I'll start with baby news as that was where this blog first started out.
Long story short... There is still no baby. It makes me very sad. We've tried hard to make it happen but still nothing.
Last summer we went through IVF treatments in Calgary. I started my injections and thought "wow those doses seem high" but the doctors know what they are doing, so I went with it. We were scheduled to head to Calgary on July 20 for our first in-person tracking on the 21st. I got a call on July 17 (I had had blood work and a tracking ultrasound that morning in Regina) telling us to get there ASAP. I was responding too well and they needed me out there the next morning. We packed up quickly, dumped the dog at my parents' place and started the 8 hour trek. We got to Calgary at 1 am. At 6 we were off to the clinic where the tracking ultrasound revealed 40 follicles!!! Immediately my meds were cut nearly in half and we continued daily tracking and bloodwork for the next week.
On July 25 the follicles were ready and our retrieval was done. Nobody can quiet prepare you for the feeling of a needle going through the wall of your vajayjay. Luckily I had a good nurse who demanded that they give me extra pain meds. It took about 10 minutes and they got 21 eggs.
Later that day we got word that 11 eggs were mature but my husband's sperm wasn't. That's been our joke. At one point his sperm was lazy. Now they are little go-getters but we're just a bit low on the normal side of things. He said, or sure, now they aren't lazy, just stupid. We opted for ICSI since we didn't want to lose any possible chances - in for a penny and all.
We waited patiently for the next five days getting our daily updates. Until day five all 11 had fertilized and a few were falling behind but still going. When I went in for the fresh transfer on day six, only five had survived but they all looked good.
It is policy to only transfer one the first time, so we did- the rest hit the freezer.
The transfer was quick and painless but the doctor said it was hard to visualize the uterus due to "excess material". I told him to just call a spade a spade- he couldn't see through the fat.
We headed back home the next day and waited.
Spotting started about ten days later and I knew we were out. The clinic called five days later with my 14dpt bloodwork to confirm, but by then I already had a full blown period so it wasn't a surprise.
The only thing that was suggested to have it fail was that if the doctor couldn't properly visualize the uterus the embryo may have been misplaced.
We still had four frozen remaining so at least there was that.
In October we got called to do a frozen transfer and decided to jump back in. We were ready to start meds when I got a call from the bariatric surgery clinic. My name was finally at the top of the list after waiting 30 months. We had to decide what to do. I could do the transfer and go back to another 30 month wait or do the surgery and wait on the transfer.
The fertility specialist said that since my body is in good shape and my fertility and egg numbers put me at that of a 23 year old, and since the embryos won't get any older, I should do the bariatric surgery. With the weight gone I would have a greater success. So that's the plan we decided on. We cancelled the transfer and I jumped into this bariatric surgery thing with both feet.
We still have four beautiful embryos waiting and as soon as my rapid weight loss stops we are going to do another transfer - likely next summer.
In the meantime, both of our best friends have welcomed babies in the past three years and so I'm getting my fill that way!! I still long to have my own, but it's a great motivation to keep going on the weight loss journey.
