A Definition

I love my husband. And you know why? Because if you look in the dictionary under sweet, optimistic, or (most importantly) naive, you'll find a picture of him. Allow me to illustrate with a conversation from yesterday:

Him: Did you take your morning estrace?
Me: Yeah, but really? What's the point?
Him: I'm still hoping George will surprise you.
Me: Honey, George isn't going to surprise me. Today's 15 days post retrieval. Even the stupid internet cheap POS pregnancy tests would have shown something if I was pregnant today.
Him: Okay.
Me: You really think there's going to be a surprise.
Him: I'm hoping George will surprise you.

It's cute, no? So for his sake, I will continue to take the little blue pills and the damn PIO, despite my blubbering in a doctor's office yesterday (see Chez Perky for that one), because, after all, I'd hate for him to say "I told you so" on something that critical, right? (but I still haven't made an appointment to go in for my beta...)

(for the record? No surprises this morning, other than I still feel like crap. And not in a pregnant kind of way - in a "oh my god where are my lungs and all my energy?" kind of way)

ick

Still sick. Still not pregnant (so Barren? You can stop holding out that tiny bit of hope, okay?).

I have yet to schedule my beta, which is supposed to be Friday. I wonder if they'll notice if I don't show up for it? I'm guessing they would notice. Back in 2006 when I was away on vacation (the only real vacation I've ever taken in my entire life) on a beta day (and had told them I wouldn't be there on beta day), they freaked out when I didn't show up for my beta. But then, having not been on PIO, I'd had solid proof that that IUI (#2) had failed miserably.

So ... not showing up for my beta is probably not an option right?

7dp5dt, aka The Day Barren Brought the Laughter Back

I've had a really hard time with this cycle, and Barren just "gets" it when a lot of other people just... don't. I feel guilty about it, to be honest. I feel like I should have an easier time dealing with infertility by now. I've been there, done that. More importantly, I'm on the other side of it. I've got a beautiful family, as many people feel the need to remind me. Often. As if that means I should simply be satisfied and be done with.

And yet - I have not resolved my infertility. I have not come to terms with it. Every setback, every failure, every loss this time around hits me as hard, maybe harder, as the first go-around. I think this is partly because this time was supposed to be "easy", or as easy as IVF ever is. And what we've found is that things just aren't as straight-forward as we thought.

The point is, Barren gets me. She doesn't try to placate me with "it only takes one"[1] and other such platitudes. She doesn't tell me I'm being ridiculous. She doesn't point to my children and suggest I should be satisfied with what I have. She recognizes that the pain I have the second time around is just as real as the first time around. She tells me to stop apologizing for complaining at her. She brings me wine so we can whine over wine together.

So I suppose it should have come as no surprise to me when a beautiful, flowery package arrived in my mailbox today, and I saw that it was from my wonderful friend. I opened it up and found this:

The note made me a little sniffly and teary eyed, and though I haven't asked her permission to reproduce it here, I'm going to take a gamble and do so anyway:

Dearest Perky,
Thank you again for your friendship and generosity. I hope that someday soon I will have the chance to return the kindness with more than a bottle of wine and the ability to eat your delicious dinners.
I know you aren't feeling hopeful about this cycle, but if a tiny bit of hope (or
curiosity) creeps in, I want you to be prepared.
Love,
Barren

I knew what would be inside the beautiful, dragonfly wrapping [2] paper, but I burst out laughing when I opened it up:

Thanks, my friend. Laughter truly is the best medicine. I don't promise to use those lovely (but very tempting) tests. But I promise to pass them back to you if I don't. Or maybe use them next cycle when I can muster up the hope to think it's worth wasting a precious FRER.

Barren, you truly are the best person in the entire universe. So... dinner Thursday? ;)

---------------------
[1] Coming soon: a Barren-inspired post on the "It Only Takes One" math and how flawed it truly is.

[2]How did she know that dragonflies are one of my favorite things in the universe? I swear she and I are just the same person. Except she's way cuter and always has an adorable pedicure, and I've never had a pedicure in my life.

Gestating

Because it’s fun for me, every time my husband is trying to annoy me (even jokingly), I say, “No! You can’t do that! I’m gestating!” And I melodramatically throw myself down on the couch, clutching my abdomen protectively, to ensure the safety of our precious morula.

