Friday 8 July 2016

Discussing eggs, crocheted and otherwise

We went back to the The Fertility Clinic today for the first time since January of 2014. Last time we were there was for a couple of emotional meetings, one with Dr. Cotter, one with the counsellor, discussing our cancelled IVF. About a month later I made a phone call to the The Fertility Clinic, saying I was - surprise! - pregnant and asking if they could be of further assistance. They said no: since they didn't actually get me pregnant, I was under the care of my family doctor. And that was that.

I wasn't looking forward to going back to the clinic. We don't have very happy associations with the place. On the other hand, when I think about possible ways to grow our family, the clinic still might be able to offer some options. A meeting is the place to start, and putting it off wasn't accomplishing anything. So, today was the day. Mr. Turtle offered some optimism as we approached the familiar waiting room: "Last time we were here we were wondering if we would ever have a baby." And now we do, was the rejoinder neither of us needed to say aloud. He's right, of course. The emotions are a lot different this time around. The first time we went to The Fertility Clinic, I saw (or wanted to see) the doctors as scientific wizards who would do for us what our bodies couldn't. Some of that feeling remains, perhaps, but I have more appreciation now of the randomness of life and how our human knowledge and awareness always falls short, no matter how expert.

I was also anxious about seeing Dr. Cotter again, mainly because of her blunt way with words and because I was worried she might push us to do donor egg IVF right away. Intellectually I know this is ridiculous because it's our family and my body and nobody can make me, or us, do things we don't want to do. If I dig deeper though I think my true fear was that I would be treated like a case number, not an individual.  While I understand that the clinic is a business and they offer services for money, I also feel some vulnerability because I am approaching the people there for direction and counsel on a very sensitive matter. I want to know that they are acknowledging and responding to the uniqueness of our situation, not just pushing us toward whatever process they think is most likely to make a baby.

Having said all that, I am happy with how the meeting went, probably because it went exactly the way I wanted and expected it to. Dr. Cotter was fully in character. She summed up my past fertility assessment with "You were young and in good health, but your ovaries were acting like those of a 45 year old woman." On our failed cycle: "even the strongest drugs could do nothing for you." But then she added: "It's good to know that spontaneous pregnancy can still happen, and there are obviously some young eggs left in there."

(Here I will interject that the term "spontaneous pregnancy" always sounds to me like a person has reproduced asexually, something like the Virgin Birth but without the religious context. Now wouldn't that create an interesting set of problems. "Unassisted conception" is the term I use on the blog.)

After going over some basic details of my past pregnancy, I mentioned that while donor egg IVF is on the table, we would like to look at possibilities for increasing our chances with unassisted conception first. Since I took DHEA and COQ10 supplements before AJ's conception, I thought we could try that again. Dr. Cotter agreed. (DHEA requires a prescription in Canada.). She said to give the DHEA about six months to be effective, which fits with the timeline I had in mind.

I also mentioned one of my theories, which is that the suppressant used for Flare IVF might have actually helped my cycle by stopping my body from ovulating too early. My ovaries seem to want to jump the starting gun which leads to early ovulation, short cycles and probably poor quality eggs. Stopping that process might have allowed an egg to mature properly. Dr. Cotter did not comment on this specifically, but mentioned that the DHEA should help to regulate my cycles.  She also said we could possibly try "something" before moving to donor egg IVF. We did not discuss what that something might be, but I was glad to hear that she is at least considering other treatments that might work for us. While I don't expect her (or us) to commit to anything right now, it's part of being heard and considered as an individual. In the meantime there are tests to do (of course!).

-Day 2 blood work (Estradiol, FSH, LH, TSH, prolactin: some of those abbreviations I will have to look up, since my short term memory has expelled them). In addition, they will look at antimullerian hormone, which according to Dr. Cotter is the next big thing in fertility testing and in a couple of years will replace FSH testing and antral follicle counts.

-Pelvic ultrasound, with antral follicle count. I opted to forgo the uterine x-ray for now as it can interfere with a pregnancy, but if we do decide to do donor egg I will have to go for that one.

And that is that, for now. I left with a lot of pills in a pink bag (they had purple bags in 2014) and a feeling of calm and validation. Mr. Turtle was pleased (relieved?) that Dr. Cotter mostly agreed with my assessment of our situation. (I knew what I wanted and had made that clear. Ha. Not like I've obsessed over this for the past year or anything.)

On to crocheted eggs. AJ has the IKEA play kitchen, which I think is the most adorable thing ever. We haven't bought her any of the accessories; I have an open invitation out to grandparents to buy/make those.  I haven't felt very creative lately, but in the past few weeks inspiration is coming in a variety of areas. One of these was to make a crocheted toy egg. (I made one egg with two parts: the shell and egg yolk/white. The egg yolk/white fits inside the shell.)

