While some people are familiar with in-vitro, others aren't. For those who don't know much, here is a basic list of events, as I understand them!!!!
Days 1-22: shutdown. Doctors use medication, in my case birth control, to effectively shut down my ovaries. Some women require a drug called Lupron during this time, but I should be fine with just birth control. Chris and I are also both on a 10 day antibiotic to make sure there are no bacteria in our reproductive tract.
Day 22/23: scan. My doctor will conduct an internal ultrasound to check my ovaries. If they appear to be "quiet" we will begin fertility meds.
Day 23-26 ish: injections. The first 4 days of injections are already planned out for me. My doctor recommended getting many of my drugs from Europe because they are so much cheaper. Thanks to a reliable website: ivfmeds.com, we were able to save some dough! I will be on a concoction of medicines that I will mix and then inject myself. These medications will produce "superovulation". We hope to get 5-15 eggs.
Day 26ish: scan. After another scan, the doctor will determine the rest of my injection schedule. How much for how long etc.
Day 33ish: scan. Injections usually last a total of 10 days. At the end of my injection cycle the doctor will scan again and determine when to inject the medicine that actually makes me ovulate. This must be timed precisely right--like only a 5 minute window on either side.
Day 35ish: retrieval. Before leaving home, I will take a valium on retrieval morning. When I get to the office, I will be give more pain meds constituting moderate sedation. I will not need a breathing tube. The doctor will use a camera and a needle to enter my abdomen and basically suck the eggs out of my ovaries. Chris will make a "deposit" and his sperm will literally be injected into each egg in a process called ICSI. Hopefully 7-8 embryos fertilize.
Day 35-37 ish: watch and wait. Doctors will watch our embryos grow. Some will probably stop dividing naturally. After a few days, a decision will be made about a final date for embryo transfer. The number of embryos will affect how long the doctor waits before putting the embryos back in.
Day 38ish: egg transfer. When the doctor has determined that the embryos should be transferred, he will select 2 embryos and put them back in my uterus in a pain-free procedure similar to IUI. There will be some meds to take but the main process is over.
The embryos that were not transferred will be frozen. They can be unfrozen at any point in the future to use in other pregnancy attempts.
Now we wait! 2 weeks after egg transfer I will be able to take a blood test to determine pregnancy. 4 weeks later, an ultrasound will confirm the number of babies growing!
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