Wow, It's been a whileeeee.
I know, I know. I said I would blog a lot more often, explaining the process as we went through it but boyyyy did I not know what I was getting into. Some people experience a simple IVF cycle where they take their injections and meds, have their retrieval and 5 days later they have their transfer but our IVF cycle was far from that.
It really is a long story so I'm going to try to simplify it because I feel this is really important information that that others going through IVF should be aware of.
After Eric and I got back our genetic results I began my injections. The first shot was the scariest. The fear of injecting yourself in the stomach is far from fun but after the first injection things lighten up and the fear pretty much goes away. Every other day I was in the doctors office for blood work and ultrasounds as they monitor how you are reacting to your injection dosages. During one of those visits though I was in for a huge surprise. The estrogen in one of meds caused a
polyp to show it's face in my uterus. It was possible the polyp was there already but too small to see but estrogen makes polyps grow in size which in our case put EVERYTHING on hold. The doctor explained that the polyp would have to be removed before we proceeded with the transfer. Miscarriages are very common when an embryo is transferred into the uterus when there is anything in your uterus that may be detrimental to the fetus. So I continued my injections so that we could complete our retrieval and scheduled my surgery at the same time. This wasn't what we wanted but we knew it was what we had to do.
Retrieval day was here before we knew it. We were both nervous but excited. They retrieved 10 eggs.
ICSI had to be performed and the next day we find out only 5 were mature enough to be used. The next 5 days were the hardest to get through. Waiting for a call to see how many embryos if any had made it was probably the hardest part of the process thus far. Our lives and future replayed over and over in our heads. What if? What about? How? The questions and thoughts didn't stop. Day 5 came and I called the doctor as soon as I woke up. Of course they would have to get back to me and of course the call we were waiting for came in an email format instead around 5pm in the evening. The email read " Hi! They were able to freeze one lovely A grade blast 4aa (beautiful embryo). The embryos stopped dividing between day 3 and 5 and therefore were discarded. I am happy with the embryo that we froze though, it was a really nice one". Yup. And then there was one. Tears, hugs, kisses and pure happiness filled the room. Of course we wanted more then one embryo but we were so thankful and grateful for what the Lord gave us.
Our little embryo was now frozen and on we went to surgery. Surgery was going to consist of removing the polyp from my uterus, a
laparoscopy to have a look inside so that we could confirm my
endometriosis and so that we could see how my tubes actually looked, they would be removing any possible scaring that I had and they would fill my tubes with a dye to see if they were possibly open any where. Surgery was this past Monday and when I woke up from the anesthesia I heard my doctor tell me something I never thought I would hear. "Taina we were able to open your tubes again". Completely medicated still and not able to comprehend anything else she said to me all I kept hearing in my head was "we were able to open your tubes again". How in the ....?
Endometriosis was confirmed and we now had pictures to prove it. My tubes were blasted several times until they were cleared and open and the polyp in my uterus was removed and sent off for testing. I'd say it was definitely a pretty successful surgery and I feel beyond blessed to have another chance at having a baby naturally. Of course, even though your tubes are clear and open there is always a chance that they still won't work but there is no medical exam to figure that out. The only way to know is by getting pregnant naturally or by
IUI.
So that's the long story summed up into a short one . I'm home healing with stitches in my belly button and on my lower stomach but I feel so positive for our future and grateful for everyone that has helped us get this far. It took 28 years to find out so much about my body. Doctor after doctor and I got absolutely no where until this past year. A good doctor is so important and my advice to anyone would be the minute they won't give you answers you're looking for move on to the next. Don't wait, don't delay.
We continue our journey in a couple of weeks when we have our little "beautiful embryo"
transferred into my uterus.
The prayers continue....
