Drew has been for his appointment today, much to his wish that he was somewhere else! However, all said and done he soon changed his tune when his results came back and they showed fantastic results. Even the consultant jokingly referred to him as Superman! So the boasting of ‘who’s the man!’ amongst other comments echoed in our house for a while certainly allowing him to send his ego soaring!
Wednesday 13th August (week 1)
Today’s the day I start my nasal spray to down regulate. I have to spray once four times a day and I am aware that there could be side effects such as hot flushes, similar to the menopause. I made the fatal error of reading the leaflet about various side effects! Lesson number 1 – don’t read the side effects! Being as it’s the first day, I find myself almost looking out for unusual effects following the reading of the pamphlet but otherwise, I actually don’t feel any different so I’ll see how the week pans out.
Wednesday 20th August (week 2)
Well after my first full week I have to say that up until yesterday there was no change to my usual self until I was sat in a business meeting and noticed it getting increasingly warm! Yes, my first hot flush, not uncomfortable, mainly I was a bit paranoid in case the people I was sat with could tell I was having the flush. Otherwise, it’s hard to pin point if I feel different to my usual self, maybe a little more short fused, quick to snap perhaps but still feel ok.
Wednesday 27th August (week 3)
This week I have been really busy at work and I do feel more tired than usual. One thing that I have noticed is that my sleep has been disturbed and I’ve been having some really odd dreams. I rarely dream but I recall whilst I was pregnant with Erin years ago and my hormones were all over the place that I’d had bizarre dreams then. Could this be a side effect? Also, the taste of the nasal spray is a part of my diet- what I mean by that is, when it eventually goes down the back of your throat, the taste of it is vile and that’s all you can taste so everything I eat had a taste of it. Kind of reminds me of that awful stuff your parents used to put on your fingernails to stop you bighting them call ‘stop n grow’ awful! Part of the sacrifice though, I suppose it could be a lot worse.
Saturday 06th September
With Joe again today for my blood test to assess how my down regulation has gone, good news, I am fully down regulated and ready to start injections on Thursday. Drew is going to give me my injections – yes, I’m a little worried about that but I trust him. Joe advises us about how to use the injection. It’s basically a pen and you insert the capsule, like you would an ink cartridge, and the needle at the nib end, and click it to the amount you need to inject and that’s it, ready to go. Drew will then insert it into my stomach and it’s easy as that. I feel a little bit more nervous about doing the injections than the spray. Whilst I’m still continuing only twice a day now with the nasal spray, I feel like I might notice the difference a bit more now that I’ll be really loading myself up with hormones.
Thursday 11th September
My first injection– actually, all the nervousness on both our parts was quite unnecessary as Drew managed to successfully give me my injection and it surprisingly didn’t hurt at all. He was very pleased with himself as I know secretly he was quite scared but he did great and now he is looking forward to doing the next.
Friday 12th September
I feel a bit like a thing possessed today and I’m definitely aware that something’s going on and I find myself a bit unsettled. Little things like, I’m fidgety and I can’t sit still. I feel like I would benefit from a massage to relieve some tension yet the very thought of anyone touching me seems unbearable. All the while, I’ve been in a great mood today so I’m not unhappy or depressed, just a little manic! And this is only the first day of injections! This could be a very interesting week.
Tuesday 16th September
Back with Joe today for my blood test to check that I’m not having too much or too little hormones and so far, the dosage I’ve been on has been fine. I started with 200mg to begin with but have now been reduced to 175mg. I feel a lot more assured now as I wondered if I was having too much. Having said that, I’ve been fine since that Friday feeling. I was expecting to be on a rollercoaster week but in fact, I have felt ok. My only difference is that I have suffered with headaches; again it’s hard to tell if this is a side effect or whether I’m suffering from a pressure headache from the weather. Otherwise, the injections are going good, I feel alright.
Saturday 20th September
All of this past week has been alright, I’ve noticed towards the end of the week that I’m a little more grouchy but I still feel ok. With Joe again today for blood tests and ultrasound. The nurse has scanned my ovaries and so far I have approx 10 eggs in my right ovary and about 5 in my left. Joe was pleased with that result saying that was a great amount to have and he’s hopeful we have some good strong eggs. I also get given the final injection that I have to take with me to Sweden in order for the nurse to inject for the final boosting of my eggs.
