So today is Trigger day! The clinic called me this afternoon to confirm I needed to take my trigger injection tonight for egg collection on Monday!
The instructions I have are to take my current dose of down reg drugs at 6.45pm (normal time) and then take my Ovitrelle (the trigger injection) at 10pm tonight so egg collection can take place at 10am on Monday. The trigger injection gets the mature eggs right to the ideal state before collection. I have set the alarm on my phone for 10pm tonight (not that I think I'll forget come 10pm for a second!)
The clinic gave me some other instructions too. Very similar to last time. The night before EC I can't eat after midnight and I can't even have water after 7am. I need to pack my dressing gown and slippers and wear no make up or jewellery.
Buzz and I need to be there for 7.30am on Monday to be in theatre for 9.30am. Between 7.30 and 9.30am the nurses will get me settled in and talk me through what's going to happen, ensure I understand everything and get me all ready for the big event. I'll also meet the consultant who will be doing my egg collection. Buzz will also have to do his 'sample.'
Having had egg collection before and read up lots about it to refresh my memory in short they insert a catheter style tube inside you & suck the eggs out into little test tubes one by one. The more eggs you have the longer it takes. At my last scan I had 19. On egg collection when we conceived Posey I had 12 collected. I really hope we get a good number on Monday. Once all the eggs have been collected the embryologists then mix the (washed and concentrated) sperm in with the eggs and everyone keeps their fingers and toes crossed for fertilisation of at least 1 egg. We only got 1 last time. It was a good one mind. She is currently sitting in her highchair eating grapes!
This time we are having IVF with ICSI. The was recommended to us as last time only 1 egg out of 12 fertilised. They expect around 70% of your eggs to fertilise so we were well below that. Hence the need for ICSI this time. During ICSI they select 1 god egg and 1 good sperm and inject the sperm straight into the egg. If there are a number of good eggs they will do this with each one.
How do I feel?
Scared, excited, hopeful, and fortunate to have got this far to quote a few words. I also feel very bloated!!!! But then I have round 19 eggs inside me, most measuring 15mm +!! I don't even feel hungry but I will eat as I'm trying to have lots of protein, iron and water.
Right, time for some dinner and then onwards to injection time!
x
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Day 9 of stimming + scan + taking my toddler!
Wowzers! So today was my last trip to the clinic before egg collection!
I had a good visit at the clinic today. I have 19 follicles, 5 of which measure above 15mm so the clinic are happy. I have to carry on with my stims for the next 2 nights and then on Saturday I need to take the trigger injection. The nurses will call me on Saturday afternoon to give me instructions on what time to take the trigger, what time my EC will be on Monday and to take me through all the prep information I need to know.
I took Posey to the clinic with me today and (thankfully..) she was as good as gold! The nurses cooed over her and helped to keep her entertained while I was having my scan, bloods taken and getting more drugs from the pharmacy room. She slept most of the way there and back too :)
It felt very odd having Posey with me at the clinic as I have such vivid memories of my treatment there when I conceived her. I'd be lying if I said I didn't well up once or twice just thinking about how much I longed to have her and that when I was having treatment to conceive her I had no idea if it would EVER happen. Fortunately I am one of the lucky ones and I have my little miracle. There was another lady there today who had a little boy who is 3 months older than Posey. We chatted for a few minutes and she said she felt overwhelmed by having him there as well. I guess it's natural to feel that way. I relly hope that other couples (who are yet to conceive) who saw me there with Posey today felt like IVF CAN work, and that I kind of gave them hope rather than them feel like I was rubbing it in their faces. When I saw other babies / toddlers there during my first treatment I felt like they gave me hope.
So, onwards with 2 more days of stimming and then the trigger on Saturday. Sunday will feel good as there will be no injections to do, but I think the nerves I'll feel about Monday will more than occupy my mind.
x
I had a good visit at the clinic today. I have 19 follicles, 5 of which measure above 15mm so the clinic are happy. I have to carry on with my stims for the next 2 nights and then on Saturday I need to take the trigger injection. The nurses will call me on Saturday afternoon to give me instructions on what time to take the trigger, what time my EC will be on Monday and to take me through all the prep information I need to know.
