Yesterday we got some news, which at the time of the call I considered bad news. Now that I've had some time to process, research and talk about this news I realize it's in my best interest and am ready to accept it for what it is.
Friday morning we had another ultrasound to check on the growth of my follicles. The doctor was happy with what she saw and called me a super-star egg producer. My uterus lining is 8mm and shaped perfectly. She counted 19 follicles on the left side and 12 on the right. There is no way to see if each follicle contains an egg however they are looking for follicles bigger than 14mm and assume that those follicles have grown to the point of containing a mature egg. My follicles measured as follows..
After the ultrasound I got my blood drawn and scheduled an appointment to come back for monitoring on Sunday morning. I was told we were probably looking at a Tuesday (8/18) egg retrieval.
Now you're probably asking yourself, where's the bad news? Where's the complication? This all sounds good and normal. Well, as soon as we left the clinic I got really bad lower back pain.. I couldn't stand up straight and struggled to get in and out of the car. When we got home I laid down and tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. I figured the pain was due to how large my ovaries are and the probing of the ultrasound pushing them around and causing some soreness. A couple hours later we got a call from the doctor who said my estrogen level is 3,360 when it should be no higher than 2,000. They said we will most likely have to do a freeze all after egg retrieval. This means that after the eggs are collected they will be fertilized, monitored, and then frozen. We will then have to wait a couple months for my body to reset itself, clear itself of all the hormone drugs, and then have a frozen embryo transfer. Now, at first when the doctor told me this I rushed off the phone before I started to cry. After waiting this long the last thing you want to hear is that you have to wait longer. When I turned to my awesome Facebook IVF support group to complain about the news, the response I got really helped to ease my mind and calm me down. It seems that this is a very common thing that happens and is really in the best interest of my health and my future pregnancy.
The back pain and the high estrogen level is a sign of Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS) which is a side effect of the hormone injections. Getting pregnant while having OHSS can cause many complications and be extremely painful for the mother.
As it turns out, frozen embryo transfers are typically more successful than fresh transfers. Allowing your body to detox and rid itself of all the drugs puts you in the best physical state to achieve a healthy and successful pregnancy. We're not quite sure how long we will have to wait to do the transfer, it could be a month, it could be three. Obviously the doctors are looking to do what is in everybody's best interest and all we can do is trust them. We've waited this long, what's a couple more months?
Will update again after our appointment tomorrow.
