Sunday, August 12, 2012

IVF protocol

It's really happening. On Friday, I went to Dr. O's office for my protocol appointment. Here's my schedule for the upcoming month:

8/21 - ultrasound, practice embryo transfer and cultures
8/23 - Start Lupron shot
8/ 28 - End Birth Control
9/7 - Ultrasound / BW
9/7 - Start injections of Follistim and Menopurl. Reduce Lupron dosage
Continue for 7 - 12 days with monitoring
9/17 - week of retrieval
Transfer scheduled for 3 days later. On day 3, they will move to a day 5 transfer if the embryos look "perfect". Begin progesterone shots.
Bedrest for 48 hours
One week after retrieval - progesterone checked
Two weeks after retrieval - pregnancy test

I really liked the nurse that met with us. She was funny, gave tips for how to make the shots hurt less (her advice for the progesterone shot was - use a heating pad first, and then have the hubs deep massage the area afterwards to keep the gel from building up), and  was very realistic. Okay, maybe I did not love the realistic part. She was very clear that this was not a "baby factory", that their goal is not to get 30 eggs, they only do 5 day transfers of perfect embryos,  and that they only freeze really outstanding, Olympic-quality specimens. D loves how conservative they are. Me? I would not mind them to be a little more relaxed. But, really, all I care about is the end product. And if they can get me there, I am happy to take any path the recommend.

9 comments:

  1. Woohoo!! Congrats on getting your schedule and a start date. Always so exciting, even if a bit scary. :)

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    1. Thanks! I am excited / nervous. Mostly I am just impatient right now too. I am so tired of NOT doing anything, I just want to get this show on the road (and please let this be the last time I am ever anxiously looking forward to giving myself shots!)

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  2. Exciting! I will be doing my first FET around the same time you will be doing your fresh cycle. Good luck - I'll be thinking of you!

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    1. Yay! Hopefully September will be a lucky month for us both!

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  3. Glad you got your schedule! My husband also massages my hiney after the PIO shots! It makes the meds move around and it does feel better.
    I'm in the midst of my FET cycle right now and should be transferring in the next two weeks!
    Good luck to you! =)

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    1. Exciting! Lots of luck with the transfer. I will be following along. I am really hoping for a trend of BFP to start (and to be a part of it)!

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  4. Hi New follower here! Sending you lots of luck!
    Alexis~

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  5. Congrats on getting your protocol! You are not too far behind my first IVF cycle. It's nice to have a couple people to go through this together. Good luck!

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  6. Hi! It's Anna from ICLW (#21!) Your fist IVF calendar is so close to mine!! We can cycle together. I will be sure to follow along to see how it goes!

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