Wellness improving

On Monday, Mark and I made the 1:40 drive to Ann Arbor for a visit to the U of M Reproductive Health Clinic. I was only expecting to hear that my ovarian reserve is depleted and that they weren't willing to re-order bloodwork that was done in January that indicated my AMH level was low enough to be a poor candidate for fresh IVF. Instead, we left the office with plans to start an IVF cycle in June. The doctor reauthorized the bloodwork and said that the numbers aren't the only indicator of my ovarian reserve. She said that we'd get more information from stimulating my ovaries with hormones and seeing if/how they develop follicles. So our plan was to wait another 10 days or so for my menstrual cycle to reset, then I would start taking birth control pills to create a clean slate for the next cycle. The next day, my period started, as if my body is saying "LET'S DO THIS!!" If you refer back to a blog post from December when my port was removed, you'll see that my body has been pretty responsive in telling me what it's ready for.

So here are some of the possible outcomes from our upcoming experiment:
Option 1: Follicle stimulation is incredibly successful, we transfer 1-2 fertilized embryos and I get pregnant, and if there are extras we freeze them for future use.
Option 2: Follicle stimulation goes well enough, we get one embryo and hope that it works.
Option 3: Follicle stimulation indicates that my ovarian reserve is depleted and we skip the retrieval and thaw/transfer some embryos we "put up" last spring. I get pregnant anyways!
Option 4: Follicle stimulation doesn't work, and we decide to wait to get pregnant until we've had a chance to process this experiment.

There are certainly other scenarios that may play out, but it's good to have options! It didn't take me long during the doctor's visit to adjust from what I was expecting to hear to what we were actually hearing. At first I was scared, but then I opened my heart and it felt like the right time to just go for it. There will never be the perfect time to try to get pregnant. On this timeline I would be just entering my third trimester when I graduate and then I'll be able to join Mark in California.

Earlier that same day, we dropped off my print at the Ann Arbor Art Center. On Friday, we went back to Ann Arbor for the Artist Reception and found out that out of 28 prints, mine had won 3rd prize! We have been advised by our healer friend Jorge to focus on the number three, so Mark pointed out that the third place award was significant. The print will be on display for a month or so, and I'm hoping that someone will buy it. I've already sold two prints from that edition of seven, and I gave one to the student print archive at WMU.

Today I ran a 5K at Lake Village Homestead Farm. It was cold at first, but I warmed up during the run. I reflected on the powerful fact that I would not have been able to sustain a run for that long a year ago. I remember my heart pounding just from walking up a slight hill in our neighborhood last spring. It was certainly a challenge this morning because I have not been running, but the setting was beautiful and I just focused on my breath. I'm happy to be sitting here with a warm cat on my lap right now, and will lay low for the rest of the day.

May you be well!