Almost PUPO Time!

I'm almost PUPO!!  Transfer day is just around the corner and I (We) couldn't be more excited!  I have been taking my Estrace/Lupron/Pre-Natalas & Aspirin religiously.  Acupuncture is also going well with next scheduled session the night before transfer.  I will do pre and post sessions and also one during the waiting period between transfer and beta to help keep me from POAS.  Oh and the Circle + Bloom Meditation sessions have also really helped a bunch.  I have noticed my sleep patterns are much more regular than before, and I would recommend them to anyone for relaxation.
So my last US appt to check on lining was Wednesday with results of a very thick 10mm!  Last time at this stage my lining was 7-8mm so I'm hoping this is a good thing!  I'm still on Estrace and will continue to do so until told otherwise so my lining should continue to thicken as the days lead up to transfer! :-)
Transfer day is June 5, 2013 (Wednesday)!!!
We are both HOPING and PRAYING that this transfer will bring us our take home baby!  This will be my third one :-(.  So wish us luck and keep us in your prayers.

Getting Closer!!

I'm happy to say ALL of our lab work came back normal!!! Yay!!  This time around we plan on transferring two blasts, adding Assisted Hatching, and adding HCG at the time of transfer.  I also had endometrial scraping/biopsy during a Hysteroscopy which all turned out fine.  I've been going to acupuncture every other week (have done 4 sessions already) and have another four scheduled.  My next one is next Tuesday, will do one the night before transfer, immediately following transfer, and one during the 2WW.  I find that acupuncture has really helped to calm my anxiety in general.  I enjoy my sessions and look forward to going each time.  Too bad it has to be so darn expensive (240 for 4 sessions).  Oh and we also added a baby Aspirin to my protocol that I take once a day.  My baseline US and lab work was this past Thursday.  Labs were all normal and my lining was at 3 mm, which is PERFECT!!  I've lowered my Lupron dose from 10 to5 units and have added Estrogen twice a day.  GROW LINING GROW!!!  My next US and lab check is on the 27th and transfer will be the following week on 6/5!!!  I'm so excited and hoping and praying that this time it will work!!!!!

Oh and I have also added Circle + Bloom Relaxation Meditation for a Frozen Embryo Transfer!

Say a prayer for us please.....

Tests,Tests & More Tests!

So it's been awhile since I last posted.  Things have been a bit hectic around as usual, and I had been feeling a bit down at times so wasn't in the mood to post.  Well we had our WTF appt and my RE suggests that we go through a TON of lab work before our next transfer. Here is the new plan:

For DH: Karyotype Chromosome Testing

For Me: Karyotype Chromosome Testing, Factor V Leiden Mutation, Factor II DNA Testing, Protein S & Protein C Functional, Beta 2 Glycoprotein IgM, IgA & IgG, Anticardiolipin IgA, IgM & IgG, Lupus Anticoagulant, Antithrombin III, Prolactin, TSH & T4 Free

Plus I am scheduled for a Hysteroscopy to look at the cervix and uterus on Tuesday 4/23/13.  This test I will have anesthesia for and will be completely asleep. Thank goodness!

I've been warned by other ladies on the message boards that they will probably take 20 vials of blood or so....crazy!  The blood work is all basically to screen for autoimmune blood clotting disorders that I may have that would interfere with the implantation of an embryo and/or carrying a baby to term.  Per my RE everything they are testing for is "fixable" during pregnancy with different meds and such.  Everything that is EXCEPT the Karyotype Testing.  If that were to come back abnormal for either of us then the embryos that we have on ice would all be abnormal and wouldn't be able to be transferred. :-(  So we would have to start over with a new fresh IVF cycle.  Sigh.  I'm staying optimistic that this will not be the case and our chromosome testing will all be normal.  Fingers crossed!

Acupuncture.....I have been to two sessions and am loving it!  Steve, my Acupuncturist is great and has great advice.  I'm trying to eat better and have started exercising a bit.  Not overdoing anything, just trying to get as healthy as possible for the next transfer.  I have yet to order the Circle + Bloom FET program but I plan to ASAP since I started my OCP's Thursday night.

Aside from IF, life is going good.  I'm doing better in my A&P class and have an 89 average which I hope to get up to an A before the semester ends.  DH and the step kids are good.  DH is trying to exercise more also, but its a bit harder for him to get motivated than it is for me.  My stepdaughter will be 9 next week and her Mom is throwing her an Ice Skating Party for her and a few of her friends, so I'm sure she will enjoy that.

No more news for now....will try to do better at posting and plan to update again after my Hysteroscopy on Tuesday.

Acupuncture??