The egg inside its shell



Egg cracks open (there's a slit in the shell)



The egg is ready to fry!

A note on crocheted eggs: Since this post has been getting a bit of attention, including Mel's 603rd Friday Blog roundup (thank you Mel!) I will mention for any crocheters that I did write down the instructions for the egg. I will have to search around the house to round up the various sticky notes that I scrawled it on, but in theory I can share the pattern with anyone who is interested. Leave me a comment or email torthuil(at)gmail.com if interested.

18 comments:

  1. The crocheted egg is adorable!! And it is good to know you have some options. Best of luck!

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  2. All the best to you and Mr Turtle as you embark on this new chapter. It sounds like you are off to a good start!

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    1. Thanks! Can't wait to hear more about your TWO little ones! :-D

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  3. OMG, I l that crochet egg! I'm glad the meeting was positive!

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    1. Thanks! The egg was really fun to make. And AJ knows what it's supposed to be so I think I succeeded.

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  4. Those eggs are adorable!! We have been planning to give SB this kitchen since, like, forever, but the actual process of renting a car and going to IKEA still hasn't happened. The crocheted egg is a wonderful idea!
    Good to hear that your meeting went well. These are always... filled with so many complicated emotions. Fingers crossed!

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    1. Yes, complicated emotions for sure. Felt good to discuss the plan with someone professional anyway. Good luck getting the kitchen. I know all about how small errands feeling like complicated processes that get procrastinated.

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  5. Cracking up at the egg - I'm so impressed.

    So glad to hear your first appointment went well. AMH, btw, is something they now test for and rely on heavily in the US. For what it is worth, mine is (and always has been - for the last 3 years) undetectible. So low they can't even measure it! That said, I've had 3 spontaneous pregnancies. So whatever the number is, please don't let it to discouraging (and hopefully it is still good). I have a friend who has had fertility work done all over the world and she said they rely on it much less so in Europe and Asia than they do in the US.

    Anyway. I'm thinking of you. Fingers crossed for both of us.

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    1. Thanks! I appreciate your experience and perspective. Female bodies are quite mysterious, it seems. Good thoughts sent back your way.

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  6. I'm wondering if more studies should be done about using the flare protocol to promote spontaneous pregancies because that it exactly what happened to me for baby #2! And I also would agree with A Few Good Eggs- my AMH for IVF cycle #2 and when I was getting ready for cycle #3 was garbage, but yet I had a spontaneous pregnancy so I had at least a few good eggs left in me. I was also taking a bunch of supplements including CoQ10 and DHEA so maybe they will be the answer for you too!

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    1. Ah, another outlier! Thanks for sharing your story. It would be nice if someone would study cases like ours, perhaps come up with a theory that could be tested? Although the fertility clinic did not take any responsibility for my pregnancy, I'm not sure can believe it was complete coincidence that I got pregnant following the cancelled cycle, when it never happened during timed natural cycles before or (so far) since. I can speculate but not knowing the field I can't truly test any theories. I would like Dr Cotter to try to think like a scientist rather than a service provider. I don't know if she is that kind of person though.

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  7. The crocheted eggs are so cute!! You could probably make some to sell on Etsy by the half dozen and put them in little egg containers. Also, a good tie-in with your post.

    Glad your appointment went well. Wish you well with next steps!

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    1. Thanks! I doubt I can find the time or motivation to do the Etsy thing right now, but it's a nice thought!

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  8. I'm glad your meeting with your doctor went reasonably well, and she didn't immediately push you towards egg donor. I am hopeful for you. Too funny about "Spontaneous pregnancies" -- I think of spontaneous combustion when I hear it but still use the term myself. ;) What an incredibly creative idea for the crocheted eggs! Amazing, I love the fried egg hiding inside the shell. I am hoping that those young eggs in there do the trick. Thinking of you!

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    1. Spontaneous combustion, hahahaha. That crosses my mind when I hear the term, too. I'm a stickler for accuracy in language, and while my pregnancy was lucky, unexpected, an outlier, I have a hard time describing it as spontaneous! We had timed sex, based on symptoms and fertility monitor readings, just like I don't know how many times before (and since). We aim for some spontaneity, but yeah. The egg was a spontaneous project. I saw it in my mind, popped out to buy the yarn, and finished it in a day, successfully. Would be nice if certain other goals were as easily achieved. Thanks for the good wishes, sending them back your way always.

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  9. So much luck to you! I hope lightning strikes twice. And that egg couldn't be more adorable!! I'm terrible at crochet, just awful, but that makes me want to try again!

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    1. Thanks! Appreciate the good wishes. No need to crochet if you don't like it, but fun things are possible!

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