I arrived in Victoria last week and went straight to the fertility clinic. The ultrasound showed my lining was too thin for transfer so I had to increase some meds, and head over to Vancouver to visit Elana and Marcos.
It was a loooong journey to get from the clinic to their house via public transit. It actually took 6 hours in total! For my trip back on Monday I rented a car which is way more expensive to take on the ferry, but way easier. The next ultrasound on Monday showed the lining was a bit thicker, not great but good enough for transfer.
Another problem that came up was that I'd been having cramping in my uterus which the doctor could see on the ultrasound. I thought it was because of the meds but apparently it just happens sometimes. This did make me panic a bit as I pictured my uterus contracting and shooting the little embryos out. I'm still cramping today, nothing I can do about it like all the rest of this.
The doctor is going to give me valium and buscopan before the transfer and these are both supposed to stop the cramping so that the little embryos can snuggle in and implant.
I really hope this works because I never want to do this again!!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Happy for problems!
I'm so happy that I have a doctor who did all the testing to see what may be stopping us from having a sucessful pregnancy. At first it looked like conception was the only problem, but then even when they fertilized the egg for us and we had perfect embryos they didn't implant, or they started to implant and then stopped. Then there is our only natural conception that ended in early miscarriage.
It may sound strange but I'm happy to have problems that can be treated and to know about them now rather than getting pregnant easily and having more losses. Women with pcos have a higher risk of miscarriage and tend to have poorer outcomes with IVF but taking Metformin during the first trimester helps. I have the prothrombin gene that causes increased clotting, miscarriage, and other pregnancy complications, but I can take injections of blood thinners before, during, and after pregnancy to prevent them. Women with hypothyroidism have higher risk of miscarriage, but my TSH levels are monitored closely and I can take a hormone to keep the levels normal.
It doesn't feel great to have a bunch of problems, but I'm so happy they are treatable. I was reading something about pregnancy needing to be treated as a natural, normal part of life, not as a medical concern and that natural childbirth etc is the best. I seriously could care less about whether a pregancy is "natural" or not. If I get pregnant and give birth it will take some major medical help to get pregnant and stay pregnant and I'm super thankful that it is available. If I am so blessed to get pregnant I will be 36 years old (advanced maternal age they say) and looking for a medical doctor to closely monitor all aspects of the pregnancy.. God bless the midwives who help women do everything naturally...but for me there is nothing natural about any of it and all that matters is the end result!
It may sound strange but I'm happy to have problems that can be treated and to know about them now rather than getting pregnant easily and having more losses. Women with pcos have a higher risk of miscarriage and tend to have poorer outcomes with IVF but taking Metformin during the first trimester helps. I have the prothrombin gene that causes increased clotting, miscarriage, and other pregnancy complications, but I can take injections of blood thinners before, during, and after pregnancy to prevent them. Women with hypothyroidism have higher risk of miscarriage, but my TSH levels are monitored closely and I can take a hormone to keep the levels normal.
It doesn't feel great to have a bunch of problems, but I'm so happy they are treatable. I was reading something about pregnancy needing to be treated as a natural, normal part of life, not as a medical concern and that natural childbirth etc is the best. I seriously could care less about whether a pregancy is "natural" or not. If I get pregnant and give birth it will take some major medical help to get pregnant and stay pregnant and I'm super thankful that it is available. If I am so blessed to get pregnant I will be 36 years old (advanced maternal age they say) and looking for a medical doctor to closely monitor all aspects of the pregnancy.. God bless the midwives who help women do everything naturally...but for me there is nothing natural about any of it and all that matters is the end result!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Emotional Roller Coaster....going up!
Well this whole thing has been such an emotional roller coaster and it's so strange for normally even keeled me to be feeling such crazy ups and downs. Yep...crying, anxiety, insomnia, hopefullness, peace, despair and more.
My trip to Victoria was really good this week. I had been soo nervous for some of the procedures and just generally anxious and stressed and not sleeping, then feeler more peaceful closer to the travel date.
Everything actually ended up being quite smooth and easy and I'm so happy about that. I was so blessed with a family in Victoria that invited me to stay at their house. I'd been dialoging with this lady via an ivf site that had a support thread for patients of my clinic, we'd "met" online in the summer and then in person in January. She and her husband have a beautiful 5 week old baby girl that was conceived at my fertility clinic and is the product of a frozen embryo transfer. This couple were so nice to me. I got picked up at the airport, had dinner at their house, and got a ride to the clinic in the morning.
At the clinic the doctor met me in the waiting room and told me they were running a bit behind but would be with me shortly. I was surprised when a few minutes later they were leading me into the procedure room saying "you know what to do...undress etc". I reminded them that my appointment wasn't for another hour and I'd come early to get some drugs. I was NOT ready for any procedures on the spot with no meds!! Thankfully they gave me my drugs and let me chill out next door for a while. I must say that the combination of tylenol, ativan, and gravol was super relaxing and AWESOME!!
When I went back into the procedure room they did the sonohysterogram, then warned me about the biopsy part that was supposed to hurt....it was FINE! I plan to take tylenol before any and every visit to the clinic from now on and maybe throw in some gravol too. It was the first visit that I've had there that wasn't totally uncomfortable.
After the biopsy I got to go back to the other room for my IV of intralipids and thanks to the freezing before the IV that was a breeze too. I was almost falling asleep during tht intralipids except for the blood pressure cuff that would turn on and squeeze my arm every 5 minutes.
So the doctor said the sonohysterogram showed no abnormalities in my uterus and basically no stone is left unturned. I reviewed my procotol and the herparin injections with the nurse and we should be ready to go next week.
I'm feeling good and kind of hopeful about this working...but then again I've felt that way 3 times before with no success so am I crazy to be hopeful????
My trip to Victoria was really good this week. I had been soo nervous for some of the procedures and just generally anxious and stressed and not sleeping, then feeler more peaceful closer to the travel date.
Everything actually ended up being quite smooth and easy and I'm so happy about that. I was so blessed with a family in Victoria that invited me to stay at their house. I'd been dialoging with this lady via an ivf site that had a support thread for patients of my clinic, we'd "met" online in the summer and then in person in January. She and her husband have a beautiful 5 week old baby girl that was conceived at my fertility clinic and is the product of a frozen embryo transfer. This couple were so nice to me. I got picked up at the airport, had dinner at their house, and got a ride to the clinic in the morning.
At the clinic the doctor met me in the waiting room and told me they were running a bit behind but would be with me shortly. I was surprised when a few minutes later they were leading me into the procedure room saying "you know what to do...undress etc". I reminded them that my appointment wasn't for another hour and I'd come early to get some drugs. I was NOT ready for any procedures on the spot with no meds!! Thankfully they gave me my drugs and let me chill out next door for a while. I must say that the combination of tylenol, ativan, and gravol was super relaxing and AWESOME!!
When I went back into the procedure room they did the sonohysterogram, then warned me about the biopsy part that was supposed to hurt....it was FINE! I plan to take tylenol before any and every visit to the clinic from now on and maybe throw in some gravol too. It was the first visit that I've had there that wasn't totally uncomfortable.
After the biopsy I got to go back to the other room for my IV of intralipids and thanks to the freezing before the IV that was a breeze too. I was almost falling asleep during tht intralipids except for the blood pressure cuff that would turn on and squeeze my arm every 5 minutes.
So the doctor said the sonohysterogram showed no abnormalities in my uterus and basically no stone is left unturned. I reviewed my procotol and the herparin injections with the nurse and we should be ready to go next week.
I'm feeling good and kind of hopeful about this working...but then again I've felt that way 3 times before with no success so am I crazy to be hopeful????
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