Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis-Baby's Beginning

My experiences of concieving our first child using preimplantation genetic diagnosis

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Status: Approved!

I called our insurance this morning to check on our benefits advisory, and they said everything's approved!! :) HOORAY!! :) I'm so happy! I had no idea if they'd approve it or not, and I was worried they might even deny the IVF portion, but it's all officially approved now! :) What a relief. Hopefully we'll be able to get back the $3,500 setup fee that we already paid, too. That would be a big help! Whew. I'm so happy!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

We're ON!

I took my first birth control pill last night! Wow! I really started! We're really doing this! I'm officially "on the drugs" now. I just have to get through the next month and a half, and then April 1st I'll be pregnant!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Got my protocol!


Hurray! Hurray! I got my protocol! :) This is really going to happen! My CMV retest came out okay, and my new cycle started, so now we know all our estimated dates and everything! :) So, here's the plan:
  1. Saturday, 16th February: Start birth control pills (desogen). This is on Day 5 of my cycle.
  2. Tuesday, 11th March: Take last birth control pill. This is a little over 21 days that I'll be taking them, so I'll actually need 2 packs of pills, although I'll only take a few from the second one.
  3. Friday, 14th March: Have blood test and ultrasound appointment to see if I'm ready to start stimulation.
  4. Sunday, 16th March: Start stimulation (Gonal-F).
  5. Wednesday, 19th March: 1st monitoring appointment (blood test and ultrasound to see how many follicles are forming on my ovaries)
  6. Friday, 21st March: 2nd monitoring appointment
  7. Monday, 24th March: Last monitoring appointment - this will be done in Chicago. I'm guessing we'll probably go on Friday night or Saturday morning, since it happens to be on the weekend, and the dates could change depending on how my ovaries react to the stimulation.
  8. Thursday, 27th March: Egg retrieval! :)
  9. Tuesday, 1st April: Embryo transfer - this is when I hopefully will get pregnant! :) Hooray! :) I hope it's not an April Fool's Day joke... ;)
So, that's the schedule! It all starts tomorrow, on Saturday! We still have a lot to do. Mary said that Freedom Pharmacy - the pharmacy they use for the medications, will be calling me to schedule delivery of the drugs. Three of them have to be refrigerated so the delivery has to be pre-arranged. I have to get the IVF consent forms and anesthesia history questionnaire sent off to Mary, too, sometime soon. We also have to get our plane tickets and hotel reservations, of course. Since it's possible the dates could change, I'm going to try and get changeable tickets this time. I also have to watch the videos online of how to give myself the shots. I think it'll be best just to not make a big deal out of it. It's just a few shots. So what? Thousands of other women around the world do it all the time. And it's only for a week or two, then it'll be all over and I'll be pregnant! :)

Friday, February 01, 2008

Another negative positive, ugh!

One of my blood tests - the test for CMV, came out positive :( . Fortunately, CMV is just a cold-like virus, and not a huge deal, according to my IVF coordinator. I don't like hearing that I'm positive for any more things though! IP is enough! She said that often you won't even have any symptoms with CMV, and it will just go away by itself in a week or two. She said I should test again in a month, and hopefully it will be gone. The reason they test for it is that unfortunately, it can cause birth defects, so I want to be sure my body has ousted it before I start the PGD cycle. I looked up CMV: CytoMegaloVirus (si-to-MEG-a-lo-virus) . It can cause disabilities, down syndrome, neural tube defects, and things if you have it when you're pregnant! I definitely want to make sure it's gone! Most adults have been infected with it at some time, like the common cold. It doesn't seem to cause problems except during pregnancy, or in people with immune problems. CMV is the most common virus that's transmitted to the fetus during pregnancy. It's actually good that I became infected now, because if you have a first time infection during pregnancy, that's when it's most likely to cause problems. So now my body will be more immune to it. There's no treatment for it - just like a cold, and there's no vaccine for it. Basically, you just have to get over it naturally. I've been sneezing occasionally and what not, however it's winter right now, so I didn't really think much of it. Who knows if it's actually because of CMV or just random sneezes.

I'm still busy trying to get my test results sent to my IVF coordinator. For some reason it's very difficult to get a fax sent, and actually received, by different doctor's offices. Mary (my coordinator) finally has all of my test results (except of course I have to redo the CMV later), but she didn't get a couple of my hubby's tests, so I'm still trying to get those resent.

There were two prescriptions in my packet - one for prescription prenatal vitamins and another for the birth control pills. The rest of the medications Mary will send me herself from Chicago when the time comes. I already have prenatals that I really like (New Chapter Organics Perfect Prenatal, if anyone's interested), so I'm not going to take the prescription ones, but Mary said I needed more folic acid, so I'm going to take an additional folic acid vitamin as well. I'm planning to pick up the birth control pills today, so I'll have them when I'm ready for them next cycle.

I'm going to keep extra warm and have some chicken noodle soup to try to get rid of this virus!

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