11 is our lucky number...

Hello blogreaders,

I know I have been MIA for a while and a lot of it is because I was emotionally drained from my previous IVF cycle and it took a good month and a half for me to completely heal, both physically and mentally. In order to deal with what was going on and the devastation a failed IVF cycle brought, I buried myself in work and spent a week in California working, gathering my thoughts and spending some much needed one on one time with mah Be. I came home from that trip rejuvinated and ready to jump into another IVF cycle.

To back up a little bit, my first day back at work from my previous bed rest it was announced that our infertility insurance was changing and that everything done this year wouldn't count toward our new $30,000 infertility lifetime max. Although I wasn't ready to jump into another fresh cycle so soon and my IVF Dr. didn't love the idea, we decided because my ovaries were back to size and it was basically a free cycle we would go ahead with another round. Due to the length of time a cycle takes and the Christmas holiday, we chose to do an antagonistic IVF cycle, so there were a few less shots (no Lupron) and the process was a week shorter. I started my birth control on November 7th, as well as the drug metformin, which is primarily used in diabetic patients, but has been found to help with hyperstimulation. Metformin is a pretty nasty drug though and for the first few weeks of taking it I was nauseous and threw up a few times. It was basically like having morning sickness without the baby.

My body finally got used to the metformin and on December 2nd, I began my follicle stimulating shots of Repronex and Follistim. Due to hyperstimulating last time, they decreased my dose of Follistim from 150mg to 100mg and I was going in daily for an ultrasound to see how everything was progressing. As soon as there was a follicle above 13, they had me start another daily shot of a drug called Ganorelix to stop my brain and ovaries from talking to each other.

Everything had been going well and they were monitoring my estrogen levels very closely because of what happened last time, that is until I went in on Friday, December 9th. The day before they had drawn some blood to check my estrogen and found that it was once again high (3,000) and I was going down the same hyperstimulation path as I had last time. The Dr. had me have more blood work done and then ordered me to bed rest and put me on a gatorade diet to help alleviate some of the hyperstimulation symptoms. As I sat in the office with tears running down my face that Friday and trying not to bawl as they once again handed me a "hat" and a measuring tape, they informed me of a fairly new protocol they are able to use in antagonistic cycles. Due to the fact that I had not been taking Lupron this cycle, they could use Lupron to to trigger my ovulation instead of HCG because it doesn’t contribute to hyperstimulation. They also put me on a cautionary prescription and told me to take it easy Friday and Saturday and they would call me after they got the results of my estrogen to decide whether or not it was OK for me to go in for a retrieval. They also reminded me that even if I could do a retrieval, my hyperstimulation symptoms would most likely increase and there was a very small chance I would be able to do a transfer and we would most likely need to freeze all of the embryos and do a frozen cycle at a later date.

After I left the Dr.'s office and had my complete meltdown, I received a call from the U. They informed me that even though my estrogen was still high (4,000), they wanted to do a retrieval on Sunday and I needed to trigger that night. Although I was excited this cycle was still a go, I was really worried about the pain and anguish I thought I would for sure feel. I went in on Sunday extremely anxious, although hopeful, and went through another egg retrieval.

To my surprise and relief, I came out of my retrieval feeling pretty good. I did not experience any of the same symptoms I had last time and just spent Sunday taking it easy and drinking gatorade to keep the symptoms at bay. They were able to retrieve 16 eggies and on Tuesday I learned that 12 were mature, 11 were able to fertilize and 11 were still growing and dividing like they should. As of this morning, all 11 were still growing, although three aren't doing as well as the others, and I am scheduled for my first transfer tomorrow morning at 11:00 am. I am in total shock that we are getting to this point and I am feeling extremely blessed and thankful that the Dr.'s were able to reverse the hyperstimulation and salvage this cycle.

So that's my story for the past few months. I apologize for not sharing earlier but I kept this cycle on the DL because of everything that happened last time and my fear of the same thing happening. It was only after I was told that this cycle looked as though it was going to fail as well that I felt the courage and need to share our journey again.

I am anxiously awaiting my transfer tomorrow and am happy to report that Mike is on board with transferring two. For some reason this time feels so much different than anything else we have ever done and I am extremely hopeful that Baby Ricci or Riccis will be on their way soon.

Thanks again for all of your love, support, comments, advice and inspiring words. I wouldn't be able to get through all of this without my amazing friends, family, my RESOLVE group, co-workers and this blog.

XOXOX...

Lauren