WWYD?

So, I need input from my girls. How many should I transfer? We are VERY okay with twins, and give my past losses and BFN's, we want to give it our all. How many blasts would you transfer if you were me?

Our Dozen

You read right, we still have one dozen. We have been moved to our first ever five day transfer (5dt). As of this morning all embryos were still alive, some growing slower than others, and one out shinning the rest.

1 - 9 cell
8 - 8 cell
1 - 7 cell
2 - 4 cell

Today the average embryo should be 8 cells. We go in Monday at 10 a.m. for transfer, and will be sure to stop at Mickey D's for my Egg McMuffin (many say that the grease helps the embryos implant).

Funny, Monday will be Martin Luther King Day. IVF #1 we transferred on St. Patty's Day, and our FET we transferred on Labor Day.

Off to buy my pineapple!

Fert Report

RE's office just called and we have 12 embryo's doing well today. Out of the 16, 3 were not mature enough to ICSI, and just one did not fertilize.

They will call again on Saturday with another report. If we have at least four embryos doing well on Saturday, they will push us to a 5 day transfer, otherwise we will transfer Saturday at 10 a.m.

I am pleased with the out come, this is 3x more fertilized than IVF #1.

Please pray for our little guys!

Pinch ME!

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Something must have done the trick! So, on Sunday the RE suspected 16 eggs and GUESS WHAT? We retrieved ALL 16 EGGS!

All were mature and have been ICSIed. We will get our fertilization report tomorrow morning.

I can't believe it, that is more than IVF #1 and #2 combined. Pretty sure it was the lupron trigger than did the trick, but whatever the case Gabe and I are very pleased. Now we pray for a great fert report. If a large number of the eggs fertilize we may be able to have our first ever 5 day transfer.

We are beyond happy, I blogged Sunday asking for ten good eggs to work with, today I am baffled with the amount we got. What makes me the happiest is the fact that I am no longer classified as having Ovarian Dysfunction, it seems we just needed the right cocktail or the right trigger. We went in this morning agreeing that if the empty follicles happened again we would move onto donor eggs and give up on the idea of using my eggs. Looks like donor eggs are out for now. Even if this doesn't work this time, we have found a fix to our empty follicle problem, and are hopefully officially on the right track.

I am not allowing myself to get too far ahead or too excited, but I feel at peace knowing that something went right this time.

I will post as soon as I get the fert report. Please hope and pray for a great one for us. Thank you all for your love, kindness, and support.

Love,
Tiff

A Stripe For Me?

Yes, you read right... that is what I got today. A TRIPLE STRIPE 12 MM LINING... thank you thank you! For those whom are unaware of what that means, it is a prime lining for implantation.

So, all in all things have gone textbook. For the first time ever I have followed my schedule to a tee. Never have I stimmed for the amount of time recommended until #3, never have I had a schedule that I didn't speed ahead of. We WILL be stimming as anticipated and my RE is happy with what we have achieved. I have less follies than previous cycles, but that is sort of the plan. We were trying to stim longer, with less follies to help the quality. I have about 20 follies, but my RE is thinking they will only yield about 15 mature eggs. I WILL TAKE IT! I am good with 10, just give me some good ones to work with, and no FREAKING empty follies.

We are set for a Wednesday a.m. ER, this cycle has been SO different. Not much anticipation or build up. I only had three follie checks and to put it bluntly I am "prepared." I know what to expect and I am not planning on a miracle, I am just "doing it".. not anticipating any miracles or dreams to come true, but also not being pessimistic. Just taking it day by day and not thinking ahead, even today it is hard for me to anticipate an ER, even though I know it is just days away.

This is bitter sweet, as it could very well be out last attempt. We cannot afford to keep throwing $ at IVF if it isn't going to work. We would much rather begin a savings for donor eggs for the next couple of years instead of throwing funds out the window for nothing.

Today I smile because I have hope, today I smile because I have a chance at a biological child, today I smile because my RE is hopeful, today I smile because we followed our schedule, today I smile because I hope that all my follies will yield eggs, today I smile because we had a lot of fun going on a Harley ride upvalley with a large group of friends, today I smile because I know that no matter what everything WILL be okay, today I smile because we WILL be parents somehow!

Aching

I am up and about on a Sunday morning getting ready to leave for my follie check, but my heart is aching. This time not just from my own sadness, but from the sadness of those whom I hold close to me heart, those whom know me and my struggle, and those that give me strength when I am weak. It amazes me how truly saddened I am by their news, and how much it is truly affecting my emotions this morning. Erin and Polly, my heart is a aching for you both. WTF? This is not fair and it plain ol' sucks. I pray for a miracle for Polly and her embryo and I pray for strength for Erin to get through a dark time. We know what it is like to feel disappointment, can't we just catch a break?

Moving Along

Another great appointment! I am right on track, my lining was 8.5 and I now have 20 follies ranging from 10 mm to 14mm. I will start my Ganarellix tonight and go back again on Sunday for another check. So far it looks like the ER will be on Wednesday, which means 10 days of stimming! Better than my 7's and 8's in the past! Sure hope that extra stimming does the trick, along with my double trigger shot of lupron and HCG.

We decided to add Assisted Hatching this time, not because we need it, but just because we felt like spending an additional $600. Just kidding, we were told we don't "need it" but it won't hurt, it could only help. Since this may be our last go at this, lets give it our all! So we WILL be doing ICSI and AH, neither because we NEED it, but just because it should give us a better chance. Come on lucky #3, stay away empty follies!

I promise I will start to devote some more attention to this blog, I have been so busy lately. I really got to post some new pictures of Mr. Memphis. Those boys are too cute, and always manage to bring a smile to my face even when I am up at 4 a.m. for a Memphis potty break. Oh, on Sunday night he slept ALL NIGHT, Yahoo! Making progress and almost fully potty trained. Now if he would just stop growing I would be happy. Last weekend he weighed in at 12.3 pounds.

Slower?

My check went fine. I am moving slower than the last two IVF's and my RE is happy with that. In prior cycles I only stimmed sever days (average is 10 - 11), so we are hoping to stim slower for better quality eggs. My lining was at 5 and I had about 18 follies around and under 10. So, I have a ways to go. This means more appointments, but hopefully a better outcome. I go back again on Friday, with Ganarellix in hand.

Chugging Along

The last two nights of stims have gone off without a hitch. Ol' hat to us at this point. I can say that I can definitely feel something going on already. I sure hope I don't overstim like I did with #1. I don't recall feeling much with #2 this early. My first check is on the 7th.

Check!

BCPs - Check
Baseline - Check

My baseline appointment was on the 29th and everything was great, I was full of questions (as usual). I have about 16 antral follies and was told to take my last BCP and then start the stims this Saturday. Here we go again, praying the 3rd time is the charm. Here's to hoping for TWO lines in '09. Good riddance 2008, not sorry to see you go. Now lets bring on a better year.