Part 2 - IVF
My story left off being told we had to TRY (I do not like this word but that is what the Doctors used) for another 6 months before they would look into it any further. That really meant 8 months because I needed to heal after surgery. I was patient up until February when I got a call from a specialist office that I was unaware that I was referred to and they told me that my case was not URGENT enough for fertility treatments and the wait time for this particular Doctor (who is amazing) was a year. Let’s just say, upset is not the right word to describe how I was feeling, even now typing this I want to SCREAM, YELL, CRY and… wonder what I did to deserve this. After my husband and my mom calmed me down, I knew it was time to take control of my own health and fertility. In May I went back to my family Dr. (I wish he were still around here) and he agreed it was time to look at other provinces, so we sent my information to Calgary to Regional Fertility clinic, and to Winnipeg. A week later I heard back from Calgary and we were booked in to get some answers in July.
When the week came in July to head to Calgary, we packed up our camper and Harley and off we went. While we were there, we took a bike ride, checked out the Zoo and just relaxed until our appointments. The day of the appointment came, Devon and I went to the 2-hour seminar to learn what IVF is all about. There were many couples there, we were sitting beside a surrogate and the couple she was going to be carrying the baby for (eavesdropping on their conversation definitely made me grateful that we were not at that point). Everyone, no matter their background all had that nervous look. The next day was spent at the clinic doing blood tests, ultrasound, sperm test, Psychologist evaluation, and then finally we were able to talk to the Dr. to find out what our options were. She told us I needed to have my tube (I only have one) checked and this test would also see if I had any fibroids, I would need to be booked for a HSG, which I could have done in Saskatchewan. We had a choice, she felt we were good candidates for IUI (intrauterine insemination) which involves the sperm being washed and concentrated and then being place directly into my uterus; or IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) which involved way more but was our best chance at having a baby in the end. We chose IVF.
Back in Saskatchewan, I tried booking an HSG but in order to do that I needed to see a specialist to have them order the test, which was going to take a month and because there is only one machine to in Regina to do the test, I was looking at another probably 6 months because it was broken at the time and they had a back log. At this point my patience was gone so I called Calgary and found out I could have that test done there and I was lucky enough to get it booked the first week in Aug, only 2 weeks after I had been in Calgary. My mom went with me this time and we found out everything was good; my tube was not blocked, and I had no fibroids. We were that much closer to having a baby.
We are farmers, so now I had to wait until Harvest was over. Devon and I decided that we wanted to do the egg retrieval at the end of Oct 2018. When my period came is September I called and got the instructions. For me, it started with Aspin then a few days after that I started an estrogen patch, the day after that I gave myself my 1st needle. They told me my next period would come on Oct 16 and it came on the 17th. We had to go back to Calgary to have an ultrasound done on day 3 (probably the most uncomfortable ultrasound I ever had), this was probably one of the heaviest periods I ever had too and I was very uncomfortable. Back at home, I had more needles added to my routine and I was becoming very tired, we did manage to get out to The Happy Nun Café with my parents for a concert. The Monday after we were back in Calgary, ultrasounds and blood work done every second day until they told us we were ready for our trigger shot and egg retrieval about 36 hours later. During that time, I pretty much slept, we were warned that I could be really grouchy and hormonal, so I was glad all I wanted to do was sleep, poor Devon already had so much to deal with. On October 28th we pulled the trigger, and I gave myself the shot. October 30th we went and we retrieved quite a few eggs considering I only have one ovary (borderline Hyperactive ovary which can be dangerous), Devon did his business and met me after in in recovery. The Dr. came in and told him that I am a superstar because the 1st needle ended up plugged and they needed to use a second needle. I was fairly calm, because I knew my Grandma Rosa was with me, I had joked before I met Devon that I didn’t need a man to have a baby and it turned out that day it was a full female team helping me out, so I knew she made that happen.
Our goal was a day 5 fresh transfer.
The next morning, we found out that half of the eggs retrieved had been fertilized, but they told us that does not me we have that many embryos. November 1st came and that morning my heart dropped, at that point we only had 2 that seemed to be developing, and we were scheduled for a day 3 transfer, the embryologist did say that this could change throughout that day and we could end up with a day 5 transfer, but he was playing it safe. Due to there only being 2 the chances for them were better if they were transferred but not the best. Thankfully, the next day I got a call that we had more develop and we could do the day 5 transfer.
On the Sunday following our egg retrieval we did a fresh transfer of 1 embryo. It was the day before my sisters Birthday and of course it was on the verge of storming. Normally, the clinic suggests that you stay in Calgary over night to keep stress levels down and move around to avoid blood clots but because of the storm that could possibly hit the next day they said it was ok to go home but we had to stop every 2 hours and walk around the truck.
Now, the 2 week wait, during this time it was very hard not to go and get a pregnancy test, it is recommended that you don’t take one because it may come back a false positive and get your hopes up only to be dashed with a blood test. Also, during this time, I started taking progesterone vaginal suppositories, this hormone supports pregnancy (not very pleasant, I think I liked the needles better). As well as I was taking an estrogen pill. Devon stayed busy getting caught up on work and farm stuff, I slept, I was still tired, and I already felt yucky, all the extra hormones helped with that. We had the blood test was done a day early because I was our lab was closed on Saturday’s.
We found out the next day that we were indeed PREGNANT!!
