IVF Chronicles No. 2: Our 27 Day IVF Cycle.
- Talia Markham Baer
- Jun 18, 2020
- 11 min read
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve last updated about our journey and the steps we had to take to get here. To say things have been insane would be an understatement. When I last posted about the initial start of our IVF journey, I had hoped that the posts would quickly come – week after week – to get us updated much before our miracle baby girl arrived, but with working a full-time job and then spending every other free minute prepping our NAPA Auto Parts Store to open, time has just been flying by.
Yes, we’re opening up a NAPA Store! Andy’s construction crew first started on the building in February, I believe, and it quickly went up with final completion around the beginning of May. Since then, there’s been inspections, lose ends to still tie up, and the past two weeks the NAPA team and their subcontractors have been in the building prepping and filling it with inventory. Thank the Lord they do that because we wouldn’t have a clue what to do with 8+ tractor trailer loads of inventory dumped on us (insert bug-eyed emoji)! Anyway, we’re hoping for a “soft opening” on Tuesday, June 23rd and a big grand opening on Wednesday, July 1st. Exciting times!
Throughout this whole thing, we’ve been so thankful to the people who have helped make this dream come true for us. Well, more Andy as this is in his wheelhouse and not mine, but I fully trust his judgment and there was once a store in our area that did very well but had to shut down when the former owner wanted to retire and they couldn’t find anyone to take it over. With a location change, inventory bump, and new building, we’re hoping that it’s as much of a success as we’re anticipating.
But…..without God, this wouldn’t even be an opportunity we could think of. Like our IVF journey, He’s weaved his way into this whole thing and has blessed us beyond measure. From our construction crew being beyond capable to take on the task, to no injuries on the job, to being able to work through the COVID-19 pandemic, to amazing relationships created and fostered through the NAPA family, to promised sales and future investments from large corporations and businesses, God has just shown up in a very visible way.
So if I get a little distracted from this and it’s been two weeks since a post has been uploaded, reach out to me and make sure I get back on track. This journey is just as important to show His workings as the one we’re currently embarking on, and we want to be stewards of the love and grace He’s shown to us time and time again.
As I detailed in IVF Chronicles No. 1: It all starts with blood, the call to ORM to tell them, “I started my period. We’re ready to go,” being one of the most joyous calls I’ve ever made. Even the IVF nurse that took the call went, “Woohoo, girl! This is happening!” That’s one thing I can say about the staff there too. They were just as invested in your success as the physicians were and truly took the extra time to understand your concerns and answer any of the crazy questions you may have come up with.
So when we got off the phone, our next step was to wait on the call from the pharmacy to get the medications being sent on their way. With this clinic, you’re to use the pharmacy they choose, and I only tell you that because some other clinics will give you a list of medications and you can find them wherever you wish. I have heard of some people getting their drugs from London, England and flown here, and others have just shopped around. Truthfully, we did not have time to buck the system and shop around as you never know when you’re going to start and within 10 days from that start date, you need to start administering medications.
ORM does ensure that f does their own legwork of price-matching and ensuring that they’re offering the medications at a discount as they know how expensive this process can be, but just the pharmacy order alone was $4,000+. Again, I tell you that because for anyone who may be viewing this journey, I want to be transparent about what the costs can be. I’m also listing the medications that were included in that order because some female readers who have been involved in the IVF process have asked what my “protocol” was, so here it is:
OUR IVF TIMELINE
September 20th - Day 1
Call your clinic to tell them you’ve started and when. For me, that had to be around September 20th.
September 24th’ish – Day 4
Start taking oral birth control. I know, seems odd, but this is to quiet your ovaries so that when you’re ready to start pumping yourself with the stimulation drugs, they’re starved for the medication. Depending on your case and how quiet your ovaries need to be, you could be on oral contraceptive from 10 days to 5 weeks. It all just depends on your situation and everyone’s situation is different. I took the medication for 10 days or less.
Friday, September 27th – Day 7
We visited ORM for our IVF protocol appointment and Andy had to give another sample to ensure he didn’t need medication to aid him on his side of things. He did not 😊
Wednesday, October 2nd – Day 12
I received a message on the patient portal that the pharmacy had our IVF protocol information and that they’d be in touch with me. By this point, I have been taking birth control, the medications are on their way.
Monday, October 7th – Day 17
I went to ORM to have my blood work done to show my estrogen level, as well as an ultrasound to ensure the ovaries are quiet for the start of the medication that evening. My estrogen level was 83 (they like it to be 75 or under), but they let me go ahead and start. Sometimes this holds people up. If their estrogen is too high, then they have to wait until it goes down, and sometimes that can really change the timing of the cycle and force some into waiting another month because the wiggle room is just too small.
