Round 3 is a Go

To start again I had to wait for my period to begin. That finally happen on September 18th and my first visit back to the Jones Institute was on September 20th to see if the cyst where gone and whether or not I could move forward with this round of IVF. I was doubtful that I would be able to proceed with this round, based on the way my body was feeling, it felt very similar to the previous month. To my surprise the doctor said everything looked good. One cyst was complete gone and the other had collapsed so we had the green light to move forward.

On this visit they took a vial of blood, did an ultrasound.had me talk with the billing department and talk with the IVF coordinator nurse to teach me how to use my medicine. The Jones institute is taking a very low does medicine approach in a hope to be able to get better quality eggs not necessarily more eggs.

At this base line appointment I had 5 Follicles each at 5mm (3 in the left ovary and 2 in the right ovary).

Here is the breakdown of the Medicine I am taking this time

Taken each night between 5-7 pm

• Gonal F (shot) 450
• Menopur (shot) 150 
• Certotide (shot)
•  Prenatal Vitamin

 Not prescribed by Jones but I am still taking it, since it was prescribed by The New Hope Center and was talked about the benefits in the book Its starts with the Egg.

• COQ 10 - 3 for a total of 600 mg
• Baby Aspirin- 1=81 mg
• DHEA -1in the am 2 in the pm

The Appointments after the baseline appointment are pretty quick they start with blood  being drawn and then an ultra sound. Below is a list of the my appointments during the follicle growing process.

• Friday 9/22/17 - My follicles had grown to 4 in the left ovary ranging in size from 5 to 8mm and 3 in the right ovary  ranging in size from 7 to 9mm. 
• Monday 9/25/17 - My follicles had grown to 5 in the left ovary ranging in size from 7 to 11 mm and 3 in the right ovary ranging in size from 7 to 11 mm.
• Wednesday 9/27/17 - My follicles had grown to 5 in the left ovary ranging in size from 9 to 15 mm and 4 in the right ovary ranging in size 9 to 13 mm.
• Friday 9/29/17 - My follicles had grown to 5 in the left ovary ranging in size from 11 to 13 mm and 4 in the right ovary ranging in size 12 to 20 mm. At this appointment the doctor was concerned that there would not be enough follicle to get to the 18mm range to move forward with the egg retrieval. The doctor said to come back tomorrow and they would make a final decision.
• Saturday 9/30/17 - My follicles had grown to 4 in my left ovary ranging in size from 11 to 15 mm and 4 in my right ovary ranging in size from 12 to 13 mm. The doctor was happy with the results today as said the cycle would not be cancelled.
• Sunday 10/1/17 - My follicles had grown 4 in the left ovary ranging in size from 14 to 17 mm and 5 in the right ovary ranging in size from 12 to 18 mm. I was told to take the Trigger Shot at 10 pm later that night at this appointment. The trigger shot tells your body to ovulate.
• Monday 10/2/17- This was my last appointment before egg retrieval to make sure my follicles where ready  My follicles had grown to 5 in my left ovary ranging in size from 15 to 18 mm and 3 in my left ovary ranging in size from 18 to 19 mm. We where good to go and where told to come back tomorrow morning at 7am.

Round 2 - Cancelled

We started our second round of IVF with a meeting at the Jones Institute with their IVF coordinator on August 2, 2017. The lady's name was Valerie and she was great at walking you through their process and what to expect. Then We signed a bunch of documents stating what our intention where with any left over embryos and that we would not hold The Jones Institute liable for any natural disaster that caused our embryos to be damaged. At the end of the meeting, I was to get some additional documents sent over from my previous clinic and Valerie was going to work on ordering my medicine when the documents where received.   I told her I had not had a period in 45 days, so I had no idea when my period would start. She said she would discuss this with Dr. Bocca and more than likely if I did not start by August 17 they would prescribe some medicine to begin my period.

When I left, I knew I was to call when I saw signs of my period starting or on August 17th. Well I started spotting the very next day. I called Valerie and said should I even attempt to do this in August. I don't even have my medicine yet. Valerie said if I wanted to do it, then she could get the medicine ordered and delivered before I need to start taking them in the next 2 says. I said Ok lets do it. The mad dash began. Valerie located a doctor in the practice to sign off on the medicine and sent it over to Mandel's Pharmacy. Mandel's which was closing for the night stayed late and process the order to get it in the mail that night. The medicine was delivered the very next day (Friday) and I was to go for my initial IVF round appointment the following day (Saturday).

Saturday arrived and I started the drive from NC to Norfolk, VA about 1.5 hours from my home. My husband had a job to do so I went alone.No big deal to me, I am a pretty independent person. The closer I got to the clinic the more emotional I got. Would this time turn out like the last time? What if it did not work again? Did I really want to go through that pain again? I thought I could spare myself all this pain and just accept the fact that I won't have a child, but the thought of not giving it my all to have a child, is worse than protecting myself from pain caused by going through IVF.

As I arrived at the Norfolk Jones Institute location, I was curious to see how this appointment would differ from my 1st IVF cycle appointment with my previous clinic. It started out the same with blood work and then onto the ultra sound room. But the ultra sound room was slightly different. One thing I really liked was the tv screen on the wall so you could see the ultra sound results live while the tech was doing the ultra sound. Dr. Bocca could see from the Ultra  sound that I had a cyst on one ovary and a collapsed cyst on the other ovary. She assured me that this was normal cyst, come and go, but more than likely we would need to delay the IVF cycle till my next period to give the cyst time to collapse and go away. They would make the final decision once they received the results from my blood work. If the blood work was ok for me to move forward then an email would be sent telling me to check the online portal. If the blood work came back that I need to wait till next time then someone would call me. Later that afternoon the phone call came that I needed to wait till next time. Round 2 lasted a whole 2 days. Now we wait till the next time my period starts, fingers crossed that will be in September.

It Starts with the Egg

What is It Starts with the Egg.....

