I'm sorry, I know, all of my posts lately have just been updates and I haven't written anything "substantial" in a while. I've got a couple of things germinating in my brain and, as soon as I have some time, I'll sit down and put words around them!
But, for now, I'm celebrating my FSH level.
For those who aren't embroiled in this world of infertility, let me explain.
For those who, sadly, are all too familiar with this crap, talk amongst yourselves for a minute and I'll tell you where to rejoin the post!
FSH stands for Follicle Stimulating Hormone and, basically, it is a hormone that stimulates follicles (which, ideally, contain eggs) to grow. The level is an indication of ovarian reserve and the potential onset of menopause. While it's not an absolute indicator of ovarian reserve, it is one of the markers that doctors use. The lower the better. Generally, an FSH over 10, while not death to your fertility, is an indication that your response may not be great.
***OK, IF friends, you can come back!***
So, my FSH has never been really high. For my first IVF cycle, the one where I had 2 eggs fertilize but only one embryo left to implant (that resulted in an ectopic pregnancy), my FSH was a 9.4. Getting precariously close to the 10 mark, but, not too bad.
For my 4th IVF, the one where I got 4 good eggs and had 4 embryos to transfer (my most successful cycle, if you don't count the resulting miscarriage.....), my FSH was down to 7.2. I thought this was wonderful!!
Here we are, in IVF #6 and I forgot to ask what my FSH was the other day so I did today. 3.5!!! 3.5. Yes, I said 3.5. I am in shock!
OK, I am not naive enough to think that this means that I am suddenly going to develop 10 eggs. Yeah, that's not going to happen. Honestly, I don't think this really means all that much, except that it gives me hope and encouragement that maybe, just maybe, this cycle will be a good one.
Showing posts with label IVF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IVF. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Mom was released, Dad was admitted
But, it's all OK. My mother was released today and is home and doing great!! I know I've said it before, but, really, the whole thing is miraculous.
My father went in for his angioplasty today, had a stent put in, and earned himself an overnight stay in the hospital. He's doing great and will be home tomorrow.
So, now, it's time to focus on me a little bit (I'm not forgetting about you, mom!). I went in for bloodwork and an ultrasound this morning and, woohoo, IVF #6 is officially underway!!
I'll write more later. For now, I'm off to start my shots!
My father went in for his angioplasty today, had a stent put in, and earned himself an overnight stay in the hospital. He's doing great and will be home tomorrow.
So, now, it's time to focus on me a little bit (I'm not forgetting about you, mom!). I went in for bloodwork and an ultrasound this morning and, woohoo, IVF #6 is officially underway!!
I'll write more later. For now, I'm off to start my shots!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
And, we're off!
I just put my first estrogen patch on my abdomen.
Irrational Fear #1 - the picture on the pamphlet that comes with the patches shows a woman with a cute little shape and flat stomach. Will the estrogen be able to successfully work its way through the roll of fat on my stomach??
Right on the package, it warns that the patch may cause dizziness.
Irrational Fear #2 - I'm out, running errands, and suddenly everything starts to spin. Funny, considering irrational fear #1 is that the patch won't even seep through the fat.
Regardless, I'm going to stay around the house today.
Next step - endometrial biopsy on Tuesday.
Irrational Fear #3 - I'm having MAJOR PMS. As Glenn will attest to, I've been a tad bitchy the last couple of days. My body has been really off this cycle. What if I get my period before the biopsy on Tuesday? If that happens, they won't be able to do it and we'll have to push everything back.....which leads to:
Irrational Fear #4 - what if I don't get my period on time. Again, my body was off this cycle. What if my period comes later than expected? Than, we'll be off timing from the estrogen patches and ganirelix shots I have to take tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday, again, causing us to have to delay.
I will freely admit that, given my level of bitchiness, irrational fear #4 is highly unlikely! She's-a-comin', just, hopefully, not too early.
Glenn just asked me if we are still looking at retrieval around Labor Day weekend. While, yes, in theory, that's when it would most likely be:
Rational Fear #1 - we've been here before. I've had 2 cancelled cycles because of low production, so, I don't take anything for granted. For me, it's one step at a time. Let's get past all of my irrational fears, begin stimming, and hope and pray that my response is decent enough to keep going.
