By the time night rolled around and Den finally came to bed I wasn’t tired anymore. I’d started to get a grip on myself again, and unfortunately that means thinking. So I got up and opened up my infertility books and read the chapters on ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology). I’d never read them before – because, I guess, at the time it didn’t apply to me… and I really never expected to have to deal with it. There was a lot I didn’t know.

A part of me, I’ll say now, thinks that it’s too soon to be reading up on IVF and planning that far ahead. Then the other (more logical, IMO) side of me points out that we have only one more insurance-paid cycle. We have an RE appointment coming up on February 1, which is only 2 weeks away – and that’s when I need to go over all our future plans with her. With infertility planning ahead can definitely save you months of wasted time. So yes… strange as it sounds, this is the time to start planning for IVF.

Here’s the basics I got out of it:
* IVF will require 2-3 weeks of birth control pills before starting. Sounds counter-productive, doesn’t it? :)
* Lots of shots. That DH will have to give me. Not looking forward to that.
* Egg Retrieval involves sticking a needle into my vagina, through my vaginal wall, and into my ovary. For some reason I always assumed they got to the ovary through my stomach, not through my vagina. So this is a bit freaky to me.
* Then you wait and let the people at the lab do their thing with your eggs and his sperm. They let the eggs fertilize and become multi-celled embryos. They grade the embryos and select the best candidates.
* For egg transfer, they show you photos and give you the numbers and you decide how many to put back in. For us 2 is the max – because of both the insurance’s limits (2 max) and our own feelings about multiples (twins max). 2 is a good number.
* For the transfer the embryos are put in a syringe and inserted into the uterus through a catheter, same as with the IUI.
* But then, some clinics will put you on strict bed rest for 2-3 days. I didn’t know this. Taking time off from my work might require a little bit of changing things around and prep work, but I know it will never be a problem asking for time off. (It’s just hard because I’m the only one who does what I do, so it’s kind of hard to find someone to do it. I don’t like putting extra work on anyone else.) I might need Den around as well, because of the dogs. Although if i stayed quiet all day it might be okay, long as Zoe didn’t suddenly decide her bladder was going to burst.

That last point made me think and worry. If their concern is the embryo sticking… is maybe my work and/or activity level the reason we haven’t conceived yet? IUI or IVF, it’s still implantation that’s at issue. I mean, I’ve seen nothing saying that you can mess up implantation from daily activity. But if that were the case, why would the IVF clinics put you on bedrest? Questions, questions.

Oh yeah, our appointment with the RE on Feb 1? Kind of ironic…. because my period, if it follows the same LP length as last cycle, will arrive on Saturday. Which will place our IUI? On Feb 1. Guess I’ll be spending a lot of time at the hospital that day.

The book I just read mentioned the statistic that 40% of infertile women (I can’t remember if this statistic applied specifically to unexplained infertility or not) get pregnant on clomid. That’s kind of a crappy number.