NEDC Visit #1

First of all, THANK YOU for all the well wishes. This is such a scary, overwhelming process at times and it means a lot to have people cheering for you. It's like being in a marathon on Groundhog Day. You are tired, drained and in pain approaching the finish line, and when you get there, you are right back at the start of the race. Dan and I had our first appointment with the team at the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville yesterday. Why Knoxville? Because Georgia does not currently have a clinic that offers the whole process in one place and there are very few clinics in the U.S. that do. There are several embryo adoption registries out there where people can submit their application and wait for a donor to choose them, then have the embryos flown to their clinic of choice. Regardless, the law needs to catch up with technology! The NEDC is led by Dr. Jeffrey Keenan and a small staff of nurses, finance, patient coordinators and embryologist. We met with everyone in great length and talked about our history, treatments and all the ups and downs of our journey. He listened well and had tons of questions for us. Dan and I were kind of pathetic because we kept mixing up all the dates and procedures we've had done so we looked like morons. So much so that I put together a timeline today and sent it to him to try and redeem myself (see photo). He immediately expressed concerned about the fact that I have done so many IVF's and only gotten pregnant once. He is afraid I have an issue with implantation. There's not really any treatment if that's the case, so I am absolutely terrified that they won't medically clear us. The clinic has to keep their success rates up and don't want to take on cases they feel aren't achievable for them or their patients. We left that conversation with the Doctor vowing to study our embryology reports and deciding if it's something he can tackle. We moved on to the testing of my uterus. I had to come in with a full bladder because it's easier to study my uterus lining so I was so uncomfortable and in pain as they pressed the ultrasound wand on my stomach and studied the monitor. After that, they let me pee and the truly painful testing started. They insert a catheter into my uterus and squirt saline in there to check for polyps, lesions, cysts, etc. It hurts SO bad...like having a knife twisting in your body while suffering the worst menstrual cramps of your life. This test took about 10 minutes but everything looked great and the doctor was happy with my results. After that, they discussed the whole process of reviewing family profiles, embryo qualities and the selection process. They have over 150 profiles for us to choose from and we have to narrow it down to 10! From there, they select 5-6 of the best quality from that list and we decide to put either 2-3 embryos in on transfer day. We would have leftover embryos too in the event that the procedure doesn't work, we could try again or if we want a sibling later on. The embryos transfers are done at the clinic every other month so we could have done ours in November, but they are already full! So it looks like January will be our time, barring anything going wrong. They were handing us form after form and I think my eyes started to glaze over because I was getting so overwhelmed. This is A LOT to take on. We also found out about some hidden costs so that adds extra stress! But overall, I felt great about the clinic. It's small, and the staff is incredibly warm and really make you feel special and not just another patient number. So now I've been told to continue the hormones and monitor my cycle and we will activate my protocol in December. I'm hopeful because this clinic does things a little differently in terms of the meds and after care. I like the idea of not repeating the same protocol over and over and expecting a different outcome! So, that's it for now. It's all happening. PRAY the doctor won't give up on us. I am terrified by his concern over my implantation issues.....pray he finds the wisdom and knows how to tackle this and not send us away. Love to you all, Carrie