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.

Day 3 = 'Decision Day'

I got 'Do not disturb' set on my phone from 11pm until 8:30am. Normally the clinic calls between 8:30 and 9:30am unless they find out the embryo transfer has to be on that day and they try to let you know as much in advance as possible. I woke up at 8:22am and found out I had a missed call from the clinic at 7:53am. I thought 'oh no, something happened to the embryos and the transfer is today'. I called back straight away and the embryologist told me 'it's good news, five embryos are doing as they should be today, the transfer will be on Wendesday'. I felt such a huge relief. They are going to call tomorrow to confirm time for Wednesday. 🤗

Day 2 with Seven Dwarfs

I established provisional names for our embryos: Dopey, Doc, Sneezy, Grumpy, Bashful, Happy and Sleepy. When I texted Rick about my amazing idea, his reply was: "I hope it's Bashful." 🤭

Also I got a call from an embryologist and all seven embryos are growing. 🤗 Four of them are of a good quality, one is average quality and Happy and Sleepy are a bit behind but hopefully they will catch up. 🤞

Day 1

I got a call from the embryologist around 8:40am today. Out of our 10 eggs 7 fertilised. I am so happy!!

Egg collection

Finally egg collection day came. That was yesterday. We didn't have to leave that early, only at 9am as needed to be at the clinic for 9:50am. I was a bit worried for traffic but it was absolutely fine. We got there around 9:35am.
There are two disabled parking spaces at the clinic and usually one is taken by a grey car without a blue badge but there is still one left for us. This time both were taken by cars without blue badges even though there were plenty of other spaces. I went inside and asked at the reception but to no help. We parked somewhere else hoping nobody would block Rick's side because I wouldn't be able to move it for him to get in after the sedation.
They took us in and showed me to my bed. Anaesthetist came straight away and was asking his usual question. He looked quite surprised when he learned this was my seventh egg collection. I went to the toilet first so just as I was changing the nurse came in. Left straight away and came a few minutes later. Had a few more visits and then they took me into the theatre. We were chatting about Prague and beer as Kristyna, the Slovakian nurse was there. I woke up at the recovery. I asked about the number of eggs collected. It was 10. I was shocked. I knew it wouldn't be as many as 23 like last time but I was hoping for more that 10. I started crying. Everybody tried to console me but I just wanted to go home. They told us they would call us later with how many are mature since I was quite upset.
They called and all 10 are mature! My mood changed completely.

Monitoring scans

I am slacking, I know. There has been a development so I am going to update you right now.

First monitoring scan was on Friday 12th October. My lining was 7,5mm and I had about 15 follicles between 9mm and 14mm. Dosage of Meriofert stayed at 300 IU. I went on my own again because Rick had an accident on his handbike on Wednesday. He rode too quickly into a sharp turn and layed himself down on his right side. Fortunately he didn't break anything, only scraped his right elbow and banged his shoulder. He was still aching on Friday so I let him sleep and went to the clinic on my own. The nurse doing my scan was asking why I'm on my own which is a bit strange - what if I was single going through the IVF or donating eggs...? She is also the only one who take 'special' care when inserting the ultrasound probe. It just makes me uncomfortable. Nobody else does it and the inserting doesn't hurt because of the amount of the lubricant on it so I honesty don't see any major reason for rubbing 'there' a few times before inserting.

Second monitoring scan was on Wednesday 17th October. Rick went with me. Same nurse though... I had about 17 follicles between 19mm and 24mm. Lining 8,3mm. I was ready to trigger that day at 22:20 which was 10 000 units of Gonasi (two doses of 5000 IU). It went well apart when I was trying to take the protective cap off the green needle for drawing the solution, I couldn't do it. When I finally did, it surprised me so somehow my finger came down on the needle and cut me. It hurt like a bitch and it was bleeding. A lot. I did manage to inject the trigger on time even with blood splotches everywhere and a finger in agony.

The next day I felt really tired and achy, very bloated.

