lovely jubbly london

The IVF Diaries, Part IV

Monday, 22 February

Well, after two hours attempting to get my blood my veins finally complied. The lady said she could tell I was stressed (really?!) because every time she went into a vein, it would move or collapse. They finally made me leave the room and drink 5 glasses of water before someone else attempted it. Got the call in the evening that my hcg went up to 268. Still not doubling and a Dr called and confirmed it could be ectopic. 

Tuesday, 23 February

I called my GP this morning and told her what was going on and asked for a referral to the Early Pregnancy Unit at the hospital. She called back and told me to go straight away because it could be quite serious and she didn't want to be responsible if something happened to me. I ended up waiting until after lunch because I honestly felt fine and knew if I felt ill my work would call an ambulance or put me in a taxi. Anyway, the nurses at the EPU were so wonderful. Very kind and caring and genuinely concerned. They did another blood draw so they would have their own baseline and booked me in for a scan on Friday. Hopefully they will be able to locate where the pregnancy is- I'm so praying it isn't in a tube and I can have a normal, natural miscarriage if that is the case. 

Wednesday, 24 February

Crap. The EPU just called at 9pm to tell me to come in tomorrow. Now of course I'm worried even though she told me not to be. Kinda hard not to when they call you out of hours. A consultant wants to see me tomorrow since my hcg went up in 24 hours from 268 to 355 and my progesterone is 90. I guess they don't want my levels to get too high if it is ectopic. I'm not ready to make a decision...

Thursday, 25 February

Got to the EPU and was called back for blood. The nurse wasn't sure why I was there!! I was like well they called last night and told me to come in and really freaked us out. She said she could see that they called but it wasn't really necessary since I had an appointment tomorrow. I have to go back tomorrow as scheduled.

Friday, 26 February

Finally got my scan today. My tubes weren't visible on the scan which is a good thing since they only show up when fully blocked. That doesn't mean things won't change, but so far so good. They did see what could possibly be a small sac (too small for our dates) so we're praying, hoping and wishing that the embryo implanted in the right spot and is just not healthy. I go back in a week for another scan to check for any changes. 

The IVF Diaries, Part III

6 February 2010

Today was the day of our embryo transfer! We went in not knowing how many would still be thriving on day 5. I was so nervous and they make you drink lots of water before transfer to help them see everything on the scan and to get the catheter in. Full bladder + nervousness = not a good combination! The embryologist popped her head through the window and let us know we definitely had one clear winner- a fully expanded blastocyst- and an early blast (or pre-blast?). We, well I, decided to transfer both of them. I had always said if we made it to that stage and didn't do PGD testing we should transfer two. If there could have been a guarantee that the smaller was freezable I would of let it be frozen but I just couldn't chance getting a call tomorrow and hearing it wasn't suitable for freezing. The embryologist did say if they had done a day 3 transfer those two would have been transferred anyway so I didn't doubt my decision. At least not until the husband was like, are you sure?! Then I had a slight doubt but knew I wanted to transfer both anyway. Our clinic is very big on procedure and we must have been asked our names and dates of births about fifteen times. The embryos are stored in an electronic storage system that uses a key card to release them and we must have been shown that key card at least four times as well! The worse part of the whole experience was the fear. It actually wasn't that bad and didn't feel painful at all. In fact, my IUI was more painful. The nurse was like look, you can see the catheter on the screen- um, no thanks! I was trying to keep my mind preoccupied rather than think about what was going on down below! 

So here is our first picture of what hopefully will become our baby (or babies):

The larger of the two is the fully expanded blast. 

14 February 2010

Our official test day is tomorrow and since we both have to go to work, we decided to test today. 

 

Luckily, it's very obviously positive. In fact, I don't know that I have ever had one quite so positive! Since we didn't go through with PGD we're hopefully going to be monitored quite closely from here on out. I have to call my clinic tomorrow and give the result and then call the genetics department of the other hospital and hopefully be booked in for a scan. So we're excited, but nervous... and praying third time is the charm. 