Now, this is where things start to get hectic.
Some clinics allow your blood work and ultrasounds to be conducted at a facility that's closer to home for you, but ORM requests that if you're going to be going through IVF treatment - or any other treatment with them - that you be seen by them, and only them during your IVF, IUI, etc. cycles.
The drives to the clinic…
So every time they wanted to see me in the office, I had to be there – in Columbus, Ohio – by 7:30 am to have my blood drawn and an ultrasound conducted. This meant that I had to get up at 4:30 am and leave my house by 5:00 am to ensure I made it to the appointment on time. Luckily, I was ready with podcasts and audiobooks, but to think that there’s not bumper-to-bumper traffic on the outer belt of Columbus at 6:15 am is incorrect!
As soon as I would hit the Canal Winchester area, the traffic would start to be thick and slowed. Yes, I was a nervous wreck. Navigating this journey alone, in the dark morning, trying to monitor GPS and listen to the commands while also watching out for the insane drivers who cut in and out of lanes, or the meanie drivers who wouldn’t let you over when you realized last minute you needed to be in another lane. Yeah, when I would always send the text to Andy, “I made it,” it’d be accompanied with a “shew” emoji…always.
And no, it wasn’t necessary for him to come. Yes, there were some men there each time, but they were just there for support. The appointments lasted an hour and a half max, so by 9:00 am, I was released for the day and would even sometimes drive back to Parkersburg to work the afternoon, or make it there by an 11:00 am hearing. Only my coworkers knew the lengths I was going to to make this happen, but what a support they were the whole time!
Tuesday, October 8th – Day 18 – evening injections
Andy administered my first shots, all of which were in the evening. Throughout the whole process, there was only one time I had to administer the shot myself and luckily it was in the stomach. Every other shot came at the hands of him, and I was so thankful for that, that he wasn’t too gunshy, nervous, etc. to give them to me. He was so serious about getting this right and watched video after video about how to properly fill the syringe and inject the medication. He was amazing! I have ALWAYS said, without him, I couldn’t have done this and I really mean that!
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Wednesday, October 9th – Day 19 – evening injections
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Thursday, October 10th – Day 20 – evening injections
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
This was the amount of hair that came out after one washing, just three days into injections.
Friday, October 11th – Day 21 – appointment & evening injections
I headed back to ORM for an early morning appointment where my estrogen level was checked again, as well as an ultrasound completed. In just the three days of injecting those medications, my estrogen level had gone up from 83 to 387 (304 points). My follicle numbers were 9, 8, 8 on the left side, and 19, 16, 9, 9, 9, and 8.8 on the right side. Lastly, I was to proceed with the medications listed above, but to add in another one too.
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Ganirelix Acetate 0.25 mg, take 0.25 mg subcutaneously each day as directed. Inject the full syringe.
Saturday, October 12th – Day 22 – evening injections
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Ganirelix Acetate 0.25 mg, take 0.25 mg subcutaneously each day as directed. Inject the full syringe.
Sunday, October 13th – Day 23 – evening injections
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Ganirelix Acetate 0.25 mg, take 0.25 mg subcutaneously each day as directed. Inject the full syringe.
Our "Drug Drawer."
Monday, October 14th – Day 24 – appointment & evening injections
I headed back to ORM for another 7:30 am appointment. My estrogen level that day was 1119, 732 more than the last visit just the Friday before. And in the portal, I was asked to call the pharmacy to get some more Ganirelix, so more $$$. I assume they wanted to see how I’d react to it before they continued that medication within my regimen. And that day, my left side follicle numbers were 12, 11, 10, 9, and on the right side they were 23, 22, 15, 15, 14, and 14.
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Ganirelix Acetate 0.25 mg, take 0.25 mg subcutaneously each day as directed. Inject the full syringe.
Tuesday, October 15th – Day 25 – evening injections
Gonal F 225 units, Inject 225 units subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Menopur 75 IU, Inject 75 units (1 vial) subcutaneously (in the stomach)
Ganirelix Acetate 0.25 mg, take 0.25 mg subcutaneously each day as directed. Inject the full syringe.
Wednesday, October 16th – Day 26 – appointment & evening injections
I headed back to ORM for a 7:30 am appointment where they again checked my estrogen level and performed a follicle ultrasound. That day, my estrogen level was 1853, 734 more than the two days before. And my follicle numbers on the left side were 19, 19, 15, and on the right side, 31, 23, 21, 20, 20, 19, 18, 18, and 17.
