IVF BLOG DAY 35 | EGG COLLECTION | UPDATE FROM THE EMBRYOLOGIST

The embryologist called this morning and it turns out there was a hidden egg. So we have 9 altogether! Apparently my eggs and my fiances sperm had a bit of a party in that dish last night because they all fertilized!

However 2 were abnormal so we now have 7 embryos. We're really happy as you can imagine. Now it's a waiting game to see how they progress. If all goes well transfer will be tomorrow as planned or Friday. How exciting!

Today I'm we're feeling: Over the moon!

Have you ever had your eggs collected? If so, how many did you get?

Jess. xx

IVF EGG COLLECTION UNDER GENERAL ANAESTHETIC

Yesterday I wrote about how many eggs we had collected (you can read that post here) and today I thought I would write a bit about my experience of having the egg collection itself. So we got to the hospital at 8am and were greeted by all the lovely NHS staff members and then shown to my bed. 

I was asked to put on a hospital gown and my slippers and dressing gown that I had packed myself. I got out all my magazines as we didn't know what time our egg collection would be. Soon after that we were informed that we had been moved to second on the list. I think that was because I get sick when having general anaesthesia. 

Doctors always make sure that they give me anti-sickness medication which does the trick. However, they don't know if it will work so I expect they thought they would get me in sooner rather than later. That way if I am sick I've got more time in the day to recover and hopefully go home.

Throughout our time in hospital we were continuously asked the same questions over and over again. This is so that no mistakes are made (e.g. a mix up of eggs or sperm - can you imagine?!!!). I joked with my fiance and said 'imagine if we have a baby and it has the man opposites face'. But it's no laughing matter really because apparently these things do happen! Anyway, I digress!....

About 9am my fiance was called to give his sperm sample. Then not long after he got back (probably about 9.30) it was time for me to have my eggs collected. The whole procedure was straight forward and couldn't have gone better. They gave me the anaesthetic and the next thing I knew I had woken up and was wheeled back to my space on the ward. 

I was really glad to see my fiance and that it was finally all over. Like I said, it couldn't have gone any better but I was a little nervous before I went in. Following the procedure a nurse came to see me and asked if I was in any pain. I was in a little bit of pain and she told me I could have some morphine if I wanted. We agreed to wait 15 mins to see how I felt. 

The one thing I noticed was that my arms and legs were shaking pretty badly and I was sweating a little so didn't feel the best. It turns out this was just hypoglycemia as once I was given a couple of slices of toast I felt pretty good. That's typical of me as hypoglycemia is something I suffer with every day.

It's now been about 36 hours since egg collection and I'm pleased to say that I haven't taken any pain killers at all. Not even paracetamol! The pain just hasn't been bad enough. I can barely feel it at all. I've had a little bit of blood spotting but other than that I'm feeling pretty good! Better than I have over the past month I would say.

Jess. xx

IVF BLOG DAY 34 | EGG COLLECTION

Some of you might remember that when we had our final progress assessment we only had 5 follicles that were a good size, 2 that were somewhere behind and 9 that were so small I'm sure the consultant was hinting that they probably wouldn't grow. So in my head I thought we would probably have 7 follicles today if we were lucky. And if we were really lucky maybe 6 of those would have eggs in. Although I would have been happy to have had 5, maybe even 4.

About 30 mins before egg collection today I said so my fiance 'please prepare yourself that we may only get about 2 eggs'. He 'said why are you being so negative?'. I said 'I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic'. I assured him that I felt okay. I just didn't want to have unrealistic expectations. Well, it just goes to show what I know because on the IVF journey anything can happen and guess what? We got 8 eggs!

8 EGGS!!!!

I'm so happy. When the embryologist told us I shed 1 small tear of joy! (I wonder if she noticed? My fiance said he saw! Lol). I couldn't help but wonder where all the eggs came from? Apparently some of the follicles that I had somehow convinced myself wouldn't grow, did. I don't know who's watching over us (maybe my nan - remember she passed away 2 weeks ago and her funeral was yesterday?!). Anyway, whoever or whatever it is, from a science or spiritual point of view I'm so grateful. So blessed. 

It feels like we have a pretty good chance. Of course anything could go wrong at any stage, but as far as I'm concerned, so far so good.

Anyway that's all for this post, but I'll blog about the trigger injection and egg collection later. 

Today I'm feeling: The best I have all month! So happy. So alert. So positive. I feel like I've got baby dust sprinkled all over me! 

Jess. xx

IVF TREATMENT PLAN & DRUGS TRAINING APPOINTMENT

We've just got back from the hospital having had a two hour session with a clinician. She talked through our treatment plan once again and we learnt how to administer the drugs. We also practised doing injections on a dummy piece of flesh using water. 

From day one we decided that my fiance would be doing the injections as it's really not my thing. I'll be having them in my stomach to start, although you can choose to do it in the thigh as well. According to the clinician many people get their husband or partner to do it at first but end up doing it themselves. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes!