One step at a time....
Irrational Fear #1 - the picture on the pamphlet that comes with the patches shows a woman with a cute little shape and flat stomach. Will the estrogen be able to successfully work its way through the roll of fat on my stomach??
Right on the package, it warns that the patch may cause dizziness.
Irrational Fear #2 - I'm out, running errands, and suddenly everything starts to spin. Funny, considering irrational fear #1 is that the patch won't even seep through the fat.
Regardless, I'm going to stay around the house today.
Next step - endometrial biopsy on Tuesday.
Irrational Fear #3 - I'm having MAJOR PMS. As Glenn will attest to, I've been a tad bitchy the last couple of days. My body has been really off this cycle. What if I get my period before the biopsy on Tuesday? If that happens, they won't be able to do it and we'll have to push everything back.....which leads to:
Irrational Fear #4 - what if I don't get my period on time. Again, my body was off this cycle. What if my period comes later than expected? Than, we'll be off timing from the estrogen patches and ganirelix shots I have to take tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday, again, causing us to have to delay.
I will freely admit that, given my level of bitchiness, irrational fear #4 is highly unlikely! She's-a-comin', just, hopefully, not too early.
Glenn just asked me if we are still looking at retrieval around Labor Day weekend. While, yes, in theory, that's when it would most likely be:
Rational Fear #1 - we've been here before. I've had 2 cancelled cycles because of low production, so, I don't take anything for granted. For me, it's one step at a time. Let's get past all of my irrational fears, begin stimming, and hope and pray that my response is decent enough to keep going.
One step at a time....
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Yep, I'm sort of re-using that title from a couple of weeks ago, but, it's appropriate for what I'm posting today and I just really don't have the energy to come up with something else.
The Good
That thing that they removed during my hysteroscopy/D&C on Friday was NOT cancerous or infected! It was simply an overgrowth of endometrial tissue. This was a huge, huge relief!!
The Bad
In my routine pre-op bloodwork, they found that I have the Anti-M antibody. My limited understanding at this time is that it is of no risk to me. The problem is that it can attack the blood of an unborn baby, through the placenta, and cause hemolytic disease to the baby, resulting in anywhere from the need for a blood transfusion to death. This is basically all that Dr. Expert told me about it. He thinks the risk is not too high, but, he has never seen this (in all of his vast years of experience - great, I have something that weird) and he wants me to see a hematologist. He recommended two in the city who specialize in maternal hematology so, I'm not going to play around and look for one in Jersey and I'm going to go see one of them. He said they need to assess the level of risk of me having a baby at all!
And, if the hematologist says that it's OK to go forward (with major caution - I will always be a high-risk pregnancy because of this), well, then, that still doesn't solve the whole infertility problem and I'm still putting all of my eggs (so to speak) in the basket of IVF #6 with the prayers that it works.
If anybody knows ANYTHING about the anti-M antibody, either in pregnancy (which you can find googling) or just in general, I would love to hear it, especially if you are TTC and had to meet with a hematologist yourself about it.
The Ugly
Me. I'm really trying not to sink into the depths of despair, to be cliche, but, I'm finding it difficult. I have another little blood issue that I haven't discussed here yet because I'm waiting for more information from a rheumatologist on it, but, between that and this and, oh yeah, still infertile, it's really hard not to be, I don't know sad and overwhelmed by it all. I have really felt that I've handled 3 years of infertility, 5 attempted IVF's, 2 cancelled IVF's, 2 IUI's, an ectopic, and a m/c pretty well. I guess finding out about these two blood things, particularly this last one, so late in the game, after having been through so much already, and wondering if my first clinic and Dr. Hope should have picked up on either or both of them, is really enough to make me want to yell UNCLE already and just go into hiding for a while.
I'm not going to. I'll push through this and see what the rheumatologist and the hematologist have to say and move on to IVF #6 if everyone agrees it's OK to do so. I'm just feeling really emotionally raw and ugly right now....
