Yesterday was the day, our first meeting with Dr. Slater at Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine (ICRM). Previously, we had met with Dr. Foulk and we loved him, but our gift certificate was with Dr. Slater and could not be transferred. We were a little nervous about a new Dr, but we moved ahead with the appointment anyways.
Getting ready for the appointment and sitting in the waiting room, I was a nervous wreck! Nervous because we were embarking on a new adventure in our life, an adventure that I still can't believe we're on. We were called back and asked a whole bunch of questions (questions that were already answered on our intake paperwork. Why do dr's have you fill out the paperwork if they're not going to read it). Taken back out to the waiting room and then pulled back to see Dr. Slater.
Dr. Slater went through the process of telling Nic and me how a "normal" uterine cavity work and the process of fertilizing an egg. People, this is simple sex ed: you need eggs and sperm. I don't produce eggs due to a lack of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), along with a combination of other things and Nic is sterile. That is what they call a double whammy. Lucky for us, Nic had his sperm frozen prior to his chemotherapy (thanks to the wonderful hindsight/foresight? of his parents) and also lucky for us they make pharmaceutical FSH (and any other hormonal injection that I would need).
Since Nic's sperm is frozen (15 years) we have to go through an additional process (to the IVF). It is called Itnracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)-the sperm will be injected into my eggs. We have 13 vials of Nic's sperm. Dr. Slater suggested that we will take the vial with the lowest count of sperm and use that first. We don't have to worry about there being too low of a count as each vial holds MILLIONS of sperm.
The ideal situation would be for me to drop 25 eggs, 16 of which will mature enough to be fertilized. Of those 16, only FIVE to SIX of those embryos will be transferable (meaning, they look like they will be able to produce a baby). Dr. Slater will only transfer two back into my uterus and the rest (three or four) will be frozen. 10 days after the transfer, I will take a pregnancy test to find out if I'm pregnant. Crazy, huh?! She also explained to us that of the two embryos that are transferred, there is only a 50% chance of pregnancy and a 1% chance of multiples.
Right now, I am currently taking birth control and prenatal vitamins. Birth control (chewable and minty-who knew?!) because it actually helps regulate periods and prenatal vitamins because it has the folic acid that my body needs. After I start my next cycle I will call their office to get more initial appointments set up: water ultrasound, infectious disease testing, and plan of care appointment with the coordinator. The plan of care is really the most important appointment as it will lay out the complete plan for August and September-September being the month that we will do the retrieval and transfer (IVF). Dr. Slater said that there will be about a 8-10 day window where I shouldn't schedule anything because of the processes that will take place. And talking with my friends Taylor and Erin, there are definitely two days where I won't be able to do ANYTHING-including, but not limited too, going up and down stairs (um, my bedroom is upstairs and so is Baby G's), can't lift Baby G, no laundry. Nothing. Luckily, Nic is a "get it done" kind of daddy/husband (though there is talk of my madre coming up to help) and he will be a champ at handling the responsibilities.
At the end of our appointment I had an ultrasound done to look at my ovaries. Everything looked good and I had 23 (13 right, 10 left) resting follicles that are ready and waiting to be made into a baby :).
*If you guys made it all the way to the end of my post-yay(!) and thank you :) The rest of the story will be split into two more parts. Part II will dicuss the "What If" and Part III will discuss the financial break down. Stay tuned.*
The ideal situation would be for me to drop 25 eggs, 16 of which will mature enough to be fertilized. Of those 16, only FIVE to SIX of those embryos will be transferable (meaning, they look like they will be able to produce a baby). Dr. Slater will only transfer two back into my uterus and the rest (three or four) will be frozen. 10 days after the transfer, I will take a pregnancy test to find out if I'm pregnant. Crazy, huh?! She also explained to us that of the two embryos that are transferred, there is only a 50% chance of pregnancy and a 1% chance of multiples.
Right now, I am currently taking birth control and prenatal vitamins. Birth control (chewable and minty-who knew?!) because it actually helps regulate periods and prenatal vitamins because it has the folic acid that my body needs. After I start my next cycle I will call their office to get more initial appointments set up: water ultrasound, infectious disease testing, and plan of care appointment with the coordinator. The plan of care is really the most important appointment as it will lay out the complete plan for August and September-September being the month that we will do the retrieval and transfer (IVF). Dr. Slater said that there will be about a 8-10 day window where I shouldn't schedule anything because of the processes that will take place. And talking with my friends Taylor and Erin, there are definitely two days where I won't be able to do ANYTHING-including, but not limited too, going up and down stairs (um, my bedroom is upstairs and so is Baby G's), can't lift Baby G, no laundry. Nothing. Luckily, Nic is a "get it done" kind of daddy/husband (though there is talk of my madre coming up to help) and he will be a champ at handling the responsibilities.
At the end of our appointment I had an ultrasound done to look at my ovaries. Everything looked good and I had 23 (13 right, 10 left) resting follicles that are ready and waiting to be made into a baby :).
*If you guys made it all the way to the end of my post-yay(!) and thank you :) The rest of the story will be split into two more parts. Part II will dicuss the "What If" and Part III will discuss the financial break down. Stay tuned.*
Egg donation is the process of a young woman giving her eggs to an infertile couple that desires to have children. This donation is part of third party reproduction, in which a pregnancy is the goal by in vitro fertilization.
ReplyDeleteEgg Bank(s)