Tuesday, December 30, 2008

CCRM One Day Work-up

So we arrived at CCRM at 7:15am to start our "spa treatments."
We started with our Dr. consult. We met with Dr. Gustofson because Dr. Surrey is on vacation this week. He was great. Very nice and very easy to talk to. We went over our history....and how much fun the last 3 1/2 years have been and he answered any questions we had.

Adam was very excited to find out that the occasional beer will not affect his swimmers quality and that I have been wrong all along.........which he proceeded to tell me in front of Dr. Gustofson. It's okay, he very rarely gets to be right, so I let him have his moment.

So next, we met our nurse, Dawn. We originally were supposed to have Rachel however we were assigned to Dawn and she's very nice. We really liked her a lot.

After we met with Dawn, we went for my "wanding." I had an ultrasound to measure my antral follicle count and doppler to measure the blood flow to my uterus....everything apparently looked "great." So that was good news.

After the wanding, Adam went to make his "deposit." Since we're sitting in the airport waiting to come home right now, he would like to write about his experience himself so I am now passing the computer over to him.......I repeat, Adam now has control of the keyboard....here he is......

Ok, this is Adam. I thought our readers might be asking themselves, "Gee, I wonder what happens in the deposit process?" Well, I won't go into the gory details, but it's pretty much what you would expect. A small, bland room with a chair, a sink, and a few amenities for assistance. It's like a prison cell, but with some excitement.

So, I only wanted to add a little info on this particular experience. Normally, it's a routine in-and-out, but this one was a little unique. First before I could provide my sample, I had to give them my credit card information. I know what you're thinking, but it was all legit. Second, without going into details, this place puts an emphasis on being cleanly. The other interesting item (and probably the best part) was CCRM provides a flat screen tv in the room for optimal viewing "pleasure" - awesome!

Back to Tiff....

Okay, I'm back. It's Tiff again.

So after Adam supplied his sample.....we went to the business office. Contrary to popular belief, Adam did not go into shock and need a paper bag when we were told how much this is going to cost us. He handled the news pretty well.....I think he was still happy about the "optimal viewing pleasure." I think they plan the day that way so the husbands are as happy as they possibly can be. We signed our consent forms and moved onto the lab to have some bloodwork done.

When we got back from lunch, I had to give a tour of my uterus via hysteroscopy. This did not go very well. My cervix is very difficult to insert a catheter into, so the Dr. ended up having to dialate my cervix......this was awful. Adam switched hands at one point because I think I squeezed his hand too hard from the pain. It was over in 10 minutes though so I survived. Everything looked great inside my uterus and the Dr. couldn't see any reason that a baby would not want to get cozy in there for 9 months.......they made me lie on the table for a few minutes afterwards to keep an eye on me and once we got the okay to leave, we were off to our nurse consult and genetic counseling session. Let's just say that my uterus will not be accepting any more tours for a while.....

The nurse consult was pretty standard and we went over our injections and everything. The genetics counseling was the most informative of the day. She basically explained the testing we are doing on our emrbyos in greater detail....and Adam and I both walked away feeling more knowledgable on the testing.

Overall, the day went well. We left CCRM with feelings of hope and excitement. Turns out this process will go on for the next 5 months. By the time I have my biopsy and get the results etc....we'll be back to Denver in late February / early March. Estimated retrieval will be on March 5th. Then by the time 6 weeks passes from testing our embryos etc. and we build up my lining over about 4-6 weeks....we're looking at the transfer being in early June. So hopefully in mid-June, we'll find out we're expecting our miracle...... or miracles!

The posts in the future will not be this long....promise. :)

Love you all!

3 comments:

The Chick said...

Hello! I stumbled into your Blog while searching for CCRM. I have unsuccessfully tried a IVF w/ ICSI in 2008 and ready to try one more time w/ a new RE. PPL have told me CCRM is the place to go if you only have 1 shot. So...I will keep checking back to see how you are doing! I hope all goes well for yoU!

Carla

www.ourhenhouse.blogspot.com

Tiff said...

Thanks so much Carla! I read some of your blog and feel like we have a lot in common. I had 2 miscarriages and they were absolutely devastating. They were back to back that we achieved through IUI's. Not a day goes by where I don't think about the babies we lost. I don't care what people think...even though it was early....I loved those babies from the second I found out I was pregnant with them. This is our last try and our 4th IVF before we move on to adoption. I hope CCRM is the answer and I hope you'll gain some good information from my blog. Thanks for the support!

Steph and Jeanine Schmalz said...

Hi Carla, Tiff and Adam....

I just wanted to offer my good thoughts and encouragement! We are pregnant with twins through the help of CCRM (Dr. Surrey was our doctor and Ellie was our nurse... Deann and Kass usually drew blood).

We wish you nothing but the best!

If you'd like to read about our experience at CCRM you can go to www.carepages.com, "become a member" (it's free and easy) and search for JSchmalz.

Good luck and take care!!
Steph and Jeanine