Infertility: Part 4 IVF#1

About IVF:

The first step of the IVF process is ovarian stimulation with injectable follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH stimulates the ovaries to develop numerous follicles, each of which usually contains an egg. Once the eggs are mature, an injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is administered and egg retrieval is scheduled. A small “needle” is passed through the back of the vagina and into the follicle on the ovary. The egg is gently “suctioned” and retrieved in its follicular fluid. Sperm is specially prepared for exposure to the eggs. After fertilization, the embryos are placed in an incubator which tightly controls temperature, atmosphere, pH, and other environmental factors. The embryos remain in the incubators until mature, usually three to five days. Five day embryos have usually developed to the blastocyst stage. Once the embryos mature, the embryo transfer is scheduled. This is a painless procedure usually requiring less than ten minutes and is similar to IUI. (Read More about IVF here)

Above are the two (day 3) embryos that were transferred.

Below is my IVF cycle #1:

2/15/09: start birth control pills

2/27/09: start Lupron 10 units daily injection

3/6/09: stop taking birth control pills

3/13/09: monitoring suppression check and blood draw, start FSH 225 units (3 vials), Femara 5 mg, and 10 units of low dose hCG

3/18/09: monitoring suppression check and blood draw, increased FSH to 300 units (4 vials) as day, decreased lupron to 5 units

3/21/09: monitoring suppression check and blood draw, 600 units (8 vials) a day, stopped lupron

3/28/09: high dose HCG (trigger) shot 10,000 units

3/30/09: Egg retrieval day. Nine follicles were 15 mm or greater. 11 oocyts (eggs) retrieved, 9 were mature and only 3 fertilized using in vitro fertilization. Start progesterone oil injection and low dose aspirin (81 mg) daily.

4/02/09: Embryo transfer day. Transferred 2 day 3 embryos; one excellent quality; one good quality. The third embryo made it to an early blastocyst and arrested by day 6, leaving no embryos for cryopreservation.

4/15/09: HCG (pregnancy test) negative :(

Approximate Cost of IVF#1

insurance paid: $14,600

we paid: $1,300

Approximate Cost of medication:

insurance paid: $4,900

we paid: $150

The day of our embryo transfer I remember the embryologist saying that he rarely rates embryos excellent quality and our chance would be high that I would achieve pregnancy. I remember that dark day that I found out I was not pregnant. It was a miserable feeling. I remember staring at the picture of my precious embryos and feeling really sad that they didn't survive.

I kept on thinking...Why? Only God knows why this happened but I had faith that he would reveal his plan for me. The pain, heartache, and sadness I was experiencing was eased through faith in Jesus Christ, and he gave me the strength to move forward even when all seemed hopeless. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that walks with me even when I can't see where I'm going.