And the IVF continues... this is a long one so hang in there!

  

Before I start talking about the next part of the IVF, I want to mention something I forgot in my last post. When we did all of the IVF meds in June/July and we were leading up to the retrieval, I also did accupuncture. It was offered by RMA and was covered by my insurance! They told me studies showed that doing the acupuncture with the treatments proved to make it more effective. Even if I didn't quite believe in it, I had to try everything possible! One other quick thing, before we had started the IVF procedure back in May, the Dr. had done something called a saline sonogram. This was to make sure everything was clear "up there" and there weren't any polyps or fibroids in my uterus so we would know the embryo had a great chance of attaching. Well guess what, I had a nice big polyp on my left side! They did another saline sonogram after the retrieval thinking it might clear up, but no. So on September 14th, I had a procedure done called a hysteroscopy. I had to be put under and took the day off from school. Honestly, at this point, I was so determined I would do anything and wasn't going to give up!



So here we were, the middle of August 2011, and my body was finally healing and I was feeling like myself again. I had lost some of the weight I had gained, we had 6 frozen babies waiting for us, and now we had to wait some more. Even though we consciously made the decision to wait on the transfer part of the IVF until October, I was having a hard time. I wanted to be pregnant NOW! In the meantime, before I went back to work, we went to San Francisco for my childhood friends' Liz Watson's wedding. We stayed for 5 days, went wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa Valley, and felt we really deserved this trip after all we went through and we did have a great time!

Once I started back at school, I was so busy again that I didn't think about it all the time. I had also started my new part-time job as a Cantor and was preparing for the High Holidays that started at the end of September, so needless to say I was preoccupied! It was nice once again to take a mental break from meds because there's only so much my body can take! So the way we figured it out, I wanted to be able to do the FET (frozen embryo transfer) the week after the last Jewish Holiday in the fall (sukkot), which would get us a mid summer baby, so that meant starting the meds again while I was doing the High Holidays. I was fine with this because it meant being able to do it soon! So September 28th, the 1st night of Rosh Hashanah, I started my 2 weeks of growth hormones. It almost felt like I never even had a break, but was strangely comforting because I knew we were getting closer to our goal. Then, a few days later I went off the BC pill! All I kept thinking to myself was "please let this be my last BC pill for a VERY long time!" Then on October 7th, the night of Yom Kippur, I started some more meds. I took this as a sign since Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the holiest Jewish holidays of the year. It HAD to be a sign, it WAS going to work! This time, it was a lot less shots and a lot more pills, but the side effects were still there. The goal now was to just grow my endomitrium lining to be nice and thick and ready for those babies to attach! So they monitored me but not nearly as often, which was nice. I went in about every 4 days and things were progressing nicely. We were aiming for a transfer date of October 25th, but just like the retrieval, it wasn't an exact science. This time, I would have to take off 2 days from work, the day of the procedure and the day after so I could be on bed rest to ensure it would work!

So a few days before the procedure, I started on progesterone suppositories and progesterone in oil shots. If I had to name the worst part, this would be it. This medicine was in oil so it took forever going in. One more thing, it had to be given in my upper butt muscle! I was terrified because this time, I had to let Ari give it to me since it's a little hard to spin the top half of my body around to see my butt! We were on an every other day thing where one day I did 3 suppositories, the next day I did one suppository with the shot. I was told that icing the area before hand would help so it would be numb and not hurt because I forgot to mention, the needle was an inch and a half long! Then I had to sit on a heating pad for about a half hour afterwards so the oil would absorb into the muscle better. I know what you're thinking at this point, you wouldn't go through all of this just for a baby. But trust me, if you wanted a baby that badly, you would! I never thought I could do it either, but I became the strongest person ever and infertility has changed who I am for the better!

So the day of the transfer arrived, October 25th. I was more than ready and I had such strong faith that it was going to work. Like the Dr. had said when we first met, he didn't see a reason for it not to work. I was hopeful but also holding back because if it didn't work, I didn't want to fall apart. So we didn't have to go in until 1 in the afternoon. I got to relax in the morning and get my head where it needed to be. We went in and I got an acupuncture treatment first, then the whole procedure took not even 15 minutes! All that medicine and pain and tears for just 15 minutes to pop in 2 embryos... and now we wait. I was told to take it really easy and be on bed rest that day and the next day so I would have the best chances of it working. During my 2 week wait, which would be over November 4th, I was tormenting myself! Did it work? Did it fail? Was that a pregnancy symptom I felt? I wanted this more than anything I've ever wanted in my life and I was going to stop at nothing to get it! So a week went by and even though I knew it was WAY too early, I broke down and bought a pregnancy test. And my eyes couldn't believe it either.... it was faint, but it was POSITIVE!!

It was hard to believe, surreal even after all we went through! I had never seen a positive pregnancy test in my life! I called Ari immediately and he didn't believe it either. He wanted to wait until we got our blood test which wasn't for another 3 days. I knew it was real though. I went and bought 2 more tests and took one the next day, and another one the next day... all positive! I called the nurse and asked if I could come in for my blood test a day early because I got a positive test at home. She was so excited to hear that and said of course I could come in! So Thursday November 3rd, I went in for my blood test. They said I would get a call anytime after 11 am. I knew I would be teaching a class, but at exactly 11 on the dot, I saw my phone ring. At 11:25 when I was done teaching that class, I called back and got the best news of my life... I was really pregnant!! All of my dreams had finally come true!!! :) IT WORKED!!!