IVF

butterflygrooves

J and I have put TTC discussions back on the table, this time IVF, her eggs, me carrying.  I've read about IVF but can't seem to connect to all the medical stuff they talk about, I know a few ladies on here have done IVF so does anyone want to explain it to me?

 

ctbride08

hmmm, not sure i'll do the complicated process justice, but i'll try...

Step 1: You'll have to line up your cycles.  We never had to do this so i can't say from experience, but i think they do this with birth control pills.

Step 2: Grow eggs. Since IVF is very expensive and invasive, they try to get the most bang for their buck - the attempt is to get the most mature eggs as possible, without overstimulating the ovaries (which can lead to very adverse health effects).  The growing egg stage is called stimming because you take one or more egg-growth stimulating injections daily.  At the same time, you have to stop your body from ovulating those eggs so you also take an ovulation suppressant (another injectible med). Stimming can go anywhere from 7-14ish days - but thats an approximate, everyone is different. Durign this stage, there are LOTS of doctor appointments and blood draws to monitor how things are going.  I'm talking every other day or daily.

Step 3: When the eggs are determined to be ready, you undergo the egg retrieval. This is a surgical proceedure (usually) done under full anethesia.

Step 4: The lab fertilizes the mature eggs.

Step 5: 3 or 5 days after the egg retrieval (depending on how well the embryos are fertilizing and growing), the person hoping to carry gets one or more of the embryos put in her.  This is call the embryo transfer. She will probably be on a few meds to assist in implantation. This is also a surgical procedure but done with the patient wide awake - similar to an IUI.

Step 6: Wait and find out if they stick. Typically while taking daily injections of progesterone, which is a med that makes your body think its pregnant. Also, many docs recommend a certain amount of bed rest following transfer.

and that's it.

Well, not really (there is a lot that goes into prepping for an IVF cycle) but that's the basic overview of the procedure. I will say, doing IVF while having kids makes it much more complicated. Due to all the doctor appointments and medical procedures, it will definitely be necessary to have reliable childcare lined up.

butterflygrooves

Thanks CT!

Does anyone want to go into more detail about the egg retrieval?

Probably TMI but J is still technically a virgin and not comfortable with lady exams so I know this is going to be really hard for her but she insists on wanting a bio child.

ctbride08

If she wants to go through with this, she will need to get really comfortable with the idea of people all up in that area.  The egg retrieval is the least of it since she'll be knocked out, but there will be many transvaginal ultrasounds during the stimming process and even during the screening/prep stage when they are determining her fertility.   basically lots and lots of lady exams

jen-n-jess

You can tell J about my experience. I am considered the "butch" in our relationship who has never nor wanted to be with a man and I completely understand her issues. When we went for consultation last November on IVF, the doctor couldn?t understand why I just didn't want to carry the baby, and J just laughed at me because she knows why. I am pretty much a man inside a women's body. So when they finally understood what we wanted, the doctor said, "Ok, well we need to do a trans-vaginal ultrasound to see if your ovaries have follicles, etc." I didn't hear anything after trans-vaginal. As soon as he left the office to prep, I looked at J and said, "umm trans what" I'm not ready for this, I didn't know I would have to do this". But she basically said I wasn't leaving until it was done, so it started from there.

You two will have to give each other many shots and the egg recipient will have to take pills every day for a while then shots of progesterone in sesame oil. Yes they hurt and I had to wrestle J down to give them to her every night. You have to do that for 10-12 weeks!!! At least on my end I only had to do three shots a day for three weeks and when they went in for the eggs, they put me out, thank God! Although like someone else said, there will be many trans-vaginal scopes to see how well your follicles are reacting to the hormones, as well as blood tests. I was doing one every other day for two weeks at one time! This all depends on where you go and who you see. We went to the University of Iowa and they did good, we were pregnant on the first run. Our ending was a tragic one, but it was a one in a million chance this happens.

If you decide to do it, make sure your relationship is strong. There is a lot of emotions and hormones running through both of you at the same time! It made us closer because of our sense of humor. So laugh things off and remember the end result is an amazing product of your love. Keep positive thoughts and positive results will happen Good luck!!!