I still don't know if it is the hormone injections or the accupuncture but my period is here and it is making itself known. At my last IVF consult I was told from now on I can only take Tylenol which sounds reasonible....reasonible to someone who doesn't have Endometriosis. I need my drugs!!!! I am in pain and unless I take the entire bottle of Tylenol it isn't going to help.
Hopefully it is a short one!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
She came early!!!
I am a bit confused I am on CD 25 and got my period today. I am not sure if it is because I finished my BC pills Wednesday or if the accupuncture brought it on early. I am just worried that my Day 0 ultra sound is now scheduled too late. They based it on my 28 day so this is why I am wondering. I also think they consider Dr G's schedule (heaven forbid he have to come in on the weekend!). Hopefully it doesn't matter because I am taking the Superfact anyways.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Getting poked....and not in the good way!
So I started my Superfact injections on Monday and I still haven't been able to put the needle in myself. I feel like such a baby because the needle is so small and it is painless, I just can't bring myself to doing it.
Today was my first time at accupuncture. I have been thinking about doing it forever but I have to be honest I wasn't 100% sure if I thought it would make a difference. A parent at my school who has endometriosis too is confident that her two sons are the result of accupuncture so I gave in and decided it couldn't hurt. I don't have any insurance coverage for it and with the cost of the IVF this month I have decided to limit the amount of times I am going (I hope that isn't the wrong decision). I am going to go every Friday for the next 3 weeks and then on embryo transfer day the accupunturist sugggests going before and after. The total cost will be around $450 which doesn't seem terrible considering all of the other related expenses. I am not sure how authentic my treatment was (I am sorry to say it and I don't mean to offend anyone but I would have preferred an asian doctor performing the accupuncture). I hope this guy knows what he is doing because he only put in 8 little needle things and I really didn't feel anything. The only thing I noticed was that I have period like cramps. However, that could be because I am expecting my period in the next couple of days....haha
So I am pretty sure a girl at work in pregnant. I actually went to Teacher's College with her and we are friends (kind of) outside of school. She knows that I have been trying to get pregnant and always asks me for the update on what fertility treatment I am pursuing this week. I am guessing that she is pregnant for a couple of reasons. The first reason I think she is preggo is because she a significant ponch. I also have a ponch but she is much thinnner and very aware of her physical appearance. Yesterday in the staff rooom she was wearing a form fitting shirt and her hands were cupping her belly the way that only preggo women do. The second reason I think it is possible is because when she was pregnant with her 2 year old daughter she did not tell anyone at work for 5 months. She is a bit of a drama queen (she is actually the drama teacher) and loves attention. Being a teacher is a lot like still being in high school and people gossip about everything. I have no doubt that she heard the talk last time and loved every minute of it. Years ago there were rumours that she was bonking the gym teacher and she loved the attention. I am actually kind of pissed at her. She loves asking me about my troubles. She gives me the head tilted sighs and in my perverse head she gets some pleasure out of my pain. She seems to go out of her way to flag me down in the parking lot to check out her daughters latest outfit or new word. I smile and move along quickly but she must see how uncomfortable it makes me. Okay back to my issue with her not telling me. Clearly I know that her pregnancy isn't about me but surely to god she will have the decency to pull me aside give me the old head tilt and tell me her splendid news. Instead here I am with everyone else guessing behind her back and listening to people putting together clues trying to figure out if she is in fact going to experience the miracle of life once again.
By the way Juno is on again and I LOVE IT!!! I swear if it wasn't for "Sixteen and Pregnant", "I didn't know I was Pregnant", and "Juno" I don't know how I would torture myself.
My next appointment is Nov 18 and that is where I will get my Gonal F and the butt plugs. I called the clinic and they provided me with more research that did confirm that the best way to take progesterone is in the anal canal, so yes I will in fact be swollowing my pride and shoving a melting goo pellet up my buttocks.
Sorry for my agressive email I did mention that I am on injectibles so that is my disclaimer!
