Pregnancy Update: 10 Weeks

Today marks the beginning of the 10th week of this pregnancy. I am officially 1/4th of the way there! I'm not quite showing yet, but we started taking weekly progress pictures a few weeks ago so we can keep track of how plump I am getting!

That's just an orange peel rolled up to look like a Kumquat.

Crazy pregnancy dreams are here in full swing! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had a dream about an argument with my mom over our baby having green eyes. I thought that was strange at the time, but that was nothing compared to some of the more recent ones. Last night I dreamt that Brian's uncle gave our baby to a giant bird and it dropped it from way up in the air. I woke up in the middle of the night extremely upset that he had given our baby to a bird. I even woke Brian up in the middle of the night and had a hard time getting back to sleep.

On a lighter note, Brian and I were talking the other day, and we realized that in all of my dreams the baby is a girl. The crazy thing is that the few dreams that Brian has had about the baby, it has also been a girl. So many women who I have spoken to said "I just knew it was a boy/girl". At first I thought it was a boy but that has gone away and now I have no idea. The dreams lead me to think it might be a girl but other than that I have no feeling one way or another. We won't be finding out any time soon as we are waiting till the baby is born to find out! At least that's the plan for now!

Last time I was at the doctor I asked him if I could take zicam while pregnant. He didn't know what that was and the resident with him said "it's that zinc cold remedy." He immediately said I could take that and shouldn't have any problems. Flash forward to this week and I have an annoying cold. I asked Brian to get me some zicam from Target while he was at work. Well, he just happened to talk to the pharmacist and she was very uncomfortable with pregnant women using Zicam. Apparently high levels of zinc have shown to cause premature birth. Plus it isn't regulated by the FDA so they don't have to say exactly what is in it. I'll be asking my doctor and a pharmacist from now on!

Other than having a cold, I feel pretty good. The nausea has gone away for the most part other than a few instances of instant upchuck. I was brushing my teeth this morning and with no warning threw up in the sink. I wasn't nauseous or anything; it just happened and it was disgusting. Certain smells are really getting to me still. Brian made french onion soup the other day and it smelled so bad to me I couldn't even sit next to him while he ate it. He did however make a great chicken noodle soup from scratch that I have had almost every day this week.

I haven't gained any weight so far, which is amazing because I have been all about the Christmas cookies lately. My work is filled with goodies brought in by caregivers and treats sent in from clients. It's really rather ridiculous how many cookies I have eaten in the past couple weeks. It hasn't seemed to have any impact on the scale though,, which I guess is normal at this point. I've read that most women don't gain any weight during their first trimester but I've also read that I should start to gain right about now. I've always struggled with my weight so being concerned that i haven't gained weight is totally new for me!

I have my first appointment with a regular OBGYN on January 4th. This is just with the nurse to get my medical history and go through office policy. My appointment with the actual Doctor is on the 11th at which point they will do another ultrasound. I'll be 13 weeks along at that point and can't wait to see how baby Retzlaff has grown!

- Emily

Ultrasound # 2 - 8 Weeks 4 Days

We got to see the baby again today and he/she is doing wonderfully! We could actually make out what the baby looks like and it doesn't just look like a blob anymore. Dr. Dodds, who did my egg retrieval, and a resident performed the ultrasound today. They joked about whether the baby looks more like a gummy bear or a weeble at this point. A few weeks ago the baby was about the size of a blueberry, even though it has grown quite a bit, we have all kind of taken a liking to calling it "blueberry". I even texted my mom the other day and said "blueberry is the size of a raspberry now!" Who knows, maybe the nickname will stick. ;)

Two little feet up in the right hand corner, two little arms on the sides and a giant head! 

Halfway through the ultrasound, Dr. Dodds asked if I had my phone. He said we were going to have some fun now that I'm almost 9 weeks. He flipped to a different screen and we could hear the baby's heartbeat! 

This ultrasound was a lot more exciting than the last one. The last ultrasound we got to see our baby for the first time, which was incredible. This one was just so much more detailed. They pointed out the umbilical cord that is forming and the yolk sac that is going away as it is no longer needed. We got to see the little arms and legs and we even saw the baby move. At one moment all four of us were exclaiming "it moved" and "did you see that". 

We all sat in an office after the ultrasound and went over everything. Once we were done, Dr. Dodds said we didn't need to come back and that I should see my regular OB in the next couple weeks. I'll stay on the Progesterone for 17 more days and the Estrogen for 10 more days. I will be happy to be done with the Progesterone! 

My morning sickness is almost completely gone and I've gotten used to the exhaustion. Being overly tired is just a normal part of my day at this point, My boobs hurt really bad and they seem to have grown a bit...which was unnecessary as far as I'm concerned. I know it's all part of the incredible process of creating another human being. 

While I am happy to be far enough along in my pregnancy to see a regular doctor, It is definitely bittersweet to say goodbye to the staff at The Fertility Center. They have been there along this whole journey with us and they all seem genuinely excited when things go right for their patients. I'll have to drop off some Christmas cookies for everyone in the next couple weeks. 

-Emily

Ultrasound #1 6 Weeks 4 days

We got to see our baby for the first time today! A little blob on the screen that we have awaited for oh-so long! Everything looks great so far and the baby is right on track. He/She is currently measuring 6 weeks and 1 day, when in reality I am 6 weeks and 4 days along. The doctor said that is still within range and it could just be how the baby is positioned.

See that little blob up on the left side?? :)

When I went in for ultrasounds of my ovaries while they were stimulating egg growth, they were just fuzzy pictures but this was so clear. We could see the heartbeat right away. It was just a little flicker up in the corner, but Brian pointed it out right away. The heartbeat is 118 beats per minute, which is right on track with how far along I am. It looks like just a tiny blob at this point, but it's incredible to think of how much he/she has grown over the past few weeks. In just a few weeks it has gone from a microscopic group of cells to the size of a blueberry and it will just keep growing as time goes on. 

I have been saying all along that I think the baby is a boy. I don't know why, I just feel like it is going to be a boy. That was until last night. I had an incredibly vivid dream that We had a baby girl with green eyes. I had a long conversation with my mom in my dream where she was explaining that the baby couldn't have green eyes because Brian and I both have blue eyes. I have no idea if that is true or not, but in my dream I believed I knew what I was talking about. That little girl was mine, green eyes and all! 

This past week I have felt sick most of the time. I have only actually thrown up a few times, but I feel like I am going to throw up all day long. I have a stash of Saltines in my nightstand, my car, my desk drawer and even my purse. Brian got me these little candies called "preggie pop drops". They are slightly sour and have essential oils that are supposed to help with the nausea. I think the sour taste just tricks your brain into focussing on something other than the nausea. They do seem to take the edge off when I'm feeling extra crappy. I'll keep the nausea if it means this baby will continue growing. Our next ultrasound is in 2 weeks and we can see how much our little blueberry has grown! 

- Emily

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Maybe it's the hormones making me all warm and fuzzy, but this year I have so many things to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for our parents. They have been so incredibly supportive throughout this entire process. They have celebrated with us when things went our way and listened to us when things got hard. It has been so great to see the excitement they share for our good news and has really been uplifting to Brian and I.  When the baby arrives we know we will have a great emotional support system when the sleep deprivation kicks in.