All joking aside, this exchange belies my true feelings about this cycle. Usually, I'm skeptical that a cycle could have worked, but there's always a piece of me that can't resist interpreting every twinge, every smptom, every sign. Usually, even though I won't say it out loud, there's a piece of me that is shocked when I inevitably cave, pee on a stick, and see a sea of white where there *should* be a second line. Even in my sixth IUI, when no one, not even my doctor, thought it was going anywhere - the cycle that was doomed to fail (but resulted in an HOM pregnancy instead) - even then, I thought there was a chance, even though I wouldn't admit it out loud.

But this time I simply cannot wrap my brain around the possibility that this cycle has any possibility of ending well. I don't have even the smallest bit of hope. SuperDoc is heading out of the country for 2 1/2 weeks, and he's leaving before my beta happens. I'm devastated by this, which is ridiculous, but there you go. I never claimed to be rational, and I'm sure the copious amounts of estrogen and PIO aren't helping matters. Anyway, I've made an appointment for a follow up consult with SuperDoc for the first week of July - right after SuperDoc gets back. I figure that way we can talk about where to go from here, because clearly something's gotta give.

Sigh.

I hope I eat my words, but I just... I'm not counting on it. I'm really not asking for platititudes. I can't handle them, really. they won't make me feel better. All I need now is to just ... get from point A to point B.

Seriously, people!

Will 9:30 tomorrow never come? And why, oh why, did I not make the 6:45 appointment instead? What was I thinking?? (Oh, wait, that's right, my husband has to be at work at 0630, so I couldn't go in at 6:45 regardless... it's HIS fault!) Yes, I totally get that tomorrow's vampire draw isn't going to change anything. But at least it's something to do.

Bah.

In other news, I need a new blog layout. Seriously. And I'm not creative enough to make one. And I've searched for free blogger skins that I could modify and I can't find any that I love. So I need help.

Help?

The Very Definition of Insanity

Do you know the definition of insanity? Doing the same action over and over again, expecting a different result.

Why, then, do I continue to POAS? Is it insanity? Or, as Jody suggests, simply ritual?

Truthfully, though I don't deny that I'm crazy, I don't expect a different result, so I imagine there's simply some comfort in the morning ritual, just as there is in the evening ritual of drawing up the PIO injection. At least I'm doing something.

It certainly won't change tomorrow's beta, that's for sure. But after tomorrow, there won't be anything to do for at least a few weeks. That time is interminable to me. I remember after my miscarriage in 2006 I had to wait a couple of months for my hCG to zero out, and then they still made me wait another month before starting a cycle.* That was absolutely the worst three months of TTC for me, ever.

I suppose I'll use my break this time to make random drop ins at YOFC to check and see if that mobile has been hung yet. AHEM. What do you think, J - has it been hung yet?? Don't think I've forgotten about it! I'll cut off the cookie supply if it doesn't get hung!

Just kidding. I'd never cut off the cookie supply. I'm too nice. Snickerdoodles tomorrow. They're already made.




*Note, there are no scientific studies (that I can find) that support a need for a month off after the beta bottoms out (my OB/GYN supported my theory on this) - most doctors admit that this is purely because they believe it will help a patient emotionally. However, I believe that the 2 months it took my beta to bottom out was a sufficient break. Furthermore, my completely unscientific survey with a sample size of, oh, 6 or so, showed that being forced to take an additional month break without being consulted as to whether this month was emotionally necessary was, in fact, perceived as patronizing and was more emotionally harmful than helpful.

And for all those lingering optimists out there...

Just in case you were thinking that just *maybe* 14dpo might *just* be a little too early still and there *might* just still be a miracle waiting... let's just assume that 15 and 16dpo is quite definitive, shall we?

I'm still bringing J and Co. Snickerdoodles on Wednesday (beta day). It's not their fault my body sucks, right?

Reading Between the Lines

Get it? Reading between the lines? Like, if I had two lines and you had to rea... oh forget it, they always say that it's not funny if you have to explain the joke. Onward and upward...

