It turns out that my bloodwork from Monday showed elevated electrolyte levels and my eGFR level was in the middle of the "moderate kidney damage" range. Thankfully, my bloodwork from yesterday came back normal & my doctor isn't at all concerned. I think for my own peace of mind heading into my FET, I'm going to have my ob-gyn redo my bloodwork when I see her in a few weeks for my pap.
My FET is scheduled for Friday, February 11th. I hate to wait three months, but I know I'll be more relaxed if my mom comes with me & her doctor expects it to take 6 weeks for her to recover from her surgery, which is the Monday before Thanksgiving.
Much love to all my blog sisters that have gotten devastating news this week. You are in my thoughts & prayers.
T.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
CCS Results
I'm very sorry I've been MIA recently. Life seems to be spinning out of control for me these days and I felt that way before everything that has happened within the last six hours. I'll blog more about what's going on at another time.
Dr. Surrey called this evening to let me know that both my 4AA and 3AB are normal. It hasn't even begun to sink in that there's finally hope for me. I'm. in. disbelief.
Yesterday I had my annual physical & they told me my bloodwork would be back in a week. This evening I had a message on my home voice mail saying that the doctor wants to recheck some of my bloodwork. Seriously, would the universe finally give me hope & then have something serious come up for me health-wise? Since it had only been 24 hours, my mom is trying to convince me that there was just a lab mixup & maybe they need more blood or something like that. Now I'm freaking out over the supplements I took for four months. God, please let it be nothing serious.
Hugs to you all,
An overwhelmed T.
Dr. Surrey called this evening to let me know that both my 4AA and 3AB are normal. It hasn't even begun to sink in that there's finally hope for me. I'm. in. disbelief.
Yesterday I had my annual physical & they told me my bloodwork would be back in a week. This evening I had a message on my home voice mail saying that the doctor wants to recheck some of my bloodwork. Seriously, would the universe finally give me hope & then have something serious come up for me health-wise? Since it had only been 24 hours, my mom is trying to convince me that there was just a lab mixup & maybe they need more blood or something like that. Now I'm freaking out over the supplements I took for four months. God, please let it be nothing serious.
Hugs to you all,
An overwhelmed T.
Friday, October 29, 2010
D6 Report
Last night I dreamt that I had an awesome D6 report, which turned out to be a great harbinger of things to come. I was hoping for three blasts and that at least one would be a D5 blast since my only blast last cycle was a D6. Well, I have not one, not two, not three, but FOUR D5 blasts!! It has been several hours since John gave me the news and I still cannot believe it. The blasts were rated 5AA, 4AA, 3AB, and 3BB. I know that finding a normal in this batch is still a big hurdle given my history, but I'm extremely grateful that this time I have a fighting chance.
Thank you for all of your good thoughts! I don't know what I would do without you ladies.
T.
Thank you for all of your good thoughts! I don't know what I would do without you ladies.
T.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tick Tock
Seriously, it's only TUESDAY?? The last few days have felt like an enternity despite my being very busy trying to catch up on everything both at work and at home. With my last cycle, I insisted on a D3 report from CCRM's lab. The report couldn't have been any better yet only one embryo made it to blast. Today was D3 and a part of me wanted to call the lab to ask for a progress report; however, I resisted since I figured a glowing report wouldn't reassure me in the least anyway and a disappointing report would only upset me. I'm just so friggin' sick of waiting. I feel like it's all I've done since the day I started TTC. Wait, wait, wait, & hope. Hope that this time will be different. Please let it be different.
Approx. 60 hours to go. My boss is letting me take Friday off even though it's the last business day of the month, which is usually a big no no. To try to keep myself sane, I'm going to work on cleaning out my closets while I wait for the D6 call.
T.
Approx. 60 hours to go. My boss is letting me take Friday off even though it's the last business day of the month, which is usually a big no no. To try to keep myself sane, I'm going to work on cleaning out my closets while I wait for the D6 call.
T.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Fertilization Report
The embryologist I spoke to after my retrieval said they would have my fertilization numbers by 8:00am. She promised to call me by 10:00am so that she could reach me before I boarded my flight. By 8:20 I couldn't stand the waiting & worrying so I called the lab. I was immediately transferred to John, the head embryologist. He's such a super nice guy! Here are my numbers:
12 eggs retrieved
9 mature
8 fertilized
The three immature eggs did not mature overnight so they won't be ICSI'd. I'm encouraged by the high fertilization rate. Last cycle it was about 70%, which is below CCRM's 80% average for ICSI. Since I'm using DS from a youngish guy, I was pretty surprised that my fertilization rate was below average. This time the fertilization rate is almost 90%...I hope that's a good sign that these eight eggs are better quality. This is the same number of eggs I had fertilize on D1 last cycle. I can only hope that a few more make it to blast this time to give me a fighting shot at finding a normal embryo. John said they would call on Friday with my D6 report. Whether my biopsies go to New Jersey or stay in-house depends upon which lab can get the results back faster. He said they can pretty much only do one patient per day at CCRM while the NJ lab can do a higher volume. My guess is that two weeks is a conservative estimate so hopefully my actual wait will be a bit shorter than that. At any rate, it should be much shorter than the five week wait I had this spring. I just hope there's one good embryo in this bunch.
