After my failed IVF attempt in December and having to cancel my cycle on Day 7 of stim injections, I couldn't put off another retrieval any longer. My body clock is ticking.
But first.... FOOT SURGERY!
I had to wait so long because back in january, I had major foot surgery. I suffer from Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome (#TTS) which is carpal tunnel in the foot. TTS results from compression of the tibial nerve. Mine is from Multiple sprained ankles (5) leaving a lot of scar tissue & damage to the tendons & nerves. My nerves were swollen almost to the size of a tendon and were wrapped in scar tissue and it was a mess. Shocked that I was still walking at all really (I just dealt with it). Check out my scar HERE!
The surgery was far more intense than I ever anticipated. I did 3 months of physical therapy and basically had to learn to walk again as I'd lost feeling (and still have) in 1/4 of my foot (my 2 little toes and surrounding area). I was put on nerve medication to help with the pain of the 'fireworks' as I call them, which is essentially nerves re-firing constantly, especially when I was trying to sleep. I was nervous of going on any more medication but couldn't really go without it.
Retrieval time!
I started my cycle mid March, 2022. The doc put me on 300 Follistim and 300 Menopur (with Ganirelix from day 4). My ultrasounds were looking really good! The US technician was seeing about 15 follicles total which was bloody (no pun intended) fantastic all things considered. I definitely went in initially expecting the worst after my body had just been through so much trauma the last 18 months.
The procedure itself on March 19th went as smooth as always. Yes, I was severely bloated, I was still finding my feet from my foot surgery and all I could think about was another failure. Honestly... it gets harder and harder to remain positive. I talk myself down all the time, I'd rather be good surprised rather than let down. My emotional wall certainly goes up pretty easily these days!
But otherwise, it was a walk in the park. The injections I didn't even think about, I didn't do a timelapse for every injection this time (like I did the first 2 retrievals) and I just carried on with life like nothing different was actually happening. Maybe that is what I should have done all along? Easier said than done lol.
I got 12 eggs! And within 24 hours I got the incredible news that all of them were mature and 10 had fertilized!! So even though I got less eggs, my percentage rate was MUCH higher than ever before!!
Fast forward 6 days.... OMG..... I GOT 5 EMBRYOS!!!! That is 50% of my fertilized eggs actually made it to day5/6 embryos! As a reminder, in my previous cycles, I only ever got 2 embryos but had more eggs. This gave me a MUCH better chance now with PGT-A testing.
The call I've been waiting 18 months to hear...
I will never forget the phone call, I was standing outside of my dentist about to get a cleaning. The doctors first works were "Congratulations... you got 1 normal embryo!!". This was the first time I have ever reached this stage.
1 x 6bb normal PGT-A embryo
2 x mosaics PGT-A embryos
1 x abnormal
1 x incomplete and required further biopsy
She said I had 2 mosaic embryos. I had no idea what she was talking about! The good news though... with genetic counselling, I could still use Mosaic embryos if my 1 normal isn't successful.
#Mosaicembryos have a mixture of both abnormal and normal cells in the embryo in different proportions. In aneuploid embryos the abnormalities originate from the sperm or the egg and occur before fertilization.
It seems like 2022 is going to be a much better year than 2021, a year I'd like to forget! I have made the choice however, to wait to do a FET (frozen embryo transfer) until late June cycle.
Afterall, I have a 4 day music festival to attend to and I wanted to party a little. What if this is my last chance before I actually get pregnant?
My IVF pyramid:
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