ITS HAPPENING. If you would have told me that I would be excited to IVF (invitro-fertilization) two years ago, I would have slapped you. I would have been like betch, i am not gonna need IVF you don’t know me. Yet, here I am, a year and a half later, having my first consultation and asking hundreds of questions on what will be happening to me in the months to come.
So I met with my doctor because I was over the IUI (intrauterine insemination) and I thought it was bullshit and turns out, she does too! She was just as ready for me to move on as I was. So for all of you who don’t know, IUI is when they grow eggs and when the time is right, they put his sperm in my uterus and kind of just hope for the best. Even with everything perfect, and I mean perfect, you really only have a 15-20% chance of conceiving…..THE FUQ. IVF is a completely different ball game. So broken down, the process is Consult –> meet with a nurse to order medicine –> take birth control pills for 11 days to get EXACT timing –> take shots for 10 days to grow every follicle I have –> have surgery for egg retrieval –> put a sperm IN THE EGG and fertilize it (this one to me is crazy that a doctor is LITERALLY going to create my child) –> place embryo back inside me and, well hope for the best again for it to attach. Crazy right?!?!?!? Here are the questions I asked with the answers I got. I AM PUMPED
- How much will all of this cost? – 10k-12k. I knew that was coming and of course non of it is covered. But they do offer payment plans, military discounts, and what not. Also – it is a one time thing. I thought it was going to be MONTHLY but no its one time util you run out of embryos, I think. So its not as bad as I thought. That’s a plus
- What are my chances of actually getting pregnant? She said based on my health (which is very good) and age that my chances for ONE EMBRYO transfer is
- One Cycle : 50% chance
- Two Cycles: 68% chance
- Three Cycles: 80% chance
- My chances for TWO embryos is 60%, 75%, and 85% – I LIKE THOSE ODDS rather than the crap 15%
- How many embryos will they transfer? No more than two – transferring more than two is high risk and nobody got time for that. plus – triplets? really?
- Will my thyroid be checked more regularly? – yes, literally every week. COOL
- Can you tell if one embryo is better than another? – ok, the answer is yes, and its actually INSANE. You get basically like a report card on your embryos and they will say…ok this one is an A -there is a great chance it will attach. This one is a C – there is an ok chance of it attaching. WHAT IS LIFE?!?!?!?!?!?!?
- What are my chances of having multiples? If they put in two – which i will have them do – 52% chance. TWINS BABYYY
- Are there any dietary or work out restrictions? No alcohol, limit caffeine, and she said my ovaries will be so big it may hurt to run like I do, so she said only walk, yoga, Pilates, easy stuff.
- Is there a long recovery time? No – I can go back to work that day after the egg retrieval surgery and the transfer.
- Do I need to take off work? yes – for the transfer and the egg retrieval. They’re kinda mini surgeries. Also all blood work and ultrasound will be in the AM, and I would miss the first hour and a half of school – so i was forced to tell my administration about whats going on – thankfully they were amazing.
- Are Joe’s numbers good enough – they are perfectly fine.
- How many eggs are you hoping to get? – Typically 8-12….that seems like a shit ton
- How many actually become embryos? Typically 50% of what is taken out…so if I produce 12, I will have 6 embryos ready and waiting.
- When will an egg transfer happen? 5 days after they are fertilized.
So I do not know when I will start this journey – could be 2 weeks – could be a month from now- could be whenever. I don’t know. But all I know is now I am excited that I have a plan and I am excited that 2018 will probably be our year of when I bring home a chlid! or children! WOOOT
Humor, Hope , and Hormones 