Wednesday, January 16, 2008

It's Cut and Dry Now

At least I don't have to make the decision. The decision was made: the doc said that IVF would offer no better chance than IUI at this point and unless I have unlimited resources (which I don't) and want to know more about my eggs (like are they all crap), she would suggest IUI. I have to say, I feel some relief at this decision.

We then had a sit down and had a long talk about my situation. I have 7 follicles but probably only 4 will be mature. She thought that there was a good chance that there would be no embryo to transfer out of these four.

I asked if I might have a better chance with another cycle with a slightly different protocol. She said that my window of follicles is probably between 5 and 9 so I could hope for slightly better but that I won't get to the range that would make IVF a clear go. I have doubled the amount of gona.l f and have not had double the response. She also said that after 4 medicated IUIs, statistically, there is a decrease in pregnancies (it goes to the rate of placebos).

We talked about what might be next which is likely egg donor for me. My goal is to have a child and this is a way for that to happen. There is an estimated 70 - 80 % success rate for donor egg and that is very attractive. Also, by not doing the IVF this time, we'll use that $10,000 towards the $25,000 donor egg cost. As DH says, that's a $10,000 discount.

On the current situation, I am to continue with the shots for 2 more days (drat!) and go in again for a blood work and a scan on Friday. We'll probably have the IUI sometime over the weekend. I am sick of the shots but I'm not quitting now. On the plus side, this is the longest medicated cycle I have had and that hopefully means better quality eggs. The doc said that this is because the birth control pills suppressed my ovaries.

I'm glad this decision is over and that I didn't have to make it. It wasn't a great night sleep last night. Maybe we'll get lucky and the IUI will work. Stranger things have happened!

5 comments:

Meghan said...

It is nice when the decision is out of our hands.

Good luck this weekend!

Unknown said...

Really rooting for you...you have to get a break at some point right? Hey, perhaps this will work and you'll have $10,000 to spend as you wish! :-) Here's hoping....

George said...

Sounds like you had a very productive chat with your RE about the IUI/IVF and donor eggs. I love your hubby's theory on the $10K discount...LOL. Good luck with your remaining stims...and I hope this IUI works for you...stranger things HAVE happened! :)

jeanie said...

That's four chances at a baby. You never know when you've got that magic egg, so I'm still rooting for you.

I also wanted to suggest that you take a look at this website:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/209394/page-9

It's a forum for women with high FSH. Don't know if that's an issue for you, but I do know that high FSHers also tend to respond less to meds, so there may be some overlap. I don't have high FSH, but I have learned a lot about various IVF protocols (including low stim protocols that, strangely, seem to elicit a better response / better eggs in some women). It may give you some ideas.

Best of luck this weekend!

Anonymous said...

That's a very tough decision you have. I went through the same thing myself. I converted my first IVF to IUI with 3 large follicles. When it didn't work, I was kicking myself. If I have 7 follicles this time, I'll be doing cartwheels. I wouldn't buy into the RE's negativity. They really don't know until they look at your eggs. All you need is one good one, right? Whatever you decide will be perfect. It's hard all the way around, so try to be gentle with yourself!