2/17/2017 0 Comments ivf: is it worth it?So right now I'm a few days away from finding out if the embryo implanted. If it worked, I'm pregnant right now (!) If it didn't, then we are back to square one. So, because we only had one embryo make it, I've been thinking about what we'll do if this one didn't take. Our case is quite rare - my husband has azoospermia (which only affects 1% of men) and he was able to have micro tese surgery. We've been really lucky to be in Toronto, where there are some of the best urologists in the world. But the sperm that was retrieved from the surgery is still a bit abnormal and less likely to fertilize than "normal" sperm. So it's not the same as men who are having fertility challenges with low sperm count or low mobility. My husband has one or two sperm rather than millions. (3 million is considered low.)
Keeping that in mind, our chances for fertilization are going to be lower. (I also have endometriosis and a blocked tube, so that doesn't help with our chances with IUI.) Before I did IVF, I have to admit, I heard that it was hard, but I didn't really understand what that meant. Because not a lot of people talk about the ins and outs of what makes it so hard. I thought it was mainly emotionally hard, I didn't fully understand the physical challenges. Honestly, if I had to go back and do it again, I TOTALLY would have done IVF because we wanted to exercise every single option available to us to have a child that was biologically ours. We are also completely open to having a donor as a second option because we want a baby more than anything else in the world. But having gone through it once and knowing how this went, I am considering not doing this again because of how difficult it is. That is me saying this during the dreaded TWW, one of the most difficult parts of IVF. So maybe I'll reconsider later, I'm not sure. We've both invested so much and been through so much that I know whatever we decide will be the right decision. PROS Having a baby. At the end of the day, this is the only pro of IVF. And it's such a big pro and so important, it might outweigh all else for you. CONS Physical Yes, this will be different for everyone. But I think most of the things I've experienced are common byproducts of IVF. Each symptom ranges from mildly unpleasant to painful, but what I've learned is that a series of unpleasant things all lumped together make up a really physically treacherous experience. - Weight gain (this I knew about before). It's really hard for me. - Constipation (caused by my injections). It's painful. - Invasiveness. This one was a lot harder for me than I thought it would be. The transvaginal ultrasounds, the blood draws, the procedures (the sonohysterogram remains THE WORST thing, to be honest, and that was just the test where they pump air into your fallopian tubes to check if they're blocked. That was pre-IVF)... near the end I was beginning to feel a piece of meat. Emotional/Psychological This stuff really messes with your head. It's already an incredibly emotional time for us, add in a hormone cocktail and it multiplies. It isn't the crazytown I thought it would be (I thought I'd be throwing dishes at J's head, ha) but for me, it's more like PMSing for weeks. Since I started the progesterone (which you take after egg retrieval), I've been way more emotional and prone to bursting into tears at random as well as getting really angry for no reason. The progesterone made me really, really sad. It fluctuates day to day. The uncertainty, for me, is the hardest part. The shock of having only one embryo to transfer was such a huge disappointment that I wish I'd been more prepared for. I did very little research about the risks and chances before starting because I didn't want it to worry myself unnecessarily. Financial Even though we had a funded cycle AND got our meds through insurance (which was worth probably about $12k give or take a couple thousand dollars), we spent a lot of money. We'll get some back through tax, but not that much. Which is fine, we were definitely prepared to make some financial sacrifices. Doing this again means that we'd be paying out of pocket. It would cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $15k. The Odds Using this online IVF predictor tool (which in my opinion, is completely flawed... like most things, it accounts for several causes of female infertility but only gives ONE option for male infertility), it gives us a 30% chance of getting pregnant. If this round is unsuccessful, my chances go are 23%. If I miscarry during this round, my chances are 21%. I don't know how my miscarriage a few years ago contributes to these odds. I can only assume that it makes our chances slightly lower on this round.
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AuthorCall me M. The About page should lower those expectations of yours. Archives
November 2017
CategoriesAll Celebrities Clomid Femera Fertility Hormones Infertility IUI IVF Male Infertility Mental Health Mindfulness TWW |