Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Laying eggs....

The other day, my cousin had called to wish us Happy New Year. She said she had tried me at home, but didn't get us, and she was asking where we were. I told her we were in Denver (I did not want to get into details, but did not want to lie either, so I was trying to be vague and ambiguous by mentioning we were here for "some work"). She wasn't buying. She wanted to know how come we weren't off for New Years. So I told her we were seeing a doctor in Denver. And in the course of my conversation with her, she asked "So what are you doing in Denver this trip?" And I almost said "Oh I'm just here to lay my eggs!" 

Yeah, that's what I'm doing technically. I'm just going to lay my eggs and scoot back to CA. Hopefully my eggs will hatch and all of that, and in the end I will succeed in becoming Mother Hen! 

The way forward from here was what we discussed with the nurse for a long time yesterday. I of course wanted the shortest wait between ER and FET, because as you all know, I've been waiting forever, and I'm running out of patience, money, and things to do! 

We have 2 options. One is to wait for AF after ER, put me on estrogen patches, and come in for FET when the lining looks ready. This is the shorter option - but this would also take about 4 weeks. 

The second option is to wait for AF after ER, start on BCP for 14 days, overlap with Lupron, get another AF, and start estrogen patches thereafter to thicken the lining. 

CCRM suggests the second option. They say this way we have a few advantages:

1) My body will completely be rid of the hormones that are racing through it right now. 
2) 2 AFs is better to shed all the old / hormonal lining and get started with fresh lining.
3) They can time everything better if they have me on BCP so they can predict what will happen when.

Much as I hated doing this, but I found myself telling the nurse that we would go with her suggestion of Option 2. Having come this far, I don't want to compromise ANYTHING. In the grand scheme of things, a few extra weeks don't matter (Of course it's beside the point that my grand scheme of things has been dragging on and in the making since 2001!!!)

The trigger shot went well last night. I didn't even feel the needle, so I promptly gave credit to the lard I'm carrying on my butt. DH was annoyed that I didn't give him the credit for giving me a painless injection! I went in this morning to have my blood drawn AGAIN!! They just want to check if the HcG got absorbed as expected. They said that sometimes they have to call patients in to give them another shot if the absorption didn't happen like they need it to. 

So the egg farm is getting ready for harvest tomorrow! I will post an update tomorrow when I'm able to. I hope we get a good harvest. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

And now, some pictures of the infertility mecca we know is CCRM:

This is in the waiting area - this is where you go in for your blood work and ultrasounds or meetings with your nurse etc. The doctors see you on the other side of the hall. 


Another view of the waiting area:


This is the entrance area:


This is a shot of the clinic from the road - the entrance is at the back of the building:


12 comments:

JJ said...

Congrats on a great trigger shot, sounds like it went really well. Ours did, too,thankfully. We had a bad incident with a shot last cycle and doing them when you only have one chance and it has to be at exactly the right time now makes us nervous. But it went great. Are you doing cgh or microarray? We're doing microarray again and, since the wait is about 6 weeks it'll be end of March before we transfer. We're waiting until we get the results from this cycle before we transfer the frozen embryo we already have. All the best of luck for the egg laying tomorrow!!! You'll probably be in recovery while I'm being prepped. Hope you get a nice big amount.

Lorraine said...

I have to say, I would probably have agreed to option #2 also. Any time somebody says they can increase chances of success it's hard to choose anything else.

Thanks for the photos, too - I always knew CCRM was swanky, but it's nice to have some images. It looks like a fancy hotel - and makes my clinic look like a roadside motel by comparison!

Meinsideout said...

aarrgh! I know - waiting is so hard. It does sound like you are going to be quite some egg layer though - yee haw!

I am so ticked - I do not want to start a new cycle until we sell our house and move into a new one - it keeps getting pushed back due to an inspection issue with our chimney.....it will be April before I cycle again :(

Sorry, that was really self centered, I had to vent - I know you understand!

I cannot wait for the post-retrieval post!

Charlotte said...

Good Luck, Good Luck, Good Luck!!!

Caroline said...

Hi Nikki,

Thanks for your helpful comments.

It sounds as though you have put a lot of thought into your options, and number 2 sounds very logical (even though it involves more waiting!).

I liked seeing the photos of CCRM. It looks much nicer than my fertility clinic!

Good luck with the eggs. I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes.

JJ said...

I answered your comment on my blog, right below yours. I also changed my user name to JJ since I couldn't get rid of the annoying J&ampJ thingy. Good luck tomorrow!

bunny said...

I hope everything goes as planned for you tomorrow and that you get a wonderful bunch of eggs!

Angie said...

Congrats on a successful, no pain trigger! Sounds like you made a good choice w/ following their advice. Thanks for sharing the pics, too! Hope to be there some day soon!

April said...

um...yeah....with those prices and expertise i expected it to look like that ;)

so glad that things are going well. i think that i would have probably agreed to whatever CCRM recommended....even if they said that I needed to walk from michigan to have the best possibility for success!!

*hugs*

Petrucia said...

I guess you are right sista, what difference do a few more weeks make when in the grand scheme of things you've been preparing for this since 2001? I'm right there with you...
Good luck with the egg laying and the fertilization. I like that you guys ended up deciding to let it happen on its own. Feels like the right thing in your situation.
Again, good luck for the ER. :)

Anonymous said...

Wish you all the very very best!! Oh wow... I didn't realize that CCRM doesn't do same cycle transfers. Bummer for the wait! But I agree... if doing it one way has better odds, it becomes a no-brainer. Good Luck!

Linda said...

Tee hee hee. I can so relate to "laying eggs". After my ER, my sister called me an "Easter basket." Oh the funny yet oh so true nicknames! :)