As most of you already know, Abe and I are expecting our third baby. We are so very excited and can’t wait for her arrival. I wanted to give you a little run down of what it was like for us to go through IVF after tubal ligation.
OUR JOURNEY THROUGH IVF AFTER TUBAL LIGATION
I’ve had a few people reach out since announcing our pregnancy asking how we already know it’s a girl and even a few people saying “wait! didn’t you say you had your tubes tied?”. So I thought I would fill you all in.
First of all, yes. I did have my tubes tied during my c-section with Noah. At the time, we were dead set on only having two children. The idea of having more kids than parents or more kids than the number of hands I have really stressed me out. It seemed impossible to me to raise more than two kids and still keep it together.
But, a couple of years later and my heart was longing for another baby. So about this time last year, I brought up to Abe my desire to have another baby. I’m sure he thought I was absolutely crazy as we were in the middle of Connor’s recovery from brain surgery and living in a 945sq foot apartment while waiting for our house to be built. Our house that we designed around our family of four! I’m sure he was thinking there was no way we could suddenly add another baby to the plans that we built around our family of four. But my desire was real so we took some time to pray about it.
In May of 2016, a fertility specialist I found online was hosting an Infertility Happy Hour/Q&A session. I was able to convince Abe we should go so that we could meet the doctor and his staff and see what we thought before booking an official consultation.
We really liked the doctor and the staff seemed nice, so the next day I scheduled our initial consultation.
In July we met with the doctor to discuss our options for a third pregnancy. As I mentioned, I had my tubes tied during my c-section with Noah in 2013. Because of the tubal ligation, we only had two options available to us: tubal reversal or IVF.
If we did the reversal, it’s actually a major surgery requiring more time in the hospital and a longer recovery than a c-section. And the chance it works is so small. Also, although we were able to conceive both of our boys without fertility treatment, I do have PCOS so our doctor wasn’t sure if that would cause issues trying to get pregnant again IF the reversal did work.
After hearing all the pros and cons of each, we decided to go with IVF after tubal ligation.
During this visit, we also talked about PGS- preimplantation genetic screening. I know many people feel very strongly about this one way or the other, but we decided we would go ahead with this. Because Connor has a few genetic changes and because we know miscarriages in the first trimester are likely due to a genetic abnormality, we felt it was best for us to have the embryos genetically screened.
The doctor ordered a ton of labs for both Abe and I and we went home feeling excited and hopeful!
In August we went back to the clinic to get the results of all the lab tests. Abe’s labs cam back great. He’s healthy and everything looks good on his side of things. My labs, however, showed I definitely do have PCOS. This would require my IVF protocol to be a little different from typical IVF patients and I will require closer monitoring as well. I was instructed to start progesterone and I had a few ultrasounds and then I was cleared to start the stimulation phase of IVF.
September I started the stim medications- a few shots in the belly for 9 days to stimulate the ovaries to produce lots of eggs. This wasn’t as hard as I had read it would be. I went in for ultrasounds every 2-3 days to monitor the size of each follicle before I was given directions for the trigger shot and plan for egg retrieval. This part of the process is very time-sensitive.
September 13 we went in for the egg retrieval. This is done under anesthesia while the physician uses a needle to draw out all of the fluid and eggs from each ovary. I didn’t feel anything, obviously, and had only mild cramps following the procedure. The eggs are then immediately fertilized and left to grow for 5 days. After 5 days we learned how many embryos survived and were able to be biopsied and then frozen while we waited for the results of the biopsy.
Early October we had our follow-up appointment to get the results from the embryo biopsy. We learned that we had several embryos that are “chromosomally normal” and a small handful that is not. From the biopsy, we also knew the sex of each embryo. Again, I know not everyone is a fan of gender selection, but we decided to know the genders and planned to transfer a girl embryo.
We spent October taking more medication and starting the oh so fun (super painful) progesterone in oil intramuscular shots. This is a huge needle right into the booty. Every night for 10 weeks straight! Some days the shot didn’t bother me at all. But most days I had to really psych myself up for that shot. As much as it sucks and as painful as it is, knowing it is done to prepare your body for pregnancy makes it worth it. (But it still sucks so make your husband buy you a special treat and is extra sweet to you! You deserve it!)
November 18 we went in for the embryo transfer. I was so excited for this day. Like, couldn’t sleep the night before so dang excited! But once we got to the procedure room, I got super nervous. Thankfully, the procedure itself was super easy. The doctor uses a catheter with ultrasound guidance to place the embryo back in my uterus. Oh, but you have to have a super full bladder.
So, full bladder + nurse pushing the ultrasound on my belly + nurses making me laugh = me feeling really nervous that I might pee on my doc.
The doctor finished up the procedure and said “That was a perfect transfer. Could not have gone better! I expect a baby girl out of this transfer!”. His confidence was very reassuring. We were told to take it easy for a couple of days and to come back in 10 days for our first blood pregnancy test.
But, you all know me. You know I am super impatient. I started taking home pregnancy tests 3 days post transfer. I got my first positive test at 4 days post transfer but waited to tell Abe until it showed up ‘positive’ on a digital test at 5 days post-transfer.
We were so excited but still cautious. We told our immediate family on Thanksgiving and decided to wait a few more weeks before announcing it further.
10 days post transfer I went in for my blood draw. We got the confirmation from our nurse later that afternoon. We are pregnant! I had a couple more visits and two ultrasounds before I graduated from the fertility clinic. After that, I was sent to my regular OB.
The IVF process was absolutely incredible. To see what a little science, modern medicine, and a whole lot of faith can create. It was just so amazing.
So, here we are 10 weeks pregnant and so excited to meet our baby girl. I hope this answered some of your questions about our IVF after tubal ligation journey to get pregnant with baby number 3.
Of course, I have already started shopping for her. Shhh…don’t tell Abe 😉