I am thankful for our families and friends. We have the most incredible support system and knowing so many people were rooting for us and praying for us. I am also thankful for all the people who we don't even know who have taken an interest in our journey. This blog has been read over 4500 times by people all over the world, even as far as Russia and Kenya. I don't even know anyone who lives in most of these places! I am thankful that the internet connects us all so easily and I hope that someday this blog will help someone else who may be in a similar situation.

I'm even thankful for the morning sickness that has finally kicked in because that means my body is doing what it is supposed to! I had a moment the other day where I freaked out that the tests may have all been wrong and I actually wasn't pregnant. I wasn't feeling sick and I didn't have any of the other normal symptoms other than sleepiness. I actually went as far as to take a home pregnancy test just to ease my mind. It said I was pregnant and I went on with my day. I am sure at some point I will change my mind, but for now I am thankful for the nausea...and saltines!

Finally, I'm thankful for this baby growing inside my belly. I'm thankful that this child will be given a chance to grow up without the constant pain that his or her father lives with every day. I have an app on my phone that tells me how big the baby is and each day it says how the baby is developing and growing. It has been so cool to see how each day it is different. This week he or she started growing little nubs where their arms and eyes will be. and is about the size of a peppercorn. Soon we will be able to hear the heartbeat and actually see an ultrasound picture of our baby.

I hope everyone has someone to spend thanksgiving with and please find something to be thankful for.

- Emily

5 weeks Pregnant: No More Injections!

Tomorrow I will officially be 5 weeks pregnant and I feel great! I haven't had any nausea or bloating whatsoever. I am continuing to be extremely tired in the evenings though and I'm usually in bed by 8PM. My eyes also seem to be feeling really dry. I haven't been able to wear my contacts much at all and have switched to wearing my glasses a lot more. If I didn't already know I was pregnant, I probably would have no clue that I was pregnant!

I went in for another blood test last Friday to check how my Hcg was increasing. It had risen 136% from 174mlU/ml all the way up to 411mlu/ml. They look for it to increase by at lease 80% if not double, so this is great news! I have my first OB appointment at the fertility center on the 28th and I think we will get to hear our baby's heartbeat!

When I say I am done with injections, that does not mean I am done with the medications. I have to continue taking Progesterone until I am 11 weeks pregnant and Estrogen till I am 10 weeks pregnant. These help support the baby until the placenta is fully formed and I am through the first trimester. I really haven't had that much trouble with the progesterone injections, that is until earlier this week when my backside began to resemble something akin to an ugly pumpkin!

Yes...like that, but not orange!

I broke out in giant, red, itchy hives around each injection site. I called The Fertility Center that day and they said I had probably developed a sensitivity to the sesame oil that they put the progesterone in. Apparently this is not too uncommon. They said my next option was to try a progesterone injection with a different type of oil. They sent in the prescription for Progesterone in Ethyl Oleate hoping that a synthetic oil would help stop the hives. Only problem is my insurance will not cover anything other than sesame oil and the out of pocket cost would be around $150 for just 3 vials. I only paid $4 per vial for the Progesterone in sesame oil.

In an effort to save some money, my doctor has switched me to a vaginal capsule 3 times a day which are only $8 for 90 pills. The capsules seems like they will be annoying, but it will definitely be worth the savings. The hives seem like just a localized reaction, but they did tell me I will need to be extra careful the next time I eat anything with sesame in it. While they hope it will not be an issue, I may have developed an actual allergy to sesame. I'll just need to be careful and be aware that I may have a reaction in the future.

Switching to the capsules means I am 100% done with all of the injections!!! We started this journey back in September and My final poke count is exactly 100!! I had to have 2 pokes one day this week because I ran out of the medication before the next vial was delivered. We had to do one injection in the morning with about 1/3 of my dosage and another injection at night with the remainder.

On another note, it seems as though Renly, our dog, knows something is going on. He has been glued to my side for the past week or so and has just been super clingy. The other night he seemed like he had to go to the bathroom, so Brian got up to let him out. He ran over to my side of the bed and wouldn't budge even when Brian tried to coax him with food. Finally I got up with him and had no problem getting him to go out.

I have heard of animals acting differently when someone is pregnant, but I wouldn't think that it would happen so early. I looked up some info online and a few different articles suggest that the hormone changes cause your scent to change. Humans cant tell, but animals can sense a change and they innately become more protective of you. I like to think he is just as excited as we are and wants to protect the baby. ;)

-Emily

Pregnancy Test Results!

Our hearts are full today with wonderful news; I am pregnant!!!

I found out Wednesday morning. Yes, I know I told everyone that the blood test was scheduled for Thursday, but....I lied! I lied to everyone, including Brian! It started out as an accident where I had the calendar for a 3-day embryo transfer instead of the 5-day transfer which really is only an 8 day wait. Plus, Brian had mentioned a while ago that he was kind of sad that we wouldn't have that moment together of me surprising him with the news that I was pregnant. I thought if he already thought the test was a day later, let him believe that! So I did my best to keep him from figuring out the actual date. The day of the embryo transfer the nurse held up a paper with "November 9" written in big letters. I practically snatched it from her hands before Brian noticed the date and just went on with the plan. Later that day I wrote the blood test on our calendar on the 10th and he didn't say anything about it so I assumed he was still planning on Thursday.

I also thought it would be nice to have a cushion day in there. If the test came back positive, we would have a day to tell our families before announcing it to everyone else. If it came back negative I would have a little bit of time to gather my thoughts before people started asking about the results. I took a pregnancy test on Monday morning and it said error. I didn't even know that was a thing! It was one of the digital ones and there was an hourglass icon and a little book icon with an arrow. The pamphlet in the box said it was an error warning. I just threw it away and texted Brian that apparently I wasn't supposed to know early. A while later I wondered if the hourglass icon meant it might still show a result so I dug it out of the trash and it said "pregnant"! I was obviously excited, but I knew it might not be correct due to the error warning so I decided I still wouldn't say anything to Brian.

I got to the lab super early Wednesday morning, just hoping they were open early that day! I sat in my car and flipped through channels trying to find a station that wasn't talking about the election and finally ran inside when I saw someone else go in early. I was in and out in 15 minutes and the lady who drew my blood said I should know in a few hours.

Finally, my phone rang at 10:30am and it was Ashley! I could hear it on her voice that she had good news. I walked out of the office and took the call in the hallway but I'm pretty sure everyone in the building heard me yell" oh my gosh, really?!?!" It seemed like she took forever to finally just spit it out! I went back to my desk and was literally shaking from excitement. I tried to hide it from my coworkers but I'm sure they noticed something was off from 5 minutes earlier. I was anxious to get home and tell Brian the good news. I had to tell someone so on lunch I told the dog he was going to be a big brother. I told Brian right when I got home from work and he was totally surprised. Of course, we had to tell our parents right away.

We went over to my moms house and waited for her to get home from work. She rolled down the car window and i just blurted "I'm pregnant!". She lept out of the car screaming and gave us big hugs! We visited for a while and then drove to Fruitport to tell Brian's parents. They were surprised to see us at the door at 7:30pm. Brian's dad opened the door, said "what are you guys doing here?" And again I just blurted it out! I'm not very good at this whole giving big news thing. He yelled for Brian's  Mom and she started jumping up and down. It was a night of hugs, "wow's" and phone calls to family. One family member even offered to buy me a silver bucket to puke into when I start getting sick.

