IVF

For those of you interested, this is how our little bambino started out...

In September we started preparing for IVF. The trip to the pharmacy to pick up my injections was amusing. The girl at the checkout was ringing up the meds and each time she would double check the price and kept asking me if we used our insurance. I assured her that all was correct, but if she wanted to throw in a discount I would be alright with it:)

After blood tests, signing away our life, and a blank slate we were all ready to start. The funny thing about IVF is that you begin by taking birth control so they can make you ovulate when it is convenient for the doctor...talk about unnatural and also an oxymoron...aren't we trying to get a baby? Anyways, in October we were set and I started my daily injections. I started with 2 shots a day given in the stomach or thighs. Since Matt has crazy work hours it was up to me to be able to get the hang of giving them myself. I was really nervous the first couple of days, but after that it was second nature. The most I had to do was 3 in one day so I was lucky, but I can really say that I don't miss those months!

After 2 weeks of the regular shots, which were given to make my ovaries big and the eggs more plentiful, we were ready to do the egg retrieval. They give you a light sedative to put you to sleep and the doctor takes all of the eggs that I have available. We were able to get 11 eggs, 7 which were considered grade "a" eggs, which the lab then inserted the sperm into through a process called ICSI and let them go to work overnight. The next day they let us know that of the 7, 5 of them fertilized. Another couple of days let the embryos mature and continue to grow in their cozy dish in the lab.

Then, it was time to transfer the embryos back to me to see what would happen. I was so nervous this day and knew that it would soon be all up to me and what my body would do with the them. Thank goodness I got to take some nice drugs to relax my body and allow nature to take its course. For this round we went into a room with an ultrasound, nurses, the lab techs, and Matt was able to be there with me as the doctor did the transfer. Just before we got started the doctor told us that she wanted to put in 3 embryos instead of just 2 like we thought. I trust her since she has some great success rates (higher than the national average!). So, after she inserted the embryos I was on 3 days of bed rest to give them a chance to implant/attach. We wouldn't know for 2 weeks if we had success.

In the mean time I started my worst injection that I would give in my hips for the next 8 weeks as long as I was pregnant. (Imagine giving yourself a shot of molasses in your rear...and a month later I still feel pain in my hips.) It started out rough, but again, I was on my own and had to suck it up. Life started to revolve around that shot since you have to do it at the same time each night for optimal results. I gave that shot to myself in the car, the restroom of wherever we were at the time, but best of all at home! Those two weeks waiting for the results were a killer, and I was very nervous as I waited for test results the first day. The nurse called with my HcG level on Day 1 of 26. I went in every other day to check it until I got to 1000. As long as the number doubled every 2 days they considered that success. Well, we more than doubled every two days and were on the right track. The most difficult part in that 2 weeks of going in every two days for blood work was waiting for the call to tell me what my number was. I was super nervous each time and nobody really ever said, "You are pregnant!" which is what I was itching to hear! Finally, after my 6 week ultrasound I got my Congrats! Then, 2 weeks later we had a growth ultrasound where the baby was getting bigger and things looked good. I continued to give myself the shot each day and went back for one more visit to the fertility specialist right before Christmas when she did an ultrasound and told me I had a keeper! This baby was growing and looked good! On December 23rd I gave my last shot, which brought my total just shy of 100 injections for the round of IVF. Matt asked if I wanted to make it to 100...no thanks!


This was more difficult than I ever thought it would be, not just physically, but emotionally too. However, I wouldn't trade it for the world! We were able to do IVF and have success! We are extremely blessed and have a wonderful family who has been there for us through the whole process and has prayed with us and encouraged us. It is all worth it and I will do it again if I have to. We laugh about how it took us and 8 other doctors, nurses, and lab techs to bring about this miracle. How romantic! (We have to laugh about it and keep a good positive attitude! I mean, how lucky are we to live at a time when we have all of these modern technologies to help us with this process!)