Change is hard but good

Travis and I met with Dr. S last monday.  What a breath of fresh air.  Both Travis and I were really struggling with gearing up emotionally to go through this whole process again.  To be honest we were feeling really hopeless.  Dr. S and his staff restored our souls.  The office just has a very positive tone to it.  Nurses are laughing and joking and are really on top of their game.

First Travis had to do his semen analysis never his favorite part but he is much better about it now.  While we were sitting there there was a women sitting beside us and she looked very nervous.  We soon found out why.  Her husband emerged from the back and walked right past her looking very angry.  Travis and I had a good chuckle.  I told him he should go tell him he mine as well hang all his pride up right now or he's never gonna make it through.  Then I reminded Travis that he was that guy 5 years ago. Oh how far we've come. 

Next we went and met with the financial coordinater.  IVF in Cinci is half the price it is in IL who would have thought.  Finally we got to meet the miracle man Dr Scheiber.  He reviewed all of our history and sat back in his chair and gave a big sigh.  You guys have certainley been through a lot.  He immediatley came up with a plan.  He was not reinventing the wheel but was making some minor changes that hopefully will make all the difference.  First off no birth control pills the month before we begin IVF.  He is going to use ganarelyx in our cycle instead of lupron.  After reviewing Travis's semen analysis he decided ICSI(injecting sperm into the egg) would not be necessary.  I had read sometimes ICSI eggs don't implant as well forgot to ask Dr. S about that but either way something different than what we did last time.  Fiinally he has decided due to my age.  Yes that's right in March I will reach that scary 35 age limit that decreases your chances in IVF.  So he wants to hatch (put a tiny slit in the shell of the embryo so it can get out easier and increase chance of implantation) the embryos then become foreign to the body and your body attacks it decreasing chance of implantation.  I will take a steroid to supress my antibody response.  Makes perfect sense to me! I will be doing all my monitoring in Il but Dr. S wants to do the final ultraound himself.  He said it's to important to leave up to anyone other than his own eyes.  Now the dreaded question of miscarriage came.  Dr. S said all IVF pregnancy carry a 25% miscarriage rate. My previous misccariages don't increae that number but I still feel that is very high. SCARY.  He has no reason for previous miscarriages but I will have to take injectable blood thinners for the first trimester due to my MTTHFR factor.  He did say if I miscarried again it might be time to start considering a surrogate.  Dr. S was very patient and made me feel like my questions were welcome.

Dr. S and I had already agreed to do a biopsy of my utereus that day.  He was very honest about the fact that they have no idea why this increases chances of implantation but it does.  I asked Travis if he was going to wait in the waiting area Dr. S said no he's coming with us.  This was a really good thing for Travis to see.  He found a new appreciation for the pain that these procedures cause.  He has never seen the pain on my face or the tears from the pain.  Let me tell you it hurts.  They use the word cramping I use the word HURT. Dr. S was so comforting during this saying we are making good tissues for these babies to grow.  Out with the bad in with the good. Notice it was plural.   Before Dr. S did this he did a mock transfer and picked the catheter he wanted and measured how far in the utereus he wanted the embryos planted so if one of the other docs did my transfer they put hem exactly where he wanted them.  We will be transferring two embryos for sure.  He said possibly three.  Don't think were gonna go that route.  After we were all done Dr. S said you know I am batting a 1000 with you Chicago couples.  I should retire while I am at the top of my game.  We all laughed but I did remind him he has one more challenge before he hangs up his catheter.  Exactly the reason why we are hesitant to transfer 3. 

We signed all our paperwork and consents and the nurse reviewed all our meds.  Travis and I will both take Doxcycline for 10 days before the cycle.  Travis started to get a little antsy towards the end.  We were there for 4 hours and had a six hour drive home ahead of us.  It was long day.

We left there rejuvinated and full of hope.  I can not believe how organized and professional as well as positive the staff and doctor are.  For the first tme I didn't feel like I had to make sure everything was done and make tons of follow up phone calls to make sure everything was in place.  I know I am absolutley in the right hands. 

On the way home my phone rang and it was the pharmacy Dr. S's nurse had already called in my meds not even two hours after we left their office. Impressive. I looked at Travis and said wow they don't mess around.  He said no they don't and that's why I feel good about this doctor. 

Dr. S nurse called with my biopsy results on Wednesday everything was normal.  So everythings in place now we just wait for me to get my period.  Should be right around Feb 7th.  First wait of many to come.  I am so excited I just want to get started. 

Waking up in Cinci

We're here!  We arrived yesterday about 4 o'clock Cinci time.  It has been a long and stressful week.  Travis and I are both experiencing some pretty heavy emotions.  We are both struggling with getting ready to go through another cycle.  It is very hard to be positve and optimistic when we have had so much failure.  There has been a lot of tension in the house so it was good to get away and change our enviornment.  We are trying to use this as a mini vacation and reset.  To blow off some steam we went to the casino.  Had a lot of fun but didn't hit it big.  Then to dinner and back to our hotel hoping to get a good nights sleep.  HA HA.  I have never put my head on such a hard big pillow.  It was almost like you were sleeping sitting up they propped you up so much.  Travis even called down to the front desk to see if they had other pillows.  No luck.  At 5:30 this am he informed me that he had been up since 2.  He said it's gonna be a long day.  Thank God he was able to fall back asleep.  Actually just as I am typing he just walked in I guess he's up for the day.

So off to Dr. Scheiber for consult and semen analysis.  Travis hates that part but at least this time I am able to help him. I of course have a list of questions a mile long.  Dr. S is also going to do a biopsy of my uterine tissue.  That is suppose to increase chance of implantation.  He will also be doing a mock transfer to chose the right size catheter.  I like the fact that he pre plans things.  Things have gone so smoothly with them so far I hope it continues throught my cycle. So here we go again.  Game on starting today. Here's hoping he can be the miracle man for us too.

New Year New Beginnings

Travis and I have has some very serious discussions lately about the path we are going to take this round.  After Katie getting pregnant in Cinci we started to think maybe we need to look into this option ourselves.  Travis feels very strongly we need a fresh start.  I am very dedicated to Dr. Feinberg butI have always been the one to decide what happens with our cycles.  I really need to start listeneing more to him and not think that I always know best.  Another lesson this journey has taught me.  So a couple of weeks ago I emailed Dr. Scheiber to see if he would even consider meeting with us.   He emailed back right away.  I was very impressed.  We exchanged a few emails before I called to make our inital consultation appointment. I was connected to several different departments and everyone answered the phone and my questions.  It went very smooth I was very impressed with the personal attention they gave.  No leaving voicemails and waiting for people to get back to me.  We are headed to Cinci on Jan 16th to meet with Dr. S and his staff. 

We have not comitted to anything other than seeking a second opinion.  This is our last chance at becoming pregnant and I want to make sure that I have researched all my options.  I love Dr. Feinberg but a second opinion never hurts.  Plus Katie had such a positive experience with him I can't not check it out.  Katie was there Friday for her ultrasound and we were in communication via text message.  She told me she talked to doc about us and reminded me he has a .1000 success rate with Chicago couples.  For all of you who are bad at math like me thats 100% success rate.  I am very excited to have some fresh eyes looking at our case and interested to see if Dr. S has any different ideas.