The Basics

I’m 27 weeks pregnant with twins, both a boy and a girl. Carl and I are very excited and feel so fortunate. Currently we’re scheduled for a cesarean on September 30^th at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

We’re still working on names. It’s not easy, but it has been funny how much advice and suggestions we’ve had on names. So far Carl has killed the following suggestions from me

• Panda Kay Swan
• Tiger Jay Swan
• Steele Swan
• Liberty Belle Swan

We’ll let everyone know when we settle on something we can both agree on.

Since I’m 38 and we’re having twins, I’m classified as a high-risk pregnancy. However, we’ve been very lucky and both the twins and I are healthy and doing well. Currently we have a visit with the OBGYN every two weeks and an ultrasound once a month.

Those are the basics. We’ll keep you posted on the progress as we learn more.

Big Day – Transfer

Today we went in for the egg transfer. We ended up with 4 fertilized eggs and Dr. Chantilis recommended we transfer all of them. He gave us a picture, shown here. With 4 fertilized eggs the chances of triplets is 6%, twins 25% and pregnancy in general 40% so we still have a little bit of a waiting game to see if it all worked.

The transfer was much easier than the retrieval and they even let Carl come in with me this time. Once it was done, we had to wait 30 minutes before I could head home and now I have to take it easy and rest the remainder of the day. I can get back to normal tomorrow, but still have to take it easy with no aerobic activity or heavy lifting.

Now we just wait and should know if it worked by the end of the month.

Fertilized Eggs

We heard from the doctor today we have 4 fertilized eggs. We’re scheduled to go in for embryo transfer Fri. 2/6 at 10:30am.

Then it’s just a waiting game, we won’t know if it worked and we’re pregnant until the last week of February.

Good news so far, but still a little ways to go. Thank you everyone for your support!!!

Second Try at IVF – One Good Egg Needed

I was a little discouraged after our last attempt at IVF. After that we took a break as a couple from infertility treatments.

After the IVF cancellation in October, Carl and I met with the doctor who recommended a different protocol in order to have more follicles grow at the same rate. We waited until after the holidays and at the beginning of the New Year I started the micro flare protocol.

This time it worked much better and after a sonogram last Mon. 2/2, I had 12 follicles, 3 that were mature and a total of 6 that could possibly produce eggs. Ovulation was triggered on Monday and retrieval was scheduled for Wed. 2/4.

Carl and I went in for retrieval this morning and I’ve been home a few hours now. It was the first time I’d ever gone under anesthesia, so I was pretty groggy when I got home and slept for a few hours.

Retrieval Results
The doctor told us he got 7 eggs, but only 3 were mature. He hopes to be able to fertilize 1-3 of the eggs. This is normal for my “advanced reproductive age” but we really only need one good egg to make this work.

Next Steps
Now they are working to fertilize the eggs. They’ll call me tomorrow to let me know how many eggs have fertilized. The eggs will be monitored and we’ll be informed of a date to come in for embryo transfer either Fri/Sat or Sun/Mon.

Once the transfer takes place we’ll wait another ten days or so to see if it all worked and if I’m pregnant. With all of this, there is still only a 40% chance pregnancy will occur.