Well since I know all of you have been waiting patiently for news I will finally get around to updating this.
I am officially pregnant! My first beta which they like to see at 50 or above came in at 114 and my 2nd beta where they wanted to see it at least doubled came in at 310. I have two more beta draws this week to make sure everything is still looking good. It is still seeming a bit unreal to both Daron and I at this point. I can't wait to get our 1st ultrasound scheduled and see how many babies there are. The most likely scenario is that there is just one, but I keep getting this feeling that is a possibility of 2. We are fairly certain that there aren't 3.
I got my first real BFP(big fat positive) this cycle at 7 days past my 3 day transfer and 2 days later got a BFP on a digital HPT. Our first Beta was the Friday before Christmas and we were so happy to get a good strong number. I really can say this is the best Christmas present ever!
Egg Retrieval, Transfer and 2ww
Thursday, December 15, 2011
I thought it was time I should publish an update, since I haven't published anything since before my egg retrieval. They were able to retrieve 13 eggs from which were all viable and able to have ICSI performed on them! They only had to thaw 1 vial of sperm meaning we still have 5 left. So happy that they didn't lose too many during thaw and have to thaw another vial.
The fertilization report wasn't quite as good as we had hoped however by day 3 we were actually better off than we were last cycle. Only 3 of my eggs fertilized normally this time around, which is actually one less than last time so we were a bit disappointed. The good news is by day 3(Monday dec. 12th) when we went in for retrieval we still had 3 embryos, all of them had 8 cells and 1 was a grade A(perfect or near perfect) and 2 were grade B(some cell fragmentation but still looking good).
When they had called us previously with our fertilization report they had told us that they might be recommending we transfer all 3 of them. On Monday sure enough they recommended we transfer all 3 of them, based on both the # of embryos we had, their quality, and our previous failure/history and diagnosis. We decided to go ahead with this option based on both their recommendation and much prior discussion over the past few days. The chance of twins is increased quite a bit however the chance of triplets is still only about 2-5% for us. The doctor said the most likely scenario is that we will end up with just one though which is fine with me.
So I am currently PUPO(pregnant until proven otherwise) with Triplets. I am now 3 days past transfer and other than really sore boobs from the Trigger shot and/or progesterone I am feeling pretty good.
The fertilization report wasn't quite as good as we had hoped however by day 3 we were actually better off than we were last cycle. Only 3 of my eggs fertilized normally this time around, which is actually one less than last time so we were a bit disappointed. The good news is by day 3(Monday dec. 12th) when we went in for retrieval we still had 3 embryos, all of them had 8 cells and 1 was a grade A(perfect or near perfect) and 2 were grade B(some cell fragmentation but still looking good).
When they had called us previously with our fertilization report they had told us that they might be recommending we transfer all 3 of them. On Monday sure enough they recommended we transfer all 3 of them, based on both the # of embryos we had, their quality, and our previous failure/history and diagnosis. We decided to go ahead with this option based on both their recommendation and much prior discussion over the past few days. The chance of twins is increased quite a bit however the chance of triplets is still only about 2-5% for us. The doctor said the most likely scenario is that we will end up with just one though which is fine with me.
So I am currently PUPO(pregnant until proven otherwise) with Triplets. I am now 3 days past transfer and other than really sore boobs from the Trigger shot and/or progesterone I am feeling pretty good.
Update
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
I know I've been slacking a little on the updates again, sorry about that. Friday was my first monitoring appointment and I had 17 follicles ranging from 10mm to 15mm. Yesterday was my 2nd monitoring appointment and I had about the same # of follicles now ranging from 11mm to 23mm. My uterine lining is 9.2mm. I actually saw my doctor for my ultrasound yesterday. It was kind of nice and he goes over things pretty well, however he is kind of hard to keep track of with follicle counts and sizes.
Today is my last day of the stim medications and tomorrow will be my last day of Lupron. My trigger will be tomorrow night and egg retrieval will be Friday. I am a little worried that my 2 lead follicles at 21 and 23 yesterday will be too big to have viable eggs by Friday, but I am trying not to worry too much. Plus I had a chat with them to tell them to slow down, while also telling that little 11mm one to speed up a little :).
I am completely ready for Friday to be here already as I am looking about 3 months pregnant and can't button my pants. That would be perfectly OK with me if it was due to a baby, but they are just eggs. Lets just say my belly is definitely past my boobs and that says quite a bit lol. Also feeling quite tender and I wouldn't really say it hurts, but I definitely feel a lot of discomfort in my ovaries when I walk.
In random other news, Daron is actually reading my blog now, so I guess that means I have to be careful what I say about him :).
Today is my last day of the stim medications and tomorrow will be my last day of Lupron. My trigger will be tomorrow night and egg retrieval will be Friday. I am a little worried that my 2 lead follicles at 21 and 23 yesterday will be too big to have viable eggs by Friday, but I am trying not to worry too much. Plus I had a chat with them to tell them to slow down, while also telling that little 11mm one to speed up a little :).
