The Misadventures of my Uterus

I had my hysteroscopy on February 8. This was my first time going under anesthesia and I was nervous going into the procedure, but everything went fine. That being said, the doctor did find something usual about my uterus; nothing that would prevent me from getting pregnant, but it is definitely something that needs to be taken care of before we can proceed with IVF. There are two possibilities as to what the issue could be. The first is called a Septate Uterus, where means there is a band of tissue running down the middle of the uterus. This can be fairly easily fixed with a procedure similar to the hysteroscopy, in which they will just remove the tissue. After I have healed, which will take about a month, we can proceed as planned with in-vitro.

The other possibility is called a Bicornuate Uterus, which means the uterus is heart shaped with two joined cavities (a typical uterus has a single cavity). This is not as cute as it sounds! There really is no fix for this; it just means that instead of implanting 2 embryos, they would only implant 1. Bicornuate Uteri could be more prone to preterm delivery, and they don’t want to risk twins being even more preterm when they are already prone to prematurity.  I asked the doctor if it turned out that I had a Bicornuate Uterus, would I be considered a high-risk pregnancy. He said that the term “high-risk” was relative; am I a higher risk than a 21 year old with a healthy uterus, yes;  a 42-year old woman, probably not.

Next week I will have an MRI done to determine which one of these I am dealing with and then we will go from there.  This was definitely an unexpected bump in the road, and I am not thrilled about having to wait longer to proceed, especially since I had already been psyching myself up to start the shots. However, if this was going to be an issue, it’s definitely good that we caught it before we started; both of these conditions, if not diagnosed before pregnancy, could lead to miscarriages. At least now, for whichever one I end up having, we can take precautions either way.

So the shots and everything have been put on hold until I am properly diagnosed and, if it turns out to be the septate uterus, treated.  We are hoping it is the septate uterus because, even though there will be an operation and a recovery period, it’s a simple procedure and once I am healed we can do IVF exactly how we were going to before.  

So, to quote one our favorite books (and soon to be movie), “The Hunger Games,” may the odds be ever in our favor!

Drugs, Dogs and a Disclaimer

First of all, the disclaimer (especially for male readers and the squeamish): This is a blog about IVF, so if I’m going to talk about the entire process, you may come across some terminology regarding female body parts and body processes… I’m not going to post anything too graphic, but if you are particularly bothered by bodily functions, you may want to ask someone to Cliffs Notes it for ya ;)

We had a “training visit” last week at the clinic to learn about all the drugs I will be taking over the course of the IVF process and how to administer them. Honestly, it was quite overwhelming since there are 3 different injections I have to take at different times, plus pills, patches, etc. The good news is that the class was just an overview, and the clinic will let me know exactly when I need to take what meds.

The injection to stimulate my egg development is actually a mixture of 2 different drugs that come in powder form that I will have to concoct myself. This is a bit intimidating, but I'm more intimidated by actually mixing the drugs correctly than the needle itself. The other two injections (one to prevent ovulation and one that I take once to induce ovulation) come in pre-filled syringes, which make it easier. I’m also going to be on A LOT of Estrogen after the embryos are implanted. This all adds up to an absolute SLEW of hormones that will be coursing through my body over the next month, which is going to be tons of fun for me as well as those around me…. Let me take the opportunity now to apologize for my (highly) probable emotional outbursts in advance! I’m supposed to start injections on 2/10; consider yourselves warned J

The reason why my first procedure (the hysteroscopy) isn’t until 2/8 is because I have to be on birth control pills for 3 weeks to control my ovulation before the procedure. (My uterus officially belongs to my doctor now!) It’s pretty ironic I would have to take birth control pills to get pregnant!

Moving on from my uterus... because we are starting a family, we decided it would be a good idea to enroll the dogs in obedience classes at Petsmart. They are still quite young and love to jump on everybody, which is cute now, but will not be okay once I am pregnant and then once Cupcake is here. (People tell me that the dogs will sense the baby’s presence and act accordingly, but the classes are our safety net.) So far, neither of them like to pay much attention in class (too many distractions!), but they do fairly well at home.

Mommy is far more interesting with treats in her hand!

The 8^th will be here before we know it, and honestly, I am ready to just get started! So…. the movie “The Vow” comes out the weekend I start my injections… is anybody brave enough to see a sappy chick flick with me!? Bring tissues!!! MANY tissues!!!

Love, Amanda

Welcome to our blog!

Ryan and I have told several people already of our plans to start in-vitro fertilization this year so that we can start a family, however I went back and forth with myself over how much information to divulge since this is a delicate subject. IVF is wonderful in that it gives us a chance to have children of our own when not too long ago, that may not have been possible since chemotherapy has annihilated Ryan’s fertility. That being said, it is also quite an involved and invasive procedure and there is no guarantee that it will work the first time around. However, we know we have lots of support out there from family and friends who will want to know what is going on and how we are doing. Hence, the blog J “Cupcake” is the euphemism I will use for the baby; I like to think it’s fairly gender neutral!

I’m not going to describe the entire procedure in this post because honestly, some of it is still a little fuzzy for me, so you’ll learn about it as we progress in the treatment (or if you’re really antsy, there is always good ol’ Google!) So far we both have had blood work and I have had a baseline ultra sound. On February 8, I will go in for a Hysteroscopy, which means they are going to send a camera-type thing into my uterus to have a look around and get a feel for Cupcake’s future temporary home, basically making sure everything’s okay.

I feel very comfortable with my doctor and my clinic; I think they are going to take very good care of us and do their best to bring us our Cupcake (or, potentially, Cupcakes… yes, there is a possibility for twins… we’ll get into that later!) I have already started taking prenatal vitamins and they are already getting all of my appointments and medications I will need to take set up, so we are on our way!

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Love,

Amanda and Ryan