Embryo Transfer - Two Week Wait

So it is official I am Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise (PUPO).  Two Embryo's transferred both Blasts.  Here is a picture:

The Larger one is a full blast and the smaller one is an early blast.  It was crazy to see the size difference.  Overall the process was easy, 15 minutes and you are done.  The worst part of it was that you need a full bladder for it.  Mine was ready to explode and the doctor was 10 minutes late to make it worse.  I was so scared I wouldn't be able to hold it especially since the nurse was pressing down on my stomach doing an ultrasound.  I made it, phew! Ran for the bathroom without even resting for a few minutes.  Let's hope they didn't fall out during my mad dash. LOL!

So now is the dreaded Two Week Wait (TWW) well actually 16 days for my Beta test.  However I can test at home prior to that and I should be able to get a result one way or another.  I'm torn as to when to start testing.  I know of people that got positive readings as early as three days.  Most not until 6 plus days.  I being a bit cray cray bought 20 test strips online for this TWW.  They only cost $15 verses paying double for two from the pharmacy.  So I can test rotten without it costing me.  But do I want the stress of not knowing is there a line or no line.  Am I too early, or is it negative.  Let's face it I have 20 tests I'm going to test.

Oh and my third embryo didn't make it. :(

Day Four Update

Well again she really pressed the calling by noon to it's limits and in turn had me at my maximum stressing point but the news was good.  All three embryos have progressed since yesterday.  One is beginning to turn into a blast, one is a morula and the last one is 12 cells.   Apparently the 12 cell is the lowest amount of cells you can have and still be considered a morula.  A morula is a ball of cells.  So at this point my guess is that we may achieve two blasts by tomorrow morning and transfer them both. Our transfer is scheduled for 10 am.  The procedure is simple and only takes a few minutes.  The thing that sucks is that you need a full bladder, so I anticipate it to be uncomfortable.  But not as bad as the retrieval.  I'm praying that the doctor accepts that I want two put back in and allows me to have the best two.  Fingers Crossed!

Day 3 Update

Our three embryo's are still doing great!! All three have progressed to 8 cells and are rated 19/20.  We discussed the potential option of transferring that day (3 Day Transfer) but given that all three are still progressing I decided to stick with the day 5 transfer.  It was tough deciding but at this point we don't know if any are stronger then the others and it would be hard to choose.  By going to day 5 we hope to have at least one develop into a blast.  We aren't expecting to get any frosties out of this at this point, so our best options it to ensure a blast is transferred.  Or what would be fantastic is if two blasts can be transferred and we do get one frostie.

This whole process has been an eye opener for me.  I now realize that given my age this may be my one and only chance so having twins come out of this would be ideal.  If we are successful I can't wait long before we try for our second child.  If we aren't successful then we need to start immediately following the mandatory three month wait.

This 5 day period beyond the egg retrieval is the most stressful.  I stare at my phone all morning waiting for a call from the embryologist and start freaking out when they are delayed.  It is so hard not to stress, my stomach is a ball of knots.  On another note all of my discomfort from the ER has passed.  The transfer is supposed to be painless so it should be clear sailing from now on.

Transfer is going to be tomorrow!! I can not believe it is finally almost here.  Sadly still waiting for my day 4 update.  Hopefully I will have more great news to share shortly.

Day Two Update

Good news again today our embryo's are still progressing.  For day 2 you want them to be 2-4 cells, all three of ours are 4 cells and are rated as 19 out of 20.  By tomorrow they should be 6-8 cells, ideally 8 cells.  So at this point a 5 day transfer is still looking good.  The embryologist will call tomorrow morning with another update.  Fingers crossed that our three little embries continue to grow.

Egg Retrieval

Well my egg retrieval was yesterday morning.  It took more time to get prepped then it did to actually retrieve the eggs.  Going into this I knew that I don't have many follicles, but I still hoped that by some miracle they would get more eggs.  Unfortunately that didn't happen, we only got 4 eggs.  I have to say that the process was more painful then expected.  I don't believe that the medications worked on me at all.  Afterwards you are left feeling like someone kicked you several times in the gut.

I was pretty depressed all day yesterday, worried that we won't have any eggs progress.  I think what is making me so stressed is knowing from my fertility forms how many eggs the average people get and how so many don't progress.  It's not uncommon for someone to go from 30 eggs to only having less then 10 embryos.  I'm just hoping to have two survive at this point.  I know it isn't realistic to hope for something to freeze.

So today I got my fertilization report, three fertilized.  I'm happy with this as I know it could have been worse.  Praying for a good update again tomorrow.  Come on embries grow, grow, grow.

 

Trigger Tonight!!!

Good news today I am finally ready to take my HCG trigger shot!!! My egg retrieval is scheduled for Wednesday morning.  My scan this morning showed 5-6 good follicles, praying they all have eggs in them.  So once my eggs are retrieved they will be placed into a dish in an incubator, a couple hours later my husbands sperm will be injected into the dish.  There are two methods for IVF the other includes injecting the sperm directly into the eggs.  As our issue is low count this is not necessary so we only need the sperm injected into the dish.  By Wednesday afternoon we should know how many eggs have fertilized.  From there we will get daily updates on how our embryos are developing.  Each day the cells should divide and by day 5 we are hoping for 6 to 8 cell embryos.  Our goal is to have two placed back in and a couple to freeze.  The likelihood is that we won't have anything to freeze given my low reserve of eggs.

