Embryo Transfer & Snow babies

Transfer was on Monday 26th November at 11.30am. We transfered one A grade Blastocyst. The transfer was a really simple procedure. They just wipe the cervix with some cleaning stuff and I think it's similar to what's in the petri dish with the fertilized eggs. I had to confirm my name on the lid of a petri dish with the blast in on a screen. Then we got to see our little eggie. It was very bubbly but a lot like the pictures they had shown us earlier - but it was kinda crazy knowing that might be our little bubba in 9 months and we've seen it at a bunch of cells at day 5. Then they inserted it into a tube and put it in me. Then they had to check the tube under a microscope to make sure it wasn't still stuck on there. Then we were all done. I lay there for about 10 mins and then we were allowed to go home. I just relaxed most of the day on the couch.
We found out we have 3 frozen Blastocysts. One at day 5 and two at day 6. We hoped for more but I guess it's better than nothing....

Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS)

Turns out I got a mild case of OHSS. It's not nice at all. Extremely painful bloating. I didn't feel too bad on Wed after the ER but Thu and Fri were pretty terrible. It's hard to sleep as you can only sleep on your side and it's still painful even then. I found it painful to pass urine too. I had a couple of small headaches and the odd bout of nauseousness and a slightly raised temperature. I'm feeling much better today though so am hopeful I continue down this path.

Fertilization Report

So we got a total of 17 eggs. Out of those 14 were mature enough for ICSI.
Now for the amount that fertilized.....

Bearing in mind it's normally a 70% fertilization rate

Drum roll please..........

100% FERTILIZATION. Yay. Wahoo. Woopee !!!!
We were so happy, well actually ecstatic with the result. The lab have decided we will go for a 5 day transfer to blastocyst stage. This will mean a greater chance of pregnancy as they will be able to select the best embryo to transfer. There is the chance we can lose 50% or more by doing this but we want to give the lab the best chance of finding the right one. Plus, of course we are just going by what they recommend!
The lab called first thing in the morning the day after the transfer and then called again yesterday to confirm all embryos were dividing nicely. Normally by day 2 they can start to see signs of some slowing down or stopping but as the scientist said - mine are lovely embryo's.
Transfer will be Monday morning at 11.30am.

Egg Retrevial (ER)

Thank goodness that's all over. Last night I became increasingly uncomfortable. I felt like I was 5 months pregnant or something. My stomach was swollen and it was hard to be able to sit/lie comfortably. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well.
The trigger injection was easy - it was already pre-filled so I just had to unwrap it and stick it in very similar to the previous ones. The needle part was definitely way thicker than the others but I had no problems.
This morning we got to the clinic early. I was taken into a room by a nurse where I was asked to change into a beautiful hospital gown. I was given an oral sedative and then they took my blood pressure, temperature and weight.
Next a scientist came in and introduced herself and asked if I had any questions. Then the Doctor came in and inserted a drip into the back of my left hand. By then I was starting to get a bit woozy!! They led me to the operating theater and I was put onto the chair with the good ol' familiar stirrups. They injected some anesthetic into my drip and then the doctor explained what he was going to do. The needles were horrendously large - enough to make you want to shut your legs and wheel yourself right out of there!! Basically I watched the whole procedure on the screen next to me. The Dr injected more anesthetic into my ovaries and then used an extra long needle to pass into the ovary, you can see them clearly puncture the follicle and the fluid be sucked away. Then the Dr said "change" to the consultant who removed a test tube three quarters filled with fluid and handed it to the embryologist. She then checked for an egg. This happened numerous times until the doctor felt he had cleared them all. Turns out my bladder kept getting in the way so at one point he ended up puncturing that and draining it. (Guess it saved me from having to go straight away after surgery!!) The only other issue we had was he had to leave a few follicles behind as they were down really low below my bladder and too close to major blood vessels.
So final numbers : 17 eggs !!!
We were pretty happy with that result. We find out tomorrow morning how many were mature, how many fertilized thus far and also when we will do our transfer.
I've felt fairly uncomfortable all day but only stayed at the clinic after the procedure for about an hour. Enough time to have a relax in a bed, a tiny snooze and then a cup of tea and a muffin. The rest of the day has been spent mostly on the couch as it's more painful sitting and standing. Think it will be an early night for me...