I've decided to go in for an acupuncture consult to aide along with our next FET.  The clinic that I go to has an acupuncturist team that works with your cycle to help in this process. I missed the call from the office today but plan on getting back with them tomorrow regarding setting up a consult.  I'm hoping that it isn't to expensive.  I'd really like to try it this time around, I figure it could not hurt so why not.  I've never undergone this type of therapy before so I really don't know what to expect (except needles poking me).  Hopefully I will be able to get in for a consult soon! 

Time to Study....HARD!

So nothing new in the "pre-pregnancy" world, just awaiting our WTF appt at the end of this month.  This post comes as a stress reliever over my first A&P class.  This class is HARD!! Lots of info, short semester (11wks) and professor is very detailed.  I understand why, I mean we (my fellow classmates and I) are all aiming for a career in medicine (most registered nursing as am I), and we really need to KNOW this information.  I suppose this class came to me as a shock because I assumed after having 10 years in the medical field I would know more than I'm finding I actually do after starting this class. lol.  It's just going to take more studying on my part and less procrastination (which is my middle name). Might I add that I could've taken a much easier professor but I opted not to because I really want to learn this material.  I'm going to be a Registered Nurse and peoples lives will partially be in my hands at times.....no cutting corners this is the real deal.  I wouldn't want someone that barely made it through nursing classes working on me or my family.....would you?  Okay, vent over, point made....time to suck it up and STUDY!!!

Catching Up

I've always known I wanted to have children.  I never though in my wildest dreams would have thought it would be THIS HARD!  Growing up you never really worry about being infertile....that doesn't happen to "normal" women.  Huh...boy was I wrong!  To get you up to speed with my journey, I will go over the main issues now and plan on adding a detailed list later.I was diagnosed with PCOS four years ago (age 28).  I was devastated at first thinking there would be no way I would be able to get pregnant.  My boyfriend at the time (now hubby) had been through a divorce and during the marriage had underwent a vasectomy.  They had two children together and were not planning on any others.  Fast forward three years and my soon to be hubby goes in for a vasectomy reversal.  We were told after the semen check post surgery that his sperm motility, morphology, and count were great and we should have no problems getting pregnant.  After my PCOS diagnosis from my Endocrinologist, I was put on Metformin and saw him for check ups and blood-work to monitor my hormones and insure the Metformin was doing it's job.  After about a year of meds, my hormone levels became "normal" and we decided to try and start trying for a baby.  Six months went by and nothing happened.  Six months of me tracking my temp, checking my cervical mucous, and peeing on OPK's!  So frustrating!  I wasn't ovulating!!  At this point I went in to my OB/GYN and filled him in on what was going on.  He suggested I take Clomid and see if I will ovulate that way.  He also sent my soon to be hubby in for another type of semen analysis that the Urologist had not done post-reversal.  This test would show whether or not he had developed Anti-Sperm Antibodies....either from the reversal or the initial procedure.  Apparently this is EXTREMELY common in any type of trauma to "that area."  The problem with the antibodies is that they do not allow the sperm to penetrate the egg.  Eeekkk.  Twenty four hours later the nurse called me to say....the results of the analysis were positive..the antibodies are there...97%.  Oh  no! So off to the RE we went!  After our first consult we were told IVF/ICSI was our only hope in having our own biological children.  So with tons of info and eagerness to start, we took a bit of a break and.....GOT MARRIED (5/19/12)!  Our wedding was "fairy-tale" it was absolutely GORGEOUS!!  I think about it just about every day!  

So after 1 cancelled cycle with our initial RE we decided to switch to another more well known group in town.  Everyone at our "new clinic" is great and I really like the RE.  The very next month we began another cycle in hopes of not being cancelled again.  This time everything went great....after nine days of STIMS they retrieved 53 eggs!  Crazy!  I developed moderate OHSS and therefore we did a freeze all which postponed the transfer until after the OHSS settled down.  I ended up with 10 embies...all are 5 and 6 day Grade A and B Expanded Blastocysts.  Luckily my OHSS did not get worse and I was able to avoid being hospitalized.  Once I was all better I was prepped for my first transfer...FET#1.  We decided to do a single transfer to avoid the possibility of a high risk twin pregnancy.  About 10 days later I found out the transfer had not worked, we were not pregnant.  Sigh.  We jumped right back in and this time decided on transferring two.  One of the embryos at least began to implant because our beta came back positive.....but was a low 9.9.  My RE said it should be about 50!  So, we went in 48 hours later for another test hoping this was just late implanting  and the number had dropped to 0....we were no longer pregnant.  Sigh...take 2!

So now what??  We are scheduled with the RE at the end of this month to go over other options/or testing that may be done in hopes of finding out why they are not staying put!  Until then we wait.....