Round 3 results

I’ve been keeping pretty quiet the last few weeks about our plans and going through the 3rd transfer cycle.

We had our transfer on October 24th.  This time we transferred 3 of Y’s embryos, hoping that we’d have a greater chance of success.  Yesterday (Nov 7th) the results came back negative again.  We are all so disappointed.

The guys plan to meet with the doctor and see where everything stands, and then we will figure out what to do.  There are still several embryos left, which should give us two more chances, but hopefully we won’t need them all.

C and Y have a trip planned for a couple of weeks in December, so it looks like we are going to be taking a short break before going ahead again.  I think its a good idea to let my body rest and be “hormone free” for a bit.  I also plan to use the time to get my body into a healthier state.

This is all I know at the moment, so that’s my update.

Ready…Set…Go Round 3!

So today I went back to the clinic in Toronto for another round of day 2 tests (well, technically day 3, but who’s counting right? lol)

My uterus has passed inspection and I am back on the estrogen, and oddly enough I missed those little aqua coloured tablets. Crazy, right?

So my medications this time around will stay more or less the same.  Our doctor is adding one pill a day into the mix though,  Dexamethisone.

I think I will call this one "My little Pentacle".

This one should help to stop my body from rejecting the embryos. *Fingers crossed*.  The funny thing is that 5 is my lucky number…so maybe its a good sign?

After all the tests and meetings with doctors and nurses, I had the chance to visit with C and Y. I always enjoy our visits, and today we also got to enjoy some of our unusually warm weather before heading home.

So I’m back to the clinic in 10-12 days for another lining check and then to schedule the actual transfer, and this time we will transfer 3 embryos instead of 2.

I keep having this niggling thought in the back of my mind that the universe is determined that I only get pregnant in October/November.  This next transfer would give us a potential due date in July.  Both of my children had July due dates, as well as the first surrogate baby that I carried.  I mentioned this thought to C and he extended it a bit further that perhaps this is the time of year that I am most fertile.

I think it might be a good theory actually, since people do seem to be effected by the weather and seasons. Perhaps the Fall is just when my system is the most balanced.

I guess this theory will be put to the test in a few short weeks. Please everyone send us your positive thoughts.  We are all doing our best to stay positive, but some extra good vibes certainly won’t hurt.

And so we continue…

I went for my Beta test yesterday (Oct 3).  The call came shortly after 5pm that it came back negative.

I don’t seem to have the right words to express my feelings about it all.

I’m still in disbelief that it didn’t work.  The thought is always there niggling at the back of your mind, but I really thought that this would be it.  I thought that today we would be celebrating, not planning on when/how to do it all again.

But the guys are still on board and it goes without saying that I am too. We have the go ahead from the clinic and our doctor to start Round 3 as soon as possible.

So now I’m off all the meds, and if my body works like its supposed to, we should be starting again next week, and that should have transfer set by the end of the month. I have no idea if the doctor will change anything up for this next transfer.  I guess I’ll find that out next week.

I’ve been through so many emotions in the last 36 hours.  I’ve been sad, disappointed, and even angry with my body for not doing what I  know it can do!

So now that I’ve posted all this, I’m moving my thoughts forward.  I’m going to think happy positive thoughts for the next round.

2 Week Wait (again)

So today we had our 2nd transfer.  As you know our first transfer of 2 embryos failed and we got a negative blood test on August 10.

Because of a small mix-up in the clinic we ended up missing a cycle and being put back on birth control pills for a month, but we are finally here…again!

I had my lining checked out last Wednesday and since everything looked fantastic the transfer was scheduled for today…or so we thought.  I was told that the day before I would get a call from the clinic to confirm the time of the transfer.  I waited and waited and still had no call by 5:30pm, so started calling the clinic to see what was up.

I ended up leaving messages for 2 different nurses to try and cover our bases. Low and behold I actually got a call back around 6:30 confirming that the nurse that went over my protocol with me had written us in for 22nd even though my chart clearly said the 20th.  We were lucky in the fact that the nurse had told me to start the final meds on Saturday (which I did) and since a couple of them are time sensitive, we had to have the transfer today regardless.

Fast forward to today.  I got to the clinic a little early to check in and got all nice in comfy in my hospital gown and little booties.  C and Y showed up fairly soon after that…with snacks!  (Thanks again for the cookies and grapes! Perfect timing!)

We had a surprisingly short wait this time.  Only an hour and we were in the procedure room.  It was quite a happy atmosphere which I take as a positive sign, and one of my new favourite songs was playing on the piped in music which was relaxing for me.

So 2 beautiful embryos were thawed and are now resting in my ever so willing womb.

Grow embabies  grow!

Afterwards the 3 of us had a chance to sit and talk, while enjoying some sunshine in downtown Toronto which was nice.  I don’t get to see the guys much, but hopefully once we are pregnant there will be many more opportunities so they can visit with the belly.

Blood test will be October 4th.  So welcome back to the 2 week wait!

Inspection complete!

Today I went back to Toronto for another Ultrasound and more blood work.  I’ve been on the meds for 10 days now.  Feeling quite a bit different this time around, which I take as a good sign.

I left quite early to try to avoid traffic and also to get back home early enough to meet my daughters school bus in the afternoon.  My normally 2.5 hour drive turned into quite the odyssey.  Lane closures on the already 2-lane 403, several sections of construction, the usual Morning traffic, a few accidents, and a truck that refused to give me space to pull in so that I was forced off the Gardner and onto Lakeshore…

I did however have a streak of luck going through Burlington and Oakville once I remembered that my 3-year-old son in the backseat qualified me to use the carpool lane. I only wish I had remembered about 20 minutes earlier!  I don’t usually take either of the kids with me to appointments, but today was a wacky day schedule wise, so Jack was up and out with me today.  I liked having the company, and he was pretty tolerant of the long trip.

My little Carpool buddy! (and before you ask, I was at a red light when I took this)

So, I eventually made it to the clinic around 10am.  The nurse who took my blood had a hard time getting a vein (which is pretty normal for me) and eventually had to get one in my hand.  Not my favourite spot, but what can you do?  Then it was off to the ultrasound room, and then to wait for the doctor.

According to Dr.L my lining is even nicer than last time, so I find that encouraging.  He suggested the 20th for a transfer, so that’s the plan.  Another short wait for the nurse with my meds to come and give me a review of the protocol and we were on our way home.  The trip home was much nicer than the one out.  No issues at all which makes me think the universe was trying to make up for its antics this morning.

So, we are getting quite the change in my medication protocol.  Last time I had the 6 Estrogen pills a day, as well as one injection and some vitamins.  This is the new batch of “Med-y” goodness:

The new hormone package

The actual meds I'll be taking each day.

1) 2 x Folic Acid tablets

2) 6 x Estrace tablets (estrogen supplements)

3) 1 x Low dose Aspirin – 81mg

4) 3 x Prometrium (progesterone supplement)

5) 2 x day Doxycycline (but only for the 3 days prior to transfer)

6) 1 x Medrol (only for4 days starting 3 days prior to transfer)

7) 4 x Progesterone Suppositories (progesterone supplement)

Quite a lot of change, but I’m not worried.  I won’t be doing the needles this time around, hence the suppositories and Prometrium.  The nurse gave me a pretty specific schedule to take them all on, so I spent a few minutes when I got home setting up the alarms on my cell phone for them all.

So, I’ll be starting all the new meds on Saturday, and then transfer on Tuesday!