Me Doing Me
Part III: All You Need is a Plan
Before I get into how I started planning my cycle, let’s briefly walk through the egg freezing process. (For those of you new to this series, read more about Glow and my decision to preserve my fertility here.) Also known as fertility preservation, the egg freezing process happens during one menstrual cycle, where the ovaries are stimulated to produce a bunch of eggs, the eggs are retrieved during a brief surgical procedure, and then mature eggs are frozen through a process called vitrification.
A friend of mine told me that people who freeze their eggs are Type A and risk-averse. And let’s be real, that’s me. I over plan everything including plans B, C, and D, which is probably why I decided to freeze my eggs. So, once I made the decision, it was time to tackle how it would be done!
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When do I do this?
My schedule is pretty intense. I am often on the road for 3 weeks a month and in 2–3 cities a week. The entire egg freezing process takes about 2–3 weeks (including recovery), so I needed to figure out where I could be in one place for an extended period of time. I narrowed it down to the summer or the holidays.
When it came down to it, I would have more flexibility in the summer. The winter could give me a 2–3 week window, while I would have a full 2-month window in the summer. Also, why would I want to freeze my eggs during the holidays? I want all the champagne!
Decision made. Freeze my eggs during the Summer. It would cut into my personal travel plans, but that’s ok — It’s happening!
Where do I do this? Does the clinic matter?
I figured I should kill two birds with one stone — vacation & egg freezing by spending two weeks with my friends in New York. I spent my 20s there, so I couldn’t say no to a long trip to New York. NYC is also the home to Glow’s egg freezing-only clinic — Extend Fertility. They have the best prices in the nation and cater exclusively to women who are freezing their eggs, so it’s a great option. A friend of mine went there and had a great experience. I set up a consult.
However, after going to my consult, I realized the process would be longer than I expected and more difficult to nail down exact dates. So, if I was planning a two-week trip to NY, there would be more uncertainty involved. I had no idea if my body would listen to my calendar. It never has before, why would it now? I decided I needed to simplify my life and do my retrieval a bit closer to home.
San Francisco would be the most logical answer, but I really didn’t want to spend the whole summer freezing in San Francisco summer. ‘Fog’ust sucks. (Side note, bring a sweatshirt if you come here in the summer!). My last option was to do it in LA, where I grew up and still have family.
Luckily, we had an event with Dr. Meredith Brower from Fertility and Surgical Associates of California. I met and interviewed her, and she was great — caring, attentive and knew her stuff — I liked her a lot! We instantly clicked. And if I froze my eggs in LA, my mom could take care of me. Double yay! Plus, our first Glow Fertility Program baby was conceived at FSAC, so I knew they would be great.
I decided to schedule a consult with Dr. Brower. She knew I understood the process, but she went ahead and explained it all to me again. She even taught me a few things I didn’t already know! She was thoughtful in her explanation about the benefits and risks of egg freezing. She knew I had a crazy schedule and was pretty flexible in the plan. She was totally open to my getting some monitoring in San Francisco — she happened to recommend Dr. Ekpo from Laurel Fertility, another Glow doctor. She even mapped out the whole thing to make it easier for my planny planny self.
I walked out of Dr. Brower’s office with a plan and I liiikedd it!
See my whole journey here.
For more information about egg freezing, visit Glow Fertility Program.
