Before starting IVF medications, you have to have a nurse consult (at least in my experience and that of others that I know). During the nurse consult, the nurse explains each medication and its purpose and then goes through the consent forms that have to be signed by both partners. Then, the medication gets ordered.
For me, my nurse consult was on Tuesday, February 13th. My period wasn’t scheduled to arrive until Friday, February 16th (and the log that I use to track it has been within +/- 1 day ever since my period came back after having the boys). This was my first retrieval with Dr. Miller. Previously, my medications were Menopur and Follistim, with two of my four other retrievals also including Omnitrope (human growth hormone). Dr. Miller’s protocol for me included Follistim and low-dose hcg. He did want to include Omnitrope (I’m older + it helps with egg quality and is often recommended) but it was an extra out-of-pocket expense that we declined after just buying our house.
On my first stim (retrieval) cycle back in 2020, I took the trigger shot on Day 10 and had the retrieval on Day 11. On my second stim cycle, I had my trigger shot on Day 9 and retrieval on Day 11. On my third stim cycle, I took my trigger shot on Day 10 and had my retrieval on Day 12. On my fourth retrieval at my previous clinic, I took my trigger shot on Day 13 and had my retrieval on Day 15. With Dr. Miller, I did a double trigger… I did the first trigger (80u Lupron + 10,000hcg) on Day 10 and then 12 hours later did another one (80u Lupron) and my retrieval was on Day 12.
1st retrieval (August 2020): Stimmed 10 days. Retrieval Day 11. 12 retrieved, 10 fertilized and 4 made it to the embryo stage.
2nd retrieval (November 2020): Stimmed 9 Days. Retrieval Day 11. 13 retrieved, 7 fertilized, 5 made it to the embryo stage.
3rd retrieval (December/January 2020): Stimmed 10 days. Retrieval Day 12. 9 retrieved, 7 fertilized, 3 good embryos.
4th retrieval (January/February 2021): Stimmed 13 days. Retrieval Day 15. 6 retrieved. 6 fertilized. 3 good embryos.
5th retrieval (February 2024 w/Dr. Miller): Stimmed 10 days. Double trigger. Retrieval Day 12. 8 retrieved. 6 mature. 3 good embryos….one of the BEST quality the embryologist has seen (essentially almost hatching, which is amazing… and Ryan thinks it’s probably a boy, ready to implant LOL).
UPDATE (4/25/24):
I never got around to actually publishing this (oops!), so now have some updates....
I began a "trial cycle" in which Dr. Miller had me preparing my body as if it was doing a transfer, and then instead of transferring an embryo, he takes a biopsy. The test I'm doing is called EndomeTRIO: Emma + Alice test for the good and bad bacteria in your uterus, and the ERA (endometrial receptivity analysis) tests when the ideal time for an embryo transfer is for my body.
Progesterone in oil is often referred to as "butt shots," which felt much more challenging this time around. Self-administering shots to the upper, outer quadrant of the butt is more challenging than it seems...especially if you currently are having back problems:) And, the shots often cause "knots" in the area, so I've been relying on my massage gun and lacrosse ball to help knead them out.
Dr. Miller did the biopsy at 6:40am on April 25th and said, "On a scale of 1-10, your biopsy was an 11!" I won't know the results for 2-3 weeks, but that's okay as we don't plan on transferring an embryo until the summer. The results from genetic testing came back and we are SO excited for the transfer this summer. But first, time to get back to training now that all of our IVF stuff is over for the time being :)