IVF Cycle

Here is the summary of my IVF cycle:

May 8, 2008: Started period

May 10: Began taking birth control pills

May 24: Began injecting 10 units of Lupron

June 2: First full day of next period

June 2: Suppression check

• Estrogen was 21
• There were 12+ and 18+ follicles

June 2 - June 6: Injected 5 units of Lupron

June 6 - June 9: 5 units Lupron, 150 units Gonal-F

June 10: First ultrasound

• Estrogen was 407
• All follicles under 10

June 10 - June 11: 5 units Lupron, 75 units Gonal-F

June 12: Second ultrasound

• Estrogen was 402
• Left Ovary: 10
• Right Ovary: 10, 10, 11

June 12 - June 13: 5 units Lupron, 75 units Gonal-F, 75 units Luveris

June 14: Third ultrasound

• Estrogen was 350 (ruh roh!)
• Left Ovary: 11, 10, 10, 10
• Right Ovary: 15, 11, 10.5, 10

June 14 - June 15: 5 units Lupron, 150 units Gonal-F, 75 units Luveris

June 16: Fourth ultrasound

• Estrogen was 575
• Left Ovary: 13, 12.5, 12.5, 11, 10.5
• Right Ovary: 19.5, 12.5, 12.5, 10.5

June 16-June 17: 5 units Lupron, 150 units Gonal-F, 75 units Luveris

June 18: Fifth Ultrasound

• Estrogen was 1205
• Left Ovary: 17.5, 17, 15, 13.5, 11.5, 11.5
• Right Ovary: 22.6, 16.5, 11, 10.5

June 18: 5 units Lupron, 150 units Gonal-F, 75 units Luveris

June 19: Sixth Ultrasound

• Estrogen was 1536
• Left Ovary: 20, 19.5, 17, 11.5
• Right Ovary: 24.5, 16.5, 11.5

June 19: 8:30 pm trigger with Ovidrel

June 20: Blissful drug-free day

June 21: 8:30 am retrieval and 8 eggs retrieved

June 21: Began Medrol, tetracycline and 1 cc (50 mg) of Progesterone

June 22: No news. Medrol, tetracycline and 1 cc (50 mg) of Progesterone

June 23: Found out after 4 pm that we had 4 embryos. No news about quality. Medrol, tetracycline and 1 cc (50 mg) of Progesterone.

June 24: 1:40 pm transfer. We found out we had good quality embryos!

• Of the 8 eggs, only 4 were mature. Thus all 4 mature eggs fertilized with ICSI.
• We elected to do a single embryo transfer and the lab chose the 6AF to be transferred back into me. When I saw the picture of the embryo, I immediately called it George.
• We ended up freezing the other 3 embryos (6BF, 5AF, 8BF)
• We found out later that the 5AF made it to 6 cells and was frozen with others

• As a guide, the number at the front is the number of cells of the embryos. For a day 3 transfer, they look for 6-8 cells. Thus, the one with 5 cells was a little bit slow.
• The next letter indicates the level of fragmentation. A is the best with less than 5% fragmentation. B is the next level with less than 25% fragmentation. They doctors look for A or B. They chose the 6AF to put back into me instead of the 8BF because the level of fragmentation was less in the 6AF.
• The last letter indicates symmetry of the cells. All of ours were "fair." The best rating is "good." We weren't too worried about not having any "good" because even the doctors admit they don't know what role symmetry plays in the quality of an embryo.

June 24: Medrol, tetracycline and 1 cc (50 mg) of Progesterone

June 25 - June 30: Waiting game. 1 cc (50 mg) of Progesterone

July 1: HPT negative (10 days post ovulation)

July 2: HPT POSITIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with an extraordinarily faint line 11 dpo. My mother, who just happened to be visiting, couldn't even see the line.