Yesterday was our phone consult with the reproductive endocrinologist. We are now two time zones away from our clinic, but are excited to go back and try with our next blast. The conversation was extremely optimistic and helped excite me. I have never been nervous for any of our infertility medical intervention. I became more and more giddy about starting the process again.
We chatted about timing. I told her that we were hoping the baby would arrive after next spring semester. She misunderstood and thought we wanted to do our FET next spring. "You certainly are on the ball, aren't you?" After conversing for a few more minutes (why does she want to know if we are coming out over the holidays? Shouldn't I hopefully be pregnant by then?), we realized the misunderstanding and I told her our real timing plans. August. We want to try in August. "Oh! That makes much more sense! You are calling at a perfect time. We are a week or two out from scheduling in August."
We went over details. One embryo. The husband is terrified of a multiple birth. She told us that it would be best for us to be in the area for around 9-10 days. They would like to do an ultrasound of the lining a week before the transfer to make sure it is nicely thinned and then the day before the transfer to make sure it has thickened. We will then do the transfer and I will get my two "princess days." I know that bed rest is not encouraged like it used to be, but if she told me it would be best for me to do a handstand for an hour after the transfer, I would start practicing my handstand technique.
My homework is to find a clinic in the area that will do a saline ultrasound. I really hope that an OB in our small city has the capability of doing one because the nearest RE office is 90 minutes away. I also was emailed some labs for blood work. Wahoo!
The RE told me that we have a great looking blast to transfer. Baby number one was just about as perfect as it gets. This next blast is graded only slightly lower than my miracle baby. We talked about the remaining 6 blastocysts. They all look great, but the first two were better than the other five. I still feel so blessed that I ended up with seven blasts and hope that I do not have to do an egg retrieval again.
I am still mentally planning on having to go out for two attempts at a FET, just in case. It would be much harder if we have to try twice because the second time would be in September or October and Husband will be in school. I might get to take a solo trip with my adorable toddler while going through this physically and emotionally demanding trip.
I am not looking forward to the progesterone shots this time around. I got used to the multiple shots a day with needles of different gauges prior to the egg retrieval, but having large needles thrust into my rear that deposit progesterone in oil does not sound like fun. I will have to start doing research about the best ways to get ready for this.
Coincidentally, I received a call from my new OB in the area shortly after finishing the call with my RE. They ran some labs on me last week to see what the current state of my anticardiolipin antibodies are. The previous three times I have been tested, I always came back at an indeterminate level. This lead to heparin shots twice a day during my last pregnancy. The results came back as normal! I was extremely excited to hear this news. No twice-a-day shots for the next pregnancy? I do not know how to manage a pregnancy without bruises forming on my abdomen and the occasional eye grimace as I come across a dull needle. (Being the overly cautious person that I am when it comes to pregnancies, I will probably ask my RE if we should maybe test one more time before the next pregnancy, just in case.)
Getting ready for the FET over the next four months, I want to work on being as healthy as possible. I currently exercise 2-3 hours a week and want to make sure that it is at least three hours a week. My husband's last day of school this semester is today, so he will be at home a little more until August (although he does have several summer classes). Husband and I have also decided to cut back on sweets (my weakness) to improve our health. After going through so many fertility treatments before becoming pregnant with my darling girl and working full-time, I was not in the best of health.
