Saturday, March 16, 2019

Baby update March 16, 2019


I had two baby related appointments this week. The first was regarding the IVF trial. It was on Tuesday. It was about 30 minute consult. The second was a psych screening.

IVF Appointment:

The IVF trial is for a company that is developing their own fsh shot. It is already used in Europe and Canada, so that makes me comfortable with it. I would give myself the fsh injection every day in the tummy, this would trick my ovaries into producing more eggs. The eggs would be collected and fertilized with the Champion sperm. This would create embryos. After five days the very best embryo would be put into uterus. The remaining embryos would be frozen. 

This all sounds like pretty typical IVF treatment, so no problems there for me. The cost is about $900 and the embryos would be frozen no cost. Since this is a study about 10% of ladies will receive placebo drugs. The placebo would be water. So at that time when they retrieve the eggs there will not be a bunch of eggs to retrieve. If a lady does receive the placebo then the company will pay for regular IVF later.

I would be a good candidate, except for 1 issue. I need to try to get pregnant by other means for two cycles first to show I have infertility issues. So, if I am not pregnant with IUI this cycle or the next I could qualify, but the study might be full then. However, the clinic might have another study in October, with a different company/situation. Hopefully, I will be pregnant after my first cycle, but if I do have trouble IVF does look like it could be an option for me.

Psych Screening:

The psych screening was on Wednesday. It was with Angela Bowers. I had to drive 45 minutes to get there, but really that's not a lot for a single appointment which will help me become a mom.

The office was in a building with a courtyard with an adorable water feature. Inside the office it was a little new-age medicine for me. They had hindu statues, and mediation books. This wouldn't affect their ability to determine if I would be a good mom. 

I spoke with Angela for about thirty minutes. It was while I was speaking with her that I realized how much thought I have put in to this adventure. Every question she asked, childcare, support system and financials I had an answer. I didn't even need to think. I already knew the answers. 

After speaking with Angela, I took an assessment on a computer. The questions were about drug use, drinking, mood, and behavior. I answered false, slightly true, mostly true, very true and ?. I'm not sure about how accurate someone can be with words like slightly and mostly, but I answered nonetheless. There was one question at the end that said: "Does your drug use affect your friends and family." I couldn't say false because did that mean I was admitting to drug use. I couldn't say true because then I would be admitting that my drug use causes a problem. So, I answered ?. 



Other than those appointments, I gathered my prescriptions and have me schedule set out ready for me to start. There is really any steps next week. So I think I will do a blog post about names or my thoughts on girls vs boys.  

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Initial Doctor Visit, March 8, 2019

Luck of Irish!

I went to my first doctor visit to start my baby journey on Friday, March 8, 2019. I visited the fertility treatment center last spring, the last visit was in June. I decided to wait a year to start my fertility and baby journey.

Last year I had an internal ultrasound to start, followed by a consult regarding my options, which might be depend on my blood work. Once the blood work was in, I had a follow up consult to go over results.

The diagnosis/RX was 1. I had a regular cycle and age. That was good. The follicle count is the best measure of ovarian reserve. A normal result is 6-10, over 12 is high, my count was 24
I had 24 follicle count. So that is good.

My labs showed FSH = 5.9 and AmH = 2.2 which are both good results. My LH however is greater than my FSH which might mean that even though I have eggs they aren't ovulating correctly. It is very easy to fix and the medication will last about 11 months. It was not something to worry about until I was ready to get pregnant.

Dr. Craig estimated that I would probably be able to get pregnant naturally for about 8 more years. I believe by naturally he meant without IVF or IUI. I would still need fix my LH and FSH ratios with medication.

My thyroid levels were also a little low. Dr. Craig said it was minor enough that I didn't need to take medication, but I decided to anyway. It wasn't really a surprise since my siblings and dad have some thyroid issues. I'd rather take care of it now.

So, at this appointment we went over my results from last year. Then we went over my options.

Options:
1. Do nothing. Which is the option I took last year.
2. Do IUI - There is simple IUI and then more complex as go depending on success. For simple typical success rates is 25% of women will be pregnant after 2 cycles, after 6 it is 50% success rate. It also is the least expensive. It can be more complex by adding FSH inject and etc. The success rates of that is 50% at 3 cycles and 70% at 6. Cost is higher because there is more medication and procedures that take place.
3. Do IVF - Cost the most money. The success rates are 70% after 1 cycle and 95% after two.

Most people will do option 2 getting more complex as they go on and then go to IVF after they exhausted other options. The treatment center I go to is also a research center. They have studies and trials regularly which will cover a lot of the cost of the IVF. They will also freeze any embryos that are not used for later. I may qualify for one of the research studies. If I do I will probably accept, but meanwhile I will start the IUI process.

Plan: IUI

Step 1: Choose donor and buy vials. It is recommended that I buy IUI versus IUI-ART or ICI. I need at least 2 vials for IUI and for IVF. Since I'm not sure about the IVF I will just buy two for now.
Step 2: Have health screening for STDs, on menses. A psychological screening schedule for Wednesday March, 13.
Step 3: IUI cycle -
day 1 (about March 27th) of menses call to schedule blood work within 3 days.
days 3-7 (about March 29-April 2) I take femara, use to be clomid.
day 6-10 (about April 1-April 5) hysterosalpingogram x-ray
day 10 (about April 5) ultrasound
day depending on ultrasound tigger injection hCG
36 hours after injection IUI

Plan: IVF

Tuesday, March 12, I will meet with a research tech about the trials. After that I will know more about this plan.

Even though I have done a lot of research, watched a lot of videos, read blogs and books, I am a little whelmed by the process and the work that it takes. Sitting down with the doctor and nurse, I also felt really confident in my decision. So even though it is a little eye widening I am also getting really excited.

Tree has Sperm and Egg!
By the way I picked the champion.

Pregnancy Week 25-29

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