MIA

I can hardly believe how long it's been since I've posted. For awhile I was trying to come up with something profound for my 100th post. That never happened. Instead I kind of took a break from blogging and even reading blogs.

There really isn't anything new. I think we're coming up on 3 months and from my standpoint we're no closer to resolution than we were... I might be angrier, more bitter, still sad.

My coworker that did IVF just as we were starting our first cycle is due next week. I sit right next to her and hear every conversation she has about how ready she is to be done being pregnant, what she's trying to get labor going, how she's going to ask for an induction date. It pretty much sucks.

I have another coworker and I think her ER will be next week. I so want this to work for her since she's older but then the jealousy comes into play. Why does she get to have another child at 40-something when we can't even have one (pitty party for one, please).

I've gone to acupuncture a few times and really like the acupuncturist but it's really just something to make it feel like I'm doing something even though we're not. I don't think it will really do what I want it to do (you know - I want it to give me super eggs so we can try IVF again). I'm going to have to back off on the frequency of my appts due to $$ - it's too bad because it's very relaxing.

On another note, I completed my first sprint tri over the weekend and I am insanely proud of myself. I didn't even come in last :P (not that I was speedy by any means). I've never been anything close to athletic. It was a lot of fun though and I'm looking forward to doing another - it's just too bad I can't convince myself that training is fun.

Negotiations

I think DH and I are making progress. We're no longer whispering "bend to my will" at each other in an attempt to get our way.

It still feels so strange to have to negotiate with your spouse about how you're going to approach trying to conceive your child. I want to try IVF one more time (my eggs and his sperm) with all the bells and whistles like acupuncture and wheat grass. That may provide the closure I need (I'm not crazy. I don't think it will work) - maybe even have some phone consults. DH won't agree to IVF again but if I request our records, I can call as many Drs as I'd like.

I want to try DE with his sperm if the hypothetical next IVF doesn't work. I've been vetoed due to financial considerations. However, it can be back on the table if ds doesn't work.

My last choice is to try IVF again with 1/2 ds. This is a really hard concession for me to make - I can't verbalize why. It's just a gut feeling that I'm trying to overcome. DH wants to try a few IUI's first. We'll see. The only thing I get out of this is that I want a "definitive" answer of how bad my eggs are before insurance open enrollment in the fall. That way we can change insurance if for some reason we could get more IF coverage and any money towards donor egg expenses.

There is currently a 2 year wait list for donor embryo at our clinic. This is the option that we're actually able to agree on. Neither of us want to wait that long right now.

Then there's adoption - I honestly can't figure out where this fits. Experiencing pregnancy, hearing my baby's heartbeat, seeing him/her on ultrasound, and feeling kicks are so important to me. There are just things I feel much more comfortable about with adoption. Plus, I just don't think anything else is going to work and I don't want to be in this place of decision making a year from now. The negotiations on this one have stalled. DH was willing to give up to a point - we can start looking into it but can't start putting any money towards it.

The only thing we've 100% agreed on is that we have to do something. We just need to figure out what that will be. Fast. Like yesterday. And I'll probably give in to DH for the pure fact that I don't want to go through another birthday or Mother's day the same way we have for the last two years.

Things would be so much easier if I just wanted what he wants.....or if I could bend him to my will. Let's not forget the money tree that I'm watching for in the backyard.

Thank God for good friends

I sometimes spend too much time thinking of all the ways IF has hurt some of my relationships - but I'm glad I'm not so far gone that I can't recognize some of my biggest supporters. I have two coworkers that I don't think I'd make it without.

Yesterday was a bad day - really bad. It started off with me looking at the IVF fee list from our clinic. (This is where all the OOP ladies are going to want to kill me for bitching) Even though we are out of covered IVF attempts and money for meds, I think we still have some coverage for monitoring. I did a little math thinking that I'd be able to justify trying just one more time. Then I looked at our savings account. Then I cried. A lot. At my desk. At work. I had an ugly, silent (I hope) meltdown about once an hour. All day.

I have no idea how we'll come up with money to pay for a partially covered cycle, much less a DE cycle or adoption. Someday maybe. But seeing that number scared me. For the first time I really it really hit me that it's possible this might never happen for us. Maybe that's not quite true - but it was the first time I felt it was due to a financial reason (See, I warned you . And no, you really don't have to feel sorry for the whiny girl who had IF coverage.)

Anyway, back to my original point.... My coworker, the one pregnant from her 1st IVF (does that actually happen?!?!), must have asked me a question about something and I lost it. Again. At work. Yes, I'm 29 and know I should be ashamed.

She decided we should get out of the office for a few minutes and go for a walk. I love that she cares enough to try to help - and it does help to have someone to talk to that can understand some parts of this. It's especially great that she can admit she can't fully understand. She asked some good questions and tried to pry some pros and cons of our different options out of me. These just aren't decisions I can do that with. Yes, there are pros and cons of each option but what about the emotional component? There is no logical reason for me to want to try an IVF cycle again. I don't actually think it will work - and I'm pretty darn sure DrC doesn't think it will either. Why do other options make me feel ok and some creep me out a bit.

