Tuesday, April 19, 2011

O & IVF?

Those 2 things don't really seem to fit together. As a local radio personality would say, they go together like "hammers and panties." Just like there is no crying in baseball, there is no ovulation in in vitro fertilization. Strangely enough though, they've both been on my mind the last 2 days or so.

The O is probably pretty apparent. I'm on cd20 today and had the usual EWs for a few days and then some serious pinches and pokes from my left ovary area. (I also had some discomfort on the right side, which accorrding to the RE's nurses, can happen with a large cyst at ovulation time.) My temp went up this morning, be it from O or from my puppy patient deciding she was up at 5am. I went back to sleep for 2 more hours before temping, so I'm hoping it is from O and not lack of Zs . To be honest, ovulation has been on my mind since my baseline u/s showed the cyst and prevented me from taking my ov meds this cycle. Will I ovulate? When? Will it work even without the follicle stimulation?

We'll find out those answers and more in approximately 12-14d!

Now onto why I've had IVF on my mind. A few nights ago, I had a dream that, while I don't remember much of the details, was pretty much an egg retrieval, but wholly unconventional in the location and such. Just out of hte blue like that. We haven't been discussing or even considering IVF so not sure where that popped in to my head.

Fast forwarding to today, I go to Resolve's website and end up clicking on the Support Groups info and wind up seeing what's local. I email the group organizer listed. Gmail pings me back and error message that the email address doesn't exist. Guess I should update Resolve on that matter. I take it upon myself to see about finding when, etc the group meets as the location is posted alongside the now defunct email address. It's held at a Women's Health center of a nearby hospital (or so says Resolve.org). I go to the center's webpage and look up support group listings. Unless they've decided to hide Infertility in the Cancer, cardiovascular, or other major illness category, it's not listed there.

Cue me entering "Infertility support group" into the hospital's search box. the 1st link leads me back to the Women's center, but this time to the Repro Endocrinology and IF page. What is posted there but a blurb and an link to an IVF study they are conduction about the efficacy of fertilization pre- and post-freeze/thaw. A benefit to participation is a discounted IVF cycle. While not a free cycle, a discount is better than paying full price! So I email the coordinator to get more info. She responds back just hours later! She fills me in on the requirements and people to contact regarding pre-participation consulting appt and financial info.

While I don't know if we'll participate or not at this point, I still want to collect the information. It is absurd to me how interested I am in this! We haven't even been TTC a full year (yet), and I'm almost salivating at the chance for a shot at a cheap IVF cycle. What the dealio!? Plus, I just freakin' ovulated! I should be dwelling on my 2ww and not the possibility of IVF! I should really be paying attention to all the twinges and aches and smells/tastes and crossing my fingers that this cycle is it and maybe we were able to conceive without much help. Yet, here I am. Already considering myself out at 1dpo, looking into the possibility of IVF... How bizarre am I?

8 comments:

  1. You're not that bizarre - I was doing the exact same thing (researching IVF and studies and such) about 8 months in. I got so tired of the same old stuff - charting, the ups and downs of every cycle - it was almost refreshing to research something new, and to learn about something that had higher chances than what I was doing, which felt like beating my head against the wall sometimes...

    I really hope you don't have to go down the IVF path, but all that research and thought never hurts, and a discounted study would be great!

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  2. You aren't bizarre at all! I think having a plan B in place (if you need it ) can be comforting. Just bc you are thinking and looking at it, doesn't mean you are doing it or even need it, I mean you did just O!!!

    I have the new Resolve leaders contact info if you would like it. The other one just moved about a month ago, so they aren't that behind. They meet at Rex one Tuesday a month.

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  3. Not bizarre. I think sometimes we know when we are ready to move on...or are getting ready to move on. I'm not saying you should move on to IVF...that's obviously a very personal choice for you. But I know that a lot of women have told me the same thing...they start thinking about IVF, and the next thing they know, things start falling into place for that to happen. Don't feel like you are "cheating" on this cycle by thinking about other options.

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  4. That's so funny, I (all of a sudden, out of the blue) started considering IVF this week too. All it took was for a friend to ask if I would ever consider it, and the train started rolling. And I JUST started ovulating on my own! Why am I getting ahead of myself?

    I think it's because we see so many success stories. Those are easier to remember than the ones that don't work out. And it increases our chances of course. I don't know...I think I'm still a ways off, but I was just shocked at how quickly I was considering it. You're not alone!

    Good luck with this TWW! It sounds like you had a pretty strong O :)

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  5. I think it's normal to consider what your back-up plan might be. Not only will it help you wrap your mind around your future options, but it might distract you while you wait!

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  6. I think it's totally normal to consider all of your options and to be realistic about what the next steps are in your journey. Although sometimes I wonder with the availability of information on the internet if I get ahead of myself sometimes.

    I can't wait to hear more about the IVF study, it would be great if you could participate and got a big discount :)

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  7. I don't think it's bizarre at all. Miscarriage and male factor are good reasons to do IVF.

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  8. haha, not bizarre at all... I like the Resolve.com site but find things that make you go in circles! I'll have to hop back on there and see if I can find anything in my area!

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