Fast Forward!!

Well, our transfer timeline just got MOVED UP!  We are cycling effective immediately!

Turns out the facility that our RE transfers at is getting a new roof in September during our transfer window and will be CLOSED.  So, our choices were to shoot for an August transfer or push things back a whole additional month from our original timeline and wait till late October.

IM had labs run yesterday to see where her hormone levels are and it was determined that we could start cycling right away.  I was given instructions to stop BCP and come in for bloodwork and ultrasound Friday.  I'll get our calendar and tentative transfer date then.

Wow, we are counting down days NOT weeks till our next attempt at this.  As IM said, hoping this is our final and best round yet.  Fingers crossed!!!

Womb with a View

My last update I left off worried about the possibility of having to do a hysteroscopy to rule out a possible adhesion in my uterus.  After some research I kinda freaked myself out ... I really wasn't looking forward to general anesthesia and what was described as an invasive procedure.  The RE  and my IPs discussed and he advised that we definitely do it because an issue could still be missed on an u/s alone.  He said it could be done in office sans anesthetic because, if there was an issue he didn't plan to correct it.  This was both good news and bad news.  Good news I didn't have to go under and it was going to be "simple", bad news was that if there was an adhesion my journey would be over.  That would be heartbreaking news to us all.  My IPs and I were very anxious awaiting the procedure that would determine our fate.

I went yesterday and I'm very happy to say that everything looked perfect!!  Dr. D said things couldn't look more normal.  In the past I had an RE say my uterus was beautiful, but I was super happy with normal. There wasn't anything to see, and in this case that was the best news ever. Today I saw my OB/Gyn for my annual and she was so surprised I'd done the procedure without anesthetic.  Maybe I have a high pain tolerance? The hysteroscopy itself was very easy (heck my pap today was more uncomfortable) and it was admittedly kinda cool to see the interior view of the womb that's nurtured seven little babies.

So with that bit of news, we are moving forward soon!  Our timeline is for a mid September transfer so it will be time to cycle before we know it!!

New RE - Medical Evaluation

Things are beginning to happen again as we gear up for a second attempt at helping my IPs (GSx3) add to their family.

 While on hold, IM cycled late May with the new RE to create some more embryos for our next try.  The stim and retrieval process was hard on her this time around both physically and mentally.  The new protocol was a bit more aggressive and she was also doing acupuncture in hopes for several mature eggs.  It didn't bring significantly different results but, they do now have one frozen little totsicle for our upcoming transfer.  We will be cycling simultaneously for our next IVF cycle and hoping to have fresh embryos to work with in addition to the one frozen.

I had my first visit and screening with the new RE this past week (Advanced Reproductive Center). Although this office offers monitoring for local surrogates & egg donors working with other clinics, it doesn't do very many surrogacy cases first hand.  The advantage to this office however, it is very personal and we will get a lot of individual attention - much different than the cattle call at the previous clinic.  Dr. Deutch was impressed with my knowledge of the IVF process and my very specific questions regarding his protocol.  I should certainly hope I know what I'm talking about, this will be my eighth IVF cycle!  LOL  I am familiar with all the meds and steps we will be taking and was comfortable with everything he explained.  We did a quick history and physical, bloodwork and an ultrasound. 

Image of an adhesion,
Similar to what we saw on u/s but
more dense here.

He did note "something" in my uterus that he wants to check out further by doing a hysteroscopy (scope w/camera). I've previously only had a saline u/s (sonohystrography/SIS) so this is a little new. He wants to rule out that it's an adhesion or scar tissue. The white line clearly went from the top to the bottom of the fluid pocket that's present in my uterus due to being mid period. I know for certain it wasn't there prior to our last cycle in February, so I'm doubtful that it is scar tissue considering in the last several months I haven't had a D&C or inter-uterine infection. I'm only on CD2 so it could just be dense clotted menstrual blood/fluid.  I'm pretty confident that's all it is and he was leaning towards that as well but, wants to rule it out for sure.

After returning home I did a some more research on the hysterscopy procedure and it's a bit more invasive than I originally thought.  It usually requires general anesthesia in a hospital setting.  It's similar to a D&C minus the curettage part, unless they discover something that needs to be removed and then they'd address that as well.  I am going to advocate that we do another u/s after my period is over to reevaluate.  I'd hate to go through something classified as a surgical procedure that may be unnecessary, causing me discomfort and my IPs additional expenses.  My insurance may not cover what would be considered a procedure to treat an "infertility" issue that has been diagnosed by the RE.

I've shared my concerns with IM and she and the RE will discuss and decide our next step.  Fingers crossed that this will be nothing and we will still be on target for a mid September transfer.