January: meet new RE. He and his staff are fabulous.
February: ski vacation in Maine.
March: IVF with ICSI #3. Not successful. Turn 34 years old.
April: enroll in Mind/Body class for women going through infertility treatments. Pick up some good techniques for relaxation and meet some lovely women.
May: spring arrives. Plan for IVF #4 in July.
June: summer arrives and it rains, and rains, and rains.
July: more rain. IVF with ICSI #4. Despite retrieving 15 eggs (an all time high) and transferring 5 good quality embryos, still not successful. Celebrate 3rd anniversary. Play in first golf tournament and win!
August: travel, travel, travel. Spend time in Bermuda, Maryland and Maine.
September: hysteroscopy with D&C to rule out any uterine issues and to rejuvenate the uterine lining. No problems. Surprise pregnancy announcement from younger sister.
October: IVF #5. A dismal cycle through and through. Only one embryo to transfer on day 3- worst "performance" to date.
November: meet with RE. He suspects that borderline FSH indicates poor egg quality, despite having good looking embryos. Need to decide whether to move on to donor egg or to give IVF a final try. Rescue two sweet pugs, Hank and Honey. Life as a dog owner is wonderful and they love to snuggle.
December: a wonderful Christmas in Maryland. Lots of thinking and talking about what the next step should be for us. Meeting with RE in January to review in details the options, the pros, the cons, the possibilities.
Really, despite enduring failed cycle after failed cycle, I am mostly at peace and truly blessed in so many other ways. Belated congratulations to those of you who recently brought home a bundle (or bundles) of joy and best wishes to you who are in various stages of your nine-month adventure.
And to those who are still on their journeys to become parents, I wish for you peace, calm, love and most of all, good news in 2010.
xoxo bunny