There is no logical reason for me to break down whenever I try to discuss my thoughts with my husband. I'm pretty sure his idea of a sexy wife isn't the whimpering mess on the couch sobbing about how it's unfair and how I don't want to have to make these kinds of decisions. Needless to say, that conversation didn't go very far.

Things that came out of my mess of a day yesterday:

• I called my insurance company today to get clarification on what donor related things were covered - too bad they couldn't help me.
  

• I made an appointment with the therapist again - even though I don't want to part with the $$ right now AND Dh offered to come with me if I wanted. That has NEVER happened. I didn't take him up on it this time but he can be sure I'll collect.

• I think that by the end of the week I might be able to call the RE for some clarification on our options. Hopefully, I won't completely choke and end up having to cut the call short. Maybe there is some testing we can do to narrow things down before we start"experimenting" or he'll have some ideas of things I can do to help egg quality (I know I could Google, but honestly I spent the last year learning about sperm - I'm beyond done with internet research).

• I think I only cried 2 or 3 times today...
  

Not what I was expecting

Today's appointment was surprising to say the least. The ET being cancelled wasn't even the big shocker.

Turns out I've got shitty eggs to go with the shitty sperm. I guess the day 3 quality we've had isn't what they'd expect out of a 29 year old (and I've only been 29 for less than 3 weeks...). I guess in the first cycle the egg issue was masked by our other problem. I'm not really sure what we'll do next. The RE said it isn't absolute - that there are break cycle pregnancies sometimes when a sperm catches a good egg. Unfortunately, with the severe MF that isn't possible. We could try DIUI to see if it is really a severe egg quality issue. We could also try DE with 1/2 DS to see if good eggs could over come the MF issue.

My choice would be to see if there was anything I could do to improve my egg quality and try again (maybe a 3 day transfer would help?). That will be a tough sell to DH because we would be out of pocket this time and the odds would be so low. My next choice would be the DE option, hoping that different eggs would make all the difference - this is even more out there financially.

When I get to the point that I can talk to the RE about some of the questions I have, I'll have to give him a call. I have a ton of them - just couldn't come up with any of them this morning.

Four

That's how many of the 8 eggs fertilized. Five fewer eggs than last cycle - four fewer mature eggs. Four embryos that are being watched until our transfer day. It's also 2 fewer embryos than we had at this point last cycle. 2 fewer chances that we might not be cancelled again.

I've read all the personal stories from ladies who had only 1 or 2 embryos at the time of their fert report and they have 1 or 2 little babies to show for it. I try to tell myself that if it's possible for them, it's possible for us. And then I remember Dr Y taking us to his office in Dec - when we should have been going to change for our transfer. I remember how sad and defeated my husband looked when he told us our embryos had all arrested around day 4.

The fear of that happening again has my heart racing.

When the nurse called with the fert report, I asked if there was any way of knowing if there would be embryos before we got to the clinic. The short answer is 'no'. They check the embryos on day 3, but not communicate with patients. Then they don't check the embryos again until we're in the office for the transfer. So, I guess that means they won't know until we get there, either. Not that it makes me feel any better.

I briefly considered calling on Monday morning to get an update - but do I really want to know? Would that just make me more stressed out to know that I only have one or two embryos that are still chugging along normally? Probably not. That just means I have to wait until Tuesday and keep telling my little foursome to keep growing.

So now that I've calmed down

I've had a chance to step back and relax a tiny bit. The RE called me this morning and said our scheduling issue shouldn't negatively impact our cycle. I'm trying to believe him but I wonder if he's just doing his reassuring thing.

I still don't like DH's Dr. I had forgotten how much he bugs me until we talked to him this morning. I can't put my finger on what it is.... but I don't like him. I hope we never have to talk to him again.

So really, we have Dr with good bedside manner and Dr that must have completely forgotten that his patients and their families have feelings....

Anyway, I trigger tonight and keep my fingers crossed until Thursday. Then I hope and pray harder than I've ever prayed before that we have some embryos left on transfer day and that one or two of them stick around. How the heck am I supposed to function at work for the next week?!?!

I don't handle change well

I was supposed to trigger tonight, DH's procedure tomorrow, ER on Wed. Well righty decided to be lazy - so trigger tomorrow. No big deal, right? Well, the one Dr is being a bit of an asswipe. So his procedure is tomorrow and ER on Thurs most likely. Why this time for scheduling issues?

If we have issues because of this, I'm going to flip a lid. It's not like we can just do this over and over again until it works. At this point, I wonder if it would be better to cancel so we can get everything timed like it's supposed to be. $#@!#@$! This has to work.