Today was my first time at accupuncture. I have been thinking about doing it forever but I have to be honest I wasn't 100% sure if I thought it would make a difference. A parent at my school who has endometriosis too is confident that her two sons are the result of accupuncture so I gave in and decided it couldn't hurt. I don't have any insurance coverage for it and with the cost of the IVF this month I have decided to limit the amount of times I am going (I hope that isn't the wrong decision). I am going to go every Friday for the next 3 weeks and then on embryo transfer day the accupunturist sugggests going before and after. The total cost will be around $450 which doesn't seem terrible considering all of the other related expenses. I am not sure how authentic my treatment was (I am sorry to say it and I don't mean to offend anyone but I would have preferred an asian doctor performing the accupuncture). I hope this guy knows what he is doing because he only put in 8 little needle things and I really didn't feel anything. The only thing I noticed was that I have period like cramps. However, that could be because I am expecting my period in the next couple of days....haha
So I am pretty sure a girl at work in pregnant. I actually went to Teacher's College with her and we are friends (kind of) outside of school. She knows that I have been trying to get pregnant and always asks me for the update on what fertility treatment I am pursuing this week. I am guessing that she is pregnant for a couple of reasons. The first reason I think she is preggo is because she a significant ponch. I also have a ponch but she is much thinnner and very aware of her physical appearance. Yesterday in the staff rooom she was wearing a form fitting shirt and her hands were cupping her belly the way that only preggo women do. The second reason I think it is possible is because when she was pregnant with her 2 year old daughter she did not tell anyone at work for 5 months. She is a bit of a drama queen (she is actually the drama teacher) and loves attention. Being a teacher is a lot like still being in high school and people gossip about everything. I have no doubt that she heard the talk last time and loved every minute of it. Years ago there were rumours that she was bonking the gym teacher and she loved the attention. I am actually kind of pissed at her. She loves asking me about my troubles. She gives me the head tilted sighs and in my perverse head she gets some pleasure out of my pain. She seems to go out of her way to flag me down in the parking lot to check out her daughters latest outfit or new word. I smile and move along quickly but she must see how uncomfortable it makes me. Okay back to my issue with her not telling me. Clearly I know that her pregnancy isn't about me but surely to god she will have the decency to pull me aside give me the old head tilt and tell me her splendid news. Instead here I am with everyone else guessing behind her back and listening to people putting together clues trying to figure out if she is in fact going to experience the miracle of life once again.
By the way Juno is on again and I LOVE IT!!! I swear if it wasn't for "Sixteen and Pregnant", "I didn't know I was Pregnant", and "Juno" I don't know how I would torture myself.
My next appointment is Nov 18 and that is where I will get my Gonal F and the butt plugs. I called the clinic and they provided me with more research that did confirm that the best way to take progesterone is in the anal canal, so yes I will in fact be swollowing my pride and shoving a melting goo pellet up my buttocks.
Sorry for my agressive email I did mention that I am on injectibles so that is my disclaimer!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
In the Butt!!!!
Um......how come I didn't know that my progesterone was going to be an anal suppository. You ladies amaze me,you take everything in stride. I feel like such a suck because I am in fact disgusted.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
More support for the 3 versus 5 day transfer (Not that it is my opinion)
Dr. Smith replies again
You're right that many programs will transfer the embryos on day 3 when they are concerned that the embryos may not develop to the blastocyst stage. HOWEVER, its not because they feel the embryos will do better in the uterus. They know there's no scientific evidence to back up this assumption. It is because they do not want to face the patient and infom them their embryos failed to reach the blastocyst stage. They are afraid that you will think the embryos failed to grow because of suboptimal lab conditions. As I explained, the embryos fail to reach the blastocyst stage because they are genetically incapable of doing so, not because anything anybody did or didn't do. In our program, we attempt to grow ALL embryos to the blastocyst stage. We have at least 1 blastocyst stage embryo for transfer 96% of the time.
You'll notice in your research into the pactices of other programs that no programs claim that their pregnancy rates improve when failing embryos are transferred to the uterus on day 3. The rationale for a day 3 transfer is to get out from under the "blame" for the failing embryos. By transferring failing embryos on day 3, the program also transfers the responsibility for the subsequent failed cycle to the patient. It is a subtle manipulation of the patient's emotions. Here's the scenario: "We're so sorry the cycle didn't work, but you know the embryos were still growing when we transferred them. We don't know what you did to them afterwords. Wanna try again?" Using this pyschological manipulation, it becomes the patient's fault the cycle didn't work, not the programs's. See how it works?
You're right that many programs will transfer the embryos on day 3 when they are concerned that the embryos may not develop to the blastocyst stage. HOWEVER, its not because they feel the embryos will do better in the uterus. They know there's no scientific evidence to back up this assumption. It is because they do not want to face the patient and infom them their embryos failed to reach the blastocyst stage. They are afraid that you will think the embryos failed to grow because of suboptimal lab conditions. As I explained, the embryos fail to reach the blastocyst stage because they are genetically incapable of doing so, not because anything anybody did or didn't do. In our program, we attempt to grow ALL embryos to the blastocyst stage. We have at least 1 blastocyst stage embryo for transfer 96% of the time.