ANYWHOZIT: The point, for those still reading (and I wouldn't blame you if you'd stopped bothering after that lame-assed joke), is that I recognize that I've obscured the facts somewhat in the last few posts. So let me clear it up for those who have emailed me (though, to be fair, most of you HAD seemed to understand where I was going with it all)...

Yes, I have POAS'd. No, there were not two lines. Well, I mean, if you took TWO of the tests and put them together, you'd get two lines, but I doubt that's what any of you meant. Yes, this was a direct violation of my doctor's orders. But it's not like it was going to change the end result. Wednesday's beta will still be whatever Wednesday's beta is going to be. Plus, SuperNurse said I could pee on anything I wanted, so long as I was going to be sane about it (e.g. not call her every five minutes with the latest test results freaking out).

I'm very uncomfortable, both because of the giant lumps on my, ahem, posterior, and because I am extraordinarily crampy. I have little question in my mind that if it weren't for the blasted PIO, I'd be on CD-something right now based on how I'm feeling. Yes, I've tried a heating pad for both pains. No, it's not helping. Thanks for the suggestion. The warm heating pad sure is snuggly, even if it doesn't help. And the cats like it, too (bonus).

And now I get to hang out until Wednesday when I have my beta and can ask what my next steps are. I might call on Monday to schedule an appointment for a consult with SuperDoc, preemptively. I know it'll take a while to get an appointment with him, so I may as well get it on the books. I could always cancel it if (hah!) today's test results were somehow mistaken.

To answer Lori's comments....

I know my clinic did not allow back-to-back cycles. Your body needs a little downtime after all that.

Different clinics have different protocols. And some are satisfied that the month on BCPs = sufficient downtime before starting over. That isn't the same as going straight into another stim cycle, which is what back-to-back IVFs would actually be. A month of BCPs IS actually time off between cycles. I just don't know if that's sufficient for my clinic because in my efforts to be more "go-with-the-flow" than I naturally want to be, I just forgot to ask.

If your beta is negative do you have a consult before the next cycle? My clinic did. You should SO push for a cycle without Lupron.

They don't require a consult between cycles - that's really my call. I don't currently have a consult scheduled, but I might schedule one. I haven't really decided what to do. As for pushing for a cycle without Lupron... to be honest, I'm tired of pushing. I pushed and pushed through my first round of infertility treatment, and I'm really done with that. I have full faith and confidence in my doctor and his expertise. I don't have the emotional energy or the mental capacity left to play back-seat-patient. Certainly, I will ask what he thinks of doing an antagonist protocol instead, but I will not push for it. If he has a reason he doesn't think that's the answer, I'm not going to rock the boat. The headaches from Lupron suck mightily. There's NO question. I would love to be without them. But the fact of the matter is that if the protocol ultimately works and I get to hold a baby in my arms sometime in the next year or two... I won't give two hoots about the headaches (though I reserve the right to complain about them here, while I'm going through the process).

Finally, I know it ain't over 'til it's over, and the fat lady hasn't sung yet (wait, I *did* sing bedtime songs to my kids tonight...), but I know that the reality is that this isn't going anywhere. Many of you have emailed me directly to express your sympathy for this (and boy, will *I* feel stupid if I end up with a positive beta on Wednesday! Hah!), and I do appreciate it. I'm okay, though. I'm sad about the lost time and the lost chance and the fact that only 2 opportunities remain without some seriously creative financing, but I'm really okay with giving this another go. I'm eager, in fact, to keep moving. And like I've said all along - the good news is I love SuperDoc, SuperNurse, M (sonographer extraordinaire), J (Marketing Supervisor Extraordinaire)*, and everyone at my clinic. So is it really so bad to have to spend some more time with them?


----------------------------
*Er, not that J has anything to do with my treatment cycles or anything, because of course he does NOT. But at least I get to barge into his office now and again and drop random boxes of cookies on his desk and harass him. That part is fun for me. :)

Too Late to Say it's Too Early

I will now postulate that at 8dp6dt, aka 14dpo, it is now too late to say it's too early to tell anything.

No news. I don't expect this to change come beta time. Still don't know what the plan is - whether I have to take off a month before rolling in to BCPs or whether the month of BCPs IS my month off. Different clinics have different policies, and I don't know what my clinic's policy is. I do remember back in 2007 when I had my original IVF consult with SuperDoc he had said that I wouldn't be able to do back-to-back IVF cycles, but that could still be that he was referring to the BCP month in between.

