So I wrote a while ago about being infertile. Even after 2 years of trying to get pregnant and finding it much harder than expected that word still seems so big and scary. Since that last post we've done some more testing and gotten a few more answers about why things aren't working quite the way we wanted them to (ie me growing a person).
In Dec of 2016 we had our official IVF consultation with a RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) in KC. Spence and I both had some genetic testing done, lots of baseline blood work to see if there were any issues we needed to address that might impact our ability to get pregnant without this step. I said for years that I would go up to IVF treatments, but that I had no interest in actually going through IVF. I have more than a minor phobia of needles, and frankly if I'm giving you tens of thousands of dollars I want more than a chance of taking home a baby at the end of it. However, when we actually got into infertility and found out that if we wanted to have our genetic biological child this was really our only chance, we made the decision to give this IVF thing a try.
So, there are a lot of things that can vary from person to person with IVF treatment, different medications at different dosages, different combinations of drugs, fresh transfer or a frozen transfer, donor eggs or sperm can also be used depending on the issues that are causing the couples infertility. **I'm not a doctor, I'm not even very good at science, so all the stuff I'm about to talk about is paraphrased from what our protocol is, it's totally 100% not to be taken as any kind of medical advice etc.** For our situation we are on an antagonist protocol, which starts with birth control pills to completely suppress the hormones so you start at very low levels, and then moves on to ovarian stimulation (for me this is Menopur and Follistim), and then adds in a drug that keeps you from ovulating too soon (Ganirelix), once they determine that all the follicles that are going to grow have grown to the point they want to see (usually between 18-20mm) they have you take one more shot called the "trigger" shot (this will likely be a combo of 2 drugs for me), that finishes up the maturation of the follicles so you can go in and get them around 36 hours later. During all of this I go in every few days for blood work and ultrasounds so they can make sure I'm responding to the medications the way they expect. My last visit was on Friday, they found 15 follicles in my right ovary and 20 in my left ovary that are measuring where they want, and a few more that are there but smaller that could potentially catch up by Monday.
So I mentioned above that I do not like needles, I was the kid who cried every time I had to get a shot -- well after that was socially acceptable behavior. The shots for this whole process have to be taken at certain times of the day, because of Spencer's work schedule he isn't home at those times every day, and so I the needle phobia queen have to purposely shoot myself in the stomach with needles. Oddly enough after the first day or two it wasn't as bad as I thought. Not like I'm enjoying it or anything, but I have managed to keep from throwing temper tantrums, so I'm calling it a win.
Side effects so far have been exhaustion. Like at 3pm every day this last week I have been more than ready to curl up and be done for the day. I'm getting to the point now where I'm starting to feel kind of full and bloated, and I notice when Isaac jumps on my lap that I can tell you EXACTLY where my ovaries are located, this isn't exactly a surprise considering the number of growing follicles that are up in there at the moment. I'm crossing my fingers that the next 3 days are more of the same.....and that we can trigger on Monday for egg retrieval on Wednesday!
