Anna must play the game "Red Light, Green Light" at school because she comes home talking all about it. For the past month we have been going through tests trying to get our green light to start the IVF process. Yesterday we got our green light!
I had my umpteenth ultrasound done yesterday, and although we were hoping for the ovaries to be clear of any cysts, that was not the case. We knew it could be a possibility because of my history, but it turned out that the ovaries are still covered in tiny cysts. My doctor called it poly cystic ovarian syndrome tendencies. I guess I don't meet the major requirement to be diagnosed with the syndrome, so they call it a "tendency." He also said he saw some scar tissue, so that could explain why I am still in pain. Most of this news doesn't matter too much because we are already doing IVF, but it gives the doctor more of an idea of how much medicine to give to stimulate ovulation. The pre-screening IVF tests have been very informative. It's like a treasure hunt; what will they find out this appointment?? Hopefully that was the last piece of negative medical finding in this process.
So what's the plan? Basically we are jumping head first into this process and learning as we go what is required of us. This weekend I start the first step which is birth control pills. I am on those for 3.5 weeks to give my ovaries a rest and get on the cycle my doctor wants me on. Since I do have a hormonal imbalance with the ovarian cysts, I'm hoping the birth control will help keep that at bay. It seems funny to go on birth control to have a baby, but it's all part of the process!
On April 29th we officially begin ovulation stimulation. This is when the real fun starts. We will become pros at injections and managing my medicine schedule. Any nurses out there want to volunteer to come live with us for a couple of months to help administer thick, oil like shots every day? Just kidding; I know we will get the hang of it quickly!
Then around the first and second week of May they will harvest hopefully lots of mature, healthy eggs, turn them into embryos, and transfer them back. After that we hope and pray that one or two of the embryos does its thing and implants. Then we wait some more for either a positive or negative pregnancy test. If it's positive we continue with shots and close care for the first trimester at the clinic. If negative then we continue on with another cycle after some recovery time.
We have heard that IVF is full of crazy emotional and physical ups and downs. I would like to say we are ready for the roller coaster after months of tests and procedures, but I don't think I can honestly say that until we are in the thick of things. I do know that we are incredibly thankful for our health and our beautiful daughter, so that makes it easier to move into this process with nothing to lose.
Thank you for your encouragement through this!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Ultrasound Galore
When I was pregnant with Anna I had three ultrasounds. They were the some of the most exciting/nerve racking experiences I've ever experienced. The first one was amazing. At 7 weeks we breathed a sigh of relief seeing our little glow worm on the screen with a strong heart beat. We looked at the picture daily. Then at 20 weeks we had our second one where we found out we had a squirmy but healthy baby girl. Deep down in my heart I knew she was a girl. Our third one was at 29 weeks and we saw her sweet profile for the last time while she was in the womb. I loved those ultrasounds and getting a glimpse of the baby we couldn't wait to meet!
Since Anna was born I have had around 8 ultrasounds. When there is no baby involved ultrasounds aren't fun. They are checking for things that are wrong. For most of mine I was treated like a freak of nature by the techs. After a while I went into them telling the tech "Yes I have a lot of cysts and yes they are big." For a while I was having so many ultrasounds that I contemplated going back to school to become an ultrasound tech. I figured if you can't beat them, join them. It was always a little hard being in the waiting room with visibly pregnant ladies going in to get their gender sonograms. I wondered if we would ever be in that position again. I did learn a lot through these 8 ultrasounds and learned not to be alarmed with the tech tried to remain calm while telling me they needed to get their supervisor. Thankfully my surgery didn't confirm what the techs thought was going on.
Thankfully I finally found a doctor who wasn't intimidated by these cysts and took care of the problem. She has reassured me that they shouldn't grow back since it's not endometriosis. My fertility doctor has mentioned several times that these cysts are pretty common. I wish someone had told me that 3 years ago! Moral of the story... always go to a specialist. They know way more about their field that I ever thought.
So on Wednesday I go in for my final pre-screening for in vitro ultrasound. Hopefully it will show that there are no cysts that would keep us from being able to do in vitro. Then a couple of days later we should start our journey with in vitro. As weird as it may sound I am excited about the process because of what the end result could bring... baby(ies). It's not the road we thought we would go down to expand our family but we are beyond thankful that there is something else we can try. We know there will be a lot of ups and downs but hopefully we are ready to take on this new challenge. So wish us luck that everything is clear and we will have the green light to start this process!
Since Anna was born I have had around 8 ultrasounds. When there is no baby involved ultrasounds aren't fun. They are checking for things that are wrong. For most of mine I was treated like a freak of nature by the techs. After a while I went into them telling the tech "Yes I have a lot of cysts and yes they are big." For a while I was having so many ultrasounds that I contemplated going back to school to become an ultrasound tech. I figured if you can't beat them, join them. It was always a little hard being in the waiting room with visibly pregnant ladies going in to get their gender sonograms. I wondered if we would ever be in that position again. I did learn a lot through these 8 ultrasounds and learned not to be alarmed with the tech tried to remain calm while telling me they needed to get their supervisor. Thankfully my surgery didn't confirm what the techs thought was going on.
