June 30, 2016

Still waiting.....

I went to the doctor last Friday, June 24th and had a sonogram. My follicles and lining were still looking great.

Since then I've been waiting all week so I can go to the lab and check my levels to make sure the Femara helped me ovulate. If it did, I will get a call on Friday then I can start my ganirelix on Saturday. I'm so excited (and nervous) but I'm beyond ready to get this show on the road.

June 13, 2016

Back to the doctor today-

I tell ya my body is really acting weird-
At the wee hours this morning my cycle started! It wasn't due until around Thursday the 16th Bc that's when it came last month,  but here it is on the 13th! Even more odd is that the last at least 11 months my cycle had been coming on the 26th or 27th and now it's nearly two weeks earlier as of today! So weird!

So I called my doctor this morning while at the gym and they told me to come in for a sonogram-
I'm basically starting over with my monitoring etc  since I technically missed my cycle last month by not ovulating which is why I couldn't start my ganirelix.

The sono was fine and everything looked good. The doctor prescribed me femara which I'll start taking this Wednesday. It will ensure my ovulation so I can start my protocol.
I'll go back to the doctor next Friday the 24th to check my progress. Then the following week on the 30th I'll get another lab to make sure I ovulated.  Once that's verified I should officially start my protocol. 🙌🏾

I'm remaining positive. I really feel like it's our time to add to our family another healthy happy baby (or two 😉). **faithful**

June 12, 2016

Another Delay....


I received all my meds last Saturday Bc I was suppose to take my first shot of ganirelix and apply a minivelle patch on Tuesday. Well I went to the lab on Monday for my progesterone levels and they were only at a 6. My dr wanted them to be at an 8 so I had to wait and retake my levels on Thursday. Received my results back Friday  and my levels actually dropped to a 5! So instead of starting the injection and patch today my dr said to wait. Once my cycle starts, which should be by  Thursday he wants to put me on femara.

What is femara??
Femara (letrozole) is a medication that is being used more frequently in fertility to assist in ovulation induction.  Femara is a prescription drug that prevents the production of estrogen; this is very beneficial for many women diagnosed with breast cancer. The majority of women with breast cancer have the type of cancer that develops faster in the presence of estrogen. Doctors prescribe Femara because it blocks the body’s ability to produce estrogen and can significantly slow the growth of the tumor.
When Femara is utilized for inducing ovulation, there is a decrease in the amount of estrogen which results in an increase in FSH. The increase in FSH stimulates follicles to grow on the ovaries. Why would we use Femara? We may use Femara in a patient who either did not respond to Clomid therapy or for a woman who has had a negative effect from the Clomid therapy, such as a thin uterine lining.

As of right now I'm just taking my prenatals and blood pressure pills daily while waiting to start my protocol.
So it's basically just a waiting game. I'm kind of bummed bc we are finally ready to do this and delays just keeps happening. It's very frustrating but I will remain positive and hopefully once my cycle starts and I go back in to see my doctor I'll get more answers.

June 8, 2016

The differences in this IVF protocol vs my last-

There a few differences in this fresh IVF cycle vs my last-

  • For one, I'm older...My first IVF cycle was started a couple of months before I turned 35, this cycle is starting a month before I turn 39!!!!

  • My last IVF protocol was standard with birth control and Lupron. This cycle will be a more aggressive protocol with Follistim and Ganirelix (no birth control suppression).
  • Luteal-E2-Antagonist4
    This protocol is our favorite for patients with very low ovarian reserve, or those who have poor response after taking BCP. In this protocol, the pretreatment cycle is a natural cycle (no BCP). About a week after ovulation, a GnRH antagonist (Ganirelix or Cetrotide) is started to prevent premature recruitment of follicles, an effect often seen in premature aging ovaries. In addition, estrogen is used to provides the young follicles an optimal condition to grow in the future. Stimulation medications are stated on day 3 of the next menses and the antagonist would be used again later to prevent premature ovulation.

  • My last IVF was the standard one, this time it will be "IVF w/ ICSI". Here's a ICSI explanation:

    The ICSI Procedure.

    In conventional IVF, after a woman's eggs are retrieved, they are left in a petri dish with sperm in order to achieve natural fertilization.
    ICSI takes place in the IVF lab. Just like with conventional IVF, the female undergoes ovarian stimulation with fertility drugs, and her eggs are retrieved and incubated in the IVF lab. Then, the semen sample is prepared in the centrifuge — the sperm cells are spun through a special medium to separate live sperm from most of the dead sperm and debris. The embryologist then selects a single live sperm, which is injected directly into the egg with a small needle.

    Who Should Use ICSI?

    ICSI is most often used in cases of male factor infertility. The procedure can achieve fertilization when the man has low sperm count, or poor sperm morphology (shape) or motility (movement), or the sperm have trouble attaching to the egg. It can also be used when a blockage in the man's reproductive tract keeps the sperm from getting out, in which case a testicular biopsy is performed, and testicular sperm are used.
    Patients may also choose to undergo ICSI when the male partner has variable sperm counts, there is unexplained infertility, or the couple has failed previous attempts at IVF. In fact, some fertility clinics use ICSI for all fertilizations.
Common reasons used for performing ICSI
  1. Severe male factor infertility that do not want donor sperm insemination.
  2. Couples with infertility with:
    • Sperm concentrations of less than 15-20 million per milliliter
    • Low sperm motility - less than 35%
    • Very poor sperm morphology (subjective - specific cutoff value is debatable)
  3. Having previous IVF with no fertilization - or a low rate of fertilization (low percentage of mature eggs that were normally fertilized).
  4. Sometimes it is used for couples that have a low yield of eggs at egg retrieval. In this scenario, ICSI is being used to try to get a higher percentage of eggs fertilized than with conventional insemination of the eggs (mixing eggs and sperm together).

Slight Delay on Injections

On Monday I went to the lab to get my progesterone levels taken bc I was suppose to start my ganirelix injections on Tuesday.  Well I received my results and it appears that I haven't ovulated yet. he nurse said I may have a longer cycle so that means a longer start toward ovulation. My levels came back at a 6 and my doctor wants it to at least be at an 8.  So I will go back to the lab on Thursday and re-take my levels. I'll have the results back by Friday and if all is well I will start my ganirelix and minivelle that day.


Meds are in!!!

Wow does this bring back memories!! Our meds arrived this past Saturday and so much emotion was brought back when I opened the box! You're looking at $5922.62 of medication! (Included was a $28 overnight delivery fee). If it wasn't real before, it's definitely real now~



June 3, 2016

IVF #2 here we come!

In a mere few days I'll be starting my second fresh IVF protocol. I'm so excited that I literally don't know how to feel. I'm just a ball of emotions right now!

This protocol so far, and hopefully that is all, has cost us $15,000. Our IVF with ICSI fee was $7000 and our meds were $6000. That doesn't include another $500 for the anesthesiologist on the day of the transfer, $250 for trial transfer, $150 for mammogram, $160 OB appointment, $160 lab work, GP doctor visit $90, Progesterone Lab work $60, SA $160, plus other visits/labs etc.

This coming Tuesday I will start my ganirelix and minivelle for week then on to the stim meds. My egg retrieval will probably be at the end of the month then my transfer at the beginning of July. I'm about a month behind my protocol for Avery-Harper so if it is successful their birthdays will be pretty close.

I still can't believe we are finally doing this!