So, I'm pregnant! We are going to have a baby!!! I go back for another blood test on Friday to make sure my hcG levels are increasing as they should. They want them to increase by at least 80% if not double. My next appointment is November 29th and until then we will pray for our baby to continue growing strong and healthy!

Our first family photo! 

-Emily

The Two Week Wait

In IVF world, they call it the "two week wait", even though it is really only 10 days. Online IVF forums are filled with people asking IVF veterans tons of questions about what happened during their 2WW. This has made me feel a whole heck of a lot less crazy over the past 4-5 days. I have joined the club of women in their 2WW who want answers to every little thing they feel or think they might feel.

It's a strange feeling knowing that something so incredible could be going on inside my body and I could feel absolutely nothing! A baby could literally be beginning to grow and I wouldn't be able to tell at all. I keep saying "I should feel something, right?" That was until yesterday. I thought I might have felt something strange and my mindset switched to "no, there's no way I could feel that this soon!"

Friday afternoon, I started feeling these little twinge-y pains in what felt like my ovaries. The same feeling I had when I was on the stims medication. I looked it up online (always a reliable source) and found story after story of how other women have felt these same things during their 2WW. Some say it is implantation pain, others say it is my ovaries starting to produce more hormones...I must be pregnant, right?!? I also woke up early this morning with my calf muscles cramping up like never before. Online it says that this can be an early sign of pregnancy, but I am not totally convinced on this one yet.

I know it is absolutely insane for me to be analyzing every little feeling I get at this moment, but I can't help it. I just have to wait around and believe I am pregnant, while also knowing that I might not be pregnant...It would drive anyone batty. Until the pregnancy test on Thursday, life goes on. We are still dealing with the progesterone shots at this point, which have proved to be a major stressor for both Brian and myself. The shots themselves really aren't that bad, but we have both had horrible dreams about these shots.

I dreamt that I tried to give myself the shot and when I checked for blood in the syringe, blood started pouring out like a lame horror movie. Brian's dream was even weirder. He dreamt that it was time to move on to the next stage of shots, where he would have to inject a live baby eel into my muscle. He said the weirdest part was that in his dream, I was totally fine with this and thought it was no big deal. While I have gotten used to the shots themselves, my backside has turned into one big, lumpy bruise. I have lumps on both sides about the size of a tennis ball. You can't really see them, but I keep making Brian "feel how big the lumps are now!" He hasn't been amused so far.

Next Thursday will be a big day for us. On top of the Pregnancy test, my good friend, Brandon, will be in town for the day from Seattle. We are going to grab lunch on his way through town to visit his brother. When Brian realized this was on the same day as the test he said "he better not know before I do!" As if I would ever do that! The nurse at The Fertility Center said if we want to know the same day as the test, I should go in the morning. Of course, I found a lab that is open at 7AM, so I can find out ASAP. Hopefully they call after I leave work for the day so I don't have to hide my excitement from my co-workers. I realize that this could be sadness, but for now I am thinking positive!

- Emily

Embryo Transfer

IVF Cycle Day 54 : Poke Count:82

Today was the day! The day we had been anxiously anticipating for so long! Today we went in for our embryo transfer.

Sexy hospital gown selfie!

Last night was far from restful. I had a dream that they thawed all of our embryos, only one of them survived and I didn't even get pregnant. I woke up at around 3:00 this morning and I don't think I ever truly went back to sleep. I would nod off and then wake right back up again. Finally around 7:30, I decided to just get out of bed for the day. I woke Brian up at 8:00 to do my Progesterone shot and took my Valium & Estrogen at 8:15AM. We had to be at The Fertility Center at 9:15AM and the embryo transfer was scheduled for 9:45AM.

They took us right back to get changed into our gowns and went over a paper of instructions for the rest of the day. Within 5 minutes we were headed to the procedure room. They confirmed my name and date of birth and then had me confirm that we would be transferring one embryo. Dr. S let us know that they only had to thaw one embryo and they still have 3 healthy embryos frozen for future transfers! They even handed us a picture of our embryo that we got to see! It had just been thawed so the edges are pretty rough. She said as moisture continues to enter the embryo, the edges will even out.

I layed there for a minute just looking at the picture and waiting for everything to get started. Out of nowhere Brian started laughing and singing along with the music they had playing in the procedure room....Marvin Gaye's "Lets get it on". Appropriate for an embryo transfer, I think! The nurse started laughing along with him and soon we were all giggling like idiots. After only a few moments it was go time!

The nurse used an ultrasound to look at my uterus while Dr. S threaded a catheter through my cervix. Dr. S told the embryologist she was ready for the embryo and they brought it in from the lab right next door. Dr. S had us look at the monitor on the ultrasound and we saw a little white flash where the embryo was pushed out of the catheter. Dr. S said the embryo will implant into the lining of my uterus over the next few days. Then she took the catheter out and it was all over. It all happened so fast! We went to change back into our clothes and I actually asked the front desk receptionist "So, we can just go? That's it?" I expected to have to lay there for a while before we could leave. I guess I thought the embryo would fall out or something! We wound up walking out the door at 9:42AM, that's 3 minutes prior to our scheduled procedure time!

We spent most of the day at home.  Around 1PM, I got restless so we went out to grab some lunch. I was still feeling a little "off" from the Valium this morning so I layed back down when we got home. We have had so many people reach out today to let us know we are in their thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it all so so so much! The next 10 days are going to be absolute torture waiting for the blood test!

-Emily

IVF Cycle: The Home Stretch

IVF Cycle: Day 48 Poke count: 76

The past few weeks have been extremely uneventful as far as our IVF cycle goes.  We went to visit our good friend Kat this past weekend as she starts her new adventure in Toronto. She and her husband, Nate, will be living there for the next couple years due to his job. Brian and I had some excitement on the way up there when we realized we would need to use an actual map to find our way to her apartment after crossing the border. Who knew Verizon shuts everything off when you cross into another country? We pulled out an atlas that I had in my car from a road trip years ago, but unfortunately Canadian maps were not included. We wound up using the map that was frozen on my phone screen just to make sure we were on the right highway. Once we knew we were headed in the right direction, it was smooth sailing! We got to take the train into town, tour downtown Toronto and take a tour of a castle turned haunted house. It was a great little escape while we keep our minds occupied.

I had my last appointment before the embryo transfer on Monday. They performed an ultrasound to measure the lining of my uterus and make sure it was all set to implant an embryo! Brian accompanied me to this appointment and I had a good laugh. We got in the room and the nurse told me to undress from the waist down and the ultrasound tech would be in shortly. Brian looked at me and said "I thought they were just doing an ultrasound today??" maybe I haven't made it clear that all of these ultrasounds have been internal ultrasounds. They aren't the average belly ultrasounds where the only uncomfortable part is getting that gel off of your stomach. These are pretty uncomfortable in every aspect. They don't hurt or anything, they are just awkward.

As we were lying in bed last night we watched the training video for these injections. I told Brian that I needed him to be calm in the morning and act like it was no big deal for him to be stabbing me with a giant needle. He has been pretty freaked out about the whole idea of giving me an injection from day 1 and if he was upset, I would get upset. The little ones in the stomach are like nothing at this point. I even gave myself 2 of them in the car this past weekend and had no problems. The progesterone injections on the other hand are wayyyyyy scarier. The medicine is mixed with sesame oil, so the needle has to be big. It's also injected directly into the butt muscle/hip area which can be pretty painful. .

