IVF Cycle 5 – Fertilization Report & Embaby Update

IVF Cycle 5 – Fertilization Report

Sunday, May 17, 2015

We received our fertilization report via email at 9:15am.  I was impressed with it arriving so early.  It was as follows:

We retrieved 7 Oocytes (eggs), of those 7, five were mature (M2s) and 1 was almost there (M1); 6 total. Of those 6, 2 fertilized and 4 of them did show evidence of fertilization but were slightly behind. We will continue to monitor their progress and will update you in two days (day 3).

 

In layman’s terms, this is a decent report.  Obviously, we were hoping for all 7 to fertilize, but that’s unrealistic.  What they are saying here is that 2 are doing pretty well, 4 are doing decent, and we have lost 1.  We will just pray, pray, pray for the 6 that we have remaining.

 

The trip home felt considerably longer than the trip there, and we actually made better time.  We were both exhausted and just ready to be off the road.

 

To give you an idea of what Todd has been through recently, here is his schedule for the last 2 weeks:

·         May 3-7:  Buffalo, NY work trip

·         May 8:  Frisco, TX personal trip

·         May 9:  Searcy, AR personal trip for Kaleb’s graduation

·         May 10:  We got home at 4am and were up at 7am for church.  We spent 4 hours at church, lunch at my uncle’s, and dinner at my parents’.  It was a bit exhausting.

·         May 11-14:  Austin, TX work trip

·         May 14-17:  St. Louis personal trip for IVF

 

Are you exhausted for him, yet?!  Because I am!!

 

Anyway, we did watch two sermons by Steven Furtick on the podcast app on the way home from St. Louis.  He’s an excellent pastor.  If you haven’t heard him, I promise that you’re missing out.  That man really rocks my faith-based world!

 

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IVF Cycle 5 – Embaby Update

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

I received an update on our embabies today.  Here is what it was:

We have 1x 6 (2) and a 1x 9 (2) embryos. The first number represents the cells and the second number represents the grade. We will keep an eye on them and see how they progress. You will receive another update in a couple of days.

 

After a few rounds of emails with Shawnie, I found out:

·         2 of the embabies are still growing.

·         The goal for cell division is 6-10 cells on day 3, so we fall in that range for both embabies.

·         The grading is to describe the fragmentation.  The scale is 1-5 with 1 being the best, so a grade of 2 is approximately a B.  Considering I was a straight-A student my entire life, I’m having to learn to handle receiving so many Bs and Cs in IVF.  J

·         4 of our embabies have been lost.  She wasn’t sure if they arrested or just didn’t cleave.  I don’t know what that means right now, but I don’t really want to look into it any further.

 

At first, I was so sad that we had lost 4 of the embabies.  After emailing with Shawnie, I was feeling much better about the situation.  The truth is that we only need one embryo to make it through this entire process of dividing, freezing, thawing, and transfer.

 

God can do great things with one embaby.  He can do twice as many great things with two embabies!

IVF Cycle 5 – Egg Retrieval & Tourism

Saturday, May 16, 2015
Today was quite eventful.

Our game faces.  Much different than yesterday.

MCRM & my trusty egg socks - I always wear these on egg retrieval day!

We arrived at MCRM at 8:30am for my retrieval.

I like taking pictures of the lobbies, so I will remember what they look like.

Before the procedure started, I ran into the embryologist in the hallway.  I asked him about the embryoscope technology they have where they place the embryos inside and don’t remove them as often to view them.  It’s supposed to help maintain the quality of the embryos.  He informed me that there are only 6 spots available for each cycle in the scope and all of the spots were full for this cycle.  I was devastated.  We chose to come to Ahlering for state-of-the-art technology, and now, we were missing out on two of the major forms of state-of-the-art technology that he offered – nanoselection beads and embryoscope.  It wasn’t a pretty start to the day.  After much talk with Shawnie and Dr. Ahlering, I started feeling a little better about our cycle. 

I was taken into the procedure room.  They allowed me to wear make-up and my tshirt, which were just two things that were strangely different from Bundren & TFC.  The anesthesiologist started my IV, and I drifted into la-la land.