It is a book published by Rebecca Fett  explaining the science of egg quality and how it can help you get pregnant, prevent miscarriages and improve your odds with IVF.

 I don't even remember how I found out about this book, wait I am sure it was in a facebook support group. Shortly after my first round of IVF failed, I found out about this book and decided I wanted to read it to learn more about egg quality. Let me be honest, I am a big fan of reading, so I downloaded the book on adubile for FREE,  listened to it on  a trip to and from Charlotte, NC (6 hours each way) and then purchased it later to reference back too.

 If  it's something you are interested in. I purchased a copy from Amazon Click here to find the book on amazon

When I was listening to this book, I found some the things the book suggested doing, where things I was already doing and then other things where easy changes I could make. The book is based on tons of studies done though out the world some are human base others are mice based.

The book has a basic plan for anyone trying to get pregnant and then adds on additional recommendation for those who have PCOS, Recurrent Miscarriages and Trying to conceive through IVF with diminished Ovarian Reserve. I am going to give you a brief review of the plan but I recommend if you are going through infertility, you purchase the book and decided for yourself what you think will work for you. There even a section about male infertility. 

The Basic Plan:

• Take a Daily Prenatal Vitamin - Most people know to take a prenatal vitamin. It suggested to take at least 3 months prior to trying to conceive. The benefits of taking this vitamin are to protect eggs and reduce birth defects. Recommends a prenatal with 800 mcg in folic acid. I have been on a pernatal vitamin steadily since January.
• Take a CoQ10 Supplement - This supplement enhances energy production inside developing eggs and possibly prevent chromosomal errors. The most effective form is a form of CoQ10 called Ubiquinol and it suggested you take 100 mg in the morning with breakfast. I take 600 mg of CoQ10. That was what the IVF clinic I started with prescribed, so I have continued taking it since January. I did switch to the Ubiquinol version for a couple months but that is much more expensive than the CoQ10 and I had some ovarian cyst so I step back down the non Unbiquinol version in case that was the cause of the cyst. I will talk more about that issue in another blog. 
• Reduce your exposure to BPA - BPA stands for Bisphenol A and it compromises egg quality and fertility. It can be found in most everyday items from food containers to paper receipts. 
• Ways to eliminate BPA 
• Do not to use plastic cups,bowls, food storage containers. Use glass, stainless steel, wood, or ceramic.
• Stay away from polycarbonate, its usually marked with a 7 in the triangle
• Avoid Can Foods,  and Plastic Take Out Containers
• Look for products that say BPA Free, but consider hand washing theses items if they need washing to avoid releasing other toxic chemicals.
• Minimize exposure to Phthalates -- Phthalates can impair egg quality and fertility. It is widely used in soft plastic, cleaning supplies, vinyl, nail polish ,cosmetics, hairspray, lotions, pre packaged foods, perfumes and other fragrances. Choose organic or items packaged in glass when you can.
• Reduce Refined Carbohydrates and Sugar - Focus on a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, minimally processed grains, olive oils, nuts and lean proteins. This is probably the one I struggle the most with. I love sugary foods. 

I have made the biggest changes in trying to eliminate BPA and Phthalates. I have replaced my toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face cleaner, lotion, laundry detergent. I now store my food in glass containers, drink out of glasses made of glass, and water bottles that says BPA free. I will post the links at the bottom of this post from where I am purchasing these products from, If your interested in as well.  As my cosmetics run out and my cleaning supplies I plan to move over to more all natural alternatives.

Advanced Plan: Trying to Conceive through IVF with Diminished Ovarian Reserve

• Increase your amount of CoQ10 Supplement - Take 300 mg Ubiquinol (more potent version) or 600 mg of CoQ10 (less potent version).
• Take one or more additional Antioxidant - Suggested to be taken 3 months prior to starting IVF.
• Vitamin E  - Take 200 IU but not more than 300 IU.  Some vitamin E already exist in most prenatal so take that into consideration when adding additional Vitamin E. This vitamin is thought to have beneficial effects on egg quality. I have not increased the amount of Vitamin E at this time only because it was not prescribed in my first IVF cycle, but I am considering increasing it.
•  Vitamin C - Could help in preventing some of the age related decline in ovarian function. The book suggest  taking 500 IU. The studies used for this book found the greatest results for women under age 35 and are of a healthy weight. I have not increased my vitamin C. I am getting some vitamin C from my prenatal but based on the book I may need more than 500 IU to see a difference and that not a guarantee.
• Alpha-lipoic acid - It suggested to take between 100 mg to 600 mg per day. This is another vitamin that may improve egg quality. I have not taken this one only because it was not prescribed when I first started IVF.

• Take DHEA - This helps to increase egg numbers and prevent chromosomal  errors in eggs. Suggested to take 25 mg 3 times a day. Begin this 3 months prior to IVF. I do follow this recommendation only because I was already doing this previously. 
• Take Melatonin -To be started the day your GnRH antagonist shots start. It is suggested to take a 3mg before bed. This is another vitamin to help with poor egg quality.
• Be tested for Under active Thryoid - This is a common cause of diminished ovarian reserve in younger women.
• Have your Male Partner take a multivitamin Supplement

Like I mentioned there so much more in the book than I even touched on, so it is worth purchasing the book to learn more about how theses items affect egg quality and fertility. I ask myself all the time is it really worth it to make all theses changes as there no guarantee that this will work, but the way I see it is it can't hurt. If it works it was worth it, if it does not then my body is healthier than it was before.

Below is links to the where I purchase the products from and why:

Its Start with the Egg Book from Amazon: Link Here

Researching through the EWG website and Think Dirty App about all the toxins in everyday products. I decided I wanted to replace more and more products with natural ones. Theses sites test the cancer causing ingredients, the reproductive issues, allergies, etc.  The links to each are below.

EWG is a website that checks the toxic in skin products: Link Here

 Think Dirty App:  Click here to learn about the app. 

