About

We got married in 2007 when we were both young, knowing we would need to do IVF with PGD to have healthy babies. Thinking we had lots of time, we waited until we both finished our degrees before working on building our family. In 2013 we started to research information and look into clinic options. In summer 2015 we officially started IVF treatment. We did 7 rounds of IVF with multiple losses and failures on account of "unexplained infertility." We switched clinics in 2018 which turned out to be the best decision for us. After being treated for micro inflammation in the uterine lining (chronic endometritis), among a few other things, we did IVF 8 and were blessed with a miracle in 2019. In May 2021 the conversation and journey began as we attempt for a second success.

I started this blog in January 2016 when I realized that the process to have a baby via fertility treatment will take a little longer than I had anticipated and I needed an outlet to organize my thoughts. I'm the first to admit that I thought IVF was a "sure thing" and that it would work the first or second time. Not only was I wrong about that, but I also had no idea the emotional roller coaster one goes through in addition to the physical aspect of treatment.

We live in Maryland and enjoy short walks on the beach, Chinese food, and Netflix.


TIMELINE

IVF 1
Baseline 7/23/15
Egg retrieval on 8/9/15 resulted in 20 eggs > 9 fertilized > 4 survived to biopsy and PGD testing > 2 healthy embryos.

FET 1
Baseline 9/10/15
9/30/15 transfer. Negative beta on 10/13/15

IVF 2
Baseline 11/11/15
Egg retrieval on 11/27/15 resulted in 23 eggs > 13 fertilized > 6 survived to biopsy > 0 healthy to transfer

FET 2
12/2/15 transfer (second healthy embryo from IVF 1). Negative beta on 12/15/15

IVF 3
Baseline 2/9/16
Egg retrieval on 2/26/16 resulted in 12 eggs > 11 mature > 7 fertilized > 1 survived to biopsy > 0 healthy to transfer

IVF 4
Baseline 3/29/16
Egg retrieval 4/16/16 resulted in 27 eggs > 15 mature > 13 fertilized > 6 survived to biopsy > 3 healthy embryos available for transfer

FET 3
Baseline 5/20/16
6/7/16 transfer of one 6-day blast
6/20/16 Beta #1: 61.2 = pregnant!
6/23/16 Beta #2: 10.8. Biochemical pregnancy.

RPL Workup in July 2016. Results come back all normal.

ERA
7/18/16: baseline
8/8/16: biopsy on day 5
8/25/16: results came back pre-receptive

ERA II
9/1/16: baseline
9/20/16: biopsy II on day 6
10/6/16: results came back receptive

FET 4
Baseline 10/13/16
11/9/16 transfer of one 6-day blast
11/21/16 Beta #1: 448 = pregnant
11/23/16 Beta #2: 954
11/28/16 Beta #3: 26.1. Biochemical pregnancy.

IVF 5
Baseline 2/1/17
Egg retrieval 2/19/17 resulted in 15 eggs > 11 mature > 7 fertilized > 3 made it to blast and got biopsied > 1 healthy embryo.

FET 5
Baseline 3/24/17
4/14/17 transfer of one 6-day blast
4/25/17 Beta #1: 273 = pregnant
4/28/17 Beta #2: 1,151
5/05/17 Ultrasound 1 = embryo implanted in uterus (not ectopic!)
5/19/17 Ultrasound 2 = no heartbeat, no fetal pole
5/24/17 D&C

7/18/17 P
7/30/17 M

IVF 6
Baseline 8/25/17
Egg retrieval 9/10/17 resulted in 28 eggs > 20 mature > 18 fertilized > 2 made it to blast and got biopsied > 1 healthy embryo.

IVF 7
Baseline 11/27/17
Egg retrieval 12/15/17 resulted in 21 eggs > 17 mature > 13 fertilized > 3 made it to blast > 0 healthy

Hysteroscopy 1/26/18

FET 6
Baseline 2/2/18
2/23/18 Transfer of two 6-day blasts
3/08/18 Beta 1: 6863/12/18 Beta 2: 2738
3/13/18 Sudden heavy bleeding
3/14/18 Beta 3: 1237; Ultrasound shows no sac
3/19/18 Beta 4: 57
3/28/18 Beta 5: negative
4/01/18 M

3/21/18 Official switch to new RE

3/29/18 Appointment with urologist specializing in male infertility. Discovery of varicocele. Plan of treatment for corrective surgery.

5/22/18 Varicocele Repair surgery

5/30/18 Appointment with RPL Specialist in NY

6/03/18 Glucose/Insulin tolerance test

6/29/18 Hysteroscopy II and CD138 stain

IVF 8
Baseline 8/9/18
Egg retrieval 8/23/18 resulted in 13 eggs > 7 fertilized > 4 blasts > 3 healthy

9/13/18 CD138 stain retest. Results came back two weeks later: still inflammation present.

11/30/18 Natural cycle ERA/EMMA. Results 12/19: need an extra day; inflammation cleared.

1/15/19: colonoscopy. Multiple rounds of abx wreaked havoc on my system and wanted to make sure  symptoms weren't indicative of anything more serious.

2/3/19: FET 7 Transfer day (CD1 1/10)
2/13/19: Beta 1: 109
2/15/19: Beta 2: 223
2/18/19: Beta 3: 609
2/21/19: first ultrasound at 5w
3/26/19: first appt at OB
October 2019: It's a boy!!!

5/13/2021 Mock transfer and saline ultrasound

6/25/2021 EMMA/ALICE lining check biopsy

9/2/21: FET 8 Transfer day (CD1 8/9)
9/12/21: Beta 1: 167
9/14/21: Beta 2: 368
9/17/21: Beta 3: 1302

10/26/21 first appt at OB

May 2022: It's a boy!!!

3/17/20, 4/29, 6/3, 7/5, 8/8, 9/13, 10/19, 11/25, 12/30?, 1/25/21, 3/6, 4/6, 5/6, 6/4, 7/1, 8/9




Updated May 2022