My WTF Appointment

0920 hrs I was seen at my REI clinic at Madigan with my spouse.  We sat down with Dr. C. to discuss what went wrong with the last IVF cycle.  J was really tired from his CQ duty last night so I wonder just how much he comprehended from the meeting.

Dr. C. explained everything to us but I still don't know the reason why it failed.

On day 3 we had a 8 cell, 0 fragment, Good quality egg, Perfect embryo.  The abbreviations and number were explained to us from the chart.  So if it was a perfect embryo why did it chose to not stick around?  I know I was pregnant because of the two home pregnancy tests.  I told Dr.C. at this appointment that I took them.  I guess it changed the picture a bit.

Now the focus is on the fact that my eggs are my age and not so much what could possibly be wrong with me but with the eggs themselves.  If we used donor eggs he said we'd have a 65% success rate.  I have only 40% with my own eggs.  But it was perfect I'm yelling in my head.  I must have done something wrong.

I asked about the hypertension issue since I'm always on medications.  Its not that.  I asked about being put on restricted weight limit for lifting  he said even if I moved furniture it wouldn't be the problem.

So why?

He said it could look perfect at day 3 but there are sometimes issues with implantation, yes even with the Assisted Hatching we had done on the embryo.

I then asked if it was the endometriosis. He said that could be a factor but that most likely it was still with the age of my egg.  Dr. C. said one of the larger follicles he drained in his egg quest was filled with blood so he knows that I have issues with endometriosis.

To be quite franks he was genuinely surprised to get the 8 cell with zero fragmentation and a perfect embryo considering I'm 42.  He said its rare.  So we still don't know the exact reason why it didn't chose to stick around.

Looks like I'll be doing a late January embryo transfer if all goes well.  If I don't have enough follicles we'll commute to an IUI and hope for the best.

J's morphology issue is no longer an issue and that is good to know.  Now if only his sperm will stay that good for the next round.  We are still going with the ICSI for the January IVF.  We have to.  Dr.C. says it will again increase our odds of a better embryo.

This time I hope we get four follicles for retrieval day, we had four the first day but Dr.C. wanted to wait leaving it at only 2 follicles left by retrieval day.  Dr.C. just didn't want us to do too early of an egg retrieval.  But now that he knows my ovary reserve is declining we might end up doing an early retrieval in January.

I'm also hoping for two perfect embryos to transfer this time around.  I can hope right?

I can also hope that I'm pregnant now, right?  I mean I am in the two week wait right now after ovulating on my own.  But yes, I know that at my age its rare.  My maternal grandmother had my mom at 42 so there is always a chance. 

Embryo Transfer

This is my precious 8 celled perfect embryo.  Yes I can say its prefect because the doctor this morning said it was perfect.  My embryologist was also very pleased with the growth.

At 1022hrs I had my embryo transferred.  They decided to do our procedure so early because of the Via duct being shut down in Seattle for the weekend and the fact that I arrived really early; our original appointment time was set for 1130 hrs.  I'm glad we arrived early too, because on the way out at 1107 hrs the traffic going into the city looked more like a parking lot.

I'm excited.  3 whole days pregnant.

Okay I know its not official yet because its only just been transferred into my body but I can still say I'm pregnant until a test says otherwise and it had better still be "pregnant" or I'm just going to go insane.  March is a long way off and that would be the next cycle we could get into to try again. 

J is all excited.  He actually whispered to my abdomen that he loves the baby already.

We really haven't decided on an embryo name as of yet but since his first initial is J and mine is R it somehow seems appropriate to just call it JR (junior).

2 November is my pregnancy blood test.  Three weeks after that will be my first ultrasound.  Wish I could get one daily!

I'm trying to not stress out.  I'm still eating healthy and the almost 4 pounds (3.8) I gained from the IV during the egg retrieval is now gone.  I was so bloated my face was puffy, not just my hands and feet.

Since I'm considered obese I'll really have to watch my weight during this pregnancy to make sure that I stay the same weight, lose a little if possible and gain only for the baby.  In other words, I can't indulge in cravings.

I really hope JR sticks around.  I really want a healthy baby.  I don't care what the sex of the baby is as long as its healthy; we'll work on the happy together.