Infertility Resume

As our cycling days have come to a close, I think it's time to move our "Infertility Resume" from my sidebar to a post that can be linked. A small change in the scheme of things, but a big one in my mind.........

1997 - age 23

• Met and began dating M

1999 - age 25

• Started taking Birth Control Pills

2000 - age 26

• Stopped taking Birth Control Pills due to migraines and started charting BBT for pregnancy avoidance. BaaaaHaaaa. Yes we really thought we needed to avoid at one point.

2002 - age 28

• October: Married M and stopped charting. Used "guessing" when I ovulated as our method of birth control. I seriously thought I was a pro and just knew my body so well.

2005 - age 31

• August: Officially began our baby making adventures au naturale. M doesn't want this to be a "science experiment" with charting and the like - little does he know what is in store.

2006 - age 32

• June: Started charting again (thinking my internal ovulation guessing powers are just a bit off).
• July: My first and only ever UTI with lots of pelvic pain. The infection disappeared with antibiotics, but the pelvic pain remained. I had many doctor appointments over the next year with no relief. We continued charting and trying while searching to find an answer.

2007 - age 33

• March: I changed medical groups and found an OB/Gyn who specializes in pelvic pain. She suspected 2 culprits to the pain based on my symptoms and recommended a laparoscopy and a visit to a urologist.
• June: Cystoscopy with urologist to diagnose Interstitial Cystitis. Bittersweet - at least we know why I hurt.
• August: Laparoscopy to diagnose and remove endometriosis on right ovary and all throughout pelvic wall. Endo and IC - the evil twins of pelvic pain. Lovely.
• August: Hysteroscopy, HSG, and D&C completed with no issues found.
• September: Began IC elimination diet to figure out IC trigger foods; Began taking Prelief; Other prescription medications may be more effective, but are not baby friendly so I must wait until we are done with our baby making adventures to get some true relief.
• October: First appointment with RE - All bloodwork normal (FSH=8.2; E2=35)
• November: Turned 34 - 1 year until Advanced Maternal Age. Bloodwork and semen analysis for M. - all normal
• December: IUI #1 with 75IU Menopur - 2 follicles - Negative (FSH=10.4 borderline elevated; E2=35)

2008 - age 34

• January: New RE recommended IVF due to elevated FSH, age, and the lack of antral follicles on baseline ultrasound. (FSH=11.1 borderline elevated; E2=45)
• February: IVF #1 (Antagonist Protocol with 300IU Gonal-f, 150IU Menopur); ICSI and AH; 13 eggs - 8 mature - 3 embryos; 3-day transfer with all surviving embryos (8-cell grade 3, 4-cell grade 1 and 4-cell grade 2 on grade scale of 1 'worst' to 4 'best'). Negative.
• March: IVF #1 follow-up: Eggs were poor quality and embryos very fragmented; recommend trying a different protocol and also adding Lovenox and Prednisone for possible autoimmune issues; Plan for May cycle.
• April: Started seeing a therapist and began Acupuncture. (FSH=8.1 WooHoo!!; E2=31) Sigmoidoscopy reveals polyp in colon - IVF#2 postponed from May to June
• May: Colonoscopy to remove 1cm polyp - cells are pre-cancerous; bullet dodged and back to IVF#2
• June: IVF#2 (modified Long Lupron with 375IU Gonal-f , 75IU Menopur, and 10IU dropped to 2.5IU Lupron; cycle converted to Stop Lupron Protocol with no more Lupron due to oversuppression); ICSI and AH; 8 eggs - 6 mature - 5 embryos; 3-day transfer with all surviving embryos (8-cell grade 2, 6-cell grade 2, 5-cell grade 3, 4-cell grade 3, and 2-cell grade 1 - who we just couldn't leave behind - graded on scale of 1 'worst' to 4 'best'). Negative.
• July: IVF #2 follow-up: Eggs were poor quality and embryos severely fragmented; recommend donor eggs or adoption; Quit therapy and acupuncture - tired of it all.
• August: Follow-up Sigmoidoscopy. All polyp remnants are gone.
• September: Decided on and set up appointment with another clinic.
• October: Phone consult with Dr. Schoolcraft at CCRM followed by 1-day work-up. M's SA came back with 3% morphology. ICSI is recommended for anything under 4%, but we are already doing this so not a big deal. Started seeing a new therapist.
• November: E-tegrity Endometrial Biopsy (aka uterus torture) done on my 35th birthday; FSH=8.45 WooHoo!!; E2=31.4, AMH=4.2) All other test results are normal too. Started taking 75mg DHEA daily.

2009 - age 35

• January/February: IVF #3 (the closure cycle at CCRM) (Microdose Lupron Flare Protocol with 300IU Gonal-f, 150IU Menopur, 20IU microdose Lupron, and 0.33cc Saizen - human growth hormone); ICSI and AH; 16 eggs - 6 mature and 3 fertilized; 4 more matured in the lab and 2 more fertilized on day 2 (4-cell grade 2 'discarded' and 3-cell grade 2 'discarded'); 3-day transfer with 3 "original" embryos (8-cell grade 4-, 8-cell grade 3 with fragmentation removed, 5-cell grade 3- with fragmentation removed) Grading scale of 1 'worst' to 4 'best'. Negative.
• February: IVF #3 follow-up: Eggs were poor quality and don't look "quite right", embryos were fragmented. Because we made one good embryo (8-cell grade 4-) we are in a grey area in that we could try again if we really wanted to. Based on our history though, we will likely not get any better result. Strongly recommended donor eggs.

The end of the road in fertility treatments for us, but not the end of the road to parenthood.......