Many of you (okay, all of you) know that I had my bloodwork done today to find out if this cycle of IVF worked. Let me give you a little background on how they figure it out...
They test the level of hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) in my blood. Anything below a 3 is considered negative. Anything 20 or above is considered definitely positive. That middle section is the "gray" area. It's technically considered positive, but it's not as high as they would like to see. In a positive result, the number should at least double every 1-2 days.
My level was at 7.1.
So, basically, they're not really sure. They are "cautiously positive" that I am pregnant. I go back on Friday to have my levels tested again. If they continue to go up, then I am. If they go down, then I'm not. I will stop all meds and that would trigger menstruation.
So that's where we're at right now! I'm continuing with all of my lovely suppositories and injections, and hoping even more for the best on Friday. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me with their thoughts, prayers and well wishes. It really means the world to me.
Happy reading!
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Monday, December 14, 2015
The Rollercoaster of IVF
So, I realize I haven't updated in a while, which I apologize for. As most know, it's a crazy time of year, and this whole process has just increased the craziness.
I had my egg retrieval Wednesday, December 2nd (wow, I didn't realize it was that long ago!). It went very well and I ended up sleeping off the anesthesia most of the day. Going into it, they were hoping to get 7-8 eggs. They ended up getting 12 eggs, which is great! They would spend the day working with the eggs and sperm and would let me know the next day how many embryos they were able to create. Following that, an embryo transfer day would be scheduled. I was also instructed to begin some new medications, including a new injection and two vaginal suppositories...yeah, they are just as much fun as they sound...
Thursday morning, they called me and let me know that out of the 12 eggs, they were able to create 7 embryos, with the possibility of an 8th!! We were ecstatic! Obviously all 7 or 8 embryos would NOT be transferred at once (no octomom here!!), but transferring 2 was a definite possibility, leaving several to freeze. They would give the embryos the weekend to continue to mature and we scheduled the transfer day on Monday, December 7th (which was also Lloyd's 38th birthday!).
Monday morning came, along with the excitement of our 9:30am appointment. I received a call from CNY first thing that morning - the 8th embryo never materialized, so that left 7. Of the 7, 4 dematerialized. Of the remaining 3, 2 stopped progressing, leaving one lone embryo. I was devastated. What began as having so many options suddenly felt hopeless. "It only takes one!" they said. Very true, and that is what we were (are) banking on.
That one embryo was what they called a morula. They like to see the embryo go through three beginning stages before transferring - it begins as a morula, progressing into a blastula, and finally into a blastocyst. While they usually wait for the embryo to achieve the blastocyst stage before transferring, they said that they have had women have successful, full-term pregnancies after having a morula transferred. They gave us two options - wait until the next day (Tuesday, December 8th) to do the transfer to see if the embryo would progress any further, or continue with the transfer that day. They said that there was no right or wrong answer, and that they were comfortable with either decision we made. We decided to go ahead the transfer that day. I figured, why not. Maybe the embryo would progress better actually being inside my body. So, we went in at 9:30am, they talked us through the process, and we got to actually see on the ultrasound them inserting the embryo. Modern technology is so amazing. The procedure itself lasted about 5 minutes, and then I had to lay there with the legs up in the stirrups for 15 minutes to make the embryo nice and cozy. They also gave us a picture of our little embryo:
I had my egg retrieval Wednesday, December 2nd (wow, I didn't realize it was that long ago!). It went very well and I ended up sleeping off the anesthesia most of the day. Going into it, they were hoping to get 7-8 eggs. They ended up getting 12 eggs, which is great! They would spend the day working with the eggs and sperm and would let me know the next day how many embryos they were able to create. Following that, an embryo transfer day would be scheduled. I was also instructed to begin some new medications, including a new injection and two vaginal suppositories...yeah, they are just as much fun as they sound...
Thursday morning, they called me and let me know that out of the 12 eggs, they were able to create 7 embryos, with the possibility of an 8th!! We were ecstatic! Obviously all 7 or 8 embryos would NOT be transferred at once (no octomom here!!), but transferring 2 was a definite possibility, leaving several to freeze. They would give the embryos the weekend to continue to mature and we scheduled the transfer day on Monday, December 7th (which was also Lloyd's 38th birthday!).
Monday morning came, along with the excitement of our 9:30am appointment. I received a call from CNY first thing that morning - the 8th embryo never materialized, so that left 7. Of the 7, 4 dematerialized. Of the remaining 3, 2 stopped progressing, leaving one lone embryo. I was devastated. What began as having so many options suddenly felt hopeless. "It only takes one!" they said. Very true, and that is what we were (are) banking on.
That one embryo was what they called a morula. They like to see the embryo go through three beginning stages before transferring - it begins as a morula, progressing into a blastula, and finally into a blastocyst. While they usually wait for the embryo to achieve the blastocyst stage before transferring, they said that they have had women have successful, full-term pregnancies after having a morula transferred. They gave us two options - wait until the next day (Tuesday, December 8th) to do the transfer to see if the embryo would progress any further, or continue with the transfer that day. They said that there was no right or wrong answer, and that they were comfortable with either decision we made. We decided to go ahead the transfer that day. I figured, why not. Maybe the embryo would progress better actually being inside my body. So, we went in at 9:30am, they talked us through the process, and we got to actually see on the ultrasound them inserting the embryo. Modern technology is so amazing. The procedure itself lasted about 5 minutes, and then I had to lay there with the legs up in the stirrups for 15 minutes to make the embryo nice and cozy. They also gave us a picture of our little embryo:
Yep, that little ball of cells (that is magnified a billion times to be able to see) is our embryo, our baby. That's where we all begin. Seriously, modern technology is so amazing, it's breath-taking.
Before leaving, we scheduled two appointments - one for Friday, December 11th, just for bloodwork to check my progesterone levels, in case my meds had to be adjusted at all. The other is for Wednesday, December 16th (yep, two days from now). That is THE day - they'll do bloodwork to determine if the embryo stuck and if I'm pregnant. So many emotions, just intensifying as we get closer to the day - excitement, fear, anxious, the list goes on and on. "Hope for the best, expect the worse" has been my motto. That's my attempt at not getting my hopes up too high. Too late for that, though. The prospect that I may actually be pregnant, something we have been hoping and longing for for the last 21 months... It's a feeling that can't be put into words. I have some "symptoms," but many of them are the same as the side effects of the hormones I'm on (mostly progesterone). I keep hoping that they are pregnancy symptoms, but I know that I will be completely devastated if Wednesday comes and I'm not pregnant. I can honestly say, IVF is not for the faint of heart. It is such a physical and emotional roller coaster ride. I just hope it all ends up being worth it in the end...
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