The Good
That thing that they removed during my hysteroscopy/D&C on Friday was NOT cancerous or infected! It was simply an overgrowth of endometrial tissue. This was a huge, huge relief!!
The Bad
In my routine pre-op bloodwork, they found that I have the Anti-M antibody. My limited understanding at this time is that it is of no risk to me. The problem is that it can attack the blood of an unborn baby, through the placenta, and cause hemolytic disease to the baby, resulting in anywhere from the need for a blood transfusion to death. This is basically all that Dr. Expert told me about it. He thinks the risk is not too high, but, he has never seen this (in all of his vast years of experience - great, I have something that weird) and he wants me to see a hematologist. He recommended two in the city who specialize in maternal hematology so, I'm not going to play around and look for one in Jersey and I'm going to go see one of them. He said they need to assess the level of risk of me having a baby at all!
And, if the hematologist says that it's OK to go forward (with major caution - I will always be a high-risk pregnancy because of this), well, then, that still doesn't solve the whole infertility problem and I'm still putting all of my eggs (so to speak) in the basket of IVF #6 with the prayers that it works.
If anybody knows ANYTHING about the anti-M antibody, either in pregnancy (which you can find googling) or just in general, I would love to hear it, especially if you are TTC and had to meet with a hematologist yourself about it.
The Ugly
Me. I'm really trying not to sink into the depths of despair, to be cliche, but, I'm finding it difficult. I have another little blood issue that I haven't discussed here yet because I'm waiting for more information from a rheumatologist on it, but, between that and this and, oh yeah, still infertile, it's really hard not to be, I don't know sad and overwhelmed by it all. I have really felt that I've handled 3 years of infertility, 5 attempted IVF's, 2 cancelled IVF's, 2 IUI's, an ectopic, and a m/c pretty well. I guess finding out about these two blood things, particularly this last one, so late in the game, after having been through so much already, and wondering if my first clinic and Dr. Hope should have picked up on either or both of them, is really enough to make me want to yell UNCLE already and just go into hiding for a while.
I'm not going to. I'll push through this and see what the rheumatologist and the hematologist have to say and move on to IVF #6 if everyone agrees it's OK to do so. I'm just feeling really emotionally raw and ugly right now....
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Clinic C + Dr. Expert = One More Chance?
It was a good appointment. Since we've been through so much already, he had a lot of data and history to look at! First of all, I really liked and appreciated his honesty. He, like Dr. Hope, talked about donor being a very viable option and one that would greatly increase our chances. He also realized that, if we decided to cycle, we are probably looking at one more chance before going to donor. I just really appreciated that he didn't try to tell us that there are multiple things we should try and we should do them there blah blah blah.
But, he did say that they have a protocol that he does think can be successful. They have seen women in exactly my position - normal FSH, low ovarian reserve, several failed IVF's - who have had success. He thinks they can get to a minimum of 4-5 eggs, but is not counting out 7 or 8. But, what's really different is that he is looking at a two-pronged approach - more eggs AND increased embryo quality.
The protocol is called estrogen priming. I'll write more about it another day, but, basically, it involves using estrogen and ganirelix before the cycle begins to try to get more follicles, and, therefore, hopefully, more eggs. For simulation, he recommends 450 of Follistim PLUS 150 Menopur. I've always done the 450 Follistim, so, this adds even more drug to the mix! And, he said that this is a long, slow protocol. That's going to be a lot of needles!
As for improving quality, he recommends a process called co-culture. Basically, they do an endometrial biopsy, take some of your lining, and then, when they have fertilized embryos, rather than putting them just in a dish to develop, they lay them on this blanket of your lining. I'll write more about this after I do some reseach. It makes perfect sense to me - put the embryos in an environment closest to in the uterus and they will be happier than in a plastic dish. Their studies have shown it to improve embryo quality (mine have all had 20-30% fragmentation). In fact, their patients who have the greatest success with it are 38 and have 3.1 failed IVF's. OK, I'll be 39 on Monday, but, still, that's pretty darn close to describing me!!
