Yes, another change of plans in the mix.
That's the nature of this process and we're learning to not expect anything to stay the same from day to day.
On Monday we went in to meet with the doctor for what we expected was our Frozen Embryo Transfer Consultation. We ended up being presented with two options and a strong recommendation from our fertility specialist.
Option #1 - go forward with our frozen embryo transfer. Transfer the one and only little embryo that made it through the freezing process and cross our fingers and hope for the best. The doctor told us only about 80% of embryos survive the thawing process and when transferring one single embryo there is only about a 25% chance of pregnancy.
Option #2 - start from the beginning. Do another round of hormones, a new egg retrieval, watch our embryos grow and hope and pray that we have more than one make it to the end.
Now, at first I was devastated. We had spent the last week trying to be positive about our 1 little embryo. Reading all these "it only takes one" success stories and thinking one is all we need. Yes, I cried in the doctors office when he strongly suggested we go with option #2. But then I got to thinking, WE got to thinking, and talking and realized option #2 is really, truly in our best interest. The clinic is not going to charge us to do another cycle since we are doing the success guarantee program. (You can read more about that here) We were told we could start the second round right away if we want.
The main reason the doctors want us to do a new cycle is so they have more than one embryo to work with. They ideally want to implant two at a time to increase the chance of pregnancy to 50%. Also, embryos that are frozen can be stored forever. That means, in two or three or five years from now if we want to have another baby, we can come back and do a simple frozen transfer and not worry about all the injections, monitoring appointments, major surgery all with a child on our hip. Egg quality decreases the older a woman gets so it is ideal to get as many out now as possible.
We've had a few days now to reflect on our decision to do another cycle and I'm actually quite excited. The injections are really no big deal and the only time I was affected by them was at the very end when it felt like I was carrying around bowling balls inside me. The doctors have started me on different vitamins meant to help improve my egg quality in hopes that this time we'll get not only more eggs but more mature eggs. Another big factor of this cycle will be closely monitoring my estrogen levels. The hope is that we will be able to do a fresh transfer right after the retrieval.
We are both confident that round 2 will yield more healthy embryos and have positive results all around. Thanks in advanced for your prayers, well wishes, and good vibes.
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