Lemongrass Spa Products:After trying their deodorant and loving it. I knew I wanted to try more products. I have purchased other products from other companies in the past and what I found that I liked about Lemongrass was their products where reasonably priced compared to other companies.  I took the plunge with Lemongrass and order my entire bathroom line from them facial care line, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, foundation, etc. I also decide to begin selling Lemongrass. One reason was you only have to sell $25 a month to stay active. My thought process was I would probably be spending that anyway, why not get the benefits from it. It would also be a great way to help pay the high cost of IVF. If your interested in trying Lemongrass, I would  be honored, if you would shop with me. Here is the link to my site.   My Lemongrass Site



Young Living is all about essential oils and products made from essential oils. This is where I purchase my toothpaste, and laundry detergent. They have household cleaner and fruit/veggie wash which I plan to try next. I have also purchased body wash, shampoos, and conditioner here. I am on the essential rewards program where I spend $50 a month and get rewards to use towards products in the future. Young Living has a wide variety of products and are adding additional products regularly. The products are 100% chemical free, but the products are pricey.

  You have to be a member to purchase from their website. They have 2 types of memberships: a retail customer membership and a member membership where you can earn free products and save 24%.   I am including my member number, if you would like to use my number as the person who referred you.  You can enter my member number as your sponsor and/or enroller. My number is 10477153.   Join as a member link


The Next post will be back to the normal type of updates about what I am personally going through in the world of IVF, but I did want to share this post so that, if someone else going through IVF found this blog that it might help them as well with additional options to try.
 

2nd Opinion

I have had a few people asking if I was going to continue this Blog and what was going on with our IVF journey. The answer is Yes, I will continue the blog and it is time for an update. In the last few months, I felt that there was not much to share about our journey, but when I started typing this entry today I realized more has happened in the last 3 months than I previously thought. The update begins below:

Where we left off...

When I last posted we where weighing our 4 options provided by the New Hope Center.

1. Try IVF again with our own eggs and sperm
2. Use a donors eggs with dons sperm and I carry the embryo
3. Use a donated embryo and I carry the embryo
4. Adopt

As we continued to pay down the debt from the first failed IVF cycle we where leaning towards doing IVF one more time with our own eggs and sperm. That is still the plan. We have paid off the debt we owed and are now saving up to start the next round.

There's been changes...

We have had some things change since the last blog post. It started a couple weeks after my first failed IVF cycle, my husband (Don) came home and suggested we get a second opinion. My first thoughts where no, absolutely not,  I liked the New Hope Center and did not want to change. But I  then went online and look up the other IVF clinic closest to us called The Jones Institute. After looking at their website, I found out they where the first IVF clinic in America. I decided maybe he was right maybe we should get a second opinion, so we made an appointment to see what they would say.

We met with the Jones Institute on 4/21/17 and found them to be quite different than our previous clinic. The doctor feels that my egg quality issue that caused us to fail the first IVF round maybe be able to be improved by doing a shorter medicine cycle. She feels the quality will improve on a smaller amount of medicine, but does not feel like I would get more eggs than previous. This doctor also suggested doing a Fresh transfer vs a frozen transfer. A fresh transfer is when you transfer the eggs retrieved back into the uterus as embryos with in 6 days after retrieval. A frozen transfer is when you freeze the embryos and transfer them at a later date.

We where then faced with 2 approaches to choose from. To redo a frozen cycle with the New Hope Center or do a Fresh Cycle with the Jones Institute. Its hard to know which is the better option. If you research online protocols for IVF, every clinic believes something different. Some believe you have better success if your not overweight others believe weight has nothing to do with it. That just one example of the frustrating part of this because you could talk to 20 doctors and each one would have a different answer for you. So you just have to make a gut decision on what you think is best for you and not get bogged down in all the options out there.

What did we decide......

We decided to make a change. We have moved over to the Jones Institute. It was a hard decision because I was happy with the New Hope Clinic and Dr. Robin, but the Jones Institute was cheaper and I felt like the protocol they suggested made more sense for our situation.

On 6/14/17 I had another hystercopy. I had one done previously at the New Hope Center but it was preformed during my egg retrieval. This time it was done before I start the IVF process.

A hystercopy is a procedure used to look at the lining of your uterus. The doctor uses a thin viewing tool called a hysteroscope that is inserted into the uterus via the cervix. The hysteroscope has a light and camera hooked to it so the doctor can see the lining of the uterus on a video screen. The doctor is looking to see if their are any problems in your uterus that would prevent you from carrying a pregnancy and remove any polyps or forbids. Most doctors will also take a small sample of tissue to biopsy.

In my case everything look good no problems from the procedure itself, but the biopsy did show some inflammation. Dr. Bocca said that the inflammation would not be an issue with the IVF cycle as it was located in the cervix area, but still prescribed some medicine to alleviate the problem.

What's Next.....

We wait.. Well actually we save. We are cleared to start again but financially we would like to save a little more towards the cost before we start again. We hope to start the next round sometime this year.  I do plan to write another blog soon about the changes I have made in my life in an effort to increase the quantity and quality of my eggs when we do start again. Stay tuned for that post. 

Options

We had our follow up appointment with Dr. Robins on Monday 3/13/17. Dr. Robins was so patient, kind and not in hurry at all as she explained the issues I face and the options we have moving forward.


The issues I face are as followed:

1. Age - 35 and older (I will be 36 next week)
2. Low Ovarian Reserves (Not a lot of Eggs to use)
3. Severe Cervical Stenosis (Narrowing of the cervix)
4. Tubal Factor (Blocked Left Fallopian Tube almost completely blocked right tube) 
5.  Poor Quality Eggs (causing zero fertilization) 
6. Infections in the cervix and uterus (medicine prescribed to clear this up)

Options:

1. Try again with different medication/protocol
2. Use a  Donors Egg with Don's sperm to create an embryo that I would carry 
3. Use a donated embryo and then I would carry the embryo
4. Adoption 

There a lot to think about with all theses options. But,The first step is to pay off the roughly $13,000 that we put on credit cards. The good news is we are getting about $7,400 back from the clinic.  That will be a huge help in paying off that debt.

Right now we are leaning towards trying the IVF Process one more time. I have been listening to an audio version of It Starts with the Egg about producing better quality eggs. I would like to see, if I follow the plan could I improve my egg quality. I am not sure yet as to when we would start the process again. However this plan could change because we are still weighing all the options presented to us.

Week 4 - IVF Fail

 I started this journey with the plan to share with everyone the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY side of IVF. This week's journey became as Bad as it can get with IVF.  Since our friends and family have been so supportive of this Journey we are on, I felt you all should know what has happened this week vs waiting for my usual end of the week post. 

 What should of happen this week...

I should of received updates from the embryology lab on Day 1 (Monday) and Day 5 (Friday) on how many eggs fertilized and turned into to embryos and how they where progressing.

What actually happened this week.....

As I was sitting at my desk on Monday I received a call from the New Hope Center. As I saw their name come up on the caller id, I knew it was the embryologist with our update on our egg to embryo progression. I grabbed my phone and headed to the bathroom for a little privacy. I was so excited to hear how our embryo where doing. When I answered I heard Hi this is Katelyn with the New Hope Center embryology lab out of the 5 eggs retrieved on Sunday we where only able to inject 3 of them and non of the 3 have fertilized. We will continue to watch them for 24 more hours but if they show no progression we will have to discard them all. I will call back tomorrow with an update, but it is very unlikely they will progress.

 I was stunned by what I heard on the other end of the phone. As I choked back the tears and my voice started to crack I asked you will call back tomorrow right. She says yes, I will call back and how sorry she was to share the news with me and that she was surprise by the out come. I thanked her for her call.

I stood in the bathroom for a few moments gathering my thoughts, thinking did that really just happen. I knew that there was no guarantee with this process, but I never thought I would be out of the IVF process this early in the game. I expected to make it past the stage where the embryos where transferred back at least. Now I had to wait 24 hours to hear the more than likely same bad news I had just heard.

I went back to my desk and started to process it all. What do we do next if the news remains the same?

I had told Don all along My plan was . . . we would try IVF one time and depending on the embryos that we would get, we would work through those, but when they where gone, we where done. Now we where here with no embryos to show for it.

My first thought was we could do it again, we could start over, but then I remembered the $8,000 for just the medicine alone. How insurance does not cover IVF? How I had already put close to $13,000 on credit cards. I could not and will not add more debt to our lives in an effort to conceive a child.

Next thought was to find an insurance policy that does cover IVF and we start over once the current IVF debt is paid off. This is something that is still an option, but after some research and talking with an insurance agent the earliest I could get a policy to cover IVF is Jan. 1, 2018 and I am not sure this is the best option. There still more research to do.

Their a holistic approach to opening up blocked Fallopian tubes with a company called clear passage. Its not cheap but maybe it could help me and then we would not need IVF another time.

There is the option of adoption.

All theses thoughts went through my mind in that 24 hour period. Friends and family where asking how I was doing and talking about the process all unaware that our journey was more than likely over and at the time I did not want to share what was going on as I had one last glimmer of hope.

Tuesday arrived and by 3pm that day so did the call that I knew was going to be the same as the day before. The eggs had shown no progression and had been discarded. I actually missed the call and  a voicemail was left relaying the message. I called back to ask Katelyn did she know why this had failed. She did say she felt like it was an issue with the eggs and to keep my follow up appointment with Dr. Robins so that Dr. Robins could share more on what to do next.

My next appointment is 3/13/17

Monday and Tuesday where tough days, but we are coming to terms with this and are moving forward. I will continue to seek out the positives from this experience, like since the process failed so early, we should get some money back from the clinic which will help pay back the money on credit cards.

The next step is to wait for my next appointment and to hear what Dr. Robins has to say and then make a decision from there on what to do next.

As the journey continues, I will come back to this blog and submit updates, but as of right now the weekly updates will end.

Thank you to all who have read, prayed, sent good wishes our ways. We truly do appreciated your support.

Week 3 - Egg Retrival

As week 3 started I was already a little disappointed because I thought this week would be all about egg retrieval and in my mind an end to the shot/vitamin regiment. I felt like I was sailing through my update appointments in Week 2 and my eggs where growing at a good rate.The  disappointment came on the Sunday at the end of Week 2 check up appointment, when i found out my eggs where not big enough yet for egg retrieval. Which meant more check up appointments and no definite date of when the egg retrieval will actually happen.

My 1st update appointment of week 3 was on Tuesday 2/21/17

• Blood work - 1 vial, My favorite nurse was back. Yippee
• Ultrasound-9 follicles previously I refereed to theses as eggs, but I learned that the follicle are like sacks that hold the eggs and normally there is one egg in each follicle. The size  of the follicles ranged from 4.5 to 13.5 millimeters. I was very disappointed at the end of this ultrasound because the largest follicle had only grown 0.5 mm since my appointment on Sunday.  I later learned  this could be due to having a different person preform the ultrasound or it could be  the machine itself measuring smaller than others ones in the office. On this particular morning, on the ride to and from the doctors office in Virginia, I was very emotional. I think it was the hormone shots starting to really affect me, I did shed some tears before and after.
• Clinical Staff Meeting- Added another check up appointment in 2 days, but no changes to my medication doses. The great thing that happen today was that the clinic had sample medicines they where able to  give me to get me through to my next appointment, which meant I did not have purchase additional medicine. That was a savings of over $1000. Even though I was very concerned about the lack of growth of my follicles from my previous visit, the staff said Dr. Robin was not. I was still worried and worse case scenarios where rolling through my head till my next appointment 2 days later.

