I have received so many kind words about this blog, and just want to thank each of you for taking the time to read it!  Many of you have struggled with infertility (and endometriosis) and know exactly what we are going through.  It means so much to us that baby Stewart has so many people praying for them, even when they are just a thought and not yet real.  We even have someone who wrote our prayer on a piece of paper and placed it in a crack of the Wailing Wall in Israel!!!  If baby Stewart is successfully conceived, he or she will be the luckiest person in the world, because they will be surrounded by so many loving family members and friends!

Not too much has gone on since my first post, but I'll give you a little update.  I met with the financial coordinator and made the first hefty down payment.  She went over the fee schedule, the range of cost for medications and additional testing I'll need, plus the schedule of my cycle.  There are a few test I can do elsewhere, possibly covered by insurance, which will save an enormous amount of money and time!!  I'm frantically trying to find a doctor to do a hysteroscopy and pelvic ultrasound (these are done to make sure my uterus looks good and there's nothing that will prevent IVF from working).  I may have to do one of both tests with Dr. R because both tests have to be done within a certain time.  My gynecologist (who I've seen once and absolutely LOVE) is so booked up that I had to see a P.A. for my PAP smear last year, because the physician was booking out 8 months for routine appointments!  I asked Dr C, who I work closely with, who he recommended (and who to avoid).  He talked with an anesthesiologist friend who gave me some recommendations.  I was given two names of doctors to absolutely avoid, which is convenient since my PCP recommended one of them.  Just another plus of working in the medical field!  I'll need to find another OB-Gyn regardless, because the one I love doesn't do obstetrics anymore.

I bought a large planner book yesterday (it was on clearance and pink… a sign?) to keep everything organized, because I feel like my brain is already starting to get overloaded.  Apparently soon I'll be given a printed calendar of everything from Dr. R (when to take my meds, etc), but even with the few things I have to remember within my personal life plus IVF, my brain is saying "whoa!"  The financial advisor did tell me the projected dates of my retrieval, which will be July 17, 18, 19, or 20th.  I asked "but what if my cycle doesn't fall then?"  Her response was "oh, he'll make sure your cycle happens then!"  It's amazing how much they can manipulate your hormones to make you ovulate at a specific time!  Those dates happen to fall on the weekend, and if I'm ready for retrieval on a Saturday or Sunday, the office opens for me.  I told my projected dates to my direct manager and told her I'll make my appointments as best as I can around my work schedule.  She said she really appreciates that, but told me this is important.  Basically in her eyes, this comes first and I shouldn't worry about work being understaffed; they'll handle it.  It was soooo nice to hear her say that!  There's certainly been MANY times we've been understaffed and I've had to work overtime or even harder (or picked up the slack for the lazy ones) and it's good to know she sees that.

It occurred to me after I wrote my first post that not everyone knows the basics of IVF.  I've had people ask "will you be able to breast feed?" and several people offer me their eggs (most were joking, but I've had a few serious people!).  IVF (in-vitro fertilization) is the process of removing eggs from the ovaries and mixing with sperm in a lab culture dish.  In-vitro means taking place in a test tub, culture dish or elsewhere outside a living organism.  Originally referred to a "test tube babies," the first child born through IVF was in England in 1978.  Coincidentally, I was given "fertility" as the subject of my project in my medical assisting class.  Here is a video I made 2.5 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqeWY4r5m6s&feature=em-share_video_user

I realized after I finished the video, which took me 8 hours to do because I couldn't figure out how to edit parts of my speech and had to repeatedly do over and over again, that my research was incorrect and the number of babies born through IVF was much higher than 3.5 million.  That's an overall video of IVF, but here's what we know in more detail...

As far as we know, my eggs are fine and hopefully still plentiful!  My rate for conception starts dropping drastically at age 36, 37 (I'll be 36 in October), so we are racing against time!  Lee's recent spermanalysis showed his boys are appropriately numbered, alert and ready for their marching orders!  I'll be put back on birth control probably next week (thank HEAVENS!!!  Oh, how I've missed that little daily pill!) to regulate my cycle, even though it's regular, but mostly to prevent any cysts from developing that would delay my IVF cycle.  I'll need to be on birth control for at least a month, then I will begin the hormones.  I don't know all the medications I'll be taking or the schedule, but I think I take Lupron first, followed by a cocktail of injectable hormones.  Lupron will basically make me feel like I'm going through menopause.  Awesome!

My cycle ends with a trigger shot, which depends on the quantity size of my follicles, plus my estrogen level. Follicles are what hold the eggs in place and the goal size is 18mm, because they likely contain mature eggs.  My trigger shot can happen at any time (as in 2am), and once done (I heard it's very painful), the retrieval will happen within 36 hours.  I don't yet know when Lee will be asked to donate his sperm, but I'm guessing it'll be the same time as my retrieval.  The goal for retrieval is 10-12 eggs, but I've read some women can have up to 30 retrieved.  Some of the eggs will not be as mature as anticipated, and some will die off naturally, so the number dwindles down quickly.  They take Lee's strongest boys and inject them directly into my best gals, through the process of ICSI, which stands for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (intra = into, cyto = cell, plasmic = plasma).  Layman's terms?  The sperm is injected directly into the egg.  ICSI has only been around for 10-12 years and greatly increases the chance of fertilization (instead of letting the sperm and the egg hang out in a petri dish and hope they fertilize on their own).  My doctor said he's doing ICSI more and more, and will fertilize each egg of mine through this process.

Once ICSI is performed, the eggs are kept in the lab while they develop into embryos.  The transfer usually happens around day 3-5, however my doctor said he's been doing more 5 day transfers lately.  The transfer is very quick, because prior to my cycle he will do a mock transfer, which is basically like laying out a map of my uterus so he knows exactly where to go and can do the procedure quickly.  A catheter will be place into my uterus and the embryo(s) will be placed directly there.  I've already read the procedure has to be done on a full bladder (ouch!), then you have to continue to hold your bladder while they look at the catheter under the microscope to make sure the embryo isn't stuck in it.  Another fun fact I've read?  Apparently I'll look like I'm three months pregnant come time for the transfer because of "the bloat," as some women call it.  Fortunately it's a quick procedure and I will be under no sedation!

Once the transfer happens, you begin the ultimate test of patience.  We have to wait two weeks before I can do a blood test to know if it worked.  Any viable embryo left can be frozen and stored for a smallish fee and, assuming I get pregnant, I can opt down the road to have them transferred into me for a little cost of $3,000 vs … (I'm not going to give the exact amount of in-vitro, but let's just say it's comparable to a college education!).

I have an appointment on Wednesday to get all my prescriptions and instructions from the nurse.  Dr. R said I can shop around, if I want, for medications (some people get their meds from Canada and Mexico for a significantly reduced price); he doesn't have a pharmacy he can recommend in Canada, but he definitely doesn't recommend Mexico for the medications.  I think I'm going to stick to the US.  If these were medications I'd be using for years I may try to find a reliable pharmacy in Canada, but I don't want to leave an room for error in this process.  If any couples have medication left over from the cycle this month, the office will evenly distribute to the couples doing their cycle in July.  My friend has a box of syringes left over from her cycle a couple years ago, so that will save us money as well.

Thank you again for taking the time to read my ramblings!  I'll update again after my appointment!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day, and like I told my Mom, I hope this will be my last Mother's Day without a child of my own!  Until then I'll hug my fur babies tight, and be thankful for what I have!  Wishing all you lucky moms a very happy and special Mother's Day!

XOXO,
Chelle