Finally, he knows I've had 2 saline sonograms and the results of those were fine, but, given that I've now had 2 pregnancy losses, he wants to look a little closer and just make sure there's nothing else going on in my uterus that might be impeding a successful pregnancy (small fibroids, polyps, scar tissue - things that can't be seen in a saline sonogram). So, I'm scheduled for a hysteroscopy at the end of this month.
All in all, I'm encouraged! Of course, I would have loved to hear that he thinks he can get 15 eggs, but, I knew that wouldn't be the case and, frankly, I'd have been very suspect if he had said that. I think he's being very realistic - he thinks this new protocol can really work for me, as it has for many other women in my situation - but he was also very open about if we had to make the decision to convert to IUI he would do it and not take us to retrieval.
Basically, in his words, if this protocol doesn't work for me, work being defined as getting a decent number of eggs/embryos, he doesn't think anything will work and would then advise us to move to donor eggs, although he does really believe this can be successful.
So, some hope. I have a lot to take in and I'm sure I'll have a more "feelings-based" post coming soon, after this more clinical one. I'm off to research!
But, he did say that they have a protocol that he does think can be successful. They have seen women in exactly my position - normal FSH, low ovarian reserve, several failed IVF's - who have had success. He thinks they can get to a minimum of 4-5 eggs, but is not counting out 7 or 8. But, what's really different is that he is looking at a two-pronged approach - more eggs AND increased embryo quality.
The protocol is called estrogen priming. I'll write more about it another day, but, basically, it involves using estrogen and ganirelix before the cycle begins to try to get more follicles, and, therefore, hopefully, more eggs. For simulation, he recommends 450 of Follistim PLUS 150 Menopur. I've always done the 450 Follistim, so, this adds even more drug to the mix! And, he said that this is a long, slow protocol. That's going to be a lot of needles!
As for improving quality, he recommends a process called co-culture. Basically, they do an endometrial biopsy, take some of your lining, and then, when they have fertilized embryos, rather than putting them just in a dish to develop, they lay them on this blanket of your lining. I'll write more about this after I do some reseach. It makes perfect sense to me - put the embryos in an environment closest to in the uterus and they will be happier than in a plastic dish. Their studies have shown it to improve embryo quality (mine have all had 20-30% fragmentation). In fact, their patients who have the greatest success with it are 38 and have 3.1 failed IVF's. OK, I'll be 39 on Monday, but, still, that's pretty darn close to describing me!!
Finally, he knows I've had 2 saline sonograms and the results of those were fine, but, given that I've now had 2 pregnancy losses, he wants to look a little closer and just make sure there's nothing else going on in my uterus that might be impeding a successful pregnancy (small fibroids, polyps, scar tissue - things that can't be seen in a saline sonogram). So, I'm scheduled for a hysteroscopy at the end of this month.
All in all, I'm encouraged! Of course, I would have loved to hear that he thinks he can get 15 eggs, but, I knew that wouldn't be the case and, frankly, I'd have been very suspect if he had said that. I think he's being very realistic - he thinks this new protocol can really work for me, as it has for many other women in my situation - but he was also very open about if we had to make the decision to convert to IUI he would do it and not take us to retrieval.
Basically, in his words, if this protocol doesn't work for me, work being defined as getting a decent number of eggs/embryos, he doesn't think anything will work and would then advise us to move to donor eggs, although he does really believe this can be successful.
So, some hope. I have a lot to take in and I'm sure I'll have a more "feelings-based" post coming soon, after this more clinical one. I'm off to research!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Follow-up to failed IVF #5
Another morning at the RE. Another appointment looking at my RE across the desk. Another morning grasping for the tissues as he tells me how incredibly strong I am and how amazed they all are with how far we've come and how dedicated we are to the whole process..... what an oxymoron - tell me I'm strong and I cry.
I really, truly love my RE, but, honestly, I didn't expect him to say anything different. We are where we are. I was really going to this appointment because I was concerned that we were triggered too early in this last cycle and wanted to express that to him. Well, he addressed it right away by telling us that, in reality, where we thought we had 2 immature eggs, we really had 1 immature and 1 overmature, so, we were probably triggered just right and, well, sorry Lis, it was just another lousy cycle.
