Fun time #1:
Excusing yourself from the 3pm meeting so you can go stick prometrium suppositories up your vagina in the work bathroom stall.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
And 7 became 5
Day after ER and I am feeling just fine. Most of the bloating and gas is gone. I'm still taking it easy as I don't have tons of energy.
The clinic called this morning with our fertilisation report aka THE SCARIEST PHONE CALL OFALL TIME.
Out of my 7 eggs, all 7 were mature and 5 of them were successfuly fertilised through ICSI.
I am so happy that all of them were mature. I hope this signals my eggs are good quality.Because we have 5 embryos, this means we are on the cusp and it is still not a done deal that we will transfer on day 5. Can anything be easy just for once??! So now we wait until tomorrow's scary phone call to let us know if all 5 are still alive and kicking. If we have less than 5, we will proceed with a 3 day transfer (on Sunday). 5 day transfers often enjoy higher pregnancy rates but at the same time, I am so scared that we will lose them by day 5.
Overall this is a good news day considering the number of eggs we had to work with. I want my embabies back home. It feels weird to think about the fact that they are spending the weekend without me. I love them already!
The clinic called this morning with our fertilisation report aka THE SCARIEST PHONE CALL OFALL TIME.
Out of my 7 eggs, all 7 were mature and 5 of them were successfuly fertilised through ICSI.
I am so happy that all of them were mature. I hope this signals my eggs are good quality.Because we have 5 embryos, this means we are on the cusp and it is still not a done deal that we will transfer on day 5. Can anything be easy just for once??! So now we wait until tomorrow's scary phone call to let us know if all 5 are still alive and kicking. If we have less than 5, we will proceed with a 3 day transfer (on Sunday). 5 day transfers often enjoy higher pregnancy rates but at the same time, I am so scared that we will lose them by day 5.
Overall this is a good news day considering the number of eggs we had to work with. I want my embabies back home. It feels weird to think about the fact that they are spending the weekend without me. I love them already!
Memories of an egg retrieval
Well yesterday was the big day. Note: I have many big days in this cycle but I count ER day as Big Day #1. Everything went swimmingly well. We arrived an hour early and were escorted into the back room to change into our scrubs (husband looked hot, I was wearing 2 frumpy gowns but hey it's not a fashion show).
The nurse let me relax in a big recliner until it was time to give me a big injection of sedative in my bum. Within a few minutes Ii was feeling pretty reeelllaaaxxed. They then started me on an IV drip with some kind of other painkiller. It's funny because at the time I felt aware of everything that was happening but looking back on the event yesterday I don't remember most parts in the OR.
I remember watching my follicles drain on the screen. The dark craters were being coloured in with a pencil crayon..at least that's what it looked like to me in my drug induced state.
I do remember hearing the embryologist in the room shout out 1! 2! 3! Phew we have lift off. We have eggs.
After 15 or 20 minutes I was wheeled back to the comfortable recliner to eat cookies and sip on apple juice until I became lucid.
The final count was 7 eggs. Sadly, I was quite disappointed with the count because the doctors told me they like to get 8-15 for someone my age. They were careful not to overstimulate me and they certainly met their goal. I was sent home to sleep and be taken care of by my nurse husband (who did an excellent job).
The nurse let me relax in a big recliner until it was time to give me a big injection of sedative in my bum. Within a few minutes Ii was feeling pretty reeelllaaaxxed. They then started me on an IV drip with some kind of other painkiller. It's funny because at the time I felt aware of everything that was happening but looking back on the event yesterday I don't remember most parts in the OR.
I remember watching my follicles drain on the screen. The dark craters were being coloured in with a pencil crayon..at least that's what it looked like to me in my drug induced state.
I do remember hearing the embryologist in the room shout out 1! 2! 3! Phew we have lift off. We have eggs.
After 15 or 20 minutes I was wheeled back to the comfortable recliner to eat cookies and sip on apple juice until I became lucid.
The final count was 7 eggs. Sadly, I was quite disappointed with the count because the doctors told me they like to get 8-15 for someone my age. They were careful not to overstimulate me and they certainly met their goal. I was sent home to sleep and be taken care of by my nurse husband (who did an excellent job).
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Pulling the trigger.
YES! Today Is Trigger Day. I have enough follicles at the right size, an endometrial lining that is thick enough and my estrogen levels have been steadily rising.
This is the final injection before my eggs are retrieved in 36 hours time.
