Feeling Hopeful

The big consult went really well today. I feel very hopeful and a little excited about the upcoming IVF cycle. The IVF series is between May 11th to the 18th. I have my consult with the nurse on Tuesday and I will find out more about my schedule.

I asked Dr. K all of my questions I posted so I figured, I should share some of his answers...

1. What are the possible reasons that the IUIs failed? I am pretty sure he thought this was a dumb question, but he answered it. He said there are lots of reasons (uterine lining, no eggs even though I had good follicles, etc) and there is no way that we will find out what really happened.
2. What is a good number of follicles produce? 10-20
3. What % of fertilization do you want to see? 70%(see next question why so high)
4. When do you decide to do ICSI? All of the IVF cycle done in my clinic is done with ICSI. They feel that by doing everything by ICSI it eliminates the unknown variable about the male. I know some of you think that this is pretty aggressive, but in Illinois, it is a mandate that insurance pays for 4 IVF cycles, and so I think clinics have more freedom. We are very fortunate.
5. Is it a possibility that no eggs will fertilize? None issue since they do all ICSI...he's seen it happen before, but it is not very common.
6. Should S get tested again? Again, none issue since they do ICSI. If no fertilization on the first cycle, then we will discuss this further.
7. How many embryos will be transferred? 2 or 3
8. Day 3 or 5 transfer? He prefers 5 but if depends on how the embryos are doing.
9. How much bed rest is required? One day for the retrieval and 48 hrs for the transfer
10. Is IVF the same as clomid and IUI, does the success rate plateaus after x amount of attempts? No
11. What is the success rate of IVF for my age group in your clinic. 50%. 70% of their clients get pregnant after the 2nd IVF cycle. I thought this was really good. He mentioned that a lot of his clients have done about 2 cycles of IVF at another clinic before they come to see him.

We also talked about the risk to the baby and myself and he talked about the risk of miscarriages and this is not bec. of the IVF, but bec. of age. The average age of mothers giving birth is 27, so at 34 the odds of a miscarriage is higher. Premature birth is common to multiples but again, that is common even if multiples wasn't conceived thru IVF.

I felt really good after talking to him. I don't know if it is because he sounded so optimistic or the % sounded so good. But for now I will let myself enjoy this moment, feeling hopeful that maybe this will actually work.