Pregnancy test result

One picture over a thousand words. We are considering changing the clinic.

10dp3dt

Alright, I couldn't wait until Tuesday. It's my birthday today and I wanted the best birthday present ever - a positive pregnancy test. And it's not happening again. It was as negative as it could be. I seriously doubt that it will be positive in two days. I guess IVF #5 in February 2018 awaits!

7dp3dt

There are 5 days left till the Official Testing Day. I must admit this IVF cycle has been very calm. Apart from sleeping really bad there is no symptoms that could suggest something has or should be happening. My belly hurt mostly until Monday. Nipples are still sensitive but much less than straight after the trigger. We are hoping for the best.

Embryo transfer #4

We got to the clinic for 3pm, after a very short wait we were taken to that teeny tiny room for a quick chat with a nurse, handed two pregnancy test and paperwork as usual. I joked that I hope they are not going to tell me there is 20-minute wait or something because my bladder was getting seriously full. The nurse laughed and said it shouldn't be that bad but went and checked. Came back and said no longer than 30 minutes. 😒
One couple just went to the theatre and there was another before us. I was almost crying. That's what pisses me off a bit, they don't take any delays into account and then we are bursting with pain. Every woman went straight to the toilet after the transfer. (I checked 😅)
Before the transfer we had a quick chat with lovely embryologist Olivia. She told us the one good embryo is 8-cell and was given a top grade. Yay! She also asked us if we wanted to transfer just that embryo or another one as well. We were quite surprised by that question because we thought the other three were a 'lost cause'. She said there is one that is kind of progressing and is a 3-cell right now insteas 6-8 cells as it would be expected on Day 3. The other 2 embryos were still only 2-cell and haven't really developed further since yesterday. We went for 2 then because we wanted to anyway. The only thing I didn't like was that we were actually being questioned by the gynecologist if we were aware of multiple pregnancy risks. He almost barked at me "Name one!" after I said Yes we are. I told him premature labour. He seemed alright with that answer and said a few more but shut up after that. 🤐
The transfer went ok itself apart from my cervix being dipped or something so the doctor had to insert a bigger catheter first and then insert the other one with the embryos through that one. Finally I could go to the loo. It was such a relief! 😅 Now Rick and I are chilling in bed watching telly. 👍

Day 3

I really wanted to call embryology yesterday to ask how our embryos were doing but at the end I didn't. I told myself I would call today then. That didn't happen either. At 8.50am I got a phone call from them saying three out of our four embryos are not developing as they should ve so the one good embryo is going to be transferred today at 3pm. We are just on our way to the clinic, ETA 25 minutes. The lovely woman on the phone also said that the one we are transferring is 8-cell as they would expect today and it's a good grade as well. 🤗

Day 1

I couldn't sleep because tge embryologist were supposed to call today to tell us how many of our eggs fertilised. They called at 9am sharp and I was a bit disappointed by what she told me but it might not mean anything and of course, it's quality over quantity.
Out of my 11 eggs collected yesterday, 7 were good for IMSI and 4 fertilised. We are aiming for blastocyst culture and transfer on Saturday on day 5.

Egg collection

Yesterday we had to get up at 5am to be at the clinic for 7.15am. Not a fan but it also meant that I was the first on the list for egg collections that day.
We got there with no problems, nurses were ready and waiting for us. They did all their checks and I was ready to go to the theatre for 8am. I was offered the gas from the beginning and I possibly couldn't say no because I remember how much I loved it last time. The collection itself was fine as always but they had to give me a bit more sedation at the beginning as I started to wriggle when the doctor was collecting the eggs from the first ovary. And it hurt too. I grabbed one nurse's hand and held onto it even though normally I say no when they offer it.
I got back to the room and I rested a bit cuddling Rick's arm while he was sitting in a chair next to my bed. I wasn't hungry anymore and was feeling a bit sick. I did eat my croissant though later. After an hour or so we started getting bored so told the nurses we're ready to go home. I just had to go to toilet as they always recommend after any procedure. I must admit it surprised me that there was so much blood because it hasn't happened before but it stopped straight away so we were good to go at about 11am.
We went to Tesco to buy lunch/dinner and we also bought a movie to relax to. I fell asleep half way through and Rick did after it finished. We slept until 5pm. Oopsie.
Today I'm better, I don't feel sick anymore. My belly hurts still but it's better as well.

