We're Penciled In!..

We were really looking forward to Friday because we had our first official IVF consult!  Up until now, it’s just been a lot of testing and consulting with specialists about our test results and where to go from here.  Well, we know where we need to go…so we’re on our way.  We met with Dr. Hammoud last September when he confirmed that IVF was going to be our best option.  He told us when we were financially and emotionally ready to proceed, to make an IVF consult.  So, here we are, officially in the books!  Tentatively, we are scheduled to begin the three month process in August.  We were not planning on moving forward until December or January but because of a long-winded story about school, we feel totally comfortable with doing it sooner.  I can’t believe I feel so calm (calm has not been a quality I have possessed lately) about the probability of having a baby while in my last semester of school.  It terrified me before but if we are successful our baby will be born on or around July 13th.  Weird.  We already know our baby’s due date!  I will still have a few weeks left of school but I am confident that I will rise to occasion of being a student and a mother, successfully.

Anyway, the IVF consult was a bit boring but very reassuring.  Not a lot of new information for me but I think Michael is understanding the whole process a little better.  We were told we have a less than 1% chance of conceiving on our own but it is not impossible.  He likened it to winning the lottery twice in a year.  Not impossible, but probability wise, not likely.  It’s reassuring to know that yes, this is good decision and we really do need it to have a family.  Our chances of success are very high due to the nature of our problem, our health and how young we are (Dr. Hammoud kept saying I was still so young…that was sure nice of him).  Then, he gave a perfectly terrifying speech about high-order multiple births and the risks for mother and baby associated with them.  I warned Michael that he would push us for a single embryo transfer and to have our guard up ready to defend our already made up minds to transfer two, if we have the embryos to do so.  But, then he said, “with all that said, let me tell you…90% of couples will choose to have two embryos transferred and it’s ultimately your decision to make.”  How could we NOT transfer two?  Our chances of pregnancy increase by 15%!  I mean, how could you not take as many of those little percent signs as possible?  We also found out he has two year-old twins!  Natural or IVF, I don't know?  It's still very funny.  My regular OB has one year-old twins also, naturally.

I go back for an ultrasound on Friday to make sure my uterus is a good hostess.  I know we have a while still to think about this process but it finally feels like we are actually putting our plan into action instead of just talking about it all the time.  In the meantime, I'm focusing on getting through the summer and making myself as healthy as possible to prepare for the procedure.  Michael is counting down the days until he can end his second job and I can't wait to have my husband back!