They have to be done in the morning so I'm not just going to bed and laying down for the next 6-8 hours. I'll have to keep moving to prevent the muscle from developing a bulge from the oil building up....FUN! We stood in the bathroom for about 15 minutes this morning while I stalled. First I had to get the dog a treat, then I had to pee, then the alcohol wasn't dry on my skin, then I just didn't want to do this! Brian did great and acted less nervous and more annoyed with my stalling..yeah, he was totally acting. Once I finally calmed down enough to let him give me the shot, it really was no big deal! It barely hurt at all! I really need to stop listening to what everyone else says. So many articles online are titled "the dreaded progesterone shot" or "tips on surviving your first progesterone injection". If I had known better, I would have avoided these articles altogether. They just made me stress over something that really wasn't even that bad.

I am still taking estrogen multiple times a day along with the progesterone and I am starting to notice some new side effects. In the last week of my Lupron injections, I developed little bruises on either side of my abdomen. I guess my skin was sick of the needles! In fact, my skin is probably in the worst condition ever. I am breaking out all over my neck...yes, my neck. One of the most random places to have a breakout. I'm assuming this is from the estrogen, but I'm not 100% sure. I have also gained some weight. I am not eating any worse, in fact I am eating healthier than I normally do, but I've still gained a few pounds. I guess this is normal, but that doesn't mean I like it! Other than a few extra pounds and a pimple covered neck, I haven't noticed any new side effects lately! 

My last post focused on the big decision of how many embryos to transfer. A few days after that post, we made our final, final decision. We will be transferring ONE embryo. The plan was to transfer 2 embryos from the beginning, so changing our plan was not an easy decision. Brian and I both separately spoke with our nurse and both feel that we should go with one at this point. I had been going back and forth since we found out we only had 4 embryos , however my mind has been at ease with this decision since we set our mind on a single embryo transfer. I am a firm believer in going with your gut, and I think this is the only time my gut feeling has done a complete 180. 

In less than one week, we will be in the procedure room ready for the embryo transfer. I thought that the pregnancy test would be done on the 8th day after the transfer, but I was mistaken. It is actually a full 10 days after the embryo transfer, so we should find out on November 11th if I am pregnant. I cannot believe this past 2 months has gone by so quickly. We may be saying goodbye to this long, drawn-out process and welcoming the beginning of a healthy pregnancy. Thinking happy thoughts! 

-Emily

IVF Cycle - Day 34

Day 34: October 12 Poke Count: 62

I have been taking the Lupron Injections for almost 2 weeks now and so far I haven't noticed any side effects. This has been a nice change from the Menopur and Gonal - F. Other than the results of the embryo biopsy, there has been almost nothing going on with our IVF Cycle. Just the injections and a whole lot of waiting around.

There has been one big decision weighing on us since we got the results of the embryo biopsy; "how many embryos do we transfer?!" Since we started this whole process, we have gone back and forth between one embryo or two. In the back of our minds the plan has always been 2. We would be thrilled with twins and it would give us a small increased chance in conceiving. We started questioning our decision to transfer 2 embryos when we got the news that we only have 4 healthy embryo's.

I spoke with our nurse, Ashley, on Monday and she thinks we should start with one embryo. If I do not get pregnant the first time, this would leave us with 3 healthy embryos. This would also decrease the chances of me becoming pregnant with twins. While Twins would be a welcomed blessing, multiple pregnancies come with additional risks for the mother and the babies, There has been an increased number of IVF patients who are choosing elective single embryo transfer (ESET) in recent years. ESET has shown a decrease in multiple births, but has not shown a decrease in live birth rates. My young age and relatively healthy body give me a higher chance of becoming pregnant, so my doctor and nurse think one embryo will be enough for me to become pregnant.

The doctors can give us guidance in how many embryos to transfer, but ultimately it is our decision and we have no idea what we want to do. We have the doctors advising us to transfer one and everyone else telling us we should transfer 2. Everyone wants us to have twins! I am praying for guidance and confidence in whatever decision we make. At this very moment I am leaning towards 1, but that could all change in about 20 minutes.

I started taking estrogen pills today. I will stay on the estrogen for 21 days before the embryo transfer. I have an ultrasound on October 24th and we will need to let them know our decision on the embryo's at that time. That leaves us 12 more days to change our minds over and over again.

-Emily

Embryo Biopsy Results

Brian and I are camping in Pentwater this weekend for Oktoberfest. What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend with family to keep our minds occupied while we wait for results turned into a much better weekend! I woke up this morning to a voicemail from The Fertility Center asking me to call them. I called right away and they gave us the results. Out of the 11 embryos that were tested, 7 of them tested positive for the Epidermolysis Bullosa gene mutation. That means we have 4 healthy unefected embryos that can be transferred back into my uterus. Not all at once of course!

I will stay on my Lupron injections for a few more days. I am currently injecting 20 units every evening. On Monday I will decrease that to 10 units every evening. On Wednesday I will start to take estrogen pills every morning and evening. In the following weeks I will increase that to 3 times daily. The estrogen will help build up the lining of my uterus to allow embryo implantation. I'll have an ultrasound somewhere in the next month to make sure the lining is healthy enough for an embryo transfer.

My embryo transfer is tentatively scheduled for November 1. On that date, they will transfer an embryo back into my uterus and I will officially be pregnant until proven otherwise!! After a little more than a week, I will have a blood test to tell if the embryo implanted and I am truly pregnant. If that test is positive, they will do another blood test the following day to see how my hormones are increasing. During the weeks following the embryo transfer I will be on progesterone injections to help with implantation and embryo growth.

While we were hoping for more embryos, we are thrilled that we have 4! That's 4 opportunities for an embryo transfer and possible pregnancy! We appreciate everyone's love and support while we continue this journey. Prayers for continued success are appreciated!

-Emily

Embryo Biopsy and Freezing

I got a call from Ashley today with the final tally on frozen embryos. The final number is 11. Two out of the fourteen embryos that had grown stopped growing before the biopsy. One of the 12 embryos that were biopsied did not make it through the freezing process. We are of course, thrilled to have 11 embryos left but we are still kinda bummed about the 3 that didn't make it.

In an effort to not bore you by spewing out a bunch of terms and numbers, here are some examples of what our embryos have been doing over the past 5 days! Be sure to read the captions next to the pictures or the rest of this blog will get very confusing...

Most of the Embryos have grown into Early Blastocysts.
Only one of them is still compacting to turn into an Early Blastocyst.

3 of them are Hatching Blastocysts

3 of the embryos were mature enough to biopsy on Tuesday
1 young Blast - Grade 1
1 Young Blast - Grade 1 Plus (we got a show-off over here!)
1 Young Blast - Grade 3

The others were biopsied and frozen this morning
1 Young Blast - Grade 2 Plus
1 Hatching Blast - Grade 2 Plus
1 Young Blast - Grade 2
2 Hatching Blasts - Grade 2
1 Compacting embryo - Grade 2
1 Young Blast - Grade 3
1 Hatching Blast - Grade 3

I went over the grading scale a little bit in my last post. Obviously a Grade 1 is preferred over a Grade 3, however all of our embryos have a good chance of creating a healthy pregnancy. I don't really understand the grading scale so I'm not even going to try explaining it any more.