I don't love not having a plan.

Frankly, I don't even know how we're going to pay for another set of coinsurances/copays again right now anyway - we just had a major huge crisis in our house which will likely involve digging up our entire yard to fix a broken water pipe to the tune of several thousand dollars, so it may be out of my hands for a while regardless, but I'm hoping not. We'll just have to see.

Anywhozit, we'll just see what happens. Wish I could just stop taking the PIO, but I'd probably get yelled at by SuperNurse on behalf of SuperDoc if I did that before beta day. So stick it out (pun intended), I shall.




I do not like not knowing the plan.

No News

Absolutely nothing to report. Aren't I interesting these days? I know, I'm a bundle of fun.

7dp6dt aka 13dpo.

Whahoo.

Beta Wednesday. I am not expecting good news.

Nothing to See Here, Move Along, Move Along

Finally heard back from SuperNurse. She didn't realize I hadn't gotten a call over the weekend (and apparently hadn't gotten to my email from yesterday). So all is forgiven and she has been re-established in my book of people who are allowed to have snickerdoodles next week. Maybe. You'll see why she may have fallen back out of status later.

Anywhozit, there was nothing to freeze. Everything tanked. Shocker. I know this is not an indication of whether George is resilient enough to have parked his little butt in place for the long haul, but it does give one pause, no?

.
.

Right. Well, I think that was enough of a pause. Anyway, it doesn't mean a darned thing. My clinic has some pretty strict standards for freezing, and I'm cool with that. A lot of clinics would have frozen right then and there when they transferred George.

My nurse wasn't worried that there was nothing to freeze, "because the six they transferred were real beauties, so I'm sure you're going to have a positive beta next week."


*blink*

Yeah, you read that right. SO not funny. She may *think* she's funny, but she's not.

I told her I was just proud of myself for not having peed on any sticks yet. "NO! DON'T PEE ON ANY STICKS!" she shouted through the phone!
"Oh for crying out loud, SuperNurse! I just told you I haven't! And I don't understand why you people get all ridiculous about not letting us pee on sticks - it's not going to change the result. Either I'm going to be pregnant on the 18th when I come in for my beta or I'm not - it's not like peeing on a stick will change that."
"Yeah, but then you get a stick that tells you you're pregnant, and then we have to tell you you're not, and then..."
"Well that doesn't change anything for me! I don't get all weird about it! Hello? I'M totally rational, you know me!"
"Well then by all means! Pee on all the sticks you want! Go buy a box of popsicle sticks if you want! Whatever makes you happy!"

If it weren't for that remark about the six transferred - she'd TOTALLY be on my cookie list right now.

5dp6dt aka 11dpo

No word from YOFC. If they're not careful, I may revert to the pseudonym I used in my original blog, transparency be-damned.

11 dippos. Think it's too early to POAS? Last time I got a 2nd line at 10dpos, but admittedly that was with at least 2 having implanted already, and possibly more. G-d willing, that is NOT the case this time.

Well, I don't have any HPTs anyway. Not YET! but SOON! :-) Yeah! Of course, I could always run out and head over to CVS... I might even get the sassy cashier - the one who when seeing me buy a couple packages of sanitary napkins and a couple packages of twizzlers ... both were on sale, so sue me, okay?... said, "Well, I see you're prepared for any emergency, aren't you!" But no. My internet cheapies should arrive tomorrow. I can hold out. Honest.

Maybe.

Now I'm annoyed

Have now left a voicemail message and sent an email re: the little blastocysts that weren't. Am 100% certain nothing was frozen because I would have gotten a call from the financial folks telling me to pay up. However, I would have liked to have had a phone call telling me either way. Still have heard nothing. This is extraordinarily unusual for my clinic - you all know how highly I think of them. But I am annoyed. And since I have nothing better to focus on right now, I will focus on this particular annoyance right now. Because I can.

It's for the sake of Shalom Bayis, after all!

