What I'm fearing to feel once again this cycle but hoping is not the case...
Cue the waterworks.
http://www.scarymommy.com/ivf-embryos/
Cue the waterworks.
http://www.scarymommy.com/ivf-embryos/
Showing posts with label embryos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label embryos. Show all posts
Wednesday, 13 April 2016
Saturday, 9 April 2016
Day 20 - 1dp5dt
Homme InFertile has fallen victim to my cold, poor guy. No one to blame but me. Looks like its going to be a lazy house this weekend. He's still being amazing about helping me out as much as possible... he doesn't seem to have gotten it quite as bad, perhaps because he didn't have a procedure to puncture his tenders we'll call them, and remove their contents at the same time.
Anyhoo... I'm continuing to improve, cough is persistent but overall definitely feeling quite a bit better "cold wise".
Now on to the whole lower portion...
Been a bit achy today in the ovaries. I know that they're shrinking back down to size and recovering, but the achy/crampy feeling isn't overly pleasant. I had some weird moments as well today where I have pulling... its like a pulled muscle between my ovaries and center line/belly button area (but lower), but the pulling is up/down (not side/side)... clearly hard to explain what I'm trying to say. Only have it on the left side mainly (a small little episode on the right when I stood up once, but nothing since). I'm wondering if it's implantation, or radiating pain from the ovary...
I'm also very VERY tired today. I have been laying around all day and then went and took an epic, full on asleep rem nap mid afternoon. Was out for a good while. And yet, feel like I could go for another one. Or like bedtime can't come soon enough. I also have been feeling sort of light-headed/foggy with weird little dizzy moments when I turn my head too fast (even while laying down). So that's a bit odd too. And finally, I'm peeing a ton, but that I have an explanation for since I'm making sure to take in as much fluids as possible to stay hydrated, healthy, and attractive to my embabies.
On a tmi note, straining a bit still to go to the washroom. I'm sure many going through IVF can relate that you worry that the straining could somehow, in some way prevent implantation. I know that's not the case, but it still crosses the mind. That's the horrid thing about the 2ww. You think you have control over the outcome by every little thing you do - what you're eating (warming foods, bromeline rich pineapple etc), how warm your keeping yourself, as if one small misstep will lead to a bfn. Unfortunately, its in the universe's hands.
One thing I heard that really helped me snap out of that funk, and a mantra I remind myself each day is:
"If doing or not doing any of these things would prevent pregnancy, then women who were avoiding pregnancy would be doing them! But that's just not the case. A woman who doesn't want to be pregnant can't un-pregnate herself no matter how hard she tries, so quit being so darn hard on yourself!"I really thought though that going through this 2ww I wouldn't be going crazy, yet here I am, a day in, and nuts already! I feel pretty hopeful, but I know that'll ebb and flow as the days go by.
Friday, 8 April 2016
Day 19 - Transfer Day!!!
So I woke up bright and early at 630am this morning in anticipation of my transfer. The crap thing about that, is that I couldn't eat or drink anything until after my appointment because I was going on anesthetic. Well my transfer wasn't until 1030am so I had a good 4 hours to suffer without food or drink. Small price to pay.
Okay so lets start with the adventure to get there...
Homme InFertile and I went to take the subway but there was a medical incident and the trains were skipping our station due to running on the express track. Greaaaaat. So we went about ground because after watching 3 express trains go by, we now didn't have time to do the whole 'ride uptown, transfer to express downtown' song and dance. But of course it's late rush hour (all hours are rush hour in NYC) and half the subway commuters had the same idea, and everyone was now looking for a taxi. One guy was waving people away as he didn't have his light on and clearly was off for the day or something. Well I ignore that and walk up to him while he's stopped at the light because there's no chance we're getting another taxi for a while, and times a ticking. He points across the park. I nod. He relunctantly unlocks the door and we clamber in. He was headed up to Harlem and we're headed to midtown hell... but we tried to tell him to just drop us on other side away from the park (we could catch a different cab there or subway, at least we'd be away from the crowd). Well he was mad at us, and refused to do that, and ended up taking us all the way where we needed to go, albeit begrudgingly. Anyways, fastest, craziest cabby I've been in in a while, but we literally arrived just on time. Phew. Homme InFertile tipped him well since he helped us out so big.
Now that we were there...
I feel like a regular at the fertility clinic. I'm sure everyone does... we live there through our cycles. But regardless it was like ya ya, I got this people...