I am completely ready for Friday to be here already as I am looking about 3 months pregnant and can't button my pants. That would be perfectly OK with me if it was due to a baby, but they are just eggs. Lets just say my belly is definitely past my boobs and that says quite a bit lol. Also feeling quite tender and I wouldn't really say it hurts, but I definitely feel a lot of discomfort in my ovaries when I walk.
In random other news, Daron is actually reading my blog now, so I guess that means I have to be careful what I say about him :).
Impatience, Annoyances, and Insurance Companies
Thursday, December 1, 2011
This is more than likely going to be a fairly long and somewhat random post, just to warn everyone.
I am incredibly impatient for tomorrow's appointment. Last cycle I was definitely feeling bloated and heavy by the time I had my first u/s, and this time I don't really feel anything (other than a headache and a stiff neck from the meds). Daron says I look bloated and I guess I do look a little bit but I certainly don't feel it. I am really nervous that I am going to go in tomorrow and have almost nothing to show for 5.5 days of stimming. I know that based on my last cycle that probably won't be the case but I just don't feel anything going on in there so am kind of worried there isn't anything going on in there. I did feel some heaviness during my Reiki yesterday that I am hoping was a signal there is at least something going on.
I really just want this cycle to be over already, I can tell that no break to speak of has really taken a toll on my body and my emotions and I just want to be done for awhile. It is really out of my hands whether it works or not and either way I know I won't be having to shoot myself up 3 times a day anymore with hormones that make me feel like shit. Don't get me wrong, I know that if I get pregnant I could possibly feel like shit, but as crazy as it sounds to some of you, I would without a doubt taking morning sickness over anything these shots do to me. At least with morning sickness and all of the other issues that can come with pregnancy I will know I have a baby growing. Right now I really don't know anything, and even once I know how many eggs I have growing we still have no idea whether those will become babies.
Now for the first random change of topics. Awhile ago I posted This with a link to an article on infertility etiquette. I realize people just don't understand how to deal with infertility sometimes, but seriously the things people say sometimes are so inconsiderate. I mean come on, I have been asked why I am doing IVF, when I should just be using a turkey baster. Seriously? Well first of all a 0 sperm count doesn't really allow that, what don't people understand about that? Its also really annoying when people expect you to be constantly happy and excited about what you are doing. Ok yes trying to conceive is exciting, when it can happen naturally and when your life doesn't become consumed by it. I'm not saying that I'm not excited and happy about the getting pregnant, that parts awesome! Really though, I'm not happy about sticking myself 3 times a day to get there, and I'm not happy Daron had to go through a surgery to slice open his balls to get there. I'm excited to see how many eggs we get and to see how we are progressing but I'm not happy or excited to go in every other day and have my privates invaded by an ultrasound wand when I don't get to see a baby on the screen. And I'm not excited that I get to be put under and have a needle stuck into my ovaries to retrieve eggs from me! I want to see those people who expect us to be happy and excited about this process all the time go through it themselves because I don't think they would feel that way anymore. Sometimes the stress and the hormones just get to you.
The worst in my opinion though is when people ask about how much an IVF cycle costs and then go on to say oh well get used to it kids are expensive. NO SHIT kids are expensive I was prepared for that! We bought a house we can afford, we both have decent paying jobs, we live within our means and are able to save money from every pay check. We thought about all of that before trying to have a baby. Most people though don't have to start paying for their children until after they are pregnant! Most people don't have to try to decide whether A home equity line of credit is an option to pay for getting pregnant, because the people that tell you kids are expensive are the ones who can have them for free. They don't have to worry whether the cost of conceiving their children is going to affect their ability to afford raising those children. They don't have to worry whether one more cycle is going to put them too far into debt to be able to afford food and care for their children. For them this part is free! So no shit kids are expensive but really that doesn't have anything to do with this, because for fertile couples conceiving them is free!
Enough ranting for now :). On to the next random topic of insurance companies. For once I called our insurance company and someone was helpful. Insurance Administrator is notorious for not being helpful and for not knowing what they are talking about. Even Billing departments hate dealing with them, because they never seem to have answers or care about getting things done in a timely manner. I think there are multiple times we have been told by a billing department that our Insurance administrator is the worst company they have ever dealt with. Needless to say I was amazed when I not only got someone who knew what they were talking about but that they also were willing to do what they could to help me!
My last egg retrieval was October 3rd. I realize part of the issue is the fertility clinic since they didn't get the claims submitted until the 1st or 2nd week of November. However, the clinic has called the insurance company several times from what I understand to let them know these things need to be processed in order for them to draw up our financial documents with insurance coverage included. If they are not processed we will have to self-pay this cycle and get everything straightened out later. The woman I talked to today though was very helpful in telling me where my claims are currently at and that she would add a note to them to be processed rush and that they needed to be done and paid by December 8th. Not that we will have any insurance coverage left after our last cycle, but it would at least be nice to know for sure! So for the first time in awhile I think our insurance administrator is actually on my good side(even though they still can't tell me for sure what claims apply to my fertility maximum).
