Moving onto IVF

At this point, it came as not shock to go online and see women who had a history of four, five, and even eight IVF cycles.  So it was with both renewed hope and a nagging feeling that we entered the IVF program.  Because of my FSH levels, the darling hubs and I did not qualify for the "shared risk" program many fertility clinics offer.  This coupled with the fact that our insurance did not provide any coverage for IVF was a bit of a blow.  We signed up for the "multi-cycle discount," which was a 40% discount off fee-for-service, and gave us two tries, non-refundable.  Begin stomach upset and altered sleep patterns.  I spent the month leading up to the procedure on the pill and trying to adjust to the fact that within a few months, we would either have succeeded or failed at our only chance to have "our" baby.  By "our," I meant a baby made of genetic material from both myself and that darling man I married.

Terrifying does not begin to describe it.  We were wagering the farm on this marvel of reproductive science which I had initially thought would be our chance for success.  The more I searched blogs for women going through the same experience, the more I realized that although it's a modern miracle, IVF does not work for all women.  Some of these women had success several times into it.  We had two tries.  Period (no pun intended).  No money back, just expensive menstrual cycles if it didn't work.

Near the end of my cycle on the pill, I went for my mock transfer.  No fancy name.  People said it wasn't as bad as the HSG.  Heck, with all that had been going on in the nether-regions, I figured it would be a piece of cake.  Not so much.  I found it more uncomfortable than the HSG as I experienced intense cramping.  And Dr. M had to use a little ol' contraption called the "tenaculum."  If you haven't had the pleasure of knowing this device up close and personal, Google it or wait for your doctor to ask the nurse to hand one over.  The real trauma was when he told me, yep, got a polyp right where we want the embryo to implant, gotta take care of that first.  Could back up your schedule a bit.  What?

Mini melt-down ensued.

My regular gyno managed to schedule my surgery for the next week.  My stim start date would not need to be pushed back another cycle.  Things were working out!  Besides wisdom tooth extraction over college break, this was my first "surgery."  I was a nervous nelly, but it ended up being a  piece of cake and I had virtually no cramping.  Polly polyp was gone.  Stims: bring it!