Betweens IVFs (again) day 13

Yeah don’t even get me started on how this letter is marked ‘Strictly private and confidential to be opened by addressee only’ and was sent to me and not my husband… A couple of weeks after the event it confirmed what we knew from two negative pregnancy tests and me getting my period.

We’re in limbo again. Not much to report. On the plus side I can have a few beers, exercise, eat McDonalds, er… bleach my teeth. It’s not so bad, we don’t have to wait too long and as it is Edinburgh Festival Fringe time I can happily have some fun and get on with things for a bit. I’ve been feeling a bit sick which seems to be easing off now but I’ve not got my libido back. This is annoying. But as the sickness is going and I’m starting to show a bit of interest in attractive young comedians the husband thinks this may be related to my natural cycle resetting and my ovulation which is due around now.

IVF Journey: Betweens IVFs day 35

I’m all about evaluation, and I thought it might be interesting to generate some stats and reflections on my first IVF cycle.

(By the way, I’m still taking these money draining daily kick in the teeth folic acid tablets…)

IVF Journey: Drugs day 25

This is my abdomen, it seems I’ve been sticking the injections all in one place and its gone a bit gross. I’ve started using another bit since I noticed this!

IVF Journey: Drugs day 24

Welcome to my mornings, here’s all the stuff that I need to use every day to medicate myself for the IVF process.

Writing about work stuff yesterday, I’m prompted to tell you a bit more about my lifestyle and the way that fits in with the IVF process.

IVF Journey: Drugs day 23

Well it was ups and downs today.

Went to the clinic for my scan. All going well with my follicles, still plenty of them growing and they range between 9mm and 17mm which is much bigger than on Tuesday. The doctor wants to see some measuring 18mm before scheduling the egg retrieval, which is a full day event. This means egg retrieval won’t be next Monday or Tuesday as they had thought earlier in the week, but instead will probably be Wednesday or Friday.

IVF Journey: Drugs day 20

It wasn’t a great start at the fertility clinic today as my appointment had not been recorded by the last nurse I saw so no-one came down to collect me. It ended up starting 15 minutes late. Add to this the fact that the bus took more than an hour and a quarter to get there during the pre-work rush hour, and it felt like a long morning before anything even got started!

IVF Journey: Drugs day 19

The used needles are really piling up in the sharps bin now.

After a couple of days of feeling very tired and heavy limbed I think I am back to normal again now, so that is good. Was maybe just adjusting to taking the new drugs and/or the two sets of drugs at once.

IVF Journey: Drugs day 16

So this is the thing that I use to administer the second set of IVF drugs (Gonal F). It is a sort of ‘pen’ which is all pre-loaded with a week’s worth of drugs and you twizzle it round until it is set to give you the right amount. The only bit you add each time is a new needle – the bit in the bottom left.

IVF Journey: Drugs day 15

I had a hospital appointment at 8.30am this morning. The main thing that I went in for today was a scan to see how things were progressing.

Pictured is the scanning equipment. It is an internal scan that they do, and the rounded pointy thing is what they use to do that. The recipient of the scan strips below the waist, and the doctor sets up the rounded pointy thing by covering it with lube, putting a condom over it, then putting more lube on top. The rounded pointy thing is then inserted into the ladyparts.