Happy Birthday to Me!

Every time I walk out of my infertility clinic I am even more infertile than the time before. Let me explain. 

At my last infertility appointment I found out that my antral follicle count (baseline follicles, like a snap shot of how my ovaries are doing) decreased from 11 to 4. Just 2 years ago, before my ovarian cyst removal, I had a slightly diminished ovarian reserve. Then at the fertility center this year  I found out that it was decreased by more than half. 

Today I walked in to the fertility center with 2 open tubes. Or so I thought. My left tube was open and beautiful... too bad it leads to a bare ovary. My right tube was blocked and didn't allow any dye to flow through... despite some gymnastics and a little bit of force. So I now have one dead ovary (left) and one blocked tube (right). Thankful more than ever for our donor embryos. 

The good news: there was no fluid surrounding either tube! So the blockage will not effect our frozen embryo transfer.

On track for a saline ultrasound with mock transfer in December then the big day late in January. 

Embryo Adoption/Donation Awareness day is November 25th. Please help me pray for the many donors and potential donors out there. So many families have been blessed by this gift and there are still over 600,000 embryos awaiting their fate. Praying for those looking for their embryos, awaiting transfer and waiting for their snowflake babies. 

 

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CD 1

A New Month

In the world of infertility a month does not begin on the 1st. It begins on "the first full day of regular bleeding". November is finally here when means our 3 month marathon towards child bearing begins now. I will be celebrating the night before my 32nd birthday (yes I had to stop and do the math) with my husband. We will be driving down to our clinic, about 2 hours away, for a birthday dinner and alone time followed by an early morning HSG. Romantic right? We will finish the day off with Papa's favorite movie... The Bucket List. And, of course, popcorn. 

The HSG or hysterosalpingogram is essentially an x-ray. The doctor will use a speculum to visualize the cervix. She will then inject dye into the uterus and through the tubes while looking with an x-ray to see if they have any blockages or fluid built up in them. The fluid build up is called hydrosalpinx. In other women the risk is that blocked or fluid filled tube could prohibit the egg from reaching the sperm or that it could result in an ectopic pregnancy. In the case of a frozen embryo transfer (FET) the risk is that the fluid could reflux into the uterus preventing the embryo from implanting. 

I have quite a few prayer requests this month. Please bear with me:

Please pray for my dear friend and her family as they grieve the loss of their pregnancy.

Please pray for my "sister" and her husband as they navigate the trials of their unsuccessful first IVF cycle. Pray that God's will be made clear for them and that their baby find them one way or another. 

Finally please pray for our family of 3 as we prepare emotionally and financially for the next 3 months. 

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