IVF/ICSI #2

Well here we go again. I wish I didn't have to write #2 after IVF/ICSI. I never wrote IVF #1 because I was really hoping that the first one would be it. Unfortunately, that is not the way things turned out. However, God has done an amazing work in my heart over the last month and a half or so. He has brought healing to the point that both John and I feel like we are ready to give things another try.

We are scheduled for this month. Initially, we thought we would wait until we got up to DC before trying again. This was partly because neither one of us thought our hearts would be ready to try again and partly because we were worried it would be too stressful being so close to our move. This was basically where we were at when John left for Peru in February. About a week after John got back (beginning of March) I figured I had better research fertility clinics in the DC area and check with the shared risk program to see if we could transfer into a program up there. For those who might not know, shared risk is a program where you pay a discounted fee and receive multiple IVF cycles. If treatment is unsuccessful, you receive 70% of your money back. You can also cancel out of the program and receive 70% of your money back if you can't or don't want to continue treatment. You can read more about it here. Anyway, I found a clinic no problem. But when I called IntegraMed to see if we could transfer to the clinic in DC I found out we could not. They wanted us to cancel out of the program here and enroll in the program in DC. We would basically have to start all over and pay the full fee. This was just not an option. So that left us finishing out the program here. I talked to my IVF nurse Sabrina to see if we would be able to get in for April. They require you to have two monthly cycles before beginning birth control pills (BCPs), which is the first step in an IVF cycle. Thankfully, my monthly cycles cooperated so that we could.

We are basically ready to go. Drugs have been ordered, appointments have been made. I have been taking BCPs since March 18th. I finish them Monday April 6th. So here is our schedule:

April 6 - baseline ultrasound (this is to make sure I have no cysts on my ovaries)
April 7 - 1st injection - Cetrotide (this is given to prevent premature LH surge or ovulation, if this happens then my cycle would be cancelled)
April 9 - baseline u/s and blood work (BW) to check my estrogen, progesterone, and LH levels
April 9/10 - Begin stims, Follistim and later Menopur (Follistim is used to stimulate the development of ovarian follicles and Menopur is used for better egg development and quality)

Projected egg retrieval dates: April 21, 22, 0r 23
Projected transfer dates: April 24, 25, or 26

Even If I am not ready (have enough mature follicles) until the 23rd, things should still work out just fine timing wise for our move. In this case transfer would be on the 26th, followed by bed rest until the 28th. Then the movers come to pack us up on the 29th and 30th and the cleaner comes on the 2nd of May. Since we don't have to do the packing and cleaning ourselves I think things will work out just fine. I can't believe things are actually about to get started. I am so much more relaxed this time. Last time the process of IVF itself with all the shots and drugs was completely overwhelming. You can read about a typical IVF cycle here. This time I know what to expect so I am much less nervous about the physical aspects of the process. Emotionally, I am both excited and nervous. I plan on taking it one day at a time, trusting in God's perfect plan for this cycle.