Thankfully I finally found a doctor who wasn't intimidated by these cysts and took care of the problem. She has reassured me that they shouldn't grow back since it's not endometriosis. My fertility doctor has mentioned several times that these cysts are pretty common. I wish someone had told me that 3 years ago! Moral of the story... always go to a specialist. They know way more about their field that I ever thought.
So on Wednesday I go in for my final pre-screening for in vitro ultrasound. Hopefully it will show that there are no cysts that would keep us from being able to do in vitro. Then a couple of days later we should start our journey with in vitro. As weird as it may sound I am excited about the process because of what the end result could bring... baby(ies). It's not the road we thought we would go down to expand our family but we are beyond thankful that there is something else we can try. We know there will be a lot of ups and downs but hopefully we are ready to take on this new challenge. So wish us luck that everything is clear and we will have the green light to start this process!
Friday, March 7, 2014
A Little Bit Closer
Today we got a little bit closer to seeing our dream of another child come true. I needed two tests done to move forward with being screened for in vitro. The first one was an easy blood draw I did earlier in the week. The second was called a hysteroscopy and I had that done today. I'll discuss the first before the really "fun" one.
On Monday I had blood drawn to check my FSH levels. I am getting really into all the acronyms. They're almost as intense as military ones! Apparently healthy levels of FSH for my age are at a 3 or 4. Well mine was a 9.3. They can still do in vitro on people with levels under 10 but it requires a little more effort than what was originally thought. In layman's terms my ovaries are "aging" faster than a normal 31 year old. So during my treatment I will need to have more medicine than normal to stimulate the maturation of more eggs. Don't I sound like a super smart doctor with all of these terms? My doctor is still not worried and encouraged us it's pretty much now or never if we want to have another baby. That's fine by me after all of this waiting I wouldn't want to wait any longer to try this thing. It was just another assurance that what we are doing is the best possible thing for trying for another one. I knew things just weren't adding up!
The second test I had done was today. It's called a hysteroscopy. Before they shoved a camera up my lady parts they gave me a shot in the butt that made me want to scream. I can handle shots but this one totally took me by surprise. I was a little shocked after when they said "That wasn't bad right? This is what it will feel like every day when you're giving yourself shots." For a second I thought "What the heck are we getting ourselves into here," but I quickly assured myself that after a few days I would get used to the shots. The test itself was only 4 minutes. You would not believe how much those 4 minutes cost us. Not to be a grouch or anything about it. They asked if I wanted to watch my insides on the screen and I looked for a second but got so queasy I had to turn away. This is why I could never go into the medical field. The good news is that everything was clear! It was nice to have a test that turned out to give us good results.
So in a couple of weeks I will meet with the lady who will give us the low down on all the meds and when to take them. Apparently there is a color coded calendar involved that I'm really excited about because I do have a side of me that loves organization. Then I will have another pelvic ultrasound and start the birth control. Yes in this case you go on birth control to be able to get pregnant. Who would've thought?
In the meant time we are praying for a healthy amount of eggs to be harvested and for some good embryos to make this thing happen. Then hopefully the embryo will turn into a blastocyst and the blastocyst into a fetus and a fetus into a baby. How's that for biology? I didn't pay attention to it in high school but I am now! Wish us luck!
On Monday I had blood drawn to check my FSH levels. I am getting really into all the acronyms. They're almost as intense as military ones! Apparently healthy levels of FSH for my age are at a 3 or 4. Well mine was a 9.3. They can still do in vitro on people with levels under 10 but it requires a little more effort than what was originally thought. In layman's terms my ovaries are "aging" faster than a normal 31 year old. So during my treatment I will need to have more medicine than normal to stimulate the maturation of more eggs. Don't I sound like a super smart doctor with all of these terms? My doctor is still not worried and encouraged us it's pretty much now or never if we want to have another baby. That's fine by me after all of this waiting I wouldn't want to wait any longer to try this thing. It was just another assurance that what we are doing is the best possible thing for trying for another one. I knew things just weren't adding up!
The second test I had done was today. It's called a hysteroscopy. Before they shoved a camera up my lady parts they gave me a shot in the butt that made me want to scream. I can handle shots but this one totally took me by surprise. I was a little shocked after when they said "That wasn't bad right? This is what it will feel like every day when you're giving yourself shots." For a second I thought "What the heck are we getting ourselves into here," but I quickly assured myself that after a few days I would get used to the shots. The test itself was only 4 minutes. You would not believe how much those 4 minutes cost us. Not to be a grouch or anything about it. They asked if I wanted to watch my insides on the screen and I looked for a second but got so queasy I had to turn away. This is why I could never go into the medical field. The good news is that everything was clear! It was nice to have a test that turned out to give us good results.
So in a couple of weeks I will meet with the lady who will give us the low down on all the meds and when to take them. Apparently there is a color coded calendar involved that I'm really excited about because I do have a side of me that loves organization. Then I will have another pelvic ultrasound and start the birth control. Yes in this case you go on birth control to be able to get pregnant. Who would've thought?
In the meant time we are praying for a healthy amount of eggs to be harvested and for some good embryos to make this thing happen. Then hopefully the embryo will turn into a blastocyst and the blastocyst into a fetus and a fetus into a baby. How's that for biology? I didn't pay attention to it in high school but I am now! Wish us luck!
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