IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2 – Update

We are officially beginning our second round in the IVF and PGD process. I went in yesterday for an ultrasound and blood draw to test my estradiol levels. All was good, so Dr J gave me the go ahead to begin taking birth control pills again. I’ll take the pills for the next 17 days, then stop and get another period, then I’ll start injections again and my next egg retrieval is tentatively booked for Dec 1st or 2nd.

If we get enough eggs and enough fertilize, then we’ll grow the new embryos and the 5 we have frozen to 5-day blast and on the 5th day, they’ll take a biopsy of each embryo and send it to the PGD lab for chromosomal testing. So we should know by around Dec 6th or 7th if we have any viable embryos. If we do, we’ll likely wait until the end of that cycle and one more before doing the transfer. So sometime in mid January we will hopefully be ready to transfer an embryo. I’m feeling a little more positive today. When I wrote my last post, I wasn’t feeling very positive about moving forward this time around, but I’m feeling more optimistic now that we’re taking action again. Although it seems counterproductive to take birth control pills when trying to conceive, the pills actually benefit the process by preparing the ovaries for the hormone injections. So that’s the first step. Then the real fun begins again. I’ll have to do more hormone injections. Needless to say, I’m not very thrilled about this part. I told the Dr J, I was OK doing the injections again, but I’m really not thrilled about it. It’s really not fun. Thank goodness for my husband! I don’t think I could do it without him. Aside from the obvious sperm contribution from him, I really don’t think I could do any of this without him. He has been my rock through all of this.

8 thoughts on “IVF with PGD: Egg Retrieval Part 2 – Update

  1. I’m glad you’re feeling more optimistic, I think it always feels a little better to be doing something (like at the beginning of a cycle). Fingers crossed you’ll get lots of good embryos and January will be a great month!

  2. Thank you! Wishing you the best this cycle too! I saw your post earlier. Don’t worry about the trigger shot. The nurses will show how to take it, and if you really can’t do it yourself, have your hubby do it. I had my husband do all my injections for me and will be getting him to do it this next cycle too. I just can’t bring myself to squeeze the trigger. My husband wasn’t thrilled when we had to do the first injection, but he was able to do it. Also my clinic has video tutorials on their website. Perhaps your doctor does too? It really helped to watch the video each time we had to inject a new medicine because the needles and doses were different for each med. The good thing about the trigger shot is it’s a pre-filled syringe with the correct dose, so you just have to point and shoot the one time. We’ll be starting injections again in about 3 weeks. They’re not fun but manageable. Fingers crossed for both of us!

  3. Thank you for explaining in detail your knowledge of PGD (very helpful!). I would have also gone the same route, skipping the months of clomid and going straight to IVF. I am hoping with you.

    1. Thank you. Sending you strength hon. I just read your Nov 4th post and I’m so very sorry for this recent loss. Big hug. I am hoping with you too.

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