Skip to main content

IVF Round 3 Protocol


We are about a week away from starting the “priming” process of IVF round 3. I’m really excited for our next round. Yes, I wish we didn’t have to do it. But we do, and I’ve decided to completely embrace it and be totally hopeful. In the past I’ve worked so hard to guard my heart during our rounds. Which is 100% normal when you’re battling infertility. At some point, you just get to where you want so badly for everything to work out, but you’re also realistic and know that it doesn’t always work the way you’d hope.  But I’m going into this round full of hope. I’m still nervous to say “when this works…” or “when we’re pregnant…” but I’ve caught myself saying that a couple of times. During my nightly breathing exercises (as recommended by my acupuncturist), I’ve been saying “We will get pregnant this year, we will have a healthy baby next year.” Crap, that’s scary to type out. And I can hear my superstitious husband on the other end of this saying “noooo!! Don’t say that out loud!!!” But I’m declaring it. This will work. And if it doesn’t… well we’ll figure that out if it happens (see what I did there? Still a tad guarded, I guess)

We got our protocol for this round and I’ll admit at first I was a little nervous that maybe my doctor forgot what we had talked about. We had a discussion with him yesterday, and he explained his reasoning for the changes in protocol this time. I feel so confident that he has tailored this protocol for us, specifically based on our history and my health. Have I mentioned how much I love my doctor?

So here’s our protocol for Round 3…
  • Once ovulation occurs (hopefully late next week, we start doing blood work to check on Wednesday):
    • 2 mg of Estrace (estrogen pills) each day
    • Androgel (testosterone gel) rubbed on my belly once a day
  • Starting on Day 1 of my cycle (about two weeks later) “stims” (injections to stimulate the ovaries) begin:
    • Inject 450iu (6 vials) Menopur each day
    • We’ll start injecting Cetrotide (which keeps me from ovulating until we’re ready to trigger) a few days after starting Menopur (timing of it will be based on ultrasounds and blood work)
  • After 9-12 days of stims (determined by how quickly the follicles are growing, and how many we have):
    • We will “trigger” ovulation with Ovidrel
  • Exactly 36 hours after trigger, we’ll go in for egg retrieval!
    • Depending on how many eggs fertilize and make it to day 5, and how my lining is looking, then we'll determine whether we will do a fresh or frozen embryo transfer. 

This is quite different from both of the other rounds of IVF. You can see the protocol for round 1 here, and round 2 here. Our doctor has explained that this protocol has been proven successful for women with low AMH (which is what I have), and that lining the timing up with my natural cycle should really help us get some healthy eggs. I will say, I’m not sad about going from 5 injections a day last time to now 1-2 each day.

I’m ready for next week… let’s get this show on the road!!

Be sure to follow us on our journey on Facebook and Instagram! 



Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 13, 2018 at 1:52 PM

    Sending you prayers! Miracles happen.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reid's health - Hospital stay #2

When I started writing this blog, it was dedicated to one topic – infertility and pregnancy loss. I guess that’s two topics, but very closely related. I did not think the type of miracle I would be impatiently waiting for would change. We now need a miracle for my husband, Reid. A month ago I shared that we were in the hospital and he had cholangitis. At that time, we knew that it meant his Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) – an inflammation of the bile ducts in his liver – was progressing. But we weren’t sure by how much. So we had follow up appointments and procedures scheduled with his doctors. Next Tuesday he was set to go have a Spyglass procedure so we could see where he was. He had been feeling significantly better after his last hospital stay, and we thought things were looking much better. Early Wednesday morning he woke me around 3 a.m. with liver pains (yes, unfortunately he actually knows what liver pains feel like). We decided to come into the ER, given his last si...
17 comments
Read more

After the Storm

I’ve stared at a blank page on my screen several times over the last few weeks, trying to find the words. Today I’m committed to sharing, no matter how those words come out. So please bear with me. Over the last few months, I’ve dealt with some serious anxiety. And I’ve avoided sharing. Because I had babies recently. And often the response is, “You’re a new mom, it’s normal to have anxiety.” And that’s true. It is normal to have “new mom” anxiety, and to have a new level of stress that comes with raising tiny humans. However, what I’ve been dealing with is so much more. I wake up in the middle of the night with a pit in my stomach and have to catch my breath. I often think about losing my husband or one of our babies, and I spiral into a pit of anxiety. Every time I walk up and down the stairs with a baby in my arms, I am anxious that they are suddenly going to throw themselves out of my arms and go over the railing. If Reid doesn’t do something for the babies the exact way I wou...
1 comment
Read more

One Month Liver-versary

Today marks one month since Reid was wheeled into the Operating Room for his liver transplant. One month since our lives changed forever. That was the best day, but I’ll be honest – it was also the hardest day of my life. I don’t think we were fully prepared for the emotions that would surround that day. And it’s just now catching up to us that this happened. One month ago he received the ultimate gift. He received the gift of life. The gift of not living with his disease, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, and all of the symptoms that came with it. The gift of not having to worry every day that cancer was taking over his liver. The gift of looking forward to watching his babies be born, and not having to worry how long he’d be around to raise them. The gift of no longer wondering whether he would ever get the liver transplant he needed. An absolutely priceless gift. I don’t even know that I can properly vocalize the emotions we felt in the 33 hours leading up to him being taken bac...
Post a Comment
Read more