Our engagement day!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Today went GREAT!
Dan and I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (had an early appointment to beat the Boston traffic) and drove to Albany, NY. The drive was very pretty and took about a little less then 3 hours.
I LOVE LOVE CNY Infertility Clinic. The place is amazing it's so not your typical Dr.'s appointment. As I walked into the builiding we were greeted by a very relaxed atmosphere with couches, dimmed lighting, and a fireplace. I have to mention also there were no pregnant women all around me which is so nice. My last Dr.'s office there were pregnant woman everywhere and it kind of stung for me. (Just kind of a jealously thing). Anyway, We got there an hour early (we didn't want to be late and didn't know how long it would take from Mass) and they got us right in within 5 minutes! I thought for sure we would have to sit and wait forever. I got my blood taken and had a quick ultrasound which she said everything looked great. She was looking for any cysts and to make sure my lining wasn't too thick and she said it wasn't. After I got dressed she told me to meet her in another room with Dan and go over the meds. She in detail explained how to mix the Menupur & Bravelle together in one vial so Its only one shot. (Thank god). I am to go back for another ultrasound and more bloodwork this Friday, next Monday, next Wednesday and then we will see how things are going. I am patientaly waiting to get my first injection. I am very scared! I will let you know how it goes. We are to do it between 7:00 -8:30.pm. Dan used to be a paramedic so he knows how to inject people but still ahhhhhh scarey. I told him I am going to put some hard rock music on really loud to get pumped right before he stabs me! LOL
Dan and I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (had an early appointment to beat the Boston traffic) and drove to Albany, NY. The drive was very pretty and took about a little less then 3 hours.
I LOVE LOVE CNY Infertility Clinic. The place is amazing it's so not your typical Dr.'s appointment. As I walked into the builiding we were greeted by a very relaxed atmosphere with couches, dimmed lighting, and a fireplace. I have to mention also there were no pregnant women all around me which is so nice. My last Dr.'s office there were pregnant woman everywhere and it kind of stung for me. (Just kind of a jealously thing). Anyway, We got there an hour early (we didn't want to be late and didn't know how long it would take from Mass) and they got us right in within 5 minutes! I thought for sure we would have to sit and wait forever. I got my blood taken and had a quick ultrasound which she said everything looked great. She was looking for any cysts and to make sure my lining wasn't too thick and she said it wasn't. After I got dressed she told me to meet her in another room with Dan and go over the meds. She in detail explained how to mix the Menupur & Bravelle together in one vial so Its only one shot. (Thank god). I am to go back for another ultrasound and more bloodwork this Friday, next Monday, next Wednesday and then we will see how things are going. I am patientaly waiting to get my first injection. I am very scared! I will let you know how it goes. We are to do it between 7:00 -8:30.pm. Dan used to be a paramedic so he knows how to inject people but still ahhhhhh scarey. I told him I am going to put some hard rock music on really loud to get pumped right before he stabs me! LOL
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Positive Thoughts For ME
Ok, to make myself feel better I googled successful pregnancies with Low AMH and found a ton of posts from other girls. I copied some and will insert them here. This will be good for me when I am feeling doubtful about my cycle I can read success stories.
"I do have a friend whose AMH was .7, and she conceived through IVF and gave birth to twins in October. Also, she's 35, so she's AMA as well."
Good luck to you!
"DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THIS! Last summer I was 28, had an AMH level of 0.3, and was told that IVF was my only option. Unable to immediately afford IVF, I started seeing a chiropractor, and taking DHEA. (I have LPD too...oh, and did I mention ONLY ONE FALLOPIAN TUBE due to an ectopic!?!?!?) I was pregnant within a month! Then I lost the pregnancy, got pregnant the next month, lost it, got pregnant the next month (at which point I tripled my progesterone dosage,) and here I am about to give birth in four weeks. The point is, I obviously had the capacity to ovulate every month. Low AMH doesn't mean you have bad QUALITY. That is measured by the FSH. Low AMH just means that you might have a reduced reserve or be a poor responder to meds. You could still ovulate every month on your own. I had never seen a chiropractor in my life, and I really didn't buy into alternative treatments, but given how quickly I was able to get pregnant I really believe that the treatments assisted my body.
No matter what you choose to do, I just wanted to weigh in and tell you not to worry about this number. Look into every other potential cause and cure. Explore your options. Don't let someone tell you that you only have the IVF option since your AMH is "low." (Frankly, that really isn't very low to begin with!) Good luck!"
"I have normal everything, except my AMH, which is 0.5. I was successful with IVF #2 on a high dose antagonist protocol.
One doc did a blood test after I had a spontaneous O on cd7 - and told me my AMH came back at 0.6 and that i would have to speed things along if we wanted to have kids...
I went to another doctor who didn't even pay attention to the AMH number - at this point we were scared and wanted to move on to IVF - he stimmed us with a pretty normal dose of meds and got 25 eggs almost all of which fertilized normally - i got pg the first cycle and we have several on ice for the future - he even said that I made good eggs and we had excellent fertilization."
