That was fast!

Not only did my next cycle start earlier than I was expecting, but I also got the go-ahead to begin the 6-week FET process!!! YAY! :D This means I'll be back on birth control for 3 weeks (UGH), and will start two other meds in due course. The actual embryo transfer will most likely happen around the first week in October and we should find out the results a couple of weeks after that. Just in time for hubby's birthday!

I'm finding myself really scared of the medication side effects this time around. I had a two day taste of what "normal" feels like, and I miss it already :( Hopefully it's just an anomaly, but here I am 2 days into taking birth control and I'm already experiencing insomnia *sigh* Hubby and I even had a discussion tonight about the possibility of transferring two embryos, to raise our odds of success. Up until now we've always said we'd just use one, but I'm not sure I can put myself through this hormonal upheaval again. It may be worth the possibility of having twins just to move past this shit. We'll see when we get there.

Here's hoping I can find some distractions to make these 6 weeks go by faster!

Let it Snow!

It's official! We have snowbabies in the freezer!! And remember how we were hoping for more than 8? We got ELEVEN!!! I can still scarcely believe it! :D Hubby was hoping for 12...I figured I'd be a little more realistic and hope for 10...and we got smack dab in the middle :) How perfect is that?

Each embryo made it to the blastocyst stage and was graded before freezing. I don't fully understand the scale they use, but I know they're judging two separate aspects of the embryo and the grades range from A (best) to C (worst). Five of our embies were graded AB and six of them were graded BB - which is quite good from what I've ascertained :) The nurse said that AA ratings are rare and that our embryos looked "beautiful." :D

So now all we can do is wait. Once my next cycle begins, we'll see how my system is doing and have a talk with the doctor about what comes next (and when). Thankfully, at the moment anyway, I'm not feeling too impatient about it. I'm more impatient about feeling back to normal :) But it's slowly coming. I'm sure I'll feel fine again soon. And in the meantime, I'll be thinking about those eleven little snowbabies, hoping that one of them will come home with us soon :)

Into the Woods

I had a feeling that with estrogen levels over 8000, it was only a matter of time before I'd succumb to OHSS. And I was right. Saturday evening I began vomiting. By Sunday morning the vomiting had not subsided and I felt like death. I couldn't even walk without hubby's help :( Thankfully my clinic asked us to come in and gave me a saline IV. I was given 2 liters of fluids, plus anti-nausea and pain meds. I still felt really bad all day and had horrible abdominal pain that night. But since waking up this morning I feel much better.

Today's ultrasound did show some free fluid in my abdomen, but not enough to warrant draining, more IV's or hospitalization. My electrolytes aren't too crazy either. WHEW! It seems my case of OHSS is a moderate one and as long as I keep up with my fluid intake, I should be ok...eventually. It can take up to 3 weeks for it to completely resolve :\

The good news is that the embryos are doing well! 19 of them split and are in the 7-9 cell range as of today :) Yay!! I'm so proud of our little sea monkeys! My doctor thinks that 8 of them will probably make it to freeze, but that's still a great number to work with :) I'm going to keep hoping that we get even more than that.

I used to think the sum of 1 and 1 was 2...

But apparently when hubby and I get together, we add up to more :) Of the 27 eggs retrieved yesterday, 24 were good enough for the ICSI fertilization procedure and out of those, 22 fertilized normally :D :D :D This is AMAZING!! I'm still in shock!!

I never imagined we'd get so many eggs and I certainly never dreamed so many of them would fertilize! This is a gift and we're so thankful. Up until now, this has all felt like science, biology, numbers and facts. But all of a sudden there are 22 little sparks of life out there that are part me and part hubby and I feel something new for them...I guess it's love :) I know they won't all divide, grow and thrive...but this is further than we've ever gotten before and I wish I could give each one a microscopic hug. I just woke up from a nap with this song in my head...it seems fitting :)





I'm still just as tired and sore as yesterday, but I haven't developed any new symptoms, which is good. From what I've read, OHSS doesn't typically show up until 2-3 days after retrieval, so I'm not out of the woods yet, but I'm trying to stay positive and take it super easy. It's extremely lucky that retrieval happened on a Friday, so hubby can stay home taking care of me all weekend :)

As for what happens next - we'll get the next report on Monday and then the final report on Thursday before the embryos are frozen. Keep those fingers crossed that most of them make it :)

EGGstraordinary!!

I can scarcely believe it! We got TWENTY SEVEN eggs at this morning's retrieval!! WOW!!! I'm eggstatic!! :D I thought for sure the egg count had dropped along with the follicle count, but apparently they were just hiding really well ;) This is just...amazing. With any luck, we'll get a nice fertilization report tomorrow and a nice number of embryos to freeze by the end of next week. Heck, with this number of eggs, we may never have to do IVF again! I don't want to count them before they hatch or put them all in one basket (lol), but I have a good feeling about these little guys. We've had all kinds of good "signs" over the past several days. And just minutes before the retrieval, this song played over the clinic's radio :D




Because of the high number of eggs, my risk of developing OHSS is higher still, so the doctor went ahead and prescribed me two medications to help. They won't prevent it, but will hopefully make it less severe at least. I'll be keeping super hydrated and hoping I stay feeling fine. Wish me and our little embies luck! :)

Here Comes the Egg Hunt!