I am amazed if any of you stayed with me through the end of this post and I'm sorry for all the ranting, but hey its better than punching someone right? :)
I am incredibly impatient for tomorrow's appointment. Last cycle I was definitely feeling bloated and heavy by the time I had my first u/s, and this time I don't really feel anything (other than a headache and a stiff neck from the meds). Daron says I look bloated and I guess I do look a little bit but I certainly don't feel it. I am really nervous that I am going to go in tomorrow and have almost nothing to show for 5.5 days of stimming. I know that based on my last cycle that probably won't be the case but I just don't feel anything going on in there so am kind of worried there isn't anything going on in there. I did feel some heaviness during my Reiki yesterday that I am hoping was a signal there is at least something going on.
I really just want this cycle to be over already, I can tell that no break to speak of has really taken a toll on my body and my emotions and I just want to be done for awhile. It is really out of my hands whether it works or not and either way I know I won't be having to shoot myself up 3 times a day anymore with hormones that make me feel like shit. Don't get me wrong, I know that if I get pregnant I could possibly feel like shit, but as crazy as it sounds to some of you, I would without a doubt taking morning sickness over anything these shots do to me. At least with morning sickness and all of the other issues that can come with pregnancy I will know I have a baby growing. Right now I really don't know anything, and even once I know how many eggs I have growing we still have no idea whether those will become babies.
Now for the first random change of topics. Awhile ago I posted This with a link to an article on infertility etiquette. I realize people just don't understand how to deal with infertility sometimes, but seriously the things people say sometimes are so inconsiderate. I mean come on, I have been asked why I am doing IVF, when I should just be using a turkey baster. Seriously? Well first of all a 0 sperm count doesn't really allow that, what don't people understand about that? Its also really annoying when people expect you to be constantly happy and excited about what you are doing. Ok yes trying to conceive is exciting, when it can happen naturally and when your life doesn't become consumed by it. I'm not saying that I'm not excited and happy about the getting pregnant, that parts awesome! Really though, I'm not happy about sticking myself 3 times a day to get there, and I'm not happy Daron had to go through a surgery to slice open his balls to get there. I'm excited to see how many eggs we get and to see how we are progressing but I'm not happy or excited to go in every other day and have my privates invaded by an ultrasound wand when I don't get to see a baby on the screen. And I'm not excited that I get to be put under and have a needle stuck into my ovaries to retrieve eggs from me! I want to see those people who expect us to be happy and excited about this process all the time go through it themselves because I don't think they would feel that way anymore. Sometimes the stress and the hormones just get to you.
The worst in my opinion though is when people ask about how much an IVF cycle costs and then go on to say oh well get used to it kids are expensive. NO SHIT kids are expensive I was prepared for that! We bought a house we can afford, we both have decent paying jobs, we live within our means and are able to save money from every pay check. We thought about all of that before trying to have a baby. Most people though don't have to start paying for their children until after they are pregnant! Most people don't have to try to decide whether A home equity line of credit is an option to pay for getting pregnant, because the people that tell you kids are expensive are the ones who can have them for free. They don't have to worry whether the cost of conceiving their children is going to affect their ability to afford raising those children. They don't have to worry whether one more cycle is going to put them too far into debt to be able to afford food and care for their children. For them this part is free! So no shit kids are expensive but really that doesn't have anything to do with this, because for fertile couples conceiving them is free!
Enough ranting for now :). On to the next random topic of insurance companies. For once I called our insurance company and someone was helpful. Insurance Administrator is notorious for not being helpful and for not knowing what they are talking about. Even Billing departments hate dealing with them, because they never seem to have answers or care about getting things done in a timely manner. I think there are multiple times we have been told by a billing department that our Insurance administrator is the worst company they have ever dealt with. Needless to say I was amazed when I not only got someone who knew what they were talking about but that they also were willing to do what they could to help me!
My last egg retrieval was October 3rd. I realize part of the issue is the fertility clinic since they didn't get the claims submitted until the 1st or 2nd week of November. However, the clinic has called the insurance company several times from what I understand to let them know these things need to be processed in order for them to draw up our financial documents with insurance coverage included. If they are not processed we will have to self-pay this cycle and get everything straightened out later. The woman I talked to today though was very helpful in telling me where my claims are currently at and that she would add a note to them to be processed rush and that they needed to be done and paid by December 8th. Not that we will have any insurance coverage left after our last cycle, but it would at least be nice to know for sure! So for the first time in awhile I think our insurance administrator is actually on my good side(even though they still can't tell me for sure what claims apply to my fertility maximum).
I am amazed if any of you stayed with me through the end of this post and I'm sorry for all the ranting, but hey its better than punching someone right? :)
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