Then we went in and transferred two embryos. We have five embryos they have frozen already and five more they are watching and will freeze whatever they can.
Here they are:
Awww - so cute!
Monday, February 28, 2011
They're In!
We had our embryo transfer today. It was really a great day - Jeremy had the whole day off (as did I, of course). I had acupuncture this morning and then we went to Granite City for lunch before the transfer. It was delicious, as usual.
Then we went in and transferred two embryos. We have five embryos they have frozen already and five more they are watching and will freeze whatever they can.
Here they are:
Awww - so cute!
Then we went in and transferred two embryos. We have five embryos they have frozen already and five more they are watching and will freeze whatever they can.
Here they are:
Awww - so cute!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Silly Me
So I posted a while back about this great new song I love that I just heard and had to run out and buy the cd and it's so great...
This wasn't the exact version, this is the official video and it came out more recently than the live version I posted.
Anyway, I was talking about it at work and saying how I had to run out and buy it right away because I liked it so much. Amy, one of the girls I work with was like, "Uh, Reanna, you already have that cd, you made me a copy." "No I don't Amy. Why would I buy two of the same cd?"
I really don't know how this happened. The only thing I can think of is that I must have been ordering some other cds off of Amazon.com and threw this on my order because I needed something else to get me over $25 for free shipping.
Needless to say, you were right, Amy!
This wasn't the exact version, this is the official video and it came out more recently than the live version I posted.
Anyway, I was talking about it at work and saying how I had to run out and buy it right away because I liked it so much. Amy, one of the girls I work with was like, "Uh, Reanna, you already have that cd, you made me a copy." "No I don't Amy. Why would I buy two of the same cd?"
I really don't know how this happened. The only thing I can think of is that I must have been ordering some other cds off of Amazon.com and threw this on my order because I needed something else to get me over $25 for free shipping.
Needless to say, you were right, Amy!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Fertilization Rates
Praise God for the good news we received today! Of the 18 eggs that were retrieved, 17 were mature and usable. And of those, 13 fertilized - THIRTEEN!
I think we'll probably just transfer them all at once, you know, improve our odds...
JUST KIDDING!
I think we'll probably just transfer them all at once, you know, improve our odds...
JUST KIDDING!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Eggs are laid
Well, not so much laid as extracted with a syringe, but you get the point. They retrieved 18 eggs this morning and I tolerated it much better than last time. I think they gave me more drugs - yea!
Anyway, just resting and taking it easy today - a little sore. We'll find out tomorrow how many fertilized.
Thanks for reading!
Anyway, just resting and taking it easy today - a little sore. We'll find out tomorrow how many fertilized.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 21, 2011
We're set...for now...
Just got home from my ultrasound and blood draw today. Ultrasound looked good and based on that we set up the retrieval of the eggs for Wednesday morning. This could change if my Estradiol level comes back too high.
If we do the retrieval Wednesday, we would do the transfer next Monday (2/28).
About.com had a good article about IVF here. It really explains it step-by-step if you aren't familiar.
I don't have any pictures that pertain to this post but you can't have a blog post without pictures, right? This is J and I on our dinner train ride for Valentine's Day.
If we do the retrieval Wednesday, we would do the transfer next Monday (2/28).
About.com had a good article about IVF here. It really explains it step-by-step if you aren't familiar.
I don't have any pictures that pertain to this post but you can't have a blog post without pictures, right? This is J and I on our dinner train ride for Valentine's Day.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Delectable
I LOVE chocolate covered strawberries and when I saw this recipe I had to try it. They are called Strawberry Puffcakes. They are chocolate cupcakes with this puffy strawberry cream frosting then dipped in chocolate and topped with strawberries.
They are DELICIOUS!
I plan to eat at least three of these tonight.
This is an infertility blog after all
We are smack dab in the middle of another cycle of IVF right now. My days are filled with shots, ultrasounds, and blood draws. Not to mention ovary pain, a swollen abdomen, and estrogen-induced psychosis.
Like last time (December 2009) we did this, I am responding VERY well to the stimulation drugs. I started with 150 Units of Follistim in the morning (same as last time). This is my second favorite shot. It is a pen injection and so I just dial up the dose I want and stick the needle in the belly and push the button. At night I do my Lupron injection which is the number one favorite because it is only 10 units, I use an insuling syringe to inject it, it doesn't hurt and Jeremy usually gets it ready for me (he's so helpful). Since we are now stimulating, I am also doing Repronex (above picture) at night. I started at 75mg on this one (150mg last time). This one sucks. I have to mix it. The drug itself is a powder and I mix 1mL of sodium chloride to reconstitute it and I have to inject that entire amount subcutaneously. And it stings. The first night I did it I cried. It hurt and I feel like that is just too much liquid to be injecting subQ. Anyway, I got over it.
So those are my shots. Three a day right now unless I have to change my Follistim cartridge in the middle of my dose, then four shots a day. I have been responding very well and they have backed off my doses. I am down to 37.5 Units of Follistim and 0.5mL of Repronex.
