Saturday, November 28, 2009

Chomping at the bit

Today is CD 13. I am chomping at the bit to get started with our next IF endeavor. This holiday weekend really brought home my longing for motherhood. I was on the couch and I could imagine a baby in my arms. I imagined what it would be like to be bringing a baby to Thanksgivings festivities. It made me feel warm inside. Creating these images in my head made things more real for me.

Yes, I have been able to sleep in, go to the gym when I want, make love with Mr. Jem without worrying about the children hearing. I don't care. I feel there is something missing in my life. I want to share the world with a little being. I want to experience the world through their eyes.

Yes, I'm totally ready to be a mom. Can I change the name of my blog to "Willing Womb"?

So, yes, I'm chomping at the bit. Bring on the next step towards parenthood!

Speaking of which, Monday we have our WTF appointment with Dr. Used-to-be-Wonderful and I need your advice.

Here's a recap of our IVF:

Antagonist protocol: 10 days of BCP followed by 225mg Foll.istim + 75mg Meno.pur
31+ follicles stimulated (ugh)
24 eggs harvested
16 eggs fertilized, 9 developed
2 embryos transferred (3 AA + 2 BB) on Day 5
Mild to medium overstimulation
3 embryos frozen (5 BB + 4 BB + ?) on Day 6
9dp5dt: Beta = 8 (boo hoo) = chemical pregnancy.

We had beautiful, excellent quality embryos transferred. We both did acupuncture, ate healthy food (except being overstimulated I was living off Gator.ade and Ritz crackers).

Why didn't it work? What lessons should we take away from our semi-failed IVF?

What questions should we ask?

Jem

7 comments:

Nicole said...

Yeah I am baffled about what went wrong with your IVF- it seemed to go so well! It doesn't make sense :( I hope Dr. Not-W has some answers for you. Will you guys use him again with how not-so-wonderful he is? (do you have a choice?)
For my personal benefit though, I would love to hear more about your OHSS. How long did it last and was there anything that helped it go away? I am dying over here with high-moderate OHSS!!

AL said...

I'm so sorry your IVF failed. I hope you get some answers at your wtf appointment and your next IVF is success.

Best of luck.

ICLW

Monica said...

OK - sending your womb lots of happy thoughts! Your womb does indeed sound willing and able. Watch that Gatorade, dude!

Stacie said...

Yeah for the WTF appointment finally. I do hope your doctor is able to clarify things for you. I'd ask a few questions about the protocol while you are there.

1) Make sure he tells you HIS overall impression of the cycle. What went well? What would he change?
2) Will the next cycle be a fresh cycle or a FET?
3) Will there be a change to the protocol if it is fresh to minimize the OHSS?
4) What are their success rates with FET's should you go that route?
5) Why the 31+ follies but only 24 eggs? Were some follies out of reach or something? (I'd think that he should be able to give you some explanation for this.)
6) You had a 56% fetilization rate with low sperm count. Did they do ICSI? Will they consider that in the future? Why or why not?

I hope that helps. Good luck!

Poppet said...

Don't take "these things just happen" as an answer! Remember that Dr. Wonderful isn't the only person practicing this sort of thing in the greater bay area and you have every right to get a 2nd opinion. He should be very accommodating to your questions and if he gives you the cold shoulder or makes you feel bad about having questions, use your lunch hour to check out his competitors! You can even ask as your next blog post "Who do you use in the Bay Area?" Never hurts to get advice.....

Kate said...

By now you'll've had your meeting- I hope whatever news you've gotten helps you feel better and more confident about what is next and how best to move forward. To me? your cycle seems dreamy. But I can only dream of blasts.

Please take care,
Kate

Anonymous said...

Hmm. I heard from friends that their 3rd -- yup, 3rd -- IF doctor had a totally different approach. He stimmed her lots less and produced fewer, but better quality eggs. Maybe that's an approach to discuss with your doctor? 31 eggs is really hyperstimmed! I don't know how you did it!