Yesterday was transfer day. All went well. Here are the details of the day.
We woke up and had breakfast in the hotel. Them I went upstairs to the clinic for my blood draw. I had 3 nurses attend based on what happened last time. I'm happy to report that it only took one poke and in the forearm. I was in and out in 10 min. That was a huge relief.
We then continued our photo taking quest from the day before. We visited Thomas Bata University, the college where our donor attended. We found a very small book store that sold shirts and sweatshirts, but none in Duncan's size. They did however sell a beach ball so we were able to purchase something. We then walked to a farmers market that we had found the last time we were here and took pictures there as well. Duncan was happy to find a guy selling popcorn. Lastly we walked over to the oldest house in town which we had also discovered the last time we were here. The one thing we found this time, that we missed last time was the main square. Obviously its very small. We had walked on the street in front of it last time. It had several shops, cafes and coffee shops. We wandered around there taking more pictures until it was time for my appointment.
Next up was our appointment with embryology and with Anna our coordinator. She is the English speaking contact we have and has been a huge help through the process both times. I was so excited for Duncan to meet her. Without exaggeration, I bet I've exchanged at least 500 emails with her if not more. She was our life line through all of this. We brought her a gift as a thank you and it was so very sweet to have Duncan give it to her. I asked if she would hold him so I could take a photo of them together and I got some really great ones.
We then got down to business. OUR EMBRYOS SURVIVED THE THAW!!!! They both started hatching right before the time of transfer.
I only have a dark and grainy photo. I'm going to ask for a better one tomorrow and see if they took any other pictures. But who cares, our little embryos awoke and started growing and that's the first huge step. I also got my progesterone numbers back and they were 131. No need to change any medication so just going to stay on our current protocol until I go for more blood work.
After our meeting, Duncan and Ryan had to go. They wouldn't be allowed in for transfer and it was lunchtime anyways so they headed off. Anna gave Duncan a big kiss on the cheek and he said goodbye. I hugged and kissed both my guys and they left in search of a park and lunch.
They don't offer acupuncture here so I was unable to get treatment before or after transfer which is what I would do back home. At the wellness center they did offer a head and shoulder massage. I thought that would be a good idea before the transfer. That was a big mistake. There was nothing wrong with the massage, but I was just a ball of nerves and it made it so very hard to lay still. It was almost torture more than relaxing. Finally it was over and I could move around.
I went back to the room to get ready for transfer. They ask that you wear just a shirt and then your robe and slippers. I put on my dream big socks and headed to transfer.
They have a waiting room you sit in before transfer that is a room with a few beds. I waited in that room for about 45 minutes. There was one lady before me. It was nice to have some extra time alone. I sat down and listened to a few short guided meditations. Then I did a bunch of squats and sit ups and then some yoga poses and finally some stretching. This all really helped calm me down.
Finally it was my turn. They escorted me into the operating room. There were two nurses. One doing the work and another one to translate what was going on in English. Then the doctor came in and we went over what was going to happen. Confirmed that we were transfering two and using Embryoglue. Then the embryologist cane in and introduced herself. That's when she informed me that they both had started to hatch and said she would show me on the monitor. She left and went into the lab and shortly after, on the monitor were these two gorgeous embryos. It brought tears to my eyes to see them. I then laid back, feet up and the transfer began. The only thing different this time from all the other times is the embryologist participated in transferring the embryos. The doctor set everything up and then she came back with the pipette containing our embryos. She was the one to actual place them. Then she left to confirm they were both gone and the pipette was empty, which it was. She then said good luck, squeezed my hand and left. The doctor also wished me well and left. Then the two nurses wheeled my gurney back into my room. There was a small mishap where they took a corner too close and knocked a chunk of drywall off. Both Ryan and Duncan think this is hilarious and laugh every time they pass it. They then transferred me to my bed and instructed me to lay still for an hour. It's a lot easier to do that in your own bed than in the uncomfortable bed with stirrups that usually happens. So I laid back and watched the latest Kevin Hart standup. It was the perfect mindless activity. Shortly after I took a nap. I laid in bed the rest of the afternoon and evening as I have now entered the bed rest position of all this. The boys shared a burger for dinner and I again indulged in peanuts and a granola bar. We all went to bed shortly after. Now just hoping and praying for a successful implantation. Stick babies stick!