Step 1 - change out of my clothes (watch out for the al-fresco situation)
Step 2 - paperwork and routine questions
Step 3 - get my IV administered (we used a new smaller vein since I've been poked/proded so much recently, but she was really gentle)
Step 4 - cry... not because I'm in pain, but because I felt such overwhelming anxiety, fear, hope etc. for this cycle. This was the moment I really felt like I was relinquishing control up to the universe and was having to just have faith.
Step 5 - Homme InFertile comes to join me/console me (he was looking something up for us, not ignoring me I promise)
Step 6 - Doctor comes in to make a plan 1 vs. 2* we'll come back to this
Step 7 - Anesthesiologist comes in, checks nothing has changed height/weight, tells me it won't be as involved med-wise as last times as I won't need pain meds.
Step 8 - Say by to DH, move to procedure room
Step 9 - Confirm my name, date of birth, and why I'm there
okay so this was different, but because it was a smaller vein, I could actually feel the cold/stingy sensation of the anesthesia. I remember telling them it really hurt and just as quick hand a hand on my arm soothing me saying I know then..
Step 10 - become really sle...e...p......y
Back to Step 6...
So this morning I was leaning towards just putting back in 1. Homme InFertile and I had had a discussion yesterday about if there was a really good looking naturally fertilized, maybe we'd try that since it'd be different (all our other transfers were with ICSI). Well that wasn't exactly the case.
Of our 7 ICSI embryos, 6 made it to blast. Of our 10 Natural embryos, only 2 made it to blast.
Well that threw a wrench in my plan. I now don't have as much faith in our naturally fertilized embryos. Crap. And we've done the ICSI route before. Crap. The easiest decision for me to make in that moment was to put back 1 ICSI and 1 Natural and just see what happens.
Of course I was then warned about the risks of multiples, but the doc understood given our history how this would make me feel the most secure in my decision. He also said something about my tall frame being capable of carrying twins and how he won't be quite as worried about me in that case, which made me feel slightly better. I really would prefer a singleton pregnancy, but this has been a long hard 5 years of infertility treatments, and I'm nearing my breaking point.
So 2 it is! We know that we are risking becoming pregnant with twins, and although I worry about pre-term labour and complications, if I had two bundles of joy to take home at the end of it all, well I'd count myself blessed.
Waking up in the procedure room...
So this was different. In the past, I've always woken up in the recovery rooms. Maybe they chose to let me lay there to help with implantation, who knows, but I actually really appreciated it. Of course, Homme InFertile was there to try and videotape me, but apparently I'm not as funny on this non-pain version of anesthesia. I was pretty much right away with it, just a little groggy.
I continued to lay there, had some apple juice and we were given our picture of our little embryos. Hopefully our babies' first picture. We wanted to know which was which (#5 and #9) and the naturally fertilized one is the smaller one. The I got dressed and we headed out.
Lunch and Acupuncture time...
Now since I was beyond famished, we elected to stop for a nice little healthy lunch before my post-transfer acupuncture appointment. There's a Pain Quotidien right across the street from the acu clinic, and have great gluten-free and dairy free options for me, so seemed perfect. They messed up our order... twice. But once the food arrived, it was de-li-cious and we inhaled it in no time.
Then I crossed the street for my acupuncture. Listened to "Acclimating to your baby's signature" by Alaya and Oshira of Vibrational Child which ended up being the perfect selection. At first I wondered if I should have stuck to the Circle+Bloom IVF program that I've been doing, but I find Alaya's work much stronger. I dunno, it seems to have more impact for me and my mediation time during the session was just plain beautiful, no other word to describe it.
Home and resting...
Then we came home and it's just been chill time since. I had another small nap, but my mind was racing a bit with all the wonderful optimistic possibilities, that it didn't last long. Unfortunately Homme InFertile is finally falling victim to the cold I've had (which I still haven't kicked... you kidding!?!), so looks like it'll be a super lazy weekend.
Side note: On my personal blog, I wrote a little shpeel to family/friends about respecting our privacy about our cycle from here on out, and to not ask questions or ask for updates given they can't know when the good/bad news is coming and they could reach out at a very inopportune time. This is what I wrote in case you're struggling with a similar situation, having been open up to this point:
Okay so lets start with the adventure to get there...
