Egg Retrieval to Embryo Transfer

So Friday was the egg retrieval and we collected...drum roll please...11 eggs!! This is 4 more than last time, so definitely much better!! On Friday, I was very sore and rested all day. On Saturday morning just before 9 am, I got the phone call that 7 of the eggs fertilized, and 4 were normal and growing strong! Yayyy! Doctor was very pleased as we only had 1 viable embryo last time. Even with 1 embryo, it did turn into a pregnancy, so we're hoping this time is successful as well and the baby stays put for 9 months! On Monday morning, we transferred 2 top grade, beautiful embryos! One had 10 cells and the other had 8 cells! We still have 2 more embryos that are growing and hopefully will be able to freeze. We will know more about these ones and if they make it to freezing within the next few days. Yesterday after transfer, I rested all day! I'm back to work today and now we enter the dreaded wait where I'll analyze every little thing over the next couple weeks to see if this works! So we're keeping our fingers crossed that this works for us! Please be thinking and praying for us. Below are pictures of our beautiful embryos!

 Here is the 10-cell embryo

Here is the 8-cell embryo

Egg Retrieval Day

Below are some pictures from today! Baby shirt for good luck, my IV, me after the procedure looking gorgeous lol, & Amber's comment when I told her the good news (that's why she's one of my bff's! Haha). PS we got 11 eggs!! Yayyy I'm so excited! Can't wait to hear how many fertilize!! :)

Twas the Night Before Egg Retrieval

Twas the Night Before Egg Retrieval...

Tomorrow is my egg retrieval and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I'm just as nervous this time, if not more nervous, than I was last time. I also never imagined I'd be doing this again so soon as in my mind, I should be 6 months pregnant right. However, I'm not, so here I am going through all this to TRY to get my baby. 

Last night at 8:30 pm, I triggered ovulation with Ovidrel. I bled a little, no big deal. After the shot, it instantly became real and I started worrying...did I do that shot right?! Of course I did, it's really the only shot you CANNOT mess up! It's a pre-filled syringe, you stick it in and inject the solution. That's it, nothing you can mess up. Okay, so ovulation will now occur 36 hours later...how does it know to ovulate me 36 hours later? I've always wondered that, what if it ovulates sooner? This is what starts running through my head and this is just the beginning. 

Today I've been pretty nervous about tomorrow. The unexpectedness of last cycle started coming into my head which leads to the unexpected of this cycle. Last time, we expected to get 12 eggs, only got 7, only 3 fertilized, only 1 was viable which led to a 2 day transfer. It did lead to a pregnancy, so I know it only takes one, but that was the scariest thing to go through all the drugs, all the ultrasounds, all the injections and wondering if I would even make it to embryo transfer. I know where the nerves come from, I'm sure it happens to everyone but knowing what can happen, some don't even make it to embryo transfer, that's what makes me so nervous.

It's the "unknown," I wish I could some how know exactly what was going to happen. So here I am, figured I'd write a quick post before I relax for the rest of the night. Casey and I went to Bob Evans (haha we act like we're 60 years old at times) and it was damn good! I took my doxycyline and so far it hasn't made me feel like shit, and I've used the (TMI!!) medicated douche my doctor told me to use (EWW I feel so violated right now haha), but I'll do whatever I need to do. 

Here's what this cycle has consisted of: 

• 1 Mock Embryo Transfer
• 21 days of birth control pills
• 23 days of the Lupron injection
• 12 days of Follistim (FSH) injection & SolX (LH) injection
• 1 Ovidrel ovulation shot
• 9 trips to Buffalo IVF at 52 miles each way
• 8 blood work draws
• 6 vaginal ultrasounds

In case you didn't know, that's what it takes just to get to tomorrow, egg retrieval. There is so much invested and now I enter the world of the unknown. How many eggs will they retrieve? How will I feel? Will I be in much pain after? Will the IV hurt going on? How many eggs will fertilize? How will the quality be of the embryos? How many embryos will make it to transfer day? WILL THIS WORK?!

Please be thinking and praying for us tomorrow and going forward for hopefully the next 9 months! <3

After final stims

After stimming for 12 days, follies are ready! Dr measured 8 on my right side (there were a few more he didn't measure) & 5 on my left side. A few more woke up since Tuesday morning yay! We're officially ready to go for ER on Friday morning!! Triggering with ovidrel tonight!

Day #12 Stims

Here's what the follies looked like this morning, plus a few more in the 16-18 mm range. Most are on my right side which I'm definitely feeling! Really hoping doctor will have me trigger tomorrow evening, we'll see!

The Sexy Side of Infertility

This is what a typical IVF cycle looks like on my stomach & arm. It actually looks better this time than when I normally use stims! Oh and that bloating, gotta love that too! This is the sexy side of infertility!

I'm so classy!!

Classy is giving yourself fertility shots at the Erie County Fair during the tractor pull, while using the wheel well of a trailer as your counter, with a drunk guy watching you because he'd like to pee back there!! Ahh the life of an infertile! We do what we gotta do!

One giant bruise

You're looking at stim day #1, 3 & 7. Gotta love it.

Stims night #5

Here's my drugs & prep for when I'm taking stims! That's 3 shots every night! My protocol is Lupron, Follistim & Solution X which is an LH. It's especially fun giving yourself 3 shots, 1 right after another! Bloodwork & ultrasound tomorrow!! Grow follies grow!

Stims night #3

Bruise on top is from night #3, bruise on bottom is from night #1. I just did night #4 on my left side & it's looking pretty good, we'll see if it bruises!

Understanding

This picture was on an infertility page on Facebook and I loved it. This isn't meant to be mean by any means. All words I hear from people are truly appreciated. However, no one truly understands unless you've been through it. For me, it's infertility, trying to conceive, and miscarriage. This can apply to others as well in any of their situations. I just really loved this and thought I'd share :) Thank you to everyone for all their thoughts and prayers throughout this whole process. They are appreciated so much :)

Thinking about Orville

I've been thinking about Orville a lot lately & came across this and really loved it.

Stims night #1

3 shots done last night, 1st night of stimulating. 1st battle wound of stimming!

Move on?

Another photo shoot picture

I found an app on my phone & thought this picture was the perfect picture to play around with with color & gray :)