We just heard from the lab. Of our 18 eggs, 14 were mature and 13 fertilized. We are hoping that 13 is our lucky number. This is the most we've had at this point. We will hear from the lab again on Sunday. At that point they will give our embryos grades. Hoping to have a good number of embryos to test. They will be test on Day 5 or 6.
I am still sore today. Was feeling pretty good this morning and then was reminded that I had surgery yesterday. Glad that we aren't heading home today. The snow has finally stopped here and the sun is shining.
Hoping to feel up to getting out of the hotel this afternoon. :)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Eighteen
There is a full force blizzard here in Denver. It made getting to the clinic this morning interesting to say the least. Our hotel didn't plow the lot so DH ended up having to help two other cars out of the lot just so we could get to the clinic. Thank goodness we rented an SUV!
We got to the clinic in plenty of time. We waited for a few minutes and then they took me in the surgery wing. I was able to change and then got into bed and the nurse was a delight. She started my IV and answered my questions. They brought C back and he was able to stay with me until I was taken to the OR.
The RE was late due to the weather and a surgery at the other office. She got there by 9:20 and they took me right back. The anesthesiologist gave me something to relax me once we started moving. I remember moving on the bed and then that was it. I do not remember anything until I woke up in recovery. I had some panic when I woke up- which is typical for me. :) I had some pain, but the nurse got me some medication right away. She gave me a second dose when I was still feeling some pain.
C came back once I was awake and we waited to hear the news from the embyologist. I was worried about the numbers. We were thrilled when they told us that they got 18 eggs! We won't know how many were mature or fertilized until tomorrow morning. I am of course worried about this, as maturity was one of my biggest worries over the past few days.
I am definitely sore. My ovaries have always been a little on the challenging side. I am also sore due to the OHSS. They gave me some narcotics before I left the clinic and now I am just on tylenol. I've slept most of the afternoon. We also stopped and got a heating pad which has helped greatly.
The snow is still falling. The airport is pretty much closed. Thankful that we booked our flight on Saturday. Hoping that the airport clears up by then. The snow is supposed to stop by this evening. Hoping to get some photos tomorrow to share. It is a great day to hang out in a hotel!
We got to the clinic in plenty of time. We waited for a few minutes and then they took me in the surgery wing. I was able to change and then got into bed and the nurse was a delight. She started my IV and answered my questions. They brought C back and he was able to stay with me until I was taken to the OR.
The RE was late due to the weather and a surgery at the other office. She got there by 9:20 and they took me right back. The anesthesiologist gave me something to relax me once we started moving. I remember moving on the bed and then that was it. I do not remember anything until I woke up in recovery. I had some panic when I woke up- which is typical for me. :) I had some pain, but the nurse got me some medication right away. She gave me a second dose when I was still feeling some pain.
C came back once I was awake and we waited to hear the news from the embyologist. I was worried about the numbers. We were thrilled when they told us that they got 18 eggs! We won't know how many were mature or fertilized until tomorrow morning. I am of course worried about this, as maturity was one of my biggest worries over the past few days.
I am definitely sore. My ovaries have always been a little on the challenging side. I am also sore due to the OHSS. They gave me some narcotics before I left the clinic and now I am just on tylenol. I've slept most of the afternoon. We also stopped and got a heating pad which has helped greatly.
The snow is still falling. The airport is pretty much closed. Thankful that we booked our flight on Saturday. Hoping that the airport clears up by then. The snow is supposed to stop by this evening. Hoping to get some photos tomorrow to share. It is a great day to hang out in a hotel!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Triggered
So we triggered last night at 10:00. This meant an intramuscular injection. Chris is pretty good and it didn't hurt too much. We had to head to the clinic this morning just for blood work. They will check my estrogen, progesterone, and HCG levels. Hopefully the trigger shot pushed my estrogen back up and my HCG levels show that I absorbed everything from the trigger last night.
The roads are a little rough... they are estimated that there are 6 or so inches of snow already with up to TWO FEET expected! The snow is expected to continue through today and tomorrow, which means we will have to head to the clinic again in the snow.
Today is all about hanging out in the hotel and doing my grad school homework. I haven't done anything since I got here and REALLY need to get about four different projects done!
The roads are a little rough... they are estimated that there are 6 or so inches of snow already with up to TWO FEET expected! The snow is expected to continue through today and tomorrow, which means we will have to head to the clinic again in the snow.Today is all about hanging out in the hotel and doing my grad school homework. I haven't done anything since I got here and REALLY need to get about four different projects done!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Reality Check
So we got a little reality check today. I have been "coasting" with little to no meds due to a risk for overstimulation. It appears that due to this, some of the follicles have stalled out and stopped growing. At this morning's ultrasound, it didn't appear that I had much of any measurable growth in the follicles. The real concern was the fact that my estrogen came back at just over 2000... which is a HUGE drop.
