Today we met with Dr. Dovas, our doctor that will be preforming the egg retrieval and the Clinical Director. He was a very straightforward and kind person. We went through and discussed the statistics of egg freezing and embryo freezing. He encouraged us that embryo freezing often had better results, but encouraged us to choose the option that felt right for us.
The great news? It looks like BOTH ovaries are accessible, which is a surprise because at one time or another it seemed like they would be hard to get to due to them being stuck to my uterus. I have about 11 follicles on each ovary, of those, there are about 5 on each ovary that are looking like they will grow to the size they are looking for.
The Doctor said they are looking for follicles that at least 17mm across for the retrieval – my largest follicle was 12mm. They are anticipating the retrieval will be sometime early next week, but we will learn more in three days – when my next scan is.
Additionally, they are bringing down the dose of the stimulation medication to reduce the number of smaller follicles that are growing – opting to encourage the growth of the larger follicles.
Dr. Dovas was amazing, and we are glad that he is the doctor that will be preforming the retrieval. He is taking many precautions to prevent my previous surgery complications – antibiotics, no risks to get eggs that are hard to reach, reducing medication that could cause fluid build-up.
But, most poignant was something he said.
We have a few big decisions to make over the next few days – Kai’s grandmother passed away and her funeral is next week. If my period was on time, we would have been able to do the retrieval and then get back to the states in time- because my period was late it has pushed back the surgery date. With that, we are trying to decide if Kai will be going to the funeral or staying here for the surgery. Additionally, we are trying to decide if we should freeze eggs or embryos. We expressed as much to Dr. Dovas.
“Lot’s of big decisions to make,” I said.
Dr. Dovas looked right at us with a small smile, “Yes,” he said, with a small smile. “But it is very good to have choices, yes?”
This almost made me cry. Dealing with infertility, it feels like you have no choices. The truth is, we are living in a day and age where there are options available. The choices are hard to make and often take agonizing and analyzing over the correct choice – but at the end of the day thank God there are choices available.