Follow Up Consult - The Course of Action

We finally had our follow up appointment to review all of the diagnostic testing we completed over the last month! All of Justin's tests came back normal. Use your imagination here so I don't actually have to type out what "tests" these are.... Let just say, all requirements needed by Justin are met, and he is good to go. ;)

My tests also came back great. Everything was normal except a high Vitamin A (not a bad thing I guess... Just unusual?) and my egg quantity was high. I was distracted and overwhelmed with excitement so I didn't really take that in, and assumed, more eggs equal more eligible embryos! Well... Apparently this is not the case. A condition known as PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) was brought up. I missed this completely during the consult. It wasn't until I got home and thought about it that I actually looked it up. Im not going to really dive in to all of that right now... Its still hard for me to even believe, although it could explain a lot. I want to review it in more detail with my Dr before taking it too seriously. Regardless, they said it wont have any affect on our success rates or IVF outcome.

But all other systems are a GO! This IS great news. I was also able to have a timeline wrote out for our "IVF Treatment Plan".

1. 1.Begin Birth Control Pills for the next month (right along with the prenatal I've been taking for years). This way they will know when to schedule the following steps and procedures.
2. Late November I will have an appointment to learn how to administer two injection shots. Then I will begin the 10 day process of those injections. I will be using Gonal-F (This medication is used to treat certain fertility problems in women. It provides the hormone (FSH) that helps cause the ovaries to produce eggs. This medication is usually used in combination with another hormone (hCG) for the growth and release of a mature egg (ovulation)) & Menopur (This medication is used to treat certain fertility problems in women. It provides follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) that help healthy ovaries to make eggs. This medication is usually used in combination with another hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin-hCG) to help you become pregnant by bringing about the growth and release of a mature egg (ovulation)). They seem similar in their descriptions, but I guess both are needed.
3. I will then have three appointments within that week to monitor how the injections are cooperating with my body. Blood work will be tested at each of these appointments.
4. Mid December I will have my retrieval (when they retrieve eggs, create embryos and grow them.) After the embryos are at a certain stage they will complete the PGS and PGD testing on them (PGS is to check the overall chromosomal normalcy in embryos. PGD is to test for our specific genetic condition)
5. Late January Ill have two more blood tests and should have embryo results including how many eligible embryos we have.
6. Late January/Early February I should expect to transfer the remaining eligible embryos!

I am really really grateful and happy that we are this far. I'm incredibly thankful for everyone that has helped us get this far and for everyone's continued support and prayers. This timeline feels like a really long road to travel. Especially because we started the beginning steps for this journey in July. Now the soonest (best case scenario) pregnancy we could hope to have wouldn't be until February. Eight months in total. This in the grand scheme of IVF things, it actually a good turnaround time. Its just really emotionally draining on our end still. The timeline is a bit of a  trigger for me because our first attempt of "trying" after we lost Liam resulted in a pregnancy in January and was unsuccessful. During Liam's first birthday, I was stuck in a 2 week wait period hoping for another pregnancy. A pregnancy that came, and should have been due December 12th of this year. Feeling the added grief of Liam's birthday on top of the stress of a new pregnancy at the same time is really, really hard. Not to mention the stress and constant pressure to stay calm and peaceful (which really just adds to your stress) during this sensitive time in the pregnancy, feels like insanity. I really really really was hoping for a pregnancy that was far enough along that I could feel a little more confident about it while embracing the two year anniversary of Liam's birthday. I really don't want to sound ungrateful. I am SO GRATEFUL. But if I'm being completely honest with myself, having faith for new life while honoring and grieving a loss is conflicting. It feels so unnatural and overwhelming. I would put if off, but I don't feel that it would make a difference. There will always be something. Some type of trigger or event that will make me feel this way. I think its just another part of the process. I just need to hold my head high, keep having faith, and do everything in my power to have a successful IVF round. I know we are making huge steps towards our future. I am really blessed to have such amazing people in my life. I'm thankful for our success rates and for how far we've already come. I don't know how anyone could do this on their own. Im so happy to have the amount of supporters we have. I know Liam's with us every step of the way.

Looking forward to many positive, happy, and productive posts to come!