I never thought the day would come that I would see 2 lines on a pregnancy test, but at 7 days post 5 day transfer I got a positive test, confirmed by a blood test at 11 days post 5 day transfer.
Cupcakes and Science
Sunday 25 June 2017
Thursday 1 June 2017
Embryo transfer and freezing
Embryo transfer was set for Friday morning. My acupuncturist
recommended at least 1 treatment that day so I ended up taking the whole day
off work. I know from IUIs and the mock transfer that I can have pretty bad
cramping after intrauterine procedures, and would end up being at work for just
over 4 hours (over lunch so even less work time) so it just made sense to take
the day off so I could relax at home.
My husband also took the day off so we put on our
matching-ish Game of Thrones t-shirts to go for the embryo transfer. I had to
drink 2-3 cups of water 1 hour prior to transfer, and I actually measured it
out to make sure I had enough, but not too much so I wouldn’t have to pee too
badly.
Once we got to the clinic it was back into the nightgown,
shoe covers and hair cap for me, and the shoe covers, gown, hair cap and mask
for my husband. The transfer was performed in the same room (and even same
position on the table) as the retrieval. No meds for the transfer. The embryologist
came in first to talk to us about the embryo. We had one day excellent looking 5
day blastocyst that was already hatching to transfer. The embryologist said
that four of our blasts looked great and would be frozen that day. The other
two needed another day of growing before they could be ready for freezing. The
embryologist was sure at least one would be ready to freeze but she wasn’t sure
about the second one.
The RE came in once the nurses and embryologist had
everything ready. One nurse worked the abdominal ultrasound to visualize my
uterus while the embryo was placed and the other nurse assisted the RE. The RE
inserted a speculum and then cleaned my cervix to make sure no bacteria were
transferred into my uterus. Then he treaded in the catheter and once it was in
position the embryologist brought in the embryo. We could sort of see it get
placed in my uterus. The embryologist checked that the embryo had been
transferred before the RE removed the speculum.
We got a picture of the embryo and a picture of my uterus
with the air bubbles around the embryo visible, which is pretty freaking cool.
The day after the embryo transfer we got the call from the
lab that both embryos were ready to freeze which means that we have 6 embryos
in the freezer, and that all 7 of our embryos made it!
Tuesday 30 May 2017
Embryos and Egg Retrieval Recovery
I had the Monday off after my egg retrieval because it was
Victoria Day, so I was able to spend the day relaxing on the couch, drinking
water and eating salty foods. I had constant abdominal discomfort. This got
better as the week progressed and by about Thursday I only had pain if I
twisted the wrong way.
I started progesterone suppositories Monday morning – 2
pills (200mg total) 3 times a day – to prepare for embryo transfer. I also
picked up antibiotics that I would take the day before, day of, and day after
embryo transfer. The progesterone suppositories are messy but I know from my
IUI cycles that I need 400mg a day to prevent my uterine bleeding so I’ll do
whatever necessary if it means I don’t have any bleeding.
The lab called the day after the egg retrieval to talk about
the eggs/embryos. All 8 eggs were mature and fertilized with ICSI. 7 of them
started to divide. With more than 4 embryos they recommend doing a day 5
transfer because there is usually a higher rate of success than a day 3
transfer, and with so many embryos it is likely that at least 1 will make it to
day 5. For a day 5 transfer they don’t check the embryos on day 2 so the next
update would be day 3.
Monday 29 May 2017
Egg Retrieval
My egg retrieval was scheduled for 9am on the Sunday of the
Victoria Day long weekend. I needed to arrive at the clinic at 8am to be
prepped for the procedure. I also had a list of things I needed to do at home
prior to coming to the clinic, including both my husband and I having showers
that morning, no food or drink after midnight, wearing socks, tying my hair
back, bringing a pad and a few other things.
When I woke up Sunday morning I was starving and thirsty and
really nervous. I still felt crampy like I had the night before so I was a
little less worried about ovulating before the retrieval. My husband and I
prepped at home as instructed by the clinic, including wearing our matching
Star Wars t-shirts. We took a picture together to put in an IVF scrapbook
before heading to the clinic.
At the clinic I changed into a very cute squirrel nightgown,
surgical booties and hair cap, took a sedative and had an IV started. I was
given an antibiotic with the IV to help with infection. My husband had to wear
shoe covers, a gown, hair cap and face mask. Before going into the procedure room
we were told that it was common for each follicle not to have an egg, and for
not all the eggs to be mature. My husband provided his semen sample before the
egg retrieval.