He also told us that my estrogen levels were a third lower than in the previous cycle, the one where we got 4 good eggs. He said that we can now use that as a barometer for what might be a better cycle for me. I guess hindsight is 20-20, but, I wish we had known that little fact before moving forward with this last cycle.
He does still very strongly encourage donor egg, but, says that we are still very open to continuing to try with my eggs. He had an intriguing recommendation for us to think about - do a donor cycle, which we could do fairly quickly because we are already at the top of the match list, and then, after giving birth (assuming we had a successful donor cycle, which he puts at 70-80%) come back and try again with my eggs, but fairly soon after giving birth (3-4 months). He said that, based on my FSH, which has always been good, he doesn't see a rapid decline in my already very low egg production over the next year and a half. It's an interesting idea....one that requires some contemplation.....
We have decided to go ahead and go for a consultation at a third clinic (we went for a 2nd opinion somewhere else in March '07), where I've have heard cases of women with low egg production having amazing results . I'm not expecting any miracles. Rather, my hope is that they'll be very honest with me and either say they think they can get more eggs out of me or they can't. I love where I go currently. I think I just need to know I've tried everything.
Whatever they say, we'll cross that bridge when the time comes (literally, lol, the new clinic is "over the bridge" in NYC!).
I really, truly love my RE, but, honestly, I didn't expect him to say anything different. We are where we are. I was really going to this appointment because I was concerned that we were triggered too early in this last cycle and wanted to express that to him. Well, he addressed it right away by telling us that, in reality, where we thought we had 2 immature eggs, we really had 1 immature and 1 overmature, so, we were probably triggered just right and, well, sorry Lis, it was just another lousy cycle.
He also told us that my estrogen levels were a third lower than in the previous cycle, the one where we got 4 good eggs. He said that we can now use that as a barometer for what might be a better cycle for me. I guess hindsight is 20-20, but, I wish we had known that little fact before moving forward with this last cycle.
He does still very strongly encourage donor egg, but, says that we are still very open to continuing to try with my eggs. He had an intriguing recommendation for us to think about - do a donor cycle, which we could do fairly quickly because we are already at the top of the match list, and then, after giving birth (assuming we had a successful donor cycle, which he puts at 70-80%) come back and try again with my eggs, but fairly soon after giving birth (3-4 months). He said that, based on my FSH, which has always been good, he doesn't see a rapid decline in my already very low egg production over the next year and a half. It's an interesting idea....one that requires some contemplation.....
We have decided to go ahead and go for a consultation at a third clinic (we went for a 2nd opinion somewhere else in March '07), where I've have heard cases of women with low egg production having amazing results . I'm not expecting any miracles. Rather, my hope is that they'll be very honest with me and either say they think they can get more eggs out of me or they can't. I love where I go currently. I think I just need to know I've tried everything.
Whatever they say, we'll cross that bridge when the time comes (literally, lol, the new clinic is "over the bridge" in NYC!).
Thursday, March 20, 2008
I'm nervous
We're meeting with my RE tomorrow morning to talk about the last failed cycle and what happens next. Now, that, in and of itself, doesn't make me nervous. Hell, I've had that conversation more times than I can remember. I'm nervous because I have to be a little confrontational and I HATE being confrontational. Something happened in the last cycle that I wasn't happy about and I need to address that with him tomorrow. I'm not sure what kind of resolution I might get (I know what I want!), but, just having to do it sets my stomach a-twitter. Yes, I said a-twitter.
By the way, "last failed cycle" sounds kind of funny, doesn't it? It should suffice to say "last cycle" because it's not as if we have a failed cycle and then two successful cycles, so, we need to specif that we need to talk about the last failed cycle. Of course the last cycle failed....or we wouldn't be talking about it now, would we?!
OK, I'll stop now........
Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday to my sister today.
By the way, "last failed cycle" sounds kind of funny, doesn't it? It should suffice to say "last cycle" because it's not as if we have a failed cycle and then two successful cycles, so, we need to specif that we need to talk about the last failed cycle. Of course the last cycle failed....or we wouldn't be talking about it now, would we?!