The first thing I remember when I awoke was that the counter on the wall was telling me we had retrieved 7 eggs.  I wasn’t surprised at all as that was the exact number I had told Todd I thought we would retrieve.

I was moved to a wheelchair and taken back to the exam room to recover.  I wasn’t allowed to lay down, and I had some of the worst nausea of my life.  I was informed by the anesthesiologist’s nurse that Dr. Ahlering had chosen to do a uterine biopsy; no wonder I had so much pain.  When I realized that Shawnie and Dr. Ahlering were too busy to speak to either of us after the retrieval, I made it my goal to get out of there and back to the hotel as fast as I could.  It was seriously unpleasant to have to sit up straight for the entire recovery.  I’m used to being allowed to lay in a hospital bed and relax.  I lied to the anesthesiologist’s nurse about not feeling nauseous or having pain, so we could be released.

Todd quickly got me back to the hotel, loaded me up with pain management, and tucked me into bed.

 

A few hours later, I awoke, and we decided we were tired of being cooped up in the hotel room. It was time to go see St. Louis. Here is the rest of our day in pictures:

The rotunda in the courthouse was beautiful!

Headed to the arch

Waiting in line to enter

This arch is amazing!

At the top of the arch

I like to think he's dreaming about our embabies that are being made while we play.

At the 360 Bar & Restaurant overlooking the Cardinals' Stadium

Headed to dinner with our Tulsa friends that are also in town for a cycle!

By the time we got back to the room and into bed, I was exhausted and considerably uncomfortable.  It was good to be back in bed!

(AFTER-THE-FACT ADDITION:  After dinner, I started having pain in my left thigh for some reason.  I later found out that there was a possibility that the Progesterone shot they gave me was administered directly into the thigh.  I was told it would be in my right buttocks, where we always give my Progesterone injections.  Regardless, that thigh hurt for days!)

IVF Cycle 5 - TESE (Todd’s Retrieval)

Friday, May 15, 2015

This morning was a relaxed morning for me and a nerve wracking morning for Todd.  We had a long breakfast at our hotel and took our time getting ready to arrive at Dr. Ahlering's office to meet the team for the first time in person.  I've been talking to these people for months via the phone and email.  I was excited to finally get to meet them face-to-face.

I was a little nervous for Todd, as well, because they had informed us they would not be allowing him to have general anesthesia.  I was quite frustrated with this "after the fact" change of plans, but there wasn't much we could do about it.  I gave him his Adivan and hoped it would relax him enough to make this procedure go smoothly.

Our game faces

Shawnie, our IVF coordinator that I have emailed with no less than 100 times, came to get us from the waiting room.  She took us into an exam room and told Todd to just pull his shorts down to his knees.  We were both so confused.  In the past, he has always been in a sterile surgical room, and I was never allowed in the procedure.  Not today.  As 4 others flooded into the room, I realized that I was suddenly a part of this process.  Six of us total in such a small exam room made for quite a cozy environment.  The urologist gave Todd a numbing shot, performed the procedure, and left the room to check the specimen.  Unfortunately, he returned a few minutes later to say they needed more.  They went back in for a second time and after another inspection, decided they had enough.

At some point, I asked the embryologist that was also in the room when he would be using the nanoselection beads on Todd's specimen.  (Remember, the nanoselection beads are what they throw in with the sperm when they spin them.  The bad sperm have a protein in them that attaches to the beads and causes them to sink, leaving the strongest still swimming.  We had already paid $500 for these beads for this cycle.)  Well, the embryologist informed me that we would not be using beads because all of the sperm would stick to them.  What?!  Again, last-minute information that somehow isn't passed along to us in a timely manner.  Before I paid for the beads, I was told the embryologist had approved us using them.  Frustrating, but we'll survive.

Then came the next surprise.  We needed a checkbook to pay the urologist.  I didn't have the right purse.  Todd's was at the hotel.  Luckily, the hotel was just on the other side of the highway.  I ran back over there, tore apart his briefcase, tore apart the car, and returned with no checkbook in hand.  Fortunately, we remembered that we had cash on us from Todd's most recent purchase...a boat.  That's another story for another day.  Anyway, in what looked like nothing less than a shady drug deal, I paid our urologist in multiple crisp $100 bills.  It was strange, but quite funny.

