I remember while growing up of hearing the phrase "test tube baby". This phrase was derogatory, insulting and used commonly as a joke. Never did I think that I would need science to conceive. Fertility, in the minds of most couples. is an intimate and private subject. Once we began the doctor appointments and realized just how costly IVF would be for us, we decided to go public with our journey. Crowdfunding is very common for raising funds for various things. We created a GoFundMe page and started the Our Little Cannonball campaign.
Unfortunately, we did not raise any substantial funds towards our procedures but we did gain supporters and a small amount of money was raised which helped with meals and gas while on the go. I was browsing the internet one day and decided to randomly apply for a personal loan. To my surprise, we were immediately approved for a substantial amount that would allow us to afford the procedure. Our IVF cycle plans had to be paid in full before the start, once paid my medications were ordered. I remember safely buckling the box of medications in my passenger seat while driving home that day, couldn't believe that the contents of that package (along with the help from hubby) would result in human life!
Now that this is about 3 years ago, much of my protocol is a blur however I've included a few pictures from my Instagram archive. I was on stims for about 6 days.
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Lupron injections 1 x per day for 24 days
prior to egg retrieval
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| Daily Gonal-F and Menopur Injections |
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First day of stims before egg retrieval
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| Dosages were altered after day 1 |
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Trigger (HCG) Injection the day
before retrieval
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| Cetrotide injection was added at day 5 |
Many women experience hormonal changes that could result in headaches, fatigue and many other unpleasant symptoms. I worked full time during my IVF cycle and did not experience, or notice, any symptoms. My protocol was a freeze-all cycle. My eggs were retrieved, fertilized and then frozen for 1 month until transfer. It was cheaper for us to do the freeze-all cycle since this was the "study" against the normal fresh transfer. A total of 21 eggs were retrieved and fertilized, only 6 of them were viable. At the time of transfer, we were told that our viable embryos had reduced to 4. We transferred two embryos and I went home to rest for the weekend. Symptoms after transfer were also non-existent. It was hard not to symptom watch, however, while still on injections and having to focus on administering the medications correctly I think that I was too preoccupied to notice.
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| 5 day embroyos before transfer |
Things I Did To Keep Me Busy
- Continued to work - took no extra time from work
- Crafts (Holidays were Christmas, New Years and Valentine's Day during our cycle)
- Scheduled lunch/dinner with friends
- Binge watched Youtube
I returned to work shortly after transfer and warned everyone that there may be a shift in how I would usually react to situations. As a front staff supervisor at a busy animal hospital, I dealt with intense situations on a daily. Luckily for my staff, there were no complications from any hormonal changes or effects of the injections on my daily interactions. I was a POAS (pee on a stick) addict and loved watching lines progress in both ovulation and pregnancy tests, of course I tested as soon as possible. I felt more confident in testing with our frozen cycle because the trigger shot had been long gone out of my system and there was no way that I would be getting a false positive due to trigger shot levels. I first tested at 5 days past transfer and immediately got a very faint line on a cheap amazon test. I could not wait to test on a digital! When I did, the words, PREGNANT 1-2 appeared very quickly. It was the most surreal reaction to a test I had taken because I had faith and confidence in God that this was it. I've included my results for all of my fellow POAS addicts and included my beta numbers for my twin pregnancy.
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| Digital 5dp5dt |
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Better have POAS addict
eyes for these! - 5dp5dt |
After my pregnancy was confirmed, I continued progesterone injections for a few short weeks along with Minivelle (estradiol) patches on my hip. Once those levels were to a safe point and looked as though my body was starting to naturally take over, my doctor took me off of injections and I took oral medications for a few more weeks. I was eventually completely removed from all oral medications and released to my OB/GYN around 13 weeks pregnant. My pregnancy was an easy one with complications until 31 weeks and 4 days when my water spontaneously broke and I had my baby girls on August 24, 2015.
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