Thanks for all of the good thoughts, ladies! The next 120 hours are going to go by very slowly.
Hugs,
T.
12 eggs retrieved
9 mature
8 fertilized
The three immature eggs did not mature overnight so they won't be ICSI'd. I'm encouraged by the high fertilization rate. Last cycle it was about 70%, which is below CCRM's 80% average for ICSI. Since I'm using DS from a youngish guy, I was pretty surprised that my fertilization rate was below average. This time the fertilization rate is almost 90%...I hope that's a good sign that these eight eggs are better quality. This is the same number of eggs I had fertilize on D1 last cycle. I can only hope that a few more make it to blast this time to give me a fighting shot at finding a normal embryo. John said they would call on Friday with my D6 report. Whether my biopsies go to New Jersey or stay in-house depends upon which lab can get the results back faster. He said they can pretty much only do one patient per day at CCRM while the NJ lab can do a higher volume. My guess is that two weeks is a conservative estimate so hopefully my actual wait will be a bit shorter than that. At any rate, it should be much shorter than the five week wait I had this spring. I just hope there's one good embryo in this bunch.
Thanks for all of the good thoughts, ladies! The next 120 hours are going to go by very slowly.
Hugs,
T.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Sleepless in Denver
It's 11:45. I need to get up in less than six hours to head to the airport and I'm not even slightly drowsy. Since I quit taking Melatonin before starting stims, I didn't think to bring some along for post-retrieval.
Dr. Schoolcraft ended up doing my retrieval today. Since my left ovary loves to hide out behind my uterus, I was hoping that either Dr. Surrey or Dr. Schoolcraft would do my retrieval since they have the most experience. Dr. Schoolcraft never came in to say hello before or after my retrieval. It's kind of strange to me that he poked a needle through my vaginal wall, but I've never spoken one word to the man, LOL. Then again, he's such a god in the infertility world that meeting him would have probably raised my alreadly elevated blood pressure so maybe it's just as well. I was the only retrieval today. My nurse, Jennifer, was an absolute doll and took exceptional care of me. With my cycle in May, the nurse told me how many eggs they got as soon as I woke up, but Jennifer wasn't told that vital piece of information. Since I worry about everything throughout this process, I freaked out a bit that the news was really crappy.
When I spoke to the embryologist, I requested that they perform D2 ICSI on any eggs that mature overnight. Last cycle my only D2 ICSI'd egg made it to the early blast stage so I definitely feel like D2 ICSI is worthwhile for me (personally, I think they should do it routinely on everyone). My IVF nurse said she thinks that my blasts (trying to be optimistic) will be tested in-house, which I've been told is about a two week wait for test results. For some reason she said that not all patients have in-house testing, but I didn't ask what the determining factor is. I meant to ask the embryologist if my testing would be done in-house, but I was still a bit groggy when she came in & I forgot so I'll have to ask her tomorrow.
I'd say 90%+ of me is relieved to know that this is my last cycle with my OE. I know that many of you have cycled many more times than I have and I'm absolutely amazed at your fortitude. It felt liberating to throw away my Follistim pen on Thursday night after my trigger. On Friday I did have a few moments when it hurt to realize that this truly is the last shot with my OE. I'm an only child so I don't have any nieces or nephews to carry on my family's genetics and that does hurt. In total I've produced 25 eggs at CCRM. If 25 eggs doesn't get the job done, I think it's incredibly doubtful another cycle would do the trick. Plus, I'm just done emotionally and physically. Sure, there's a part of me that wants this cycle to succeed so that my baby will have my genetics, but that has become so much less important to me than just being a mom. I truly do believe that the universe will give me the child I'm meant to have.
