IVF Cycle #1

Written by Heather

Lots of needles, lots of meds, lots of appointments. In Vitro is kind of a lot to take on! After meeting with Doctor C, my new infertility doctor, a few minor tests were performed to make sure everything was on track with me so we would have a perfect IVF cycle. Everything looked great so it was time for the fun to begin.

I was sent to meet with the IVF coordinator, where I was given a very strict schedule of shots that I would need to give myself, appointments to make sure everything continued on track, as well of dates to stop exercising along with various other little things. Very detailed.

 I was also taught how to administer a shot to myself- which terrified me. However, when you are giving yourself 4 shots a day, that's a fear you master pretty quickly.

For two and a half weeks I was driving an hour to my doctors office to have blood work done 3-4 times a week, giving myself shots, and taking meds to make it so my body would produce a truck load of eggs. The more the better :) In the end, my body produced 32 eggs. 32! Of those 32 eggs, 13 ended up fertilizing which is an excellent amount!

(pictures of my embryos)

On November 13th, I had 2 eggs transferred. It was such a crazy experience to watch as 2 perfect little embryos were transferred to me. It just amazes me that something like this can be done. Modern medicine is amazing. Despite the strict schedule, it seemed too easy.

The worst part of IVF for me was the 2 weeks that followed my transfer. It's the dreaded 2ww (2 week wait). Where you are sent home and instructed to take it easy and wait for 2 weeks til you go back to the doctors office for a pregnancy test. Every little cramp or abnormal feeling sent me into a panic and then I would panic because I wasn't suppose to be panicking and stressed (that is not good for pregnancy). Some days I would experience pregnancy symptoms and I would get excited that maybe it actually did work, but then those symptoms would go away and I'd feel normal, which made me feel like it didn't work after all. It's a very stressful and emotional 2 weeks. One that I am not looking forward to repeating. In fact, when I found out that my second IVF cycle ended in a miscarriage and we were discussing the possibility of trying again, thinking about having to go through another 2ww put a pit in my stomach. The shots and side effects from the meds were nothing compared to waiting for those 2 weeks to see if everything you've poured into this intense procedure actually worked.

Two weeks after my transfer, I returned to my Dr.'s office where blood was taken to test for my HCG levels.  They said they'd get it sent to the lab and would call me sometime after 4:00 that afternoon. My hands were literally shaking on my drive home, I was so nervous and anxious to get those results. At about 6:00 that evening the nurse called and said that my results came back positive, but my levels were only at 25 which is very low and she was pretty sure that number would decrease (which they did), but they wanted to retest in 2 days. I was heartbroken and shocked. I know IVF doesn't guarantee you'll get pregnant, but I felt since I had been able to get pregnant in the past, that this would work easily. That's the frustrating thing with infertility. Everything always looks like it should work perfectly, then it doesn't and it leaves lots of questions with no answers. I know that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me and my family. And even though it may not make sense to me, He knows what He is doing. I LOVE this quote by Thomas S. Monson "Our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives."

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