Trigger

I just got a phone call from the clinic, I'm to take my trigger injection at 9:30pm tomorrow and come for the egg collection on Monday at 7:15am. 🤗

Monitoring scans

I had three monitoring scans this week, on Monday, Wednesday and today. All is good, my lining was 11mm today and I have 8 follicles in each ovary and the biggest one is around 20mm so I'm good for a trigger tomorrow night and egg collection on Monday morning. Yay! 🤗
Right now I'm just sitting on the ward with intralipid infusion. It looks like it's not going down at all but it of course it is. It's just sooo slow. 😴

Baseline scan #1 and #2

I started my usual 50 IU of Suprecur on 28th September, going for a baseline scan on Thursday 12th October. It didn't come out as expected. Apparently, the uterine lining should be under 5mm thick for it to be good to start stimulation phase. Well, mine was 5.5mm. 😒😅 And I have a cyst again on my right ovary. Oh well. Got my blood taken to check my hormone levels and after a few hours waiting around the clinic (in case I needed new drugs that day), I was told to continue Suprecur for another five days and come back for another baseline on Tuesday 17th October.
This time my lining was around 2 or 3mm thick and cyst stayed around 18x21mm and apparently it's not a problem. Started 125 IU of Gonal-f that day. Today is Day 5 of stimulation and nothing amazing has been happening. Today is also second dose of Zomacton. Yesterday I almost forgot my aspirin and folic acid. Oopsie.

What has been happening since June 2017

We had our follow up appointment just before our wedding in June. The wedding was one of the reasons why we decided not to start a new treatment cycle straight away. It worked out that my first down regulation injection would be exactly on our wedding day. I wouldn't have minded but Ricky wanted to wait. We both had quite a few holidays booked for August and September, not including a surprise honeymoon just after the wedding, so we agreed with our doctor to start counting from my period in late August/early September.
My cycles are really messed up ever since the very first IVF, so 35 days in not unusual cycle length. It came eventually and I only a little enthusiastically sent an email to the clinic. Got response the next day and all was set for IVF #4!!!

One day after OTD

I couldn't keep sleeping yesterday so did the pregnancy test at 6:30am. I stopped myself from looking at it for the whole 3 minutes, still hoping. One of the hard parts of this whole process is that you don't know whether you are noticing early pregnancy symptoms like night sweating, hot flushes, feeling nauseous, frequent peeing etc., or if those are just signs that your period is coming.

The test was negative. We had a whole day of hope though as I haven't started bleeding straight away like last two times. I did start bleeding last night so now we are 100% sure that it hasn't worked again and there is no need to retest on day 18.

I called the clinic and booked us for follow up appointment for Monday 5th June.

6dp5dt

Our embryo transfer was on Monday. We got to the clinic just on time, went straight through to the outpatients. A nurse saw us straight away as well and told us it would be around 20 minutes wait. Good good. After about 15 minutes my bladder started bursting, it was full, which is required for the transfer.
They called us in as I was thinking I couldn't take any more. Had a little chat with a doctor and an embryologist, he gave us a quick summary of our embryos' development and kind of just told us that we will be transferring two. He didn't ask us even though we would have gone for two anyway which means they are not great quality, like our first cycle. He said they were early blastocysts but didn't give us any other explanations or grades.
The transfer itself was quick but very uncomfortable with the speculum and ultrasound pressing everywhere I didn't want them pressing because of my bladder.
Since then I think I've done pretty good job in not thinking about it too much but treating myself like if I was pregnant. Today is Easter Sunday and we now have only until Thursday till we find out. Fingers crossed.

Day 3

I was just getting ready for shower, handing my phone to Rick in case clinic called when the phone started ringing. We will be going to the clinic on Monday for 1:45pm. I asked the nurse if she had any news and she told me all of our five embryos are viable and out of them three are developing as they should be. Two are a bit behind but they still might catch up. Good news!

