So Here We Are!

I started my period on October 14th and began taking birth control pills on October 16th as part of my protocol. I also had my mock transfer trial, the Dr. checked out my uterus and made sure there was plenty of space in there, and took pictures to see where the best place to put the embryo back in will be. Everything went great, the Dr. just kept telling me that everything looks picture perfect! Here is the remainder of the protocol for this first (and hopefully last) IVF cycle.

The last 3 days of taking BCPs I start taking Lupron 20 units each morning and I should start another cycle within a few days. On day 2 or 3 of the next cycle, I have my Lupron evaluation, and as long as everything looks tip top, I will start stimulating my follicles with Follistim and Luveris (holy 3 shots a day!!!)

I wasn't exactly told how long I will be doing those shots, and I think it all depends on how I react to them (probably anywhere between 9-15 days) I was told that I will be seeing the Dr. almost everyday after I start stimulating to monitor the size of my follicles. Once the follicles get to a certain size that they want (3-4 at least 18mm) I will then be told to trigger. Once I trigger, 36 hours later I will have the egg retrieval, and tentatively 5 days after that I will have my transfer.

We are doing IVF w/ ICSI which is a very delicate procedure, conducted during an IVF cycle, in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. The egg is held in place by a micromanipulator while the sperm is injected using a microscopic “needle”. This procedure is used in almost all cases of male infertility.