So, when I last left you, I had informed you that all bets were off. No IVF, no IUI, and no TI. (Now of course they cannot stop us from TI, but we didn't want to risk HOM, (high order multiples) and I didn't feel comfortble going against my doctor's advice.) Well, it was all true. I got my usual afternoon phone call, a little later than normal, expecting it to be one of the nurses telling me to trigger. That was not the case. It was one of the IVF RE's informing me that their recomendation is to cancel this cycle because I didn't produce as many follicles as they would have liked for someone my age. They felt they could do better, but they also let me know that we did have the opition to continue with the IVF if my husband and I wanted to. But there was certinaly no way we could to IUI or TI because I just ended up producing too many follicles. I ended up not only being a poor responder to the medication, but also a late responder. This happens to be unusal for someone my age and they were taken back by this as well. This is not something they see very often in the office, especially in someone who is 29 years old.
Monday night, my husband and I made the decision to cancel all together. We only had enough money to try this once this year, and we were not expecting it to turn out like this. We are still trying to figure out how we are going to be able to afford the medications I have to order again since I used most of what I had. Monday night, since we decided to cancel in the hopes that a future cycle could produce more follicles, I ended up still having to do my trigger shot to let my body ovulate the eggs I did produce. And, as I sit here and type this, I am very uncomfrotable, bloated, and in pain from ovulating. I'll spare you the rest. So, thankfully my wonderful neighbor, who happens to also be a nurse, was home Monday night and she was able to help us out with this final injection. It had to be done intermuscularly, so yes, it was that big needle in my rear. I'm so thankful, and I'd just like to let J-girl know how much I love her for helping me out with that!
On to today. I had my WTF appointment this morning at 9 am. I went back into the office to sit with one of the RE's to figure out what happend? What went wrong?
Well, there wasn't much of an answer. But here are a few causes.
1. My AMH is on the lower end of normal at a 1.2. This is Anti-mullerian hormone. This give them an idea of my ovarian function. Pretty much anything below a 1 is low. This is a newer test, so there isn't much info out there, and my doctor did tell me that there is a pretty big range, but for them, what they see in me, is at the lower end. So this is a concern, and something unusual for my age.
2. Along with the AMH, there is my FSH, Follicle-stimulating Hormone. This lets them know what my eggs suply is like. The high the number, the worse it is, the lower the better. My office begins to consider anything 10 and above to be DOR, (diminished ovarian reserve). Meaning not enough eggs. My number is at a 7.9 from my last test in January. So that is on the higher end of normal.
3. This could just be how my body is and it doesn't matter how much meds they pump into y body, I just may never produce more than this. (However, most the RE's in my office do not believe this is the case.)
So, those were the explainiations I left with.
My husband and I know we are giving this one more shot. We didn't use all the money we put out for this, but we did use most of the meds, which happens to be the most expensive part. But This is where we are at. We were given the option to start right away and try again in May as long as everything lines up. Or, we can wait until we are ready again, which if we choose to wait will be June. If I start in May I'll just go right into it, they call this natural supression, meanig I won't be on birth control or anything. But if we start in June, I'll be on birth control for supression. Either of these opitions are good and the RE's are fine with which ever one we choose. We still haven't fully decided, but as of today, we are leaning towards June. For a number of reasons. Our main conern is getting the medications though. They incresed me from 300iu of Follistim to 500iu of Follistim. This stuff is like liquid gold. It's expensive. So, today, we are doing something we never thought we would have to do, and we are asking for help, from you, our family and friends. If at all you feel lead to help us in this journey, we have opened a paypal account for donations (you can find the link to the right). Please, do not feel like you have to, only if you are led. And please know, if you are unable to, that your prayers and your thoughts and your support mean just as much. We have come to a point where we really need those as well. We thank you all so much for being so supportive of us this far, only in these last few days as you've all found out. We thank you for all you've done. You have no idea what your responses and your prayers have ment to us. This has not all been an easy road, and to have done it alone for as long as we have, I just don't know how we did it. There are no words that can express how thankful we are already.
If anyone has any questions at all about anything, please don't hesitat to ask. I'm an open and honest person. I will answer any question you have. So, here we are, today, another step forward once again.
You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. - Christopher Robin to Winne the Pooh
what a huge discouragement. I'm so sorry that this cycle didn't work out. :(
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