The view from our hotel parking lot to MCRM - literally across the highway

For anyone that knows me personally, you know that the change in nanobead news and the rush around town to track down a checkbook would have usually put me in a tizzy.  Not this time.  So much about my attitude and calmness has been different this cycle.  I’m loving it!

Before we left, Dr. Ahlering stopped by to shake Todd's hand and tell him he was his hero.  I felt a little star-struck since I have been talking to him on the phone for almost a year-and-a-half, and he's spoken so highly of by so many women in our situation.  I was glad we got to meet him before my retrieval tomorrow.

We grabbed lunch at a pub next to our hotel before heading in to let Todd rest, doctor's orders.  He was cracking me up with his antics.

Cleaning off the food he dropped.  Todd on Adivan is hilarious!

"Todd, what are you doing?"
"I'm having ice cream with a friend."

Then, this...

So peacefully sleeping

Around 5:30pm, he awoke and asked what time we had to be back at the doctor for my procedure.  I informed him it was tomorrow morning, and he looked at me with a very confused look.  Apparently, he thought he had slept for 14 hours!

We spent the rest of our evening in bed watching TV.  I ran back to the same pub to pick-up dinner and stopped off downstairs for more ice cream.  It's been such an awesome, relaxing day together. 

Todd is asleep right now, and I feel wide awake.  I'm excited to see how tomorrow goes.  I've been praying that we get good quality eggs.  I know we won't get very many, but we just need one embryo to make a baby.  If I was posting this realtime, I would ask for prayers.  Can't hurt to say a prayer after the fact, though.

Happy Friday!

IVF Cycle 5 - Travels

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Todd and I had a great day together!

 

His day started at 3am when he had to get up and head to the airport in Austin.  Mine started several hours later when I got up to go pick him up at the airport.

 

We spent some time at the airport just visiting and hugging and generally enjoying being back together after his 4 day work trip when we realized that the airlines had lost his bag...again.  He has an entire wardrobe of clothes purchased by the airlines for him on his trips.  We went downstairs to the ticket counter and back upstairs to the baggage claim office.  Within a few minutes, we realized that we had been spending our time at the wrong luggage carousel, and his suitcase had been waiting for us the entire time.  Oops! 

 

We spent the next 7 hours on the road.  The drive from Tulsa to St. Louis isn't quite that long, but we decided to make an extended stop to stretch our legs.  After all, it is often that we take road trips, but it isn't often that we get to take a road trip without a time commitment.  We pulled over at The World's Largest Gift Store and a candy store.  Both were totally worth it.

See, I didn't lie. It really is the World's Largest Gift Store.

Doesn't everyone pose while shopping for gifts for no one?

Being silly...

What do you think Dr. Ahlering would do if he walked in and found me wearing these in his stirrups?!  We shall see!

We are trying to be like the guy on the building.  See him?!

We pulled into St. Louis, made a quick stop at Walgreens to get a prescription for Todd's procedure and headed to the hotel.  We spent the rest of the night catching up on missed sleep from earlier in the day.
 

We did a lot of laughing on the trip to STL.  I'm so glad I was able to make this road trip with him!

Kaleb's Graduation

I never posted any pictures of Kaleb's graduation.  However, I ran across them today and wanted to share.  These are fun.

This picture was taken at our friends' house, the Kleypases.  They were kind enough to host us for a late lunch before graduation.

This is what it looks like when you have to sit on the back row of your son's graduation, and you arrived 10 minutes after the doors were opened.  Or maybe this is what it looks like when you have to arrive at graduation an hour-and-a-half early, and you don't know a soul in sight.

The real pictures.

