The Consultation

Hubby and I met with Dr. A this morning to have the big IVF discussion. Everyone was in agreement, that it is the next logical step. It was a good meeting. Hubby got to ask some questions since it was the first time he's actually met Dr. A personally. The best news is that, although our infertility is still unexplained, she thinks the prognosis is really good, and said in her opinion, it's more a matter of when, then if.

Hubby was excited to learn that there is a complex algorithm used to determine how many embryos will be transferred when we get to that point. (he loves algorithms..he creates them himself for things like determining how many points we should earn each week for correctly determining the contestant eliminated in the American Idol competition we have with our moms!) Based on my age, the most that would be transferred would be two.

We filled out all the consent forms. We just need to update some testing, and we'll be ready to move forward with insurance approval. Hubby needs a new sperm analysis, and I need to have a hysteroscopy. That needs to happen between day 5 and 12, so for a brief moment, we thought we'd be able to fit it in before we leave for our trip. Lupron won't start until day 21, which is two days after we're back. And it was like, what the...are we starting this now?? I wasn't planning on that! But, it turned out that there were no available appointments for the hysteroscopy this week. So, fate decided for us. And I'm ok with that. Now, we can go on our vacation, and really relax, and not have to come back right into injections. Yes, it is hard to wait, and keep waiting. But I need this time to find that peaceful place before we launch into the next step. That's not to say, of course, that if they had been able to squeeze me in, I wouldn't have gone for it. Like I said, fate decided.

I'm going to schedule my acupuncture consultation tomorrow for when we are back in April. I am looking forward to that. As for the results of my recent bloodwork, I'm told everything looks fine. And they didn't actually test for HCG. I decided to let it go. I know I thought I wanted to know if it was a chemical for the data point, but I'm past it now. It's time to move forward.

Let's see. This feels a little scattered today. But it was a lot of information to take in. The plan (yay for a plan!) is to call on my next day 1 to schedule to hysteroscopy. That should be in about three weeks. I will start Lupron on day 21 (about 6 weeks from now, first week or so of May), and start stims 10 days/2 weeks or so after that (late May). The cool thing is that our 3rd wedding anniversary is May 31, and it seems like ER or ET could be right around then...with my very vague long range forecasts, of course. No BCPs. We'll be using Menopur and Gonal F. I'll have Crinone which is a vaginal insert for Progesterone. So, I might luck out with only one HCG intramuscular injection. They will do assisted hatching because I am of advanced maternal age (don't you just love it? 36 is one week from today!) By mid-June, if all goes according to plan, we should have an answer!

Lastly, I'm such a geek, and I'm so in love with my iPhone, that I just bought an IVF app to track all the appointments and medications. I thought it might make it more fun! (Hubby will tell you that I cried more when he gave me the phone for Christmas two years ago, then when he proposed...not quite, but close!)

Oh, I should also say that I got great responses from my friends who I emailed this weekend. My college roomie of all 4 years wrote back almost immediately and said she is coming to visit me in May. I haven't actually seen her in a year and a half. It will be really great to see her.