IVF Cycle #3: FET Cycle - Blood Test

For our 3rd cycle of IVF (FET), it was going pretty slow I have to admit. This is the first FET I had after two fresh cycles. My body is just getting back to its normal rhythms. While we started our 3rd cycle on July 23rd (the date we found out our second fresh cycle didn't work), I didn't ovulate for about 40 days (I know, TMI... Sorry). My husband and I started  wondering if this is such a hot idea of going directly into a frozen cycle after two fresh cycles. Since I was so anxious to get back to drawing board, we are now on our way to the 3rd cycle (1st FET cycle).

So, at day 15 of the cycle, my regular RE was out of the office. So another RE checked and said that my regular RE should be back to office on my next appointment. So, after our first appointment, we made another appointment to come back to the office, and it continued until day 40! I think at approximately day 30, my RE advised us to go purchase Follistim and start injections again at 75 units for approximately 5-7 days (whenever the injection ran out). After that, he found that I still wasn't ovulating. So he advised to keep adminstering the injection. At day 40, finally was the day.

My husband and I asked our RE if it was a good idea to try naturally as well as transfering 1 embryo at grade 4AA. Our RE knows all of the ups and downs of our IVF journey. He told us he wouldn't be opposed to us trying naturally as well as doing the FET. So this cycle, we tried naturally as well as the FET to give us a better chance at this journey of starting a family.

Last Friday was the blood test, the nurse at my RE's office called back and told us the good news! The first beta results were: 48.2 whereas 1st - 2nd Wk Preg: 16 - 156 mlu/ml. Our RE did mention that people of certain backgrounds do better with an FET. Although, they scheduled me for a 2nd beta for Monday, September 23rd. From what I've read from forums, the number is suppose to double. The nurse told me that they want to make sure the pregnancy is progressing as expected. Bring on the 2nd beta! Can't wait.

IVF Cycle #3: FET Acupressure

Since this is my first frozen embryo transfer, I didn't know how this cycle would affect me. Since the start of this FET cycle, I started taking the prenatals that my RE has prescribed vs. the one my primary physician had prescribed me (two years back). Taking the new prenatals and baby aspirin caused me to feel nauseated, heart burn, and hungry in the middle of the night (Strange, I know). But I feel super hungry, it actually wakes me up and I'll check what time it is, it'll only be 3am or 4am. Wondering if anyone feels the same while on their FET. My family knows I have been going through several IVF cycles.

So, my mom took me to this holistic health therapist (acupressure) on Tuesday, August 6th. When I talked to him, this is what he told me:

• Absolutely no cold drinks
• No coffee or tea (no caffeine)
• Eat more ginger - it warms up the body
• Eat more Ginseng
• Exercise or at least walk for 40 minutes everyday. Luckily, I've been doing Yoga and recently got my certification in teaching yoga. (But I digress.)

Has anyone had any experiences with Acupressure and IVF? Does it help? My mom knows this holistic therapist, he said that I should do these things because I have a cold womb and it wouldn't carry a baby. Doing those things would help warm it up. This sucks, my DH can attest to this, I looove cold drinks (especially pearl teas of all kinds) and ice cream!

So, after trying the acupressure for a few days. I took the liberty of researching acupressure/acupuncture and the meridian lines. It appears that pain along the meridian lines will tell the acupuncturist which part of your organs are either inflamed or weak. I had pain along my back running the bladder meridian all the way to the sacrum and tailbone area. The last few days/sessions has been a pain in the behind! Quite literally. The acupuncturist said my kidneys are also weak.

Other things I have found for yang deficiency from an online source:

• Eat more warming and wholesome food like stews, roasts and hearty soups
• Eat cooked/steamed vegetables 
• Avoid cold food like raw vegetables and salads
• Add ginger, garlic, and ginseng to the diet
• Other foods to eat are: Shrimp, mussels, walnuts, lamb, onions, radish, turnips, cinamon, peppermint, and royal jelly

IVF Cycle #3: FET Cycle Day 18 Ultrasound

We are in the middle of the IVF Cycle #3. We went to the RE's office for a Day 13 ultrasound on August 1st. During the office visit, we asked our RE to advise on how many embryos to transfer. Since we have 2 failed IVF cycles, he isn't oppose to transferring 2 embryos. As usual, the RE reminded us of course it depends on the couple's concerns.

Personally, for us, we have started paying for IVF cycle #3 out of pocket. Our main concern is to get pregnant. As a result, we are planning to transfer two embryos. DH and I have talked about it, we are not oppose to having twins. We also have 7 embryos frozen, 3 are of excellent quality and the rest are at a very good quality. The RE explained that transferring 2 at a time does not mean it gives us a better chance of getting pregnant than transferring 1 at a time. The more he talked about it, my tears started rolling. I was disappointed the day/week when we found out our cycle 2 failed, but it was even unexpected for me to cry in my RE's office.