Monday 22nd September
Sweden!! Flight was fine, Sweden is beautiful and very picturesque. Our little cabin is right on the lake and it’s truly breathtaking. We’re looking forward to a relaxing few days ahead. We’re at the hospital at 8pm for my final injection and to have a little tour around the IVF unit in preparation for Wednesday.
Wednesday 24th September
It’s 11.00am - Well 39 hours later after my boosting injection this time has finally arrived for my egg retrieval. I’m very nervous but I’m generally not very good with medical stuff when it involves me. Our nurse Katarina is fantastic and makes us both feel at ease and talks us through the process again.
14.00pm – Ok so the process of egg retrieval wasn’t the nicest procedure in the world, not painful just a bit uncomfortable, like a dulling period pain. Dr Urban who collected my eggs was very pleased to obtain a good amount of eggs. My understanding is that 10 eggs were retrieved and will be fertilised. Drew has made me a cup of tea and some toast and I’ll be off home shortly. I have been advised by Katarina to go home and rest and let Drew look after me. I’ll await to hear from her again tomorrow to find out how many of my eggs have made it through the night.
Thursday 25th September
Katarina has called nice and early today to let us know that out of our 10 eggs retrieved, 6 have successfully made it through the night. We have been advised that we need to go back 5 days later on Monday 29th Sept. I have spoken with Tamsin everyday this week also following my appointments at the hospital and also to have a chat about how I’m feeling. It’s nice to talk with another female who I know has been through the entire process herself and understands every step. We now have 5 days to relax and enjoy the beautiful sights of Sweden.
Monday 29th September
We’re very excited this morning and sat there in the hospital with Dr Urban, he seemed just as excited. Apparently, out of our 6 eggs that were successfully fertilised 4 have grown at a tremendous rate and he is really pleased with the progress of them. The other 2 he advised wouldn’t be much point in trying to save them as were a lots smaller and wouldn’t make it through the freezing if we wanted to freeze our eggs. So now we’re faced with the option of one or more eggs put back in? Drew and I had spoken long and hard about this and the decision we came to is to only have 1 put back in. Reason, we have 3 eggs we can freeze and it reduces the risk of multiple births. We have a 50/50 type situation of will it or won’t it work so we’re prepared to take that risk. We had right up until the re-insemination point to decide so plenty of time to think about it. So we choose one egg and the process of re- insemination is so, much easier than the collection of them and takes about ten minutes to replace it into my womb. Urban shows us a tiny spec of water on the scan monitor and explains that inside the droplet of water is our egg. It’s all a bit surreal but very exciting. After, we sit with Katarina who advises us the dreaded 2 week wait and explains doing the pregnancy test. I feel a bit sad leaving the hospital as everyone there is so lovely, and looked after us so well I’ll miss them. All that’s left now is the waiting game.....
Sunday 05th October
A week on from Sweden and I have to say that this is the longest time to wait ever! I have come back to work to keep myself busy but time still seems to be going so slowly. I’ve spoken with Tamsin nearly every day as she understands this waiting game and she checks to see how I’m doing. I am of course trying to pick out any possible symptom to see if it’s a sign to being pregnant but unfortunately, there are no definite clues. Just have to drag it out another week.
Sunday 12th October
D DAY!! It’s decision day and we’ve done the pregnancy test first thing this morning – on this occasion it’s a negative. Of course we feel a bit gutted but we don’t feel at total dismay as we always knew it was going to be a 50/50 chance when we decided on 1 egg being replaced back.
This is the biggest part where I can stress to any couple trying IVF for the first time is that you have to expect the worst and hope for the best, that we you end up with it being a bonus if you are successful first time. I don’t feel sad, just hopeful that the next time will work. Given the current timing, we will wait until the New Year to try again and get the festive season out of the way first. I have also spoken with Tamsin this morning who will advise the hospital in Sweden of our result and we’ve been able to ask about the process about going back in January. Despite it being a negative this time around, we can look forward to doing it again and knowing what to expect and be familiar with the process from the start. Besides, the thought of going back to Sweden can’t be bad. We would also wish other couples every success with their attempts with IVF and hope that this diary has somehow been informative in any way.
Good luck to all,
Imogen and Drew
X x