Homme InFertile and I went to take the subway but there was a medical incident and the trains were skipping our station due to running on the express track. Greaaaaat. So we went about ground because after watching 3 express trains go by, we now didn't have time to do the whole 'ride uptown, transfer to express downtown' song and dance. But of course it's late rush hour (all hours are rush hour in NYC) and half the subway commuters had the same idea, and everyone was now looking for a taxi. One guy was waving people away as he didn't have his light on and clearly was off for the day or something. Well I ignore that and walk up to him while he's stopped at the light because there's no chance we're getting another taxi for a while, and times a ticking. He points across the park. I nod. He relunctantly unlocks the door and we clamber in. He was headed up to Harlem and we're headed to midtown hell... but we tried to tell him to just drop us on other side away from the park (we could catch a different cab there or subway, at least we'd be away from the crowd). Well he was mad at us, and refused to do that, and ended up taking us all the way where we needed to go, albeit begrudgingly. Anyways, fastest, craziest cabby I've been in in a while, but we literally arrived just on time. Phew. Homme InFertile tipped him well since he helped us out so big.
Now that we were there...
I feel like a regular at the fertility clinic. I'm sure everyone does... we live there through our cycles. But regardless it was like ya ya, I got this people...
Step 1 - change out of my clothes (watch out for the al-fresco situation)
Step 2 - paperwork and routine questions
Step 3 - get my IV administered (we used a new smaller vein since I've been poked/proded so much recently, but she was really gentle)
Step 4 - cry... not because I'm in pain, but because I felt such overwhelming anxiety, fear, hope etc. for this cycle. This was the moment I really felt like I was relinquishing control up to the universe and was having to just have faith.
Step 5 - Homme InFertile comes to join me/console me (he was looking something up for us, not ignoring me I promise)
Step 6 - Doctor comes in to make a plan 1 vs. 2* we'll come back to this
Step 7 - Anesthesiologist comes in, checks nothing has changed height/weight, tells me it won't be as involved med-wise as last times as I won't need pain meds.
Step 8 - Say by to DH, move to procedure room
Step 9 - Confirm my name, date of birth, and why I'm there
okay so this was different, but because it was a smaller vein, I could actually feel the cold/stingy sensation of the anesthesia. I remember telling them it really hurt and just as quick hand a hand on my arm soothing me saying I know then..
Step 10 - become really sle...e...p......y
Back to Step 6...
So this morning I was leaning towards just putting back in 1. Homme InFertile and I had had a discussion yesterday about if there was a really good looking naturally fertilized, maybe we'd try that since it'd be different (all our other transfers were with ICSI). Well that wasn't exactly the case.
Of our 7 ICSI embryos, 6 made it to blast. Of our 10 Natural embryos, only 2 made it to blast.
Well that threw a wrench in my plan. I now don't have as much faith in our naturally fertilized embryos. Crap. And we've done the ICSI route before. Crap. The easiest decision for me to make in that moment was to put back 1 ICSI and 1 Natural and just see what happens.
Of course I was then warned about the risks of multiples, but the doc understood given our history how this would make me feel the most secure in my decision. He also said something about my tall frame being capable of carrying twins and how he won't be quite as worried about me in that case, which made me feel slightly better. I really would prefer a singleton pregnancy, but this has been a long hard 5 years of infertility treatments, and I'm nearing my breaking point.
So 2 it is! We know that we are risking becoming pregnant with twins, and although I worry about pre-term labour and complications, if I had two bundles of joy to take home at the end of it all, well I'd count myself blessed.
Waking up in the procedure room...
So this was different. In the past, I've always woken up in the recovery rooms. Maybe they chose to let me lay there to help with implantation, who knows, but I actually really appreciated it. Of course, Homme InFertile was there to try and videotape me, but apparently I'm not as funny on this non-pain version of anesthesia. I was pretty much right away with it, just a little groggy.
that little window is the passthrough to embryologist
I continued to lay there, had some apple juice and we were given our picture of our little embryos. Hopefully our babies' first picture. We wanted to know which was which (#5 and #9) and the naturally fertilized one is the smaller one. The I got dressed and we headed out.
Lunch and Acupuncture time...
Now since I was beyond famished, we elected to stop for a nice little healthy lunch before my post-transfer acupuncture appointment. There's a Pain Quotidien right across the street from the acu clinic, and have great gluten-free and dairy free options for me, so seemed perfect. They messed up our order... twice. But once the food arrived, it was de-li-cious and we inhaled it in no time.