I knew the infertility road was hard, people have warned me. But we were caught up and so excited to start a family through IVF. But, I wasn't prepared for these two failed attempts and what it does to you emotionally. I find myself wondering if and when we should find another option. DH has been super great and supportive and doesn't want us to give up just yet. He is determine to exhaust every avenue first.

Today, we went to our RE's office for Day 18 ultrasound. The lining: 5.7. R side: 6mm. L side: 5mm, 8.5 medial. (Is 8.5 medial good or bad? I should have asked the RE while I had a chance. Yikes!) My RE told us that my follicles aren't growing at a speed they were expecting. But that is not abnormal. For some, after a fresh cycle, follicles lag. My RE's experience is for some women it could lag about a week to 3 weeks. His analogy is the follicles are waiting for food (stimulation). Base on the last two months, I had gone through the stimulation. My body is still waiting it. There were a couple of small ones. But once my body realizes the stimulation isn't coming. One of those follicles will develop to 17-18mm, at which point, that's when my RE will schedule me for the transfer. (Hey, I didn't say it was a good analogy ;P). 

IVF Cycle #3: Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)

IVF Cycle #3 - Frozen Embryo Transfer started on July 18th when I found out our IVF Cycle #2 resulted in a BFN. Since that day, I've scheduled a Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET). I found out that we (DH and I) will be paying for this out of pocket. It sucks that it'll cost more than we have expected.

Luckily, the frozen embryo transfer cycle only require one specialty medicine (HCG/Navarel). It is based on my natural cycle. We have been hoping to start a family this year. I hope the third time is the charm. I've always wanted to transfer more than one embryo since cycle #1, but our Dr have advised against that. This time, I'm hoping to state my case and hope my reproductive endocrinologist (RE) agrees. :) My RE seems to be on the conservative side. I think it's because of my age and because I have only gone through 2 cycles.

• July 23rd, Frozen cycle baseline ultrasound. Everything looks good, no cysts.

• August 1st - Second ultrasound (day 13). My RE was on holiday for my first baseline ultrasound. So, another RE asked me to start my ovulation testing on Aug 1st. When I went into the office, my RE has asked me to stop the ovulation testing because the follicle is only at 6.5mm. 

• My RE scheduled me in for another ultrasound for today, August 6th (day 18) of my cycle. The lining is 5.7. R side: 6mm. L side: 5mm, 8.5 medial. He wants to keep monitoring me for the time I'm going to ovulate. He mentioned that in frozen cycle transfers, it is crucial to time it just right. My scheduled frozen cycle transfer will be scheduled exactly 5 days after ovulation.

Since we have already failed twice. I asked him for advice (and maybe subconsciously reassurance) on how many embryos to transfer to make this a successful try. He mentioned he would transfer no more than two. I don't think I want him to transfer more than that. But since this is so early in the process, he wants me and DH to think about it. No need to commit on how many right now.

Whew, another appointment down, and looks like a few more to go! More updates to come on another post. Stay tuned...

IVF Cycle #2 2013

We started a fresh cycle #2 in the middle of the June. The medication I have been using were: Ganirelix, Menopur, Gonal-F, HCG (Novarel), Endometrin, and Doxycycline.

For cycle #2, the Dr's office called and added Dexamethasone to the list of medicine. The reason for Dexamethasone was to suppress the endometriosis while we were administering the injectables. 

• June 14th, Baseline ultrasound to check for cysts. Everything is good

• June 21st, Day 1 of cycle.

• June 22nd, Start the stimulation. Start Dexamethsone in the evening as well.

• June 26th, Day 5 ultrasound.  
• R Side: 7.5mm, 5.5, 4.5, 6.5, 4.5 
• L Side: 7.5, 7, 6, 4 
• It was really hot during the week, the Dr reminded me to stay well hydrated.

• June 29th, Day 8 ultrasound. 
• R Side: 12mm, 12.5, 9.5, 10.5 oblong, 8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 7, 7 
• L Side: 12.5, 11.5, 10.5, 8, 4.5 
• The Dr reminded me to stay well hydrated as well as eat lean protein (chicken breast and egg whites). We were told to start on Ganirelix the next morning in the AM.

• July 2nd, Day 11 ultrasound. 
• R Side: 15mm, 16.5, 14, 14, 12, 11, 12.5, 12, 12 
• L Side:15.5, 16, 13.5, 12.5 
• Last day of Menopur, Gonal-F, Aspirin,

• July 3rd, Last dose of Ganirelix in the AM.  
• DH to take antibiotics before the retrieval. 
• HCG injection at 10:30P (exactly 35 hours before the retrieval).