Second ultra sound and major dramas.....

Well I kept saying to Miles over the weekend that the follies must be growing immensely as I became increasingly uncomfortable as time went by. We were definitely more relaxed about this ultra sound today but..... when we got there it seemed that my ovaries were sitting on top of each other as there were soooo many eggs. But then they realised that - no - I just had an amazing amount of eggs in each ovary. At first she thought there was 22 on my left but after recounting there was 18. On my right was about 16. So 34 in total. ARGGHH the nurses said they were ranging in size up to about 20mm.
So there was the chance of the cycle being cancelled or me ending up with OHSS. But luckily my blood tests came back in the right ranges with an estrogen level of 15. So, trigger injection tonight at 8.30pm. Pick up at 8.30am on Wednesday. Am totally hanging to get these eggs out of me.

First Ultrasound....

Yay after hardly sleeping a wink last night because we were so nervous about the ultrasound today we can breathe a sigh of relief. It went really well. I have 7 follies growing on my right ovary and most are of average size for where they should be, 6 on my left although the doctor thought there may have been a couple more hiding further down. So at least 13 at this stage and that's a pretty good response. So, where to from here.... More of the same drugs through till Monday when I have another ultrasound. Looks like pick up is more likely to be Wed but could still possibly be Fri.

Bruises from all the injections.

Here are a couple of photo's of my tummy after all the injections. I'm not sure why I've bruised in just two main areas as I've tried to move the injection site around alot. Maybe during those ones I hit a capillary or something?

Extreme tiredness....

Well the last few days have been the most tiring I think so far in this whole process. On Monday I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all. I had headaches for most of the day and have felt a bit zoned out. I called in sick on Tuesday and slept till 11am (after getting up at 7.00am for my morning Buserelin injection). Just an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. I guess I'm a little nervous now as we are getting close to all the good/big stuff... We have our ultrasound tomorrow which will let us know how I'm responding to the medication. Possible egg collection on the 19th but it can change at any time.

Minka - Our beautiful Cat - killed in Oct 2007

Minka was the coolest cat ever. She was like our baby and we were absolutely devastated when she was killed last month. She had the greatest personality. She was so full of fun, mischief and life and we could not believe it when she was taken from us so tragically. She had these funny wee ways about her - she used to steal from other peoples houses, things like ..... socks, toys, plants (including a cactus she bought home in her mouth) and even once she bought home a bag from a power tool filled with sawdust which was spread all around the house!! She was so beautiful and is missed so dearly everyday. Rest in Peace beautiful girl. xxxx

Time for.........Stimulants (Stims)

Well I've had 2 nights of stims now. We're using Gonal F. It's in a funny pen thing - looks like a fancy biro pen and you remove the lid and screw the needle into it. The fluid is preloaded and you just stab it in like the Buserelin. The needle is way thinner and I hardly feel it when I press it in. I inject 150 micro-grams. It comes in a pen with 375 micro-grams so I inject for two days in a row just once at night but on the third day I have to use the 75 mg up and then do another 75 mg from a new pen to make it up to the 150. I think I can sort of feel it moving around in my stomach or ovaries - but that could possibly be my overactive imagination!!
We have our first scan and blood work on Thursday which should give us a good indication of how many eggs we will have to play with. Grow follies grow....
Am feeling pretty positive at the moment. We had some friends round for lunch today and we felt so house proud (we've only been here since 26 October) showing them around - I just feel all things are going well at the moment - long may it continue....

