Sunday, June 21, 2009

ICLW- welcome

Welcome to ICLW-ers, and anyone else who happens along my blog. Here's a quickie synopsis of what's transpired so far in my IF life to save you from the tedium of slogging through the whole blog.


June 2008- after a year of TTC the "natural" way, we learn that DH (I call him C) has no sperm. By this time, I was 40 years old so we can consider "advanced maternal age" yet another limiting factor. All we need is donor sperm, right?

August 2008- DIUI cycle #1- BFN

September 2008- DIUI cycle #2- BFN

October 2008- DIUI cycle #3, this time with Clomid- BFN

November 2008- DIUI cycle #4, with Clomid- BFN

January 2009- invest in some new insurance that will cover fertility diagnosis and treatment. Everything up to now was out of pocket (what a great tax deduction that was!). Hook up with an actual RE, do the usual b/w, HSG, Clomid challenge, etc. I'm OK- just "old."

DIUI cycle #5, with Clomid (from Clomid challenge)- BFN

February 2009- DIUI cycle #6, with Clomid- BFN

March/April 2009- OI cycle using Gonal-F- planned for IUI, but converted on CD9 to IVF due to "exuberant" response to FSH. 11 eggs retrieved on CD11, 5 mature, three fertilized. Three embryos transferred- BFN

June/July 2009- IVF (on purpose this time)- Long Lupron protocol-

10u Lupron CD22-30 with instructions to call RE's nurses on CD1.

And that's where we are now. It's CD30 and AF's arrival is imminent. In fact, I was so convinced she'd arrived yesterday that I called the nurses at my RE's office and reported that I was on CD1. It was a little embarassing to admit this morning, when they called me back, that I had been mistaken but still expected my period to start "literally any minute now." If it starts today, then I'll have an u/s tomorrow, maybe some b/w, and they'll let me know when to start the Gonal-F. Because of my age (I'm 41 now), assisted hatching will be practiced and the RE wants to transfer up to five embryos. I'm perfectly OK with AH, but five... I know the odds are not in my favor, but what if they ALL stick? That's the only real conundrum this cycle, my only real worry... aside from failing completely.

Donor sperm has not proven to be the magic bullet we had hoped for. We're on our fifth donor now. The first wasn't very impressive, so we switched banks. I absolutely loved the second one, but he retired and stock ran out. The third one retired. The fourth one was fine, but now that we're doing IVF from the get-go, we had to find a donor with ICI vials available. Donor #4 had no ICI vials, so we found donor #5. If anyone's curious, unwashed sperm is preferred for IVF and I was instructed to purchase two vials for this cycle. I have seriously mixed emotions about choosing a donor. On one hand, I would love to match as many chacteristics of C as we can find in a single donor. But, at the same time, I would be happy with a baby of any size, shape or color. Most important are the family medical history and the openness of the donor. We want our child to have the best shot at being healthy, and we want her to at least have the chance to learn more about her bio-dad if she wants to. If the cryobank sends us the wrong donor sperm, we'll use it anyway (I've come a long way since DIUI#5, when I had a bit of a confrontation with the RE's office over my checking the cryotank contents before reporting to the office for an IUI).

B

19 comments:

Unknown said...

I wish I could do more than leave a comment and a (hug).

ICLW

Queenie. . . said...

Good luck to you this cycle!!! It certainly seems like you've been on a long road. I know that it always helps me make decisions if I read the stories of other women. As you decide how many to put back, you might want to check out Sassy's blog at http://tripletmama.blogspot.com/

I think she put 7 or 8 back, after many failed cycles, and ended up with first quints, and then lost two, so triplets it was. She really had been through the treatment wringer, though, so her story is an interesting one.

I really hope this is it for you, and you get a baby (or two) out of this one!

Amber said...

Good luck with your cycle! Hope this is it for you!

ICLW

Two Shorten the Road said...

Wishing you the best of luck on your next IVF -- I hope this is the one that sticks!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the welcome! It is nice to meet you! I will keep reading and catching up! mommysomeday@charter.net

Nic said...

Thanks for the synopsis, although already knew some of it. I hope AF shows soon so this cycle can get going. Funny how this is the only time one really hopes for AF to come! I really hope this works for you. Keeping everything crossed!
Nic

Alana said...

What a journey you and your DH have been on!

Here's wishing you lots of luck and a BFP by the end of the year!!

*ICLW*

Beautiful Mess said...

Happy ICLW! Good luck with your cycle. I'm hoping for your miracle, soon! Hopefully not TOO many miracles at one time ;o)
*HUGS*

Anonymous said...

ICLW ~ you and c have been on quite a journey. good luck on your next cycle!

HopingforBaby05 said...

Happy ICLW!!! Thanks for the recap (I totally should have done that on mine...)!

Isn't waiting for AF the worst? I always call when mine starts off as spotting and get yelled at to wait for "full flow." This cycle, full flow was on a Saturday night and that messed me up! LOL what lives we lead.

Good luck this cycle. I hope this is the magic cycle with the BFP at the end. Everyone's rooting for you!!!

Liv said...

Good luck this cycle. How exciting. Hoping for the best for you.

Your description of donors popped up the imagery of "The Dating Game". So, donor #5...

Sounds like you have many decisions to make, I hope you are able to resolve them quickly and contently.

ICLW

Echloe said...

Wow. You have been through a ton. I really hope this IVF works for you guys.

ICLW

Kate said...

Hi there, hope your period showed up so you can move ahead as you want to-- wishing you all the luck the in world this cycle.
warmly,
Kate

Bella said...

Thanks for your comment! I so hope the this IVF works for you and your DH! Good luck!

Melissa G said...

I'm dealing with severe MFI too, and we will doing our first DIUI next month. I totally know what you mean about not being picky. When we first started "shopping" we were REALLY explicit about what we were looking for. That a was a few months ago, and now we both agree that we'd really be happy with a healthy baby, no matter what. I hope this next cycle does the trick for you! I look forward to following your journey!

Tina said...

Good luck to you this cycle. I hope this is your successful IVF cycle.

Tina
ICLW

sprogblogger said...

Good luck, and thank you for your supportive comment! Babies for everyone sounds like a great plan to me!

Wishing 4 One said...

Wishing you the best with this cycle!!!

christina said...

Wow, I haven't had the chance to read much about donor sperm, so this was really interesting. Sorry you're having to go through so many donors though!

Wishing you all the best!

Christina
iclw