For Emily + Antral follicle count + Plan w/ Dates!

For Emily
The first part of this post is for Emily, who commented on my last post. Emily is embarking on her first IVF. I didn't see that you had a blog, so I thought I'd answer your questions directly in my blog. Oh, and I'm touched you read my whole blog. It's been quite a year.

First off, Emily, don't be scared or freaked out by IVF. It will be okay. Yes, it's a big deal. Yes, the injections are intimidating at first, but you do get used to them. It can be daunting to receive a big box of drugs and needles. The nurses will teach you what to do. You will also rely on your husband/SO like you have never done before. Yes, it is surgery and all of it IS major. 


You can do this. It does help to know that there are a ton of us out here for you who understand and have been through it all. Oh, and if you insist on being freaked out, that's okay, too. You read my blog. I have had moments of pure terror. Perfectly normal.

Regarding clinics. The quality of the clinics in the SF Bay area are all good. Just because the clinic I used before didn't get us a baby, doesn't mean it isn't a great clinic with lots of BFPs. I would go back to them to do a donor egg cycle, if it came to that. I really like the people there and the doctors are great. Write to me at ambivalent.womb @ gmail. com and I'll tell you where I went. Just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you.

We ARE putting our "last chance IVF" in the hands of Dr. Z. We finally met him on Saturday for my antral follicle count and really liked how he does all his own U/S and really took time with us without feeling rushed. He answered our questions. Mr. Jem wanted to know why he estimated only a 20% chance of us getting pregnant. he explained that from 38 to "not yet 40" women have around a 40% chance and it drops to 20% for women who are between 40 and "not yet 43." He also exuded confidence that we will be "treating aggressively" my Natural Killer Cells and other auto-immune issues.

Antral follicle count
I know you are all dying to know, right? 8 follies on the right and 7 on the left. I think he was expecting more and changed his initial guess at my protocol from Long Lup.ron to Micro dose Lu.pron protocol. I've already started BCP (oh, the irony) and the antibiotics. Mr. Jem will be making a deposit (to be analyzed and frozen) this coming Sunday.

Plan with dates
Here's the proposed calendar - we may do 28 days on BCP instead of 21 so we can have a bit of a vacation first over the holidays.

• Start Ci.pro both partners 12/5
• Back up semen sample @ the clinic 12/12
• Hum.ira 12/7, 12/21
• Birth control pills 12/4-12/24 (or 12/28 pushing the rest of the dates back by 1 week)
• Estradiol & ultrasound @ ZFC 12/26
• Start micro dose injections 12/27
• Start fsh injections 12/29
• Intralipid infusion @ the clinic 12/30
• Estradiol, Prolactin, NK, TH & ultrasound @ the clinic 1/4
• Estimated retrieval 1/8-11
• Estimated transfer 1/11-16 

We have a plan, ladies and gentlemen! A real plan!

~Jem