Our Wedding 25 November 2006

Starting IVF and how it is..... (supressing drugs)

Buserelin: During a normal cycle, the release of an egg depends on a hormone produced by the pituitary gland. This is called Luteinizing Hormone, or LH. Buserelin blocks the release of this hormone so that premature ovulation and subsequent loss of the eggs cannot occur.

Well we started our Buserelin on the morning of 23 October. We had to take 400 micrograms. This involved wiping the bottle of fluid with an alcohol prep swab and the area on my stomach where I was injecting. Then I inserted the needle into the bottle, holding the bottle up, I would draw to the 50 marker on the side and then push it slowly back up to the 40. This sort of helped to prevent air bubbles in the syringe. Then I removed the needle and flicked the side of the syringe to make sure there were no tiny hidden bubbles. I then pinched the skin slightly on my stomach and slide the needle directly into the skin. Push all the fluid in gently, wait 5 seconds or so and then withdraw the needle. Woohoo - done....
It actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It helps if you hold the needle with the sharpest point down so that hits the skin first and seems to pierce the skin more smoothly. I iced the point for the first 2 days but didn't bother again, it hasn't really seemed necessary. I have bled a couple of times and have a few bruises but all in all - it's not so bad!!!
Side effects - I think I've been really lucky - I've heard some horror stories. But - for me tiredness would have to be possibly my only side effect and the odd moment of sadness according to Miles.

I think it's really important to have a few friends to be able to discuss the ins and outs of IVF. I have a great group of email friends on twoweekwait.com who have all been through/or going through IVF and another friend who has just given birth to a beautiful little IVF baby girl - it's great to talk about the nitty gritty stuff with people who have felt what you have felt. But it's also beneficial to have those who support you but haven't been through the process either.

What is IVF or ICSI?

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

In this procedure fertilisation of the eggs and the first few days of embryo development occur outside the body. Hormonal drugs are administered to increase the number of eggs growing within the ovaries and their development is monitored by blood tests and ultrasound scans. At the appropriate time maturation of the eggs is triggered by another drug and the eggs are aspirated from the ovary using a needle guided by ultrasound. The eggs are then placed with sperm and both are cultured together overnight in carefully controlled conditions. Eggs that have fertilised are then cultured for a further 1-4 days. During this time a series of checks helps identify the embryo(s) with the greatest developmental potential and one or two embryos are selected for transfer into the uterus.

Sperm Microinjection (ICSI)

ICSI is a variation of IVF. Instead of the sperm and eggs being mixed in a test tube, a single sperm is injected into each mature egg. ICSI is used when sperm quality is too poor for conventional IVF to work. ICSI allows almost any man with sperm, either in his semen or in his testis, to try IVF.

Trying To Conceive...

So, to fill you in on our trying to conceive (ttc) journey...
Miles and I have been ttc since August 2006. We had confirmation in April 2007 that we will require In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) with Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) to conceive. Miles has antibodies in his sperm.
When the antibodies are found on the tail, sperm tends to be immobilized or may clump together. Antibodies positioned on the head prevent the sperm from properly binding to the egg, thereby preventing fertilization from taking place.
We have 100% binding antibodies. We call them hippy sperm!!

This obviously was devastating to us both. We are currently on a Government funded waiting list (12 month wait) but have decided to get things moving by paying for a private cycle.

I love this...

I can't know the pain you may have experienced in your quest for conception - the disappointment, the frustration, the hope and the hopelessness of each negative pregnancy test. Perhaps you, like me, have felt the heartbreak of conceiving and losing a child. Perhaps, like me, you have given the power over your own body to doctors in the hope that somehow they will make everything better. I don't know why we have been chosen to undertake such a painful journey, why we must go through such struggles to bring our children into the world. But I do know that when we look into our babies' faces, they will never have to wonder if they were really wanted. Ours are the children who, no matter how they came to us, will look at their parents and know, from the deepest place in their heart, how much we cherish them, and how we labored to give them life. And in that there is no greater security and no greater gift.