Third Time is a Charm...Right?
This week has really been hectic. On Monday we had contractors in the house taking a good amount of carpet out and replacing it with tile. There was a night sleeping on the couch and our entire house is still so unorganized from it. Abby had a vet appointment on Tuesday.
I also got the results from my latest lab tests and was absolutely devastated at what I saw. I had a complete breakdown of epic proportions. I was inconsolable, and my poor husband didn’t know what to do about it. The results for my AMH test was 1/4th of what it was just a year ago. This result implies that I don’t have much of an egg reserve left.
Then, Wednesday was our due date. But I couldn’t do much to try to process it all because there was still renovations going on in our house.
Then Thursday I had an appointment at the fertility clinic for a follicle check. Despite all the bad, we are still trying to move forward. We aren’t giving up even though this is the hardest thing we have gone through.
At the Fertility Clinic
For the last few months I have been ovulating earlier in my cycle. My appointments are usually on the 12th day of my cycle. But I had already ovulated at that point. So, this cycle it was day 10. But I got a positive ovulation test the day before. This means that I was set to ovulate anywhere from 12-36 hours after.
I messaged the clinic to let them know and they had us come in right as they open to do a follicle check. This would accommodate an IUI if I did not ovulate yet.
So, we left at 6 am to drive an hour to the fertility clinic. I get called back and we do the follicle check. I had not ovulated yet which is good. However, the mature follicle is on my blocked side. That was when I thought we were out for this cycle.
However, our doctor said that the open Fallopian Tube can catch the egg from the opposite side. She said that it happens about 30% of the time. I always knew it was possible, but didn’t realize it happened that often. So, we agreed to give it a go and went through with our third IUI.
They squeezed us in for the procedure, so we were there for a total of 7 hours. It was a long day and we were both very tired.
Lab Results
My doctor did mention the lab results and she was shocked at the levels of my AMH. She wasn’t quite sure why it dropped so much in such a short amount of time. She wants to run the test again just to see because it was really strange.
Aside from seeing the drastic change, she wasn’t very concerned. During my ultrasound she saw that I had almost 20 immature follicles that were easily detectable. So, she really doesn’t see us having an issue in the near future with egg quantity. That took a huge weight off of my shoulders for sure.
Very Different Experience
This IUI is very different from the other two. I took no meds this cycle. I didn’t get the trigger shot and the mature follicle is on my blocked side.
The entire process to longer than normal and I was a lot more uncomfortable during and for several hours after. So, I’m not really sure what to think about that. But, I’m trying to stay positive about it all.
Weird Sense of Peace
When we usually drive to the fertility clinic, I am a ball of nerves. A lot of the time I have to use a barf bag because I am so anxious about what the doctor is going to tell us. This time, I didn’t have that problem at all. In fact I feel asleep on the way to the clinic. I was very surprised about that considering how poorly I felt the rest of the week.
Part of me wants to believe that I was given this sense of peace because we will have a baby soon. That everything is finally starting to fall into place despite the poor lab results and our struggle over the years.
The more pessimistic side thinks that sense of peace was given to help me cope with the fact that it will never happen for us.
The peace was God given, but why I still am unsure about.
Now, We Wait
I have to wait two weeks before I can take a pregnancy test. I am on progesterone to help things should the IUI be successful. I’m sure I will have days of optimism followed by complete pessimism.
If you have whiplash reading through my posts, just imagine living through all of this. It is a constant roller coaster and I am tired a lot of the time.
I really do hope that I can one day say that this was all worth it. Until then, we are in the trenches of it all just trying to find the strength to keep moving foward.