March 11, 2010

Um, about 'the plan'

Mrs. LC's comment on my previous post made me realize that while I've alluded to various bits and pieces of it, I hadn't actually posted "The Plan".

In short, The Plan was:
- Lose 20-25 pounds
- Go to NYC and get antibiotic uterine lavages in March
- Lose another 5-10 pounds
- Do an FET with 2 blasts in April

In reality, The Plan is looking more like:
- Lost 14 pounds
- Go to NYC (tomorrow!), may or may not get lavages depending on if I'm bleeding
- Lose another 1-6 pounds, depending on how long it takes CD 1 to show up
- Do an FET, number of blasts debatable, in April or May, again depending on CD 1

So, not perfect, but I'm long past obsessing about perfect. RE thinks the antibiotic stuff is "voodoo", but he didn't expressly forbid it. And we got further during the pregnancy when I had the IV antibiotic than we have with any other pregnancy, so we decided to give it another try. (That was the pregnancy with the Turner's syndrome baby, so it's not that the antibiotics didn't work. My body held onto the pregnancy very well that time; unfortunately there was just no hope of the baby making it to the second trimester because it was a complete Turner's. Some babies with partial Turner's do progress.)

Honestly, I would kind of feel better about another IV since that's what we did last time, but NYC doc thinks that's unnecessary this time around. And the lavages are cheaper, so it's not that his recommendation is motivated by getting more money out of us.

With regard to the number of blasts to transfer, a year ago RE was thinking two or three. But given the number of twins from CGH transfers, he told us in October that he'd recommend two, definitely not three.

That sounded fine with me, except that I've been lurking on the boards lately, and there seem to be a lot of twins coming up from CGH/MA transfers of two blasts. A lot. And while I would love to have two at once, I'm concerned about the wisdom of that. I'm already at risk for lots of complications, weigh more than I ideally would like to, and don't even know if my body can carry one baby for any length of time, much less two.

Then I came across some very scary stories about preeclampsia and almost bleeding out during emergency deliveries of twins. R wanted to start packing last night, but instead I forced him to sit and read said stories.

So now I'm thinking maybe it's best to transfer just one. But on the other hand, I have a feeling that if we transfer just one, none may stick. Thoughts? Suggestions? At least we've got a little bit of time on that one.

9 comments:

LiL Moo & Mee said...

We always went with 2 because I had the same thought of what happens if the one doesn't stick, I will have better chance with 2 and what ever comes with it we will deal with it. I honestly don't think you should worry yourself to much about what happens with others pg's or deliveries....what happens happens and is out of our control but hope you have a good Dr you can trust.

lastchanceivf said...

I hear you on those scary twin stats on the CGH normal boards...while two babies at once would be wonderful, there are definitely more risks and it seems like people lose sight of that pretty easily. It's so hard to know what to do....and while it's awesome to have choices, I know sometimes it just makes things harder.
Thanks for the plan update! :)

Sue said...

I know what you mean about the amount of twins on the CGH boards...but I was definitely on the other side of the statistics (transferred 2 beautiful CGH normals and got preggo with a singleton). After my wonderful singleton pregnancy, technically, I'd still like to have another one or two future singleton pregnancies...however, I know when given the choice again, I'll transfer 2 CGH normals again and risk twins. I just was on this side of the statistics and I know that if my one CGH cycle was a BFN, I would have been done and we never would have had our beautiful girl. So, my advice is to go with your heart. If you feel that transfering one and getting a BFN wouldn't stop you from transferring the other in future, then I'd say do a eSET, otherwise, transfer both (I would have assumed that the uterus of death struck again). There are good and bad stories with twin pregnancies...I just knew in my heart that I would risk it again for the chance to have a baby.

Besides that, everything sounds great. You can't be rigid with "plans" like that. What is the old saying, "if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans!". I think plans are good...as long as they are flexible:-) You will do great and I think you have a GREAT chance this cycle. I can't wait to congratulate you!

Phoebe said...

With CGH normal embryos, if you really only want one at a time, I would transfer one. As hard as it would be if it didn't work the first time, you don't lose anything with the other embryo still being frozen. I think you have to be honest with what you want. There is no shame in wanting one baby at a time. In fact, it's really the normal thing for humans!

Babysteps said...

Do you have more info in a previous post about what antibiotics you are taking and why? Is this for implantation issues? Regarding the transfer of 1-2 blasts, it's such a tough call. I have vacillated a few times - the last two cycles we transferred 3 and I got nada! then of course I worried that I wasted an extra 2 embies. I have a friend who did CGH and transferred 3 and is not pregnant with 3 - So I'd say listen to your intuition. It's hard to know what will happen and that's a frustrating thing about the # to transfer. Oh, one more thing, can I ask who you are seeing in NYC? I live here and have been to a few different REs... always nice to hear info about new ones. Best of luck!!!

megan said...

I'm a photographer based in NYC - I'm doing a photo series on women who miscarried multiple times http://www.flickr.com/photos/12780671@N03/4385696553/

It's a very personal project, too, I miscarried multiple times before having my son. Let me know if you'd be interested in being involved. My e-mail is miscarriagdiaries at gmail dot com.

My website http://www.mjoplinphotography.com/the%20miscarriage%20diaries.htm

Good luck. I'm rooting for you.

--Megan

Linda said...

(pg, birth, success ment)

I was on the BFP after CGH/microarray thread back in Jan/Feb 2009, and it seems like I'm one of few that didn't have twins, even though we transferred 3 blasts. But I think I had several factors that made me not the "norm." My blasts went through a lot - biopsied, frozen, thawed, re-biopsied, refrozen, and re-thawed. Anyway...After the birth of my singleton, that's when I developed complications. I developed post-pg eclampsia. During my pg, I didn't have GD or pre-eclampsia; so the post-pg eclampsia was a surprise. So I guess I'm not the "norm" when it comes to the number of embryos transferred and how many actually implanted and developing complications after the birth.

I wish you the best on your upcoming FET!

MrsSpock said...

We have a lot of fears about twins ourselves, especially since I achieved a spontaneous pregnancy once. It's one of the reasons we've decided against gonadatropins for the time being. My weight plus autoimmune issues seriously increases my risk of preeclampsia.It's such a tough call to make.

Penelope said...

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