The Show…

seems to officially be on the road.

Went to LabCorp today for my first IVF related bloodwork. Hopefully I’ll hear about the results early next week and Dr. K will give me an official game plan. I did not know this until recently, but it appears that IVF is generally a two month endeavor.

Here is what I think is going to happen:

Unless Dr. K wants me to take a month of birth control pills (does he not understand the point of all of this???), I think I’ll start injections in about 15 days. This goes on until my next menstru… peri… umm, until the next time my Aunt visits (I hate dumb euphemisms).

Then I start other injections and then a few days after that I have to get bloodwork every day (I hope I can do this at LabCorp near the house – Dr. K’s office is SO far away!) and then a few days after that they start ultrasounds to check out my “follicles.” “Follicle” is a fancy word for “egg” and the whole point of all those shots is to try and mature as many as possible. (And don’t worry, I won’t become Octomom – just because one has 12 or more awesome follicles does not mean one will have 12 or more babies 9 months later).

If all goes well to that point (and there are so many ways things can go to hell, so this is a big “if”), I will get a “trigger shot” and a day or two after that, Dr. K will retrieve the best and the brightest of my follicles. This is called “egg retrieval” and is performed while I am sedated. (Why no, I will not be going to work that day.)

After that, Dr. K and his minions will be working feverishly to get my eggs and Gene’s contribution to join. This may require the use of a procedure called ICSI (pronounced “ICK-SEE”). ICSI is more money (of course) but, to be honest, I’d rather spend more and end up pregnant than go through this crap twice.

Anyway! Assuming that Dr. K et al were successful: Either 3 or 5 days later, Dr. K will perform what is either a 3 day embryo transfer or a 5 day blastocyst transfer wherein they move the best and the brightest from their freezer home to the Happiest Place on Earth. (I won’t tell you where that is, but here’s a clue: It’s where babies are made. Sometimes). A 5 day transfer would take place approximately on December 22 and would make Christmas travel questionable, to be honest. A 3 day transfer would be more convenient but I am seriously counting my eggs before they hatch (HA!) so I am not going to worry about that now.

More on “higher order multiples”: I don’t think that Dr. K would transfer more than 3 embryos or blastocysts (at my age, it doesn’t make sense). He would transfer just one if that’s what we want. (Oh, and even if he does transfer 3 that does not mean I’d necessarily end up with 3 babies). Two is my limit, I think.

If I have more transferable embryos/blastocysts than I am able/willing to transfer, Dr. K’s office will freeze the extras for what is called an future FET – Frozen Embryo Transfer – if IVF #1 is unsuccessful. If we are successful with IVF #1 (what is called a “fresh” cycle) and end up with a child, I plan to donate the frozen embryos. It works like donor sperm or donor eggs.

If all of this works out (HA HA HA), the internet tells me that New Year’s Day 2010 is the first day a home pregnancy test would give me a reliable answer. The internet says that my first “beta” (pregnancy confirmation via blood test) would be January 2, 2010.

Anyway, that’s what I know or at least THINK I know. My mileage may vary and when I know more, I’ll tell more.