Titles and Stuff

First of all...the big excitement is...I just got promoted to Associate! Yay me! I get to be an Ass!

(The not so excitement is that promotions don't seem to come with raises these days. I have to find a way to tell them that a higher bonus pool and access to the waiting list for parking priviledges is not going to cut it, espeically since I get my benefits through my husband on not them...but we'll take the weekend to come up with a plan. I didn't want to seem ungrateful!)

OK, so down to the real business. Brain dump from our WTF yesterday. Dr. A was of course very sorry that things didn't work out for us, but she did say they were able to learn a lot from the cycle. I have to take that as a positive. Going into it, I think we knew in the back of our minds that it was likely not to work on the frist try. So I'm glad they feel there were some answers.

First off, we have a fertilization issue. She said that when they look at the eggs after fertilization, there are usually hundreds of sperm still hanging around the perimeter of the eggs. With our eggs, they saw something like 5 sperm. Being that we had 14 eggs, 13 mature, and only 4 fertilized, there is definitely an issue. But this should be taken care of by ICSI, which we also found out we are approved for.

The second issue is the good old AMA thing. That there are just fewer eggs that are chromosomally capable of turning into a viable pregnancy. This is why they try to get so many eggs with stimulation, because a small percentage of those are actually still good.

She said she has no worries about her ability to stimulate me, and no worries about my uterus. We just have to find the good eggs. So, we're moving to the antagonist protocol, to, as she put it, grow the eggs in a different endocrine environment. As soon as I get my next period, I'll start BCPs for about 21 days. 4 days after that, I'll have my baseline appointment, and will probably stim for about 10 days. This time, instead of Menopur in the morning, and Gonal F and night, it will be Gonal F twice a day. I'm totally cool with that, because the pen couldn't be easier, and it doesn't sting like Menopur. Also, no Lupron this time. I think it will be Ganirelix instead for the last few days of stims.

Where does all of that put us? Likely sometime in the last full week of August. (Of course, my next deadline at work is August 20...but whatever. I'll make it! I'm an Ass. now!)

Lets see...is there anything else important to report...I asked if there is anything I can do to try to improve the quality of my eggs. I've heard about Co-Enzyme Q10, and other supplements. She said none of them have been proven to have an effect. The only thing proven to make a difference is weight loss. Yes, I hate to admit it, but I am slightly over weight. I'd love to loose 20-30 pounds ultimately, but right about now, I'd settle for breaking 170. I was getting close...but add IVF, and now I'm back up a few. She also said acupuncture isn't proven, but looks promising, so I will be continuing with that.

I think that's about it. Even though I only have a few weeks to try an do something about my weight, I have just talked myself out of going out for a rainy walk because I had a glass of wine with dinner to celebrate my promotion, and now I'm bordering on sloshed. my tolerance is ridiculous!