One day workup - Molly

I spent my Thursday at CCRM for a one day workup. My first appt was at 730am. My last was at 300pm. I left my house at 645am and returned home at 5pm. I am exhausted. I had various appointments over the span of the day. In one way it's nice because I was there 1 day vs. various random appointments. But I am not going to lie. It was A LOT of information. There was A LOT to digest and some hefty decisions were put in front of me.

I say me, because Jason was in CA for work. When the appointment was made, they didn't emphasize that it would be beneficial to have my spouse there. Someone has to pay for the IVF, so I didn't think twice about going alone. I will admit, I wish he could have been there. But I got through it. And we have to go back for a "follow up/regroup" appointment in a few weeks (once all of the tests results come in). The next appointment will be my protocol, or my schedule. That is when things really get rolling.

So how am I feeling? Like I'm ready to climb Everest and my pack is way too heavy, not sure if I'll make it up.  

MY DAY:

7:30am: IVF Orientation - 4 inch binder handed to us with every tidbit we need for the process.

8:30am: Fertility Labs Consent Review - I signed away my life. Estimating about 50 pages in consents.

9:00am: IVF Consult with nurse AND review of CCS (genetic testing) - I met with my nurse, went over previous bloodwork (what had been done, needs to be done) and discussed CCS (basically we have been advised to have our embryos genetically tested, to ensure a most perfect embryo. Our hopes, that it lowers chance of miscarriage.) Two big decisions were weighed on me here

1. If I overstimulate, what are my feelings on selective reduction (aka, abortion)? HELLO! NO! WILL NOT HAPPEN! I RATHER BE OCTOMOM! (at least I could get a tv show).
2. If we have "leftover" embryos, would I consider donating them? This one is hard. After the struggles we have had, it breaks my heart to see others go through them. A perfect embryo could be a big blessing to a family. Reverse side? We are donating what is potentially a child. So do we leave some in the freezer? Or do we spend another 5-8K hatching all of our eggs (with the potential of some, none or all working out). 

It was after this appointment that I broke down. I really was wishing Jason was here. Just to soften some of the blows. I am only 33 and I'm discussing donating or destroying embryos? WTF! After this appointment I sat in the waiting room. Here I met a nice couple. They too, were in for their workup. This is their 5th IVF. (4 failures) Let's just say I had some perspective for what this process really is.
 

all the pics - uterus is the orange one

10:30am: Baseline Ultrasound + Doppler - checking my resting follicles, blood flow to the uterus, looking for fibroids and signs of endometriosis. Got some sweet pics of the ultrasound. I am getting pretty good at looking at them - heck, I even could see that I was ovulating on my right side. In this appointment, the tech had an interesting look on her face. I asked, "what do you see?" She goes on to tell me that my left ovary looks like it is covered in endometriosis. Laproscopic surgery might have to happen. Now I was panicking.  (Dr. Schoolcraft later confirmed I was fine.)

11:00am: Bloodwork, communicable diseases, meet with genetic counselor. I got to skip this because I gave 8 vials the week before. 

11:30am:  Finance Office - YIKES. Good thing it was a good year. This appointment definitely weighed on my heart. 

12:30pm: Annual Exam, Pap and Breast Exam - always a good time!

1-2:45pm: LUNCH BREAK! Thank you Erica for the Chick-Fil-A. We also went to Anthropologie for some retail therapy.

3:00pm: Hysteroscopy - Another invasion of my cooch. This time I was pumped full of carbon dioxide so that my "cavity" could be examined for scar tissue, fibroids etc. Side effects? Cramping, possible bleeding, excess gas in your body which travels up and gets stuck behind your shoulder blades. Plus, NO SEX. FOR A WEEK. Did I mention I was ovulating!!! ARGH! Oh, and I can't forget the antibiotics I to take to prevent infection. Sounds like a picnic. Infection in the cooch. So sexy.

My right ovary - the ovulating one

By the time it was all over, drove through traffic, it was 5:00pm when I got home. There was one small blessing to the day. The cost of a one day workup? Almost $2000. I paid my $35 and walked out. Thank you insurance!

PS: to the sweet person who wrote this note and left me a box of cinnamon bears - THANK YOU!