On to IVF

We have completed, unsuccessfully, our fourth IUI attempt, and so we will begin IVF shortly after the new year. We started with an initial round of tests and an IVF class at the new clinic. My blood tests had better results than back in February. There's no good explanation for that, but it does suggest that I should respond well to the IVF drugs. More interesting is that we had our third semen analysis, under more rigorous (and more reliable) criteria. The result was a normal morphology of 6%. Using these criteria, >15% is considered fertile, while <5% is considered infertile and not eligible for IUI. (It would have been nice if either previous clinic had run this test. We probably still would have been advised by the docs/required by insurance to try IUI, but our expectations would have been even more realistic.)

What this means for IVF is that we are currently scheduled for "traditional IVF," where the sperm and the eggs are combined in a petri dish to do their thing. But if day-of results are <5%, we will be converted to ICSI, a procedure in which a single sperm is injected into a single egg. Wild!

When is day of? Early March. I will start the first round of drugs (including one the infertiles on the interwebs call Loopyron for its tendency to induce irrational rages - fun!) in about four weeks. They will completely shut down my reproductive system for a month. Then, if all goes well, we'll begin stimulation drugs to grow eggs, hopefully 10-20. I will have minor surgery to retrieve them, around March 1, followed by embryo transfer (we hope!) 5 days later. And in the meantime, of course, I'll be teaching 5 days a week.

The IVF class was our first real exposure to our new clinic. We were pleased that we were very comfortable with the nurse and embryologist. Not surprisingly, we were the most informed couple there. (We were also the only ones who laughed at the jokes. Apparently other people have trouble seeing the humor in the infertility. But that meant we were a favorite of the nurse, which we always like.) We are also very blessed to have my continuing insurance; we were the only couple not paying a lump sum $12,000 out of pocket. (We are paying $12,000 to the insurance company, but in $500 bites, which is manageable. And if IVF #1 doesn't work, any more attempts in 2010 will essentially be free instead of an additional $12,000.)

I will call the clinic tomorrow to get on the schedule officially!