IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) is an exciting, nerve wracking, and emotional journey to be on. It’s a big game of “hurry up and wait” in the short scheme of things. It’s exciting when your cycle finally arrives and you get the green light to start medication!

When we started our first round of IVF, I was on cloud 9. You couldn’t touch my level of happiness! It all felt surreal when the nurses then brought in the medication I would be taking and was giving me detailed instructions on how to do the IVF injections. I thought to myself “Oh my god, it’s happening. This is how we’re going to get pregnant!”

I know when I started our IVF cycle, I was googling up and down how long does IVF take, IVF timeline, IVF Calendar, IVF medication time, etc. Truth is, not everyone is on the same timeline for IVF. There are different IVF cycles and protocols depending on why you need IVF in the first place. Some doctors may start you on birth control (ironic as that sounds) before you are given the green light to start injections.

In today’s post, I wanted to share our IVF timeline and what we did.

IVF Process from Start to Finish

March 29, 2019 – Period Arrived

Cycle day one was finally here! My nurse had instructed me to call when my cycle arrived so they can schedule me for blood work. They wanted me to come in between cycle days 2-4 to check the FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) in the blood.

April 1, 2019 – Baseline Appointment

Baseline appointment finally arrived! April 1st marked cycle day 4 for me. When I arrived at the clinic, they brought me back to an exam room where my blood was taken and I received a sonogram (“wanda” for those in the fertility community) of my uterus and ovaries. They checked my uterine lining as well as follicle count.

It was during this baseline appointment that I also received my stimulation medication and instructions on how to give the injections. If you’ve followed my Instagram or YouTube Channel, we were in a clinical trial for a new IVF drug.

Stims from April 1st – April 5th

Stimming began on April 1st (Monday) and every day until April 5th (Friday). Stimming day 5, I went back in for a checkup/ultrasound of the progress. Unfortunately, because we were in a clinical trial, I was not allowed to see the monitor for progress. I was completely in the dark for the entire process so I’m unaware of how many follicles or anything.

April 5, 2019 – Follicle Scan

Ultrasound to monitor the follicle progress.

April 7, 2019 – Follicle Scan + New Medication + Daily Visits Start

On day 7 of medication, I was given a new medication called Ganirelix. In short, this medication stops your body from naturally ovulating. I was also instructed that daily visits were now needed until we pull the trigger shot for egg retrieval. This indicated that we were close!

April 8th – Follicle Scan (More meds. More Ganirelix)

Second day of daily visits. Instructed to take more injections and another dose of Ganirelix.

April 9th – Final follicle scan. Received the Novarel Trigger Shot!

Exciting day here! I was sent home with the instructions for the trigger shot. This shot is very time sensitive as egg retrieval is scheduled about 30-36 hours after the trigger shot is given. I was instructed to take the trigger shot that evening at 9:45pm and Egg Retrieval was scheduled for Thursday, April 11, 2019.

April 11th – Egg Retrieval Day

I wrote an entire post about our egg retrieval as well as vlogged the experience! I’ll embed the vlog in this post.

I also wrote my Must Have Things for Egg Retrieval. If you’re having an Egg Retrieval surgery done, I highly recommend you check out that post!

April 16, 2019 – Fresh Embryo Transfer

Tuesday, 5 days after Egg Retrieval, we were scheduled for a fresh embryo transfer. Unfortunately, our transfer was canceled due to the embryo progress. We’re now looking into starting another IVF cycle in May or June with proven drugs.

April 29, 2019 – Follow up with our doctor

Unfortunately, in the end, our IVF cycle failed. We ended up with one frozen embryo and losing the other. My husband and I had a follow up appointment with our doctor to discuss the next steps for another IVF cycle. We were in a clinical trial for a new IVF follicle stimulation drug. Unfortunately, it wasn’t effective on my body like it was for the other patients who are also in the trial. The doctor said I most likely needed a higher dose, but because we were in a trial with rules, there was nothing he could do about it. Fortunately, that means we are qualified for a real IVF cycle with our doctor.

Moving Forward with IVF

We are proceeding with a new IVF cycle with drugs including Menopur. Unfortunately, we have to wait 4-6 weeks (at the time of writing this post) for everything to go through and medications to be approved.

I’m heartbroken that we are forced to wait – but I’m excited to try IVF again and get better results with the proven drugs. This entire journey has been an emotional roller coaster. We’re having to pay out-of-pocket for the next IVF cycle, but you can help support us on this journey.

Infertility Shirts

I designed a shirt to help raise awareness for infertility and IVF! I’m so excited for this shirt and to share it with all of you! ALL proceeds of the shirt will go to our next IVF cycle. By purchasing a shirt, you’re helping us achieve our dream of having our family – along with raising awareness by wearing this extremely soft shirt that I designed!

The shirts come in different styles, sizes, and colors. These will also make for great gifts for a friend/couple who are also going through infertility/IVF/IUI/Surrogacy/Adoption! Please consider helping us. Any and all support is greatly appreciated. Even sharing to your social media accounts can help greatly!