Frozen Embryos From Concentrate

Yeah, OK. So I haven't posted. Sue me.

We're starting our IVF cycle on Wednesday. I've been trying to get my meds ordered. Why are they so expensive? Why? Do they contain something illegal? Do they contain miniscule amounts of platinum? How come I can get Clomid for $9 at Wal-Mart to hyperstimulate my ovaries but I can't get an FSH shot to hyperstim them for IVF unless I pay almost $1000?

I'm sure these questions have all been asked in other blogs all over and I'm sure the pharmacutical companies have come up with really good answers like "We really needed our profit-sharing bonuses" and "The budget for the company Christmas party was short" or other such winners.

Anyway, so my husband and I were discussing the merits of a fresh IVF cycle versus a frozen cycle, or a Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET). Obviously, there are stories on both sides of the board. I've seen women who have done fresh IVF and failed and then have come back and done an FET and been successful. I've seen women where neither one has worked. For some, a fresh cycle is their only shot as no viable embryos were able to be frozen or none survived the thawing process.

Which brings me to today's post where we once again poked fun at ourselves in an outrageous manner. The start of the fun comes from a very old post I was referred to whilst catching up on another infertility blog. The post - written in all seriousness - outlines the behavior to be followed if you want to be a "proper" wife, from a Christian point of view. I won't debate theology here - I'm merely stating the views of the original poster. I felt the post worth reading - shouldn't we all strive to be better wives for our husbands? Maybe the poster knew something I didn't. It made no difference to me if it was Christian or not. I'm always open to advice. Maybe the poster had something about husbands as well that I could pass along. He could always use help, hmm?

There was something about the first rule of behavior that just didn't sound right and it all just went downhill from there for me. In short, the author stated that if you were a Wife who served Frozen Orange Juice to her Husband, you were indeed - a Whore. I read this entire post to my husband. A debate ensued. He supplied the argument that I do not serve frozen orange juice. I countered with the fact that although I do not serve frozen orange juice neither do I squeeze his juice fresh every morning. I purchase Fresh, Not From Concentrate bottled juice from the market. I am tempted to ask the author for specifics here as I am concerned regarding my status but I felt perhaps this would be regarded as rude.

So, we now come to the point of silliness in the post. Not that we didn't visit that in the link above, but that wasn't my post. No, tonight while discussing the merits of fresh vs. frozen I once again became concerned about my status with my Husband. Our plan, like so many others, is to do a fresh IVF cycle and freeze those viable embryos that we do not transfer. Should this IVF fail, we plan to do an FET in the future. Worriedly, I consulted the Man of the House. If the IVF failed and we resorted to an FET, would my status be reinstated even though I refused to serve Frozen Orange Juice? Was this status change permanent no matter what? What if the FET was successful and I accidentally served Frozen OJ to the child?

Obviously, hilarity ensued during the entire time of this tounge-in-cheek discussion. The stress of the day coupled with the unknown of the upcoming IVF resulted in much over-the-top finger pointing and imaginary discussions with our future child explaining mom's status as it relates to frozen orange juice.

Luckily for me, I was assured that regardless of our fresh or frozen decision my status was unchanged as long as I continued to serve the correct form of juice. Relief.