IVF Cycle & Embryo Freezing

(I'm almost up to real time now...)

On Dr. Awesome's recommendation, we met with a couple fertility doctors. The first doc we met -- DO NOT WANT! We met with a second private clinic and liked them a lot. We quickly decided to go ahead and freeze some embryos as an insurance policy. Yes, it was expensive. Yes, we could always adopt. And yes, since I'm still in my 20's my period will probably come back some time after chemo. But still... we decided it was worth it. I always thought I'd have my first child around 30, but it looks like nature has it's own plans for us. We've been told that after chemo, we should probably wait 2 years before trying to conceive naturally. That puts me past 30. Oh well. There are worse things in life!

After blood testing and a marathon 5+ hour appointment at the fertility clinic, I finally got started with the IVF cycle. The clinic was very accommodating for cancer-treatment patients, and put me on a "fast track" so I was able to do what was needed within a couple days, when it would have taken a "normal infertile couple" a few weeks. My first Lupron injection was a few days before the wedding. I did the first injection myself. It was a cinch! The key was to not hesitate in sticking the needle in -- the quicker it went in the less I felt it. I did about 10 days of the Lupron shots, and Miles and my mom took their turns too. No big deal!

Then I had to stimulate my follicles to grow. My daily injection changed to 3 daily injections: Lupron, Menopur and Follistim. The Lupron was a walk in the park because I was used to it. The Follistim was a little weird because of the pen-style needle, but was still a breeze. But the Menopur was awful, especially the first time! The awful burning as the injection went caught me off guard. But after I got used to it, it was a breeze. I did those 3 daily injections for the next 9 days.

No big deal!:


Oh, and somewhere in there I cut my hair once I knew that chemo was a definite. Here's how long my hair was before:


During the 9 days I was on stimulation meds, I had to get periodic ultrasounds to see how large my follicles were getting. They monitored them closely because I had to stop the stim meds once the follicles got to a very specific size. Here's a photo of my follicles that my sneaky mom took. They are almost ready!:


Once the follicles reached the right size, they sent me home with one last (whopping) injection that I had to take at a precise time that night. The HCG had to be injected in my butt, and it's purpose was to trigger my body to release the matured eggs. So exactly at 8:30 p.m., this happened:


So I guess technically it wasn't my butt, but the muscle right above my butt. I was really nervous for this one because the needle was 1.5 inches long, so I iced my skin for 20 minutes. Then I laid down, told Miles I was ready, and then reminded Miles to pinch the skin... only to discover that the needle was already in & I hadn't felt a thing! Awesome!!

Everything had to be really precise, so my egg retrieval procedure was exactly 36 hours later at 8:30 a.m. I showed up early to the clinic and they prepped me. My IV went in my elbow area without a hitch. They said I'd be under sedation, not completely out, but that I probably wouldn't remember a thing. Since I'd conquered general anesthesia fear during my lumpectomy, I wasn't nervous at all for this procedure. They injected the sedative, and I was out like a light. About 30 minutes later, the anesthesiologist woke me up by shaking my shoulders saying "Teresa..." and then they wheeled me out to my spot where Miles was waiting. No biggie!

All along I'd been told by multiple people that my egg count and ovaries were "phenomenal," and they'd also counted about 30 follicles at the previous ultrasound, so I was disappointed to hear that they only got 12 eggs from my retrieval. And I was a little more disappointed when they called the next day to report that only 9 eggs were mature, and that 1 of the 9 had a chromosomal defect, so in the end they only fertilized and froze 8 eggs. Ahh, well. It could have been worse! And still, we have 8 potential little babies on ice! I gotta think that at least one will take if we ever have to use them...

Recovery after egg retrieval was not that bad. I had some cramping, but it was tolerable with Tylenol. The worst part was discomfort. I had gained some pounds and was about 10x bloated than a regular period. Every time I took a step I could feel the bloating and stuff actually moving around. It was like I was carrying a bunch of delicate eggs in my belly. Come to think of it... I was!