Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Thank you to the Ovaries and a Step by Step guide to DE IVF

Just got the word from my RE, we can start our meds to grow my lining. Yay! All of our pleas were finally taken into account by  my ovaries. Thank you, dear ovaries! Thank you.

So, onward to the next hoop... lining check on the 13th. I think I'll be over-doing it on yoga and breathing techniques to relax and get the blood flowing to that part of my body so that I get a nice cushy landing place for our potential embryos..

I was also thinking that some of you may not really have any clue what a donor cycle entails, so I thought I'd lay it out here, step by step. In many respects, its very similar to an IVF cycle, except it's just split between two women. The first half of growing the eggs is done by the donor, and the second, more mentally grueling half of waiting to see if the embryo's stick inside me, is done by me, the 'intended mother'. It's no different for Tidy, the 'intended father'.... still has to go donate his swimmers on day of retrieval, and go with me to the transfer day (assuming we make it there). I guess he doesn't, however, have to deal with a loopy wife for a day after the retrieval.

Ok, so step by step, here's what it looks like from my point of view.
  1. Match with the anonymous donor
  2. Both IM (that's me, the "intended mother") and donor (We're calling her Dotty) go on BCPs to put their bodies in a holding pattern
  3. Work out a bunch of legal stuff... takes a while, for us, about a month
  4. IM starts Lupron and stops BCPs. Stay's on Lupron for 10 days; Donor stays on BCPs
  5. Suppression check for IM to see if all is quiet on the ovarian front (this is where my body decided to not cooperate, per usual)
  6. If IM is suppressed, then starts about 2 weeks of Estrogen, to grow a thick uterine lining, while staying on Lupron to keep those ovaries at bay (although, i have heard that some women don't use Lupron and instead Estrogen itself has a suppression effect).  (this is where I am at right now!)
  7. IM goes in after 2 weeks for a lining check and if all looks good and 'cushy' and 'triple striped', the Donor will stop her BCPs and once she gets a period, will start her stims.
  8. Donor then does stims for 8-12 days, while IM is on Lupron and Estrogen keeping that lining all nice and happy.
  9. Donor then has egg retrieval and on that day, IF (intended father, Tidy in this case), goes in to donate his swimmers to do their job. Donor and IF do not meet. Donor is done with her responsibility and is paid her fee soon thereafter. IM & IF get a call the next day on how many embryos they have growing. IM starts Progesterone to mimic ovulation so that the lining is in the right phase as the age of the embryos. IM also stops Lupron but stays on Estrogen (in my case.. not sure if all doc's do this, but mine does).... so Retrieval day is a big deal.
  10. Depending on the quality of the embryos, 3-5 days later, the embryos (1-2 usually) are transferred back into IM.
  11. Then the dreaded wait begins for IM & IF... and you know the drill... wait, worry, try not to focus on symptoms in your body, try not to pee on too many sticks, and hope and pray the gobs of $$ you just spent will finally amount to a take home baby.
Any questions?

13 comments:

jill's infertility document said...

Great, informative post, thanks!

I am just so excited for you and can't wait to follow every step of the way.

RunningMama said...

Wow, Tippy. This is such a long process...and scary. The reality of it must be something that you have been dealing with for a while now...but down on paper it just kind of took my breath away. I'll be holding my breath for the next 6 weeks hoping that this is THE cycle for you.

Marissa said...

I actually was wondering how much they share between you and Dotty. Will they tell you how many follicles she has on ultrasounds, or just how many eggs retrieved? Do they tell her how many embryos and how they grew, or only if it resulted in pregnancy or not?

Do you want to know? Do you have a choice?

michelle said...

This is all still fresh in my mind! We used a donor agency so we knew exactly what our donor looks like today. The clinic made one screw up and scheduled us to be there at the same time. I didn't want to run into her because I just didn't want it to mess with my head. She doesn't know what I look like but because we're both Filipino and we're in White Colorado, it wouldn't have been hard for her to figure it out.

Anyway, we didn't run into each other and all was good. I'm rooting for you!!!

MSTAR from FT. :)

Mommy ToBe (I hope) said...

Wow - that's a lot of information. Thank you!

I'm sending lots of positive thoughts in your (both IM and Dotty) direction.

KV said...

I've been thinking of sticky foods for you to eat during your 2ww:

cotton candy
gum
mochi (esp. mochi ice cream...yummm)
taffy
short-grain rice
okra? (might be more slimey than sticky)
corn on the cob (OK, this is stretching it a little bit. The reasoning was that corn gets stuck in your teeth. Ergo, sticky)
corn dogs on a stick (also taking poetic license with "sticky" here)
jelly bellies
almond butter

And that's all I got so far. Will keep thinking...

cdg said...

beyond excited for you to get started. I think you are amazing!! and love the phrase intended mother.

Gurlee said...

Way to rock it out ovaries.
Thanks for the rundown.
Wishing you the best!

Anonymous said...

xoxooxxo Wishing you luck!

LisaB said...

YEEEAAAAHHH for good news finally! Let's keep it rolling!! I'll be thinking of you.

Jem said...

Thanks for your kind words on my blog. You are right about not finding anything about my m/c on my blog. I deleted a lot of posts during May and June because it was a dark time and I needed to keep it all private. Now Mr Jem and I are starting a new chapter, and are full of hope for our donor IUI. You sounds so very hopeful about your donor IVF. I am very happy for you.

Chelle said...

I actually did wonder how they lined up both the donor and IM's bodies. This was quite interesting.

I am really hoping and praying this works. How wonderful and miraculous it would be! Praying, hoping, and crossing fingers all goes well this month!

Anonymous said...

So awesome that those ovaries are quietly listening!!! :D Now on to getting that cushy lining...Listen up Ute!