Friday, February 24, 2017

Shuttin 'em down!

Hi, friends! I'm back with a we-have-the-ball-rolling update!

IM (short for intended mother if I haven't posted that in a bit) received the results from the PGD testing recently. Of the 16 that went for testing, 5 passed the test and are considered healthy and viable. The geneticist graded all embryos as BB, which according to their grading system is one step below an A; these results are completely normal for IM's advanced maternal age and the doc is pleased. And so are we!

The fertility doc has suggested that we prepare for a single embryo transfer, as opposed to a double. He wants to mitigate the risk of multiples for my health as well as the health of the babies. I agree. On we march!

My medications arrived yesterday:

Typical Surro Loot!
These meds are pretty standard and mirror my previous protocols, with one exception. I will be receiving estrogen through a transdermal (through the skin) patch rather than through an oral tablet. Doc believes my body may respond better to this method so that we can avoid overstimulating the lining. I'm curious to see how the results from this protocol.

I began Lupron this morning with the familiar belly stick:

Shutting off the ovaries!
The Lupron shots are administered daily for 2 weeks for the purpose of preventing my ovaries from ovulating. Basically, we are turning off my ovaries, throwing me into a temporary menopausal state. This results in some pretty decent side effects for me: nausea, hot flashes, migraines (these almost kill me!), mild irritability (ha!), and increased sugar cravings. I'll have an ultrasound to confirm ovary suppression on March 7. If I am suppressed, I will begin the estrogen patches to prepare the uterine lining. Right now, we have a proposed transfer of March 27. That's about one month, you guys!! We're ready!

Monday, February 13, 2017

Contracts, Meds, Embies

Wow! It has been nearly a month since I updated! I wish I would have had stuff to update you on, but I have not up until now. I literally have just been waiting for something to happen! Well, something did happen while I was waiting: nearly my whole family got hit with the FLU! My husband brought the germs and apparently we all saw fit to take our share. 4 out of 5 us were taken out! It has been a long 2 weeks but we are finally all well enough to return to school and work. I don't evah want to deal with that nasty mess again! It was brutal!

But now, after all this patient waiting, we are finally able to feel like we are moving forward.

We have finalized contracts as of last week - so if you're following, that's nearly 4 weeks to complete the contract phase. And that's actually quicker than my past contracts!

The clinic had me begin birth control pills (boo!) last week as well in preparation for my medications to begin, which we hope will be in about a week and a half. Of course, this is dependent on when IM receives the PGD results. Her retrieval was about a week ago; she responded to the medications very well and we are waiting on results from 16 embryos! The clinic is very impressed with how well she did and how well the embryos grew, so we are very positive about our chances for success. We are hoping for PGD results in about a 7-10 days. Then, I will begin Lupron for ovary suppression and then on to estrogen to begin building the lining. We don't have a transfer date but I assume we will receive that when I actually begin medications.

It feels good to finally get things rolling with this surrogacy!

I should be checking in a bit more often providing no other illnesses attack our family. Talk to you soon, friends!