Adventures in Infertility...

Wednesday morning started off great.  I woke up around my usual time.  I got a quick shower, brushed my teeth, fixed my hair and put on make-up.  I had a quick conversation with the Hubster about my super causal attire.  Apparently he had forgotten that I had my monitoring appointment with the RE.  I was going to take a half day from work... I'd come home after the appointment and change into work wear.  On Monday when I was in the doctor's office for yet another monitoring appointment I didn't do so well with the blood drawing.  Word of advice-- always drink plenty of water before someone tries to draw your blood. 

So to make sure I was plenty hydrated I purposely scheduled my next appointment for Wednesday to be at 8:45am instead of 7:30am.  Plenty of time to drink a lot of water...

After many weeks of these monitoring appointments, I know the drill.  Sign in, wait for your name to be called, strip down from the waist and wait for the probe followed by bloodwork.  And after several weeks I was used to the nurses and the doctors talking about how impressive my ovaries are...  so when the friendly nurse called in the doctor because she wasn't sure what to do next... I didn't really know what to think.

The doctor came into my room.  It was the same doctor that told me about two months ago that we'd have to start doing the injections.  He sat down and started counting my follicles.  In a perfect cycle there would only be about 3 follicles to count.  I stopped looking when he had well over 20.  Most of them them were mature, the only problem was that there were so many of them.  He looked scared and that made me feel scared.  When he stopped counting he let me sit up so we could really talk.

He didn't want us proceeding with this cycle.  Besides the risk of overstimulating my ovaries, which is potentially life threatening and most certainly would be a reality if we continued with this cycle, he didn't want me to end up with multiples.  Because I'm petite I'd most certainly have to look at selective reduction if I were to become pregnant with multiples and that was a position he did not want to put me and the Hubster in.  I simply do not have the space to accommodate that many babies, period.

When I asked what was next... he took a deep breath and said, "I really hate to even mention this... but you would be a great candidate for IVF."

I hated hearing it as much as he hated saying it.  But he had valid points.  Besides the cost being out-of-this-world expensive, and of course insurance doesn't cover such treatments, the risk of multiples beyond twins is very slim... the fact that I produce lots and lots of potential eggs is great because in IVF you want to produce lots and lots of follicles... and the success rate is around 60%.  Due to my being young and healthy, he felt this was the best option.

He even mentioned, which I thought was a little weird, that I'd be a great egg donor as well.  He said, "couples would want your eggs.  You are attractive, petite, healthy... it would also cut down on the cost of IVF."

So now I have an appointment with my normal RE doctor in two weeks to discuss IVF and any other treatment options. 

Now, I'm sure you are all reading this and thinking, wow, she is really calm about all this... I'd be a wreck.  Trust me when I say I was a complete and total wreck.  I cried all the way home and off and on for most the day.  This was not what I had imagined for myself... even though I knew, and always have known, that getting pregnant was not going to be easy.

I took the rest of the day off at my friend Olivia's advice.  I laid around all day and did nothing but watch TV and try to rest.  But instead I found myself researching IVF and my doctor's office's ranking in the state.  Apparently I go to the third best RE office in the state when it comes to IVF.  The other two offices are much further away.

Since Wednesday I've talked to a friend at work that has gone through it all while she and her husband were on their 7 year journey of infertility.  She, herself, was a recipent of donor eggs through the IVF proceedure which resulted in her beautiful twins.  I'm much better now.  I'm starting to look at this in a positive way.  God has a plan for me and the Hubster.  And no one yet as said that I can't have children.  All positive.

Although, I agree with the Hubster... it is crazy that I'm too fertile to continue with this cycle.  I never thought that would happen.... not in a million years!