A Happy Update!

If anyone happens to stumble upon this blog, or still follows it, I think it's time to add a happy story.

I don't even remember where I left this. After doing ANOTHER failed cycle early October 2012, using half my husband and half a sperm donor, I had a frozen embryo transfer with our LAST EMBRYO on December 17th 2012. It worked!

I'm now 19 weeks pregnant with a single little baby, and I still can't believe it's true. I just started feeling movements here and there, and can't wait to feel more. A part of me did not want to post anything here until I knew it was the real deal, which is why I waited so long. And another part of me is still afraid (let's face it, every day) that something will go wrong. But all signs point to a healthy pregnancy. 

The only difference this cycle, and I believe what made the ultimate difference, is that my doctor put me on Lovenox. It's so sad that we had to go through three failed cycles just to come to the conclusion to try the Lovenox. I would recommend ladies to ask their docs to put them on Lovenox regardless of immune testing since there is little risk to mother and baby, and in my case it seems to have made all the difference.

At the 18 week check-up, my OB said that she thinks the baby is a little girl, but it was hard to tell because its feet were in the way! We won't know for sure until next week at my 20 week scan. 

I will tell anyone still in the trenches of seeking parenthood: Stick with it. Don't give up. I wish you all the luck and strength in the world. And for those of you whose blogs I've followed and you've already reached parenthood: Thank you for sharing. Your stories of success have helped me see the light at the end of the journey.

An Overdue Update

Don't know if anyone will see this, but thought I'd post anyway.

After the last failure and discovery that husband had an issue, I didn't have the heart or energy to put into keeping up with the fertility stuff. I'm still hopeful, but I know having a baby will take more time than we thought...so we've got on with life!

My husband is scheduled for surgery this Friday for the varicocele he was diagnosed with. Hopefully the surgery will go well (TOUCH WOOD!), and in a few months we will know if his sperm is better. We have already discussed the option of using his brother's sperm down the road, if things go poorly. The good thing is, there are always more options that can lead to children someday.

I just peeked at a few blogs I was following way back when, and am so happy to see that the donor egg process is resulting in healthy baby bumps, and very soon, fat, healthy babies!!

XX,

-j'espere

The Big Fail

Hi to all who commented recently, and asked how everything went. Thanks for your support. There was no transfer at all. None of the embryos continued growing past day 4 or so, and none reached blast stage. All that work put in by my sister and I, for nothing.

The RE now thinks the issue might be my husband's sperm. He is going in for labs tomorrow, which I think should have been done after the first cycle was unsuccessful (thanks, Doc!). And then he's on to a specialist the following week.

I am hopeful that whatever the issue is can be fixed, as sperm issues are much easier to fix than egg issues. We are not giving up on this process, but just need a break to figure out what the problem is. I still can't believe this is happening--another period of WAITING. It feels like we are just being bombarded with bad news, upon bad news.

I'll keep updating with information on what's going on with the hubby, and as soon as he's fixed--or we have to use donor sperm, which we've both agreed upon--we will do another cycle, hopefully in the fall.

Fertilization Report

So we have seven eggs that fertilized! I hope they continue to thrive. The doctor said this time around that my husband's sperm was much worse quality than last time, and that he should see a urologist. GREAT.

We did ICSI though, so hopefully the sperm they used were good. Keep growing, little ones! I'm going to be a nervous wreck for the next two days until we hear about how many we have left. Le sigh.

Somewhere, Out There...

...In Westwood to be exact, our little eggs & sperm are fertilizing and becoming the embryos that will become our child(ren).

The egg retrieval went wonderfully this morning. A total of  16 eggs were retrieved, with 10 of them being mature at this point. The RE said that an additional 4 eggs may be on track to mature tomorrow. Husband gave his sample at the office, and headed off to work. (In most cases of IVF, the male's role is so simple, isn't it?!)

Tomorrow I will hear back from the office with the fertilization report. So much waiting! I think all IVFers, but especially those using donors should recieve a solid gold star for PATIENCE!

Retrieval is Tomorrow!

Well tomorrow's the big day! The day they take out the eggs that my sister has been growing, and fertilize them with my husband's sperm! Romantic, huh?!

I administered the trigger shot last night in my car. Interesting, to say the least! Just glad no one interrupted. I went today and bought my sister cupcakes to enjoy during her recovery. Glad that her part of the process will be over at this point, so she doesn't have to be tied down with the constant shots and appointments. I've said it before, but I'm just lucky to have such a generous, open-minded sister.

Follicle/Lining Update

Our appointment went well yesterday. Looks like we are on-track for a Wednesday or Thursday retrieval. My sister currently has 15 follies around 11-12mm. The RE says she will be ready to retrieve when they measure around 18mm, so two more days of stims to go before another check. Hopefully those two days will bring a few more eggies, too.

My lining is a bit over 7, with a triple stipe pattern. I still have two or three more Delestrogen injections prior to the transfer, so there's plenty of time to reach the optimal 10 (fingers crossed).

A little closer, every day!