Wanna See A Picture of My Kids?

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aren't they cute?

Plans for "wasted" vacation day #2:

• I'm taking Bo to daycamp today so he can get a break from protecting me from his own reflection in the glass front of the fireplace. Bo HATES fireplace puppy.
• I scheduled a massage to use the gift certificate Tony got me for Christmas.
• Sewing, sewing, sewing

As the wife of an educator I just LOVE staying home while my husband goes to work, usually it is the other way around.

Day 3 Report

No transfer today.

Because..."there are too many good ones to chose from."

So here are the stats for all you math nerds out there (my clinic grades embryos 1 through 3 with 1 being the best):

12 cell, grade 2
9 cell, grade 1
9 cell, grade 2
9 cell, grade 2
8 cell, grade 2
8 cell, grade 2
7 cell, grade 1
7 cell, grade 1
7 cell, grade 2
6 cell, grade 3
2 arrested

Wow. Good stuff.

So transfer will be Friday if these little guys keep growing. I feel mixed about delaying the transfer to a day 5. I'd feel more confident if I had some more grade 1 embryos. (I apologize to my fellow poor responders for that statement.) However, I still feel like hell from my retrieval so I am happy to have a couple more days to recover.

The bad news: I already took today, Thursday, and Friday off work. I decided not to tell my boss about this cycle (I haven't told anyone IRL this time and now I am too superstitious to say anything). There is just too much going on at work for me to drop everything and run out the door without a little planning. Instead of stressing about how I was going to make my getaway I decided to just take the days off and worst case scenario I would burn a few vacation days.

So I'm off to the fabric store and the book store and the dog park. areyoukiddingme asked what I have been sewing. Well, I have sewn a couple pillow covers, some bags, and I am finishing up endlessly hand stitching the binding on a quilt. Since I'll have a lot of time on my hands maybe I'll post some pictures in the next couple days.

PS. I am overwhelmed by the support I have been receiving. Thank you so much.

Fertilization Report

Of the 32 eggs...

26 were mature...

and 12 fertilized normally...

Go twelve go!

Prepare to Have Your Minds Blown

[I just woke up from my post anesthesia coma and my husband has confirmed all these facts].

I awoke to the nurse telling me that they retrieved twenty six eggs.

I didn't believe them. I asked them to double check.

Then they came back and told me that they retrieved thirty two eggs.

They asked Tony to go rub one out again to make sure they had enough good sperm.

I got to drink some Sprite while I waited.

If this were my first IVF I would be super excited right now, but this is my fifth attempt. I can only assume that something will go wrong.

Some Quick Updates

• My US went well today. Still lots of follicles and they are growing. I may stim one more day depending on my E2 levels as there are some follicles that we still want to grow a bit. Retreival will most likely be on Sunday.
• My RE and I had a "come to Jesus" meeting where I told him that I wanted to make sure I transferred something. I said, "I know that you think that if embryos don't make it to day five they are crap, but I don't care. I might want to put some back on day three anyway and I want to make sure I'll have that option." His solution...consecutive transfers. He wants to put back two on day three and another one or two on day five (if we have it). Then he gave me some articles which basically said that consecutive transfer might help and can't hurt. Has anyone ever done such a thing? What do you think?
• This is one reason I've grown to love my RE. He is always so optimistic, always willing to try new things, and let's me call the shots within reason. He's a real gem.

Uncomfortable

I am feeling very uncomfortable.

I couldn't stay asleep last night.

Is this how I always feel at this point?

Have I forgotten?

Or is this how you feel when you have more than five or six follicles growing?

Maybe they are growing too big.

And my ovaries will explode like the Death Star.

Or maybe they are fizzling away.

I hate this time between ultrasounds.

I hate not knowing what is going on inside me.

Guessing at symptoms.

Or lack of symptoms.

Good news or bad news?

I guess I will find out tomorrow.

Holy Follicles, Batman!

I could set this post up by saying that I started getting nervous last night. I started to prepare myself for the possibility that everything could all be over at today’s ultrasound. I could be cancelled. It could all be over. It’s happened before.

But I won’t do that. Instead I will cut to the chase and let you know the results of today’s CD9 ultrasound.

Holy Crap. I’ve never seen so many follicles before. My left ovary had three measurable follicles with three or four to hopefully catch up. My right ovary (always the overachiever) had seven or eight measurable follicles.

I can’t believe it.

I’ve learned the hard way that with IVF you have to take it one day at a time. Each milestone passed is just another hurdle crossed and no indication of future success. I’ve read that sometimes ladies get more follicles with HGH, but the quality is still not improved. Quantity means nothing without quality.

But all that being said, this is the best response I’ve had at this point in the game so I can’t help but feel somewhat optimistic.

If anything, it beats being cancelled.