Transfer day

Many thanks to al of you that have called and texted, emailed me yesterday and today!  I am so thankful to have your support:) MWAH! Today went well. I got to the clinic at 11AM.  They had me in a gown and ready to roll right at 11:30 on the dot!  Dr L came in and talked to me and DH about our embryo’s.  He said that my embryo’s were “gorgeous” and that he rarely says that to anyone. Very nice to hear but still hard to get super excited. I’ll believe it when a viable embryo finally sticks to my uterus.  Dr L convinced us to proceed with a Single Egg Transfer.  I was definitely going in there thinking we would transfer two but he really thought we are good candidates for transferring one.  In a way I have secretly want twins but will listen to the doctor and re-evaluate if need be.

So out of the 11 retrieved 10 mature fertilized.  There was one they thought would not survive but ended up doing great, however we lost one hat they thought was doing well.  There is one embryo hanging out for one more day.  So the total definite freeze count is 7 – woohoo! 

For the rest of the day today I am laying low, watching the Olympics, snuggling with Fifi on the couch (first time she has been allowed on the couch – shhhh:). 

One thing I need to mention is that I have finally told my whole family about IVF.  And, of course, they have all been super supportive.  I don’t know why I felt like I should hide my issues from them before.  It is such a relief that they know and I have them cheering me on too. 

HCG Beta is not until the 15^th – boo!  Don’t plan on testing either.  I am going to Chicago on Thursday.  My brother, sister and law and my nephews are flying in from San Diego for the week to visit my parents.  I thought this was a great opportunity to see them, in addition they will keep me distracted from the dreaded pee sticks!

T-23 hours until my first FRESH transfer

NO signs of OHSS!  Well, I did feel really OHSS bloated a few days ago and that was after taking fifi for about a mile walk in the unbearable heat.  But it went away after a few hours of lying on the couch.  My ovaries are still super sore but that is to be expected.  But no real bloating!  Taking it easy is the name of the game right now.  The only problem is that to do ANYTHING in NYC it requires walking or paying and arm and a leg for a taxi.  I have a group-on for a water cruise around the Statue of Liberty.  We thought that was a perfect idea for a Sunday afternoon.  Well, to get there it is a 2.5 mile walk or a 1 mile walk plus a 30 minute subway ride.  So we just might have to save the water cruise / sightseeing tour for another day…

I found out on Friday that I won’t hear if that 10^th embryo mad e it until tomorrow – day 5.  Kind of a bummer, but the nurse on the phone made it very clear that they do not re-check embryo’s until day 5. 

11:30AM is go time.  Dr. Licardi is scheduled to do my transfer.  And there is a huge possibility that my husband will be there too!  I’m hoping that having Wes there will be the lucky charm we need.

My VERY mysterious ovaries! And Converting to IVF

Those burning ovaries I had posted about turned out to be overstimming ovaries… aye yey yey!  Who knew with an AMH of .31 and only 2 antral follicles 10 follies could miraculously appear after only 5 days of menopur.  Doctors were pretty shocked and had no explanation for my over response.  I knew when I saw all those follies that there was no shot at an IUI cycle.  The docs seemed to have hope.  They kept e on almost no medicine, however, those follies had a mind of their own and kept on growing.  I knew my options.  1. Cancel cycle or 2. Convert to IVF.    If I chose option 1 I would most definitely have cysts and be out of the TTC game for who knows how long.  So, I chose option number 2….  Converting to IVF.  

We were hoping that the two dominant follicles would take off on their own and the others would retract (does that really ever happen???), however, on my scan last Saturday showed a perfect IVF scan.  10 mature follies around 16/17mm and a bunch of smaller ones.  My estrogen was still fairly low, around 1200, so I felt good that I would not get OHSS this time around.  They wanted the larger follies to get just a wee bit bigger before triggering.  Monday ended up being my trigger day.  And Wednesday was my retrieval.  They retrieved 11 eggs.  And 9 definitely fertilized naturally.  There is one egg that they were waiting to see what it would do.  I should find out today what is going on with that egg.   If OHSS stay away I am scheduled for a Monday transfer.  

