And so it begins.... IVF - Part 1

It's an odd feeling....staring at the lineup of needles on your kitchen table, knowing that there is no turning back. The moments before taking the first round of shots was exciting, but I was extremely nervous. I think I started to panic and cried a little. Fear of the unknown, the realization that maybe, just MAYBE, this was going to be it, and just being overwhelmed in general...was all hitting me in that moment. I can say now that it really wasn't that bad, and even though others had told me that....you just don't know until you go through it.

Honestly, the worst part of those 2-ish weeks was having to go to the doctor every single morning at 7:30am before school for bloodwork and an ultrasound. My arms started to look like I was a recreational drug user, and I was cranky from having to wake up earlier than usual. (side note: thankfully I don't teach 1st period this year...it saved me a lot of stress from worrying about being late to school!)

I cannot remember if I started with just one or two shots on the first day, but by the end of the two weeks, we were up to four shots in the stomach every night. All the medicines do something different. One helps the eggs mature, one helps stop natural ovulation, etc. Naturally a woman's body releases, on average, 1 egg a month. The first goal of IVF is to have your body make as many mature eggs as possible....hence half of the medicine. Because of this, you get extremely uncomfortable and bloated. Not fun. The daily bloodwork would tell the doctors how all the hormone levels were looking, and the daily ultrasound was for the doctors to be able to count the eggs (as well as look for cysts, and measure the uterus lining thickness, etc.).

Once you are just about ready to go, you take whats called the "trigger shot" to help release the eggs. Same as the IUI. Two days later you go in for your "retrieval." For this, you are put under a local anesthesia (similar to if you have a colonoscopy..FUN!), and the doctors basically take the eggs out by suction. I'm very technical.

I remember very little of the procedure. I remember going into the room and seeing the world's largest stirrup's I had ever seen, getting my IV, and then nap time. I woke up...I'm guessing about 20 minutes later, to what I'm told was me arguing with the nurse about how I could hold my own cup of apple juice! That still cracks me up. I had to lay in the recovery area for about half an hour before we could leave. I was in some pain...mainly cramps, and was bleeding a little, but that was it.

I am now realizing that I haven't really mentioned my husband much, and well, that's really because the partner in this does very little. He gave his "sample" the same day as my procedure. His one job. Well done, honey! Joking aside, he did give me my shots every night, which was very helpful.

Anyway, the next day the nurse and then the doctor both called me with the results. You want as many as eggs as possible, because not all of them are viable, not all of them will get fertilized, and not all of them will last the few days leading up to the embryo transfer. Some woman end up with only 1-2 eggs by the end. I was extremely lucky. They retrieved 29 eggs (no wonder I was so bloated!), 20 of which where mature enough, and then 16 of which were fertilized. Over the next 3-5 days the embryologists monitor the eggs and basically get rid of any that die off naturally, or that do not have the right size/shape. These are pretty much the eggs that had I gotten pregnant with naturally, would not have been viable pregnancies.

Typically 3-5 days later you go in for your embryo transfer, and then wait for the pregnancy test. I unfortunately was not able to go through with this part of the process, and so the embryo's had to be frozen. More on this next time! (Sorry for the longest post yet!)

Peace. Love. Petri Dishes.