I found an excuse to bug my nurse for the cryo report. For the sake of shalom bayis I must know the disposition of those struggling little blastocysts! Honest! For those of you who don't want to click on the link, shalom bayis is literally "peace in the home" - it is the concept of peace and harmony in the household and good relations between husband and wife. In this case, I realized that if there was anything to freeze (again, I think not), then I'm likely to get nailed with ~$1500 bill for freezing and storage (it's a little less, but just go with me, okay? And actually, it it was just one, it's significantly less). A girl's gotta prepare her husband for a bill like that, right?

So, for the sake of domestic tranquility, I emailed SuperNurse and said, you know, I hate to be nosy and all, but does she know the disposition of my struggling little life forms? And really, she wouldn't want our marriage to be in jeopardy, right? It's for the sake of our marriage! Plus, after all, enquiring minds want to know! This is front page news! Sort of.

Okay, not remotely, but I'm sure all of you are clamoring to know. Right? RIGHT?

Ahem. All righty then. So it's just ME that wants to know. Yet another way for me to pass the time. The endless, boring time stretched before me. Another eight, looooooooong days before my beta. With nothing to do but sit here and whine, complain, bitch, blither to you about the mundanity of life when there is absolutely nothing interesting going on in my life. Absolutely nothing worth blogging about.

Nothing to see here, move along. Move along.

Oh! Hey! If there was *nothing* to freeze, maybe I can convince the man that since he just saved $1500 buckeroos, he should take me out to dinner next week to celebrate! Or, um, to console me in my um, sadness. That's right. Because I'll be all sad that we won't have anything to save and therefore won't have to pay out of pocket for freezing, storage and FETs that the insurance won't cover... Yeah. Sad. That's right.

(ooh! And Score! I totally bought a pile of HPTs. They should arrive on my doorstep tomorrow or the next day! They aren't my beloved FRER's, but I'm a girl on a budget now. And this should support my habit for at least a little while, right? Just, um, don't tell my husband, okay? Oh for crying out loud, honey, they cost LESS THAN A DOLLAR EACH! And, no, I did not buy 300 of them. Just 297... KIDDING!)

4dp6dt

bored now.

very proud of myself for not having purchased any HPTs yet. Not that they'd show anything, but you've gotta have them ready, right?

Bored.

Really, really, really done with this 2ww stuff.

Every one of my previous cycles I always had in my back pocket my exit strategy. So the 2ww never bothered me. I always knew that the cycle hadn't worked (yes, I'm a negative nelly), so I was just twiddling my thumbs until the next CD3. I was completely surprised the two times it did work (and completely pissed off at the miscarriage the first time). But I always had the exit strategy: CD3, back to the clinic, start stims, keep going.

But I actually don't exactly know what happens this time. PIO will keep CD3 from happening, so until I come off of it... no cycle start. And even if I do, what then? I don't know if there was anything to freeze (I think not), so which is it, fresh or FET? Let's assume fresh. If fresh, then what? I know you can't move straight into another fresh cycle, but what does that mean? Does that mean straight to BCPs? Or does that mean waiting a month before BCPs? This is the missing piece of the puzzle piece for me. I think it means straight to BCPs. So 21 days of BCPs, Lupron on Day 19. Lupron Eval. on CD 2 or 3. Start Stims if it's a go. I think. And I know SuperDoc said that this go around we'd be increasing my Follistim by 100IUs to start.

So is that the plan? I need a plan! I *always* have a plan, and right now, I'm a girl without a plan! This is not okay!

I *could* just make an appointment with SuperDoc to discuss said plan, but: 1. odds are good I won't be able to get a consult appointment with him before my beta anyway, and 2. if I did, I'd feel ridiculous demanding a plan before I even get to a beta and then end up with a positive beta, as happened last time.

This is my fault. Normally I ask what my exit strategy is ahead of time - but I forgot that it's all different now.

Now, see, I never used to be high maintenance. And then I went and had this super-high-risk, HOM pregnancy. And I *hated* to be a bother, but they put me on all this home-monitoring stuff and make me talk to a nurse three times a day and hauled me into the office twice a week and put me into the hospital a few times and, well... I learned how to be high maintenance, you see. And now?? I'm really good at it. So I blame the medical field for this. It's all their fault.

Anyway, I'm not actually going to be high maintenance to them - I'm just going to be high maintenance here in my head. Oh wait, I'm typing all this out loud, aren't I. Okay, fine. I'm going to be high maintenance publicly, to the blogosphere. But no one twisted your arm, put a gun to your head and forced you to read this blog. So, really? You asked for it!

