Those of you that are living with infertility know there are acronyms up the ying yang to describe almost anything you are dealing with in this process. However, for those you who don't know I will try my best to define what the heck I am talking about. I swear you need a secret decoder ring to be in this club. When I first started reading through different blogs and support boards I thought I was going to go insane.
Here are a few examples:
PUPO - pregnant until proven otherwise
POAS - pee on a stick
BFP - big fat postitive
BFN - big fat negative
FET - frozen embryo transfer
DH - darling husband
DD/DS - darling daughter/darling son
RE - reproductive endocrinologist
MC - miscarriage
2dp5dt - 2 days past 5 day transfer
......are you kidding me? Is it that hard to spell out the words? For the most part I try to stay away from the most of the acronyms (i.e. BFP and DH [even though my husband is in-fact darling, I prefer to call him by the nickname I gave him, Hot Bartender]), but I digress.
Getting back on track.....
IVF #3 Stats
Cycle started: 05/25/15
Days of injections: 15
Meds:
10mg Lupron 2x a day
425 units Follistim
150 IU Menopur
Omnitrope 2.5 mg
Retrieval: 06/11/15
Follicles retrieved: 8
Mature follicles: 7
Transfer: 06/16/15
Embryos transferred: 2 grade one hatching blastocysts (blast)
Embryos stored/frozen: 1 grade two hatching blasts
1st Beta: 06/25/15
I did my hormone injections for a total of 15 days. A normal cycle is typically 9 days. It is stressful to have to continue injections days past when normal women get to stop. It took until stimulation (stim) day 7 before my follicles decided to grow (at the max dose) and then an additional 8 days past that until they were the right size for retrieval. Not to mention the almost daily 1 1/2 hour commute to and from San Francisco for appointments while working full time. I was quite a mess. I had myself convinced they were going to cancel my cycle but each day I just tried to remain positive and do what I could to stay as stress free as possible. Finally by cycle day (CD) 15 my little follicles were ready to go!
The retrieval went well for the most part, they were able to get 8 follicles, 7 of which were mature. My normal RE was not able to perform the retrieval and much to my dismay an RE who very traumatically performed my last transfer was the one scheduled to get my precious follicles safely out of my body, we will call her Dr. X. I tried not to freak out too much and take comfort in the fact that she has been doing this for a very long time and that everything was going to be ok. And everything was, until I started bleeding pretty heavily. I have not bled with my two previous retrievals and truly believe it was due to the carelessness and rush of Dr. X that caused it to happen this time. Luckily a few days later the bleeding and the cramping subsided and our embryos were safely growing in a petri dish.
Because it is so difficult to transfer due to my cervix being positioned the way it is (Dr. X had use a tenaculum the last transfer which is a little less than a torture device) my RE and I decided it would be best to use anesthesia for the transfer to make it go smoothly for both parties involved. It is fairly uncommon for women to be put under for the transfer but if I have learned nothing from this journey I have learned I am not like other women and for me, being put under was perfect. In and out in less than 15 minutes with 2 grade 1 hatching blast snuggling up in my fluffy lining (Go team twins!). I also received on-site acupuncture directly before and after the transfer which was amazing. I didn't even have to move.
We headed home about an hour and a half after the transfer. On the way back, I was resting and snacking on pinapple and pomegranate juice (two foods I heard that help with implantation. I have no idea if it is true, but figured it couldn't hurt anything). Later in the drive HB pointed out that he saw a deer on the hills on the side of the highway. Not an unusual site, however, this particular deer was strolling around with her two fawns. I think it was a sign, I have a good feeling about this cycle.
No comments:
Post a Comment