We've made some progress! In infertility world, that's a big deal!
In the last couple of weeks I made 2 trips to the Gurnee clinic. It's only an hour away but it felt like a road trip. These days I hardly drive my car to the grocery store. I don't even know where my keys are.
Visit #1 was to do some blood tests and an ultrasound.
I was stressed about the ultrasound. It was to do a follicle count. Typically every month you have a certain number of follicles, and only one matures into an egg.
When you do IVF, you take medication that forces all of the follicles to mature. Then you have a surgical procedure to take out as many eggs as possible. The more eggs, the better the chance that IVF will be successful. Counting the number of follicles you have during a normal cycle can predict how successful IVF will be, and how much medication you will need.
Since I had a blood test last year that suggested I don't have as many eggs as the average woman my age, I was really freaking myself out over this. See the previous post.
The results turned out okay. I had 8 follicles. Usually women my age would have closer to 20. The good news is that it should be enough. IVF can work for women with numbers like that. We don't need a ton, right? We just need enough for it to work. Look at me trying to convince myself to be optimistic.
Visit #2 was a slightly more invasive procedure. It involved a camera inside my uterus. It was wasn't as painful as expected (yay!), so that was a win.
The bigger win is that my uterus has no polyps or anything else that looked concerning. Last year they saw a polyp, and if it had grown they would have had to do surgery to remove it before trying IVF. Luckily, it was already gone! That means one less surgery!!
I guess if I'm going to talk about my uterus, I might as well mention the perils I experienced on my way to do the test. For the procedure to work, I was told to drink a certain amount of water (2 measuring cups worth) an hour beforehand.
I gagged it down, but already had to go before leaving the house. Halfway through the drive I was crying because I knew I couldn't make it (I was in pain!!) but I didn't want the test to be cancelled. I'm tired of delays, okay? I had to stop at a Kwik Trip and just kept drinking. It still worked out. Crisis averted.
After the camera experience, we would have been completely cleared to start IVF. Considering my follicle count was fairly low it seemed like they would have let us start right away despite Corona world. But of course, there was another small roadblock.
Since my first infertility round of tests in December of 2018, I have been on thyroid medication. I have never symptoms of thyroid problems (as far as I know), but I have "subclinical hypothyroidism." Basically, it's not really bad enough to cause problems in normal life, but my hormone levels could cause a miscarriage if left untreated.
Well, just 3 months ago my thyroid levels were perfect. And then last week, the levels were WORSE THAN THEY WERE BEFORE I STARTED TAKING MEDICATION! What???!! Just when I thought I had one problem resolved.
Now I need to try to see a thyroid specialist and have perfect levels again before starting, so I'm working on getting an appointment.
See how fun my life is?
At least I liked the new clinic so far. This was my first time going there in person. I had to cover my face. :)
This is my favorite benefit so far of traveling to Illinois- Giordano's Pizza.
In the last couple of weeks I made 2 trips to the Gurnee clinic. It's only an hour away but it felt like a road trip. These days I hardly drive my car to the grocery store. I don't even know where my keys are.
Visit #1 was to do some blood tests and an ultrasound.
I was stressed about the ultrasound. It was to do a follicle count. Typically every month you have a certain number of follicles, and only one matures into an egg.
When you do IVF, you take medication that forces all of the follicles to mature. Then you have a surgical procedure to take out as many eggs as possible. The more eggs, the better the chance that IVF will be successful. Counting the number of follicles you have during a normal cycle can predict how successful IVF will be, and how much medication you will need.
Since I had a blood test last year that suggested I don't have as many eggs as the average woman my age, I was really freaking myself out over this. See the previous post.
The results turned out okay. I had 8 follicles. Usually women my age would have closer to 20. The good news is that it should be enough. IVF can work for women with numbers like that. We don't need a ton, right? We just need enough for it to work. Look at me trying to convince myself to be optimistic.
Visit #2 was a slightly more invasive procedure. It involved a camera inside my uterus. It was wasn't as painful as expected (yay!), so that was a win.
The bigger win is that my uterus has no polyps or anything else that looked concerning. Last year they saw a polyp, and if it had grown they would have had to do surgery to remove it before trying IVF. Luckily, it was already gone! That means one less surgery!!
I guess if I'm going to talk about my uterus, I might as well mention the perils I experienced on my way to do the test. For the procedure to work, I was told to drink a certain amount of water (2 measuring cups worth) an hour beforehand.
I gagged it down, but already had to go before leaving the house. Halfway through the drive I was crying because I knew I couldn't make it (I was in pain!!) but I didn't want the test to be cancelled. I'm tired of delays, okay? I had to stop at a Kwik Trip and just kept drinking. It still worked out. Crisis averted.
After the camera experience, we would have been completely cleared to start IVF. Considering my follicle count was fairly low it seemed like they would have let us start right away despite Corona world. But of course, there was another small roadblock.
Since my first infertility round of tests in December of 2018, I have been on thyroid medication. I have never symptoms of thyroid problems (as far as I know), but I have "subclinical hypothyroidism." Basically, it's not really bad enough to cause problems in normal life, but my hormone levels could cause a miscarriage if left untreated.
Well, just 3 months ago my thyroid levels were perfect. And then last week, the levels were WORSE THAN THEY WERE BEFORE I STARTED TAKING MEDICATION! What???!! Just when I thought I had one problem resolved.
Now I need to try to see a thyroid specialist and have perfect levels again before starting, so I'm working on getting an appointment.
See how fun my life is?
At least I liked the new clinic so far. This was my first time going there in person. I had to cover my face. :)
This is my favorite benefit so far of traveling to Illinois- Giordano's Pizza.
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