19 February 2010

Today we got news we didn't want. From Wednesday to Friday, my hcg only went from 127 to 152. This is more than likely not a viable pregnancy. I go back Monday for confirmation, but it doesn't look good. Our next step will probably be more testing to make sure we know absolutely everything that is going wrong. I'm just *really* hoping this is not an ectopic pregnancy as I don't want to have to undergo anymore surgery right now. I never really thought about going through all this and it not working.

The IVF Diaries, Part II

28 January 2010

Had to be to the clinic early this morning for another scan and blood test. I got in quite quickly for the scan but had a long wait for the nurse and ended up being 30 minutes late for work! It now looks like I have four lead follies which basically means they are growing faster than the others. I must admit, I'm a bit disappointed. The others are still there, they are just smaller. I'm really hoping & praying they start to grow and catch up to the others. If we don't get a good number we probably won't do the PGD portion of the IVF as they need a a good number of embryos for it. The nurse also told me my estrogen level at my last appointment was 885 which is good. My next appointment is scheduled for Saturday (at 8:30am- ouch!) and it looks like egg collection may be on Monday.

30 January 2010

Was at the clinic so early that when I walked to the station it was virtually dark. Luckily, it wasn't that busy so it was a quick visit. My estrogen has risen to over 2200 which is a good sign and my 4 lead follies are still growing strong. Some of the smaller ones have grown a bit, so I am praying some catch up enough to be mature. At this point I am willing to try every old wives tale possible and am regularly resting a hot water bottle on my ovaries. My egg collection will definitely happen on Monday which means that tonight is my last injection of Menopur and I get the lovely added benefit of setting my alarm for 1am to take my special Ovitrelle injection. The last one is supposed to allow your eggs to mature and be ready to taken out. After that no more drugs- Sunday will be my first day in over a month I have not had to take anything!

31 January 2010

The nurse ended up calling yesterday afternoon to push back my trigger shot to 1:30am. I made sure to read the pamphlet that came with the shot before I went to bed so I would know what to do. I felt quite groggy when the alarm went off but made the trek downstairs and got it out of the fridge. It was hard to open (in a sealed tray) and when I took the lid off the needle some large drops fell out! I'm really hoping they put a little extra in there otherwise I lost some valuable medicine. I'm also now terrified I am going to ovulate early. I now get to look forward to the joy of getting a train at 6:30am to make it to the clinic for admission in the morning. Hope I can sleep well tonight, but I seriously doubt it!

 
 

1 February 2010

We woke up at 5am to some snow on the ground. We got ready, packed a bag and made our way to the station by flashlight. One of our trains was delayed but luckily we were only about 5 minutes late to the hospital. Once we checked in we were brought up to our room and got settled in. They brought the husband up some breakfast which was really unfair- I made him move away from me because I could smell it. The anesthesiologist was the first one to see me and she asked me some general questions and wanted to know if I would mind her doing acupuncture while I was out to help with the pain. I said no problems and later wished I would of asked of her where she put the needles just so I would have known. The doctor was next in the room and he said even though I wasn't supposed to go down until 1pm, he was fast and I would probably be down around 11am. He was right and about 11:30am they had me go down. They gave me one of the most unique hospital gowns I had ever seen- if you had major surgery or were cold they could hook it up to a machine and it would warm you! 

 

