Four Good Eggs

I have named this blog Team IVF, not because I am hoping for an IVF Super Bowl or World Series, but because it is quite literally taking a team to get me pregnant: a team of doctors and nurses, and also a team of friends and family to hold my hand on the tough days and celebrate with me every small step that gets us closer to becoming parents.

Blindsided

I can say with all certainty that I never saw the very long road of infertility and IVF ahead of me. But it is exactly where my husband and I have found ourselves. The unexpectedness also came with frustration. I'm Italian. I should be fertile, damn it!

I've decided to blog because others have ... and it has helped me. If you have found yourself needing a helping hand from science in order procreate and stumble upon this blog, I hope knowing there are others out there helps.

The Diagnosis

Unexplained infertility. On paper, we look good.

Now 37, but have been trying with my hubby for 3 years.

The Tally

• 7 IUIs. All negative, except for 1 ectopic.
• 2 IVFs. 2 big, fat negatives. And can I say, not at all as fun as trying the old fashioned way.

• Currently in the midst of IVF #3 at CCRM.

For this cycle, we went to the big guns. At CCRM, we decided to have CCS testing to make sure all 23 pairs of chromosomes are present. It's part of a clinical trial; up to this point, most pre-implantation testing has been done with FISH, a process that only tests for 9 sets of chromosomes. So far, the trial has created impressive results. Most participants are women older than 35 with multiple failed IVFs. Pregnancy rates using blasts that have come back genetically sound have been around 78 percent. Amazing!!

Four Good Eggs

The egg retrieval for this round happened back in October. I was a hen house carrying around 20 eggs. 18 were mature, 15 fertilized, 7 made it to blast (nearly quadruple the number we made at previous IVFs at a different clinic). All 7 were sent away for genetic testing. Statistically, around half usually come back normal. We got four! We are transferring two at the end of this month.