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| Need IVF |
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We saw this doctor in October 2001 and, after doing a pelvic exam, said that he knows why I am not getting pregnant. He said that I have some infections going on. My cervix is supposed to be round with a slit for an opening, but my opening is only a pin dot, so nothing can get in or out. He said that the miscarriage could have caused that. I also have a yeast infection and I am not producing enough cervical mucus. He put me on an antibiotic for the cervical infection, Diflucan for the yeast infection, and Premarin for days 8 through 13 of my cycle to help produce more cervical mucus. He also suggested that we do a post-coital (after sex) test to see if I am allergic to Nellis' sperm. He said that he feels that our only chance of getting pregnant is through IVF. He said that if we are not too set about going to the U of U for the IVF, he knows of a doctor in American Fork, Utah that will do it for about half of the U's cost and if it does not work the first time, he will do it a second time for half of his cost. He also has a good success rate. He said in the meantime he will try to treat the infections and see if we can get pregnant on our own after taking care of those.
I took all of the medications and went back to see the doctor the next month for the post-coital exam. He said that my cervix was not much better, I still had a yeast infection, I am still not producing enough cervical mucus, and I am allergic to Nellis' sperm and am killing off his sperm before they can even reach my cervix. So, we have lots of wammies against our getting pregnant on our own. He said that we definitely will have to use IVF to get pregnant, because he has not had any success in treating the allergic reactions.
So now we are waiting to meet with the doctor in American Fork. When I called his office in October the soonest appointment we could get was December 28, 2001 and the soonest they could start IVF was February. They then had a cancellation and we were moved up to November 28, 2001. But, then things were really touchy with Nellis' work situation so we had to reschedule. So we now have our first appointment scheduled for February 1, 2002. We are anxiously waiting for that day to get here so that we can find out how much money we need to come up with and what the procedures are that we will have to go through. |
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| Meeting with Embryologist |
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We finally got to meet with Dr. R, the Embryologist. He is a very nice man and very funny. He wanted to be a doctor and his brother is an ob/gyn. He went with his brother on some rounds, but could not handle the blood. So, he decided to go on the scientific end of things. He met a fertility specialist at a conference in Hawaii and decided that he wanted to specialize in fertility. He was in charge of a clinic in California for a while. He does all of his own work (doesn't have others do the work and claim it as his own). That way he knows that it is done right. He has done a lot of research and has found out how to know which eggs had the most oxygen, which gives them a better chance of fertilizing, and what mixture to put the embryo in that is most like what is in the human body. He found that his success rates were better than his collegeaues because of all of this. He then decided to move to Utah and practice here. He does everything at a lower rate so that everyone can have a chance at becoming parents. He does not guarantee that we will get pregnant or have a baby, but says he will do his best. If we want a guaranteed baby, we need to adopt. His success rate is around 65% for my age group. The University of Utah is only 30% and Dr. H is only 35%. Because of his high success rate, they will only transfer 2 eggs. They used to do 3, but had several sets of twins and triplets. It is too high of a risk for the mother and the baby having triplets because of low birth weight and complications, that they will only do 2. We decided to go ahead and see if we could get the money together and get on their schedule. We scheduled the transfer for around Memorial Day so that I could rest that weekend. We then scheduled an appointment to meet with the ob/gyn that he works with, Dr. A. |
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| Meeting Dr. A |
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| We met with Dr. A and liked him right away also. He got into fertility because he and his wife had to do IVF to have their first child. He had grown up in Utah, and decided to move back here. He has his pilot's license and enjoys to fly when he gets the chance. To start out, I had to go on birth control continuously so that they could control my cycles. |
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| More Complications |
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| We found that my cervix is very stubborn as we prepared for the IVF. The doctor had to dilate it to do any work. They even put in a root to stretch it, which was very painful. He also dilated it when he had to do surgery. This makes it very difficult for anything to get in or out. We also found that Nellis' sperm have an acrosome problem. Which means that they have a difficult time chemically breaking down the lining to the egg to get in to fertilize it. Also, with the problems with my ovaries, the eggs have thicker shells than normal women. So we have many things working against us getting pregnant on our own. We have been told that we might be able to get pregnant after getting pregnant the first time with IVF, but it is unlikely with all of our problems. So, we are probably dependent on IVF for all of our pregnancies. |
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| Cysts Back |
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| Just after going on the Lupron, I had cysts again. We tried doing the Lupron for an extra week, but that did not work. So our cycle was shut down and surgery was scheduled. |
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| Fourth Surgery |
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| I had my fourth laparoscopy to remove endometriosis and ovarian cysts on August 7, 2002 by Dr. N. They also put in a special gel that is supposed to help prevent adhesions from forming. |
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| Back to IVF |
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| I had to wait 8 weeks after surgery for the IVF. After surgery, I went back on the birth control pills and then started the Lupron again. I had regular ultrasounds to make sure everything was going like it should. The Lupron and fertility drugs are shots that I have to give myself. The Lupron shots were done in my stomach every day. The fertility drugs were done in my hip. We had to delay things a little and increase my medication because I have ovarian retention syndrome. More or less, my ovaries are like those of a 40 year old. I don't want to produce eggs and when I do, I don't want to release them. They increased my medication for a few days and then we did the egg retrieval on November 1, 2002. They were only able to retrieve 4 eggs. We would have liked to have had more, but that is all that I produced. Dr. R called us November 2, 2002 and said that we only had 1 egg that fertilized. We were disappointed, but glad that we at least had one. The embryo transfer was scheduled on November 3, 2002. When we arrived, Dr. R informed us that another egg had fertilized during the night. It was a miracle. We would have 2 eggs to transfer. I then went on strict bed rest for 3 days. |
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| Not Pregnant |
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| A few days after the transfer I became very nauseated. I was giving myself progesterone shots to help to keep the embryos. I soon had an increased appetite and tender breasts. We felt very positive that the IVF had worked for us and we would finally become parents. We went in for the pregnancy test on November 15, 2002. We later learned that the test was negative and we were not pregnant. We were totally devastated. We pretty much shut ourselves off from the world for 3 days. We still have a difficult time with this, but are getting through. I am getting new insurance in January at work that covers IVF. We are working on being sealed in the temple and are planning on trying IVF again in the spring or summer. Dr. R strongly suggests that we go to the clinic in California to do ICSI next time because of Nellis' sperm problems and my ovaries. We are thinking about it, but have not decided for sure yet. |
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