So it's official. Tomorrow is day 1 of IVF and I'll be having my very first Buserelin injection in the morning. This part of the treatment is the 'downregulation of ovaries' and it starts on day 21 of the menstrual cycle. These injections will be administered once a day until a nurse tells us to stop. It's estimated that I'll be taking them for 33 days, so should be stopping on 9th July. A few days before egg collection. 

Apparently down reg (as they call it) can cause some side effects as it's similar to what women experience when going through the menopause. Hot flushes, tiredness and headaches could all be part of my day to day life soon. Oh the joy! I'm not looking forward to this at all if I'm honest but going to try my hardest to use mind over matter to overcome any symptoms I get. Of course there will probably be bruising, swelling and some minor inflammation in the areas we do the injections but I'm not too worried about that. 

I'll give you another update tomorrow and let you know how we get on!

Jess. xx

Today I've been feeling: Mildly sick on the way to the appointment (that's just anxiety for some reason). Overwhelmed. A bit lost. Really tired. 

We haven't told any of our friends we're going through this. Not because we don't trust them. Just because we are struggling to get our heads around it all ourselves and don't want any extra pressure. In a way I wish I had told one or two just so I can have a bit of a chat. Still, that's what this blog is for. Hopefully someone out there is benefiting from me writing this too! 

WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR IRREGULAR OVULATION?

I've been off of the contraceptive pill for 3 or 4 years and our attitude towards getting pregnant was very much if it happens it happens. (Or maybe more - it'll happen when it happens). I felt positive and didn't want to be one of those women who obsess over ovulation etc. I've been pregnant a few times before and by my fiance too, so it wasn't like we couldn't get pregnant. 

Yet looking back I realise that was some sort of fairy tail idealization. For us at least anyway. I guess we left it too late to start trying? I was 32 after all. 

When we were younger we weren't ready to start a family. I remember watching my friends get pregnant one by one and thinking it wasn't time for us yet. I also watched some of my friends really obsess over ovulation, getting pregnant and literally fall out over babies. 

That's just not me. I'm someone that claps when my friends do well and I've always been really happy for them when they got pregnant. I'm still the same now. The only difference is that I have also resorted to using ovulation tests every month too. 

My doctor advised me to do it so about a year ago I caved and started doing them every month. But I don't fully understand what's going on. My cycle is and has always been as regular as clockwork, arriving every 28 days without fail. Yet I seem to ovulate at all different times of the month. What the actual?

It's so confusing. At first I couldn't get a reading off any ovulation sticks at all and I got annoyed and stopped buying the damn things. Then when we started having our Preliminary IVF Investigations they said I'm ovulating no problem every time. So I started buying the tests again. 

Finally I started to see that smiley face, but much earlier than expected in my cycle - on day 11. My friend told me there's no need to keep testing anymore as once you work out what day you ovulate it will be the same each month. But it wasn't true for me.

I got the smiley face on day 11 every month for a while. But then it stopped. I got really disheartened and gave up buying the tests again. I told my doctor and she said that ovulation tests can cause a lot of anxiety which doesn't help with getting pregnant. I got the impression she was telling me not to bother with them and to just keep trying as we were.

Anyway, last week my fiance and I agreed that we should give getting pregnant a really good go as we are about to start IVF. (Like one last attempt at getting pregnant naturally if you like). So I thought, what the hell let's do the ovulation tests too. After all, I still had a load unused in the draw. I started testing on day 8 and got a smiley face straight away. 

I just don't get it and its got me wondering, what are the reasons for irregular ovulation? Especially when you get your period as regular as clockwork, every 28 days!

Does anyone know?

Jess. xx

THE DRUGS HAVE BEEN DELIVERED

On Wednesday I had a call from the company delivering my IVF drugs and we arranged that they would be delivered on Friday (yesterday). I got given a 3 hour delivery time slot and on the day they called with a 1 hour window. Some of the drugs have to be refrigerated so I spent the morning cooking in a bid to free up some space in the fridge!

I'm starting some of these drugs on Thursday, so I guess that will be classed as day 1. As I already have my schedule I know the exact date I'm having our embryo transferred and it will be 5 weeks from Thursday. Not long at all!

There are 4 types of drugs that I'll be using in this treatment cycle:

1. Pituitary down-regulation

Drug: Buserelin (Suprecur)

(Apparently some get to use a nasal spray instead. I wonder how the consultant chooses who gets the spray and who gets the injections. Does anyone know?).

2. Ovarian superovulation

Drug: Gonal-F 

(Some use a drug called Menopur instead).

3. Ovulating injection

Drug: hCG Ovitrelle (Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin).

4. Luteal Support

Drug: Crinone vaginal gel

(Some use Cyclogest pessaries).