I will start nightly Lupron injections on Friday. I'll be on the Lupron at least until we have the results of the embryo biopsies which will be 2-3 weeks. Once we have the results, we will schedule my embryo transfer and I'll have to be on estrogen for 21 days before the scheduled transfer date. There will be more blood tests, ultrasounds and all that full stuff along the way, but we are getting closer!!

- Emily

Embryo Progress

My doctors were able to retrieve 16 eggs during the egg retrieval on Friday. We were obviously thrilled! On Saturday morning they called to let us know the results of the fertilization. Only one of the eggs was immature so they did not attempt to fertilize that one. They performed ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (they pretty much just inject a single sperm into each egg) on 15 of the eggs and one of them was not successfully fertilized. 14 embryos! Thrilled again!

Brian spoke with a nurse, Sandy, today and got an update on the embryos. We were prepared for a few of them to stop growing or not develop properly as this often happens. To our surprise all 14 of the embryos have continued to grow! The majority of the embryos are grade 1 and 2, which Sandy said was "excellent!" 2 or 3 of them are grade 3 which is "fair" according to their standards. The grading scale is just a way to numerically determine which embryos are most likely to result in successful pregnancy. The grade 3 embryos could result in a pregnancy as healthy and successful as a grade 1. The scale is just a way to measure probability, I guess. Sandy did say one of the embryos was "compacted" but she didn't really explain that to Brian. From what I have found online that is just another stage of embryo development. 

In regards to my healing from the egg retrieval, that procedure is no joke! It was a lot more invasive than I had anticipated. My stomach has hurt since the procedure and there's still a lot of pressure in my abdomen. I woke up around 4 AM on sunday morning in excruciating pain. I thought my abdomen was about to rupture it hurt so bad. Brian woke up to me screaming and was obviously pretty freaked out. He had to help me sit up due to increased pain whenever I tried to do so on my own. I never realized how much you use your core muscles just to sit up in bed. It turned out my bladder was just extremely full and on top of the swelling from the procedure it was putting a lot of pressure on my abdomen. 

The embryologist from RGI will be coming tomorrow to take biopsies from each of the embryos. Once the biopsies are retrieved they will freeze the embryos. They will then take the biopsies back to chicago and run the DNA tests to determine which ones have Brian's mutation. In a couple weeks we will know the results and will be ready to prep for the embryo transfer. 

-Emily

Day 15 - Egg Retrieval!

Day 15: Friday, September 23. Poke count 47

16 Eggs Retrieved!! 

That's 16 possible embryos! Statistically half of those will not be mature and half of the embryos that do grow to 5 days will have the defective gene. If everything goes by those numbers we should have around 4 healthy embryos!

I took a sedative, an antibiotic and Tylenol at 6:45AM and we went to the fertility center. We live less than 5 minutes from the center so we luckily don't have to go too far. They brought us back to a procedure room and had me change into a gown, foot covers and a super sexy hair net. The nurse came in to start my IV but had no luck. The vein in my left arm likes to roll around and the one in the left "goes all crazy" and shoots to the side right where they always try to draw blood. How may people does it take to start an IV? apparently 3, two nurses and an anesthesiologist. they finally got one started in my left hand.

Once they took me to the procedure room everything moved pretty quickly. I layed there for a few minutes watching them hook up machines and getting everything ready. They had me confirm my name and birthday, sign a piece of paper and then it was time to start. It's a strange feeling not remembering an entire chunk of time with several people staring at your...parts. The last thing I remember is the anesthesiologist talking about how he loved the Eagles music that was playing on the radio and him injecting the anesthesia into the IV tube. Brian said at one point they opened the door and he could hear the suction machine they use to retrieve the eggs and it sounded like a small generator.

When I woke up from the anesthesia I remember telling Brian about the "moon boots" I got to wear. They use stirrups like they do for any annual exam, but they have these boots that hook onto them to keep your legs in place while you are asleep.Brian said I told him I was feeling emotional and wanted to cry. He said "It's ok, you can cry"...and I did. I cried and cried and cried. I think I reacted the same way to anesthesia when I had my tonsils removed. I just become very emotional when I finally do wake up. I was in a great deal of pain too. I was having shooting pains from my lower abdomen all the way down through my legs. They gave me a heat pack for my stomach, which helped a little bit but they said everything I felt was normal.

We got home around 9:30Am and I went straight to bed. I woke up around noon for a few minutes and went back to sleep till after 3PM at which point I was still feeling pretty crappy. I felt like someone had punched me repeatedly in the abdomen and had severe pelvic pain. I have just been on the couch the rest of the day and the pain comes in waves. If I'm sitting in the right position I can get pretty comfortable but any movement hurts all over. It's slowly getting better as the night goes on and hopefully I'll be feeling great tomorrow morning.

They will call us tomorrow and let us know how many eggs were successfully fertilized. We are, of course, hoping for all 16! I'll start Lupron injections in the next couple weeks and once I get a period I will start taking estrogen. This will help prepare my uterus for the embryo transfer in 4-6 weeks. I have a post-op appointment in 2 weeks, but other than that no more appointments for a bit!

-Emily

IVF Cycle: Stims Day 13

Day 13: Wednesday 9/21 Poke Count 44

Today was eventful! I started the day with my cetrotide injection and stopped by the fertility center on my way to work to have my blood drawn. Around 1PM (an hour after I got back from my lunch break) I got a call from Ashley) My Estrogen levels had dropped from 2254 pg/ml yesterday down to 1578 pg/ml today...not good! They have no idea why this would happen, but if it continued to drop, the follicles would stop growing. I told her I had half a vial of Gonal-F left at home and she wanted me to come to the office right away to get some Menopur. They never have medication in the office and they just happened to have 2 vials that someone had donated. I left work, picked up the medication and went home to get the Gonal-F...this is where things got interesting.

The past week or so, my brain has been mush. I am constantly losing things and forgetting the name of things. I don't know if its a side effect of the medication or I just have so much on my mind, but its not fun. Anyway, I haven't been able to find my house keys since Monday. I left a door open so I could come home on lunch, but I locked that one when I headed back to work after my break today. Brian had opened the dining room window yesterday, so I could wiggle it open and climb inside. I went through the gate into the back yard and found a new, disgusting, wriggly friend making a run (or slither) for it to the Hosta....there was a snake moving very quickly through the grass! I had my little mental freak-out, bolted up the stairs to the deck by the dining room window.

I had to break part of the screen to get to the actual window and I was just barely able to open the window enough to get through. The whole time the dog is barking at me and I'm worried the neighbors will think someone is trying to break in. Excitement aside, I got the medication, gave myself both injections and headed back to work. The Fertility Center called again and told me they still plan on doing my egg retrieval on Friday at 7:45AM! I have to do my Pregnyl (trigger) ingection tonight at 8:15PM and an injection of Lupron at the same time. My mom is actually coming over to give me the Pregnyl shot since its an intramuscular injection. She gives shots all the time at work and I've only done the subcutaneous ones in the belly. Brian is not too fond on stabbing his wife, so I'll let my mom show me how to do it! By the end of today, I will have had 44 pokes since the start of IVF! It really doesn't seem like its been that many!