They let me walk to the lift, but then made me get on the bed once inside. That is when I started to get nervous! I kept repeating Joshua 1:9 in my head to try and calm myself. I was quickly wheeled into a room and given my anesthesia. It took forever to find a vein and a minute for the anesthesia to actually start working. All I remember is saying, "okay, I'm finally starting to feel woozy now." Next thing I knew it was just past 12pm and I was waking up in recovery. The one thing that shocked me was I had a tube down my throat! I was not expecting that at all and my throat has been sore ever since. I was brought up to my room to finish recovery and they brought in tea, coffee and biscuits. I actually kept making the husband put sugar in mine which I never do. I guess I was having sugar withdraw! Then all the sudden the fire alarm started sounding. We though it was just a test, but they actually came and made the husband leave! The nurse said to me not to worry because I was behind fire doors and had about 4 hours of safe time. I started to get worried and all I could think was that I was going to need to watch the news to find out what was going on and the remote was way across the room and I couldn't get it since I was still hooked up to machines. Luckily, after another 30 minutes, the husband was allowed back up. Shortly after they brought us both lunch and I was starving so I ended up eating part of the husbands too! Desert was carrot cake which I took as a good sign since that is my father's favourite. I was told if I walked a bit and went to the bathroom they would let me leave shortly. Well, when I stood up there was a minor complication so they made me stay another hour to be monitored. It wasn't serious, they just really wanted to make sure I felt okay before leaving. 

2 February 2010

Got the call that out of 5 mature eggs collected, all 5 fertilised! 100% fertilisation is the best news possible (normal is 60-70%), now they just have to grow & divide. Throat is still really sore... 

4 February 2010

As the nurse promised, she called right at 8am. At this point we have:

• 1- 8 cell, grade 2
• 1- 7 cell, grade 2
• 1- 5 cell, grade 2
• 1- 5 cell, grade 2-3
• 1- 2 cell, grade 2

Since the 2 cell is now out of the picture and hasn't grown since day one, that leaves us four embryos. If we decide to do PGD at this point we would more than likely cause damage to the 5 cell embryos since they would be left with 3 cells. The husband and I always said if we did PGD we would do it to all of them and since that isn't possible, we decided not to do it. The nurse kept making sure that I knew that any affected embryos would most likely miscarry and I know that is a risk we have to take. We are now scheduled from embryo transfer on Saturday and praying we have at least two to transfer. 

The IVF Diaries

I was going to wait to post my IVF diaries until I was in what hopefully would be the second trimester of a healthy pregnancy. Unfortunately yesterday we received the news we didn't want. While I am pregnant, my hcg levels are not good. This is more than likely not a viable pregnancy. I kept notes throughout my first IVF cycle because I knew how much it meant to me to read other bloggers stories about their own experiences. Hopefully my own story will help someone else not be so nervous of what is a scary process.

I really could use all your good thoughts and prayers during this time. I'm really quite nervous because I have never had this happen before with my hcg levels. While my other pregnancies never continued, I never had an issue with hcg levels. Low rising levels can be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy and after all this I really don't more surgery or to risk losing a tube. 

12 January 2010

2 weeks of the pill down and today was my first scan. We were hoping to see a thin lining, but unfortunately mine is a bit thick. I'm to stop taking the pill immediately and start taking this medicine that you sniff. It hopefully will quiet my ovaries. (Funny how to get pregnant using IVF they put you on the pill and something to stop your ovaries!)

19 January 2010

Back to the clinic this morning for another scan. Since my lining was a bit thick last time they had to make sure there were no cysts or anything on my ovaries (there wasn't). Met with the nurse who handed me a big bag of needles, syringes and a sharps bin. I had to go back to work so had to juggle all my bags around to hide the evidence!

20 January 2010

First injection was last night and wow, was it a process! I'm sure it will get easier as they go on, but I have to mix 4 vials of Menopur with 1.5 vials of solution and try not to leave any of the expensive bits behind. The nurse drilled into my head not to leave even 1 drop!

25 January 2010

Went back to the clinic for my first stims scan. All that means is they checked the stimulating medicine (Menopur) was working. It was! They estimated about 10-11 follies were showing and I am so thankful! Now they just have to grow. They all measured under 11mm and they need to be mature before they can go in and do egg collection (EC). Since we're a special case and are doing PGD, they can only do EC on certain days. I'm really hoping they are mature by next Monday otherwise we may have to wait until the Friday. When I was leaving the clinic I noticed my arm felt wet and touched my sweater and it was blood. They had taken my blood and it wouldn't stop bleeding. I went back upstairs and had to go sit with a nurse until it stopped. They also sent me away with a pack in case it started again. Fun times!