OK, I'll stop now........
Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday to my sister today.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Just doubled our chances!
Let me first say that I feel so lucky that we have infertility insurance company. My heart breaks for those people who don't and my undying respect goes out to you for finding ways to cycle without coverage.
To make a long story short, we did our 1st IVF under one insurance company and then changed and did our last two IVF's (two in between were cancelled) under a different company. The second company covers 4 lifetime and we had been told that they would count the one done under the previous company. So, we believed we only had 1 chance left (did you follow all of that?).
Until today, that is. Today. Glorious (albeit rainy and dreary), wonderful today. I found out today that the 2nd insurance company does not count the one done under the 1st insurance company!
We don't have 1 left.......we have 2 left!! 2! Twice as many as I thought we had! We don't have to make any drastic decisions yet! We get to keep trying with my eggs!
I'm so excited I'm actually shaking!
To make a long story short, we did our 1st IVF under one insurance company and then changed and did our last two IVF's (two in between were cancelled) under a different company. The second company covers 4 lifetime and we had been told that they would count the one done under the previous company. So, we believed we only had 1 chance left (did you follow all of that?).
Until today, that is. Today. Glorious (albeit rainy and dreary), wonderful today. I found out today that the 2nd insurance company does not count the one done under the 1st insurance company!
We don't have 1 left.......we have 2 left!! 2! Twice as many as I thought we had! We don't have to make any drastic decisions yet! We get to keep trying with my eggs!
I'm so excited I'm actually shaking!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Mind Games
It's funny how the mind can play games on you. Even when you know something can't be true, the mind still, somehow, lets you believe there's a possibility. There is no way I can be pregnant this month. None. Nada. Negative. Can't possibly be, trust me, Glenn's heart attack means nothing happened this month that could result in pregnancy!
Yet, each day that goes by, my mind thinks, hmmm, maybe they were wrong. Maybe that last IVF really did work and, even though the beta was negative, well, maybe it was just a late implanter. Maybe it floated around in there for weeks and just now decided to grow. Maybe I'm an anomaly of science and all that the medical world knows about how pregnancy starts was wrong......
OK, OK, back to reality. I know it's not true. I know it can't be. There's just no way.
BUT, wouldn't it be wonderful..............
In other news, I needed something new, something fresh. So, I let my stylist color my hair this funky new color yesterday. It's a darker brown than what I've had, called Brown Chili Pepper, and it has these red, really red, streaks through it. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but, I straightened my hair today and I think I LOVE it!! Those who know me know that major hair color changes are extremely daring for me! Like I said, time for a change. Yea, me!!
Yet, each day that goes by, my mind thinks, hmmm, maybe they were wrong. Maybe that last IVF really did work and, even though the beta was negative, well, maybe it was just a late implanter. Maybe it floated around in there for weeks and just now decided to grow. Maybe I'm an anomaly of science and all that the medical world knows about how pregnancy starts was wrong......
OK, OK, back to reality. I know it's not true. I know it can't be. There's just no way.
BUT, wouldn't it be wonderful..............
In other news, I needed something new, something fresh. So, I let my stylist color my hair this funky new color yesterday. It's a darker brown than what I've had, called Brown Chili Pepper, and it has these red, really red, streaks through it. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but, I straightened my hair today and I think I LOVE it!! Those who know me know that major hair color changes are extremely daring for me! Like I said, time for a change. Yea, me!!
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Past is Past
I sent a long email to my girlfriends yesterday about how angry I am right now. I can't believe how starting this blog last night has helped me to channel that anger!! But, before moving forward, I want to elaborate a bit on what's happened, for anyone who doesn't know about our last couple of years. My hope is that getting it out, writing it down, will let me move past it and, hopefully, I'll have happy things to post going forward (OK, a girl can hope, can't she?)!
My infertility cycle history is listed to the right. As anyone who has gone through any infertility treatments knows, to limit the description of a cycle to 8-10 words is doing it such a disservice. The emotions you go through would fill this page! But, that's my history, my past, at least for now. As we decide what to do in the future (cycle again?), I'll go into more of those feelings and emotions.