When the doctors office adds an update appointment I get a call from their office later in the day once they have seen all the current IVF cycle patients and have had time create the schedule for those who are still needing to continue update appointments.  By week 3, I was obviously one of the last patients in the group that where still in the egg growing process and continuing the update appointments, because my appointments times kept getting earlier and earlier. Previous appointments where at 9 or 10 am, but my next scheduled appointment on Thursday was for 7am. I have to admit that I had a small heart attack when the lady on the phone told me 7am and later called back to make sure I had heard her correctly. I am not a morning person and the clinic is about 1 1/2 hours away from my home. That meant getting up at 4:30 am to leave home by 5:15 to be there on time. I tried to stay positive about the early appointment thinking that at least I would be able to get to work and not have to use my sick time, but that did not happen even with the early appointments I was still using 2 hours of sick time vs 4 hours for later appointment times.


Thursday 2/23/17 Update Appointment 7am

• Ultrasound - Due to the appointment being before 8 am and the ultrasound tech needing to go to the surgical side for others who where doing egg retrieval they switched the order of the appointment. 
• I lost track of the actual number of follicles it was either 9 or 10 but they ranged in size between 8-15 millimeters. This made me happy as I could see them getting close to the 16 mm size needed for egg retrieval.
• Blood work - Labcorp who runs the blood work lab does not arrive till 8am, so the clinical staff  draws blood for patients who have appointments before 8. I think I mention in last week blog how I don't have the greatest veins. The Labcorp nurse Patricia says my veins are deep and are not morning veins. Unfortunately, Patricia had not arrived yet when it was time to draw my blood and the clinical nurse stuck me twice before giving up and went to find another clinical nurse to draw blood. As soon as the next clinical nurse came in to begin looking for a good vein Patricia walked in and took over, but even Patricia struggled this morning and had to stick me 2 more times. I am bruising from the blood being drawn so much. My husband was joking around with me saying people are going to think I am a crack addict and that I needed to wear long sleeves. lol The things I have done in this IVF process.I just can't seem to bring myself to post a picture of the terrible bruising going on in my stomach area where I have been administering the shots every days.

• Clinical Staff Meeting-Added another update appointment to my schedule for Friday and had me to continues on the same medicine schedule of 20 vitamins/pills a day and 5 shots a day. Again the doctors office was nice enough to provide me with a few samples so I did not have to reorder medicine. 

Friday 2/24/17 Update Appointment 6:40 am

• Ultrasound - This was the first time I had follicles in range. I knew I was close to Egg Retrieval now.
•  3 follicles where 16 - 18 mm (egg retrieval size) and 5 follicles where 4-13 mm
• Blood work - Again my appointment was before 8 am so the labcorp nurse was not in yet, but Erica who is a Clinical Nurse did a great job only having to stick me one time for the blood work part of the visit. I was able to tell her exactly what Patricia with Labcorp does and Erica was so patient and took her time to make sure she was able to get it right the first time.
• Clinical Staff Meeting- They announced I was scheduled for Egg Retrieval on Sunday 2/26/17 at 6:30 am and provided me with a HCG and Oocyte Retrieval instructions sheet spelling out what I needed to do to prepare for Egg Retrieval on Sunday. They went over how mix and administer the trigger shot and what I could and could not consume for the liquid diet.

HCG & Oocyte (Egg) Retrieval Process - To prepare for Egg  Retrieval the process took 2 days. 

• Friday - 
• Took my last 2 doses of Micro Luperon Shots- These are the shots that had to be taken at 7:05 am and 7:05 pm. I was so happy to finish this up, because I felt like my life revolved around theses times.
• Took my last Follistim shot. I was only required to take the am shot and was taken off the PM Menopur Shot
• Since I had spent weeks taking Micro Lupreon to stop ovulation, I now needed to take a shot to trigger ovulation. This shot was called Pregnyl  and had to be taken exactly at 8:45 pm in upper right side of my butt. The clinical nurse actually drew a circle on my butt while in the office earlier in the day, so I made sure to inject it in the right location. All other shots I was injecting into my stomach with this being a new location that was harder to access I asked my husband to pull the trigger and inject the shot. I think he enjoyed that fact that he got to give me a shot, for me the anticipation of someone else doing it was worse than if I just did it myself. 

 

• Saturday -
• Well here the weird part of Saturday is, I had to take a pregnancy test and call into the doctors office by 12pm to verify that I got a positive pregnancy test. That pretty weird to see your pregnant on a test when you know your not. 

• Took all morning and any time (16 pills) vitamins/pills but not evening pills (4 pills). 
•  At 1pm I began a bowel prep series of medicine taking 2 pills every 15 minutes for 2 hours and then had to continue with a liquid diet till midnight. I slept very little Saturday night waiting for the bowel prep medicine to begin. I was so concerned when I showed up to the doctors office on Sunday with out having a single bowel movement, however they where not concerned and said that it does not always work with patients. The reason patients are put on a liquid diet and bowel cleanse is because your bowels can wrap around your ovaries and hide your follicles. If you are cleaned out they will be able to see all the possible follicle and not miss any eggs that could be hiding. 

 

• Last step was to stop all liquids even water at midnight. 

