One Day Work-up Schedule

Adam and I received our official schedule for our appointment on December 30th. It goes a little something like this:

7:30am - New Patient Consult with RE

8:00am - Nurse IVF Consultation - We will meet our nurse who is assigned to us. We know her name is Rachel and she will probably become our new best friend over the next 4 months.

9:00am - Baseline U/S and Doppler Blood Flow U/S: These will measure my antral follicle count (basically how many eggs I will produce on any given cycle with medication) They will also look for any cysts. The doppler will measure the blood flow to my uterus to make sure it's strong and healthy.

9:30am - Semen analysis: Adam will do his "thing" and I get to have blood drawn. Hmmm...seems a little unfair. Anyway, they are checking for abnormalities in his swimmers and checking my blood for an antibody that would be attacking his swimmers. This cracks me up....I can just see my antibody and his swimmers in "battle."

10:00am - Meet with the business office so they can bleed us dry and Adam can breathe in and out of a brown paper bag when they tell us how much this is costing us out of pocket. It's not pretty.

10:30am - Consent form signing. We basically sign everything from my anethesia consent for my retrieval ....to what happens to any frozen embryos we have left if one of us dies etc....really fun and enlightening stuff.

11:00am - Blood work in the lab. I believe 9 tubes from me and 3 from Adam. They are testing for communicable diseases and genetic screening. We've had these tests done numerous times before, but what's another blood test at this point...seriously.

11:30am - Break - We get to have lunch and take a break from the poking and prodding!

12:45pm - Hysteroscopy for me - This is where they basically put a camera inside my uterus to have a look around. I've had this before and everything looked "perfect." That damn "P" word. If everything is always so perfect than why hasn't a baby made it their home for 9 months?...whatever. Anyway, it's not a fun test because it causes major cramps, but I survived it before and will survive again.

1:00pm - Nurse consultation - She will go over our medications and review injection mixing and administering instructions. To be honest, I have this mastered, but it's apparently "required" so we'll go with it.

That's it! Sounds like a real "day at the spa" doesn't it? The funny thing is I can't wait! It will mean we are that much closer to trying again and if it works, our dream will come true and if it doesn't, we will have some answers and closure and will start our family through adoption.

When we get back, I'll have to have the dreaded integrin biopsy......which can apparently be pretty painful....but just like everything else, I'll get through it and hopefully be closer to making my dream of becoming a mother come true!

Thanks again for your support. It means the world.