Staying on the topic of needles...I'm seeing a new acupuncturist. I started going to Family Acupuncture in Johnston. They are for real. First off, they're Chinese. Nuf said. Second, this is what they do. They are not some other sort of professional who got a certification to do acupuncture. I don't want to rag on my chiropractor who did it last time but I didn't really feel like they knew what they were doing. And I can't blame them. It isn't their specialty. So anyway, when I would go to my previous acupunturist they would put in about 10 needles at different points on my arms, legs, and over my ovaries. Diana, at Family Acupuncture used about 30 needles and put some in my head, my ears, arms, legs, and probably about 8-10 in my abdomen. Now, I understand sometimes less is more, but I think this lady knows her business! I've only been once and have another appointment coming up. Studies have shown acupuncture increase success rates with IVF. Also, my mom told me she read something that showed seeing a clown after having your embryos transferred also improved success rates...I don't even know what to say to that...
What else? Hmmm...
Oh yeah, estradiol levels. So when you are stimulating like I am you go in every other day for an ultrasound to look at your ovaries and a blood draw to check your estradiol level. My baseline level (before starting stims) was 90. Wednesday (1st ultrasound) was 443 and Friday was 1224. So yeah, estrogen-induced psychosis. Psychosis might be a little dramatic. I'm just kind of moody and short-tempered. Jeremy bears the brunt of this but bless his heart, he puts up with me and doesn't complain. I go in again tomorrow and hopefully it won't go up too much more. If it goes over 5000 I am at increased risk for Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). Last time I did go over 5000 and we had to "coast" a day. Hopefully we'll be a little more controlled this time.
Our retrieval will be either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday this week, assuming all goes according to plan. Then our embryo transfer will be either February 28th, March 1st or 2nd, again, assuming all goes according to plan.
Let me know if you have any questions about IVF - the process, how they take out the eggs, how the fertilize them, anything at all really. I don't want to brag but I'm kind of an expert.
Like last time (December 2009) we did this, I am responding VERY well to the stimulation drugs. I started with 150 Units of Follistim in the morning (same as last time). This is my second favorite shot. It is a pen injection and so I just dial up the dose I want and stick the needle in the belly and push the button. At night I do my Lupron injection which is the number one favorite because it is only 10 units, I use an insuling syringe to inject it, it doesn't hurt and Jeremy usually gets it ready for me (he's so helpful). Since we are now stimulating, I am also doing Repronex (above picture) at night. I started at 75mg on this one (150mg last time). This one sucks. I have to mix it. The drug itself is a powder and I mix 1mL of sodium chloride to reconstitute it and I have to inject that entire amount subcutaneously. And it stings. The first night I did it I cried. It hurt and I feel like that is just too much liquid to be injecting subQ. Anyway, I got over it.
So those are my shots. Three a day right now unless I have to change my Follistim cartridge in the middle of my dose, then four shots a day. I have been responding very well and they have backed off my doses. I am down to 37.5 Units of Follistim and 0.5mL of Repronex.
Staying on the topic of needles...I'm seeing a new acupuncturist. I started going to Family Acupuncture in Johnston. They are for real. First off, they're Chinese. Nuf said. Second, this is what they do. They are not some other sort of professional who got a certification to do acupuncture. I don't want to rag on my chiropractor who did it last time but I didn't really feel like they knew what they were doing. And I can't blame them. It isn't their specialty. So anyway, when I would go to my previous acupunturist they would put in about 10 needles at different points on my arms, legs, and over my ovaries. Diana, at Family Acupuncture used about 30 needles and put some in my head, my ears, arms, legs, and probably about 8-10 in my abdomen. Now, I understand sometimes less is more, but I think this lady knows her business! I've only been once and have another appointment coming up. Studies have shown acupuncture increase success rates with IVF. Also, my mom told me she read something that showed seeing a clown after having your embryos transferred also improved success rates...I don't even know what to say to that...
What else? Hmmm...
Oh yeah, estradiol levels. So when you are stimulating like I am you go in every other day for an ultrasound to look at your ovaries and a blood draw to check your estradiol level. My baseline level (before starting stims) was 90. Wednesday (1st ultrasound) was 443 and Friday was 1224. So yeah, estrogen-induced psychosis. Psychosis might be a little dramatic. I'm just kind of moody and short-tempered. Jeremy bears the brunt of this but bless his heart, he puts up with me and doesn't complain. I go in again tomorrow and hopefully it won't go up too much more. If it goes over 5000 I am at increased risk for Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). Last time I did go over 5000 and we had to "coast" a day. Hopefully we'll be a little more controlled this time.
Our retrieval will be either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday this week, assuming all goes according to plan. Then our embryo transfer will be either February 28th, March 1st or 2nd, again, assuming all goes according to plan.
Let me know if you have any questions about IVF - the process, how they take out the eggs, how the fertilize them, anything at all really. I don't want to brag but I'm kind of an expert.
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