Friday, August 24, 2012

More Shots?!?!

Here we go again!

I had my baseline ultrasound appointment yesterday with Dr. Lee. In case I forgot to mention it before, this is basically your initial "let's start all over again and see what we're going to do differently this time" appointment. It usually just involves an ultrasound to make sure you don't have any cysts and your uterus looks fine...
Anyways, Dr. Lee was pleased to see that my ovaries have gone back down to normal size after the OHSS. He said I actually recovered rather quickly considering how bad it was (I don't consider a week of hell to be very quick but then again some women have it for a month or more!!). Then he told me the good news: no more egg stimulation!!! He really believes that because I have 10 excellent quality frozen embryos, we should be able to never have to go through a full IVF cycle again. He thinks we should definitely be able to have 2-3 children with our batch of frosties!! When he told me that I swear I heard the Hallelujah Chorus playing in the background because I honestly don't know how I would be able to make it through another round of OHSS! 

So our plan for this cycle is simply to transfer 1 or 2 of the embryos into my uterus once they have been thawed. Mike and I have had many conversations regarding how many embryos to transfer and are still undecided. Transferring 1 embryo significantly lowers your chances of having multiples since the only way that could happen is if the embryo split on its own, naturally. But the odds that you'll end up pregnant are also lower then if you were to transfer 2 embryos. We are trying to weigh the pros and cons and I think we are leaning towards transferring 2 but we are still going to discuss this with Dr. Lee and get his opinion. While I would prefer to have only 1 baby at a time, I think I could handle twins if it came down to it, which is why we are leaning towards 2 embryos. The chances of them both implanting is still significantly less then the odds of only one implanting, but either way we are prepared and OK with twins. The only reason that we are a little nervous about it is that with 2 embryos there is a chance 1 of the embryos (or both, yikes!) could split naturally and then we'd end up with triplets or god forbid quadruplets! I know in my heart that God doesn't give you more then you can handle and we'd make it through it (though I don't know how yet) but its definitely a scary thought. I guess in the end it comes down to a question of how badly do you want a baby and what are you willing to handle. We shall see... On a side note, can I just take a minute to say how absolutely amazing science is now and days?! I mean, it just blows my mind to think that not only do we have 10 frozen potential babies, but they can simply be thawed and placed into me? Geez, it's a crazy thought! Now back to what I was originally saying. Because we aren't having to try and produce eggs this time around, all we are going to focus on is making my uterine lining the most perfect it can be to help those little frosties implant and settle down for the next 9 months. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that I'm going to get off totally scott free when it comes to injections as I am basically just continuing my original protocol but only the part that was after the egg retrieval... 

I have to take an injection of Estradiol Valerate (also known as Delestrogen) every 3 days. This shot is a pretty thick oil and must be injected into my upper but/hip area intramuscularly. This is one of the shots that i stressed over in the beginning of my IVF cycle because I have heard that it can be painful over time. Last night was my first injection and it wasn't bad. As usual, Mike gave me the injection. It didn't hurt but it did have a weird sensation almost as if I could feel the oil being pushed into me, but it didn't sting or anything. I asked Mike if it was any different for him and he did comment that he could tell it was a really thick oil because it was harder for him to inject it, it was slower. We made sure to massage the area for a couple minutes afterwards to help the oil absorb. The doctors say this should help it to not form bumps going forward. I'm just thankful that I don't have to do it every night! So as of right now, I am taking the shot of Delestrogen every 3rd night, and taking a prenatal vitamin, a baby aspirin, and 1mg of Dexamethasone every night. So far it seems a lot easier then what I've been through before.

As for the actual embryo transfer, Dr. Lee said it will be in approximately 3 weeks. The good thing about an FET (frozen embryo transfer) is that the day doesn't have to be as specific. With the full IVF cycle, you have to wait until your follicles are just the right size, then take a trigger injection and go in to retrieve the eggs 36 hours later. It's very precise and you don't really have any control over when it will end up being since some women's follicles grow faster or slower then others. But since we are simply placing the embryos into my uterus, with the FET we can literally pick which day is most convenient for us once my uterine lining gets to be the ideal thickness.

I don't think I will be going back into the doctor's office until the beginning of September but I'll be sure to update you if I hear anything else or if I need to vent about my shots...

1 comment:

  1. I appreciate all the details you provide about your IVF cycle. And that is great news that you have some great frozen embies! Makes the process easier. We've had the same discussion about 1 vs 2 embryos. As of today, I think we'd go with two.

    www.auntmimi2010.blogspot.com

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