I’m a planner and a problem solver by nature; it runs in my family. I don’t like to dwell on problems for too long. I’m always in search of a solution, a way to move forward, the next step. For planners like me, infertility is your worst nightmare. You plan, the plan doesn’t work, you make a new plan, that one doesn’t work, and the cycle continues.
I remember our first visit to the fertility clinic. IUI seemed reasonable… relatively inexpensive, not overly invasive. We said we would commit to doing more than round of IUI, but we didn’t think we would (need to) do IVF. That was our plan. When our IUIs ended in failed cycles and a miscarriage, we had to make a new plan. Now IVF was on the table. After doing IVF we would have a baby because (we thought) people with infertility have babies after doing IVF. Then our IVF failed and again, we needed a new plan. Another IVF. Another failure. New plan. New clinic. New doctor. New medication. New IVF cycle. Another failure. New plan. Take a break. Frozen embryo transfer. Another failure. New plan. Surgery. New information. New doctor. New plan. Embryo donor. Donor embryo transfer. Another failure. What was the new plan going to be now? If you had asked me 8 years ago if I would have done 3 rounds of IVF, a frozen transfer, and a donor embryo, I would have told you no. I didn’t think that would (need to) be part of the plan. But you don’t ever really know until you get there; until you’re faced with that reality.
In our donor embryo program, they allow for three transfers. If you have not had a successful pregnancy after the third try, they will not allow you to continue. After our first attempt failed, I started to panic. Embryo donation was the plan and I had to find a way to make it successful. Our appointment with the doctor was not for another month, so in the meantime, I tried to move forward… find a solution. A few years prior, someone had reached out to me and recommended a naturopath that had helped her have a successful pregnancy. At the time, I wasn’t interested. I had been to a naturopath who also did acupuncture, and it hadn’t helped in my first round of IVF. I decided now I was ready to give this recommended person a try.
There are some people you just click with, and this naturopath was one of those people. She asked me questions about our history and how we had come to the point we were at in our journey. She recommended a blood panel as she suspected my thyroid may be over or under active. It turns out she was right. She began treating me for my thyroid and my endometriosis.
We had our follow up appointment with our doctor in Calgary. We were informed that even though the embryo was of high quality when it was frozen, only 60% of the embryo survived the thaw. If 60% or more of the cells survive, they consider it viable for a transfer, even though the chance of success diminishes. We were told that because of the embryo quality, the program would allow us to do three more transfers. With this new information from both the doctor and naturopath, we decided to try again using a new donor in August of 2021.
It was not part of the plan to do this process twice, but like I said, infertility is a planner’s worst nightmare.
Icing and Animal Crackers 