So this time next week I should be PUPO (Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise).  We return 16 days later to have my beta checked to see if the process was successful.  I won't be able to wait that long so I intend on testing on my own home pregnancy tests.

Praying for More Follicles

Okay so today's scan showed that only three follicles are around the size they need to be for IVF.  My estrogen has increased again but they still need it to be higher.  So two more days of the increased meds and hopefully Monday will bring on good news.  I'm feeling kind of down about my lack of follicles.  I know that more doesn't necessarily mean that they will be better but I'm scared I won't have enough.  At this point I would be happy if we could get two perfect blasts to transfer.  Ideally it would be nice to have a few embryo's to freeze given my age and fear that baby #2 will be harder due to increased age.  If I could have a couple to freeze now essentially they would be  a backup plan if a fresh cycle doesn't work next time.  I know that I should just focus on getting baby #1 but I know I also want two.

I believe with all of my heart that I am meant to be a mommy.  I can't accept that it may not be meant to be.  This is what keeps me positive through all of this.  

And so Continues the Meds

So I went in again this morning and had another scan and blood tests.  My Estrogen has improved but it is still behind where they want it so now I am taking 4 vials of Bravelle and 2 vials of Menopur.  My cysts are still wrecking havoc in my ovaries, my right basically had nothing worth extracting at this point.  It was made painfully clear to me today and I mean that literally.  In order for the nurse to get measurements she had to twist and push at my ovary and uterus, it fricken hurt like hell. I just have to keep reminding myself that this will all be worth it in the end.   

Meds, Meds, and more Meds

I went in yesterday for my first check up since starting the stimulation medications.  My estrogen wasn't where they wanted it to be so more meds for me!  Next check up is Thursday and I am praying that the increase in meds get me to where I need to be.  I'm also praying that my egg retrieval happens on Monday like I expected it would.  I know it's silly but I have calculated everything out and if all goes off on schedule my due date would be April 14.  I've grown attached to that date already so I hope there isn't a delay.  It's been so long that I have been dreaming of this and now that I am finally on the right path I just want everything to be perfect.   

Day 2 and 3 of Stimulation Drugs

I wish I could say the injections are getting easier.  Last night I had a bubble stuck at the top of the syringe but there was some of the meds already up into the needle part.  So that meant that I couldn't just push the air out without losing some of the medication.  So I just decided to inject it as is.... Never again!!!!! It hurt like hell when the bubble passed through.  I was nauseous for hours, probably because my husband lectured me on how I could die if that went into a vein.  In any case I won't do that again.  Tonight I made an effort not to have a repeat performance of last night but of course something new happened.  When I injected the needle blood squirted out and a red line went up my stomach.  It looks like I scratched myself with the needle.  Of course it hurt too.  All just a small price to pay if this works out.  At least I'm not nauseous again tonight.

Start of Stimulation Drugs

So last night was my first injection experience, it was kind of stressful!  It was actually much harder then I thought mixing all those vials.  First I watched the video that came with my meds, which made it look easy.  When it came time to do it myself it was much harder.  I took the 1 ml of solution and put it into the first vial of Bravelle and swirled it around, that wasn't so bad.  What sucked was going from vial to vial, little amounts kept leaking out.  It really stressed me out because I kept thinking this may not work now if I keep losing some of the meds.  In the end I probably only had 3/4 of the original amount. The injection part wasn't bad at all.  Let's just hope that I got enough of the meds and that I don't have a repeat performance tonight. 

So here is my daily medications that I am on.  I take 5 pills a day, 4 vials injected, and 3 doses of nasal spray.  So far my only side effects have been headaches.  Eleven more days of this and hopefully I will have my eggs retrieved. 

Down Regulation Check

Today way my down regulation check, and I am happy to say my results were where they needed them to be so I get to start the stimulation drugs tomorrow!!  My day started at 4:30am, ARGH! I set my alarm for 5am but I couldn't sleep too excited for my day to begin.  My clinic does scans and blood collection starting at 7:30am on a first come first serve basis.  Given that I work at 8:30 I needed to get there early, which I did and that made me first.  I have about 8 follicles in one ovary and it was hard to see how many in the other because another cyst has appeared making it hard to see.  Luckily this one can be drained if necessary.  My next appointment is on Monday to see how I have progressed on the stimulation drugs.

Injection Class

So as part of the IVF process you need to go to a class that teaches you how to administer the injection drugs.  The nurse told me that I should expect to be there for two hours..... WTF?! I figured it would be 10-15 minutes.  There is a lot more that goes into it then just drawing up the meds and injecting them.  I assumed that the Menopur and Bravelle were liquid but actually they are powder.  I need to draw up one ml of saline and mix it with 1 vial of Menopur then draw that up and mix it with the second vial, and then do the same with the two Bravelle vials.  In the end that one ml of saline contains all four vials of powder.  The needle hurt but I can deal.  In total it should be approximately 12 days of injections.  Up to this point I haven`t felt any different and time is starting to drag.  Only a couple more days until my down reg check and then I`m sure things will start to feel like I`m started.

Week One of Medication

I'm at my halfway mark to my down regulation check, so far I'm feeling virtually no side effects from the medications.  It's kind of crazy on how fast time seems to be going now after waiting so long to get started.  To pass the time I have been spending time reading many blogs and IVF forms.  So this is what has led me to start my own blog.  I have come to really appreciate those people that have taken the time to write about their journey's with trying to conceive and having a baby.  I have never known anyone that has gone through IVF before so reading the IVF forms has been such a learning experience for me.  I want to always remember this journey so this seems like a great way to do so.