Egg Retrieval Day 2/26/17

• My husband and I arrived at the New Hope Center at 6:15 am.
•  A little after 6:30 I was called back to the pre/post op room. I was given a hospital gown and asked to remove all my clothes and put on the gown. I was placed in a room with 6 big reclining chairs, where the nurse Virginia prepared me for the egg retrieval procedure. She inserted an IV in my hand and gave me some medicines for the procedure. The nurse was very nice and being we where the only 2 in the big room we spend lots of time just chatting about HGTV which I was watching and life. The anesthesiologist came in and went over the process of putting me to sleep and then the embryologist came in to verify what the plan was for my eggs. The plan is to do a procedure called ICSI and testing called PGS. I will go into alot more detail in next week's blog as it will take some explaining and this weeks blog is getting very long. 
• Virginia then took me to the procedure room via a wheel chair where there was the clinical staff, anesthesiologist, and ultrasound tech. They had me lay down on a table and strapped my legs into these stir ups very similar to a women going to her annual exam but the stir ups literally where strapped up to my calves. EKG monitors where applied and the staff was working feverishly setting everything up. That the last thing I remember before waking up and the procedure being over. Virginia was still there with me unhooking the monitors while everyone else was leaving moving on to the next patient. My first question was how many eggs did she get. They said they where able to retrieve 5 eggs. Don my husband said Dr. Robin came out and spoke with him after the procedure and acted like she was happy with being able to retrieve 5 eggs and also removed a poly op from the Hysteroscopy part of the procedure.
• I was then taking back to post op room via a wheel chair. Where my blood pressure and pulse was monitored for about an hour. I  was put back in the those big reclining chairs where I enjoyed a nice warm blanket, watched some HGTV and may of took a little nap.  I saw Dr. Robin walk through the pre/post op room twice and each time she said we got 5 eggs and  one time stop for a second to hug me.I had to ask after I saw her, does she ever slow down. They said no. Every time I see Dr. Robin walking around the clinic she is walking at a speedy pace. Even when you talk with her you can tell she works fact pace all the time. In talking with Skeeter the ultra sound tech earlier she said the earliest she ever come in for egg retrieval is 3 am and she mention that every month she works 3 weeks straight during the IVF cycle. I am always amazed at the hours the New Hope staff puts in. It is truly amazing that the amount of time they make themselves available (7 days a week 6am to 6pm). Now that I had finished my post procedure monitoring I was asked to verify that I could urinate and then was allowed to get dress and was walked back to my husband to be able to leave. The whole process from arrival to leaving took about 3 hours. 
• Sometime during the time I was taken back for the egg retrieval my husband was taken to another part of the clinic to produce a specimen for the embryologist department to be able to mix with the eggs they retrieved from me.

Week 3 turned out to be the busiest week yet. Next week is all about our embryos and how they fertilize. If everything goes right and we have viable embryos then they would be implanted at the end of March. We still have along way to go, but we have finished a big part of the IVF process.

Week 2 - More of the Same

Week 2 is in the books!!

Week 2 followed the same vitamin (20 pills a day) and shot regiment (5 shots a day) as week 1, except  with more doctor visits than the previous week. This week continued the egg growing process. The goal is to get as many eggs to grow and get to the mature size of 16 millimeter (the size of a walnut). 

My first doctor visit of the week was on Valentine's Day 2/14/17. 

• It started with blood work. Only 1 vial this trip, thank goodness. 
• Next up was an ultrasound to determine how many eggs there where and the size of them. I had 5 eggs all together and they ranged in size from 4 to 6 millimeters. This is the worst part of  each visit. The ultrasound is similar to getting a pap smear and that is never fun. 
• Next was a meeting with Dr. Robin who will do the egg retrieval and  Hysteroscopy the following week. A  Hysteroscopy is a procedure that allows the doctor to see the inside of the uterus (womb). She will be looking to see if there is any issues that may exist that would cause the embryos to not implant on transfer day. During our meeting she had me sign consignment forms and went over pre and post surgery instructions. The actual date of theses 2 procedures will not be determined till early next week.
•  The last meeting of the visit was with the clinical staff. The clinical staff meeting communicates any changes in medication dosages which I did not have any changes.Both the clinical staff and Dr. Robin said my eggs and size where normal and what to be expected at this stage of the process.

The nice part about having a doctors appointment in Virginia on Valentines Day was getting to spend the entire day with my husband. We where able to go see a movie after the doctors visit, walk around Lyhaven Mall, enjoyed lunch out and then finished the night off with dinner at the restaurant where we were married. The funniest part of the night was giving myself my 7:05pm Micro Lupreon shot in the bathroom at the restaurant. lol

The 2nd Doctor Visit of the week was on Friday 2/17/17.

• Bloodwork - 2 vials this trip. 1 to test liver functions and I am not sure what the other vial was to test. 
• Ultrasound- 8 eggs total, Size ranging from 4-12 millimeters. 
• Clinical Staff Meeting - No changes to medication doses. 

Another funny shot story-I went to a fundraiser event Saturday night. I was all dressed up in my nice dress and 7:05 pm rolls around. I went to the bathroom to give my self a shot in the bathroom stall. While in the stall there was no where to sit my purse or shot. I was trying to sit down in the bathroom stall while trying to pull up my dress and my panty hose down when the shot fell on the floor and rolled under the bathroom stall door. Of course the bathroom had about 2-3 women in it at the time. I can only imagine what was running through their mind when they saw a syringe roll under the door. lol


The 3rd Doctor Visit of the week was on Sunday 2/19/17. I was very surprised to have an appointment on a Sunday and at 9am in the morning on top of that.

• Bloodwork -  1 vial this time, but it was a new nurse and she struggled finding a good vein to draw blood from. She tried inside bend of my right elbow with no luck. Looked at the left inside elbow and decided the top of hand was the best spot. My veins are not the greatest, so I am not surprised when someone struggles. It was nice with the previous nurse as she had learned how to get the blood she needed as painless as possible. I hope she back on  Tuesday.
• Ultrasound - I am up to 9 eggs but they have not grown as large as I had hoped. The range is between 4-13 millimeters. I have to go back next Tuesday for another update appointment. I had hope that my next visit would be the egg retrieval procedure, but I guess I am trying to rush the process quicker than my body says it should go.
• Clinical Staff Meeting - No changes to medication doses, but I am starting to worry as the medicine is beginning to run out. I have already had to order 1 extra dose of Menopur on Friday and will have to order another dose on Monday. The follistim will run out in the next 3 days and that is very expensive medicines. I have my fingers crossed and will say a couple extra prayers that my eggs get to the 16 millimeters size by next appointment in 2 days.

Week 1 - Complete

We have  officially completed our first week of IVF!! 

