Success!!!

Drum roll.... The moment we all have been waiting for. 

I did do home pregnancy tests but since this blog isn't private, I didn't want to give anything away to my trusty followers too soon. 

I tested positive way early morning on 7/13/13 and subsequent days until my blood test. 

I started having symptoms but thought they were in my head. Cramps, mild nausea, soreness, tired. I am also on progesterone supplements and apparently these signs can be side effects of the medication. 

My doctor called me with my results yesterday by leading the conversation with, "who is your favorite Reproductive Endocrinologist??"  

My hcg level is 353 which she told me that any result over 80 is considered good. My progesterone level is 89 which appears to be high looking at the normal range. I don't think it means anything. 

I made a special dinner to celebrate and Bill brought me home beautiful flowers. We got a lot of congratulations. In a normal pregnancy, you're not supposed to share the news until 12 weeks along but in our case, our close friends and family all knew we were going through IVF so they were also anxiously waiting the result. 

It's been a long few months (and years leading up to) of poking and proding but it appears to all be worth it!! 

We are very happy and excited. 

Well I had my blood test this morning. I know that they are going to make me wait all day long for the results. I have the day off so I need to find something to do to occupy my time!! 

Transfer!!

I had my transfer this morning. I was offered a Valium and I gladly took it! I met with the embryologist and Dr Huang. The embryos looked "great"! I had 1 8 cell, grade A and 1 8 cell grade A-B embryos. The others ranged from 4-6 cell and those will continue on to day 5 and 6 for hopefully cyropreservation for another IVF if needed. I had been trying to decide between one or two embryos to be placed but my plan was written up when I got there as two embryos to be transferred. We discussed this and she felt it acceptable and preferable to transfer 2. To transfer 1, decreased our odds of success by 10%. There is a 25-30% chance of twins with transferring 2 embryos. I'm glad that we decided to try for two anyway, hoping at least one will stick! 

The transfer process was pretty cool. I had to have a full bladder because on ultrasound, the uterus lies right under it and it is visible when it is full of liquid. I was able to see the catheter in my uterus on the ultrasound. Then the embryologist came in with the embryos and they were injected through the catheter into my uterus. I was able to see the small blob which were the embryos. Then the catheter was checked under the microscope to make sure it was empty. I had to lie flat for 10 minutes which Dr Huang said was mainly for tradition. Then I was free to go!!

I am now in the "two week wait". I go back 7/17 for a pregnancy test. I am so glad to be moving on!! 

Egg Retrieval

I had my egg retrieval this morning. I was brought out back to the surgical area where I changed into a Johnny, had an IV placed, vital signs checked. I met with a nurse, Dr Huang and the anesthesiologist. I was inducted with propofol in the operating room. Dr Huang tried to make me feel less nervous by telling me it was like an ultrasound but with anesthesia... Was it? I don't know :-). The procedure took about 20-30 minutes. I felt fine after, a lot better than after general anesthesia! 

I had 14 mature eggs removed! She said the normal amount is 8-10.  Bill had to deliver a specimen in the office. She is going to call me tomorrow to let me know how many fertilized with ICSI.  Crossing my fingers that this works!!!!!

The day is almost here

I went for the ultrasound this morning and Bill was able to come with me for the first time! Good news, the follicles are at about 18mm, some even close to 19. There are some less but they are good averages. The egg retrieval will be WEDNESDAY! I will get a call later today with blood results and further instructions for the trigger injection, this will be tonight! They will also tell me what time the retrieval will be. Transfer will be Saturday or Monday.

Update : 

My nurse called. My estrogen is over 1300. I need to give the HCG aka trigger shot tonight at 10:30pm   And I don't need to give any further injections! I have my retrieval scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30am. Just waiting until then!

Recheck

I had another recheck this morning. The doctor was able to visualize the right ovary which she couldn't see last time. There are still many follicles but they're still not very large yet. I did see one measure over 10mm just by snooping at the machine. I have to wait and see what my bloodwork results are this afternoon and will have to return sometime this weekend I'm sure.

My doctor called me this afternoon. My estrogen level is up to 400. I start the Ganirelex tomorrow night along with Gonal F. Ganirelex is the injection to delay ovulation. Saturday morning, I give another Ganirelex then have another ultrasound and bloodwork that morning.

What's next? I only have 5 injections of Ganirelex at my house so I imagine I only am taking those for a few days. And my Gonal F is almost gone. After that, I will take the trigger injection of HCG when they tell me to. Once I take that, the egg retrieval is 36 hours later. I've asked her when to expect the retrieval but she won't give me a date yet, just says "next week". Tick tock.

I can't believe that I'm  moving on to the next step. This is all so crazy and pretty much all that I can think about. 

Here we go....

This is my third blog. I have never kept up with any of them. I don't know if this one will be any better. I'm not a writer but want to document our story.

My husband was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2009. He had surgery to remove one testicle. And was scheduled for chemotherapy immediately. At age 24, he was asked, do you want to have children? Shocked, he quickly decided that he would want to someday and was told he needed to freeze a sperm sample before starting chemo. He did this... After a fight with his insurance company to cover the cost of storing the sample. It would have cost us thousands of dollars without insurance coverage which was NOT in place at that moment. He fought them hard to get coverage and he actually changed Blue Cross's policy on cancer patients. But this fight and lack of possible coverage caused him to only get ONE sample because time was running out. He needed to start chemo. He finished his treatment successfully, only missed a few days of work because he is a dedicated employee. Looking back now, he wishes he took a leave of absence. 

Years passed, I stopped birth control pills eventually.. thinking that I would get pregnant naturally, I wouldn't mind having a baby if it happened. Could it even happen? We eventually met with a fertility specialist in 2010 to find out what our options were. We didn't really plan on starting trying to conceive at this point. Speaking with the specialist, she determined we did have options. His sperm count was low, medically infertile, poor morphology. But with in-vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection, we would have success. We left the office with paperwork and possibilities. 

We went back in 2012 to talk. Is it the right time now? When is the right time when you have to PLAN your pregnancy? Why can't it happen naturally, by accident like normal people? 

A year passed, and we finally returned again May 2013. What are we waiting for? Let's do it! 

I went in for baseline bloodwork and an ultrasound and was started on birth control pills (?!?) to regulate my cycle. We were started with an antagonist IVF cycle. My ultrasound showed some small polyps on my uterus walls. I needed a hysteroscopy to have these further looked at and removed. It's was a surgical procedure that I had done at Newton Wellesley Hospital. I was under general anesthesia for this and absolutely terrified as I hadn't ever had surgery before this, other than wisdom tooth removal. It went well and I returned to work the next day, very groggy. My doctor informed me the polyps were removed and I was clear to start the cycle. 

I stopped the birth control pills on Sunday and went in for another ultrasound and baseline bloodwork last Wednesday. I was set to start injections on Friday (!!!!) but didn't have the medications yet. Of course, insurance didn't approve them without a prior authorization. It all worked out and I got my medications on Saturday. I gave myself my first injection of Gonal F on Friday night in my left upper thigh. The Gonal F is in pen form and has dial settings with different doses. I was absolutely terrified and irritable leading up to this. Turns out, this is very stressful! I have to give Gonal F every night subcutaneously, either in my stomach area or upper thigh. Tonight is night 4. So far, I haven't had any side effects other than being a little more tired. 

Tomorrow, I return for a follow up ultrasound and bloodwork and we will go from there. 

To be continued.