Some people call them "test tube" or "Petrie dish" babies. The woman takes injections of hormones to grow eggs. The eggs are retrieved surgically and mixed with sperms in a Petrie dish. After 3-5 days of incubation, fertilized eggs, now embryos are put into the uterus. If you aren't familiar with IVF and want a rundown, here ya go.
April 24: I went in for my Antral follicle count ultrasound (u/s) and trial transfer. The nurse counted 9 little follicles! I am super ecstatic. Supposedly 6 or more gives you a pretty good success rate. The more you have, the more they can retrieve, fertilize, grow, and transfer back as little embryos. I was SO afraid I was going to have like... One. When she said 9, I just about cried tears of joy! The trial transfer was a little tricky and uncomfortable, but overall not too bad.
May 8: The day of truth. Our consent visit. J and I ask any last minute questions. We are described again in detail the process, then we sign away our lives and the future lives of our embryos. The great part about this visit: we got our calendar!! It tells us when to start stim injections, our tentative retrieval and transfer dates, and most important, the date of the HCG blood draw to tell if I'm pregnant or not. Holy crackers!!! IM SO EXCITED!
May 11: The shipment of drugs arrived. Wowza, I'm surprised at it all! Until I figure out how to get iPad pics on here, you're outta luck.. But in this case, the picture really does speak 1,000 words.... Or maybe 3,800 words. Hahaha. I am also pleasantly surprised to find out I don't have to do progesterone in oil injections, I get suppositories instead. This means I'm a pin cushion for only 2-3 weeks and not 12-13. Yippee!
May 24: Suppression check. My uterine lining is measuring a perfect 4.1mm ( they like to see less than 5mm). The nurse practitioner doing the u/s has a hard time finding my ovary so calls in a doc to help her out. After a little digging and a extra hand to push it down, they count 7 antral follicles. While less than I was hoping for, I'm still happy with 7. After all, all it takes is 1! They also do a short pre-op questionnaire since I will be under anesthesia for egg retrieval. I get the official go ahead to start stims in 2 days. Before leaving, I write the biggest check I've ever written and leave feeling pretty good and in disbelief that it's starting!
May 26: Ready, set, inject!! I'm so nervous but excited the day is finally here! J isn't at home (he's CDO on the ship) so I was a little sad he missed this epic moment, but since he hates needles he wasn't exactly disappointed to miss the occasion. Lol. I was so nervous to do it and felt really silly. I re-read the info sheets for the thousandth time, and triple checked the meds and dosage. Guess that's the nurse in me :). If I were at work giving these drugs to someone else, it'd probably take me 5 minutes or less. I was so nervous to get it right, I managed to drag it out for 25. Sheesh. I have two injections, follistim and menopur. Follistim is easy and comes in a little pen device. Menopur I have to mix and unfortunately it burnsss! Nevertheless, we are one day closer, and I am freaking out! It's so weird to think in could be preg in 2 weeks!!~~!!
May 28: J and I had to drive all the way to Seattle to get my blood drawn this morning. My usual office in Tacoma is closed for the holiday. 3 hours in the car for less than 10 minutes at the office. I'm not complaining, it's worth it! I think J feels a little guilty having to watch me poke myself for these injections. He was feeling like absolute poo this morning but wanted to show his dedication to me and the process and came anyways. Poor kid was barfing the whole way there. Guess he really does love me and wants this as bad as I do ! :) :). The nurses called a few hours later to tell me everything looks good and to keep doing what I'm doing. Roger.
No comments:
Post a Comment