So, what else has happened that led to such anger. I'll try to keep it brief!
During IVF #1 - our 9 year old nephew was in the hospital and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and my dad was in the hospital where they found blocked arteries and performed angioplasty.
During IVF #2/IUI #1 - my mother was admitted to the hospital in complete renal failure. It was a terrible week. She now goes for dialysis 3x a week and will soon be on the kidney transplant waitlist.
During the preparation for IVF #3 (we had hoped to start, but, my body stopped ovulating) - my wonderful uncle, who we were extremely close with, lost his year long battle to leukemia. It had been a long year, with many hospital stays (including one for a whole month). This was the first eulogy I gave in 2007.
During IVF #3 - Glenn's dear uncle passed away after his several month long battle with cancer.
During IVF #4 - we put our house on the market. Six months later, it's still on, with no offer in sight.
During my miscarriage - my dad was back in the hospital for unexplained internal bleeding. Thankfully it stopped and, although he continues to go for tests, we're hoping it's nothing serious.
Right after my miscarriage - 3.5 weeks after my D&C, my wonderful grandmother passed away (eulogy #2). While it certainly wasn't a shock, it was quite unexpected.
During IVF #5 - The hardest of them all. Towards the end of my two week wait after IVF #5, Glenn had a heart attack. It happened at 11:00 at night. We went to the hospital by ambulance where they confirmed he was having a heart attack and he was rushed into the cath lab, where an emergency angioplasty was performed. Thank G-d he was OK! But, while he was still in the ICU recovering, I had to go for the bloodwork to confirm that IVF #5 was a bust. Glenn had to have another angioplasty performed two weeks after getting out of the hospital, but, all went well and he (and we) are on the mend!
Whew!! Glad that's all done - it was quite therapeutic!! Now I feel like I can say "the past is past" and I'm ready to move on and hope for better times!
My infertility cycle history is listed to the right. As anyone who has gone through any infertility treatments knows, to limit the description of a cycle to 8-10 words is doing it such a disservice. The emotions you go through would fill this page! But, that's my history, my past, at least for now. As we decide what to do in the future (cycle again?), I'll go into more of those feelings and emotions.
So, what else has happened that led to such anger. I'll try to keep it brief!
During IVF #1 - our 9 year old nephew was in the hospital and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and my dad was in the hospital where they found blocked arteries and performed angioplasty.
During IVF #2/IUI #1 - my mother was admitted to the hospital in complete renal failure. It was a terrible week. She now goes for dialysis 3x a week and will soon be on the kidney transplant waitlist.
During the preparation for IVF #3 (we had hoped to start, but, my body stopped ovulating) - my wonderful uncle, who we were extremely close with, lost his year long battle to leukemia. It had been a long year, with many hospital stays (including one for a whole month). This was the first eulogy I gave in 2007.
During IVF #3 - Glenn's dear uncle passed away after his several month long battle with cancer.
During IVF #4 - we put our house on the market. Six months later, it's still on, with no offer in sight.
During my miscarriage - my dad was back in the hospital for unexplained internal bleeding. Thankfully it stopped and, although he continues to go for tests, we're hoping it's nothing serious.
Right after my miscarriage - 3.5 weeks after my D&C, my wonderful grandmother passed away (eulogy #2). While it certainly wasn't a shock, it was quite unexpected.
During IVF #5 - The hardest of them all. Towards the end of my two week wait after IVF #5, Glenn had a heart attack. It happened at 11:00 at night. We went to the hospital by ambulance where they confirmed he was having a heart attack and he was rushed into the cath lab, where an emergency angioplasty was performed. Thank G-d he was OK! But, while he was still in the ICU recovering, I had to go for the bloodwork to confirm that IVF #5 was a bust. Glenn had to have another angioplasty performed two weeks after getting out of the hospital, but, all went well and he (and we) are on the mend!
Whew!! Glad that's all done - it was quite therapeutic!! Now I feel like I can say "the past is past" and I'm ready to move on and hope for better times!
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