I feel like I need to rewind real quick to finish getting everyone update before I really dive into week 1. In my last blog post I talked about how we came to the point of finding out that IVF would be the option we needed to use to bring a baby into this world. Since that 1st appointment in December with the IVF clinic, the wheels have been turning trying to get everything in line to start the process.

I went for an appointment in January to see whether or not I could get into the January IVF cycle, but I was too far along in my menstrual cycle and had to be moved back to the February Cycle. That gave the IVF clinic time to create the right protocol for my specific situation. On January 24, my proctol was emailed to me and I began the vitamin regiment of IVF. Minus the 2 bottles on the right of this picture below.  I have been taking theses pills everyday since January 25. The pills are taken at certain times a day. I don't know how they help in the process, but as long as the clinic tells me to take them, I will continue to take them. I should tell yall, I am not good at taking pills.  I rather do the shot portion of this process than take theses pill, but I do take them one by one. I am up to 20 pills a day.

  

Daily  I take:

• Prental is 1 vitamin a day 
• CO-Q 10  is 3 vitamins a day (chewable)
• Royal Jelly is 4 vitamins 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening
• Maca Root is 5 vitamins a day 
• DHEA is 3 vitamins a day, 1 in the morning and 2 in the evening
• Baby Asprin  is 1 pill (chewable)
• I was on Birth Control for a little over 2 weeks, but that one has ended now and 2 more prescriptions where added on 2/10/17
• Letrazole is 2 pills a day 
• Dexamethasone is 1 pill at bedtime.

  On 2/6/17 I started a 4 day series of wearing a patch called Androderm. I applied the patch to my thigh for 24 hours and then stopped the patches on 2/10/17. This has been the  easiest part of the process so far. I wish more of the process was this easy.

Our Baseline Appointment was on 2/7/16. I call this the official start of the IVF process. The appointment took about 4 hours.

• It started with an ultrasound to determine how many eggs I currently have and the size of them. This information will be used as a baseline to determine, if the eggs are growing based on the medicine prescribed. 
• Next was blood work. I am not exaggerating when I type they took 10-15 vials of blood from me and only 2 from my husband. The blood work was called IVF LABS which checked to see if my husband and/or I are carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene. I know many other things where checked as well but I can't remember all the things the nurse said they where checking for. We both did the IVF labs, but I had to do a metformin labs as well. This is the reason I had so many more vials of blood compared to my husband. I have been trying to research the blood test on line to be able to provide you with more details but I am not having any luck.
•  After blood work, we met with the clinical team who went over the new protocol prescribed and how to administer the shot medication, etc. 
• Next was a meeting with the embryologist who went over lots of paperwork that we had to sign. Making sure we fully understood the process and the risk associated with this process. We even had to make decisions on what to do with eggs/embroyos that  can't be used. We choose to donate them to research. 
• The last meeting was with the finance department to pay for the process. I am choosing not to share the actual cost we are paying for IVF, because honestly it is way more than we had planned to spend. I should of said no we are not paying that much but truthfully I am so emotionally invested in the idea of having a child that I can't seem to walk away. With all that written we will just say the price is an INSANE amount. My husband is very supportive and has graciously allowed me to spend this crazy amount of money on this option.

The shot portion of the IVF process began on 2/8/17 with a medicine called Micro Lupron. This medicine suppress ovulation.  I have to take 2 shots a day every 12 hours on the dot. I take one at 7:05 am and 7:05pm every day. The training video from my clinic talks about how you have to be exact with the time. Being more than 3 minutes late could cause you to ovulate to early and the IVF cycle could be cancelled. For that reason I have 3 alarms set on my phone every 12 hours - a notice at 7:00 am & 7:00pm to inform me that I have 5 minutes till its time to give a shot. Then I have a one minute warning set at 7:04 am and 7:04 pm, then lastly is the 7:05 am and 7:05 pm alarm to let me know its time to administer the shot. I give the shots in to my belly and it does not hurt. Below is a picture of my shots already pre-filled,so that it will be easier to take them on time.

On 2/10/17 I added 2 additional prescriptions that are administered through shots. Both prescriptions are used to help produce multiple follicles (eggs) and to help them mature to a walnut size (16 millimeters).

• The first prescription is Follistim AQ (follitropin beta injection) which contains follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), a naturally occurring hormone and is used to stimulate a follicle (egg) to develop and mature. I take 450 IU's in the morning and 150 IU's in the evening. Below is a picture of Micro Luperon and Follistim that I take each morning.

• The second prescription is Menopur. Menopur (menotropins) injection is an equal mixture of the naturally occurring follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) used to stimulate the development of multiple eggs. This prescription has to be mixed before it can be injected. It starts with extracting sodium chloride with the big syringe using the Q cap and then injecting the sodium chloride into the Menopur (white powder substance) slowly swirling the mixture. Since my prescription calls for 2 vials of Menopur each evening. I have to inject the mixture into an additional bottle to mix the 1st bottle solution with the 2nd bottle solution then attach the smaller needle to do the injection. Below is a picture of the shots and everything needed for the shots that I give myself each evening.

This is what the first week of IVF has looked like for us. Next week will be filled with continuing the medication prescribed and more doctor visits. Check back for Week 2 coming soon.

How does a couple get to the point of needing to do IVF?

Well for my husband and I it started back after we got in engaged in June of 2015.  We talked about whether or not he would be up to the idea of having another child. I assumed the answer would be no, because he has a son that he raised mostly on his own, that is now in his early 20's. To my surprise, he said yes. So the journey started.

We decided that after we where married we would cease taking the steps to prevent a pregnancy and just let nature take it course. We where married in January 2016 and by June 2016 nothing had happened and I started noticing some changes in my monthly cycles like the time between cycles (28 days some months other months 45 days) and then the consistency (light some months heavy other months). I decided in August  it was time to reach out to a doctor to see if there was a problem that was preventing us from conceiving. Plus in the world of reproductive medicine my age of 36 is consider pretty old.

