LIT in Mexico...um, That was Fun?

Ok, here is the update to my adventure in Nogales, AZ. Mark and I stayed in Tucson the night before...since the drive the next morning would only be 1.5 hours as opposed to 3.5. It was also going to be my only day to sit out at the pool and get a little sun. Wouldn't you know it that about 20 minutes after I got situated at the pool, it started to pour. It didn't stop until dinner time. : (

Woke up at 5:30 on Saturday morning to shower, and check out of the hotel. We arrived in Nogales, AZ a little before 8. We were to meet our "ride" at the McDonald's who would then drive us across the border to the doctor's office. We walked in, and everyone was Mexican except for one other couple. So, no brainer there, we weren't the only couple heading to MX that morning.

Anyway, the driver met us and 2 other couples and drove us over the border. Nogales is pretty gross. There is nothing there but junky souvenir shops, and lots of dentist offices. The doctor's office was very clean, but very very small. I think there was a mini lobby with reception, a tiny bathroom that didn't work that well, the doctor's little office, and a room with an ultrasound.

We were the fourth couple to get called into the doctor's office. He didn't speak English as well as I had hoped, so that was a little disconcerting. He asked a variety of questions...some we could answer and some we couldn't. After that, Mark and I went into the back room where a nurse took 10 vials of Mark's blood. The nurse told us to come back in 2 hours. Nogales is not a town that you really want to walk around for that long, so we hung around the office. We met another couple who was there for their 4th LIT procedure. They had been here 4 years before and wound up with a son, so it was great to hear their success story. We ate breakfast with them at a decent place up the street.

Two hours later, we were all back at the doctor's office awaiting our injections. The people who had done this before were all telling me about their physical reactions to the procedure. Some suffered from mild "welts" and some itching, and some had more severe reactions. I was nervous. Three couples went in before us, and then finally it was our turn. I saw 2 big needles there on the table, and it hadn't occurred to me to be nervous about the injections. I was just nervous about the reaction I would have POST injection. Anyway, the nurse injected the serum (which was a mixture of Mark's white blood cells, and some other stuff) in 4 different places on my forearm. The needle pinched going in all 4 times,and then the serum burned as it was injected into me. My eyes definitely watered. The hard part was knowing that after she finished my first arm, I still had another 4 injections left in my other arm.

After she finished, the injection sites still burned and were a little red, but my reaction wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. About 30 minutes later, the doctor drove us back to the border. We waited in line for about an hour and then went through the border. We got stopped though for inspection. I guess it looked suspicious to have 3 unrelated American couples being driven over the border by a Mexican physician. So, they inspected our passports, asked us all a few questions, and then 20 minutes later, we were on our way back to Scottsdale.

It is now Monday, 2 days after my LIT treatment. I have 4 big welts on each arm, and they are starting to itch a little bit. I can't wash my arms, put lotion on them, have them exposed to the sun, take antihistamines to stop the itching, or exercise. The good news is that I can sit in the pool, drink alcohol, and pretty much do whatever else I want to.

If this works, and I get pregnant, I probably don't have to go back for another treatment. If I don't get pregnant, Mark and I have to decide if we want to make the trip back to Nogales.

Feel free to leave me any comments if you have any questions about my LIT treatment.

I'll blog again when I get back to New Jersey!

First Ever FET is on it's Way

Today was cycle day 2, and I went in for b/w and my u/s. Everything looked good, and I start my estrace tonight. The oral estrace I can deal with, but what's this with inserting the teeny tiny pill vaginally??!!??? Are they friggin' nuts? Should be interesting.

Mark and I leave for Arizona tomorrow, and our LIT is on Saturday. That should be an adventure. I'll definitely blog about that.

FET will likely be on September 6. Seems so soon, and I'm still scared!

Wish me luck!

AF is MIA

Wow, I should be starting my first ever frozen embryo transfer (FET) sometime this week! I've been crampy since Tuesday, so I know that AF is on her way. I'm excited, but also extremely petrified. I have put so much faith into this procedure, that if it doesn't work, I really don't know what I'm going to do.

Here is what our doctor thinks our problem is….my body becomes a hostile environment for an embryo that is transferred while I still have the stimulation medication in my system. Ok, I can buy that. It would explain why every single IVF cycle failed. Now, the confusing part for me is, what does that have to do with us not being able to get pregnant on our own? Obviously, I'm not on any medication during my natural cycles. So, perhaps we also have an issue where Mark's sperm don't recognize my eggs…why my eggs don't like Mark's sperm is beyond me…but that's what we have right now.

As a matter of course, my doctor recommends getting lymphocyte immunotherapy for those couples with repeated ivf failures. I guess not knowing exactly what our issue is, what could it hurt, yes?

Mark and I had to get immunological testing done for our upcoming LIT procedure. One of the things they test for is DQ Alpha. The Dq alpha test gives you back 2 numbers each. In a normal pregnancy, the father's DNA in the embryo tells the mother's body to set up a protective reaction around the developing embryo. If the father's dna is too closely matched to the mother's, there is a good chance that the embryo created by them is unable to differentiate itself from the mother's body. The mother's body then rejects the embryo because it cannot identify the embryo as a baby. Mark Dq alpha revealed 0102, and 0103. My Dq alpha revealed 0103 and 0201. So, according to the above description, we have a match…and perhaps this has been our issue all along. I do believe that LIT will take care of that for us.

So, it would seem like after we do LIT, and then come back to U.S. to do our FET, I should get pregnant. That's what I've been thinking too. However, things don't always work out the way you want, hope, or expect them to. There is also the variable of how many embryos will actually make it through the thaw, and if they will continue to divide. We currently have 5 on ice. I think that Mark and I would like to transfer 3. Ideally, all 3 survive the thaw, and 2 stick, and we have twins…and then in 1 or 2 years, we transfer the remaining 2 frozen embies and have another baby.

All in all, I'm so excited to get the ball rolling on a new protocol, and I'm trying not to dwell on the what ifs. Wish me luck. I'll probably post again after I go in for my cycle day 2 blood work and ultrasound.

Still Killing Time

Wow, I feel bad…it’s been a long time since I have posted on my blog. I guess that’s because we are on a break cycle, so I don’t have a lot to say. Since last time, Mark and I went to Mystic, CT for a long weekend getaway. He had been very stressed at work, so I thought it would do him some good.

We originally had booked a bed and breakfast, but upon arriving, we decided that it wasn’t for us. Thankfully, the owners weren’t there, so we didn’t have to explain why we want to leave…it was like staying at your grandmother’s house…where she hadn’t dusted or updated the place since she first got married! Anyway, we wound up staying at the Hyatt in Mystic for the whole weekend. We had a lot of fun; ate at Mystic Pizza; visited some vineyards; ate lobster; relaxed.

I guess there have been a few developments in the IVF journey…but nothing major. I ordered my progesterone in ethyl oleate. Most people do the progesterone in oil, but my Dr. called in the script for PEO. When I asked about it, I was told that the shots are far less painful with the PEO. I guess time will tell. I will admit though, I’m terrified of these shots. I’ve been lucky that we have been doing IF treatments for over a year now, and I haven’t had to do one of those shots. Then again, I’m still not pregnant, so maybe the PEO are the lucky twist.

We are doing a few new things to shake things up…acupuncture, lymphocyte immunotherapy (LIT) and doing a frozen embryo transfer. I’m really hoping that all these things together will give us what we want so badly. It’s pretty crazy to think that our is really only a few weeks away. Our LIT therapy is in 18 days. Nuts!!