So John and I decided to do a frozen cycle. We don't want to give up on the 1st batch just yet...I still believe that my body was so out of whack from all the meds that it 'bloated' the embryos out.....sure the doctor says that isn't it...but let me have this belief...I need something to blame other than another cycle that didn't work...
So we notified the nurses and everything got started....all I needed was to get my period......
......which took 2 weeks to arrive past its 'due' date. And no, of course, I was not pregnant...many thought it...including a tiny inkling myself, but no, we are not that lucky. :)
So finally mid December I got my period and went in for my baseline blood and ultrasound...things looked good....just a small cyst that should clear up (had the same thing last time and it did clear up).....
I then started taking birth control pills (sounds backwards, but again, they have to ensure that I don't get pregnant, so this is the best way).
All the dates are now set up...
I stop taking the pill on 1/12 and start Lupron
On 1/25 I go for my baseline blood and ultrasound....
if all is good, then 1/26 I start the 'patches' (something new)
Then on 2/6 I have another ultrasound to ensure my lining is thick enough (then from the docs office I jump on a plane for work for a few days)
Then on 2/14, yes Valentine's Day, we have our transfer
Our kids were conceived 10/20/07....Sweetest Day....then this is the day we were given by the nursing staff for our frozen embryo transfter....Valentine's Day....John and I figure that with all the extra love floating in the air, perhaps something magical will happen.....we'll see... :)
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Follow Up
So, John and I met with Dr. Jacobs on Nov. 27th....about 3 weeks had passed by and we were ready to discuss next steps...
Dr. Jacobs while a knowledgeable and really nice guy is a fast talker....and occupies the conversation....so basically he was frustrated that it didn't work. He re-iterated that we're young and don't have any problems, so it should work. He also re-iterated that we have excellent insurance...and really, we do....Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO...they pay for pretty much everything except for freezing the embryos....so wow, it is great. As long as John stays with his work until we have at least one child....and his work doesn't change insurance plans for the next year, we'll be good. :)
So he said that we could do a frozen cycle or another fresh cycle. I asked why he would suggest a frozen when that would be the obvious next step for me..... He said that the frozen embryos are always there....those we can use many, many years down the road....but we may not always have the insurance....so we may want to use up the insurance while it is still solid... Also, he said that there could be something genetically wrong with the batch of embryos, but he wouldn't recommend doing genetic testing at this point as it is very expensive and not covered by insurance and he doesn't feel that is the problem....
We then asked what would he do differently this next time for a fresh cycle to make it 'better'? He said that he wouldn't push as many meds....now that he knows how sensitive my body is to the medication and how well I respond...we didn't need 44 eggs.....to then get 7 good quality embryos...so he's hoping to get fewer eggs, but greater quality...because I am young it shouldn't be a problem.
He gave us the quality of the eggs....and the explained how the quality can be measured differently at different places. Our next best quality is a 2AA and 2AB (I think)...so still pretty good...
He told us to think about it and let our nurses know the decision by the time I start my next cycle.....
Dr. Jacobs while a knowledgeable and really nice guy is a fast talker....and occupies the conversation....so basically he was frustrated that it didn't work. He re-iterated that we're young and don't have any problems, so it should work. He also re-iterated that we have excellent insurance...and really, we do....Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO...they pay for pretty much everything except for freezing the embryos....so wow, it is great. As long as John stays with his work until we have at least one child....and his work doesn't change insurance plans for the next year, we'll be good. :)
So he said that we could do a frozen cycle or another fresh cycle. I asked why he would suggest a frozen when that would be the obvious next step for me..... He said that the frozen embryos are always there....those we can use many, many years down the road....but we may not always have the insurance....so we may want to use up the insurance while it is still solid... Also, he said that there could be something genetically wrong with the batch of embryos, but he wouldn't recommend doing genetic testing at this point as it is very expensive and not covered by insurance and he doesn't feel that is the problem....
We then asked what would he do differently this next time for a fresh cycle to make it 'better'? He said that he wouldn't push as many meds....now that he knows how sensitive my body is to the medication and how well I respond...we didn't need 44 eggs.....to then get 7 good quality embryos...so he's hoping to get fewer eggs, but greater quality...because I am young it shouldn't be a problem.
He gave us the quality of the eggs....and the explained how the quality can be measured differently at different places. Our next best quality is a 2AA and 2AB (I think)...so still pretty good...