I took Posey to the clinic with me today and (thankfully..) she was as good as gold! The nurses cooed over her and helped to keep her entertained while I was having my scan, bloods taken and getting more drugs from the pharmacy room. She slept most of the way there and back too :)
It felt very odd having Posey with me at the clinic as I have such vivid memories of my treatment there when I conceived her. I'd be lying if I said I didn't well up once or twice just thinking about how much I longed to have her and that when I was having treatment to conceive her I had no idea if it would EVER happen. Fortunately I am one of the lucky ones and I have my little miracle. There was another lady there today who had a little boy who is 3 months older than Posey. We chatted for a few minutes and she said she felt overwhelmed by having him there as well. I guess it's natural to feel that way. I relly hope that other couples (who are yet to conceive) who saw me there with Posey today felt like IVF CAN work, and that I kind of gave them hope rather than them feel like I was rubbing it in their faces. When I saw other babies / toddlers there during my first treatment I felt like they gave me hope.
So, onwards with 2 more days of stimming and then the trigger on Saturday. Sunday will feel good as there will be no injections to do, but I think the nerves I'll feel about Monday will more than occupy my mind.
x
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Day 7 of stimming + scan
Today I had my first scan since I started on the stims. I felt pretty nervous this morning to be honest. I think it's very easy to feel like nothing is going on inside you and wonder whether all these injections are actually doing anything!
Anyway...I had my scan before my bloods today, which was a relief as I felt like I was about to explode with anticipation. My first sigh of relief was when the nurse said my uterus lining was thickening up nicely. The sighs of relief kept coming as she then counted and measured my follicles - 20 in total, the biggest of which is 18mm!!! No wonder I've been feeling a bit bloated. I'm only short and a size 8 on a heavy day so all these little follicles must be pushing my tummy out to make space for themselves!
At the end of my scan the nurse said things were coming along nicely. It was so good to hear that.
Next up I had my bloods. They went fine and unless I get a call from the clinic this afternoon I'm to stick with my 0.2 suprecur and 150 Gonal f for tonight and tomorrow until I go for my next scan on Thursday morning.
This round of IVF seems to be remarkably similar to my Posey round as my follicles are growing at the same pace. Amazing given I'm 2.5 years older and am 35!
The nurses estimate my egg collection will be on Monday, which will be day 12. Wow, only 5 days away!
When I go for my scan on Thursday I'll have to take Posey with me as she won't be at nursery that day. The nurses reassured me today that it'll be fine and they'll help to keep her occupied while I'm having my scan and bloods. They sad they'd love to meet her seeing as she's 'one of their babies.' It must be nice for them to see babies that they helped to conceive. It must be right up there in terms of job satisfaction!
x
Anyway...I had my scan before my bloods today, which was a relief as I felt like I was about to explode with anticipation. My first sigh of relief was when the nurse said my uterus lining was thickening up nicely. The sighs of relief kept coming as she then counted and measured my follicles - 20 in total, the biggest of which is 18mm!!! No wonder I've been feeling a bit bloated. I'm only short and a size 8 on a heavy day so all these little follicles must be pushing my tummy out to make space for themselves!
At the end of my scan the nurse said things were coming along nicely. It was so good to hear that.
Next up I had my bloods. They went fine and unless I get a call from the clinic this afternoon I'm to stick with my 0.2 suprecur and 150 Gonal f for tonight and tomorrow until I go for my next scan on Thursday morning.
This round of IVF seems to be remarkably similar to my Posey round as my follicles are growing at the same pace. Amazing given I'm 2.5 years older and am 35!
The nurses estimate my egg collection will be on Monday, which will be day 12. Wow, only 5 days away!
When I go for my scan on Thursday I'll have to take Posey with me as she won't be at nursery that day. The nurses reassured me today that it'll be fine and they'll help to keep her occupied while I'm having my scan and bloods. They sad they'd love to meet her seeing as she's 'one of their babies.' It must be nice for them to see babies that they helped to conceive. It must be right up there in terms of job satisfaction!
x
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Day 5 of stimming
The tiredness....oh the tiredness! This is by far my biggest side effect of stimming so far. As I type I am also having a hot flush, which isn't nice but they only last about 2 minutes. Tiredness hits me T about 8pm each evening!
