R and I headed to KC yesterday for our "supression" appointment. I gave blood, then had several tests done by the doctor. Afterwards we met with the IVF coordinators Aimee and Brandi, who went over the next medications and upcoming appointments. We also had to sign all of the consent forms, which was much like signing papers to buy a house!...a lot of forms that all had to be notarized. Before we left we had to make our down payment.
I start two new medications on Sunday, which means I'll be taking 3 shots a day; one in the morning and two at night. They order the meds from an on-line pharmacy that specializes in fertility drugs and is much, much cheaper than a traditional pharmacy (but still expensive...$1,208 for 4 meds!).
I start taking Gonal F twice a day, which is a genetically engineered drug that contains follicle stimulating hormones (follicles contain eggs). Side effects include bloating, fluid retention, nausea, moodiness, fatigue and restlessness.
I also start taking a low dose HCG every night. I will continue taking the Lupron because it will keep me from ovulating.
After our appointment, we decided to stay in KC and go to the Royals game. While we were walking around before the game started, the pharmacy called me to confirm the new meds, schedule delivery and get payment. So from a souvenir shop I ordered my new meds and paid by credit card during the national anthem!! So appropriate for R and I!! Since we were at the game at 9 pm I took my shot in the bathroom!
All the new meds will be delivered on Friday. I will also receive progesterone and Ovidrel to use later in the cycle, as well as lots of new needles! More on those in a later post.
R and I have one more decision to make and it involves whether or not to get pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) done, which is basically an embryo biopsy that they would do on day 3 of the embryos by taking 1 of the 8 cells out of each of the embryos and sending them off for evaluation of the correct number and arrangement of chromosomes. The end result is they select the embryos for transfer back into me that have the greatest chance of establishing a pregnancy free of genetic disorders. This is a test that costs $5,000 and the doctor says it is recommended for people with unexplained infertility. We went ahead and signed the consent forms for the test, and it is something we can choose not to do later.
I can tell I missed my normal bedtime last night, so I'm off to bed!
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Yea!!!! light at the end of the tunnel. Now the fun really begins. Have fun with the ultrasounds. :)
ReplyDeleteI would say not to the PGD. Russ and I were offered this as well but wanted God to guide this process as much as he could. If there was something that was wrong we would still try to implant and if there was something REALLY wrong then it would probably not develop after the transfer or on the blastocyst stage which is day 5.
You will have the chance to see all your blastocyst on the day of transfer to let the embyologist know which ones you want to transfer. Its almost like picking teams on a play ground. He will usually give you his opinion to which look the best but then you and your husband get the deciding vote.
I hope our thoughts help.
Russ and Angela