The TESTS!!!

Before we even got to start the cycle, we had to take SO MANY TESTS! After knowing about all of them I think I would be a nervous wreck if I got pregnant without being tested for everything to make sure I was healthy and my body was ready! By the time we had our IVF Consultation, I had already done one small part: the blood test (well the first one). With that blood test they were able to get my values for my:

• Anti-Mullerian Hormone: gives them an idea of my egg supply, or ovarian reserve.
• Thyroid Stimulating Hormone: indicates thyroid function
• Prolactin: which can inhibit the hormones that trigger ovulation. It is also the hormone responsible for producing breast milk, which is why most women don't ovulate as long as they are breastfeeding

All of my results had been normal, which was good news. We ended up having plenty of time to get all the rest of the tests done, because after discussing my case with the other doctors at a weekly meeting where they all get together to discuss their patients, Dr. Moore called and told me he thought it would be best for me to go on a hormone called Norethindrone for three months to help treat my endometriosis before we did IVF. <Just a side note: I think the weekly meeting the doctors have together gives patients a huge advantage-even if I only work directly with one doctor, I have a whole team of them working together on my plan of care.> I'm pretty sure I had already started on birth control pills by this time in preparation for our first IVF cycle. Every time I ovulated, my endometriosis would worsen (because of the thickening on the uterine lining.) Birth control pills prevent ovulation; Norethindrone helps prevent the growth of the uterine lining during menstruation. Both of these together would help thin my uterine lining to prepare me for the IVF cycle and hopefully keep my endometriosis from worsening. We were pretty disappointed that we were going to have to wait an extra three months to start. That would push our first cycle back to November.

The next test I was sent in for was another blood test for them to find out my blood type, test for antibodies in my blood (RBC Antibody Screen) and check to make sure my rubella antibodies were still effective. Remember that MMR vaccine you got as a kid? Rubella is the "R" part and a disease that can cause serious birth defects if mothers contract the disease while pregnant. As it turned out my rubella antibodies were low, meaning my immunity to the disease was wearing off, so I did have to get a booster shot. Everything else was all normal and good.

Next it was Ryan's turn: the sperm test. This was the only thing Ryan had to do in the testing process. He gave a sample (I am sure you know how that works) and they tested the sperm to make sure they were strong enough to penetrate my eggs by putting some of them in with hamster eggs and leaving them overnight to see what happens. This part still makes us giggle a little...Ryan was going to make little hamster babies (not really, but you can't tell me that's not the first thought that came to your mind too!) They also did a general count and assessment to see how many were shaped normally and moved well. The penetration test came back 10/10, his count was on the high end of normal and most of the little swimmers had normal shaped heads, one tail and were able to swim straight, so all in all GOOD NEWS!

The last test was a genetic test where they test for over 100 genetic disorders and diseases (see them all here). The test would see if I had the recessive gene for any of the disorders (things like cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular athrophy). If I had tested positive for any of them, then Ryan would have done the test as well. If we both had the recessive genes for any of the disorders then that would mean there was a 25% chance that a baby would have that disorder and they could then take extra precautions to prevent and extra testing to catch and treat (the ones that could benefit from treatment) them in the baby early. For this test I had to spit into a tube-I had to FILL the tube with spit-first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything. Then I packaged it up with what they provided and sent it to a lab that does genetic testing (Counsyl). It was a weird experience! But the test results were negative, meaning I did not have the recessive genes for any of the disorders, so Ryan did not have to be tested.

Even though we had been delayed for three months, we were still trying to look on the bright side: this would give us more time to come up with all of the money so we would hopefully not have to take out a loan and it would ultimately up our chances of success with IVF, so we had to think of it as a good thing!