry so I had those from a different pharmacy.  Those 2 weren't covered but luckily they weren't too expensive.  The day before I started Lupron I also got the call from the office manager to pay up!  I saw the number on my phone & my stomach dropped!  Can't wait to see that credit card bill :(

I will be heading out to the clinic on the 21st for my first ever Intralipd Therapy.  My mom sill be joining me since hubby has to work & save his days for ER & ET.  Once that is done we will come back home & head back out there Sunday night & stay at the hotel.  We will be there until they tell me I can do the trigger.  Mom will go back home & hubby will be joining me for ER.  I'm really hoping I don't overstim again and we can do the ET.

Follistim & Menopur start next week so I'll be curious to see how my follies will do by the 24th!  More updates to come......  :-)