It's been a week since my last post. Sorry, I was hiding. And reflecting. And pouting. My emotions have been sporadic this week (still blaming it on the hormones) but I'm finally feeling human again so I figured I should bring everyone up to speed.
THE GOOD NEWS: The doctor called us on Saturday and said that our two little eggs that he collected on Thursday, FERTILIZED. This is very encouraging because it's a good indication that my egg quality is not the issue. More than likely, I just need to be stimulated differently. Now let me try and answer some of the questions that you probably have. Below is a picture of what goes on in the lab once the eggs are retrieved. Not all eggs fertilize, usually a portion of them do. Sometimes all. Sometimes none. It depends on the quality of the egg & sperm. So you'll see why we were excited to find out that the two eggs we thought were "duds" ended up surprising us. Now this doesn't necessarily mean that they will reach the Blastocyst stage, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. The image below is a diagram of what happens during the 5 days that the eggs are in the lab prior to transfer.
THE GOOD NEWS: The doctor called us on Saturday and said that our two little eggs that he collected on Thursday, FERTILIZED. This is very encouraging because it's a good indication that my egg quality is not the issue. More than likely, I just need to be stimulated differently. Now let me try and answer some of the questions that you probably have. Below is a picture of what goes on in the lab once the eggs are retrieved. Not all eggs fertilize, usually a portion of them do. Sometimes all. Sometimes none. It depends on the quality of the egg & sperm. So you'll see why we were excited to find out that the two eggs we thought were "duds" ended up surprising us. Now this doesn't necessarily mean that they will reach the Blastocyst stage, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. The image below is a diagram of what happens during the 5 days that the eggs are in the lab prior to transfer.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Once my two eggs fertilized on Day 1 (yay!), they were FROZEN. The plan is to do another cycle of STIMS in October and try and gather more. WHEN we do (see how positive I am?), they'll un-freeze the two embryos from the first cycle and let them all grow together. At the end of Day 5, hopefully we'll have a slew of beautiful embryos in the Blastocyst stage and we'll be able to choose the best 2 embryos to transfer (based on their grade, I'll explain that later).
THE BAD NEWS:
THE BAD NEWS:
Now that we've recovered from bad news and have a new plan of action, I'm super anxious to get this show on the road. But we have to let things settle down in there before we get started again. I've been instructed to call as soon as I start my next menstrual cycle. Then, based on how quiet things are in there, we could either get started immediately or have to wait one more month. The first 3 weeks is generally birth control, so I imagine I'll at least get started with that. Birth control suppresses the ovaries and let's them take a nice little siesta before we put them to work again.
This time I'll be on a protocol called the "flare protocol" or the "low Lupron protocol". I won't overwhelm you with the details just yet, but there's always Google if you'd like to skip ahead a few chapters. My doctor was as surprised as we were with the results of the retrieval last week, but he's confident in this new protocol and in moving forward. Our two little fertilized eggs were a beacon of hope for us all.
I'll wrap this up with a little quote straight from Dr. Pinto.... "We can do everything right. I can do everything perfect and you can do everything perfect, but if you do not PRAY, it will not work. God is in control here, not me. Pray together every night."
I get the feeling some people are worried that I am sad, angry, depressed, resentful, hopeless....etc. I'm not. Was I sad? Obviously. Who wouldn't be? But our faith has never been stronger, our sprits have never been higher, and we are still 100% confident in this process and our doctor.
I guess in the meantime, I'll continue posting fun facts about IVF, good recipes and projects that I'll probably take on to occupy my time.
XOXO
This time I'll be on a protocol called the "flare protocol" or the "low Lupron protocol". I won't overwhelm you with the details just yet, but there's always Google if you'd like to skip ahead a few chapters. My doctor was as surprised as we were with the results of the retrieval last week, but he's confident in this new protocol and in moving forward. Our two little fertilized eggs were a beacon of hope for us all.
I'll wrap this up with a little quote straight from Dr. Pinto.... "We can do everything right. I can do everything perfect and you can do everything perfect, but if you do not PRAY, it will not work. God is in control here, not me. Pray together every night."
I get the feeling some people are worried that I am sad, angry, depressed, resentful, hopeless....etc. I'm not. Was I sad? Obviously. Who wouldn't be? But our faith has never been stronger, our sprits have never been higher, and we are still 100% confident in this process and our doctor.
I guess in the meantime, I'll continue posting fun facts about IVF, good recipes and projects that I'll probably take on to occupy my time.
XOXO