Happy Friday, friends!
I can’t believe it’s been 6 weeks since my last update, but I don’t have much to share since the retrieval.
As I mentioned in my last post, I have been taking Lupron Depot since the beginning of July and the only side effect that I have experienced are HOT FLASHES. That’s right, in the middle of summer with all of this humidity, I’ve been dealing with a roller coaster of sweats and chills. I have at least one an hour, but in most cases I have 2 to 3 an hour. They start with a burning sensation in my forehead and work down my entire body. I know it’s gross but I get beads of sweat on my face, neck, arms, legs, stomach…all over. I even sweat through my shirt sometimes…disgusting. Once the hot flash passes, I get cold. That repeats throughout the day and the night. I haven’t slept well in over two months.
We went to the doctor on August 1st for a mock transfer and to discuss next steps for our zygotes. I will admit, I was a little shocked about how that conversation went. In my mind, we were going to have multiple IVF tries with the 7 frozen zygotes, which was really comforting. I had never been through the thawing process, so I assumed that we would have several transfers. Well, I was wrong.
Apparently, there is an 80% survival rate for thawed zygotes, which means we will end up with 5 or 6. They will then develop for 3 days before the clinic tests them for quality. At that time, the doctor will make a decision to either transfer or allow the embryos to develop until day 5. Based on the history of how my embryos develop, the doctor thinks we will transfer day 3 and depending on the quality, we will transfer what we can.
I was shocked and I instantly started to worry. This is it. This is our final round of IVF and rather than having multiple transfers, we will have just one. This is the end of our journey to have a biological child and that is so scary. Rather than allow myself to stress and worry about it, I turned all of my energy into positive thoughts. Since that day, I haven’t allowed myself to think anything but good things. This is going to work. We are going to get pregnant. We are going to have a baby. I continuously turn to God for comfort and strength. I read my daily devotion as a reminder that He has a plan for us and I have to trust in that plan.
September is a big month for us. On Tuesday the 30th of August, I go in for ultrasound/blood work and I start estrogen patches. I’m on the patches for several weeks until I start progesterone oil shots on September 15th. Our zygotes will be thawed on the 16th and transfer will be either the 18th or 20th. I can’t believe it’s so close. I’m so excited!
Thank you again for all of your love and support. I’ll update you all again once we have transfer date.
With all my love,
Tiffany