No more needles at 7am and 7pm in my belly. No more ultrasounds until THE ultrasound when I can see our beautiful little embryo happily growing inside of me. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Another day, another ultrasound. Day 11 (or day 10 on stims)
Back from yet another ultrasound and bloodtest. I don't even think I am aware of how many follicles I had today. I never got the final count. When the sonographer was ''taking pictures'' of my ovaries I was amazed to see how much they have changed. I could actually see the distinction between the big craters as I lovingly like to call them. My follicles are growing! Sadly they have not grown quite enough yet. I have a lead follicle which has grown to 20mm and will be out of the race soon. If we triggered now, I could potentially use him but by the time they do the retreival, he will be too big, or overripe if you will. The trade off, if that I have a bunch of other guys just waiting to grow some more which is why they are keeping me on the stims at least for 1 more day. I guess that is fair. I'll lose one to potentially gain 5 or 6.
back again tomorrow. fingers crossed that I can trigger tomorrow night!
back again tomorrow. fingers crossed that I can trigger tomorrow night!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Day 10 Stims
I haven't posted for a few days as I was too annoyed to write on Thursday (Day 7 but only 6 days of stims). It was just one of those days I guess. I had to wait over 2 hours at the clinic, had a loopy ultrasound technician, a nurse who jammed the needle so hard into my vein that I bled for 10 minutes after they drew blood and then I had a jerk on -call doctor. None of this was helped by the fact that I was freaking out over an interview I had scheduled for the following morning.
So on day 7, the mean doctor told me that I had 3 follicles at 11mm. Much to my annoyance and shock considering I had 23 follicles on day 5. Yes I knew they wouldn't all grow but 3? He even happily pointed out the small dots on my chart to confirm. 1, 2, 3.
He said that yes, hopefully more would grow. Ideally in an IVF cycle with someone my age they hope to get 8-15 mature follicles. My 3 are nowhere near to being mature so I am to continue on my regular dose of stims for a while.
Fast forward to Saturday (Day 9 or 8 days of stims) and I now have 8 follicles at 11mm. I was feeling much better but still worried about growth. In order to qualify for a 5 day transfer, I need a minimum of 5 fertilised embryos which means that I need more than 5 eggs because inevitably, some eggs will not fertilise properly. They keep saying quality over quantity and are playing it safe.
I am back at the clinic on Day 11 (aka Day 10 of stims) for another check up. Now I have to hope that my 8 eggs have grown much larger than 11mm. In order to trigger me for retrieval I need to have them at 17mm.
Confused yet? So am I!
So on day 7, the mean doctor told me that I had 3 follicles at 11mm. Much to my annoyance and shock considering I had 23 follicles on day 5. Yes I knew they wouldn't all grow but 3? He even happily pointed out the small dots on my chart to confirm. 1, 2, 3.
He said that yes, hopefully more would grow. Ideally in an IVF cycle with someone my age they hope to get 8-15 mature follicles. My 3 are nowhere near to being mature so I am to continue on my regular dose of stims for a while.
Fast forward to Saturday (Day 9 or 8 days of stims) and I now have 8 follicles at 11mm. I was feeling much better but still worried about growth. In order to qualify for a 5 day transfer, I need a minimum of 5 fertilised embryos which means that I need more than 5 eggs because inevitably, some eggs will not fertilise properly. They keep saying quality over quantity and are playing it safe.
I am back at the clinic on Day 11 (aka Day 10 of stims) for another check up. Now I have to hope that my 8 eggs have grown much larger than 11mm. In order to trigger me for retrieval I need to have them at 17mm.
Confused yet? So am I!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The first numbers are in
I had my very first ultrasound check up today since starting the stimulation. The purpose was to check on the number of follicles growing in each ovary and to check my blood levels for estrogen.
I am still waiting to get my bloodwork back however the ultrasound result came back with a total of 23 follicles at 9mm (tiny ones). The goal is to stimulate them to 18 mm. Apparently they grow at a rate of 2 mm per day so another 5 days is the estimate for trigger. I feel like 23 is a lot! I was concerned about too much of a good thing. Overstimulation is dangerous and can be the cause for a clinic to cancel a cycle entirely. I breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor who reviewed the my results said they were great looking follicles. To me, they looked like miniature dark craters on the screen but who am I to argue with the professional.
I can hardly wait to go back in on Thursday and see my follicles again.
I am still waiting to get my bloodwork back however the ultrasound result came back with a total of 23 follicles at 9mm (tiny ones). The goal is to stimulate them to 18 mm. Apparently they grow at a rate of 2 mm per day so another 5 days is the estimate for trigger. I feel like 23 is a lot! I was concerned about too much of a good thing. Overstimulation is dangerous and can be the cause for a clinic to cancel a cycle entirely. I breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor who reviewed the my results said they were great looking follicles. To me, they looked like miniature dark craters on the screen but who am I to argue with the professional.
I can hardly wait to go back in on Thursday and see my follicles again.
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