So my appointment this morning went well...sort of. We'll start with the good news:

My follicles are maturing just as they should be. They're the right size and growing at almost the same rate. I'm ready for my trigger shot tonight and then the egg retrieval/fertilization will take place Friday morning.

Then there's the bad news:

My maturing follicle count has decreased dramatically. The doctor counted 29 on Sunday, yet this morning he only counted 14. I haven't had a chance to ask about this yet, to know whether or not this is a common occurrence. But it doesn't seem like a good thing by any means. And the worst news - my estrogen level has skyrocketed past 8000, when it should be below 5000. Because of this, my risk of developing OHSS is very high and would be made even higher if we went ahead with the embryo transfer this cycle. So it's been cancelled :\

What this means is that all of the resulting high-quality embryos from this IVF cycle will be frozen for use at a later date. None of them will be transferred in "fresh." So there's zero chance that I will end up pregnant this month. Now, there are some positive aspects to this. For one, my uterus (and body in general) will be much happier during a non-medicated cycle, and many think that doing a FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer) actually has a better chance of success than fresh IVF because of this. Secondly, I'll hopefully avoid OHSS (or at least a serious case of it), which really is a big deal. It can land women in the hospital. And lastly, I won't be ready to pop at my BFF's wedding next spring XD

But, of course, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the news at all. How much thinner can our patience be stretched?? I just hope we get a really good number of eggs and embryos out of all this. That would at least mostly make up for having to wait AGAIN.

And So I Wait

This song has been stuck in my head for days now...it's so apt for my present lack of patience and longing for a little one that needs me as much as I need them:



Contemplating everyday 
Wondering if I’m wasting all of my time
You know I’m dedicating
Every thought on only you

My mommy used to tell me that 
Patience is a virtue

[Chorus:]
And so I wait through the night
Cuz tomorrow you may find 
That you will need me again
For some tender love and care
And so I wait hoping you,
Will discover you’re in love
That you need me as much as I need you

And so I’ll wait all my life
Hoping one day you will see that
Love’s a lock you’re the key
You will come and rescue me
And so I wait hoping you,
Will discover you’re in love
That you need me as much as I need you

It gets frustrating time and again
But I am not complaining cuz in the end
If I just keep believing 
no matter what I’ll be with you

My mommy used to tell me that 
Patience is a virtue

I know in my head that slow and steady wins the race and that applies to IVF as well. If my follicles matured too fast the resulting eggs could be immature. And logically I'm only 10 days into this cycle, so I shouldn't be surprised that it's not trigger time yet. But my heart is leaping ahead and dying to know how this is going to turn out! It also didn't help that the doctor who checked me out two days ago said that I'd probably be ready to go in 3-4 days...when in reality it will be longer than that. Argh!

But I can take solace in the knowledge that things are going WELL! Better than well even! GREAT! My follicle count last week was 24...well two days ago it was more like 29+! These are the kinds of numbers that most women going through IVF pray for! So I am DAMN LUCKY! Now, most likely there won't be 29 eggs at retrieval time. I would guess more like 15. And not all 15 of those will be viable and fertilize, so we will probably only end up with 7 embryos. But I am not complaining - that is a really good number to work with!!

The only problem with my high number of follicles is that they will result in a very high level of estrogen...and that can lead to Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). My nurse actually told me that if they retrieve 20+ eggs, they will immediately start me on a medication to combat OHSS (Dostinex). And in the meantime I'm increasing my electrolyte and protein intake - hoping that will ward it off as well. It's a painful and potentially serious condition, so let's hope I can avoid it! Gaining 5+ pounds of fluid in 24 hours does not sound like fun!

My ovaries are already pretty painful. The doctor said that by retrieval time, they'll be the size of grapefruits, so it's no wonder! Today I started wearing sundresses so that there's nothing squeezing my abdomen. And really, I expected to be feeling MUCH worse by this point in the game, so I don't mind at all! Every twinge of pain reminds me that my body is doing what it's supposed to be doing...so all I can be is thankful :)

Send us some positive vibes tomorrow! With any luck, we'll be going on an egg hunt by the end of this week!

Grow Follies Grow!

My first post-stim appointment went well! My follicle count has increased from 13 to 24! They're all still small, but as long as they grow at about the same rate, I should end up with a very respectable number of mature follicles and eggs :) And, my estrogen level has hiked up to a level of 471, which is right where it should be. So my low-estrogen symptoms have mostly disappeared. WHEW! 

I added in another medication today - that makes 3 shots per day. Woo! My poor stomach is full of bruises, but thankfully the only side effect I've experienced so far is dehydration. It's a good thing they make lower-sugar versions of Gatorade now ;) Just a couple more days until my next appointment. I'm so excited!!! :D