IVF Update

I owe you guys an update, I know. I’ve been a little out of it of sorts as of late, mostly because I’m still sort of blind-sided by all this, and trying to cope.

We’ve decided to go through with the IVF. It was not an easy decision, and I cried for a couple of days about it because I was so stressed out and disappointed. Thankfully, I had a therapist appointment the day after I made the decision, and my doctor put things in a better perspective for me, and I felt much better after that.

My first IVF appointment went well. The nurse took some blood to test, then gave me this kit that has needles and a vial with saline solution in it. The kit is to help me practice giving myself injections, since eventually, I will have to do that. I haven’t practiced yet, but I still have two weeks before that has to happen.

The first step forward feels like a huge step backward. I have to go on birth control for three weeks. I know. It makes no sense. But, it does make sense as far as the whole process goes. Since I’ve been on hormones the past three months, my body is all out of whack. The birth control will regulate those hormones and get them back into a good place. It also helps to prevent over stimulation of the ovaries, or OHSS, a potential complication of IVF treatment.

After three weeks, I will start Lupron injections. Lupron keeps my body from ovulating while my ovaries are stimulated to produce as many follicles as they can.

After two weeks of injections, I’ll arrange my egg retrieval. It’s a minor surgery where they will go in and collect all the eggs they can. During this process, we want there to be lots of good eggs, since I can have the other embryos frozen and if this cycle doesn’t produce a pregnancy, I won’t have to go through the whole process again.

Around the week of the 21st of May is when the IVF will actually take place. After the eggs are retrieved and fertilized, it takes about three to five days for them to mature enough to be transferred back into the body. We are going to transfer two back to increase our chances of one of them implanting. Two is the most they will let me transfer at my age. I COULD ask for three, but they would heavily advise against it. Two is enough for me. :)

Then, it’s back to playing the waiting game to see if they have made themselves snug and cozy in my uterus.

The process is not going to be easy. It’s going to be stressful and it’s going to suck big time...but it’s what I have to do, so I may as well get on with it, right?

Continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. At some point, they have to work. We really appreciate all the support that has been offered to us so far, and all the positive thinking will result in something beautiful in the end...I hope.

<3