Early this morning we had our second egg retrieval, and so far it went well. First and foremost, we got 9 eggs this time which is 2 more than last time! I was so relieved to hear this, but now we have to wait and see how many are mature and fertilize. Last time we got 7 eggs, but only 6 were mature and 5 fertilized. So that was a really good percentage of fertilized eggs for the number of eggs we started with. I pray we are equally successful this time! All in all the procedure was about the same as last time. We arrived at the clinic OR at 6:15 this morning as directed by the nurse for the hour prep time needed prior to our 7:15 retrieval time. Since I was the first patient of the day, things moved along pretty quick. We filled out the same consent forms as last time, and then I was taken into the pre-op area. I got undressed and put on the lovely retrieval ensemble consisting of hospital gown, booties and surgical cap. Then, the nurse took my vitals and prepared my IV. This part went much smoother this time. Last…Continue reading IVF and PGD Part 2– Egg Retrieval #2
Tag: Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
IVF and PGD Part 2 – The Eve of Our Second Egg Retrieval
It’s 11: 30 pm on the eve of our second retrieval, and I can’t sleep so I decided to get up and make myself a cup steamed almond milk before my “no food or drink after midnight” cutoff. The same thing happened to me last time. I went to be early in hopes of getting a good night’s sleep before the procedure, but tossed and turned for hours. I understand why it was so hard last time. I had not done this before so I was worried and nervous about the procedure, and I was really worried about the outcome. However, this time I know what to expect so I really thought I would be able to rest easier tonight, but as it gets later and later, and I get closer to my 4:45 am wake up time, I’m even more and more worried. I guess it’s because if all goes well tomorrow, we’ll finally be moving forward with the PGD and that has me even more scared. Sigh… Will I ever rest easy again? Who knows… I guess for now I just have to be thankful that we’ve made it this far and wait and see what happens. So…Continue reading IVF and PGD Part 2 – The Eve of Our Second Egg Retrieval
IVF and PGD Part 2 – Injections Day 9
Today is day 9 of injections and day 7 of Stims and so far so good. I had another monitoring appointment today and the 8 follicles are doing well and measuring between 14mm to 16mm. There are a few smaller ones measuring around 11mm so we may actually have a few more if they catch up to the rest. We’ll see. I know something is happening because I can really feel a lot of pressure in my uterus and ovaries. Pressure is good! I’ll take it if it means good things to come! If things continue to progress as they have been, we should be good to trigger on Saturday evening. We want to be around 20mm before we do the trigger. I have another monitoring appointment on Saturday morning, so I’ll find out then. Fingers crossed! My hubby is making popcorn and we’re going to settle in and watch a movie. I will write more on Saturday after my appointment. Hopefully with good news that were about to trigger! Happy Thanksgiving! May the spirit of the holiday bring good things for all of us!
IVF and PGD Part 2 – Injections Day 8
Today is definitely the worst day in the entire process so far. For one, I’m really not feeling great. I still have the weird throbbing headache, and now I also feel foggy and tired and my stomach has been queasy for the past 2 days. I think it’s the HGH causing these newest symptoms because I didn’t feel this awful last time. If that wasn’t bad enough, my husband had to stay late at work tonight. He thought he’d be home in time to do the meds, but when 7:00 pm came along and he wasn’t home yet, I realized I would have to give myself my injections. After panicking for a few minutes, I slowly started getting the meds together, all the while mentally preparing myself for the task at hand. Once I had all the meds laid out on a tray, I sat there for a good 10 minutes psyching myself up and praying that my husband would walk through the door and save me. But he still wasn’t home by 7:30 pm, and I’m supposed to take them at 7:00 pm every day, give or take an hour. He did eventually get home to help me, but…Continue reading IVF and PGD Part 2 – Injections Day 8
IVF and PGD Part 2 – Injections Day 5
I’m 5 days into this round of meds (day 3 of Stims and HGH), and to say I’m feeling off is a bit of an understatement. Other than feeling like a pin cushion, physically I’m not too bad. Although I have to ask, why does Menopur burn so much when it’s injected? The Lupron is fine, the Follistim is fine, even the HGH is fine. Other than that initial prick, they’re all manageable, but the darned Menopur feels like I’m being injected with fire. Seriously? What the heck? Has anyone else felt this? Other than that, I still have that throbbing headache, but it’s not as bad as it was a few days ago. I’m also feeling a bit queasy, but it’s not too bad either. The most noticeable physical side-effect so far is I can really feel my ovaries. I know that sounds weird but they feel achy and huge. I’m still early into my Stims so I hope this is a good sign that there are lots of follicles starting to grow and not hyper stimulation or something scary like that. I have an appointment with Dr. J on Monday for an ultrasound so I’ll find out how…Continue reading IVF and PGD Part 2 – Injections Day 5
IVF and PGD Part 2 – Injections
