Hormones and Needles and Tests, Oh My!!

We are excited and nervous to be starting In Vitro Fertilization in January.  The University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City has an IVF program and our fertility specialist, Dr. Figge has recommended this program as our next step.  At the U of I they have what they call a “shared-risk” warranty program.  Steve and I had to be qualified to take part in it.  They qualify you based on age, uterine measurements, sperm quality and motility, ovarian reserve (the capacity of the ovary to provide eggs that are capable of fertilization), no STD’s, no history of substance abuse, etc...  thankfully, we found out in December that we are qualified for this program!!!  This means that after the egg retrieval if we don’t become pregnant we get to re-transfer frozen embryos each month until they are gone.  And if after our embryos are gone we still aren’t pregnant (please pray we are!) we get a big portion of our money back.  We have already decided that if the IVF doesn’t work we will use this money for adoption. 

We met with an IVF specialist, Dr. Duran, in December and discussed the procedures, risks, time lines and percentages. He told us University of Iowa has a 60% success rate with a fresh embryo transfer - which I think sounds wonderful since getting pregnant naturally is usually an 11% chance each month and with only one fallopian tube, like I have, it’s even less.

So we got tested, poked, and prodded (me more than Steve but he was there with me the whole time- he is my rock). We drove to Iowa City to get our bag o’ drugs (you all know what a paper grocery bag looks like- our fertility drugs filled one of those), and on December 30^th we go for our injection teaching and base line ultrasound.  Yes, I said injection teaching….all of these fun IVF drugs are injectables and guess who has to give them to me every day for 25 days- that would be Steve and he seems a little too excited about this job.

I sense that I have about a week left to feel normal because that’s when the injections start and who knows what these hormones are going to do to me.  I’m scared. Scared to be injected with hormones three times a day. Scared to get my blood drawn every week (I was blessed with almost undetectable veins and they are not eager to give up blood and I never leave Metro Lab without being stuck at least three times by two different people). But I can do it.  I can endure the pain. I just wish there was a 100% guarantee that I would have a beautiful baby in 9 months because what scares me the most is that my body will fail me again and all of this will be for nothing.  I am thankful I have Steve, my dad (Mark), Regina, Jeanne, Stan, Kelsey, Niki, Randl, and all of my wonderful friends reminding me every time I need it that this WILL happen. And of course, I have my beautiful mother in heaven looking down on me and giving me the strength I need to get through this.