If you are still here, thank you, I most certainly owe you a drink. Thank you for tuning into our story and showing us your support. Don’t worry though, not much left now, we are on the home stretch.
IVF + ICSI
So for those that don’t know what In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is, let me get a bit ‘sciency’ with you for a second. IVF is when an egg is retrieved and fertilized with the sperm outside the body in a little dish, it then spends up to six (sometimes seven) days being watched and nurtured before being implanted into the woman’s uterus. Now Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is the process of injecting a single sperm right into the egg.
Getting Started
Our journey to IVF started with a meeting with a therapist. The great thing about the clinic we decided to use (Trio Fertility) was that every patient had to be approved by a therapist before starting. Even though my crazy ass was shaky going into this, what if she finds out I’m a nutcase? The quick and easy Skype session really did help prepare us for the journey we were about to take.
Preparation
Once approved, no idea how I got approved but anyway, we started medications. Funny thing is, the first medication you take with IVF is birth control! This had to be the most annoying part, the thought that you are stopping the chances of getting pregnant, when that’s all you want. Frustrating, to say the least. Next was a series of injections, now I thought that by now I was an absolute champ at taking a massive needle to the abdomen, but nothing prepared me for the injections that go along with IVF. At some points I was taking 4 shots a night! Lupron, Luveris, Gonal F were the drugs of choice.
Sameer and I would get so freaked to take these shots, to ‘get us in the mood’ so to speak, we would blast Queen over the Sonos speaker, We Are The Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody were our most played. Our poor neighbours.
But if the shots didn’t take a toll, then the increased visits to the doctors every morning at 5am sure did. I think I was in a constant state of day dreaming. I don’t think I ever really woke up. We would watch our follicles grow and mature, and my blood levels increase. Day after day. Then after a routine day of ultrasounds and you guessed it bloodwork, we were finally given the go ahead to trigger! It had been thirty two days of messing around with meds and the night was finally here. As per usual we hit play to Queen opened the gold box that housed our trigger of Chorionic Gonadotropin and got a jabbing.
Retrieval
We spent the night before the big day in a hotel in the city to be closer to the clinic, as luxurious as it was I don’t think I a slept a wink that night. I was so excited I could poop… actually I was so excited I did poop (a lot), TMI… sorry. We arrived at the clinic, Sameer was whisked off to do the deed with a cup again (I hope I don’t have competition) and I was placed in a sexy cap, gown, and my fav socks. I was then hooked up to an IV full of the good stuff. I had gotten myself so freaked out about the retrieval, petrified that I would be in pain, but it really wasn’t that bad. Whatever they put in the IV made all my worries go away, I must get the name (jk). After the procedure our doctor came in to let us know how many little ones we had retrieved. 5! I was devastated, ok it was better than zero and I know I should be grateful but 5… that’s it! After all that work?!
The Next Days
Just when I thought all my worries were over, things got worse. Typical. The next day I got a call from the clinic that out of the five, four were mature and only two fertilized. My heart sank, I felt like my chances of becoming a parent were being taken away from me, again. I would sit day in day out praying for my two little embryos, willing them to make it through.
Matris Test
Then came day three of the waiting game. I got up super duper early and headed to the city. We were to do a Matris test. The Matris test is an ultrasound that measures the lining of your uterus and uses an algorithm to generate insights into endometrial receptivity. But basically it increases the chances of an implantation being successful because it is in the most perfect environment. It was quick, easy, and completely painless.
Results
The next day, day four of the waiting game, and the day before my transfer I got a call from the nurse, the transfer was cancelled, and the doctor would be calling me the next day. What? Why? How the heck was I meant to spend the next 24hrs without pulling my hair out?! I tell you how I spent it, in a heap on the floor drowning in my tears. After what felt like a lifetime my doctor called, solemn in his voice. I started to shake, my throat got thick, and tears filled my eyes. My lining wasn’t where they wanted it to be, and my embryos, my two little champs hadn’t made it to blastocyst stage, which should have happened by day 5. They had a total of 90 cells and needed 100. 10 measly cells too short. They were to give them one more day to make it. Great another day of hell, back to the heap on the floor I went. The next morning I got a call, are you sitting down? Your embryos have made it! Now it was happy tears that I drowned in. Our little buggers had made it, worked overtime and pulled through. Is it weird to say I was proud of them? Heck I don’t care… I was so unbelievably proud.
So off our little’uns went, they were to be frozen and used for a FET (frozen embryo transfer) in about 5 weeks! Great more waiting… but hey, we did it!
xoxo Fil
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