Over the course of our adventure to become pregnant, I've relied upon a lot of web searches and published research for solice in those times where I've needed answers. So, I thought I would give back a bit, and share our experiences with those of you that are looking for answers during this difficult journey they call procreation.
Our story so far:
Kyra and I have been nurses for about 12 years now. Kyra has worked in adult ICU for most of her career, and has been in a doctorate of pharamacy program for the last 3.85 years (no, I'm not counting). I've been an ICU nurse, ER nurse, and for the last eight years, a flight nurse who's seen every slice of life. About two years ago, we decided that despite Kyra going to school, it was time to have a baby, unfortunately, as with most well hatched plans our's didn't work out very well.
We tried the normal way to get pregnant for a long time, even using ovuation predictors with no effect. Finally, in the spring of 2008 we turned to a fertility clinic for a consult due to our inability to conceive. We both endured a few tests, Kyra a Hysterosalpingogram which looked at her uterus and fallopian tubes, and I had the easy part with a Semen analysis. While it was felt that Kyra had a possible blocked fallopian tube, the likely cause of our problem was male infertility.
Knowing the potential problems, we decided to go ahead with intra-uterine insemination (IUI), where by the sperm is collected, spun down to remove excess fluids, and injected in to the uterus at the time of ovulation after using Clomid to stimulate multiple eggs to mature.
We, especially I was very disappointed when we did the home pregnancy test two weeks after the IUI day; the result was negative. We opted to start another cycle due to the relatively low cost vs IVF, again, the second result was also negative.
In late December of 2008 we decided it was time to bite the bullet and start IVF with ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) due to my repeated low sperm counts and motility. It began with the usual "calming phase" of the ovaries where birth control pills are taken for a period of 1-2 months, followed by the prescibed regimen of gonadotropins and Follistim.
After multiple ultrasounds 1o of Kyra's eggs where harvested on 2/19/09. When we returned for reimplantation three days later, only 4 of those 10 had fertilized, and in the end, 2 of those were suitable for implantation. The two we had were a 7 and an 8 cell embroys with 25% fragmentation (parts of the nucleated portion have broken off) where suitable for implantation. I can't deny that I was pretty disappointed, out of 10 eggs, we only ended up with 2, what the heck?
The implantation procedure was completed and we hoped for the best. I continued to give Kyra her Progesterone IM shots every night as scheduled (is she lucky I'm a nurse or what - mad IM injection skills). Finally the two week wait was over, I'll admit, I wasn't very optimistic that she was pregnant. Due in great part to the Progesterone, and the fact that she was only (potentially) 14 days pregnant, there were no signs. Of course she had gas pains, constipation, bloating, emotional lability, and breast tenderness from the Progesterone, but there was no implantation bleeding or other signs that we talked about every night while I waited.
Finally today, she went for her first Beta HCG and it was "very positive" according to the clinic, what that means without seeing the numbers I don't know. As I mentioned, we had two embryos implanted, did they both take?
That's where we stand as of today, a repeat HCG in two days will confirm continued growth; more to follow.
Our story so far:
Kyra and I have been nurses for about 12 years now. Kyra has worked in adult ICU for most of her career, and has been in a doctorate of pharamacy program for the last 3.85 years (no, I'm not counting). I've been an ICU nurse, ER nurse, and for the last eight years, a flight nurse who's seen every slice of life. About two years ago, we decided that despite Kyra going to school, it was time to have a baby, unfortunately, as with most well hatched plans our's didn't work out very well.
We tried the normal way to get pregnant for a long time, even using ovuation predictors with no effect. Finally, in the spring of 2008 we turned to a fertility clinic for a consult due to our inability to conceive. We both endured a few tests, Kyra a Hysterosalpingogram which looked at her uterus and fallopian tubes, and I had the easy part with a Semen analysis. While it was felt that Kyra had a possible blocked fallopian tube, the likely cause of our problem was male infertility.
Knowing the potential problems, we decided to go ahead with intra-uterine insemination (IUI), where by the sperm is collected, spun down to remove excess fluids, and injected in to the uterus at the time of ovulation after using Clomid to stimulate multiple eggs to mature.
We, especially I was very disappointed when we did the home pregnancy test two weeks after the IUI day; the result was negative. We opted to start another cycle due to the relatively low cost vs IVF, again, the second result was also negative.
In late December of 2008 we decided it was time to bite the bullet and start IVF with ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) due to my repeated low sperm counts and motility. It began with the usual "calming phase" of the ovaries where birth control pills are taken for a period of 1-2 months, followed by the prescibed regimen of gonadotropins and Follistim.
After multiple ultrasounds 1o of Kyra's eggs where harvested on 2/19/09. When we returned for reimplantation three days later, only 4 of those 10 had fertilized, and in the end, 2 of those were suitable for implantation. The two we had were a 7 and an 8 cell embroys with 25% fragmentation (parts of the nucleated portion have broken off) where suitable for implantation. I can't deny that I was pretty disappointed, out of 10 eggs, we only ended up with 2, what the heck?
The implantation procedure was completed and we hoped for the best. I continued to give Kyra her Progesterone IM shots every night as scheduled (is she lucky I'm a nurse or what - mad IM injection skills). Finally the two week wait was over, I'll admit, I wasn't very optimistic that she was pregnant. Due in great part to the Progesterone, and the fact that she was only (potentially) 14 days pregnant, there were no signs. Of course she had gas pains, constipation, bloating, emotional lability, and breast tenderness from the Progesterone, but there was no implantation bleeding or other signs that we talked about every night while I waited.
Finally today, she went for her first Beta HCG and it was "very positive" according to the clinic, what that means without seeing the numbers I don't know. As I mentioned, we had two embryos implanted, did they both take?
That's where we stand as of today, a repeat HCG in two days will confirm continued growth; more to follow.
The picture above is of both of our embryos that were returned, some blebbing or fragmentation can be seen.
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