Tonight we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner & then to Coldstone for ice cream (my stomach wasn't quite up for cheesecake although their new peanut butter cup cheesecake looked really yummy). I wanted to go to The Grand Lux for dinner (it's owned by the same company as TCF & they make many of their desserts during your meal...the chocolate molten cake is extraordinary & I'm not even a chocolate nut). However, we went to the Grand Lux after my retrieval this spring so, just in case it was my post-retrieval meal that screwed up that cycle, I refused to tempt fate and eat there again. I don't think I mentioned that while walking my dogs on the day I left Dallas for Denver, I found a penny that was heads up. It got tucked into a special place in my wallet. I then found 50 cents at the airport & was seated in Row 7 on my flight. Since I had 13 eggs last cycle and we all know how that turned out, I'm hoping lady luck will be on my side this cycle. Silly, I know.
I'm still not sleepy, but since I have to drive to the airport bright and early, I'd better try to at least rest a bit. I can't wait to get back home. I've missed my dad, my friends, and my pooches so much (the latter most of all, but don't tell anybody!).
Goodnight, ladies.
T.
Dr. Schoolcraft ended up doing my retrieval today. Since my left ovary loves to hide out behind my uterus, I was hoping that either Dr. Surrey or Dr. Schoolcraft would do my retrieval since they have the most experience. Dr. Schoolcraft never came in to say hello before or after my retrieval. It's kind of strange to me that he poked a needle through my vaginal wall, but I've never spoken one word to the man, LOL. Then again, he's such a god in the infertility world that meeting him would have probably raised my alreadly elevated blood pressure so maybe it's just as well. I was the only retrieval today. My nurse, Jennifer, was an absolute doll and took exceptional care of me. With my cycle in May, the nurse told me how many eggs they got as soon as I woke up, but Jennifer wasn't told that vital piece of information. Since I worry about everything throughout this process, I freaked out a bit that the news was really crappy.
When I spoke to the embryologist, I requested that they perform D2 ICSI on any eggs that mature overnight. Last cycle my only D2 ICSI'd egg made it to the early blast stage so I definitely feel like D2 ICSI is worthwhile for me (personally, I think they should do it routinely on everyone). My IVF nurse said she thinks that my blasts (trying to be optimistic) will be tested in-house, which I've been told is about a two week wait for test results. For some reason she said that not all patients have in-house testing, but I didn't ask what the determining factor is. I meant to ask the embryologist if my testing would be done in-house, but I was still a bit groggy when she came in & I forgot so I'll have to ask her tomorrow.
I'd say 90%+ of me is relieved to know that this is my last cycle with my OE. I know that many of you have cycled many more times than I have and I'm absolutely amazed at your fortitude. It felt liberating to throw away my Follistim pen on Thursday night after my trigger. On Friday I did have a few moments when it hurt to realize that this truly is the last shot with my OE. I'm an only child so I don't have any nieces or nephews to carry on my family's genetics and that does hurt. In total I've produced 25 eggs at CCRM. If 25 eggs doesn't get the job done, I think it's incredibly doubtful another cycle would do the trick. Plus, I'm just done emotionally and physically. Sure, there's a part of me that wants this cycle to succeed so that my baby will have my genetics, but that has become so much less important to me than just being a mom. I truly do believe that the universe will give me the child I'm meant to have.
Tonight we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner & then to Coldstone for ice cream (my stomach wasn't quite up for cheesecake although their new peanut butter cup cheesecake looked really yummy). I wanted to go to The Grand Lux for dinner (it's owned by the same company as TCF & they make many of their desserts during your meal...the chocolate molten cake is extraordinary & I'm not even a chocolate nut). However, we went to the Grand Lux after my retrieval this spring so, just in case it was my post-retrieval meal that screwed up that cycle, I refused to tempt fate and eat there again. I don't think I mentioned that while walking my dogs on the day I left Dallas for Denver, I found a penny that was heads up. It got tucked into a special place in my wallet. I then found 50 cents at the airport & was seated in Row 7 on my flight. Since I had 13 eggs last cycle and we all know how that turned out, I'm hoping lady luck will be on my side this cycle. Silly, I know.
I'm still not sleepy, but since I have to drive to the airport bright and early, I'd better try to at least rest a bit. I can't wait to get back home. I've missed my dad, my friends, and my pooches so much (the latter most of all, but don't tell anybody!).
Goodnight, ladies.
T.
Out of my hands now
ER went well. They retrieved a dozen eggs, which is slightly fewer than expected, but more in line with my E2 so I'm happy. The nurse said that at my last blood draw, my E2 went from 2,000 to 3,900 so that made me feel a bit more optimistic. My flight is at 10:30 tomorrow morning and the embryologist promised to call me before 10:00 with my fertilization report. Other than a slight bit of queasiness that comes & goes, I feel pretty good. I'll write more about how I'm feeling emotionally later, but wanted y'all to know how things went. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support. It has meant the world to me.
Lots of love,
T.
Lots of love,
T.
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