And we're off!

Prior to infertility, IVF was one of the procedures that everyone knew something about or knew someone who knew someone who had gone through it.  The jist of this conversations consisted of 1) it always worked, 2) said couple always had twins or triplets and 3) it was as routine of a procedure as having your teeth cleaned.  Mind you, I have enough of a background to understand how sperm met egg in a petri dish, but all the details were lost on me.  Mainly because it wasn't something I ever thought I would have to go through.

Fast forward to January 2011. I began meeting other couples dealing with infertility and, of course, fertility treatments were a common topic, but it wasn't until later conversations that IVF protocols even came to mind.  As one couple talked about their first IVF, it became apparent that everything I thought I knew was complete BS (minus the biology of sperm meets egg).  So like any curious bystander, I began asking questions, reading IVF blogs and doing my own research.  In addition, I watched and supported each group of couples as they each went through the procedure.  I celebrated the joy of good news, cried with them during bad news, but also learned about the different aspects of IVF and what to expect along the way.

Grey and I had our first appointment with the RE regarding our IVF cycle this week.  The goal of the appointment was two-fold: the first part was to receive education regarding the injectable medication and the second part was to do a mock transfer. A mock transfer is a procedure to measure the depth and angle of your uterus in order to determine the best way to insert the catheter, taking away the guesswork during the actual transfer process and reducing any errors that could occur along the way.  In general this is usually fairly quick and painless.  What can take the most time is waiting for your bladder to fill if you didn't know you weren't suppose to pee prior to the appointment.  Something worth noting prior to the actual transfer.

What I've been learning throughout all of this is how important it is to ask questions, even though everything seems obvious.  Even though I may think I know what will happen and what to expect.  But most importantly, I'm learning that things are not always as they seem.