Did I mention I'm bored?

PIO battles the Allegra. No, Seriously!

I swear, I am convinced that PIO makes my Allegra stop working. I cannot breathe, my eyes are all itchy, I'm sniffly, I'm stuffy, I'm teary-eyed, I'm sneezy, I'm ucky, I'm whiny (okay, that has nothing to do with Allegra except that when I feel this way, I get whiny). It's like I have no allergy medicine on board. It's as though the progesterone totally inactivates the Allegra. It's completely ridiculous.

I cannot find appropriate google terms to bring my theory to life, but allergies can be aggravated during pregnancy - though this seems to be a phenomenon that is most severe in late pregnancy (29-36 weeks) so my bet is taking a few PIO shots is not the culprit. But, um. I still say the PIO is to blame. Because what else am I going to blame?

And I am getting too many darned migraines, which I know is the fault of the progesterone. And my screwed up body. Thanks for nothing.

And just think? If I get pregnant (hah!) I can stay on this stuff for EVER!

No Cryo Report

I didn't hear whether there was anything to freeze. I wasn't surprised not to hear over the weekend, but I figured my nurse would call today. I didn't want to bother her with a phone call - Mondays are busy days (understandably).

But...

You know...

I mean...

It'd be nice to know.

Frankly, it sounds crazy but I'm half of a mind that I'd prefer there wasn't anything to freeze. Because...

1. if this cycle works (hah!)... well, then I don't have to worry about paying storage fees or worry about what to do if we decide we're done family building now. It's just done.

2. If this cycle doesn't work, I'd prefer to move on to a fresh cycle anyway. Let's face it, these embryos were slow-growing crappy embryos. I mean, I *love* them, and they're perfect in my eyes (just for the record should my future children ever read these posts... AHEM), but you know, they weren't optimal. Furthermore, my insurance doesn't cover FETs, which is phenomenally stupid. So it would actually cost me more to do an FET than a fresh cycle. Plus, if there was, say, only one that made it to freeze, what are the odds that it survives the thaw? Yeah.

I'll call tomorrow and ask. I just *hate* calling for something this unimportant. I know they're busy and it's not like this is time sensitive information. I can certainly wait until the next time I have to talk to my nurse for some other reason and ask her then. But I'd like to know. But, I could wait, right? Of course right. So what to do. Sigh. I know I'm a client. I know I pay a lot of money for a service. And calling them for one tiny piece of information shouldn't be a huge imposition. I just hate being a pain in the ass patient, so I try to avoid being one. And, um, I fail miserably at it.

But, you know, there's not much else to do in this ridiculous 2ww. Ladeedaa...

I had a HIGH-LARIOUS conversation today with Barren about how long I'm likely to hold out before POAS. I'd share it with you, but my husband already thinks I'm psychotic when it comes to the whole POAS topic. Plus, J (Marketing Supervisor Extraordinaire) might rat me out to SuperDoc and tell them I'm planning on cheating.

Not that I'm planning to, mind you. I'm planning on holding out until the beta on the 18th. But hello??? You all know me, right? Of course right. There is SO no way I'm holding out that long. I can't believe I haven't already POAS'd. Puh-lease.

Thumb Twiddling

"So... how's that bed rest thing going for you, dear?" my husband sarcastically asked me while watching me clean up the living room.


Yeah. Um. So you know, now I totally get why it is that my perinatologist said that if I get pregnant even so much as with twins he's admitting me to the hospital at 12 weeks. I thought maybe, just maybe, that was a little alarmist, but... no. No, it's totally on the money, and I get it now. He knows me. He knows me very well. I was an extraordinarily good patient and did everything he told me to do in my last pregnancy, but it would be a physical impossibility this time around, and he knows it. There is just no way. I will absolutely shoot myself if I end up with monozygotic twins.

In other news, progesterone makes me hungry, I think. I am almost never hungry, but twice this weekend, I was suddenly ravenous. But absolutely nothing appealed to me. Sigh.