Showing posts with label bloodwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bloodwork. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
FET recap
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Friday, April 5, 2019
Day 5 Weiner Newstadt->Krems an der Donau
Day 5 was much better. The additional progesterone pill isnt too bad and no real side effects. I'm tolerating the addition iron pill as well. It just makes for a lot of pills. I would say I'm up to approximately 20 pills now.
The only real side effect I'm feeling is with the addition of prednisone, my appetite has increased. Which again makes it tough in the land of sausages and pretzels. My wrist is still very swollen and has a huge bruise. And because it's on my wrist, I move it a lot so I feel it a lot. The skin irritation where the reaction from the adhesive was has also gone away so the itchiness has also left. The main thing I'm dealing with is the bruising from the shots. I'm still icing it like normal, but it doesnt seem to be working as well this time around. I'll spare you any photos, but my stomach is now a collection of various sized and colored bruises. Its makes for a very tender abdomin and slight discomfort when I'm sitting. Lastly, for those that don't know, as the result of a car accident years ago, I suffer from nerve damage in my leg. It usually is treated with an internal device that sends relectrical pulses from my nerves to my brain to stop the pain. I had to turn that off and the pain is slowly starting to come back. I dealt with this last time so it wasn't unexpected, it's just not fun.
Emotionally I feeling better and in a better head space. Thanks again for the outpouring of support. It's always wonderful to know I have a great tribe looking out for us.
We are now in full vacation mode until we head back on the 8th. I have a full itinerary to keep us busy. We are basically driving along the north countryside of Austria and then making a circle and driving across the Czech Republic.
Today we hit the coolest amusement park in Austria. It was called Family Park and it was just a perfect day. Zero crowds and the weather was lovely. Duncan was the perfect age to take here. Almost everything he could ride as long as we accompanied him. We spent the majority of the day there.
In the late afternoon we headed to the Austrian wine region of Wachau. Here it is different than tasting at home. Every single winery is by appointment only. I read an article in Travel & Leisure about where to taste and booked us a 4pm tasting at a winery called Nigl. It was awesome. Really very different from wine tasting in California. The wines were ok, but it was really the experience that was amazing. After wine tasting we ended up in Krems an der Donau were we stayed at a lovely little hotel. We went for a walk, did some window shopping and then found a restaurant that I had researched that had some vegan options. Food was just ok, but I was glad to get a meal. We got the food to go and ate it in the courtyard of our hotel which had just enough grass to keep Duncan occupied and burned off some energy before bed. Tomorrow we are off to another city with hopefully just as much good times in store for us.
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
The only real side effect I'm feeling is with the addition of prednisone, my appetite has increased. Which again makes it tough in the land of sausages and pretzels. My wrist is still very swollen and has a huge bruise. And because it's on my wrist, I move it a lot so I feel it a lot. The skin irritation where the reaction from the adhesive was has also gone away so the itchiness has also left. The main thing I'm dealing with is the bruising from the shots. I'm still icing it like normal, but it doesnt seem to be working as well this time around. I'll spare you any photos, but my stomach is now a collection of various sized and colored bruises. Its makes for a very tender abdomin and slight discomfort when I'm sitting. Lastly, for those that don't know, as the result of a car accident years ago, I suffer from nerve damage in my leg. It usually is treated with an internal device that sends relectrical pulses from my nerves to my brain to stop the pain. I had to turn that off and the pain is slowly starting to come back. I dealt with this last time so it wasn't unexpected, it's just not fun.
Emotionally I feeling better and in a better head space. Thanks again for the outpouring of support. It's always wonderful to know I have a great tribe looking out for us.
We are now in full vacation mode until we head back on the 8th. I have a full itinerary to keep us busy. We are basically driving along the north countryside of Austria and then making a circle and driving across the Czech Republic.
Today we hit the coolest amusement park in Austria. It was called Family Park and it was just a perfect day. Zero crowds and the weather was lovely. Duncan was the perfect age to take here. Almost everything he could ride as long as we accompanied him. We spent the majority of the day there.
![]() |
| At Nigl winery |
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Day 4 Bruno->Weiner Newstadt
Well today was better than yesterday so we are headed in a good direction. Duncan woke again at 1am, but was back to sleep by 2am. Hopefully this is also swinging in the right direction. As a family, we all slept a bit longer because we all needed it. Yesterday was really tough on everyone. Oh and plus I forgot to mention it was Ryan's birthday. Definitely not the most fun birthday. We will have to have a redo to make up for that one at some point.
Physically, I've been better. After the whole ordeal yesterday, I have lots of bruises and my wrist and right arm have really big swollen areas. That's a new fun side effect. Ugh. Plus one of the adhesives on a bandage caused a reaction (this is pretty common with me now) so I also basically want to scratch my skin off. So that's super fun! Another Ugh :( I received an email from my coordinator stating that they received my test results and my progesterone is very low. The doctor said that was ok and gave me a protocol that I will start tomorrow. This includes 4 vaginal suppositories three times a day and 1 pill taken orally. It's about as fun as it sounds. The number of pills I'm taking is really starting to add up now.
Emotional I'm feeling a bit drained. The weight of the situation is starting to really make it's way into my head space. While I am so fortunate to have Duncan and feel so grateful, I would love to give him a sibling. Especially because he comes from a donor, I feel like they would just have such a wonderful bond and story to share And if this doesn't work, I won't be able to. I want him to know how hard I tried when someday he will read this. Whether it works or not, I sure did try my hardest. Somedays I feel stronger and braver than others. I mean I did fly halfway around the world, deplete our entire savings at one point, all on a wing and a prayer that some Russian doctor in the Czech would somehow give me a child. It's such a crazy idea and even crazier that it worked. Other days I feel like I could just lay in bed and cry all day and feel sorry for myself. Life just isn't fair sometimes and what we have been though in order to conceive is beyond ridiculous. On top of that, I still grieve the loss of Duncan's twin on a pretty regular basis. Opening myself up to getting pregnant again, also opens up all the fears of dealing with loss again. I can describe my emotions as a roller coaster combination of them all. I really do appreciate and feel all the love and support everyone of you back home are sending our way. On the crappier days or worse feeling moments, its been helpful to remember how many of you are cheering us on. And maybe in those less strong moment I can lean on others for strength and I thank you for that.
While traveling with our 2 year old has been difficult, it has also been a very welcoming distraction. Today was all about him. I found this amazing place in Brno called the Brno Family Park. It was an indoor play space that was literally the coolest thing ever. It had trampolines, giant inflatables, ball pits, air hockey, two story slides, giant blocks, obstacle courses, bumper cars, bumper boats and a whole upstairs play area just for kids under 4 that had it's own ball pit, play kitchen, 2 story life size doll house and a giant inflatable octopus. When we first got there, he didn't even know where to go, he just ran from things to thing. We were there about 4 hours and all of us laughed and had fun. The best part was that it was about $5 a person. If for some reason you ever find yourself in Brno with a kiddo in tow, go here!
We then made our way to Weiner Newstadt in Austria. We found some grass for him to run in, went for a long walk around the neighborhood 0and then found a huge park on the way back. It had about 5 different play structures. He loved it. We made our way back to the room and it was lights out around 9pm. Fingers crossed he sleeps until morning. The only real major bummer is this is the part of the trip where vegan/gluten free is non-existent so it was crackers and peanuts for lunch and two granola bars for dinner for me. Same thing happened last time, so I was prepared, but that still doesn't make it fun. Signing off and hoping to get some sleep myself. Love to you all and thanks again for all the love and support!
We then made our way to Weiner Newstadt in Austria. We found some grass for him to run in, went for a long walk around the neighborhood 0and then found a huge park on the way back. It had about 5 different play structures. He loved it. We made our way back to the room and it was lights out around 9pm. Fingers crossed he sleeps until morning. The only real major bummer is this is the part of the trip where vegan/gluten free is non-existent so it was crackers and peanuts for lunch and two granola bars for dinner for me. Same thing happened last time, so I was prepared, but that still doesn't make it fun. Signing off and hoping to get some sleep myself. Love to you all and thanks again for all the love and support!
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
HEATHER
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Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Day 3 Intralipids. Zlin->Brno
Day 3 is described as DIFFICULT and that is putting it mildly. Poor Duncan is just all over the place with sleep and the time difference really hit him hard. So Day 3 started at 1am when he woke up just upset. He didn't calm down until 3am and didn't sleep until 5am. Needless to say, we were all very tired and not in the best of moods.
We ate breakfast in the hotel and went back to the room to reorganize and pack up. I ran into another couple that spoke English and was there with their 3 year old. Him and Duncan played for a bit while we chatted and shared our experiences.
Then at 11 it was time for my intralipid infusion IV treatment. Intralipid is a sterile fat emulsion. The active ingredient in Intralipid is soya oil. Soya oil consists of a mixture of mainly polyunsaturated fatty acids. It also contains egg lecithin as an emulsifier, which is isolated from egg yolk. The theory is that it helps women who have had recurrent miscarriage, multiple failed IVF cycles or multiple failed IUI cycles. Intralipids deactivate natural killer cells in a woman’s body which may prevent embryos from implanting and growing properly in the uterus. We have done intralipids with two transfers, one at SDFC with our two normal PGS tested embryos that resulted in a BFN and then again here in Czech with my last pregnancy. The science goes back and forth on it if it actually helps, but the good thing is it either helps or does nothing, but it doesnt have any negative risks, so we keep trying it. Ryan and Duncan escorted me back and then left to check out of the room and go play at a park downstairs.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the state of my veins are not good. After living with infertility for so long, and having so many blood tests done, I have developed scar tissue in my veins. About 3 times ago, the phlebotomist mentioned it would soon be an issue and the 2 times after that it was increasing harder to draw blood. Well lucky me, it all culminated today and it became an issue. I was in a room, laying down on a cot and it started with 2 nurses. I'll spare the awful details, but it concluded with 5 nurses, 1 doctor, 5 attempts in 4 different places and finally 1 IV in my wrist. This was very painful and on top of all that, took every single ounce of energy I had, not to pass out. What should have been a 45 min IV, now became a 2 hour IV because they had to use a smaller vein.
Finally it was over and they came to remove the IV. The nurse doing that part didn't speak any English. She took out the IV and I'm guessing told me to put pressure on it in Czech, which I didn't and next thing I knew she turned around so I thought she was done and I went sit up and blood just started flowing. That just about did me in right then and there. Luckily I was already in a bed so I just laid back down. She turned back from her paperwork, saw what happened and cleaned me up and rebandaged me and said to wait in bed. Another nurse came in that did speak English. At first I thought she was there to see if I was OK. But then she told me my next appointment was in another room. I assumed this was for my blood results. Well it wasn't, it was to take more blood. See I thought they drew the blood before they hooked up the IV. Remember I can't watch and they don't speak English this came as a shock. After all I just went through, I now had to try and give blood. At that moment, my weakness and fear crept in and I lost it and just started crying. I asked it I could go back and lay down and do the blood draw back there. The nurse then realized I was crying and called for back up. Now a team of nurses were back with me. 4 to be exact. 1 kept saying sorry and the others only spoke Czech. They decided to go back in through the wrist again and this pain was even worse than the last time, but at least it was very quick. One nurse kept stroking my hair and another nurse held my hand. They were very sweet and really tried hard to comfort me. I was just wrapped up in emotions and it all came out at that moment. Being so far from home, being alone it just got the best if me. They sat me up and gave me a big group hug and tried to show me that it will all be ok even though they didn't know the words. I will remember their kindness forever. One of the nurses spotted Duncan outside and opened the window and told me to come over to see my boy.
That stopped the tears and brought me back to some peace and strength. Sometimes we just push through the tears and do what we have to do. Dealing with infertility isn't easy and some days are harder than others. Mark this as a difficult day.
I then met with a doctor who added an additional progesterone pill to the mix. So in two days I will start the transfer protocol. The clinic has it's own pharmacy so I grabbed the pills and we headed out. On a more exciting note, there was a TV behind the reception desk and they were playing Octo Hiity. I am now officially obsessed with their music television. It's amazing!
We left Zlin and headed to Brno. I had intended for us to visit a science center, but because everything took so long, we didn't have enough time. So instead we went for a stroll around the city center. There was a cute farmers market outside our hotel so we stopped and got fresh strawberries, tomatoes marinated in garlic and basil and caper berries. We snacked on those and walked for a bit. The last time we were here I was on bedrest and never left the room so it was nice to finally see the city. Before we left, I had found a Thai restaurant that had vegetarian and gluten free choices. I had fried rice with veggies and Ryan had pad thai. It was delicious. On the way back to our room, we stumbled upon a stage with live music. It was a rock band singing loud and in Czech. Duncan loved it. After each song, he said "more music". So we sat there and listened and slowly this metal band put my son to sleep. In his early days Metallica used to do the trick and I just love my little rocker dude and his love of music. I took a slightly longer route home to window shop and try and discover a bit of the city. Todays ordeal still weighed heavy on my mind so it was nice to just be casual and walk. We landed back in the room and made for a quick good night.
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
We ate breakfast in the hotel and went back to the room to reorganize and pack up. I ran into another couple that spoke English and was there with their 3 year old. Him and Duncan played for a bit while we chatted and shared our experiences.
Then at 11 it was time for my intralipid infusion IV treatment. Intralipid is a sterile fat emulsion. The active ingredient in Intralipid is soya oil. Soya oil consists of a mixture of mainly polyunsaturated fatty acids. It also contains egg lecithin as an emulsifier, which is isolated from egg yolk. The theory is that it helps women who have had recurrent miscarriage, multiple failed IVF cycles or multiple failed IUI cycles. Intralipids deactivate natural killer cells in a woman’s body which may prevent embryos from implanting and growing properly in the uterus. We have done intralipids with two transfers, one at SDFC with our two normal PGS tested embryos that resulted in a BFN and then again here in Czech with my last pregnancy. The science goes back and forth on it if it actually helps, but the good thing is it either helps or does nothing, but it doesnt have any negative risks, so we keep trying it. Ryan and Duncan escorted me back and then left to check out of the room and go play at a park downstairs.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the state of my veins are not good. After living with infertility for so long, and having so many blood tests done, I have developed scar tissue in my veins. About 3 times ago, the phlebotomist mentioned it would soon be an issue and the 2 times after that it was increasing harder to draw blood. Well lucky me, it all culminated today and it became an issue. I was in a room, laying down on a cot and it started with 2 nurses. I'll spare the awful details, but it concluded with 5 nurses, 1 doctor, 5 attempts in 4 different places and finally 1 IV in my wrist. This was very painful and on top of all that, took every single ounce of energy I had, not to pass out. What should have been a 45 min IV, now became a 2 hour IV because they had to use a smaller vein.
![]() |
That stopped the tears and brought me back to some peace and strength. Sometimes we just push through the tears and do what we have to do. Dealing with infertility isn't easy and some days are harder than others. Mark this as a difficult day.
I then met with a doctor who added an additional progesterone pill to the mix. So in two days I will start the transfer protocol. The clinic has it's own pharmacy so I grabbed the pills and we headed out. On a more exciting note, there was a TV behind the reception desk and they were playing Octo Hiity. I am now officially obsessed with their music television. It's amazing!
We left Zlin and headed to Brno. I had intended for us to visit a science center, but because everything took so long, we didn't have enough time. So instead we went for a stroll around the city center. There was a cute farmers market outside our hotel so we stopped and got fresh strawberries, tomatoes marinated in garlic and basil and caper berries. We snacked on those and walked for a bit. The last time we were here I was on bedrest and never left the room so it was nice to finally see the city. Before we left, I had found a Thai restaurant that had vegetarian and gluten free choices. I had fried rice with veggies and Ryan had pad thai. It was delicious. On the way back to our room, we stumbled upon a stage with live music. It was a rock band singing loud and in Czech. Duncan loved it. After each song, he said "more music". So we sat there and listened and slowly this metal band put my son to sleep. In his early days Metallica used to do the trick and I just love my little rocker dude and his love of music. I took a slightly longer route home to window shop and try and discover a bit of the city. Todays ordeal still weighed heavy on my mind so it was nice to just be casual and walk. We landed back in the room and made for a quick good night.
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
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Friday, March 29, 2019
Labs Are Back
My labs came back. This was the last set of bloodwork before we leave. This was mainly to check if my thyroid was working and to see if the dosage needed adjustment, as well as my vitamin levels, specifically Vitamin D and iron. Overall everything looked pretty good. Thyroid was back where it should be at 1.4 so I just continue on my current dose. Iron was in the normal range but on the low side of that so I added another iron pill, so now I take 4 a day. Vitamin D was perfect so keeping that where it is. So still on lots of supplements and prescription meds, but nowhere near as many as I took last time so that's great news.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Labs, labs and More Labs
In my life, I have fainted more times than I can even count, no exaggeration at least 20 times, if not more. I faint at the sight of blood, so giving blood has always proven difficult. So of course, because life has a funny sense of humor sometimes, when you live with infertility you give a lot of blood and you do it often. So as we gear up for round 2, that means more blood work.
Here are my tips for giving blood to make it as easy as possible:
1 - Drink lots of water before you go. This makes your veins bigger and easier to find.
2 - If you are a fainter like me, insist on laying down. Not all facilities have a place to lay down so call ahead if you need that. I give blood at a LabCorp and I drive to one further away, but that has a bed for me to lay down on.
3 - Tell the phlebotomist up front that you are a fainter, or that you don't want to watch, or whatever your concerns are and be stern and strict with them. A lot of them just shine me one and I have to tell them how serious I am.
4 - Bring water or something to drink immediately afterwards.
Once I learned these tricks it made my life so much easier and its been about 2 years now since I last fainted, and that was only because my IV came out and it was a seriously gross situation.
Now on to the latest round of test. Below is my initial set of labs to just get a starting off point of where my hormone levels are and iron and a few other key vitamins. I also did my latest STD testing to bring it all current. All these tests meant 7 vials of blood. And I survived just fine. Just waiting to get the results back.

Tests Ordered
004259 TSH
010389 Free T3
001974 Free T4
006684 Thyroid antibodies
070104 Reverse T3
004465 Prolactin
322744 Hepatitis Panel (4)
083935 Panel 083935
012005 RPR, Rfx Qn RPR/Confirm TP
001321 Iron/TIBC
004598 Ferritin
005009 CBC w/diff & PLT
081950 Vitamin D25-OH
005215 Sed rate
001503 Vitamin B12
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
Here are my tips for giving blood to make it as easy as possible:
1 - Drink lots of water before you go. This makes your veins bigger and easier to find.
2 - If you are a fainter like me, insist on laying down. Not all facilities have a place to lay down so call ahead if you need that. I give blood at a LabCorp and I drive to one further away, but that has a bed for me to lay down on.
3 - Tell the phlebotomist up front that you are a fainter, or that you don't want to watch, or whatever your concerns are and be stern and strict with them. A lot of them just shine me one and I have to tell them how serious I am.
4 - Bring water or something to drink immediately afterwards.
Once I learned these tricks it made my life so much easier and its been about 2 years now since I last fainted, and that was only because my IV came out and it was a seriously gross situation.
Now on to the latest round of test. Below is my initial set of labs to just get a starting off point of where my hormone levels are and iron and a few other key vitamins. I also did my latest STD testing to bring it all current. All these tests meant 7 vials of blood. And I survived just fine. Just waiting to get the results back.

Tests Ordered
004259 TSH
010389 Free T3
001974 Free T4
006684 Thyroid antibodies
070104 Reverse T3
004465 Prolactin
322744 Hepatitis Panel (4)
083935 Panel 083935
012005 RPR, Rfx Qn RPR/Confirm TP
001321 Iron/TIBC
004598 Ferritin
005009 CBC w/diff & PLT
081950 Vitamin D25-OH
005215 Sed rate
001503 Vitamin B12
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
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Thursday, April 14, 2016
Clinic Day 2
Today was Ryan's day. We went back to the clinic. We had to check in between 8 and 9 am. Calling the cab proved again to be difficult because our phone did not want to cooperate even though we used it the night before without problems. But we have someone in the restaurant call for us and the cab was there about 20 min later.
We arrived with plenty of time to spare. We filled out some paprework and took a seat. Now being IVF vets and doing this and living through all this, I really thought I had seen and heard it all. Well....... today was a first. A man walked into the sperm collection area wearing slippers and boxers.
What the heck man! Dude! Ryan and I didn't know where to look. At least it gave us something to laugh about at least.
Now I sit in the train station anxiously awaiting the report from the clinic about how the ER went. We are somewhere just outside of Zlin.
Thanks for reading,
HEATHER
We arrived with plenty of time to spare. We filled out some paprework and took a seat. Now being IVF vets and doing this and living through all this, I really thought I had seen and heard it all. Well....... today was a first. A man walked into the sperm collection area wearing slippers and boxers.
What the heck man! Dude! Ryan and I didn't know where to look. At least it gave us something to laugh about at least.
Now I sit in the train station anxiously awaiting the report from the clinic about how the ER went. We are somewhere just outside of Zlin.
Thanks for reading,
HEATHER
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Thursday, April 7, 2016
We Have a Green Light
We are officially moving forward with our cycle in the Czech Republic. Today I went for an ultrasound with our clinic here in San Diego and was given the green light. Our clinic in the Czech Republic require a lining of 7 or higher after being on estradiol for 10 days. Today marked day 10 so off to the clinic I went at 8am. My lining measure 10.5 and we measured 3 times to make sure. As a side note my AFC was 9. I swear they were just there mocking me. So I sent off my ultrasound pictures and results and received an email back from my clinic in the Czech Republic saying:
So off to the Czech Republic we go. First we are heading to Budapest to get in a quick 4 day vacation before the whole process starts. Here is our anticipated timeline:
April 9th - 12th - Budapest
April 13th - Ultrasound and Blood work at the Zlin clinic to make sure my lining and estrogen and progesterone levels are correct
April 14th - Egg retrieval from donor
April 15th - 18th Vienna
April 19th - transfer
April 19th - 22nd - bed rest in BRNO
April 23rd - home
We appreciate all the love and support we have recieved. We can really use your prayers and well wishes in the next several days especially on the 19th. CZ is 9 hours ahead so we are guessing our transfer will happen at around 1am or 2am west coast time.
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
Your lining is excellent. Please, continue with the medication schedule without any change.
Look forward to see you soon.
So off to the Czech Republic we go. First we are heading to Budapest to get in a quick 4 day vacation before the whole process starts. Here is our anticipated timeline:
April 9th - 12th - Budapest
April 13th - Ultrasound and Blood work at the Zlin clinic to make sure my lining and estrogen and progesterone levels are correct
April 14th - Egg retrieval from donor
April 15th - 18th Vienna
April 19th - transfer
April 19th - 22nd - bed rest in BRNO
April 23rd - home
We appreciate all the love and support we have recieved. We can really use your prayers and well wishes in the next several days especially on the 19th. CZ is 9 hours ahead so we are guessing our transfer will happen at around 1am or 2am west coast time.
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
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Tuesday, September 22, 2015
6 Days To Go - Intralipids
So last night I started spotting and freaked out that they were going to cancel my cycle. By morning the spotting had stopped but I was still really nervous. At 10am I went for my monitoring appointment. Kristen was my nurse which was great because she knows me so well and could calm me down. During the ultrasound, she measure my lining about 5 times and each measurement was over 8 which is great. The lining is where it needs to be and it has grown since the last appointment so things are moving in the right direction. They took my blood to test the estrogen levels, which came back a little low but still in the normal range. They added an extra vivelle patch so now I'm on 3 patches changed every 3 days. I also got the rest of my calendar for the rest of the cycle. Because of the spotting and my anxiety over all this, I requested another monitoring appointment. I didn't want to go almost a week and then just show up for a transfer so I am going back on Friday for a piece of mind appointment.
At the appointment we turned in all of our consent and legal forms. We both signed on the dotted line to transfer 2 embryos. So it looks like we are going full steam ahead with transferring both embryos.
The bigger news of the day is that today was the day for my intralipid infusion. This has been a long time coming. I originally scheduled an appointment with a company that does them way back in June for September. When I came back from Hawaii there was an email waiting for me from the company stating that they were going out of business in San Diego and they were cancelling my appointment. I scrambled all of last week to find another place that could do in and compared cost. The intralipids could have been done at my doctor's office, but the costs was really high. I was able to find an outside company that did it for 1/4 of the cost and after 5 IVF cycles, every dollar counts at this point.
I have had a few friends do this ahead of me so I knew what to expect and what to bring. I bought a neck pillow, a blanket, magazines, my iPod, some snacks and an eye mask. They provided water and snacks, but none of the snacks were gluten free some I'm glad I brought my own. The neck pillow definitely made it more comfortable. The blanket was to put over the IV so I didn't have to look at it. The magazines are really easy to read as compared to a book. Remember you only have one hand, the IV arm is not that usable and a friend of mine that brought a book was unable to read it with just one hand free. The iPod just helped to pass the time. From start to finish I was there about 2 hours and 45 minutes but part of that was arriving early to fill out paperwork. The eye mask was in case anyone else was in the room with me. They have three chairs and can book all three at the same time if needed. I would have worn the the mask if someone else was in the room, I am just not very good at looking at needles. Luckily I had the room to myself.
I had a small amount of paperwork to fill out and a ton of questions to answer. My main concern was making sure that every single thing was latex free. After my last latex allergy issue with my last surgery that is the last thing I wanted to deal with. After everything checked out they started to make my infusion in the lab. The weird thing was that it was bright white. I wasn't expecting that. All the other IVs I've had have been clear so it was just weird.
I tried my watermelon trick again and it worked like a charm. The IV was started on the first try. They connect the intralipids to a machine and the drip starts. From this point, it takes a little less than 2 hours to finish. So I put my neck pillow on, placed the blanket over they IV on my arm, put my iPod earbuds in and tried to relax. The nurse didn't stay in the room with me, but about every 20 - 30 minutes would come in and check on me, ask me how I was feeling and then would take my temperature and blood pressure.