Thursday night I'll take Valium before bed and take a few more meds in the morning on Friday. Ill need to take a Z-pac to prevent infection, 1000mg of Tylenol and a light sedative. I'll be put under for the procedure and then they will create our embryos!! We will know how many eggs were retrieved immediately and we will get updates on the embryos almost daily until they are biopsied and frozen. Keep your fingers crossed for lots of eggs and lots of embryo growth!

-Emily

IVF Cycle: Stims Days 9-12

Day 9: Saturday, September 18. Poke count:28

I woke up at 6 today and gave myself the Cetrotide injection. I then fell back asleep until almost 11:00AM! I am starting to feel extremely tired throughout the day. The headache's don't seem too bad anymore, they have gotten less frequent. My Cenopur injection was strange today. I don't know if I hit a vein or something, but my entire left hip burned and went numb for a minute. It went away pretty quickly, but it hurt pretty bad!

We are spending the weekend in Ypsilanti visiting friends who will be moving to Canada next month. I made sure to pack an entire box of medication this time! Driving back home from Ypsilanti would be much more inconvenient than my drive home from Muskegon last week. I'm super lame and went to bed before anybody left the going away party! I was just way too tired to keep my eyes open and nearly fell asleep on the couch.

Day 10: Sunday, September 19 Poke Count: 31

I didn't feel much better this morning. I still felt very tired and am feeling more full by the day. I went to a baby shower for a friend and it was a nice reminder of why we are doing all of this. Seeing her all adorable and pregnant, anxiously awaiting her baby girl to be born would make anyone forget the annoyance of hormone injections.

Of course, we played some oh-so-entertaining shower games and got a glimpse into the future of pregnant, Emily.

I am not nearly as cute with a balloon belly as Caitlin!!
(Please don't kill me for posting this picture!)

I have an appointment for another ultrasound and bloodwork tomorrow and I am praying I'll be ready for the egg retrieval soon!

Day 11: Monday, September 20. Poke count 35

My ultrasound and bloodwork was all normal, but unfortunately the follicles still have some growing to do. They thought this might be the case, so it's a good thing I ordered more Menopur. I'll stay on the injections for another night and they want me to come back in tomorrow morning for another ultrasound and blood tests.

I looked through my other meds this morning just in case I would be ready for my trigger shot and I noticed I was missing a syringe. They sent a needle with the trigger shot, but no syringe! The nurse was able to find an extra syringe to give me. I'm really glad I realized this today, and not at midnight when I'm sleepily preparing the injection.

Day 12: Tuesday, September 21. Poke Count: 39

I had another appointment today for an ultrasound and bloodwork. The bigger follicles had grown a little more than a millimeter today, but quite a few of them are still small. I rushed back to work for a 9:30 meeting so I didn't have time to wait for instructions. I received a call around noon and said they want me to stay on the injections for another night and come back in the morning for another blood draw. One problem...I'm out of Menopur! They told me to double the dosage of Gonal - F and that should be OK.

My egg retrieval is planned for Friday but I don't know what time yet. After the bloodwork tomorrow they will plan the time for my egg retrieval on Friday and tell me when to do my "trigger" shot. There is a light at the end of this hormone filled tunnel!

-Emily

IVF cycle: stims day 7 and 8

Day 7: Thursday, September 15: poke count: 21

There is so much pressure in my lower abdomen I feel like I might pop! I'm getting flashbacks to 5th grade frog dissections. There's always a few female frogs who just explode with eggs when you cut them open...I am the frog. I feel like I have developed a waddle! Every step I take puts more pressure on my abdomen.

This rubber ball is my spirit animal

I started the Cetrotide this morning so I won't ovulate. The only difference between Cetrotide and the other injections I have done is that it is refrigerated. It took a lot longer for the powder to dissolve in the fluid with it being cold. I actually had to mix it up a bit where the other meds that I have to mix dissolve in a flash. The temperature also makes the liquid thicker so it's harder to push the plunger down on the syringe.
No change in the headaches. Still just a dull pain for the majority of the day. I am really hoping that the follicles will have grown enough by tomorrow's appointment so we can schedule the egg retrieval.  It's only been one week and I'm ready to be done with the stimulation phase!

Day 8: Friday, September 16. Poke count: 25

My 3rd appointment for ultrasounds and bloodwork was today. There are 8 follicles on the left ovary and 8 on the right. Each of the follicles range from 7mm to 15mm and they need to get to around 20mm. They are growing as they should but some of them are still small. They want me to continue with the Menopur and gonal- f through Monday, meaning I have to order more medication. I only had enough meds to get me through Sunday night so I had to order an entire vial of gonal-f just for one more dose...bummer! That stuff ain't cheap!

I have another appointment on Monday at 7:30AM and they are almost positive that I will be ready for my trigger shot at that time. The trigger will help the eggs break away from the follicle wall and make the egg retrieval easier. Hopefully this weekend will bring on more follicle growth and we can get lots of eggs next week!

-Emily

IVF Cycle: Stims Day 4-6

Day 4: Monday, September 12. Poke count: 13

I woke up feeling great this morning. Other than sleeping through my alarm and waking up 40 minutes late, I was good! My ultrasound and bloodwork went well. There are 11 visible follicles on my right ovary and 8 on the left. 19 follicles already! Ashley said that more could pop up in the following days since I've only been on meds for 4 days. They are still small, but that is to be expected at this point. They decided on no change in my meds for the next couple days.

I did wind up with a nice, dark blue bruise from where they drew blood. The vein in my right arm totally changes direction right where the needle goes for a blood draw. Either they can't find the vein, or they "kind of" find it and I wind up looking like a junkie.

Day 5: Tuesday, September 13th. Poke count: 15

I am starting to become increasingly uncomfortable throughout the day. There is a lot more pressure in my lower abdomen as the follicles on my ovaries grow. It hurts if my bladder is too full and it also hurts to empty my bladder! Pretty much anything that puts pressure on my ovaries hurts. The right side hurts much more than the left, but it hurts more to lay on my left side. I pretty much just want to wear sweatpants and lounge around the house all day.

My headaches are getting much more frequent as well. Instead of waking up with a headache and it going away quickly, I wake up feeling fine and it gets worse as the day goes on. I spend the majority of my day staring at a computer screen so I'm sure that doesn't help. I've been trying to stay hydrated to hopefully get rid of some of these headaches. So far all that has done is increased my trips to the bathroom!

I still can't really complain about the overall side effects of the medication. Everyone I have spoken to and everything I have read made this medication sound like torture. Even my mom said "Oh that stuff makes you crazy!" I have had a couple moments where I wanted to cry over absolutely nothing, but I hardly think I am crazy. The headaches and pressure are definitely tolerable. I just hope it stays this mild for the rest of the cycle.

Day 6 Wednesday September 14th: pole count: 18

I had an ultrasound this morning and everything is looking good. They only saw 16 follicles this time but they said sometimes you can't see the smaller ones. The ones we could see were definitely growing! They are actually visible and I can make out the individual circles on the monitor instead of just a blur of black. I was able to sneak a picture of the monitor. You can only see 3 of the follicles, but this gives you an idea of what they are looking for in the scans.

