Friday, December 15, 2006

IVF 101

All systems are go! I completed my regimen of follicle stimulating medications last night. This evening, I inject HCG intramuscularly (yikes) to help the eggs prepare for release. Saturday is completely free from injections. And bright and early Sunday morning (6:00am) I go into the hospital for egg extraction.

As of yesterday, I had 26 measurable follicles that are steadily reaching maturity. According to the IVF team, not all follicles will contain an egg. But considering that the goal is 10-15 eggs, 26 follicles is an excellent place to start. Some women have only a few. Drs. Silber and Pineda will perform the extraction Sunday, and they'll tell me how many mature eggs were aspirated.

Then, on Monday afternoon, I will find out how many embryos resulted from the ICSI process. ICSI is intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which each egg is fertilized with a single swimmer. For the next couple of days, the "pre-embryos" are given time for cell division.

On Wednesday, two of the remaining (some don't thrive) and most viable pre-embryos are transferred into my uterine lining. The rest are frozen (a non-technical term for a very elaborate medical process) for later use. God willing, the transfer will result in a pregnancy. If not, we will transfer two more frozen "snowflakes" as soon as possible.

IVF is such an amazing process. God has really allowed technology to do great things.

Please pray that the Lord will bless our IVF and grant us a child (or two). Wade and I truly appreciate your prayer and support.

Bless you! Ramona

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