The month that is lasting a year.

I know I haven't updated in a while. There really isn't much to update on. We've just been stuck here in a waiting period. It already seems like this month should be over, yet we still have over a week left. There is still more than 2 weeks before IVF 1.2 begins. It's been dragging. But I do have to admit, I haven't been anxious like I was before the first try. I was so excited to start, I couldn't wait. Now, I'm just here, taking it day by day. Since my last update I've been wanting to help you understand more about ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology), But I feel like I've already overloaded you with information. But, today, in this post, I'm going to give you the short line-up that I have now. And yes, Just a little bit of more information.

Well, first for the information. The office I go to stirctly does something calle ICsi (pronounced ick-c. Most offices only do this when there is Male-factor infertility. Personally, I always believed this was how it was done with IVF, but generally, it is not something that most office do.

This information is taken right from www.ivf-de.org :

What is ICsi?
ICsi, “Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection” is a technique utilized during In Vitro Fertilization that helps to proactively achieve fertilization through a microscopic manipulation of egg, sperm and embryos. In traditional IVF sperm is mixed with the egg and fertilization occurs naturally. Typically other clinics do not perform ICsi unless there is poor semen analysis for the male partner. At RAD we perform ICsi on a majority of our patients because we believe it develops a cleaner culture system, and results in better fertilization outcomes. ICsi microscopically manipulates the sperm so that fertilization can be achieved when it is not occurring naturally.

My office also trys to stick to something called eSet. Elective Single Embryo Transfer.

What is the benefit of eSET? eSET ,stands for “elective single embryo transfer.” This practice involves transferring a single embryo into the uterus during IVF as opposed to multiple embryos. The greater the number of embryos transferred, the greater the chance for risk of multiples. Multiples can cause health risks for both the mother and baby. Pregnancies that carry more than one child have an increased risk for: Hospitalization prior to full term of pregnancy C-section Pre-mature birth, low birth weight We believe that single embryo transfers result in the safest and most successful pregnancies for our patients.
(www.ivf-de.org)

So there is just a little more education for you on what will be happening in parts of our IVF cycle. As far as our schedule goes here it is:

June 7th - I go in for a Base line ultrasound and we go over the medications again, and I get my actual calendar of events.
June 8th - Stims begin (medication)
June 11th - Ultrasounds begin, I'll be going in just about every morning so they can monitor the growthe of the follicles.
Some where around June 18th I'll have the ER (Egg Retrevial) (If my calulations are correct, I'll know better June 7th)
June 23rd - Should be about the day I have the ET (Embryo Transfer) (this is done usually at 5 days after the retervial at the blastocyst stage of the embryo)
2 weeks after the transfer I go in for a beta test (the blood work) to see if I'm pregnant or not.

From this point, I'd just like to share with you that I'm not sure, whatever happens, if we will be ready to share with our readers here whether the IVF worked or not. We may need sometime to deal with whatever the outcome may be wheter positive or negative. Either outcome will be very emotional. But pleas, understand, that when we are ready to share with the world, you will know. I hope you can understand.

Please, also, if you have any questions about any of this, ask. I'm willing to answer the best I can. Thank you!