Call from embryologist

I got the call at 9:39am. All our nine eggs were good for IMSI, five fertilised and were going strong. Great news! We were aiming for blastocyst transfer which would be on Monday. I asked them if that stays the same even if we wanted two embryos transferred and she said yes. If anything happened with the embryos (stopped developing) and they thought we would benefit from earlier transfer, they would call us and we would go there either Friday or Saturday. Let's hope and pray they stay strong and that we have a choice of the best blastocysts on Monday.

Egg collection

Because my trigger was at half past midnight on Monday night, we didn't have to be at the clinic before 11am on Wednesday. We got there 15 minutes earlier, as usual. I was solo hungry. Got my armchair/bed almost straight away. I changed into the theatre gown and then we waited. At 12 we were told it would be another 45 minutes but apparently they were aware of my timing and out of a sudden 35 to 36 hours between the trigger and the collection itself changed into anywhere between 36 and 38 hours. They gave me my drugs which was one pill to make me sleepy and a painkiller suppository.
Went to theatre around 1pm. There were about four or five nurses and a doctor. It was the same doctor who we talked in September at our follow up appointment so I was very happy. I really like her. They cannulated me in my left elbow and that hurts so much less than in hand. They put some antibiotics in which hurt, most probably because my veins are very very fine. Then the actual sedatives which hurt too but I could feel the effect almost instantly. I could feel the doctor disinfecting me down there and getting ready. She started with my left ovary. It wasn't exactly painful but I was aware of everything that was happening. Towards the end of the procedure they gave me gas to breathe in. Oh, I loved that. It was amazing, I felt really high. But I still felt the pain. At least I enjoyed it this time, haha.
Went back to the ward, wasn't feeling sleepy and was so hungry. I stole a few crisps off Rick which we bought for him as he hasn't eaten out of solidarity. And I don't even like salt and vinegar.
Nine eggs were collected which was good. We left the clinic around 3pm. I was feeling ok but my belly started hurting over the evening and night. Fortunately it wasn't before my 20 minute walk after using Crinone gel (progesterone). I slept again in our guest room (third night in a row) as Rick has really bad hay fever or allergy and his nose is blocked, causing him to snore. Hopefully he feels better soon so we can snuggle up at night again.

S13? = 1 day after trigger

Yesterday was my last monitoring scan and also intralipid infusion. Scan went well, nurse Rachel was really nice. There is one follicle just over 21mm in my left ovary and about 4 or 5 above 18mm and a few around 16mm. Two or three around 12mm which still might grow a tiny bit. All in all Rachel said there might be 10 follicles with an egg in.

I was ready for my trigger, this time I got prescribed Pregnyl instead of Ovitrelle like last two treatment cycles. It's actually much cheaper and the main difference is that Pregnyl has higher level of hCG so might help more of my eggs to mature.

Intralipids went well too, apart from actually finding a vein in my arms. One nurse was looking on my right arm and then hand, looked for a vein but the needle just wouldn't find one. That quite hurt. She gave me a hot chocolate and told me to rub my hands as they were quite cold. Another nurse came and looked everywhere and finally got me the cannula in. Took a blood sample and then connected the IV. It took about an hour to empty the bag.

Got a phone call about my trigger and egg collection timing yesterday evening. Trigger was half past midnight and we're supposed to be at the clinic tomorrow for 11am.

Right side of my lower belly hurts today but I guess it's just because of the size of the follicles. Although my right side is the "weaker" one, less follicles and smaller in size.

Tried a pregnancy test as I had one left over from the last cycle and it did pick up the trigger hCG levels nicely, showing quite strong two lines. Let's hope and pray for a another two lines in 16 days.

