When we left off, we'd just suffered our second devastating loss, a missed miscarriage at 12 weeks. Genetic testing had revealed that baby had a trisomy, a genetic issue that meant it was unlikely to have survived to a healthy full term birth. While it was somewhat comforting to know the reason for the loss, we took the next few months to regroup and refocus before deciding on our next steps.
One of the strangest things about the time of the second miscarriage was that spring was all around us. The peonies in our backyard were about to bloom, as you can see in the picture above. The entire world seemed to be coming alive and bursting with color, which was so disjointed with the loss we'd just been through. Think Alanis Morrissette needs another verse for Ironic?
It took some time to continue the journey, but continue we did. Here's Part 3 of our timeline:
⏳June 2019: We take some time to rest and consider other options for our path to parenthood. We have a wonderful meeting with a local Adoption Group. The meeting really helps us feel better--we resolve to continue with IVF, but know there are other great paths to becoming parents.
⏳July 2019: We take a great trip to the Pacific Northwest to recharge (see obligatory gorgeous Cannon Beach photo below). We debrief with our RE after returning from the trip and decide to do another round of IVF to try to bank more embryos, and do PGT testing on any that result AS WELL AS to re-thaw and PGT test embryos from our first round of IVF.
⏳August 2019: IVF Round 2. The RE tries to optimize our treatment and we hope for more eggs--in the end, we get 7 eggs, one less than the first round. We aren't sure why, but the RE thinks it may have been because O's body was still recovering from the second miscarriage. Nonetheless, we end up with 3 viable embryos. Cells from those three embryos plus the one full embryo from Round are sent for PGT testing (we didn't test the morula--decided it wasn't worth it).
⏳September 2019: PGT results come back--we have 2 genetically normal embryos, one from our August round and one from the October 2018 round. Since the embryo from October 2018 has now been thawed twice, we plan to transfer the embryo from August. O starts prepping for FET #2.
⏳October 30, 2019: FET # 2, our third transfer overall. For the first time, I get to be in the transfer room with O while it happens (note that different clinics have different approaches to whether partners are allowed in for transfers). All we can do is hope that this is what we've been waiting for.
⏳November 9, 2019: Beta Day. After an early Saturday AM blood draw, we get the call again--O is pregnant. Again.
While we're thrilled to be pregnant again, at this point, we've got some scar tissue to show! We know full well that we're on the first step of a long process, in which nothing is guaranteed.
Stay tuned...up next, Part 4 of our journey. In the meantime, enjoy the promised gorgeous photo of Cannon Beach:
