Grateful for our luck...

I have been following blogs of many women in the infertility world. Most of them are women with POF or DOR (diminished ovarian reserve). Some of them are pregnant and some are in the various stages of DE cycles or trying other fertility treatments. Some have had failed cycles and some are trying their first time around. I've just been thinking about it and how grateful I am that we were lucky the first time around.

We had really good odds in our favor based on the quality of eggs our donor gave and also on my own health history and healthy bits (sans my ovaries of course). I remember being so stressed about the idea of it not working and feeling like it wouldn't. I felt much more at ease the day of transfer when they had better info and odds for us and also told us we would have 11 embryos to freeze. But there was still fear in my mind that it might not work or that my body might throw another wrench out there. We are sooooo grateful it worked. I feel so incredibly blessed and I wish it were like this for everyone. I can't imagine being one who's hopes are dashed despite one of the most advanced and invasive procedures you can go through to have a child.

Jeff and I had our fall-back plan. We cushioned it up nice and tight and added more to it the closer things came. It started out with getting another dog. We both love having Thor and thought we would add another fur-baby if no real baby was in store. I also determined that I would like to get a tattoo (yep Mom...you read it right). I had a triskel design picked out and the meaning that it had for me to move forward and not look back or regret the past. I told Jeff where I wanted to get it (between my shoulder blades) and even began looking at places to have it done.

*a look at what could've been

Last but not least when we were mid-cycle and realizing our hopes were hanging on this one thing we determined we would go on a cruise together if it didn't work. A big brouhaha of sorts to just enjoy each other and have a grand time.

But in the end we were one of the lucky ones. So lucky. And so grateful.

Success rates and dogs

I have been keeping tabs on the SART website for recent success rates of ART. They usually post the previous recordable year around this time of year (2008; due to awaiting "results" of pregnancies from treatment). So I was hoping to see a steady number and pattern develop with UCRM. Instead the rate of success dropped. They went from 76% in 2007 to 56% in 2008 (for donor egg IVF). So on one hand it is a 20% drop and on the other it is still 10% higher chance than regular IVF. But it kind of spooked me on the idea for a few days. I felt like we had an almost equal chance of bringing home a dog then we did a baby. In honor of that here are the top 3 dogs we consider getting if it doesn't work (keeping myself balanced here):

1. Doberman Pincer (dominant but loyal dog...but usually better to train from a puppy age to be a family dog)

2. Weimaraner (loyal, affectionate, eager to please and beautiful eyes...Jeff thinks they look too human)

3. Beagle (medium size, cute, even tempered...Jeff says they are on the bottom of the list for smart dogs and I say at least that way Thor can outsmart it)

**although on a positive note I did some narrowing down based on diagnosis. POI/Diminished Ovarian Reserve seems to have a slightly higher success rate (64% for 2008) and overall highs of 87% in 2007 and averaging around 66% when you take out the really high in 2007 and really low in 2004 (2nd year recorded...none the 1st year). So we're still hoping with Jeff's stellar sperm and my "perfect" parts sans my ovaries that we might get lucky very soon. Two months and counting...Eeegads that is soon! Please God let it be.