IVF Cycle 5 - Retrieval Plans, Stress-Relieving Techniques, & Chasing Reports

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Well, we are all set to retrieve this weekend.  Todd will have his retrieval on Friday.  I will have mine on Saturday.  Apparently, the urologist doesn’t work on the weekends.  That bothers me that we weren’t told that before.  However, I am trusting that God will take care of his guys until it’s time to fertilize my eggs.  I’m excited.  I’m just ready to get on the road to St. Louis tomorrow.  I will pick Todd up at the airport and head that way.  We aren’t going to get any play time, like we had hoped.  That’s okay, though.  We’ll just have to visit St. Louis when we have some free time.

One thing I have noticed is that I’m not nearly as stressed by my schedule during this cycle.  Last week and this past weekend were crazy.  However, I wasn’t running around to massages, yoga, and acupuncture appointments.  Those are the stress-relieving techniques that I have used in the past that I am actually thinking might cause me more stress than they relieve.  Working my work schedule and social calendar around those can be difficult.  Because I have had a little more freedom after normal work hours, I’m actually caught-up on my missed time at work.  Therefore, when I return next week, I won’t have to make-up any additional time.  That gives me so much relief!!

What does not give me relief is that I had to track down my ultrasound report today.  When I left Dr. Nilson's office, Dr. Ahlering's office informed me they needed the report immediately.  Ugh!  After five phone calls, 2 1/2 hours of stressing, and several emails, the report was finally where it needed to be.  That was a stressor I didn't really need today.

Hope everyone is having a wet Wednesday!  Sorry, but I’m loving this rain.

IVF Cycle 5 - More Miscommunication, Travel Reset, & Shots

I do apologize for so many blog entries.  I know this is much more than I usually write.  However, I wanted to make sure I'm documenting this process, so I can remember everything.  Thank you to everyone that is still following along.

 

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

We have had one more little mini setback with being told one thing and finding out it’s completely different.  Shawnie, my IVF coordinator, contacted me today to tell me that Todd would be having his TESE surgery this Friday.  Well, my retrieval will not be until at least Saturday, so that doesn’t make me feel good at all.  They are supposed to retrieve from both of us on the same day to make sure everything is fresh for the ICSI process.  I don’t like where this is going.  I’m waiting for her to speak to the phlebotomist, but I’m thinking of contacting Dr. Ahlering directly.
 

As for the car rental, it turned out we couldn’t use free days with Todd’s account because National didn’t have any cars in St. Louis for the time we needed.  Who knew they could run out of cars in such a large city.  I did get our car rental refunded…I think.  I have to wait 10 business days to be for sure.  Dumb me didn’t think when I set a non-refundable, non-transferable rental.  However, Priceline is going to be kind enough to help us out since the change is for a medical reason.
 

Also, I was able to postpone my flight, so we now have 1 year to use the credits for that.  I already have a plan in mind!  Air trip!
 

Todd pushed back the dates on the hotel.  No issues there.
 

It seems all of that work we did to make decisions on lodging and transportation were just a lesson in futility.  I’m excited to be traveling with Todd instead of alone, though!
 

Also, I wanted to mention how I’m feeling about my shots this cycle:

·         Gonal-F:  This is the first time I’ve used Gonal-F.  It’s basically the same thing as Follistim, except that it’s not.  J  I already mentioned that the pens are different.  Well, the pain is different, too.  After you inject and remove the needle for Follistim, it feels like a dozen little needles pricking you.  Well, with Gonal-F, the pain is at the same time (after the needle is removed), but the pricking is more dull and spread over the entire area.  It’s like one larger pain instead of a dozen small pains.  It’s bearable, though.

·         Menopur:  In the past, I have said that Menopur feels like acid entering your body.  I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t hurt as bad this time.  I have constant pain during the injection from where the needle is, but I’m not feeling the Menopur as much.  I’m not sure what changed on that, but thank you, baby Jesus!

·         Ganirelix:  After this shot is over and the needle is gone, I feel like I’m starting to bruise immediately.  I told Todd that.  He just kind of laughed at me…until he could see the bruise in the injection site an hour later.  It’s strange.

 

Those are the three shots I’m doing this cycle.  I’m keeping a shot count, so I can share that later, too.  However, I feel like the shots have gotten considerably easier.  Maybe that’s one of the benefits of being on your fifth cycle.

I hope everyone has had a thrilling Tuesday!