One year and six days ago, my husband and I trekked almost two hours south to meet with a fertility doctor recommended by my OB-GYN. He asked us a few questions, learned our ages, and told us we should get started with IVF immediately. And thus began a year of frustration, sadness, needles, TONS of driving, emotional roller coasters, physical discomfort, and an inability to plan more than a few days in advance (not an easy thing for a Type A personality), but also a year in which we learned just what an amazing and supportive network of friends and family we have, near and far (can you say "near and far" without thinking of Muppets, because I cannot.).
When last I blogged in mid-June, I had just received the good news that after three attempts, we FINALLY ended up with one embryo that passed the genetic testing phase, and would have to wait until the end of August before moving to the next step. Although waiting is always hard, it did mean that I was able to spend the summer simply enjoying summer things: visiting friends and family, traveling and making plans without the usual "well, I can probably come, but I won't know for sure until a few days prior," taking advantage of warm nights to enjoy drinks on patios and decks, exercising regularly again (thank you to my workout buddy who makes me do cardio), and trying to forget that at the end of August, everything once again becomes a big unknown.
Well, now it's the end of August so I have things to talk about again. At the end of next week, I'll start taking a bunch of estrogen twice a day (thankfully this will be in pill form) to increase my uterine lining and trick my body into thinking it's pregnant before the transfer takes place. After 10 days of that, and all the side effects that come with massive doses of hormones, I'll go down to visit the doctor in Tallahassee, he'll check to make sure the lining is thick enough, and if so, I'll start on additional medicines the next day. In addition to three pills twice daily, I'll be adding an every-other-day injection (which my husband will have to do due to the location, and yes, it's okay to giggle about it) and multiple daily suppositories.
Then, the transfer happens! It's tentatively scheduled for Sept. 18, and of course it's in Jacksonville which means an overnight stay instead of a one day back-and-forth trip. Ten days after that, I'll go back to the doctor (I'll hopefully only have to drive to Tallahassee) for bloodwork to see if the embryo "took," and then go back again three days later to make sure my hormone(?) levels are rising as they're supposed to when a woman is pregnant. And then, IF everything has gone as we hope up to this point, the first ultrasound will be in mid-October. I'll likely have all the physical signs of pregnancy due to the medications, but won't know for sure if things are actually progressing without the bloodwork and ultrasound.
But, there are no guarantees that this will be successful -- it'll be so early in a pregnancy that anything can happen, and that's why people usually don't let folks know they're pregnant until at least three months in. Since I've promised to be transparent about this whole IVF process, I'm including everything related to the transfer, which is weird because if it works, I'll be pregnant and everyone will know well before I'd have said anything if this all happened through a more traditional method. That said, PLEASE don't congratulate me ... I might be (okay, I'll hopefully be) pregnant, but I don't see myself believing it will actually work until several months in because it's been such a tenuous process to get to that point. I'm happy to accept wishes of calmness and relaxation, but I don't want to have conversations about names, nurseries, feedings, etc. quite yet.
On the plus side, I've found a great acupuncturist who is only an hour from us and have been seeing her on a weekly basis for a few weeks, and plan on continuing to see her through and past the transfer. I've read that acupuncture has a positive impact on IVF and transfers, so I'm hoping it also helps me. At the very least, it gives me an hour of total relaxation each week.
Of course, if this doesn't work, we're back to square one: purchasing another round (or rounds) of IVF since we'll be transferring the sole embryo we have available after three rounds of already-paid-for IVF cycles. Wish us luck and lots of calmness ...