IVF Update
I haven’t updated in awhile… kind of by design. I’ve been trying my best not to think too hard or too much about this IVF stuff. I’ve been trying to remain in neutral emotion-wise. Not blogging has helped. So here’s how things have gone down.
(Advance warning: this is a pretty lengthy post)more
CD 2 (7/24): I went in for my baseline where we saw a total of 10 antral follicles (6 on the left, 4 on the right).
CD 3 (7/25): I started stims. They weren’t nearly as bad as I anticipated. Mike was a great nurse! Every evening, I would mix the meds and, after about 5 minutes of ice on the tummy, he would inject the meds while I laid on the couch. It was a great system.
DOS 6 (7/30): I went in for my ultrasound and blood work. My estrogen was 1,028 and we saw about 10 total follicles that had grown a bit. I don’t remember exactly how many were mature.
DOS 8 (8/1): I had approximately 9 mature follicles (15mm or larger) and a bunch of smaller ones. My estrogen was 1,998 and my progesterone was 3.5.
That afternoon, my nurse called to give me my results and to let me know that my progesterone was rising prematurely. She asked me to confirm that I had started taking the Cetrotide when they instructed because it was supposed to suppress the progesterone/LH surge (which I had). Cue the panic! What does this mean? What’s going to happen now? Are they gonna cancel the cycle?
After some Googling, I came to 2 possible conclusions: either (a) they’d cancel my cycle or (b) they’d continue with the egg retrieval and we’d do a frozen embryo transfer (FET) next cycle. I was hoping and praying for option b.
The following day (8/2): I went in for my blood work and ultrasound with my RE. I think I counted about 10 mature follicles again. My doc was pleased.
As she stared at my chart, she said, “I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with you yet.” She sat down and explained to me that my progesterone rising prematurely meant that by the time we got to Day 5 (transfer day), the window for implantation would have already passed. She decided that a freeze-all cycle would be best. We would have to wait until the next cycle to do the transfer, but it would give us the greatest chance for implantation and pregnancy. I was a little bummed, but SOOOO relieved that we didn’t have to cancel altogether.
My RE instructed me to trigger that night and the following morning. We would be doing the egg retrieval on 8/4!
It’s kind of crazy that I only needed 8 days of stims. Because of my diagnosis of diminished ovarian reserve, my doctor was sure I would need 10-12 days of sims. She was so sure that we actually ordered more meds… that we didn’t need. Lol!
Egg Retrieval (8/4): By this time, I was waddling when I walked because my ovaries were so swollen. I had to unbutton my pants when I was sitting. It hurt to pee. I was so uncomfortable. I was so nervous about how many eggs we would get. The doctor hoped for 10 eggs resulting in 1-3 embryos.
When I woke up from the procedure and as I was waiting for Mike to get there, I overheard a couple next to me say that they only retrieved 2 eggs. This was so heartbreaking. When Mike arrived, he told me that he overheard a different couple in the waiting room say they only retrieved 2 eggs also. Was this a sign? Was our retrieval a big flop?!
A few minutes passed and the doctor who performed the egg retrieval arrived with our results. She told us that they retrieved 26 eggs! 26, y’all!! 26!!! We were over-the-moon happy! We went home and I slept the rest of the day.
Day 1 (8/5): We received a call from the embryologist who told us that of our 26 eggs, 17 were mature and 15 fertilized. This is a great fertilization rate! Because we did a freeze-all cycle, they would call again on Day 6 to let us know how many embryos we have to freeze.
Day 6 (8/10): The call we have been waiting for finally came! I was at work when I received the call. The embryologist told me that we had 7 embryos! SEVEN! 1 was a BB embryo and the other 6 were AAs! I couldn’t believe it! Everything went so much better than we expected.
From here, we had to wait for the next cycle to do the transfer. Taking some time off from going to appointments and taking meds was soooo nice and a much needed mental and physical break.
Transfer Cycle
I started taking estrogen 3x a day at the beginning of September and added progesterone in oil (PIO) injections once a day on September 15th. These injections are no fun at all! Fortunately, Mike and I had a ritual to prevent my ass from being so sore. This is how it goes:
Ice the injection site for about 10 minutes.
