Thursday 20 August 2009

Hopefully Zero's Not The Magic Number

As they like to point out on Sesame Street, zero is not always a negative thing. Zero colds during flu season is a good thing, as is zero flat tires or zero crazy bosses. As much as I'd like to make sad, lonely little zero feel better, I'm not lovin' the thought of zero embryos in our next cycle.

Here's a little recap...

1st cycle.....4 embryos
2nd cycle...3 embryos
3rd cycle....1 embryos

As you can see, we seem to be rapidly sliding down the slippery slope toward the dreaded zero.

In order to prevent this, my RE and I are going to try an estrongen priming protocol with DHEA and a two day transfer. Hmmm... I'm still deciding how I feel about switching it up.

So, far I've done a long lupron cycle. And I have no idea if it would have worked since I got a bad infection from the transfer. (I should have known something was wrong when I kept googling "hot flashes and green puss, signs of pregnancy?") And I've done two micro-dose flare cycles that both resulted in BFPs.

I do typically have a couple lead follicles so we're thinking that the priming can't hurt. As far as the DHEA goes... the embryos on my 2nd cycle were really fragmented. (On my 3rd cycle we did a 2 day transfer and the one I had was in good shape but who knows where it would have ended up on day 3.) So, once again the feeling is no harm, no foul.

Where the 2 day transfer is concerned, it makes me nervous. I always like more data than less and on day 2 you really don't know how it's all going when you throw them back in. But it has been shown to improve success rates in women over 40 and I know last time it worked for me. So why the heck not do it, right?!

There you have it. The plan. The plan to, hopefully, not end up with zero. Poor, lonely zero. I do feel bad for him. But still, I shudder to think of him as my new best friend.

(Or, maybe, we can just have a very specific friendship: zero cysts, zero fragmentation, zero BFNs! Right?!)

2 comments:

  1. Hi Gwynn -

    I do a little data-crunching at my job and I can tell you, as a professional, that a 4-3-1 does not constitute a statistically-significant trend. ;-) Seriously, though, if you're trying a different protocol then who the heck knows.. you may get a really good.. and different result.

    It sounds like you have already been through the ringer trying for baby #2. I will keep tabs on you as you gear up for your last hurrah. Take good care of yourself!

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  2. Thanks so much for the pep talk!! Your words are like a lovely warm hug.

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