Monday 10 September 2012

Uncertainty and sleepless nights

After a long 5 months, my IVF journey #3 will be coming up very soon. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I've now met with 2 different doctors not at Ottawa Fertility for a second and third opinion. I had my AMH tested twice, 14.7 pmol/L and 16 pmol/L. Both times at the lower end of normal, but amazing for someone who has such extensive endo and it is still considered normal. So I DO have lots of eggs left... I guess this is somewhat of a comfort. DH's sperm is normal, fragmentation at 22%, which is fair. So basically, all these tests point that everything should have been perfect and does not explain whatsoever why my embryos don't fertilize/grow. Of the 2 cycles I did, I had retrieved a total of 16 eggs of which only 3 fertilized and 1 transferred on day 3. Horrible for a 27 year old. What's going on?

After meeting with Dr. Arthur and Mount Sinai and Dr. Hannam at Hannam Fertility Clinic, I've decided to cycle again with Dr. Hannam. He was so great at looking at my file thoroughly and both DH and I just loved him. We discussed lowering doses and doing a completely new protocol. With lowered doses, we're really hoping to get better quality eggs. I just hope I respond to the stimulation. Expecting to call in CD1 this week. Our treatment plan will be:

PROTOCOL: OCP - controlled Antagonist Cycle Down Regulation: Alesse x 3-7 weeks with endometrial biopsy
Starting Dose: Gonal f 200 once a day with Luveris 75 Add: Lthyroxine 50mcg/day until preg test
Cycle LH Inhibitor: Cetrotide 62.5 to 125 mcg/d
Ovulation Trigger: Ovidrel/HCG x2 sources with 450 IU push prn. Fleet enema prn
Retrieval Day: Standard anaesthesia protocol: fentanyl, midazolam, xylocaine & atropine PRN.
Add serum TSH, T4
Post-Retrieval Day: Prometrium 200mg PV TID with Estrace 2mg PV BID
Male Instructions: 2-4 days of abstinence before expected day of retrieval
LABORATORY INSTRUCTIONS (Lifequest) Fertilization of Eggs: ICSI with fresh sperm SPINDLE VIEW please Assisted Hatching: Yes
Extra Testing: None Plan to Transfer: two embryos on Day 3 or 5 TRANSFER INSTRUCTIONS Pre-Transfer Day: Routine Care
Transfer Day: Full-bladder ultrasound guided embryo transfer. PIO 50mg IM x 1 dose 1 hour prior to transfer
Post Transfer: Serum estrogen, progesterone

My chances seem grim. I'm not sure how I feel about this next cycle. Not sure what I should expect. Maybe I should expect yet another zero fertilization, because that's the worst that could happen. This cycle just may tell us once and for all, if we should even continue down this path. I've been losing a lot of sleep.

New clinic, new doctor, new protocol, new hope? But the shadow of my last two cycles still haunt me.

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