My estrogen levels from Today and Monday's blood work were good, so no change in the Menopur or Gonal- f for the next couple days. I will start the Cetrotide injections tomorrow morning, which will stop me from ovulating before they want me to. My next appointment is on Friday and hopefully the follicles will be big enough to plan my egg retrieval.

-Emily

IVF Cycle:Stims Days 1-3

Day 1: Friday, September 9^th. Total Poke Count: 6 (including previous bloodwork for IVF)

I started my medication today with 150IU of Gonal-F and 2 vials of Menopur. I got all my supplies ready on the bathroom counter and immediately had a little mental freak out. I have heard from so many other women that when they gave their first shot, they hesitated for a long time. My plan was to have the medication all ready in the syringes so when it was actually time for the shot I could just quickly get it over with. That didn’t work out so well. I had everything ready, but I still hesitated a little bit. I took the cap off the syringe and just stood there looking at the needle and said to Brian, “I don’t want to stab myself!” Brian was just standing there asking me what I wanted him to do.

“Do you want a hug or anything?”

 “No, don’t touch me!”

I finally started the first injection and didn’t push hard enough on the syringe.

“Brian, it won’t go in”

“Yes it will, just push harder!”

The whole conversation was quite comical. I eventually did get the needle to go in, but I was surprised at how hard you have to push to actually puncture the skin. The needle slid in and I kid you not I didn’t feel it at all, not even a little pinch!

“Brian, it doesn’t hurt at all! I didn’t even feel it!”

Brian looked over and saw the needle still in my belly, cringed and walked out of the room. I finished the first injection and went right onto the second one. The Menopur needle didn’t hurt at all, but the medication did burn a little bit going in.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by how simple the injections were once I had everything situated. They didn’t hurt and I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the whole process. We went out to dinner for my mom’s birthday and I felt fine the whole night. I did have a little bit of a headache, but my head was hurting earlier in the day so I thought it was probably just stress.

Day 2: Saturday, September 10^th. Poke count: 8

I woke up with a slight headache, but nothing horrible. I took some Tylenol and it went away pretty quickly. I took Renly to the vet this morning after him waking us up several times the past few nights to go to the bathroom. He hasn’t been interested in his food, drinking a ton of water and has had loose stools. The vet agreed that she suspects a UTI, but we couldn’t get a urine sample. She gave us some antibiotics for him and suggested Imodium for the tummy issues.

Mid-afternoon I started feeling a slight pinching feeling in my lower right abdomen around where I assume my ovary is. I don’t know if this was from the medication or just in my head. It lasted the rest of the day though. 

We spent the afternoon at my mom’s, playing with my 2 year old niece and eating cupcakes I made for my mom’s birthday. I have felt mostly fine all day.

Look at all that red hair!! 

We packed up the dog and my medication and went to Fruitport for the night to celebrate Brian’s mom’s birthday. Yes, my mom’s birthday is on the 9^th and Brian's mom's is on the 10^th….and his uncle's is on the 11^th! It makes it super easy for us to remember birthdays.  We went out to dinner that evening, and around 6:15 Brian and I headed back to his parent's house for my medication. I was going to give myself the shots and then head back to the bar to celebrate some more. What should have taken 15 minutes turned into a 2 hour ordeal. I pulled out the bag with my medication and I HAD PACKED THE WRONG VIAL!!! Stupid! I thought I was super organized. I even have all of my non-refrigerated meds and supplies all situated in a shoe organizer. Apparently I’m not organized enough.

I like to pretend I'm super organized

I drove back to Grand Rapids, gave myself the medication while I was super flustered and drove back to Fruitport. Both of the shots hurt more this time, but I was kind of hurried so I wasn’t as careful as last time.

I had a slight headache by the time we got back to the bar around 8:30PM but I again decided it was just a stress headache. Tylenol took care of it quickly. We got back from the bar around 10PM and Renly’s Tummy problems had gotten MUCH worse. We keep him in the spare room when we stay at Brian’s Parent’s house and he is usually fine. There was poop by the door, the window, the wall and by the bed….he had exploded! It all cleaned up pretty easily and Brian’s parents didn’t seem too mad. We didn’t really tell them how bad it was at the time, although I guess they will know after reading this. :)

Renly got an Imodium, started throwing up and spent the night in the garage. Don’t worry, he had his bed, water, his bone and it was nice and warm.

Day 3 Sunday, September 11^th. Poke count: 10

I woke up with a splitting headache. The kind where you just have to close your eyes really hard and wait for the wave of pain to go away. Once I actually got up and got dressed it was a little bit better, but definitely still there. I am now convinced that it is the medication causing the headaches. I took more Tylenol with breakfast and it has been fine the rest of the day. The pinching feeling has continued today and gotten a little stronger. It is on both sides now. I don’t think it’s in my head anymore. I pushed on my stomach and it was a bit tender. Hopefully this all means the medication is doing what it is supposed to!

The Menopur burned a lot more tonight. It still wasn’t horrible, but noticeably worse. Overall I am pleased with how little the injections have hurt and how little side effects I am experiencing. The headaches and pinching feeling are obviously not pleasant, but they are definitely not intolerable. I have an ultrasound and bloodwork tomorrow at 8AM, so I’ll get to see how the follicles are growing at that time.

Renly seems to be feeling better too. I think the antibiotics upset his stomach more so we are putting him on a bland diet and giving him some pumpkin. He should be a happy puppy again in just a few days. 

Emily

IVF Update

Last week we got the green light from RGI to start our IVF cycle. On Monday I had an ultrasound and everything looked normal. There are no cysts on my ovaries and the follicles look good. They told me to take my last birth control pill on Tuesday and to start my injections on Sunday. They just had to schedule the embryologist to come take the biopsies. Later that day I got a call that the embryologist has another travel case around the same time so they will not be available. I was told to take another birth control pill and they would call on Tuesday with an updated plan. At the end of the day they still had not heard from RGI. I took another pill and was told they would call on Wednesday. Wednesday was the same story, nothing from RGI. Finally this morning I got a call from our nurse, Ashley, saying that they had heard back from RGI!

I will take my last birth control pill on Sunday 9/4 and start the injections of Menopur and Gonal-F on Friday 9/9. I will give myself those injections for 3 days and have an ultrasound and blood work Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. Based off of how I am responding to the medication, they will adjust my dosage of meds. With the idea that I will be on the medication for 10 days total, my egg retrieval will be scheduled around 9/21.

I am incredibly lucky to have a boss who has allowed me the flexibility in my schedule to make this happen. Whenever I need to leave early or take a long lunch for an appointment, it is no problem. When we first started this process I told her how stressed I was about the whole thing. She reassured me that taking the time off from work for all of appointments was one less thing that I need to stress about. I told her today that Ill need to come in late after all my ultrasounds and she simply said :we will make it work". I couldn't ask for a more understanding employer.

Now that it is almost time to start everything I need to remind myself just to relax and take it one day at a time. We will be camping near Traverse City for the weekend and we are so looking forward to just relaxing and spending some time together. It will be nice to get away before starting our IVF cycle.

One last note:Today is Renly's first birthday and since we don't have human babies (yet!) we spoiled him rotten. I made him a pupcake (puppy cupcake) with apples, peanut butter and bacon and Brian got him a new rope toy that he absolutely loves. How did our little puppy grow so much in just a year?!