He told us to think about it and let our nurses know the decision by the time I start my next cycle.....
The results
So, yes, I am doing this post a couple months later....the result of the pregnancy test was negative and at first I just didn't have the heart to post it.
So John and I had gotten our hopes up a little too high. The nurses were already telling me which outfits to dress them up in next Christmas and that they were already 'in kindergarten'...the doctors were all pretty positive about the whole experience....we had family and friends EVERYWHERE praying like crazy!!!! It was probably all I talked about and thought about for 2 weeks straight!!!
So a week after the transfer, I had a progesterone level check (blood test). It came back fine...I believe it was at a 17....they say anything above a 15 is good. I told another friend that is also going through IVF and she said that they can tell if you are pregnant by that test (although the nurses would say they cannot)....so I got all freaked out, cuz my number was not all that high...I worked myself up in a tizzy. I was on a ton of progesterone medication...a shot every 3 days and tablet inserts 3 times a day......but only the shot was measured in the blood...the tablets are way better, but not easily measured. So that made me feel better that there really could be a lot more going on....plus a different friend that was pregnant a natural way said hers was a 12 and she was pregnant....so my meltdown went away and I went back to being positive.
Well, I was told by my nurse that a home pregnancy could be done over the weekend and it would be accurate. In the meantime, I started feeling 'like usual, not pregnant'...but thought it was just my mind.
I took a test and it was negative....shortly after I started spotting. I cried.....hysterically actually for a few hours. John, I could tell, was very upset and hurt.
To make matters worse/better (still not 100% sure), I had to leave THAT afternoon to fly to Rhode Island for a business trip. I packed my things and drove myself to the airport.....then got through it the next day. I mainly felt bad for John....as it appears that while there is no problem, the embryos are just not sticking in my body...and I so badly want to give him a child.
I still had to take the blood test on Nov. 6th (yes, one day before my 27th birthday) and yes, it was confirmed as negative. Dr. Jacobs called and left a message that night stating how shocked and upset he was that it didn't work....you have NO idea....
We discussed the next steps when I retured the next day from my trip and decided to let things settle for at least a month....we both needed a breather after getting extremely disappointing news.
There is still hope and we still believe it will happen...it is just a matter of time....
:)
So John and I had gotten our hopes up a little too high. The nurses were already telling me which outfits to dress them up in next Christmas and that they were already 'in kindergarten'...the doctors were all pretty positive about the whole experience....we had family and friends EVERYWHERE praying like crazy!!!! It was probably all I talked about and thought about for 2 weeks straight!!!
So a week after the transfer, I had a progesterone level check (blood test). It came back fine...I believe it was at a 17....they say anything above a 15 is good. I told another friend that is also going through IVF and she said that they can tell if you are pregnant by that test (although the nurses would say they cannot)....so I got all freaked out, cuz my number was not all that high...I worked myself up in a tizzy. I was on a ton of progesterone medication...a shot every 3 days and tablet inserts 3 times a day......but only the shot was measured in the blood...the tablets are way better, but not easily measured. So that made me feel better that there really could be a lot more going on....plus a different friend that was pregnant a natural way said hers was a 12 and she was pregnant....so my meltdown went away and I went back to being positive.
Well, I was told by my nurse that a home pregnancy could be done over the weekend and it would be accurate. In the meantime, I started feeling 'like usual, not pregnant'...but thought it was just my mind.
I took a test and it was negative....shortly after I started spotting. I cried.....hysterically actually for a few hours. John, I could tell, was very upset and hurt.
To make matters worse/better (still not 100% sure), I had to leave THAT afternoon to fly to Rhode Island for a business trip. I packed my things and drove myself to the airport.....then got through it the next day. I mainly felt bad for John....as it appears that while there is no problem, the embryos are just not sticking in my body...and I so badly want to give him a child.
I still had to take the blood test on Nov. 6th (yes, one day before my 27th birthday) and yes, it was confirmed as negative. Dr. Jacobs called and left a message that night stating how shocked and upset he was that it didn't work....you have NO idea....
We discussed the next steps when I retured the next day from my trip and decided to let things settle for at least a month....we both needed a breather after getting extremely disappointing news.
There is still hope and we still believe it will happen...it is just a matter of time....
:)
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