• July 4th, Nothing to eat or drink after midnight & until retrieval is complete. Last dose of antibiotic for DH.

• July 5th, Oocyte retrieval. Retrieved: 9 

• July 6th, Contacted the Dr's office. Fertilized: 9

• July 8th, Day 3 results. Dr's office called and told us to do a Day 5 Transfer.
• 5 x 8Cell Grade 1 
• 1 x 7Cell Grade 2 
• 1 x 6Cell Grade 2 
• 1 x 2Cell Grade 1 
• 1x 2Cell Grade 2

• July 10th, Day 5 Transfer. 
• 1 x 4AA  
• 1 x 3AA 
• 1 x 3BA 
• 1 x stage 1 - Dr's office will be monitoring it. 
• 1 x stage 2 - Dr's office will be monitoring it.

Our Dr recommends transfer 1 x 4AA. He also mentioned if this doesn't work, patients of my descent respond very well to frozen cycle embryo transfer. Transfering more than 1 will not increase changes of pregnancy. Transfering the blastocyst at 4AA gives us a 50% change of implantation. 

• July 11th, We have frozen 6 embryos from this cycle.

• July 18th, The Dr's office called. BFN. :(

Our Dr suggest doing a frozen embryo transfer (FET) as soon as next month. We opted to do a FET for the next cycle.

IVF Cycle #1 2013

IVF Cycle #1 2013:

Here's how it went, we (DH and I) met with an IVF specialist toward the end February for a consultation. We knew I had severe endometriosis. There were a lot of scaring due to  endometriosis.

• The IVF specialist started me on birth control: Emoquette for 21 days, which ended April 27th. 

• We scheduled a hysteroscopy and the baseline ultrasound (US) on April 23rd. The procedure is more painful than the laparoscopy (lower ab pain). This precedure uses endoscope to look through the uterine cavity to shave off scar tissues to eliminate fibroids.

• By April 26th, we went in for an orientation on administering injections. The first time in the injection class, the nurse (who I assume has been giving these orientation classes for years had gone a little fast. We were not able to keep up with her instructions the first time around because everyone had different amount of doses they need to pay attention to.)

• May 2nd, we started the injections. Injections took a little longer to prep the first few times. But then we got the hang of it. Gonal-F, Menopur, Ganirelix, HCG - these are all injectables. *To make matters worse, I was going through a transition and I was not covered under my DH's insurance yet. We had to pay out of pocket for half the medication. (Needless to say, that was a hard month.)

• May 6th, day 5 of injections, we went in for an ultrasound to see how the follicles are progressing.
• R Side: 8mm, 7.5, 7, 7, 6.5
• L Side: 10.5, 10, 3.5, 3.5

• May 8th, Day 7 of injections, we went in for another ultrasound.
• R Side: 11.5mm, 11, 10, 9, 9, 9.5, 5
• L Side: 13,11, 5.5

• May 9th, Start Ganirelix in the AM for 3 days

• May 11th, Day 10 of injections, we went in for another ultrasound.
• R Side: 14.5mm, 14, 13, 13, 13, 11,9
• L Side: 15.5, 15.5, 8

• May 12th, Day 11 of injections, 
• R Side: 17mm, 16, 15, 15, 15, 13, 10.5
• L Side: 18.5, 17.5, 11.5

• May 13th, they scheduled me for an egg retrieval (ET)

• May 18th, Day 3 transfer
• From the embryo report: We had 5
• Grade 1: 8Cell, 4Cell
• Grade 2: 10Cell, 4Cell, 3Cell
• We transfer 1 Grade 1 - 8Cell embryo. After our 2 week wait (2WW), we found out our embryo didn't take. BFN. Only 1 other embryo survived until day 5. We were heart-broken but wanted to try again.

Introduction

Hi, welcome to my blog about our IVF journey. My husband and I live in sunny California. We have been married since 2011. We knew immediately that we wanted to start a family. After seeing our doctor and various "Specialist" doctors, it was determined that I had severe endometriosis. Having this will hinder our ability to start a family. I was sad and disappointed, but we were determined to get through this.

2011: We started seeing an OBGYN who "specialized" in infertility. That resulted in 10+ of ultrasounds with no actions. :(

2012: We changed our OBGYN. I had a laparoscopy to remove the endometriosis. Our OBGYN had me on Lupron for 9 months. Lupron was suppose to suppress the endometriosis from coming back.

2013: We went to an IVF specialist and are still seeing our IVF specialist.

When I first started on this journey, I was not prepared for where the journey would take us. But now I'm in the thick of it. I have to admit, at times it is hard and am too emotionally invested. Like other IF ladies, I'm surrounded by friends and family who do not have the same battles as us. So it leads to comments from others who do not understand what we are going through.

I hope that sharing my experience, you'll find this blog useful.