Then I crossed the street for my acupuncture. Listened to "Acclimating to your baby's signature" by Alaya and Oshira of Vibrational Child which ended up being the perfect selection. At first I wondered if I should have stuck to the Circle+Bloom IVF program that I've been doing, but I find Alaya's work much stronger. I dunno, it seems to have more impact for me and my mediation time during the session was just plain beautiful, no other word to describe it.
Home and resting...
Then we came home and it's just been chill time since. I had another small nap, but my mind was racing a bit with all the wonderful optimistic possibilities, that it didn't last long. Unfortunately Homme InFertile is finally falling victim to the cold I've had (which I still haven't kicked... you kidding!?!), so looks like it'll be a super lazy weekend.
Side note: On my personal blog, I wrote a little shpeel to family/friends about respecting our privacy about our cycle from here on out, and to not ask questions or ask for updates given they can't know when the good/bad news is coming and they could reach out at a very inopportune time. This is what I wrote in case you're struggling with a similar situation, having been open up to this point:
One thing that I'll ask at this point, since we're getting close to transfer. Please do not text or call for updates on how it turned out. At this point it will just be a waiting game for us, and a very painful stressful one at that. We won't know the outcome until the end of the month unfortunately, and once we find out the result (good or bad) we may need some time to process it. We know you are/will be excited to find out and waiting in anticipation, but know that if it is a negative outcome, we'll need some time to grieve, and untimely messages etc. may make that more difficult. If you don't hear from us early May, assume no news is bad news. If we have good news, we will be thrilled to share that with those closest to us one by one, and that may also take some time. So be patient with us. :) Thank you though for all your support, positive vibes and kind words of encouragement up to this point. We love you all and are so grateful for how wonderful you've been in this process.
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Day 17
Fertilization update call came through today. Nurse Leslie informed us that all 16 embryos were still developing, and the 10th egg put to be naturally fertilized decided to catch up! So we now have 17 total! Crazy!
Of the 7 that were fertilized with ICSI:
4 are 10 cell embryos
3 are 8 cell embryos
Of the 10 that were fertilized naturally:
7 are 10 cell embryos
1 is 9 cell
1 is 8 cell
1 is 7 cell
Today I've made very slight progress. I showered and we went for a walk in Central Park with the dog. It was really cold out, but overall a nice day. Funny to think that when we move to Houston in September I won't have to deal with the chilly bone cutting wind of the NE Coast anymore. Instead, I'll just be sweating I guess...
I tried having a coffee today to help the whole bathroom situation move along. Not so helpful, but keeping the faith. In terms of my cold/flu... I'm definitely on the upswing, but just barely. So I'm still feeling quite under the weather, and now developing a cough (instead of the leaky faucet nose) but hoping I can heal up quicker now that my body actually seems to be recovering from the procedure. My body is working overtime that's for sure.
We got the call about our transfer for Friday as well. Initially the nurse had no idea we planned for me to be put under for the procedure. She had to hang up and talk to my doc. Kind of annoys me that if I weren't so on top of it and knowledgeable about the pre-anesthesia "shpeel" then I wouldn't have picked up on that fact and we would have been hooped. Anyways, I did notice, and she called back to confirm that's the plan and changed our time. So we go in at 930am Friday for a 1030am transfer.
All I need to figure out now is are we transferring 1 or 2 embryos... I literally cannot decide. I flip flop every five seconds. I know the doc would prefer to put only 1, and my DH would prefer to put only 1, but both support me putting 2. I'm trying really hard to listen to my gut but unfortunately it's like radio silence. Hoping to have clarity on this before Friday.
Of the 7 that were fertilized with ICSI:
4 are 10 cell embryos
3 are 8 cell embryos
Of the 10 that were fertilized naturally:
7 are 10 cell embryos
1 is 9 cell
1 is 8 cell
1 is 7 cell
Today I've made very slight progress. I showered and we went for a walk in Central Park with the dog. It was really cold out, but overall a nice day. Funny to think that when we move to Houston in September I won't have to deal with the chilly bone cutting wind of the NE Coast anymore. Instead, I'll just be sweating I guess...
I tried having a coffee today to help the whole bathroom situation move along. Not so helpful, but keeping the faith. In terms of my cold/flu... I'm definitely on the upswing, but just barely. So I'm still feeling quite under the weather, and now developing a cough (instead of the leaky faucet nose) but hoping I can heal up quicker now that my body actually seems to be recovering from the procedure. My body is working overtime that's for sure.
