300

This is my 300th post.  Three hundred.  I looked back on my very first post from May 2010, written right after my miscarriage.  I was heartbroken, but still hopeful.  I could have never imagined what the next 299 posts would hold, or even that I would stick with this blog long enough to get to post #300!  By May 2011, I was finally mom to my beautiful little boy.  By May 2012, I was mom to a one year old cancer survivor.  Hopefully by May 2013 I'll be preparing for the transfer of an embryo created from a donor egg and the donor sperm (from Finn's donor).

I thought I knew what the future had in store for me.  I was wrong.

Aren't we always?

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I had my phone consult with Dr. S at RBA in Atlanta today.  I've decided not to do a DE cycle with my clinic because the wait can be up to a year, there are less donors to choose from, and (since it's a fresh cycle) I'd have to sync my cycle up to someone else's.  RBA has an excellent reputation and uses frozen donor eggs.  That means I can pick a week that works for me, and (as long as my lining cooperates) I can be fairly confident that my transfer will happen during that time.  

My consult today was much sooner than I anticipated, but he had a cancellation right during my lunch break, so I had to take it.  We talked about my past history for a bit, and reviewed the labs and tests I've already had done.  He then told me about the program - how they choose and screen their donors and then how the entire cycle process works.  He cracked me up when he talked about my "drive by embryo transfer."  But it really is just that - my RE's office will be doing all the monitoring, I'll just go to Atlanta in time for a possible Day 3 transfer (though it will likely be a Day 5). 

We talked about meds I'd take to prepare my lining. He told me that they'd had some trouble recently with oral Estrace (turns out about 20% of branded Estrace on the market is actually generic from overseas...which totally explains some of the weird labs I've had with my male to female transgender patients lately) and so they prefer IM or transdermal estrogen.  I've decided to go with IM to save money. But when he gave me the option of IM progesterone vs Crinone?  I went with Crinone, as much as I hate it. I just don't want to do the IM progesterone.  It's worth the goop and the extra cost of Crinone to avoid it.  

We kept getting off tangent, and so I forgot to ask him a couple of questions.  The first was about endometrial scratch biopsies. My RE doesn't do them routinely, his nurse told me they didn't think they were beneficial, but they would do it if Dr. S asked for it.  But, she said, they're incredibly painful, "So if you have a choice, don't do it." Which is not what I've heard elsewhere.  I know the benefit of a scratch biopsy at this point is a matter of opinion, but what most people say is that it's no big deal.  I wonder if that's also a matter of opinion, or if it's because there's an endometrial "scratch" and then there's an endometrial "scratch biopsy" - maybe they are two different procedures? And I forgot to ask.  

So it looks like I have all my precycle screening done except for the psych consult.  As soon as I get that done and get the report to their office, I'll be able to get access to the donor bank, and choose my donor. 

A week ago I was mourning the BFN with my last IUI.  And today I'm talking about choosing an egg donor. 

I wonder what the next 300 posts will bring?