The IV was not painful but the whole experience was upsetting. It brought about a lot of emotions. I was mad. Mad that I was there having to do this. Mad that the whole infertility journey is just so unfair and takes forever. Mad that I am in the position of pumping weird things into my body on the off chance that this will work. I put on Pantera and just went with my feelings. Pantera is the best band to listen to when you are upset, it is just angry pissed off music. About an hour into the treatment, I started to feel less angry and just accepted of the situation. I read my magazine and switched to listening to Velvet Revolver.
There was very little physical side effects of the intralipids. The main thing is the arm with the IV in it got really really cold. I was glad I had the blanket to cover up looking at it as well as keeping me warm. I also got really tired towards the end. As soon as it was over, i came home, through on some pjs and took a quick nap. However, that could have been the stress and anxiety of the day finally being over too.
For those folks in San Diego, here is the information about the clinics in the area that do intralipid infusions.
Corum Infusion Services
858-576-6969 (phone)
866-484-4397 (fax)
Crescent Healthcare
858-547-8487 (phone)
858-578-5372 (fax)
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
At the appointment we turned in all of our consent and legal forms. We both signed on the dotted line to transfer 2 embryos. So it looks like we are going full steam ahead with transferring both embryos.
The bigger news of the day is that today was the day for my intralipid infusion. This has been a long time coming. I originally scheduled an appointment with a company that does them way back in June for September. When I came back from Hawaii there was an email waiting for me from the company stating that they were going out of business in San Diego and they were cancelling my appointment. I scrambled all of last week to find another place that could do in and compared cost. The intralipids could have been done at my doctor's office, but the costs was really high. I was able to find an outside company that did it for 1/4 of the cost and after 5 IVF cycles, every dollar counts at this point.
Here is some info about intralipids from an article on ABC News.
Intralipid infusion therapy is a sterile fat emulsion containing soy oil, chicken egg yolk, glycerine and water. The infusion is in liquid form and administered intravenously. It is a non invasive procedure carried out in clinic as part of a treatment cycle. Research has found that raised natural killer cell activity (toxic white blood cells) can act against an embryo and prevent its implantation into the endometrium. This is known as implantation failure. In addition, some autoimmune disorders can also have a detrimental impact upon the healthy implantation and early progress of an embryo which can also cause implantation failure and early miscarriage. Intralipid therapy is designed to combat these factors.My appointment was at noon today. The company was located in a business park. Inside it had a room for infusions, some admin cubicles, some offices and a giant lab where the make the IV drugs. I walked in and picked a chair.
I have had a few friends do this ahead of me so I knew what to expect and what to bring. I bought a neck pillow, a blanket, magazines, my iPod, some snacks and an eye mask. They provided water and snacks, but none of the snacks were gluten free some I'm glad I brought my own. The neck pillow definitely made it more comfortable. The blanket was to put over the IV so I didn't have to look at it. The magazines are really easy to read as compared to a book. Remember you only have one hand, the IV arm is not that usable and a friend of mine that brought a book was unable to read it with just one hand free. The iPod just helped to pass the time. From start to finish I was there about 2 hours and 45 minutes but part of that was arriving early to fill out paperwork. The eye mask was in case anyone else was in the room with me. They have three chairs and can book all three at the same time if needed. I would have worn the the mask if someone else was in the room, I am just not very good at looking at needles. Luckily I had the room to myself.
I had a small amount of paperwork to fill out and a ton of questions to answer. My main concern was making sure that every single thing was latex free. After my last latex allergy issue with my last surgery that is the last thing I wanted to deal with. After everything checked out they started to make my infusion in the lab. The weird thing was that it was bright white. I wasn't expecting that. All the other IVs I've had have been clear so it was just weird.
The IV was not painful but the whole experience was upsetting. It brought about a lot of emotions. I was mad. Mad that I was there having to do this. Mad that the whole infertility journey is just so unfair and takes forever. Mad that I am in the position of pumping weird things into my body on the off chance that this will work. I put on Pantera and just went with my feelings. Pantera is the best band to listen to when you are upset, it is just angry pissed off music. About an hour into the treatment, I started to feel less angry and just accepted of the situation. I read my magazine and switched to listening to Velvet Revolver.
There was very little physical side effects of the intralipids. The main thing is the arm with the IV in it got really really cold. I was glad I had the blanket to cover up looking at it as well as keeping me warm. I also got really tired towards the end. As soon as it was over, i came home, through on some pjs and took a quick nap. However, that could have been the stress and anxiety of the day finally being over too.
Corum Infusion Services
858-576-6969 (phone)
866-484-4397 (fax)
Crescent Healthcare
858-547-8487 (phone)
858-578-5372 (fax)
Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER
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