We got the call about our transfer for Friday as well. Initially the nurse had no idea we planned for me to be put under for the procedure. She had to hang up and talk to my doc. Kind of annoys me that if I weren't so on top of it and knowledgeable about the pre-anesthesia "shpeel" then I wouldn't have picked up on that fact and we would have been hooped. Anyways, I did notice, and she called back to confirm that's the plan and changed our time. So we go in at 930am Friday for a 1030am transfer.
All I need to figure out now is are we transferring 1 or 2 embryos... I literally cannot decide. I flip flop every five seconds. I know the doc would prefer to put only 1, and my DH would prefer to put only 1, but both support me putting 2. I'm trying really hard to listen to my gut but unfortunately it's like radio silence. Hoping to have clarity on this before Friday.
Monday, 4 April 2016
Fertilization
So... time for the fertilization update. I got the call this morning from Nurse Leslie (who's the bomb by the way) and she started by reminding me that we retrieved 20 eggs... probably because some women are so loopy afterwards that they don't remember haha.
So they split the eggs evenly - 10 to do ICSI with and 10 to fertilize naturally.
Of the 10 they did ICSI with, once washed, 7 were mature, and all 7 fertilized.
Of the 10 they naturally fertilized, ALL 10 were mature, and 9 fertilized.
So we have 16 embryos!!!
HuuWHAT!?!?!!?
To put this in perspective, in the past we had 7 mature eggs, and 4 fertilized. I'm over the moon at the difference. Not sure if its my health, the supplements, or acupuncture that is to thank, but my guess it's a combination of all of the above.
Transfer has been scheduled for Friday and we are expecting an update about our 16 embryos on Wednesday. So now Homme InFertile and I need to decide in the meantime if we transfer 1 or 2... and this won't be an easy decision to say the least. I swear I'd be better off flipping a coin.
Basically in the past we've transferred 2 fresh day 3 embryos (bfn) and then 2 frozen day 5 embryos (bfn) so I'm scared to revert down to only transferring 1. That being said, this cycle has been so different than the past, and we'd like to believe it will work out, so do we really want any additional risks associated with carrying and delivering twins? We'd love to have twins, sure, but I worry so much about losing one or both, or them being pre-term and living in the nicu, or having massive delivery complications... just seems scary. But, at the same time women have twins without any issues, and some women carrying only one child end up with all the complications so it really feels like a crap-shoot.
I know I must sound like I'm spinning my wheels... I AM! I have no friggin' clue what to do. For now our plan is to wait and see how the embryos develop and if we have one embryo that is out of this world on Friday, maybe just transfer that one. But on the flip side, I'm tempted to transfer one natural and one icsi and just see what happens. Ugh. Wish there was a crystal ball to tell me what to do!!!
So they split the eggs evenly - 10 to do ICSI with and 10 to fertilize naturally.
Of the 10 they did ICSI with, once washed, 7 were mature, and all 7 fertilized.
Of the 10 they naturally fertilized, ALL 10 were mature, and 9 fertilized.
So we have 16 embryos!!!
HuuWHAT!?!?!!?
To put this in perspective, in the past we had 7 mature eggs, and 4 fertilized. I'm over the moon at the difference. Not sure if its my health, the supplements, or acupuncture that is to thank, but my guess it's a combination of all of the above.
Transfer has been scheduled for Friday and we are expecting an update about our 16 embryos on Wednesday. So now Homme InFertile and I need to decide in the meantime if we transfer 1 or 2... and this won't be an easy decision to say the least. I swear I'd be better off flipping a coin.
Basically in the past we've transferred 2 fresh day 3 embryos (bfn) and then 2 frozen day 5 embryos (bfn) so I'm scared to revert down to only transferring 1. That being said, this cycle has been so different than the past, and we'd like to believe it will work out, so do we really want any additional risks associated with carrying and delivering twins? We'd love to have twins, sure, but I worry so much about losing one or both, or them being pre-term and living in the nicu, or having massive delivery complications... just seems scary. But, at the same time women have twins without any issues, and some women carrying only one child end up with all the complications so it really feels like a crap-shoot.
I know I must sound like I'm spinning my wheels... I AM! I have no friggin' clue what to do. For now our plan is to wait and see how the embryos develop and if we have one embryo that is out of this world on Friday, maybe just transfer that one. But on the flip side, I'm tempted to transfer one natural and one icsi and just see what happens. Ugh. Wish there was a crystal ball to tell me what to do!!!
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
To PGS or to NOT PGS... that is the question...