A bunch of you asked if I had anything good enough to freeze yesterday... I hadn't said anything about freezing in part because I forgot to, and in part because I actually don't know. As of yesterday, nothing was there yet, but they just didn't know yet if anything would make it to freeze. I didn't get any calls/messages today, so my guess is no. I'll check with NurseAwesome (whose name, I think, I'm going to change to SuperNurse - I like the parallelism with SuperDoc) on Monday, but ... I'm pretty sure the answer is no.

Speaking of your questions - Lori, the answer to your questions are 1. I live two blocks from my synagogue and 2. Yes.


Someone also sent me an email today asking me if I'd mind elaborating about who my clinic actually is - just for the record, if you're looking for a clinic for treatment, and you're looking for a referral, etc., I am more than happy to share this information (as was the case with this particular friend). If you're asking out of plain curiosity, please respect my privacy. I use a pseudonym for the clinics for two reasons - to keep myself as ungoogleable as possible (in real life terms I mean) and also to protect the innocent - I'd hate to be having a bad day, accidentally say something not-nice about my clinic (not that I can imagine doing so, but you never know, right?) and have that be the impression I leave with folks. I have the highest regard for my clinics, the physicians there, the nursing and professional staff, etc. and I am thrilled to be able to refer anyone else to this wonderful clinic as I believe that they provide the highest quality of care available in a caring, compassionate manner with an individualized approach and proven success rates. And no, I'm not on their payroll.

Finally, I am annoyed with a friend. I made my standard remark about how I'd shoot myself if I ended up with monozygotic triplets. But I qualified it by saying that yes, I know the odds are certainly against it. But hello? I had like 5% odds of conceiving HOMs the last time! Heck, that last cycle, SuperDoc didn't expect me to get pregnant at all. The whole cycle was a disaster that was doomed to fail, and in the eyes of reproductive endocrinologists everywhere, frankly, it did. Which is why when I walked back into SuperDoc's office, he took one look at me and said, "Okay, so how about that IVF with elective single embryo transfer idea, shall we?" And there was no question that that's what we'd be doing this go-around. ANYWAY, I made this remark to my friend and she, in her self-righteous way, as usual said, "I don't know why you didn't think you'd end up with HOM's. As soon as you triggered with, what 12 follicles last time, I knew you'd be pregnant with HOM's."

Let me tell you something... no one. NO ONE knows what's going on with my cycles as clearly as my doctors do, including me. Even I don't have my entire chart with all the associated bloodwork and ultrasounds, etc. laid out in front of me when crucial decisions are being made.

I questioned my doctor's decision to trigger me that day for nearly two years - you all know this. I went back to his office in January and told him that I couldn't understand it. That while I love the smiling faces in the nursery that greet me every morning, and I'm grateful for the gifts he gave me, I'm still plagued by that decision he made that day and could he please tell me why, oh why he made that decision. Suffice it to say, I was more than satisfied with his response. It was clear that he had absolutely no reason to believe that I had any significant risk of an HOM pregnancy. In fact, in all of my other cycles, I had been warned whenever I had more than one dominant follicle, that I could have a twin pregnancy as a result. In that cycle, no such warning was presented to me. What I'd been told, quite clearly, was that I had very little chance that any pregnancy would result from that cycle, and we prepared to move on to my IVF cycle immediately.

There is no possibility that I would still be with this doctor at this clinic today if I thought that there had been any recklessness in that decision on that day. Believe me, I never sought to have HOMs. I love them. I can't imagine my life without them. But it was never my goal, and it most certainly is not my goal to repeat the experience.

It is for this and similar reasons that I choose not to share with the group the logic behind the particular blastocyst that was chosen for transfer. SuperDoc shared with me the grade of the blastocyst that he and the embryologist had chosen, and what the other option had been, and explained why it was the best option. He also explained that he believed with this particular blastocyst, I have, perhaps, a 40% chance of achieving pregnancy (I didn't ask if by that he meant implantation or ongoing pregnancy - I am not sure I want to know). I don't wish to share the grade at this time because I find when people do such things that commenters start making their own judgments as to the odds and likelihoods and all that. And I already have a doctor for that and I just don't want to hear it. I can't hear it, honestly. I have put my trust in my medical team, and that's where I need to leave it, for otherwise, I will lose my grip on what little sanity I have.

I leave you with a picture of George: