Chris and I met with Dr. Steinkamph yesterday to discuss the previous unsuccessful IVF series we completed in January. As he flipped through our now extensive file we asked him his expert opinion as to why we didn't become pregnant and how to move forward.

We discussed the abnormal fertilized embryos that we had (we had 2 abnormal and 3 normal out of 14 taken...that's right 14!) and how to avoid that happening again. He thinks it is likely an "egg issue" and that kind of thing is tough to combat. Normally the egg only allows one sperm to penetrate and enter but some of mine decided to put out the welcome mat and let more than one in.

His suggestion is that we try IVF again and this time do ICSI. What's ICSI you ask?

ICSI or Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (yeah I like the shortened version as well) is when they take a single sperm and inject it directly into an egg. See the cool picture below.

We were advised against doing ICSI during our January IVF due to Chris's numbers, motility etc with his sperm being next to perfect. Let me put it this way, every time Chris would would go in for testing or samples they would call him a rock star and that he was "the perfect donor". It was quite the ego boost for him :) Additionally ICSI is about $1,500 dollars on top of the $7,200 that our clinic requires for IVF.

  My sister and her husband did ICSI during their IVF in 2006 as well as Assisted Hatching. What's Assisted Hatching you ask.....it sounds a bit SciFi.

Assisted Hatching is when the super talented embryologist's make a small hole in the zona pellucida (basically the outer shell of the egg) using a micromanipulation thus facilitating for zona hatching to occur.

Yes if you didn't already know a fertilized embryo does actually "hatch". Have I freaked anyone out just yet? Doctor Steinkamph told us yesterday that they just got a new super fancy microscope in the lab and we hope to use this new technology to help us obtain Baker Baby.

So, to summarize we will be doing the following to hopefully improve our chances of pregnancy this next go round with IVF in April:

1. Up our drug dosage. They up'd my dosage mid way through our last series so we will be begin at a higher dose this time around in hopes to stimulate the ovaries more and produce more larger follicles to retrieve. 
2. ICSI- our hope is that by doing this it will allow us the opportunity for more normally fertilized eggs since it is controlled vs. our previous experience. With more fertilized eggs we can pick the best 2 to put back in as well as possibly freeze any for future Baker Baby's.
3. Assisted hatching- this will hopefully give the little embryo's the edge to properly "hatch" and implant within my uterus. 

I also requested to have my Thyroid checked again. They put me on synthroid (50 mg) daily to combat my hyperthyroidism. If not treated this can cause infertility and can be monitored by blood tests. I had a blood test performed yesterday ( the lab techs LOVE me and my needle phobia) and should hear back in a few days what the results are. They do not expect any abnormality but we figured why not have it re-checked just to be safe. 

I will leave you with a few pictures (no not the scary SciFi ones like above). We are SO excited to have the opportunity to try IVF again and please remember to visit my sister's fundraising site (on the top right hand side of the blog and help us achieve Baker Baby.)

Mackenzie and I (my darling Niece visiting my sister in San Diego)

My husband Chris and I with my sister's twins Cooper and Mackenzie in San Diego

And Lastly..... :)

Sweet Cooper-man (my nephew) giving me kisses aka "moochies"