You'll notice in your research into the pactices of other programs that no programs claim that their pregnancy rates improve when failing embryos are transferred to the uterus on day 3. The rationale for a day 3 transfer is to get out from under the "blame" for the failing embryos. By transferring failing embryos on day 3, the program also transfers the responsibility for the subsequent failed cycle to the patient. It is a subtle manipulation of the patient's emotions. Here's the scenario: "We're so sorry the cycle didn't work, but you know the embryos were still growing when we transferred them. We don't know what you did to them afterwords. Wanna try again?" Using this pyschological manipulation, it becomes the patient's fault the cycle didn't work, not the programs's. See how it works?
My continuing debate on 3 versus 5 day transfer
Dr Smith replies:
You are correct that only the embryos that make it to the blastocyst stage (and beyond) can generate a succesful IVF pregnancy. In my lab, and many others, all embryos are grown to the blastocyst stage and only well developed blastocyst stage embryos are transferred to the uterus on day 5 or 6. Extra embryos are cryopreserved at the blastocyst stage.
Why aren't all programs doing this? There are numerous reasons for continuing to perform day three transfers: its cheaper, its less work for the lab, lower liability because the lab has the embryos for a shorter period of time, everybody makes it to transfer, if the cycle doesn't result in a pregnancy, the program can still look good, etc. You'll notice I didn't say anything about a day 3 transfer improving your chances of getting pregnant - it doesn't. The reason programs continue to transfer day 3 embryos is because its more convenient for the lab and the docs.
However, growing the embryos to the blastocyst stage prior to transfer does not automatically result in a pregnancy. Because the embryos have reached the blastocyst stage prior to transfer, its reasonable to assume the embryos a capable of implantation. BUT the embryos are transferred to the uterine cavity and they still must attached to the uterine wall (endometrium) and continue the implantation process for 10 ten days before a "pregnancy" is established. The attachement and implantation processes are currently beyond our control and these represent the crap-shoot in all of this.
At least with blastocyst stage embryo transfer you know the embryos are capable of implantation. When day 3 transfers are performed, its completely uncertain as to whether or not the embryos made it to the blastocyst stage (unless there's a pregnancy). If you don't become pregnant, you're left hanging. What went wrong? Were my embryos O.K.? Should I do this again??? Of course, your doc's answer will likely be "Yes" since that keeps him in business. As you can see, there's a potential sinister side to day 3 transfers...
You are correct that only the embryos that make it to the blastocyst stage (and beyond) can generate a succesful IVF pregnancy. In my lab, and many others, all embryos are grown to the blastocyst stage and only well developed blastocyst stage embryos are transferred to the uterus on day 5 or 6. Extra embryos are cryopreserved at the blastocyst stage.
Why aren't all programs doing this? There are numerous reasons for continuing to perform day three transfers: its cheaper, its less work for the lab, lower liability because the lab has the embryos for a shorter period of time, everybody makes it to transfer, if the cycle doesn't result in a pregnancy, the program can still look good, etc. You'll notice I didn't say anything about a day 3 transfer improving your chances of getting pregnant - it doesn't. The reason programs continue to transfer day 3 embryos is because its more convenient for the lab and the docs.
However, growing the embryos to the blastocyst stage prior to transfer does not automatically result in a pregnancy. Because the embryos have reached the blastocyst stage prior to transfer, its reasonable to assume the embryos a capable of implantation. BUT the embryos are transferred to the uterine cavity and they still must attached to the uterine wall (endometrium) and continue the implantation process for 10 ten days before a "pregnancy" is established. The attachement and implantation processes are currently beyond our control and these represent the crap-shoot in all of this.
At least with blastocyst stage embryo transfer you know the embryos are capable of implantation. When day 3 transfers are performed, its completely uncertain as to whether or not the embryos made it to the blastocyst stage (unless there's a pregnancy). If you don't become pregnant, you're left hanging. What went wrong? Were my embryos O.K.? Should I do this again??? Of course, your doc's answer will likely be "Yes" since that keeps him in business. As you can see, there's a potential sinister side to day 3 transfers...
Saturday, November 6, 2010
3 or 5 day transfer??????
Please help me. I don't really get the difference between having a 3 or 5 day transfer but I know people are passionate about it. I have had 3 people in the last week tell me I have to do a 5 day transfer but my clinic generally does 3 day transfers. My fear is that if I wait until 5 days they will all have expired (if I have any embryos that is). My other fear is that they will transfer embryos at 3 days that aren't viable. A friend of a friend was telling me she did 3 rounds of unsuccessful IVF that were 3 day transfers and then when she waited for a 5 day transfer she had success. I am so easily swayed, now I am obsessed with a 5 day transfer. In my head I have decided if I have more than 6 good looking embryos I want to wait until day 5. Am I crazy?????
Any input would be great!!!
Any input would be great!!!
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