Now this day was a bit different because I was to take the normal medications, but we were to administer the “trigger shot” at 2:15 am! The “trigger shot” allows for the final maturation of the eggs that have been highly stimulated and growing, to be harvested. And yep, you read that correctly – must be administered at 2:15am.
So at 2:00 am on Thursday morning, Andy and I woke up, he got the shot ready, administered it, and we went back to bed. I honestly can’t remember if we both fell back into bed, or if we laid in bed and held hands until we fell asleep. I kind of remember it being the latter, but I just know how excited we were because that meant in two days, we’d have our egg retrieval!
Ganirelix Acetate 0.25 mg, take 0.25 mg subcutaneously each day as directed. Inject the full syringe--LAST DOSE
Novarel 5000 units, inject 1ml (5,000 units) IM AT 2:15 AM EXACTLY!!!! (AFTER MIDNIGHT)
Lupron Trigger 4/0.8 mg/ml, take 1 syringe SQ AT 2:15 AM EXACTLY!!!! (AFTER MIDNIGHT) **MAKE SURE YOU SET AN ALARM**TRIGGER SHOT @ 2:15 am.
(This is copied and pasted from the patient portal instructions.)
Thursday, October 17th – Day 27 – pregnancy test & evening injections
At this point, this is one of the days that’s really joyous! Just hours after we were to administer the “trigger shot,” (between 7:30 – 8:00am) I was instructed to take a pregnancy test. It must read “pregnant” to ensure you’ve done if correctly and to be able to proceed on to your egg retrieval. So you can only imagine how exciting it was to administer the test, wait for the results, and FINALLY see “Pregnant” pop up on the screen! As soon as it did, I was to call ORM and let them know that it worked and the necessary hormones were released in order to produce that read result.
And unlike the other evenings, I was to take an oral medication in order to decrease the chance of an infection from the egg retrieval surgery the next day.
Minocin (minocycline) 50 mg, take one tablet four times TODAY WITH FOOD! (ONE TABLET WITH BREAKFAST, ONE TABLET WITH LUNCH, ONE TABLET WITH AN AFTERNOON SNACK, AND ONE TABLET WITH DINNER)
NO FOOD OR DRINK AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!
Friday, October 18th – Day 28 – EGG RETRIEVAL DAY
Sadly, at this point, the medications don’t just end there – they continue even after the egg retrieval, most of the time - but I’ll be devoting an entire post just to our egg retrieval. One, because it was a really epic day, and two, the story of “Yes, I’m listening” is too monumental to just leave at the end of this post.
If you’ve been paying much attention, during this whole thing – the “Yes, we’re doing this,” the deposit being made, the medications being purchased and administered – all steps were taken without the confirmation that God was truly in this and listening. I know that seems pretty crazy that we went through this whole thing without a true confirmation that He was walking this road with us, but honestly, we hadn’t heard a “I’m with you,” exactly, but in the same breath, we also hadn’t heard a “No, don’t do this.”
Yes, I was very reluctant, realizing that without God, I don’t know how reliable this human science option is, but took the absence of a deafening “No” as somewhat of a sign. Throughout those drives to and from Columbus almost every other day for a few weeks straight, I had a ton of time to talk to God, and that I did. Constantly, I was saying, “Am I wasting my time?” “Am I spinning my wheels?” “Are you listening?” “Hello?”
And heard nothing. So instead of waiting on a response I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear, I chose to praise Him for all the blessings we had in our lives. I know many look at this infertility option as “out of the question,” and only because of His amazing blessings did we NEVER think twice about it. I don’t say that as a bragging thing at all because it’s EXPENSIVE and wasn’t just an easy check to write, but because of His blessings, we didn’t have to worry about how we were going to pay for this, or what to do when the credit card bill came, or how we were going to pay for the extra costs involved, i.e., the gas to accommodate a five or more 300-mile round trips; the lab work that’s not factored in to your IVF deposit; the meals during the windshield time; the extra medications that may or may not come up during your cycle. Without Him….and His amazing grace….and His favor….this wouldn’t be an option for us to even consider.
So during my many hours in the car, I chose to “Praise Him in the Storm” because it was so much easier to praise in all the ways He’s really showed up than to worry about the silence I was experiencing.
The next post will be all about the egg retrieval. Ours was filled with both joy and horrible heartache, but man, did He show up. You’ll want to stay tuned for that one!