Meds, Meds, Meds My hubby and I are becoming experts at preparing and administering all these meds. I get the tray ready with the vials, needles, gauze, alcohol wipes, and sharps container and my hubby prepares the meds and does the sticking. He’s becoming such a pro! It’s such a relief! I just can’t get the nerve to do it myself. For all of you out there who do this yourself, I am very impressed! To recap, we’re on a pretty intense schedule for meds this time around. So far it’s been a breeze with just 1 injection of Lupron (Leuprolide Acetate) at 7 am and 1 injection of Lupron at 7 pm. My only notable side effect so far is a really bad headache. It’s a bit better today, but it seems to get worse about 4 hours after each injection. I’ve read on other blogs that, headaches are a pretty typical side effect of the Lupron, and I had headaches last time with the other meds too so it was expected. Dr. J recommended upping my electrolytes last time so I stocked up on Gaterade this time and I think it’s helping. Even though we won’t be transferring…Continue reading IVF and PGD Part 2 – Injections
IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2 – Update #2
And I thought I had a lot of meds last time! When I last left off talking about my upcoming procedures, I had to take birth control pills for 18 days before beginning my next round. This is the first step in the protocol for a long IVF cycle before starting the stimulating medications and egg retrieval. This is the second time I’ve had to do this, and it’s all leading up to getting as many embryos as we can in order to have the best outcome for the real reason why we’re doing all of this, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). I know it’s supposed to help the process and give us the best possible outcome, but it really feels counterproductive. So do the condoms we have to use to make sure we don’t “accidentally” get pregnant on our own while in the middle of all this. There have been so many moments in the past few months that I have just wanted to say to heck with all this and get pregnant on our own again and maybe, just maybe the next time we’ll catch a good egg and it will all work out, but with my track record,…Continue reading IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2 – Update #2
I Would Die For That
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ&w=420&h=315] Watch it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ By Kellie Coffey © Duet Inc. All Rights Reserved I’m feeling especially emotional tonight. There’s been a recurring theme in the Recurrent Pregnancy Loss circle of the blogging world lately. Some of you have been writing about whether you think you’ll be a good mom and the more time that goes by in the trying process and with all the losses, some of you are giving it more and more thought. I wish I could say I wasn’t one of you, but of course the thought has crossed my mind too. In the darkest recesses of my mind, I have asked if there is a reason why none of my pregnancies have worked out. Maybe I’m not meant to be a mother, or worse, maybe I shouldn’t be, but somehow my hope and faith always prevails. Then today I read a very touching post by A Calm Persistence, where she writes I just won’t go there… She talks about how with each of her subsequent pregnancies after her first loss, she protected herself and didn’t allow herself to fully hope, but if she becomes pregnant again, she plans to honor her baby by allowing herself to hope…Continue reading I Would Die For That
A Little Sunshine in a Dark Week
Today, I found out a fellow angel mom had nominated me for the Sunshine Award! I was shocked and touched to receive this acknowledgement, and it couldn’t have come at a better time! I always try to maintain a positive attitude and sense of humor with all the ups and downs of trying to conceive and recurrent pregnancy loss, but lately I have to admit that I have been struggling with it all. I had a mini breakdown last night and found myself going to a really dark place full of bitterness, anger and self loathing. Then, this morning I logged onto my blog and discovered this little gift. Thank you so much Recurrently Lost for your nomination and for brightening my day! This angel mom always writes from the heart and her stories have been a constant inspiration to me. I am so honored that she thought of me. Thoughts on the Sunshine Award When I received my nomination, I immediately tried to do a search about it and learn more, and was confused at first when I couldn’t find a website for the Award. I could only find other bloggers who had received the award nomination and had…Continue reading A Little Sunshine in a Dark Week
IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2 – Update
We are officially beginning our second round in the IVF and PGD process. I went in yesterday for an ultrasound and blood draw to test my estradiol levels. All was good, so Dr J gave me the go ahead to begin taking birth control pills again. I’ll take the pills for the next 17 days, then stop and get another period, then I’ll start injections again and my next egg retrieval is tentatively booked for Dec 1st or 2nd. If we get enough eggs and enough fertilize, then we’ll grow the new embryos and the 5 we have frozen to 5-day blast and on the 5th day, they’ll take a biopsy of each embryo and send it to the PGD lab for chromosomal testing. So we should know by around Dec 6th or 7th if we have any viable embryos. If we do, we’ll likely wait until the end of that cycle and one more before doing the transfer. So sometime in mid January we will hopefully be ready to transfer an embryo. I’m feeling a little more positive today. When I wrote my last post, I wasn’t feeling very positive about moving forward this time around, but I’m feeling…Continue reading IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2 – Update