Celeb Sightings, Film Sets and Burning Ovaries

Apparently the only way I am going to notice that a celebrity nearby is if I walk in the middle of a TV or movie set.  Yep, so far I have walked through the middle of a filming movie set, a filming TV set and sat next to a celebrity at dinner.  Of course, the only time I knew a celebrity was nearby was when I walked in the middle of the movie and TV sets.  Last Sunday Wes and I decided to have a drink and quesadillas at a Mexican restaurant by our apartment.  We brought out dog, so we sat outside on the long bench.  A couple sits next to us and Fifi says hello, we have a little yada yada chit chat while she pets Fifi for a few minutes.  And then go on and eat our respective meals.  Wes and I leave and as soon as we are out of ear shot Wes says, I know that girl was in the show “Lost”.  Anyhow, he was right.  We were sitting next to Rebecca Mader and chatting with her. She wasn’t a main character but she was on “Lost” – and I should have realized as I was a huge “Lost” fan.  Apparently I am going to have to keep on walking through movie sets as I venture the streets of NYC to actually realize I am in the vicinity of someone famous.  Below is a picture of James Mcavoy on the movie set I walked through:)

Oh yea, and burning ovaries… Today is the 4^th day of Menopur and I’m starting to feel that familiar ovary burning / stretching and growing sensation.  Tomorrow I go in to see what is going on with my e2 and if there really is an follie action going on… Doubtful given it has only been 4 days

FIFI!

Yes, our dogs name is Fifi.  Not the name we would have picked ourselves, but it just fits her.  I can't imagine calling her anything else at this point.  Plus, it probably makes her transition into her new home that much easier. 
Fifi is 5 years old and arrived from the adoption shelter on Sunday, July 15th.  July 15th is officially "Fifi day" :)  She is super sweet and very well mannered.  Here is the picture that was taken at the shelter.  Looking all fancy in her red flower:)

Post time!

So far so good in our new home of NYC.  It’s pretty easy to stay busy in this city.  Plus I have a few friends that still live here that we have spent time with.  One couple is from high school another couple from college.  I also went out to have a drink with an additional college friend that lives here.  In addition, our best friends drove down from Providence, RI last weekend and stayed with us.  They have a 5 month old (which I am a proud Auntie of) baby so it was fantastic getting to finally meet the lil one and hang out with our friends Meridith and Clint! 

TTC talk time – After a well needed TTC break I just found out my insurance does not cover IVF at all.  But it does cover IUI + monitoring and a portion of injections.  I have been paying completely out of pocket until now, so I guess I’ll take what I can get.  However, it looks like we can’t do IVF again unless we take out a loan. However, with my abrupt drop in atrial follicle count who knows if IVf would have worked anyway.   I am just going to stay hopeful for now that moving forward with an injectable cycle will get me knocked up.

Now I wait for CD2.  I took my last Provera today and hope to soon see AF for the last time in the next 10 months.

Oh, and we adopted a 5 year old Shiba Inu dog yesterday!  She’s awesome!  Such a sweetie and really cute!  Her name is Fifi – definitely not the name we would have chosen, but it has been her name her whole life. We thought it best that we just keep her name, plus the name does fit her well.  I’ll post pics tomorrow. xoxo

Moving to NYC part 1

Hello!

Wowzers.  These past few weeks have been crazy busy!  Moving moving moving.. That’s all we’ve been up to.  We first packed up all our stuff from our home in Madison into a Penske truck and drove that down to my parents house outside of Chicago.    Unloaded what we wanted to take with us to NYC onto an ABF trailer truck (pic attached) and then stored the rest of our stuff in my parents garage.  I drove back with Wes to Madison where we camped out on the floor of our living room to enjoy our last night in our first house.  We had to be out of our house the following day so I spent the day cleaning and making our house spick and span for the new owners.  Saying goodbye to our house was heartbreaking.  Standing on our deck, walking around our back yard, closing that front door for the last time, was so much harder than I ever imagined.  I was in my neighbors driveway re-packing my car before heading back to Chicago and I saw the new owners drive up to our old house for their first time, their kid running up to what I still considered our front door, was just too hard to watch.   Wes had to finish up his last week of work in Madison that week so he stayed with a friend while I stayed with my parents. …

On June 27^th we arrived in our new home city of NYC!  Stay tuned with for moving part 2J