Hopefully number 7 will be lucky for us

I realized yesterday that I haven't been updating my blog, so my apologies.
I was waiting for my first period after withdrawal bleed after IVF no.6. Since my last 'natural' cycle was 56 days, when my husband started talking about a last holiday before the treatment cycle starts, I was all for it. We chose a week in September to go in and booked it all on August 21st. Of course, my period started on August 22nd (so that cycle ended up being 41 days), which meant my day 21 would be exactly in the middle of the holiday week. Oh well. I started taking Microgynon and booked TIA appointment (when you sign all the consent forms) as well as the endometrial scratch two days after that.
TIA was last Wednesday, September 19th, all went well. Endometrial scratch was on Friday, September 21st. It has become more common now that the booked appointments are running late which we are not happy about. On Wednesday we had to wait for half an hour. On Friday it was only about ten minutes but the reason got me angry. The lady booked before us was late but because she got there still before us (we arrived bang on at 12pm, our booked time), she took our slot. I would prefer if they took us first, acknowledging our timely arrival time and she would wait when there is a window. Anyhow... It was all very quick, signed a form, undressed while Rick, doctor David and nurse Nicole (or Nicola) were chatting about football. I do hate speculums so this time was no different. The scratch itself was very painful but quick as usual. Got all clear to start my buserelin injections that evening. I got a cyst on my right ovary again but the only thing they can do is to monitor its size. There are around 13 follicles in my left ovary and around 5 in my right one but probably there are some hiding behind the cyst. Next appointment is booked for 5th October, to check how everything looks and hopefully to confirm the start of stimulation.

Result of IVF no.6

Trigger and egg collection

I know, I know, I'm slacking, I should be adding new post the same day as it happened so I can include all the details but I just forget because we're quite busy.
So on Monday it was our last monitoring scan. I went to the clinic on my own because the appointment was at 10am and Rick watched England play World Cup match the day before so was in no state to function that early lol. I got there and it was nurse Sarah again. She used to seem a bit grumpy at first but I'm starting to warm up to her now. She did the scan. Lining was 9.8mm, looooooads of follicles in my right ovary. I think she counted 19 follicles over 14mm. The biggest one was around 22mm. The left ovary didn't have as many but still around 8. I was ready to trigger!
The trigger took place at 21:40 that night. It was Ovitrelle this time so it was easy enough.
This time I decided to track hCG in my urine the whole two weeks after trigger injection so I took pregnancy test the next morning. I was expecting a very thick two lines but all I got was a faint ghost. I tried to google if anyone ever had it too and apparently not... That didn't fill me up with confidence and I started worrying that it didn't work as well as it should and what not. All I had to do is to wait.
On Wednesday (yesterday), Rick's brother dropped us off at the clinic around 9am. We got admitted to recovery ward straight away. I helped Rick get ready and got ready myself. I was first, scheduled procedure time at 9:40am, Rick's at 10:20am. I went in around 10am. Rick's been given another Lorazepam and was blisfully sleeping so I couldn't wave at him when they were wheeling my bed past his bay. All the staff in the theatre were lovely as always, we had a little laugh when I told the anaesthetist that it hurt when he injected the canula into my hand. I don't remember much after that as they knocked me out but I do remember faintly waking up during the procedure for a bit but nothing else. No pain or anything they were just doing. I started waking up around 11am. I asked how many eggs they collected. ''Twenty two.'' ...''What??!'' I honestly couldn't believe it! And after a minute the nurse said 23, as they counted another one! The most eggs we ever had before was 12 at the very first cycle! I was soooo happy. Then Rick went in and I was chatting to Kristyna, Slovak nurse who works at the clinic. He took long and even though Kristyna tried to peek through the door for me, she couldn't see what was happening in there. They brought him in after maybe 50 minutes and they had to cut as aspiration with needle didn't result in many sperm collected.
We got a call later that day saying 18 eggs were suitable for ICSI and they used fresh sperm for all of them. Yay!
As I was writing this, I got a call from embryologist. Out of 18 eggs, only 3 fertilised. I feel defeated. We thought this cycle could be it. So many eggs collected so a lot would fertilise and we could finaly be choosing the best quality embryos, not be putting any not delayed ones back. But I guess we are just not lucky.

