To begin here, I thought I would give an INSANELY brief overview of us and our treatments to date. We're Sandy and Daniel, we're hopeful first-time parents, and it looks like we may have kicked infertility's ass.
We were married in November 2016 and almost immediately visited a fertility clinic to figure out our options. I had a nagging feeling, after several years together without any barrier methods and no pregnancy scares, that we were going to have issues. I was right.
Our diagnosis, especially for both being 31, is murky.... mild male factor, occasional ovarian cysts for me, one spot of suspected endometriosis on my left ovary, a funky cervix. All mild issues, but with their powers combined.... we were infertile.
Over the next year, we went through a few months of testing, followed by six IUIs. Each was a little different and painful in its own way. I'm sure you can probably guess this, but each month was negative. Not even an implanter. We needed to move on.
While we (and our medical team) were prepared to begin IVF in November of 2017, our life had other plans. Just before beginning our IVF hormone stimulating medication, I lost my job. We were forced to put everything on hold until the seas calmed down and I found a new position. I did so quickly, starting my new job in December (which I adore!), and it came with one HUGE perk. IVF insurance coverage. We were over the moon!
In February, we had a pow-wow with our doctor, made a plan for a frozen cycle, and got started. Here are the basic stats:
March 28, 2018 | IVF Start Appointment and stim injections begin.
April 10, 2018 | Egg Retrieval procedure. 13 eggs collected.
April 17, 2018 | SIX embryos made it to becoming blastocysts and were frozen.
May 2, 2018 | Frozen cycle begins.
May 25, 2018 | One grade BB blast is transferred through a less-than-normal process (Valium was involved. Thanks, cervix.)
May 29, 2018 | At 4 days past our transfer (4dpt), we got our first positive pregnancy test.
The 28th was Memorial Day and we'd planned a day at the beach with friends. I woke up feeling awful. Exhausted, nauseous, and grumpy. I even noticed some changes with my breasts early in the morning. They seemed to have blue veins I couldn't recall seeing before. However, these symptoms are pretty much the same as the side effects of the progesterone injections and suppositories I'd been taking for over a week, so I tried not to read into them.... but why were the symptoms only showing up now?
The next morning before work (4dpt), I took a test on a cheap internet strip and sure as hell... there it was. A squinter. The way I announced to Daniel was not terribly romantic (as there is pretty much NOTHING romantic about IVF 😝). When he came back from walking the dog, I told him I saw something faint, but not to get too crazy. He looked at it, told me that he could also see the line, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We were on our way.
Since then, I have tested with cheap internet strips and splurged on one first response test, taken on 5dpt (as pictured above with our transfer day sonogram). My test continues to darken and our first blood test is scheduled for this upcoming Monday, June 4th. We are cautiously optimistic, which is all you're really allowed in the IVF world. I get jealous of women who take tests and immediately shout it to the moon that they are having a baby! Our chances for miscarriage are higher and our risks, in general, are greater. We've just decided that each day I'm pregnant, we will celebrate it.
I plan on