Lots of tears and panic for several hours until we finally spoke to the nurse again. We were honestly considering canceling our cycle. I just can't take spending the big money only to get no mature eggs or marginal embryos that can't even be tested. After talking with the nurse, she feels that we should have at least 13 mature eggs. That's a lot less than the 20 I was told just yesterday, but I suppose it is still much better than most people can hope for. I just pray that they are mature and at least half of them make it to blast and are able to be tested. I *need* to have at least 2 normals when we are done with all of this. I was praying to have some extras to keep frozen, but I guess I was getting a little too greedy.
I am still pretty upset and trying hard to keep myself together. They are calling for a blizzard tonight and tomorrow here in Denver. Isn't that just our luck? We have to go to the lab in the morning to get blood drawn to check my levels one more time. We will do a "trigger" HCG injection at 10:00 tonight that will force the eggs to mature and raise my estrogen levels back up. The blood work will check the HCG levels, estrogen, and progesterone. We will hear back from our nurse tomorrow afternoon on our levels.
We have to be at the surgery center (also at the clinic) at 8:00 on Thursday morning. Another Dr (not mine) will do the procedure, but she is known to get more eggs than other Drs, so I will take it. The surgery is set for 9:00 am so I should be back to the hotel by early afternoon.
Chris and I did take the railroad up to Pike's Peak. However, the snow in the mountains prevented us from going all the way to the summit. We didn't see any animals except a bunny... so I was a little disappointed. I guess that is as close to the mountains that I am going to get this time. I did get some good photos and will share those later.
Chris went to go for a run so he could clear his head. I think I am going to take a nap. The snow is coming so I am hoping to get a good dinner tonight since who knows what tomorrow will bring!
Lots of tears and panic for several hours until we finally spoke to the nurse again. We were honestly considering canceling our cycle. I just can't take spending the big money only to get no mature eggs or marginal embryos that can't even be tested. After talking with the nurse, she feels that we should have at least 13 mature eggs. That's a lot less than the 20 I was told just yesterday, but I suppose it is still much better than most people can hope for. I just pray that they are mature and at least half of them make it to blast and are able to be tested. I *need* to have at least 2 normals when we are done with all of this. I was praying to have some extras to keep frozen, but I guess I was getting a little too greedy.
I am still pretty upset and trying hard to keep myself together. They are calling for a blizzard tonight and tomorrow here in Denver. Isn't that just our luck? We have to go to the lab in the morning to get blood drawn to check my levels one more time. We will do a "trigger" HCG injection at 10:00 tonight that will force the eggs to mature and raise my estrogen levels back up. The blood work will check the HCG levels, estrogen, and progesterone. We will hear back from our nurse tomorrow afternoon on our levels.
We have to be at the surgery center (also at the clinic) at 8:00 on Thursday morning. Another Dr (not mine) will do the procedure, but she is known to get more eggs than other Drs, so I will take it. The surgery is set for 9:00 am so I should be back to the hotel by early afternoon.
Chris and I did take the railroad up to Pike's Peak. However, the snow in the mountains prevented us from going all the way to the summit. We didn't see any animals except a bunny... so I was a little disappointed. I guess that is as close to the mountains that I am going to get this time. I did get some good photos and will share those later.
Chris went to go for a run so he could clear his head. I think I am going to take a nap. The snow is coming so I am hoping to get a good dinner tonight since who knows what tomorrow will bring!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday night Update...
We are still chugging along. We met with a genetic counselor today. She was not the one we met with when we were here before, but she gave us basically the same information we had before as well as had us sign a million more consents for the testing. They really feel that we should end up with 5-6 normals. She quoted us an 80-85% success rate if we end up transferring two normals. I am starting to believe that this might really happen!
Estrogen was 4085 today so I am doing 37.5 Gonal F tonight and then no menopur in the morning. I am back tomorrow morning for ultrasound and lab. They are estimating my retreieval will be on Thursday as planned.
Chris and I have a reservation to go up to Pike's Peak tomorrow via the Cog railroad. Looking forward to getting up into the mountains!
We're going to go walk around the mall for a little bit tonight. It will give me something to do! :)
Estrogen was 4085 today so I am doing 37.5 Gonal F tonight and then no menopur in the morning. I am back tomorrow morning for ultrasound and lab. They are estimating my retreieval will be on Thursday as planned.
Chris and I have a reservation to go up to Pike's Peak tomorrow via the Cog railroad. Looking forward to getting up into the mountains!
We're going to go walk around the mall for a little bit tonight. It will give me something to do! :)
Monday Morning Update
Chris arrived safely last night. The snow stopped in plenty of time for me to go get him. The moutains are now covered in snow and are even more beautiful if that is possible! It is nice to have him here and he is busy working right now as I type this.
I had my "IVF Physical" with the nurse practitioner this morning. There was some concern over my blood pressure, but by the end of the physical it had come down. It was a little elevated with my physical back home too. I guess this is something that I need to look into when we are done with this IVF stuff. She assured me that I will be fully asleep for the retrieval and that they will not allow me to feel anything at all. She explained that they really want the patient to be really still through the procedure and having you in pain prevents that. :) She assured me that they will also monitor my pain after the procedure and that I shouldn't have the same issues that I had with the last ER.
