CCRM Consultation

Friday was my consultation with Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, or CCRM.  If you guys are familiar with Giuliana Rancic then you may have heard of CCRM and Dr. Schoolcraft.  This is the same clinic where she and her husband Bill sought treatment for the infertility and were ultimately told, due to her breast cancer diagnosis, that she would be best using a gestational carrier (which she did and she ended up with the cutest boy, Duke).  

After I posted about our WTF consultation with Dr. LdM and the fact that he thought we needed to move forward with donor eggs, many people suggested looking into CCRM.  At first I really just brushed it off thinking, there is no way in hell that we would be able to consider doing a treatment out of state.  After doing some research of my own I realized that at least the free phone consultation was probably worth it.  Just to at least hear an opinion from a doctor that practices at the number one fertility center in the country was enough for me to make an appointment.  

I knew that I probably wasn't going to want to wait for an appointment with Dr. Schoolcraft because I believe he is probably the most sought-after fertility specialist in this country so I decided that I would just take the next available appointment that fit into my schedule.  I had my appointment with Dr. Laxmi Kondapalli and she was amazing!  First off, she called me 15 minutes early which I think is practically unheard of in the world of medicine.  She was so sweet right off the bat and wanted to walk through all of my cycles first.  

After reviewing everything together she told me she didn't really feel much of a concern about my egg quality, especially based on the fact that I ended up with 7 day-5 blastocysts.  She said that is actually a pretty good indication that my quality is probably OK because if it weren't I wouldn't have nearly as many, if any, day-5 blastocysts.  This really made me feel a lot better and kind of confirmed what I was already thinking on my own.  She said that I can certainly continue the supplements that I am on.  

She also suggested that if we were to do a fresh cycle with them (or if we wanted to have our frosties transferred to their clinic) that she highly recommends Comprehensive Chromosome Screening or CCS testing, similar to PGS testing.  I told her that I was very adamant about wanting that testing done no matter where we would do another fresh cycle and she agreed that should be at the top of my list of wants.  

She was definitely eager to get us out there as soon as possible, but we are going to continue with our frozen transfer at this time which she understands.  Her nurse has already called and given me the information about what we would need to do if we did decided to pursue treatment with them.  It would be a full day of labs in Colorado which would include an ultrasound, hysteroscopy, AMH testing, semen analysis and DNA fragmentation test, infectious disease tests, resting follicle test and more.  We would then have to have testing done back at home and the labs would be shipped to them. They do all of their lab work in their own labs including the CCS testing.

I should be hearing from their business center soon about the costs and what insurance will cover since they are out of state.  I'm not sure that this will ever be an option for us, but I am really happy that I decided to consult with them.  We all hope that our next frozen cycle will work and we won't need to pursue further treatment, but I am glad that we are taking the necessary steps in the right direction to move forward if we need to.  

Happy 4th Anniversy

Happy 4th anniversary to my wonderful husband!  I am so blessed to have such an amazing and motivated man in my life!  Over the last year he has given me so much with building our forever home with pretty much his bare hands.  He is amazing and so talented and efficient.  We have had an absolutely amazing year!  Can't wait to see what's in store for next year & beyond! 

Cherry to 4 years!!!!!!!!!!!

FETx3 & Life Lately...

We finally have our plan for our third frozen transfer.  I had met with Dr. G (my original RE) on Monday and we decided to transfer 2 frozen embryos in October.  I was waiting for my period which was almost 10 days late!  Finally on Tuesday I started so I called with the start of my cycle and got potential dates for transfer.  I picked October 29th because it’s a Thursday and a day of bed rest on Friday so it would give me a nice long weekend to relax.

I am very skeptical about this cycle and I am not really emotionally attached to it at all like I was with my last cycle.  I know that there is a possibility that all 7 embryos that we got from our first fresh cycle could be abnormal due to the quality of my eggs.  It would be very devastating if we burned through all 7 and not one of them took, but it would also be a very strong indicator that my egg quality IS the actual issue and we could then continue to address that as the REAL issue and the REAL cause of my infertility. 

I am not really convinced that the Beta 3 Integrin protein deficiency is as much of an issue as I had originally thought.  Dr. G wouldn’t even test me for it, and Dr. LdM said it was an anomaly that some doctors believe it is absolutely necessary and some view it as hogwash.  Between that and the fact that Dr. LdM at my WTF appointment told me that medically, “you shouldn’t even be here” I realized that it’s not the protein deficiency, it’s not the endometriosis, it’s nothing I’ve been previously treated for that is the issue.

Besides baby making (or lack thereof), I’ve been loving the weather that we are having and really enjoying every second I get to spend in my house.  I seriously look forward to going straight home after work every single day.  For me, my home is like a vacation; it’s relaxing, it’s comfortable, & it’s mine.  I’ve been decorating for fall and making lots of comfort food lately like Zuppa tuscana and chicken pot pie.  I love cooking in my beautiful kitchen.  We’ve been making our homemade wine, finishing up trim in all the bedrooms, and just started our front porch.  I love having the windows open and the double sliding door open watching the trees, birds, squirrels, butterflies, grasshoppers, spiders, (OMG THE SPIDERS!?), and all the rest of nature while my Scentsy fills the air with fall smells.  It is fabulous. 

enjoying our first fire in the fireplace last Sunday morning

Frankie making sure we didn't drop any grapes while working on the wine.

This weekend I am going to a Cubs/Cardinals game with my mom and her best friend and her daughter.  Next week is our FOUR year anniversary!  Then September is practically over!  I cannot believe how fast this year has flown and it seems like these last couple months are going to go even quicker if that is possible.  I’m excited for Halloween which is my favorite holiday and of course, our frozen transfer. 

I hope all my beautiful bloggers are enjoying themselves lately.  I apologize again for not being as present as I normally am or would like to be.  I am so passionate about writing and advocating, but sometimes a break is necessary, especially when you’ve got some serious writers block and not much to talk about.  I thank you all for your continued prayers and support.