S9, second monitoring scan

We got to the clinic for 8:30am. I was the first patient for the day so went in straight away, both scan and pharmacy. Today's nurse was so funny, she is hilarious. It looks like I will have about 8 follicles at the time of egg collection, which most probably is going to happen on Wednesday. So I didn't have the intralipids today, I'll have them on Monday. I don't mind when that's going to be. My belly is full of bruises and it feels uncomfortable already. Not looking forward to the next few days. But so far it has not been too bad. *thumbs up*

Also, on the way home from the clinic Rick and I talked and we came to conclusion that if we have enough embryos this cycle, we are going to ask them to transfer two. :)

S8

Tomorrow will be my second monitoring scan plus intralipid infusion. I still have quite a few days of stimulation ahead and I'm already fed up with my bruises, belly pain and feeling ill. On Wednesday (first monitoring scan) I had 4 follicles in right ovary and 10 in left one. One was over 12mm, the rest between 9 and 11mm, so going steady. I guess they might be max 15mm tomorrow so will need another scan on Monday for sure before the nurses decide about the trigger. Not looking forward to this weekend. :-/ I can see how grumpy I am already and it's only going to get worse. I hope I feel good on Sunday as I wanted to go to church because they will be reading our wedding banns for the first time.

Baseline scan

I had my baseline scan today. It was scheduled back in February when I informed the clinic about the start of my period and because I have bled again in between, there was no need to reschedule.
Got there for 9am, no problems there. After a short wait a nurse whose name I didn't quite catch took me through. She was very nice and very thorough, haha. It hurt. Most of the times it was just very uncomfortable but when she was reaching to see the top of my uterus and both ovaries, that was nothing I'd like to remember very often. My lining is thin which is good. There are about 6 or 7 follicles in each ovary which is a good number.  Just in the right one there is one slightly bigger follicle, possibly a follicle I have just ovulated from or possibly a little cyst, although that would have been a concern if it was 10mm in size or bigger and this one was only 8mm.
They confirmed I will start my stimulation today. Yay! I'm also starting higher dose of folic acid and aspirin. Zomacton from stimulation day 3 and every other day after that as well. Although I thought I would be on a slightly lower dose of Gonal F than last time, the doctor prescribed a bit higher one - 125 IU instead of 112,5 IU. Also, we agreed there was no real reason to have intralipid infusions again but they are in my treatment plan so... Not sure if I'm happy with that because I honestly don't want to experience all the confusion and chaos from the clinic's side again. Let's hope this time they know about everything that is supposed to happen.

Endometrial scratch #2

We got to the clinic for 10am and I went into theatre shortly after. I remember last time the procedure was very quick and the pain was very intense and sharp. This time the pain was uncomfortable but bearable and lasted for about 10 seconds instead of 2 like last time. We joked with the nurses, talked about my Fitbit and Chelsea the Westie. After we waited a bit for the antibiotics (just a prevention) and then went upstairs to the pharmacy to pick up the down regulation drugs for next week. All in all we were gone within one hour. 👍🏻
I was warned by a nurse that the antibiotics might give me an upset stomach, nausea and feeling of discomfort as addition to belly cramps after the procedure. It did happen and I am still feeling a bit under the weather today but nothing serious. I think I will be completely back to normal tomorrow. The injections start on Wednesday. Can't wait!

IVF #3

Our third treatment cycle starts soon. Yay!

We had our follow up appointment in September 2016. The doctor was really nice (and also different one than we talked to before) and talked us through our last treatment in detail. She recommended using IMSI which is looking at the sperm with better resolution microscope to see smaller deformities that they could miss when not using this super microscope. We have 4 vials of sperm left and she said this method might use all four of them if they can't find good sperm. As Rick is very uncomfortable when it comes to his privates and anything doing with them, we all agreed they would only use 2 vials per cycle with this method so we had some sperm left for another cycle if it didn't work out this time so Rick wouldn't have to have another surgery so soon. He did get an infection and needed antibiotics and it is very tricky to care for the wound when he has to transfer from and to his wheelchair all the time.
She also agreed to my suggested lower dose of stimulation drug (Gonal F) as I only had a few follicles reaching size big enough for collection. She said I am not really eligible for the intralipid infusion so we are not doing that this time.

Tomorrow is my endometrial scratch. That will be my day 15 and I will start my down regulation next week Wednesday on my day 23. Not really sure why not day 21 like last two times but I'm sure they have their resons. I do kind of remember the very sharp pain from the last scratch but they also forgot to tell me to take two painkillers an hour prior to the procedure. This time they called when they said they would which is a good sign. The timing was very lucky because I thought I would have the scratch on day 20 or 21 again (meaning next week Monday-ish) and we only got back from being abroad for 4 weeks yesterday.