Anyway, a sigh of relief that there are success stories out there. Now maybe I can relax.
"I do have a friend whose AMH was .7, and she conceived through IVF and gave birth to twins in October. Also, she's 35, so she's AMA as well."
Good luck to you!
"DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THIS! Last summer I was 28, had an AMH level of 0.3, and was told that IVF was my only option. Unable to immediately afford IVF, I started seeing a chiropractor, and taking DHEA. (I have LPD too...oh, and did I mention ONLY ONE FALLOPIAN TUBE due to an ectopic!?!?!?) I was pregnant within a month! Then I lost the pregnancy, got pregnant the next month, lost it, got pregnant the next month (at which point I tripled my progesterone dosage,) and here I am about to give birth in four weeks. The point is, I obviously had the capacity to ovulate every month. Low AMH doesn't mean you have bad QUALITY. That is measured by the FSH. Low AMH just means that you might have a reduced reserve or be a poor responder to meds. You could still ovulate every month on your own. I had never seen a chiropractor in my life, and I really didn't buy into alternative treatments, but given how quickly I was able to get pregnant I really believe that the treatments assisted my body.
No matter what you choose to do, I just wanted to weigh in and tell you not to worry about this number. Look into every other potential cause and cure. Explore your options. Don't let someone tell you that you only have the IVF option since your AMH is "low." (Frankly, that really isn't very low to begin with!) Good luck!"
"I have normal everything, except my AMH, which is 0.5. I was successful with IVF #2 on a high dose antagonist protocol.
One doc did a blood test after I had a spontaneous O on cd7 - and told me my AMH came back at 0.6 and that i would have to speed things along if we wanted to have kids...
I went to another doctor who didn't even pay attention to the AMH number - at this point we were scared and wanted to move on to IVF - he stimmed us with a pretty normal dose of meds and got 25 eggs almost all of which fertilized normally - i got pg the first cycle and we have several on ice for the future - he even said that I made good eggs and we had excellent fertilization."
Anyway, a sigh of relief that there are success stories out there. Now maybe I can relax.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Stress
Time is moving in sllllooooowww motion for me. See the hard thing about this whole trip is I can't plan a thing. My body is in control of all of this. I have to wait for my period to start and be at the doctors office for my first ultrasound within 2 days. I am expecting my period to start Jan 28th so our plan as of today is to fly up on Friday the 27th to Boston. From there we will go to Salem and stay until my first appointment. We will then drive the 3 hours to Albany, NY. and the rest is unknown. Most girls have blood work and ultrasounds on cycle day 3,7,9 and 11 but It totally just depends on how my body reacts to all the meds, etc. *Sigh* I would like to plan time to see my family but am stressed on how to fit this in.
Another stress of mine is holy moly this costs a lot. I have A LOT on the line here. We are taking 2 weeks off, flying up for this, and almost spending $10,000 on this. No one can tell me to not stress. I just need distraction. I may try meditation but I am such a scatter brain I can't imagine trying to sit still and not focus on anything but my breathing-yeah right.
My other stress which gets me emotional is the fact that I will not be exercising at all during this process. It completely freaks me out. Not everyone understands this but running is like meditation to me. I run in the mornings and watch the sun come up. It's my time and I don't think about anything else except for running and it feels great. My fear is I will gain weight which I understand I will when I get pregnant but I just have worked so damn hard at trying to stay somewhat healthy and this will all go out the window quick with no exercise. When I am cleared by my Dr if I do get pregnant I will walk but not until after 12 weeks.
My BIGGEST fear which I shouldn't even go there is that my body does not respond to the medications and the Dr. will tell me that in order to get pregnant I will need a donor egg. I have a girlfriend in my support group that had really low AMH of .13 (mine is .84) and after 2 IVF procedures the Dr. recommended a donor egg. They used her husbands sperm but not her egg someone else's. To me that would be heartbreaking. The good news for her is she used a donor egg and is now pregnant with twins and I am so happy for her. Anyway, I will not go there.
Hmmmm... anything else I can stress about. I can't think of anything else today. LOL
Another stress of mine is holy moly this costs a lot. I have A LOT on the line here. We are taking 2 weeks off, flying up for this, and almost spending $10,000 on this. No one can tell me to not stress. I just need distraction. I may try meditation but I am such a scatter brain I can't imagine trying to sit still and not focus on anything but my breathing-yeah right.
My other stress which gets me emotional is the fact that I will not be exercising at all during this process. It completely freaks me out. Not everyone understands this but running is like meditation to me. I run in the mornings and watch the sun come up. It's my time and I don't think about anything else except for running and it feels great. My fear is I will gain weight which I understand I will when I get pregnant but I just have worked so damn hard at trying to stay somewhat healthy and this will all go out the window quick with no exercise. When I am cleared by my Dr if I do get pregnant I will walk but not until after 12 weeks.
