Aunt Flo & Dr. D

Today didn't start out too good. My period had started yesterday afternoon, and in the middle of the night it became very, very heavy. I've been awake since before 3 a.m. just managing it. I sort of thought it would be a heavy period after all those hormones, but I didn't think it would be so bad that I couldn't even go into work today. Everything seems to be settling down now, and I don't think I will have any trouble returning to work tomorrow.

We met with our RE late this afternoon. He reviewed all the aspects of our IVF cycle with us, and he expressed how in every way, because of my age, I had exceeded his expectations - except, of course, that a viable pregnancy did not occur. Dr. D seems optimistic that our two remaining embryos can result in the pregnancy we so dearly desire. They are AA and BB grade. I don't know much about those classifications, but he said they were good.

Before we transfer them early this summer, Dr. D wants to remove a polyp he noticed on my cervix during the first transfer, and he wants to check my uterus once more and make sure that a septum has not redeveloped.

We also had a brief conversation about using donated embryos if our FET isn't successful. They have a program in his practice, and he said if the FET doesn't do the trick then he would be very supportive of our desire to pursue that. I asked about the availability of Caucasian/Asian embryos, and he said that embryos are available from couples all over the country and they would probably be able to find us something like that. Hopefully, this will not be a step we have to take, but as I've been thinking and praying about things, embryo donation came to me as an option. Just knowing it's an option takes a lot of pressure off. It's hard to think that if the FET doesn't work then we're out of affordable options.

(In response to those that commented about the embryo adoption program, Snowflakes, while I really think that's a great organization, we would probably choose to pursue embryo donation instead. Embryo adoption requires a home study and attorneys fees - costs which we would avoid by using the donation embryo program. After four years of trying to become a mother, and $40k in adoption fees and fertility treatments, we will have to choose the most cost effective method if our FET is unsucessful. I just wanted to clarify, because there is a significant difference in cost and process between embryo adoption and embryo donation as far as I understand it.)

Anyway, the next couple of months will be fertility treatment free. During that time, I hope to increase my activity level and lose some of these IVF pounds. I'm tired of having a closet full of clothes that I cannot wear!