Scares

We have had a few scares. Two weeks ago on Thursday (5+5) I was spotting so panicked and called the clinic. I talked for a bit with the nurse and at the end she said I can come in 50 minutes for a scan. I had to hurry and Rick couldn't come with me on such a short notice but I did it. Doctor David was doing the scan which I was very glad for. He found out everything is fine as well as it's twins! I was so shocked! We saw both heartbeats as well. I was just staring at the screen, my mind was racing everywhere and I just couldn't still believe it. Called Rick straight away as I got in the car. He was shocked too. I think everyone was when we told them. I still need to come to terms with it lol.
My friend who was 34 weeks pregnant at the time came over for a chat after her hospital appointment. After a while I got up to go toilet to find out I was bleeding bright red blood quite a lot. I was so scared. Told my friend and husband and called the clinic immediately. They told me to lie down and wear a pad and in case I soak it through in an hour or so, then go to A&E. Fortunately the bleeding stopped quite quickly. Had a lazy day on Friday and Saturday, only had some brown spotting here and there which seemed to have been stopping anyway so on Sunday I went to support Ricky in his first ever marathon. It took him 4 hours and 50 minutes, woohoo! Some of his friends came too so we agreed to go to a pub after for a drink and a light dinner. Drove home to pick the dog up and I really needed a toilet but saw that I was bleeding again. No pub for us then as I said I'm going A&E. Got there around 15:30. Got through triage in 15 minutes and the waiting started. I was told as it was Sunday there was noone to do a scan but I wanted to get checked anyway. Then the nurses took my blood and more waiting followed. Then they called my name again and took me through to Surgical Assessment Unit. There was a lady who was in the hospital since 10am! They called me through quite quickly and as the triage nurse said, there will be no scan. I did agree to a cervical exam and it was good. Cervix closed although there was a slight trickle of fresh blood coming from the uterus.
On Monday morning (6+3) I called the clinic and they told me to come at 3pm. All was good, heartbeats there but there was some blood at the bottom. We cancelled our Thursday appointment and rescheduled for today.
Everything is fine, blood clot is still there but it's not interfering with the babies' development. We saw the umbilical chords and the amniotic sacks as well as the limb buds.
Next scan is in three weeks.

The call

I got to the clinic just before my appointment at 8am. Did my Lubion injection in the car as wasn't sure how long I would be in there and I need to do it at 8am and 8pm every day. Got in, sat down and was called in almost straight away. It was one of my favourites nurses, Nicola. First thing she asked me after we got into her office was if I tested this morning. I said I did and that it was positive. She was very pleased. Started checking my left arm for veins, chose one but it hid. Moved onto my right arm and actually found a better vein and got the blood. One little vial. She told me they would call me 3pm the earliest  and 6pm latest. It was gonna be a long day. I was there until 8.30am as I decided to get all medications until the first scan already instead of driving there again later this week. Scan is booked for Halloween! On the way out doctor David just got in and we met in the reception area. He was asking if everything is good and I said yes, I'm very happy. He asked if I tested and I said it was positive. He looked happy. Almost made me cry. I really like him.
I was quite nervous all day, awaiting the call that would either confirm the result of home pregnancy test or crush our hopes. Sophie called just after 4pm. It came back positive! Any result above 25 units of hCG in blood is considered positive and my number was 1198! We are over the moon!

16dp3dt

Today I am on day 16 after 3 day transfer. Normally I would do a home pregnancy test on day 14 or 15 but this time I'm booked for hCG blood test for tomorrow at 8am (because my day 15 was on a weekend). Can't wait for the result! The blood will be sent to London lab and the results will be ready in the afternoon/evening when I get a call from a nurse.

Egg collection

Egg collection went well. We got 8 eggs, 5 was mature and 3 fertilised. I wasn't extremely happy with the numbers because we had it like this all the time. Not very many embryos so we couldn't choose the best ones. But on the other hand, 3 is better than 2 or 1 or none. On Day 2 two of the embryos were dividing nicely, one hasn't started. We were just in Nottingham, about 2,5 hours away from the clinic and Rick had a half marathon so was praying not to go for transfer then. They said transfer will be either the next day or maybe Wednesday on day 5. Half marathon was saved!
Got a call at 8am on Monday that the third embryo is still not dividing so the selection was made for us, as we wanted 2 embryos transferred in either cleavage or blastocyst stage. Got there for 11am and found out Michael, the head doctor, is doing transfers that day. The only one we requested not to have after his atrocious behaviour towards Rick last time. After a bit awkward conversation with the nurse but not too much explaining in case he would still do it we got David! I was so glad I didn't have to see Michael or let him near our embryos. David was in the middle of doing something else so we had to wait for him to be free. I actually didn't mind because I didn't feel like my bladder was full enough so drank some more water but didn't want to be dying out of pain again lol.
Transfer went good, the only uncomfortable/bordering on painful part was inserting and mainly opening the speculum. My favourite nurse was there, Kristyna from Slovakia, so that was doubly reassuring.

Another scan

We planned going for a week to Spain around the IVF which meant I started taking Progynova under the tongue three times a day and aspirin on the day we went. Easy enough to take but it was making me travel sick. Oh well. Came back Saturday night and had a scan on Monday. All good, lining grew over 8mm, egg collection will be either on Thursday or Friday. On Tuesday they called us it will be on Friday.

8th time the charm

Alright. Number 8 is under way. We went to the clinic last Tuesday for TIA (treatment information appointment) and endometrial scratch. It was nice to see all the familiar faces and places again after our longest break yet. I took my last pill on Sunday 1st september and was waiting for my period to come. Nothing. I called the clinic yesterday if there is any point coming today for the down regulation scan so we cancelled the appointment but I was told  if period comes, I should still come. I was not massively happy with coming and having scan while bleeding so I actually thought about lying and just calling them on Monday, saying period started Friday evening. But then my better me decided what the hell, let's just get it over with, they told me to come so they wouldn't have any problems with it.
Travel down to the clinic was horrible, so many incapable drivers on the road needed a kick in their ass. Going 35mph on a 50? Or going 50 on 70? I was shouting at them, my road rage getting better of me but I just couldn't help it.
Scan was good, no cysts, lining about 3,5mm thick as my period hasn't stopped yet. All good. Drive home was luckily better.

Result of IVF no.7

Unfortunately, even number 7 wasn't lucky for us.

Transfer day

So the embryo transfer was yesterday on Day 5. We went to the clinic for 1:30pm and were done by 2pm. All went well and we had one early blastocyst and one morulla transferred. In the evening I went for as dinner and and to watch ballet with my mother in law. 🤗 Although we again don't have any embryos to freeze, as three are today on Day 6 at the morulla stage and two even more behind, we are full of hope.