Although I have my IVF information pack I don't know exactly how long I'll be taking each drug for. We have an appointment on Wednesday where we'll be shown how and when to administer the drugs. The consultant is also going to go through the IVF process again in much more detail. 

What drugs are you taking if you're on the IVF journey too?

Jess. xx

AN APPOINTMENT AT THE ASSISTED CONCEPTION CLINIC

Today we went to the Assisted Conception Clinic. I had to have a routine transvaginal ultrasound examination and my fiance had a semen analysis. My results were all good and nothing was found. His results were really good and apparently he produced 10x more sperm than average.

When we get results like this it really does make me wonder what on earth is wrong with us. Why can we not just get pregnant naturally? I have a friend whose husband had really 'slow swimmers' and she has two children!! (My friend and her husband are lovely and so of course I'm happy for them, but still!). Anyway I digress....

The consultant that we saw today was the same man I saw back in April. He's a really lovely, friendly guy and I'm so happy that we are being dealt with by him. It just makes the whole process that little bit easier.

He told me to ring the clinic again on day 21 of my next period. Being the cheeky monkey that I am, I put it out there that I was in fact on day 7 right now, so could I call him on day 21 of this months cycle?

I don't know what got into me really as I'm never usually this assertive! He went off to speak to a Co-Ordinator. Then came back and said yes, they have a space for me! So that's it - today really is day 1 for us!

We were given an information pack which I'm about to read and the Co-Ordinator has just phoned me with my IVF schedule. Apparently I will be getting a phone call from a pharmacist who will be arranging for the drugs to be delivered (probably next week). We have loads of appointments booked now. I've decided to blog in real-time, as and when things happen.

All I can tell you is that my first set of injections will be starting in less than two weeks. These injections will switch off my system. I'll talk a bit more about this in another post!

Wish us luck!

Also I would love to hear from anyone going through a similar thing in the comments box below!

Jess. xx

THE JOURNEY SO FAR

I'm writing this blog as a way of documenting our IVF journey. I feel like I need to do this to get my head straight and as a way of taking everything in. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get a better understanding of what's happening if it's all written down. Plus maybe this blog will help others if they are thinking about going on or are on the IVF journey too. 

Here's what has happened so far:

In February 2016 my doctor referred me to the hospital to investigate our infertility problems.

The first appointment was to have an Ultrasound Hysterosalpingogram at the beginning of May 2016. (The results showed that my fallopian tubes are working normally).

Around this time my fiance had a semen analysis at the doctors. (The results came back good).

In August 2016 I had an ultrasound scan. (Again, the results were good and nothing abnormal was found). I also had many blood tests to check if I'm ovulating (I am) and to check for STI's. (I don't have any).

 In the middle of April 2017 I had my first appointment at the Infertility Clinic (my fiance wasn't there!).

The consultant asked me lots of questions such as what's my marital status, what do I do as a job, what does my finance do as a job, how long have we been together, have we got any children, have I ever been pregnant, if we smoke or drink and general questions about our health. 

He told me that our diagnosis is Primary Unexplained Infertility, three to four years duration. That's how long I've been off of the contraceptive pill. Thats how long we've been trying for. 

No one knows why we can't get pregnant. Hence the name unexplained fertility. The only thing my tests did show was high levels of prolactin. The doctors have put this down to stress.

The consultant told me we have two choices. We can either await events or go ahead and have IVF. As I'm 36 and my fiance is 38 we have decided to go ahead and have IVF. 

I never thought I would be someone that has IVF. It's hard to get my head around it all. But I feel excited nonetheless. 

At the beginning of May 2017 we went to the Assisted Conception Clinic.

This was to confirm our eligibility for NHS funded treatment. They want us to be registered at the same GP, to have no living children and be non-smoking for 6 months prior to referral. I have to have a BMI under 29 and my fiance has to have a BMI under 30. We need to be referred before my 42nd birthday and all cycles have to be completed by my 43rd. We must have been in our relationship for at least 3 years and be having regular unprotected sex. We must not have been sterilised, had a vasectomy or the reversal of either. We can only have had a maximum of 1 NHS funded cycle. So from that I gather we are going to get up to two chances at IVF on the NHS. 

We both passed the eligibility criteria no problem. We were then sent off for blood tests.

I had:

AMH/FHS (to check my ovarian reserve)

Syphilis screen

Hepatitis B screen

HIV screen

Hepatitis C screen

Chlamydia antibodies

Rubella (German measles) screen

and a MRSA risk assessment.

My fiance had:

Syphilis screen

Hepatitis B screen

HIV screen

Hepatitis C screen

We signed lots of forms and a new appointment was made for the end of May 2017. 

As I write this that appointment is tomorrow. Apparently the whole process takes around 8 weeks from start to finish. I'm not sure if it's 8 weeks from tomorrow or 8 weeks from some other stage. I'll blog again tomorrow and will let you all know.

Are any of you going through IVF too?

Jess. xx