My BIGGEST fear which I shouldn't even go there is that my body does not respond to the medications and the Dr. will tell me that in order to get pregnant I will need a donor egg. I have a girlfriend in my support group that had really low AMH of .13 (mine is .84) and after 2 IVF procedures the Dr. recommended a donor egg. They used her husbands sperm but not her egg someone else's. To me that would be heartbreaking. The good news for her is she used a donor egg and is now pregnant with twins and I am so happy for her. Anyway, I will not go there.
Hmmmm... anything else I can stress about. I can't think of anything else today. LOL
Friday, January 6, 2012
In A Nutshell
In a nut shell the IVF process is explained below. Each day when I get really into the process I will share more in detail about what is going on.
I went to Target last night and walked by the infant section where they had some Xmas stuff like a little santa infant outfit.I would love to be able to actually have a baby by next Xmas. I am so hoping this is it. This last Xmas was very hard for my expected due date was Dec 15 agh I hate that I know that date. I may not figure out my due date next time until I know everything is a go for it is very painful know this date. It weighed me down the whole month of December. To some people it may seem drastic the way I felt but when you have wanted something so bad and it is taken away from you by some "fluke" in nature it's hard. That could have been a baby. That could have been my son or daughter but it happened to get cozy in my fallopian tube and not my uterus. Oh well, time to move on. Maybe I should go and buy that outfit to bring positive vibes. We have already purchased a pac n' play and an automatic rocker. Dan saw a changing table on the Craig's list last night but I thought we should wait. This is getting so real. I already have all my meds, a heating pad, and movies are packed. I may go to the library this afternoon and get some books.
The Processes Involved with IVF are
The In Vitro Fertilization Process is as Follows
I went to Target last night and walked by the infant section where they had some Xmas stuff like a little santa infant outfit.I would love to be able to actually have a baby by next Xmas. I am so hoping this is it. This last Xmas was very hard for my expected due date was Dec 15 agh I hate that I know that date. I may not figure out my due date next time until I know everything is a go for it is very painful know this date. It weighed me down the whole month of December. To some people it may seem drastic the way I felt but when you have wanted something so bad and it is taken away from you by some "fluke" in nature it's hard. That could have been a baby. That could have been my son or daughter but it happened to get cozy in my fallopian tube and not my uterus. Oh well, time to move on. Maybe I should go and buy that outfit to bring positive vibes. We have already purchased a pac n' play and an automatic rocker. Dan saw a changing table on the Craig's list last night but I thought we should wait. This is getting so real. I already have all my meds, a heating pad, and movies are packed. I may go to the library this afternoon and get some books.
The Processes Involved with IVF are
- prevention of premature release of eggs from the ovaries
- stimulate development of multiple eggs in the ovaries
- removal of the eggs from the ovary
- combining the eggs with sperm
- embryo transfer
- establishing pregnancy
The In Vitro Fertilization Process is as Follows
- The eggs are harvested after medication therapy
- The eggs and sperm are either left together in an incubator for about 18 hours, (conventional IVF) or they are inseminated using via ICSI whereby one sperm is directly injected into the egg. They are then checked for fertilization and further development as embryos.
- The resulting embryos are placed in the uterus. Progesterone is also used to help develop the uterine lining and increase the chances of implantation.
Monday, January 2, 2012
My low AMH Levels
Day two of the new year and one of my resolutions was to not stress about things out of my control. Well I'm breaking it already. *sigh* My AMH levels are low. My bloodwork was done and my AMH level is .84. According to the guidelines below I am in the low to normal range. Basically what it states below is that the more eggs they retrieve the better chances of success. My hopes are they at least retrieve 8 or more.
Normal over 1.0 ng/ml
Low Normal Range 0.7 - 0.9 ng/ml
Women with higher AMH values will tend to have better response to ovarian stimulation for IVF and have more eggs retrieved. In general, having more eggs with IVF gives a higher success rate.
We do not have a lot of data yet on what to tell couples going through IVF about their AMH results and chances for conception. However, the table below shows ranges for AMH levels and some information about interpretation.
AMH levels probably do not reflect egg quality, but having more eggs at the IVF egg retrieval gives us more to work with - so we are more likely to have at least one high quality embryo available for transfer back to the uterus.
We do not have a lot of data yet on what to tell couples going through IVF about their AMH results and chances for conception. However, the table below shows ranges for AMH levels and some information about interpretation.
AMH levels probably do not reflect egg quality, but having more eggs at the IVF egg retrieval gives us more to work with - so we are more likely to have at least one high quality embryo available for transfer back to the uterus.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year! I am estatic to start this year. I just have a great feeling about 2012. Well as expected 30 minutes after the new year I went to the bathroom and started my period. It's bittersweat for I did have a little hope that maybe the cycle before I do IVF that I would get pregnant natural. Well there's my answer to that it would never be that easy for me. Oh well as my ticker states on my blog we have 4 weeks left until I start IVF!
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