My ultrasound still shows LOTS happening in my ovaries... and I am feeling it! The tech guessed that there are actually 18-20 on the right and 10-12 on the left. There are four that are over 2 but the rest are all in the 15-18 range. This was the first u/s that Chris was able to see and he kept saying that he had never seen my ovaries look like this... that everything was the same size and looked good. Hoping that is a good sign. Met with our nurse and she thinks they will have me coast one more day before trigger which will place the retrieval on Thursday as originally planned. I am a little concerned that we will lose some of the eggs... either the ones that are already big or with coasting. I am still trying to have hope!
We also talked with the nurse about getting on the schedule for transfer. Of course this is all dependent on having normals to transfer. I had heard through one of the message boards that the schedule was filling up. She told us that she would go ahead and work on a calendar for us and get us a "slot" In a perfect world, we would like to transfer at the end of January. I also asked her about the letrozale instead of the depot lupron. She said that would be a good option for us. Chris and I still need to do a little research on that too. If we can't transfer in January, we will have to wait until Spring Break and neither of us wants to wait that long.
We go back at 1:00 to meet with the genetic counselor about the genetic testing. We will also touch base with our nurse again at that time. Not sure if she will have our blood results yet.
I am off to take a nap. I am not sleeping well and just seem to do better if I can get a nap in!
I had my "IVF Physical" with the nurse practitioner this morning. There was some concern over my blood pressure, but by the end of the physical it had come down. It was a little elevated with my physical back home too. I guess this is something that I need to look into when we are done with this IVF stuff. She assured me that I will be fully asleep for the retrieval and that they will not allow me to feel anything at all. She explained that they really want the patient to be really still through the procedure and having you in pain prevents that. :) She assured me that they will also monitor my pain after the procedure and that I shouldn't have the same issues that I had with the last ER.
My ultrasound still shows LOTS happening in my ovaries... and I am feeling it! The tech guessed that there are actually 18-20 on the right and 10-12 on the left. There are four that are over 2 but the rest are all in the 15-18 range. This was the first u/s that Chris was able to see and he kept saying that he had never seen my ovaries look like this... that everything was the same size and looked good. Hoping that is a good sign. Met with our nurse and she thinks they will have me coast one more day before trigger which will place the retrieval on Thursday as originally planned. I am a little concerned that we will lose some of the eggs... either the ones that are already big or with coasting. I am still trying to have hope!
We also talked with the nurse about getting on the schedule for transfer. Of course this is all dependent on having normals to transfer. I had heard through one of the message boards that the schedule was filling up. She told us that she would go ahead and work on a calendar for us and get us a "slot" In a perfect world, we would like to transfer at the end of January. I also asked her about the letrozale instead of the depot lupron. She said that would be a good option for us. Chris and I still need to do a little research on that too. If we can't transfer in January, we will have to wait until Spring Break and neither of us wants to wait that long.
We go back at 1:00 to meet with the genetic counselor about the genetic testing. We will also touch base with our nurse again at that time. Not sure if she will have our blood results yet.
I am off to take a nap. I am not sleeping well and just seem to do better if I can get a nap in!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Back on the Coast :(
Just heard back from the nurse today. My Estrogen was 3515 so I am back to coasting.. this time on NO stims at all for 24 hours. The ultrasound this morning still shows 10-12 follicles on each side with one larger at 1.9 but most of them all in the 1.3 to 1.5 range. They want them to be between 1.8 and 2.2 so I am moving along. I am guessing I will be on track for the Thursday ER, with Wednesday as the soonest. I am glad that Chris is coming on tonight instead of Tuesday though. I am starting to feel really uncomfortable so it will be nice to have him here.
The lab tech had a really hard time getting blood this morning, My arm is still sore. I think tomorrow I am going to advocate for them to take the blood from my hand and my veins are nice and juicy there and close to the surface.
The snow has started to fall here in Denver. It is really pretty. I had to go get a snow brush for the car since the rental place didn't put one in the car! The snow doesn't seem to be sticking right now. The news says that there may be an accumulation of a few inches. It seems to be melting as it falls so I wonder if there really will be an accumulation.
Just hanging out in the hotel today. I need to do the progress reports for my students and work on some homework. Now that Chris is coming a day early, I have one less day to work on homework. I am SO excited that I am on the home stretch... grad school is over in TWO WEEKS!
The lab tech had a really hard time getting blood this morning, My arm is still sore. I think tomorrow I am going to advocate for them to take the blood from my hand and my veins are nice and juicy there and close to the surface.
The snow has started to fall here in Denver. It is really pretty. I had to go get a snow brush for the car since the rental place didn't put one in the car! The snow doesn't seem to be sticking right now. The news says that there may be an accumulation of a few inches. It seems to be melting as it falls so I wonder if there really will be an accumulation.
Just hanging out in the hotel today. I need to do the progress reports for my students and work on some homework. Now that Chris is coming a day early, I have one less day to work on homework. I am SO excited that I am on the home stretch... grad school is over in TWO WEEKS!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)