For the egg retrieval I was set up on a table similar to
what is used for giving birth. I was started on oxygen and my blood pressure
and heart rate were monitored regularly. My husband was able to sit by my head
during the procedure. There was 1 nurse monitoring me, 1 helping the RE, the
RE, and a lab technician in the room. I was given a pain killer and something
else during the procedure so I don’t remember anything after the RE started
placing the speculum and cleaning my vagina/cervix.
To retrieve the eggs they use a vaginal ultrasound and a big
needle to suction out the fluid from the follicles. My husband could watch on
the ultrasound screen and see the follicle disappear. I asked him to take a
video but he didn’t, so I just got pictures of my ovaries with all the
follicles there. The whole procedure took less than 10 minutes and the lab tech
confirmed that there was an egg in each follicle before we went back to
recover.
I had some cramping and a little bit of bleeding after the
procedure. I was starving so as soon as we left we went to McDonald’s. My
husband would only let me have fries, but they were so delicious. I spent the
rest of the day relaxing on the couch and watching tv.
Sunday 28 May 2017
IVF Stims
I felt so horrible the whole time I was on stims that I
could barely make it through a work day and spent all my time in bed or on the
couch.
After my first 5 days of stims I went in for an ultrasound
and blood work to see how my ovaries were responding. The RE found 2-3
follicles on my left ovary and 4-5 on my right ovary. Based on my AMH it was
expected that I would produce 4-8 follicles so I was right on target for that.
My uterine lining looked good and my estrogen was still low, so I picked up
another 2 days of meds and came back 2 days later. During this ultrasound there
was still 2-3 follicles on my left ovary and 4-5 on my right. The lead follicle
was getting pretty big so I started a new medication, Cetrotide, to prevent
ovulation, which means I had to do 2 injections each night. The Cetrotide burns
going in, and the injection site was sore over a day later. I did Cetrotide
with my stims for 2 days before my next appointment. At this ultrasound they
finally confirmed my follicle number as 3 on my left ovary and 5 on my right
ovary. My lead follicle was big enough to stop stims and take my trigger shot
that night at 9PM. My blood work showed that everything was good to do a fresh
embryo transfer. The trigger shot was HCG, the same hormone that is produced
during pregnancy, and it helps the eggs finish maturing before retrieval. The
morning after taking the trigger shot I really wanted to pee on a pregnancy
test so I could finally see a positive, but I had no cheap tests left and didn’t
feel like going to Dollarama to pick one up.
The great thing about making it to the trigger shot means
that there was a day off from medication between trigger and egg retrieval. I
started to feel really crampy, like I was going to ovulate, the day after my
trigger shot. I was really worried about ovulating before egg retrieval,
despite logical things like obviously the doctor know what they are doing and
doesn’t want me to ovulate early, and that several clinics online do the same
36 hours between trigger and retrieval. My egg retrieval was scheduled for 8am
on the Sunday of a long weekend, which actually worked out great because I
already had the day of and day after retrieval off work to recover.
Sunday 14 May 2017
Day 5 of IVF
On cycle day 3 I went to the RE clinic for my screening
ultrasound and blood work. I signed in on the clinic sign-up sheet and then
took a seat in the waiting room, as everyone that needs an ultrasound or blood
work are scheduled at 7:30am and are seen in the order that they arrived. I was
called up first to pay the over $8,000 an IVF + ICSI cycle costs, including the
fee for freezing embryos for a year. Next, I had my vaginal ultrasound to
confirm that my ovaries were suppressed and did not have any cysts. My ovaries
looked good, although my left ovary is difficult to find, which will make egg
retrieval on that side difficult. I also found out that I have a retroverted
uterus, which none of my previous doctors had bothered to tell me. After a blood
draw I was free to go. I had to wait until an afternoon phone call from the
nurses to let me know if my blood work was fine so I could start my cycle.
I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up the IVF drugs after I
got the go-ahead phone call. There is only one pharmacy in the whole city that
carries the IVF medications. The pharmacist was great and went over the whole
injection process with me, including providing me with an opportunity to
practice the medication mixing and injections. It was no big surprise that none
of the medications were covered by our work prescription drug plans since
infertility is one of the only medical conditions whose treatment is considered
optional. So, it was another $1500 for 5 days worth of medications.
I started the medications at 9PM that night. I have to mix
the Gonal-F with the Luveris, add sterile water, and then inject it all
approximately 1 inch from my belly button. It was really weird giving myself an
injection. The injection hurts. My husband injected me the next night and he
was so worried about hurting me that he injected so slowly that it hurt even
more. I feel like I’m at pro at it now after 4 days, but it still hurts.
Here is my 5 day supply of meds
And here is everything I need to do one injection
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