IVF #4: I have an Egg Retrieval Day

A little behind on posting... but to cut to the chase, I have an egg retrieval day! Retrieval will be on Tuesday, October 30, 2018 @ 11:30 a.m.

Now... the details.

Monitoring Appointment #3, Friday October 26, 2018, Stim Day # 9

I thought this appointment would be the day where this cycle would be clear. But it really wasn't... there were maybe 5 follicles to work with and my estradiol levels were 722.7.

At this point I knew we weren't going to have the egg retrieval on Monday (10/29). There was still a possibility of canceling the cycle.

Monitoring Appointment #4, Sunday October 28, 2018, Stim Day #11 

So, it was weird to stim longer than 10 days because I only had supplies for 10 days. The nurse told me on Friday that I should just not do my morning injections until after my appointment. Well, I didn't have any Menopur left anyways. The RE told me to just use ALL the remaining Gonal-F and do the Lupron shot - then I'd be done with injections.

My estradiol level was 1141.7. If you estimate about a level of 150 per mature follicle, you're looking at maybe 7-8 follicles. But from my ultrasound, he was only really able to see 3-5... So, I don't know what that means for retrieval or if estradiol levels are really reflective of the # of mature follicles. For my IVF #2 they were pretty aligned (estradiol level as about 1400 and they retrieved 9 eggs / 8 mature) - but they were also able to see 8 eggs during the ultrasounds.

Trigger Shot

I received notice to trigger @ 11:30 p.m. tonight and that my egg retrieval will be 36 hours later on Tuesday, October 30, 2018 @ 11:30 a.m.

Thoughts

It's hard not to be disappointed. I can finish this cycle with absolutely no embryos... I'm trying not to think that way, but I'm also trying to be realistic here. If they are only able to get 3-5 eggs -- how many will be mature? How many will fertilize? How many will make it to blast? How many will be PGS normal? The percentage goes down with each "how many" and when you don't start off with "many" -- you can see my non-mathematical brain doing the numbers here.

As much as my brain is doing these calculations... I am really hopeful that the ONE future baby egg is in there...

I'd lie if I said I wasn't already thinking about next steps, because I totally am. I love my fertility clinic, but they are pricier than a lot of other places. I've mentioned that I've basically exhausted my lifetime max of fertility benefits with this cycle... so, if I move forward with another cycle it'll be 100% out of pocket. Meaning, I need to go to a different clinic. Also meaning I need to save money to fund another cycle. I'm not getting any younger here, so time is of the essence.

Trying to be optimistic about the odds... but also trying to be realistic on what the next steps may be.

For now, just hoping and praying that there is at least ONE good egg in there that will be future baby...