Mike would roller the cheek we would be injecting with a rolling pin (yes, a rolling pin… we don’t have one of those muscle rollers, so a rolling pin will do.)
Mike gives the injection.
He rolls my ass again.
I sit on a heating pad for 15-20 minutes.
Sounds crazy, but I’m not sore from the injections at all! I did however have terrible itching around the injection site for a couple of weeks. It was awful. I bruised a little at first, but it eventually went away.
My frozen embryo transfer was scheduled for September 21, but they pushed it earlier by one day because my progesterone levels began to increase prematurely again.
FET (9/20): We transferred a day 5 AA embryo. The procedure was so easy. Very similar to an IUI, but in a fancier room. Mike was in there with me. He looked so cute in his scrubs.
Now, the dreaded two week wait begins (it was actually just 12 days).
Pregnancy Test (10/3): The Big Day!
I was so calm until I walked into the waiting room of my clinic. I usually wait maybe 10-15 minutes before I’m called in. It took them 45 minutes to call me back! I was about to lose it! I thought I was going to have a full on panic attack. And I’m not even sure why. It’s not like they were going to tell me right then and there if I was pregnant. They’d send my blood off to the lab and call me later with the results. Regardless, I was freaking out… and then I had to go to work.
In the past, my nurse would call with my results between 11am and 1pm. I got to work a little after 9am and expected to wait for a bit before I got a call.
9:45ish - My phone lights up with “ACRM.” OMG! This is it… this is what we’ve been waiting for… what we’ve been working toward. I answered the phone and it was my doctor, not my nurse. Is that bad? Is that good? Omg I’m freaking out!
Dr. Fogle: “May I speak with Jessie.” Me: “Yes, this is she.” Dr. Fogle: “Hi Jessie. It’s Dr. Fogle. We got your results back and… you’re PREGNANT!” Me: [while sobbing] “I am?!” Dr. Fogle: “You are! Your beta hcg is 428 - those are great levels!”
HOLY SHIT Y’ALL! I’M PREGNANT! When I hung up, I just cried. I was so happy! I called Mike and he said, “I kinda thought you were.” He later told me that my massive boobs were the giveaway lol! From there, they monitored my levels every few days:
10/5 Beta HCG = 983 Estrogen = 425 Progesterone = 36 TSH = 2.7 (they want it below 2.5, so they’ll retest next time)
10/9 Beta HCG = 4,570 TSH = 3.07 (put on low dose Synthroid to help regulate my thyroid level)
10/14 First Ultrasound (6 weeks pregnant)
Baby is measuring at 6 weeks/0 days with a due date of June 9, 2017. We saw a heartbeat (109 bpm). It was amazing!
We’re so unbelievably excited! I can’t believe we made it. I’m still super nervous about miscarrying, but I’m trying to let my happiness outway the fear. Six more weeks until we can tell the world and I’ll feel a little less worried.
All of that hard work and money has paid off! It hasn’t been an easy road, but it’s worth it!
At our post-IVF consult, my doctor was baffled by how well I did for a patient with diminished ovarian reserve (AMH 0.52 ng/ml). She asked again about what supplements I had been on. After listing everything, she chuckled and said, “Well, something is working!” She mentioned that she laughs any time she sees my diagnosis on my chart. So fuck you DOR! ha!
For those who are interested, here’s my list of supplements/vitamins:
Prenatal
CoQ-10
DHEA
Vitamin D3
Vitamin E
Royal Jelly
Maca Root
Wheat Grass
Low-dose aspirin
Airborne (to keep from getting sick)
I also did acupuncture twice a week from May until the embryo transfer. I’m now going once a week and will continue to do so through the first trimester. I will also continue taking estrogen and PIO injections through the first trimester (yuck, but whatever… small price to pay).
Y’all… I’m pregnant! :)
Quoted: “Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.” - Dr. Robert Anthony
Listen In: “Living of Love” by The Avett Brothers