 After I met with a local OB-GYN doctor, he decided to run a series of test.The first test was blood work that test hormone levels which all came back normal. I found the following information on www.babymed.com to help explain what hormones where tested.

The hormonal testing is referred to as "cycle day 3 (CD3) blood work."
 
Generally, the following hormones are measured:

• Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) - is produced by the pituitary gland and is responsible for the egg maturation process. High day 3 FSH levels are associated with diminished ovarian reserve.
• Estradiol (E2) - is produced by the ovary and levels should be low in the early part of the menstrual cycle. High day 3 levels may indicate a cyst in the ovary or diminished ovarian reserve.
• Luteinizing Hormone (LH) - is produced by the pituitary gland and levels are increased before ovulation. A LH/FSH ratio of greater than 2:1 or 3:1 may be diagnostic of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).
• Prolactin - Both luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) are necessary for ovulation. If, for example, hyperlactinemia is caused by a prolactionoma, a tumor in the pituitary gland, then this could interfere with the secretion of LH and FSH. Any change in LH and FSH can cause ovulation and menstrual abnormalities. The normal range for hormone levels will vary between laboratories. 

 My husband completed a semen analysis in October to see, if he had any fertility issues, which he did not. The testing for me continued with a 2nd test called Hystrosalpingoram (HSG) commonly referred to as a dye study test. The test was performed in October but was unable to be completed due the doctor diagnosing me with a narrow cervix which caused the thin tube to not be able to be inserted to perform the test. The following information explains what  HSG testing is and was found on www.webmd.com

• A hysterosalpingogram (HSG) is an X-ray test. It looks at the inside of the uterus and fallopian tubes and the area around them. During the test, a dye (contrast material) is put through a thin tube. That tube is put through the vagina and into the uterus. Because the uterus and the fallopian tubes are hooked together, the dye will flow into the fallopian tubes. Pictures are taken using a steady beam of X-ray (fluoroscopy) as the dye passes through the uterus and fallopian tubes. The pictures can show problems such as an injury or abnormal structure of the uterus or fallopian tubes. They can also show a blockage that would prevent an egg moving through a fallopian tube to the uterus. A blockage also could prevent sperm from moving into a fallopian tube and joining (fertilizing) an egg. The test also may find problems on the inside of the uterus that prevent a fertilized egg from attaching (implanting) to the uterine wall.

 For the 3rd test I had two options to choose from: I could retry the HSG test with medication that would force me into labor and dilate my cervix, but this option may or may not work. The other option was to have the HSG test done as Laparoscopy surgery. Laparoscopy surgery was the option I choose, because it was guaranteed to work. The surgery allowed the doctor to make and incision in my belly button and above my pelvic area. The lower incision allowed the HSG test to be performed while the belly button incision allowed a camera to be sent into my uterus to see if there where any issues with my ovaries, tubes, etc. By the end of the test the doctor had determined that I had one Fallopian tube completed blocked and another almost completed closed. The doctor was also able to correct the narrow cervix issue by removing scar tissue while I was under anesthesia. I found a  pictures online to give you an idea of what the surgery looks like. 

Now that we knew the problem was with me, we where referred to a specialist in Virginia. In December we went for our first consultation and the news which was no surprise by now, was that if we wanted a child in our future the best option was to conceive with the IVF process. I imagine you are problem thinking . . What is the IVF process? In simple terms its where eggs are retrieved from my ovaries and them mixed with my husband sperm in a laboratory to at a later date be placed back in my uterus in hopes that the new formed embryos will stick to the uterus walls and grow into a baby. At my age, we have a 50-60% chance of success.

We chose to move forward with the IVF option and the process begins in February. Stay tuned to learn exactly what it likes to go through IVF.

The Big Secret

How  do you start a post that puts your dirty little secret out for everyone to know and why would someone want do it? Well my name is Lauren and I am about to share with you my darkest secret but once it out there for the world to read, there will be lots of people who will say they too have been through something similar. It seems silly that when 1 in 8 suffer from this that we all tend to keep these type of things a secret and make it so taboo to talk about it. I don't know why we don't talk about it, but I am going to break away from the norm and share my journey with you all.

AND THE SECRET IS ???? (DEEP BREATHE)

I CAN'T HAVE A CHILD THE NATURAL WAY BECAUSE MY FALLOPIAN TUBES ARE BLOCKED. TO CONCEIVE A CHILD DON AND I MUST DO 
IVF.

 
 Why I am I sharing this with the world in the form of a blog.There a couple reasons why:

•  First I thought this might be a great way to continue to update those who already knew this. Those family members and close friends could become a follower of this blog and be automatically sent updates. I also  would not have to remember who I told what too and who I had not updated. 
• Second, As I have been reading posts on IVF from facebook support groups, I realized all these women who are going through the same thing are not being supported by the people who care about them the most, because they are afraid to tell them. If I had a friend going through this and they choose to keep it quiet. I would wish I had know so I could of been a support system while they where going through this. 
•  Lastly, As I think of the future and if the IVF is successful and that moment when we would be able to announce that we are having a baby. I think about how people would not know what we went through to get to that moment and I feel the need for people to know that we did not just pop up  pregnant one day.  I feel the need for people to know that it was hard work, that its was painful, that it was very emotional  and that it affected every aspect of our lives.

So with all that written, I hope you get an understanding of why I am choosing to invite you into our journey and maybe this helps someone else going through this.  If you would like to support us, we love to have you follow us through the good, the bad and the ugly that goes in to the IVF Process. I plan to share exactly what we are going through and to be as real as possible with those reading this. I personally feel like with a great support team and not having to hide this from the world will only make this process easier in the long run.

If you believe in prayer, we be honored if you would pray for us, if not we be just as honored if you sent good vibes/well wishes our way.

Thank you for taking the time to read our first blog post.