So I count myself incredibly fortunate to not only have amazingly supportive, intelligent friends to discuss my infertility journey with, but also one in particular who not only once upon a time offered her own womb to grow my child (you kidding me!? amazing) but who is also a genetic counsellor. Let's call her Genetic Gina. Genetic Gina is super smart, always has been. I've known her since primary school, though I recall our friendship really blossoming in grade 8. Genetic Gina has always been someone I could count on for good, solid, well thought out, and logical advice, and yesterday was no different.
Now I don't like to take advantage of my friends, so was hesitant to reach out at first, but knowing she's also not one to pry into my personal life (she herself is very private), I felt that if I didn't just ask we'd likely never talk about it. So I texted her to see if she'd be open to having a phone date to discuss the pros/cons of PGS and what her thoughts were for my particular circumstance. She of course said yes, which I was super grateful for.
Now most of my friends have no idea all the terminology and vocabulary used in IVF and fertility/infertility etc. Genetic Gina is of course different, working specifically in a fertility clinic as a genetic counsellor. So its such a nice experience to talk to a professional, who is also your very dear friend who has a vested interest in your outcome.
We started out by me explaining that it is something we are considering given our "unexplained" diagnosis. At least, unexplained recurrent IVF embryo implantation failure...
So I said that our doc believes in immune issues and I really believe that's a source of my personal problem, even knowing she's very logic/science driven and probably herself doesn't stake much weight in intralipids etc. I skimmed over it quite quickly and explained that should that testing come back negative, we are strongly considering PGS, and wanted to know if its something I should consider regardless.
Her take was basically that if I was willing to do more than the 2 cycles I'm planning (1 fresh, 1 frozen) she'd say maybe not due to the high cost and our young age. But since I'm only planning on stimming once more and then doing a frozen transfer if needed, she suggested that if I have a high yield of embryos that it would pinpoint the best place to start and would be a good way of ensuring the best possible outcome. Ultimately, if I get 10 or so eggs and we have the money, she says go for it. If we only have 5-8 eggs she says maybe consider doing an additional cycle instead. All really good advice and hard to put into words on this blog.
Anyways, a lot of our decision is going to be based on how our tests come back, and how our yield is. So its really just sit and wait until we know more at this point. But I definitely have a better sense of my plans based on various IF___ THEN___ scenarios. And on top of that I know I have her to chat to about my decisions anytime!
Just feel pretty grateful right now.
PS> if any of you are interested, here are some articles about PGS/PGD that she forwarded me to help me make an informed decision.
xx
Now I don't like to take advantage of my friends, so was hesitant to reach out at first, but knowing she's also not one to pry into my personal life (she herself is very private), I felt that if I didn't just ask we'd likely never talk about it. So I texted her to see if she'd be open to having a phone date to discuss the pros/cons of PGS and what her thoughts were for my particular circumstance. She of course said yes, which I was super grateful for.
Now most of my friends have no idea all the terminology and vocabulary used in IVF and fertility/infertility etc. Genetic Gina is of course different, working specifically in a fertility clinic as a genetic counsellor. So its such a nice experience to talk to a professional, who is also your very dear friend who has a vested interest in your outcome.
We started out by me explaining that it is something we are considering given our "unexplained" diagnosis. At least, unexplained recurrent IVF embryo implantation failure...
So I said that our doc believes in immune issues and I really believe that's a source of my personal problem, even knowing she's very logic/science driven and probably herself doesn't stake much weight in intralipids etc. I skimmed over it quite quickly and explained that should that testing come back negative, we are strongly considering PGS, and wanted to know if its something I should consider regardless.
Her take was basically that if I was willing to do more than the 2 cycles I'm planning (1 fresh, 1 frozen) she'd say maybe not due to the high cost and our young age. But since I'm only planning on stimming once more and then doing a frozen transfer if needed, she suggested that if I have a high yield of embryos that it would pinpoint the best place to start and would be a good way of ensuring the best possible outcome. Ultimately, if I get 10 or so eggs and we have the money, she says go for it. If we only have 5-8 eggs she says maybe consider doing an additional cycle instead. All really good advice and hard to put into words on this blog.
Anyways, a lot of our decision is going to be based on how our tests come back, and how our yield is. So its really just sit and wait until we know more at this point. But I definitely have a better sense of my plans based on various IF___ THEN___ scenarios. And on top of that I know I have her to chat to about my decisions anytime!
Just feel pretty grateful right now.
PS> if any of you are interested, here are some articles about PGS/PGD that she forwarded me to help me make an informed decision.
xx
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