Giant Box of Needles

So my last post ended on a positive note. Our insurance had agreed to cover most of my medications and the total we paid was around $1200. We were happy with that and relieved to know that everything was set with my medication. Unfortunately we got a call at 7pm on Thursday from CVS and I've been too angry to even begin to write about it until now. Some new information had been sent through from our insurance and somehow we still owe over $6000 for all of my meds....what?!?! Needless to say I am not proud of the way I spoke to the woman on the other end of the phone. I still don't fully understand how we went from $1200 to $6000. They said the prices for insurance are different than out of pocket and I have $3500 max for all fertility meds. They must have forgotten to mention that. Anyway, we went back to mostly our original plan. I asked CVS exactly what meds I could get without going over the $3500 max, I was able to fill all 20 vials of Menopur and 2 vials of the Cetrotide. They threw in a sharps container and some alcohol swabs too. The rest of the meds we got elsewhere for a MUCH cheaper price.

We received the first giant box of needles from CVS yesterday.  I was surprised to see that the Cetrotide came in a cooler with ice packs. Apparently it needs to be refrigerated! We are still expecting 3 more boxes which should be here tomorrow. Brian convinced me to do an "unboxing" video because he says nerdy people like them. I probably should have gone through the box first though so I wasn't just guessing as I went along. I was totally wrong on the different needles! You can pretty much just ignore everything I say, its all incorrect anyway.

New Goodies 

Batman and Renly were more impressed by the box

On a non-med related note, we were expecting RGI to be done with our DNA probe last week. When I spoke with them last Tuesday they said it was on track to be done by the end of that week. On Friday our nurse, Ashley called and said that RGI had contacted her and it would be done the following week. I spoke with our genetic counselor, Divya, today and surprise...it's still not done! While the probe "might" be done next week, we did get the go ahead to start the next step with The Fertility Center. Divya will contact our nurse, Ashley, to give her the green light and hopefully we can get this thing moving. We are just hoping there are no more setbacks.

-Emily

Medication Update

In my last post I mentioned that our doctor had sent through an appeal to get my medications covered by insurance. 2 of the meds, Progesterone and Cetrotide, were initially approved, and 4 of them, Menopur, Gonal-f, hCG and Leuprolide Acetate, were denied. I called the specialty pharmacy department nearly every day to check on the status over the past few weeks. Every day I would get the same answer, “the appeal is still pending”. That is until Monday, when instead I got the answer I was looking for, “Approved!”

Menopur - Approved with just a $70 copay! Just this being covered will save us over $1500!

Gonal – f (Follistim) – Approved. The denied the Gonal-f, however they approved a similar drug called Follistim, saving us nearly $730. This medication seems like it will be more convenient for me. Follistim is injected using a pen like needle. I’ll just put the vial in the pen, twist the dial on the bottom for the correct dose, and use the teeny-tiny needle to inject the medication into the skin of my stomach. Seriously, this needle is tiiiiny! The dial on the pen will also be much simpler than drawing up into a syringe. We are planning a camping trip to Interlochen at the beginning of August, so if my timing is right, I’ll need to give myself injections in a tent. Not Ideal, but the Follistim pen will make this much easier.

Look how tiny that is!! 

Leuprolide Acetate – Denied again. We will need to pay full price for this one out of pocket.

hCG - Denied again. I will take the name brand, Pregnyl, instead which is half the price of the generic hCG. 

So they didn’t approve all of the medication, but 4 out of 6 is pretty good! We are celebrating this as a win. I ordered all the medication yesterday and I am expecting a giant box of needles and drugs to be delivered to my door on Friday. 

I have stressed out about every aspect of the IVF process and almost everything has worked out in our favor. This reaffirms our belief that we are doing the right thing, I received an email that RGI should be done with our DNA probe by the end of this week, my meds will be here on Friday and next week we will officially begin our IVF cycle. 

-Emily

Medication and Naughty Puppies

My last post focused on insurance coverage. They have approved most of the procedures I will need, but medication is another story. It is strange to think that they will pay for the procedures, but not the medications I will need in order to have the procedures completed. Our insurance company approved 2 of the 6 main medications I will need to take. We have prescription coverage through CVS Caremark, so of course we have to fill any covered prescriptions at CVS.

Cetrotide- Approved! Only a $70 copay on this medication. This would have cost us $1600 if we purchased it out of pocket at CVS.

Menopur - Denied - They denied this medication as I am under 37 years old and I have not gone through 3 failed rounds of Clomid (another drug that stimulates ovaries). I need 20 vials of Menopur, which would cost us $3,020 if we filled it at CVS. If insurance does not approve this after the appeal, I plan to fill the prescription through Alexanders Pharmacy in Portage. It is muuuuch cheaper there and we can get it for $1,538 total.

Gonal-f - Denied - This medication denied as our insurance requires the use of a similar drug called Follistim instead (they have some kind of agreement with the manufacturer). The Follistim however was also denied under the same reason as the Menopur. We can get Gonal-f from a pharmacy called Freedom Fertility for $954.50. We do however have a 20% discount card for any Sorono brand drugs so it will be $725.88.

Leuprolide Acetate- Denied - Our insurance will only cover this if it is needed to prevent premature luteinizing hormone surges. My grandfather actually to Lupron for this exact reason while he was fighting prostate cancer. CVS charges $445 for each vial and I need 2. Walgreens price is $325 so we can get all we need for $650 total.

hCG - Denied - CVS will only cover hCG if there has not been an inadequate response or adverse reaction to a similar drug called Ovidrel. The Fertility Center has a policy against prescribing Ovidrel. When I called Walgreens they told me that the generic hCG medication was actually over 2x the price of the name brands Novarel and Pregnyl. She didn't have an exact reason as to why, but she mentioned that most insurance companies will cover the generic version so they charge more for it...definitely not kosher. CVS charges $262 for the generic version and they didn't give me the price for the name brands. Alexanders charges $75 for the name brand and I will only need one vial.

Progesterone in oil- Approved With an $8 copay. This is on the cheaper side of the medication list, but every little bit helps!

I called pharmacies all over this side of the U.S. and even looked into pharmacies in Israel and England. The ones out of the country were a lot cheaper, but there is no way to tell how they are regulated. It would be hard to know how reliable the prescriptions would be. I had some prescription discount cards and coupons too so I had to take that into account. I made myself a nifty little chart so I could keep all of the different prices straight.

Isn't this a great looking chart!! :D

Renly apparently didn't like how the first one turned out. It actually made me laugh after a long day. I just wish I hadn't thrown my scrap paper with all the pharmacies and prices away...lesson learned. I pieced together what I could and called a few of them again.

Ashley, our nurse, said the doctor would be sending an appeal letter to our insurance company by Tuesday. They thought they might be able to get them to approve some of the denied medications. When I called on Thursday it had not been sent yet...maybe today. I am not expecting insurance to change their decision. I never thought I would be willing to pay so much only to stab myself over and over again! We will begin injections sometime in the next 2 weeks or so and I'm not expecting an appeal decision to be made by then. I will just keep price shopping for now. We have been surprised by how many things have worked out in our favor through this whole process, maybe this will surprise us as well!

On a more pleasant note, a good friend of mine made us this adorable bib :)

It may be a bit premature but she and her husband are moving to Canada (not because of the upcoming election) and she didn't want to to get lost in the move. Our collection of baby things has officially started.

- Emily