Last year (Spring 2008) we visited Yello.wstone and Grand Te.ton… that was supposed to be our big 2 week vacation before embarking on our baby making journey. We believed that we needed a relaxing vacation. It indeed was… I felt mentally detoxed, calm and in control.
In this picture: Mama Bear with her babies along the Yello.wstone Lake!
Though soon after our vacation, I realized that I could lose it big time with the TTC journey. It’s already over a year and today, again I feel mentally detoxed, calm and in control. I had one of the most memorable times with my (maternal) Granny (she went back home yesterday). It’s probably been at least 2 decades since I spent so much time with her. I worry that I will not get to experience this again (she is almost 80)… but I am happy that I did get to spend this time with her, and she thoroughly enjoyed her stay (with us) and cherished every moment of it. She is my inspiration to keep going in this rough patch of life! My state of mind right now is: I am not sad that it’s over, but I am happy that it happened! Speaking about the “detoxed, calm and in control” feeling… it will be great to continue with that state of mind, but I would probably be naive to believe that it will last for very long.
As you know, I have already started Lupron (20 units) and according to my IVF (tentative) calendar, I am supposed to start with my stims (Follistim – 300 IU) today. I went in for my b/w and u/s this morning and am awaiting a call back from my nurse. The lining looked good (type 3) and I had 20 something follicles in my right ovary and a little less than that in my left ovary. My right ovary has always been the more active one (during the last 3 IUI cycles). I stopped my BCPs around a week ago and I spotted last week (no real AF)… and the RE thinks that’s fine as long as I have a favorable lining. My DH starts Doxycycline today (twice a day until ER).
If you remember, I had posted about Epilepsy. Two of my uncles (Mom’s brothers) had Epilepsy and I was concerned about it! I did meet with a genetic counselor at the RE's for the same reason. It seems Epilepsy is one of the less understood disorders when it comes to PGD. To understand the chances of passing on the genes related to Epilepsy, they need to study the DNA of the relative who has Epilepsy. In our case, both my uncles are no longer with us, so of course no testing can be done! There are several kinds of Epilepsy testing available and it is next to impossible to test for it randomly. In general masses the chances of Epilepsy is 1%, in our case with the family history we have it is between 2 to 12% (types: multifactorial and autosomal dominant). We spoke about all the associated factors and what to look out for. It is a risk, which I guess we are willing to take… to us, life is full of random risks, and for one to progress you have to take some calculated risks. (i.e.: We believe in doing things in harmony with nature (natural)… but we also believe in science and are willing to undergo an IVF which has its own associated risks and unknowns (…it’s a “personal choice”, and we completely respect someone who might be against it!)) We would have been more worried had the chances been as high as 50% or so. [I am not going to get much in to the technical details about our Epilepsy discussion on the blog. If you wish to know more, please contact me on my email (listed on the blog sidebar).] Besides Epilepsy, we discussed genetic testing (before/after conception), chances of chromosomal disorders… Overall I was happy/satisfied with the consultation.
So now… the waiting game begins!
Good luck starting stims tonight- I hope your levels are perfect. Before you know it, you will be almost at ER, and then ET!
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