IVF the road to Jackson

Once we decided to do IVF we were so geared up, so excited, so full of hope.  But scared. So scared it was so much money that we were investing into something that had no 100% success rate.  Prior to starting the whole stimulation process we did another round of birth control pills to return my ovaries and hormones to a good baseline.  August 2nd we had our baseline ultrasound, everything looked good and we had the green light to start stimulation's once my cycle started.

August 4-9: Injection 225iu Follistim
August 9: Ultrasound
August 10-11: Injection 225iu Follistim & Ganirelix injection (To prevent ovulation)
August 12: Ultrasound & Trigger Shot

August 14th, we arrived at Dr. Maud's for our egg retrieval.  They took us back into the surgery area to prep me for surgery including starting the IV, signing paper work and relaxing as much as we could prior to removing our big beautiful mature eggs. Dr. Maud was happy with how everything went and we were happy to start the process.  Over the next few days we went home to rest, and wait to hear how our embryos were growing.  Every two days we would get a call to hear how our embryos were growing and how many had made it vs. how many we had lost.  Due to my PCOS and our stimulation I was able to produce 34 mature follicles that we removed.  They inseminated many of them and we were lucky to have a good quantity to take into the IVF transfer and enough to freeze for future children in the years to come.

This little embryo became our little boy Jackson

During this entire process we prayed, we hoped, we loved.  We had friends, family, co workers praying for us, hoping for the best and hoping for good news.  We started progesterone injections instead of vaginal suppositories.  Every night Derrick would give me my progesterone shot in the lower back/hip area, he was such a trooper with learning these new skills and dare I say he might be better than even some nurses out there.

The weekend after we retrieved our eggs while we waited for them to grow we learned that Derricks Grandpa Jack was not doing well and was put on hospice at his farm.  We made the trip down to see Grandpa Jack and to say our love and good-byes.  I fondly remember that during the months leading up to Grandpa's health declining, we had seen him in the hospital and told him that we were trying to conceive, we told him that if we had a son we wanted to name him Jackson.  I remember Grandpa Jack saying "That's pretty good".  I think he was happy to hear of our plans.

Monday August 19th we were ready to go back in for our transfer, however we got a call from Dr. Maud that my estrogen level was sky high due to the stimulation's.  One of the risk of stimulating on such a grand magnitude is the risk of OHSS (Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome), this is a very serious condition that can lead to hospitalization.  Dr. Maud had me watching for signs and symptoms along with watching my urine output. More on OHSS here: Mayo Clinic OHSS  Dr. Maud wanted us to postpone and reschedule our transfer, due to our high estrogen levels.  She said that the high levels could hinder the implantation.  Because of a gut feeling and pure excitement we decided to continue and head to Omaha to transfer one 5 day fresh blastocyst.

Once we were in Omaha they took us back into the surgery area where we both changed into our scrubs/gown and waited for them to wheel us back into the OR.  Once our nurse took us back into the OR I laid on the OR table with the bright lights shining on my nether regions.  The nurses, and doctors surrounded us and directed our attention to the large screen TV that was hanging on the East side of the OR room, below the TV was a sliding glass door that held the room where our little embryo was waiting.  The embryologist zoomed in with the microscope in on the dish holding a tiny round dot.  As she scanned the bottom of the dish it read my name and number.  Then zooming in more we finally laid eyes on the big TV of our tiny tiny little embryo, the one chosen to be our first IVF transfer.

Once they had the speculum in and ready and the ultrasound on my tummy Dr. Maud called for the embryo to be drawn up into a catheter, and then it is delicately brought into the OR room and Dr. Maud inserted the catheter past my cervix into the uterus, on the ultrasound screen we could see the tip of the catheter enter my uterus.  Then on the screen we saw a little white bubble of air that they put after the embryo to ensure it is deposited.  As that little white air dot started to float around in my uterus we knew that meant the little embryo was home... home in my uterus, now it was completely up to God.  They removed the ultrasound wand and wheeled us into the Surgery patient room while we waited and stayed flat for an hour prior to them letting us go home.

We brought Derricks truck to Omaha so that I could lay flat on the hour drive home to Lincoln.  I was also instructed to remain completely flat for the next 24 hours, the only time I could get up was to use the bathroom. Movie and nap day here we come!  I felt good afterwards, physically.  However emotionally, mentally I was terrified that we made the wrong choice to transfer when the doctor had suggested to hold off due to my high labs.  This uncertainty would follow us and linger over us during our two week wait.

Our Fresh IVF Cycle costs: Ultrasounds $133, Medications $1442, Labs $115, IVF $9,024 (The costs for our fresh IVF cycle were out of pocket after deductible was met)