Pregnancies in the air

Rick's best mate has called him earlier today with great news. His girlfriend of few months is pregnant. They are really happy and we are for them too. I honestly am happy but at the same time I am upset. They have been together 6 months max (I think) and now they are going to have a baby.
Only three weeks ago we found out another of Rick's friends and his wife are expecting. Again, I am happy for them but at the same time I am sad and angry and feeling like a total bitch and the worst person in the world when in my head it's buzzing with thoughts like: 'It should have been us', 'We got married earlier than them so it's our turn first', 'How can they be so happy and rub it right in my face when we've been trying for years with IVF and it still hasn't worked', 'How dare they get pregnant after one month trying or not even trying at all and it just works for them'...
It's really mixed feelings inside me right now and I can't say anything to Rick because he told me I just can't not be happy for someone else. I know that and I'm really trying but I can't help feeling really upset and down because of it all.
Anyhow...
My belly is starting to hurt and ache so I guess the follicles might be quite big by now. Also I feel quite thirsty all the time so I hope it's not a sign of OHSS. We'll see tomorrow.

First scan and beginning of stimulation

My first scan after starting Suprecur was scheduled for Friday 8th June. However, my period hasn't come before that so we had to cancel it. We kept an appointment a week later, June 15th but I would still call the clinic to let them know when my period actually starts. It did start on the 8th in the afternoon/evening when the clinic was already closed so called them the next Monday. I don't like leaving voice mails (because I must sound really special) so I had no chance getting a hold of anyone in the morning. Called them around 1 or 2pm and got told off by the nurse that they should've scanned me today if I started bleeding on Friday. Well, you should answer your phone then. Booked me in for the next day.
Scan went well, the cyst was still there but it's not growing and the lining was nice and thin (1.6mm) so it probably isn't producing any hormones. Follicles are small as well so I was good to start stimulation. Yay! This time I got Meriofert, which is FSH and a bit of hCG, the doctor changed it last minute. I'm on 300 IU.
Today was the first monitoring scan. Lining grew to 6.4mm, follicles are around 8-9mm, one is at 12mm. The cyst is gone! The nurse couldn't see it and apparently it happens that they just disappear. Good timing. She upped my dose to 375 IU just to make sure that most follicles grow above 18mm. She said there is around 20 of them altogether so I'm really happy. Never had that many before. The next appointment is on Friday 22nd.

Fast forward to IVF no.6!

My husband and I attended a follow up appointment on May 8th. We were told about possible donor sperm as one of our options. We politely declined. It is really Rick's decision and I respect it completely. We want to keep trying with our gametes as long as possible. That was day 26 of the first natural cycle after unsuccessful IVF no.5. We told the doctor we wanted to start a new treatment cycle as soon as possible. We were told that's fine, I was supposed to let them know when my period starts as usual and then we would plan the endometrial scratch for one day between days 17-21. We also planned a TIA appointment which was just signing all their consent forms again and go through our treatment plan. That was yesterday.
We got there and the nurse asked me why I haven't contacted them about my Day 1. Well, that's simple. My period hasn't come yet! It was day 42 and nothing. She then talked to Dr David and they agreed, if there is absolutely no chance of pregnancy, as there is not, we would book the pipelle scratch randomly and start the down regulation on the same day together with a 5-day course of pills that should kick start my cycle and I should have a withdrawal bleed as usual before the baseline scan. The other option was just to give me the pills and wait for my period to come but that could have taken up to three weeks. So we opted for option number 1. The next available slot for the procedure was actually today!
So we went and here we are. The scratch hurt nowhere near as last time. Yay! The lining looked good and there are around 13 follicles on my right ovary and 6 on my left one as well as either a cyst or a follicle around 25mm big. They prescribed me Ovitrelle to make me ovulate and get rid of that follicle so it wouldn't interfere with the next treatment. After I was given thumbs up and straight after we got home I took the first pill. Next one will be tonight together with Suprecur.

Result of IVF no.5