Saturday 15 September 2018

We're pregnant!

We're pregnant! (again)

On Sunday April 29, 2018 we transferred our frozen embaby who survived the ice age! I began taking pregnancy tests right away and found out 4 days later, on May 3, 2018, that we were pregnant!

Of course, we were very happy that this FET worked and we were pregnant again. But anyone who has experienced infertility and multiple miscarriages understands that a pregnancy after loss can be filled with very complicated emotions. We were overjoyed it worked, but at the same time, we were anxiety-ridden for fear of losing yet another pregnancy. We wanted to be hopeful, but also wanted to be prepared for the worst (which is all we had known prior to this). And then we felt guilty and angry, for not being able to enjoy the beginning of this pregnancy like we wanted to. All this to say - its complicated.



Unlike our prior two pregnancies, we kept this one an ultimate secret between ourselves and our doctor at the Ottawa Fertility Centre (OFC). We were not ready to utter the words "we're pregnant" until we felt more confident and excited.

On May 13th and 15th I had blood work to monitor my hcg (the pregnancy hormone) and progesterone (I was on progesterone suppositories for the first 10 weeks to help this pregnancy thrive). Our hcg was high and was more than doubling. This had also been the case for our prior pregnancies, so was not as reassuring as one would think.

bruises from the blood work

On May 22, 2018 we had our first ultrasound. We were 6 weeks pregnant and everything was measuring right on schedule. The heart beat was seen but was still too small to measure the rate. We had asked for this early ultrasound, but because all of our prior pregnancies had been lost after 7 weeks, we were still very worried.

Finally our 7 week ultrasound happened on May 29, 2018! Everything was measuring perfectly and there was a strong heart beat of 124 bpm. We had never seen a 7 week ultrasound like this. I cried out of relief and happiness! We were still cautiously optimistic, but started thinking that this could work out!

There was also one interesting piece of news we found out at this ultrasound - this pregnancy had been an identical twin pregnancy. Of the one embryo we transferred, it had split into two - there was one gestational sac that had two yolk sacs. Unfortunately, one of those was not growing properly. We were worried that it would impact the healthy living pregnancy, but the doctor tried to reassure us that typically the second baby would just be consumed by the living one, with no negative impact. We were hoping this would be our case. We were surprised and sad for the other life that could have been, but worried and hopeful for the other that was still living.

We had another ultrasound at 8 and 9 weeks at OFC, until we finally "graduated"! This was one of the BEST feelings! We had never made it this far before! Our fertility doctor released us to our OBGYN who would continue to see us through the remainder of this pregnancy. It felt so good to say "see yah" to OFC, and take a break from a place where we had many difficult moments, but also a place where science had given us so much!

We met with our OB at 9 weeks, who made me cry she had such amazing bedside manner! She completely understood everything we had been through, and offered me weekly ultrasounds to help ease any anxiety I was having. I took her up on her offer, and we had ultrasounds at 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 19 weeks.

7 week ultrasound
8 week ultrasound
9 week ultrasound

10 week ultrasound

11 week ultrasound

12 week ultrasound

16 week ultrasound

19 week ultrasound


Every ultrasound was more and more reassuring and finally after our 11 week ultrasound, we decided to tell our families! We told our families by putting a "big brother" bandana on Tobi.

Our 12 week ultrasound was particularly reassuring, where we were screened for genetic and chromosomal issues. Very fortunately, everything came back normal. At this point, we started to share the news with the most special people in our lives.

Our 19 week ultrasound was also extremely reassuring. This is the morphology ultrasound that took an hour to complete. All of the organs were measured and checked and everything was absolutely perfect. This is when we could have found out the gender, but we wanted to wait. We looked away and have asked all the ultrasound techs and doctors to keep it a surprise from us! We can't wait to find out what we're having when he or she is born!

Overall we had a total of 10 ultrasounds in the first 19 weeks of pregnancy.  I continued having ultrasounds for extra reassurance, until I started feeling the most AMAZING feeling ever - feeling our baby move!!!

We are now 22 weeks pregnant, due January 15, 2019, and OVERJOYED! It is still very surreal, but with every kick and punch from this active babe, we're reminded that we're FINALLY HAVING A BABY!!!!!



Our 12 week ultrasound photo, within a heart,
shaped from all the medication and injections I took to make this FET happen <3 






Our embryo survived the ice age!

In March 2018, we FINALLY got the go ahead to try again with a Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET). Based on our previous failed protocol, this protocol was different (and suggested my me).

