Transfer Day

If I wanted to announce to the whole world about the FET, I would have posted on fb "heading to AZ with my mom to try and get pregnant." Probably not a good idea but it would be funny.

I had high hopes going in to today's transfer. Dr. G was running behind and was rushed. Normally I really like the guy but today he wasn't my favorite. He told me that they thawed four embryos but one died during the process. That was harder to hear then I thought. The three remaining embryos were just "ok" quality. The best embryos were used during my fresh IVF cycle that resulted in Skittle and the remaining were frozen. My impression after the IVF was that all my babies were very high quality...guess that wasn't the case. We ended up transferring all three embryos though embryo number three was already struggling to survive (he was only 6 cells). It was heartbreaking to hear. Dr. G said "let's hope one sticks." I really thought I wasn't going to be *too* disappointed if this didn't work, but....

One great thing was that Tricare decided to cover over $400 of the FET. I was shocked!!!! It brought the cost to $1200. Again, I had no idea they were going to do that. It was a lovely surprise!

Two weeks until the blood test... I'll keep you posted.

FET2, CD12

I had my u/s and blood work for CD12 and all looked great. I wasn't worried about it because I know my body well enough to know when I'm about to ovulate or have ovulated. The u/s revealed that my uterine lining was 8.5mm (not the best ever, but good enough) and I didn't have any dominate follicles. Everything is still a go for Monday in Tucson!

Part of me wants to add up all the costs of this FET so far and compare it to what I would have spent for doing it locally, but, I don't want to be disappointed. I don't think I'm saving all that much. If this doesn't work the first time, I'll have to decide if I want to ship the rest of the babies here to try again. I dunno...I'm not ready to think about it yet.

I start PIO tonight...just 1cc and then tomorrow I have to do 2cc's every night before bed until my blood preg test. Can't wait...NOT.

AZ can kiss my...

...big (still) bruised backside! Maybe the title is a little harsh but I have had enough with the clinic in AZ. If it wasn't for the great Dr. G there and his prices, I'd be shipping my babies to TX. The staff at the clinic in AZ is on my crap list. I've had nothing but issues with them. I had called AZ about a week and a half ago to request orders for my FET monitoring to be sent to TX so that I could make an appt when I got AF. Easy right? Nope, they didn't do it, so on Thursday (1/12) I started my AF and HAD to make an appt for the next day (by the way, having a vaginal u/s on the second day of your cycle isn't pretty...actually, it's kind of creepy). I called TX and they informed me that they still didn't have any orders. I once again called AZ and left THREE messages to have SOMEONE call me back. TX ended up calling me and threatening that I only had 2 hrs left before I'd have to cancel this cycle all together and wait another month if they didn't receive orders. I then called AZ in a panic and demanded that I talk to someone. FINALLY after a LOT of unnecessary anxiety, with a half hr to spare, they sent the orders and I was able to get an appt. AZ said they would call me again within 15 mins to tell me about what meds to take and how much. Do you think they called me?! NO. I would never have started the meds if I hadn't been down this road before, but I have, so I took 4mg of Estrace. At the end of the NEXT day, after I had called another two times to talk to someone, Martha called me back. I never did figure out how much PIO I have to take (I'm going to do 2cc until I'm told differently) but at least I know when I'm supposed to start it and that my FET is on Jan 30. I'm sure AZ is overworked, but honestly, I don't care. I think it's terrible form to leave a patient hanging when all it takes is a three minute phone call and to fax some paperwork. NOT DIFFICULT. I was about to lose my mind on Thursday...I know I'll have to call again this Tuesday to make sure the orders are in for my CD12 u/s and b/w but I'm trying not to think about it right now. Oh and guess what? Apparently I DO have 13 embryos (like I was told right after my IVF), not 12 like I was told last year...AZ, you disappoint me.

I've booked plane tickets to AZ, leaving on the 29th. I had forgotten about the bed rest part of this and I was told that I wasn't allowed to fly back home until Feb 1. I would say that after my last IVF, I just took it easy, and wasn't really on bed rest. I remember holding a pillow to my stomach for the 90 mile trip home from Tucson though. I have to try and not use my stomach muscles for 48 hrs after the procedure. My mom and I will be staying at a hotel so it shouldn't be too hard.

A little about frozen embryo transfers. They are much easier on the body than IVF and much less complicated. I had a u/s on CD2 to make sure that I don't have any cysts and that my uterine lining is at an appropriate measurement. I'm taking Estrace to shut down my ovaries (basically a mild form of birth control) and build up my uterine lining during the first half of my cycle, then on CD12, I stop the Estrace and start PIO on CD12 (and have another u/s to check my lining again and have a progesterone blood test to make sure that I haven't ovulated) for a week before AZ will transfer two or three embryos via catheter directly to my uterus. Then approx two weeks later, I'll have a blood preg test. Of course I'll be testing at home before that...I just can't help myself! I got a positive home preg test 7 days after my last IVF transfer...that's pretty early, but I know it's possible!!!

While I'm writing...I have to say that I'm fully aware that this has a good chance of not working. I've done three clomid/fermara cycles, three inject cycles with timed bd, three IUI's with injects, two IVF's, and one FET already, which only resulted in ONE live baby. I don't expect to be pregnant after this first try, but I'm excited at the prospect. If it doesn't work, I'm pretty sure that we'll try again in two cycles from now. I can't see us flying back to AZ once a month for FET's. It's just not realistic.

Quick update

My favorite Christmas pic

In the above pic, her auntie is showing her how to jump on the chair...hummm...

I actually don't have a lot to write about right now. I'm waiting on AF to start the FET, which should be pretty soon. I'll start Estrace when I get AF, have an u/s on CD 2 or 3 and hope for the best. If I don't have any cysts, I'll continue the Estrace until CD 12 and start PIO again...We'll be heading to AZ between CD 16-18 for the actual FET.

In other news, Skittle is now 16 months and such a ham! She's starting to string words together like "up please" and "hi mama." Some other new words include, Elmo, pocket, jacket, basket, water, walk and a bunch more that I can't think of right now. She stayed with my parents the end of Dec so DH and I could go on vacation, alone. It was much needed and WONDERFUL. Skittle had a blast with her grandparents and I know they enjoyed it too.