I've been going to bed between 9 and 10pm every night (same as usual...!) and getting up between 6 and 7am. I'm definitely getting my 8 hours sleep, often more. Posey is great, she sleeps 7-7 every night plus around 2 hours at lunchtime, so it's not like I'm up and down with her at night! She's a little bag of energy in the day though and looking after her and keeping her entertained can be full on mind. I take her to lots of classes and play groups where she can sing, dance, run around and play as much as she likes. Buzz is great after work and at the weekends too. He and Posey are like little partners in crime and at the moment, if I'm exhausted, I know they're ok and I can just chill. I feel fortunate.
I guess growing lots of litte follicles ready for egg collection is a very responsible job and with that comes an amount pressure, over-thinking and fear of what's coming. It's no wonder it's tiring!!!
x
I've been going to bed between 9 and 10pm every night (same as usual...!) and getting up between 6 and 7am. I'm definitely getting my 8 hours sleep, often more. Posey is great, she sleeps 7-7 every night plus around 2 hours at lunchtime, so it's not like I'm up and down with her at night! She's a little bag of energy in the day though and looking after her and keeping her entertained can be full on mind. I take her to lots of classes and play groups where she can sing, dance, run around and play as much as she likes. Buzz is great after work and at the weekends too. He and Posey are like little partners in crime and at the moment, if I'm exhausted, I know they're ok and I can just chill. I feel fortunate.
I guess growing lots of litte follicles ready for egg collection is a very responsible job and with that comes an amount pressure, over-thinking and fear of what's coming. It's no wonder it's tiring!!!
x
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Day 4 of stimming
I really feel like everything is happening now I'm on my stims injections and it's almost like I'm determined to grow the 17(ish) little follicles I have!
Each evening I prepare my suprecur and gonal f doses and inject them into my tummy in turn. It's been ok so far although I must admit the area that I've been injecting into is starting to feel a little tender so I'll have to start being more adventurous!
By my estimations (based on my treatment before I had Posey and what the clinic nurses say) I'll be stimming for about another 12 days or so and then preparing for egg collection.
I'm looking forward to my next scan (this Tuesday) so I can see how my little follicles are growing. I hope they're doing well!
How do I feel? Ok actually. I've had the odd hot flush. The afternoon when I was getting Posey ready after her swimming lesson I had a big hot flush in the changing room, which was already hot, so that wasn't ideal! I get tired pretty early, but then that could just be from chasing an active toddler around. Apart from that I kind of feel normal. Which s good!
It's a bank holiday weekend this weekend so Buzz, Posey and I have lots of family time planned, perfect to keep me going up until my Tuesday scan :)
x
Each evening I prepare my suprecur and gonal f doses and inject them into my tummy in turn. It's been ok so far although I must admit the area that I've been injecting into is starting to feel a little tender so I'll have to start being more adventurous!
By my estimations (based on my treatment before I had Posey and what the clinic nurses say) I'll be stimming for about another 12 days or so and then preparing for egg collection.
I'm looking forward to my next scan (this Tuesday) so I can see how my little follicles are growing. I hope they're doing well!
How do I feel? Ok actually. I've had the odd hot flush. The afternoon when I was getting Posey ready after her swimming lesson I had a big hot flush in the changing room, which was already hot, so that wasn't ideal! I get tired pretty early, but then that could just be from chasing an active toddler around. Apart from that I kind of feel normal. Which s good!
It's a bank holiday weekend this weekend so Buzz, Posey and I have lots of family time planned, perfect to keep me going up until my Tuesday scan :)
x
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Starting to inject the stims before my IVF treatment
Last night was day 1! Without getting way way ahead of myself I worked out that if I conceive with this round of treatment I will have a due date of February 5 2014! (Or perhaps closer to Xmas 2013 if Posey's little brother or sister had the same agenda as her...)
How was my first injection last night?