In April, I got my period and started injections again. Depending on where we were at in the cycle, I injected myself 1-3 times a day with the goal of thickening my uterine lining to 7mm. Although we only needed my uterus to thicken, this protocol was the same as my prior September 2018 IVF cycle and it meant that I was growing a gajillion follicles. I was essentially doing a second IVF cycle, without the egg retrieval. Instead, once my lining reached about 7.5mm thick, I "triggered" and ovulated all 20+ follicles (OUCH). We were instructed to abstain from all sex, for fear of getting pregnant with multiples (very doubtful, but we did not want to take any risks).

Finally the day came for our FET. We did not find out until we were at the Ottawa Fertility Centre (OFC) that morning, whether our embryo had survived being thawed or not. We were SO happy when we found out that our embaby survived the ice age! We got over that hurdle.

That morning, we transferred our embryo - the embryo that was created from our eggs and sperm which were retrieved and combined in our September 2018 IVF cycle, cryogenically frozen over the winter, thawed, and then transferred back into my uterus on April 29, 2018.

That day I was wearing what I deemed my "lucky fertility earrings" - these were pineapple earrings I bought for myself, for this FET. In the infertility world, pineapples are a sign of good luck and fertility.


And then we were to wait (again), to find out if this embryo decided to settle in and make a home in my uterus! We had very mixed emotions - we were very hopeful but also preparing ourselves for the worst.

A Failed Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) Attempt

After our second devastating miscarriage and a few months of recovery and testing, we finally got the go ahead to do a Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) in January 2018. Our plan was to transfer one of our two frozen embryos that had been retrieved and created thanks to our IVF cycle in September 2018.

After our second miscarriage, we felt that so much time over the past few years had been spent waiting with very few chances to actually "try", so we wanted to move ahead as quickly as possible.

I started the typical protocol which involved taking oral estrogen pills and eventually wearing estrogen patches. My bloodwork and lining was monitored at the Ottawa Fertility Centre (OFC). They needed my uterus lining to be at least 7mm thick; however, this seemed to be a struggle and they kept having to increase my estrogen dosage to try and get my lining to thicken. Unfortunately, the levels of estrogen in my body became so high that I ended up having bad reactions and side effects. One morning, I woke up feeling impaired - I could barely walk. I called OFC and they instructed me to go to the emergency unit immediately. They feared I was having a stoke.

The Ottawa General Hospital checked me out and very fortunately, there was nothing seriously wrong. However, I did not react well to the high doses of estrogen and my cycle was cancelled. This meant that there wasn't a chance to even try to get pregnant.

More waiting.

Well this was frusterating!

We were instructed by OFC to wait to try to get into a specialist at a dizzy clinic in Ottawa. They seemed to think this was required before I could do a FET again. However I had only ever had bad side effects while on estrogen, and once off of it, I felt completely normal. In my mind, there was absolutely no need to wait to see a different specialist. I was sick of waiting and pleaded with OFC to reconsider and help me proceed.

OFC ended up booking me in and I decided to take matters into my own hands. We knew that I reacted poorly to the high doses of estrogen that were typically used to prepare for a FET, but I knew I needed to avoid that protocol. I also knew that in my prior IUI and IVF cycles where I took injections, my lining always thickened nicely. I proposed to my doctor that I follow the same protocol I did for IVF, using injections to thicken my lining. We would avoid doing another egg retrieval, but take advantage of the thickened lining to do a FET. Apparently I was the first patient at OFC to do a protocol like this, but there had been cases in other clinics where this worked, and they agreed.

So finally, in March 2018 we got the go ahead (again) to do a FET.

Testing after our 2nd miscarriage

After our second miscarriage, we decided to undergo additional testing to try to understand if there was anything else that could be causing these miscarriages.

After having the pregnancy removed via Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA), we had the remains of pregnancy sent to a company in Montreal (called Ignenomix) for testing. This testing included a service where we could speak with a genetic counsellor. The doctor explained all of the results to us. We found out that it would have been a little girl; however, there was a chromosomal error known as Trisomy 16. This explained why the pregnancy stopped developing properly. We found out that this chromosomal error is the most common cause of first trimester miscarriages. We also found out that  it was not something we passed onto the baby - this was a common chromosomal error that happens in early pregnancy, which very devastatingly enough, happened to us (likely twice in a row).

We also did additional blood work to test for any clotting issues. Fortunately these were also normal.

After about a month of testing, and a another month waiting for results, we finally got the go ahead to attempt a Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) using one of our remaining two frozen embryos from our September 2018 IVF cycle.

We're pregnant!

We're pregnant! (again) On Sunday April 29, 2018 we transferred our frozen embaby who survived the ice age! I began taking pregnancy t...