I had my SHG and mock transfer this morning. At the first appointment, I was told that I'd have to go on birth control before the procedure to time when I should come in, but then the nurse said that I didn't have to be on it if my schedule was flexible. Since I am off for Spring Break this week and the following, I told her that I was flexible. I was able to do my blood work this week and the SHG - no birth control (or sub) needed. The nurse had suggested that I take an advil or two before the procedure, but I decided not to. Primarily because I don't prefer to take medication, and because I don't like to cover up the pain of something. I want to experience what my body is going through, and I like applying deep breathing and positive thoughts to help cope with the pain/feelings. I know that I will take medication for the IVF, but I have chosen to embrace that and not let it bother me. I barely felt the mock transfer, and I had mild cramping for a couple seconds during the SHG. No biggie. Our doctor showed me that both of my ovaries had around 15 follicles on them, proving more that I am on the PCOS spectrum. He said that we are favorable candidates for IVF.
After the procedure, we went into his office and I got to ask him my list of questions. Specifically, I was interested in if we should have genetic testing done on the embryo or not. At our consultation, he said that it was highly recommended for women in their late thirties and older. Since I am in my early thirties, he didn't say that I needed to do it. We didn't discuss the details of it further at that time because I didn't ask for more information about it. However, after doing some of my own research, I had some specific questions about genetic testing. Our doctor said that my chances of success with IVF would increase from 50-60% to 65-75% with the genetic testing. From my understanding of what I read online and gathered from our doctor, miscarriages can be caused by a chromosomal deformity. The genetic testing looks for those deformities and ensures that we don't implant any embryo with those deformities, thus increasing our chances of not having a miscarriage, thus increasing our success rate. I also read online that genetic testing is good for people that have a failed attempt at their first IVF. However, testing the embryo after they've been frozen isn't an option (it needs to be done fresh), so we wouldn't be able to test after a failed attempt unless we harvested eggs again. A lot to think about. One more thing about genetic testing is that we would only transfer one embryo as opposed to two without testing. Our doctor said that we could do a saliva test that is a carrier screening test, and then we could use those results to see what type of genetic testing to do. We are going to do the carrier screening. Our doctor also said that women with PCOS are good candidates for genetic testing because they generally produce more eggs at the time of retrieval, so there are more eggs to pick from. Genetic testing will help pick the healthiest eggs and then we can freeze the rest.
After asking our questions, we met with one of the head nurses. We went over calendar times for the egg retrieval and then for the embryo transfer. We are going to do a frozen transfer, so the IVF process will take us about two months.
Leaving the office today, I felt extremely positive and hopeful. Our doctor is such a kind, caring, and compassionate guy! He's authentic and doesn't make me feel rushed. And most importantly, he doesn't make me feel like I'm weird for all my "strange" questions and abnormal diet (the more healthy fats, the better!). He doesn't judge, and I am drawn to people like that.
It is a strange combination - modern medicine and holistic living. I am a firm believer in all things in moderation, so I'm choosing to look at IVF as a moderate use of modern medicine. I've tried the natural route, and am still working on that as far as chakras, positive affirmations, meditation, acupuncture, therapy, etc. go, and with this combination, I feel like I will be a mama this year. I deleted that last sentence a time or two because I am so used to saying, "if I get pregnant," but in order for the Universe to know that I'm serious about this mama stuff, I'm going to expose my heart and speak words like affirmations - I'm going to speak it into existence (if it benefits the greater good :)). I'm doing my due diligence and the rest will unfold as it is meant to do.