It was ok. It hurt more than the down reg ones but that's perhaps because on this phase of treatment there are 2 injections rather than just 1 every evening. It wasn't extremely painful, just uncomfortable. I have reduced my down reg dose of suprecur (burserelin) from 0.5to 0.2 and I'm taking a dose of 150 gonal f as my stims. The gonal f comes from an injection pen, which has recently been upgraded and is far easier to use than the old pen!
So for the next few days I need to be injecting my doses of suprecur and gonal f every evening. The gonal f will stimulate the follicles on both sides of my ovaries to grow grow grow!!
What's next?
I'm booked back in at the clinic next Tuesday morning for another scan to see how my little follies are growing, how the lining of my uterus is thickening up and for the nurses to assess my doses in case they need to be increased or decreased.
How do I feel?
Quite emotional / hormonal.
I have had 3 hot flushes so far today (it's only 10am..) and 2 other hot flushes woke me up in the night.
I also feel like I need a wee all the time. Not ideal!
Talking about non-IVF matters, today is a gorgeous day so Posey and I will be going to her dancing class and then to the park. Lovely :)
x
How was my first injection last night?
It was ok. It hurt more than the down reg ones but that's perhaps because on this phase of treatment there are 2 injections rather than just 1 every evening. It wasn't extremely painful, just uncomfortable. I have reduced my down reg dose of suprecur (burserelin) from 0.5to 0.2 and I'm taking a dose of 150 gonal f as my stims. The gonal f comes from an injection pen, which has recently been upgraded and is far easier to use than the old pen!
So for the next few days I need to be injecting my doses of suprecur and gonal f every evening. The gonal f will stimulate the follicles on both sides of my ovaries to grow grow grow!!
What's next?
I'm booked back in at the clinic next Tuesday morning for another scan to see how my little follies are growing, how the lining of my uterus is thickening up and for the nurses to assess my doses in case they need to be increased or decreased.
How do I feel?
Quite emotional / hormonal.
I have had 3 hot flushes so far today (it's only 10am..) and 2 other hot flushes woke me up in the night.
I also feel like I need a wee all the time. Not ideal!
Talking about non-IVF matters, today is a gorgeous day so Posey and I will be going to her dancing class and then to the park. Lovely :)
x
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
My baseline scan
So after 2 weeks of down ragging yesterday was my baseline scan! It felt like a big day in the diary because if all was well, I'd be able to start my stims injections this week. It felt like we'd hopefully move onto the next phase of our IVF treatment.
Here's how the day went....
I woke up feeling very nervous but thankfully my appointment was at 9.30am so I didn't have long to wait. Buzz and I took Posey to nursery and off we went! Thankfully the clinic was running on time and I had my blood, scans and review all within an hour. The scan showed that I had 6-8 follicles in my left ovary and around 10 in my right - good numbers to start the stimming - hurray!! The lining of my uterus was also nice and thin and my bloods came back ok so the nurses are letting me start the stims today!!!!
Buzz and i felt very relieved when we left the clinic and happy that we could move on to the next stage of treatment. Buzz is going to help me with my first stims injection tonight. Of course I did it all last time when we conceived Posey but the injection pens have changed since then so 2 brains will be better than 1!
Buzz and I spent the rest of the day together, browsing the shops and having a nice lunch together before we picked up Posey from nursery. Then last night, I worked! Life goes on hey!
Roll on 7pm tonight x
Here's how the day went....
I woke up feeling very nervous but thankfully my appointment was at 9.30am so I didn't have long to wait. Buzz and I took Posey to nursery and off we went! Thankfully the clinic was running on time and I had my blood, scans and review all within an hour. The scan showed that I had 6-8 follicles in my left ovary and around 10 in my right - good numbers to start the stimming - hurray!! The lining of my uterus was also nice and thin and my bloods came back ok so the nurses are letting me start the stims today!!!!
Buzz and i felt very relieved when we left the clinic and happy that we could move on to the next stage of treatment. Buzz is going to help me with my first stims injection tonight. Of course I did it all last time when we conceived Posey but the injection pens have changed since then so 2 brains will be better than 1!
Buzz and I spent the rest of the day together, browsing the shops and having a nice lunch together before we picked up Posey from nursery. Then last night, I worked! Life goes on hey!
Roll on 7pm tonight x
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