IVF underway

I'm feeling less of a need to blog which I guess is a good sign. I'm not really thinking about all this as much as I used to. I'm feeling positive about the treatment and happy to be cracking on with it. Life is less hectic and stressful lately than it was been over the last year. All is good. I had a pre-op assessment at the clinic a little while ago. They talked me through what will happen when I go in for the egg retrieval. The nurse was very honest about the fact that the local anisthetic injection in my cervix will hurt - "all the ladies say so". Thanks then! I could have coped with not knowing. It doesn't sound like it's going to be a pleasant experience but hey, I'm sure I can deal! I had a second round of the Norethisterone tablets at the end of January and have now started on the injections. One Buserilin shot and two Gonal-F shots each day, plus two steroid pills each day. So far so good. I'm not bothered about giving myself the shots anymore. And at the moment I'm not feeling any negative effects. I'm really hoping that I don't put on too much weight as I've been working out regularly since Christmas and don't want to see all my hard work disappearing! The shots and steroids continue until the 16th and then I go in for a scan. If I'm ready the egg retrieval will go ahead on the 20th.

Foggy

That's how I'm feeling. Foggy.
I've had two rounds of injections now. Not something I'd choose to do for fun, but it's bearable. My other half is doing his bit by flicking the injection spot before I stab it to try and reduce the pain. I'm currently injecting Buserilin and Puregon. They are making me drowsy and disconnected. I think it's the Buserilin. I'm hoping that I'll adjust to it because I can't quite imagine feeling like this for 9 days! I have work to do and am finding it hard to keep my eyes open and focus. I haven't noticed any other side effects as yet. Watch this space!

IVF Round 1

A fair bit has happened since I last posted. We met with a new nurse at the clinic to discuss my treatment to date and IVF. He was great - a good listener, very clear and gave us all the time we needed which was very refreshing! I now feel confident that I have had all the tests done that are worthwhile and accept that IVF is the logical next step. I received all of the drugs for the first round of IVF - overwhelming!

There are 10 different drugs which include pain killers and antibiotics for the egg retrieval procedure. Some of it needs to be refrigerated - it's taking up half the fridge. We went away over Christmas and then on 29th Dec I started the first drug (Norethisterone) which I guess it what stops my natural cycle. I have to take it 3 times a day for a week. I initially felt very drowsy on it but that seems to have passed. I can't help thinking that there is a small chance that I'm pregnant. I did an early pregnancy test before starting the drug but it was really much too early to be able to register a positive result. I can't help wondering about it though and what effect this drug might have if I am. We have an appointment with the clinic tomorrow to update blood tests and swabs. And then another appointment on Wednesday to plan the rest of the treatment. We're expecting the egg retrieval to happen around 20th February.

Godmother!

I forgot to say - our friend had her baby last week, 6 weeks early! She's doing really well. She's adorable and I'm in love. We've been asked to be Godparents which I'm thrilled about :)

Losing faith

I saw my reflexologist last week. The usual spot on my feet was hurting - the one that relates to my uterus. It didn't hurt as much as the first session but there was still pain and discomfort. She asked me if I had had any investigations done on my womb - which I haven't - and she encouraged me to ask the clinic about it. I'd felt so positive about the reflexology up until that point but now I feel that she isn't seeing a significant imporovement and maybe doesn't think she can help me anymore :( She also suggested that I think about going to a different clinic as she hasn't heard good things about mine. But the clinic she suggested is 90 minutes drive away - it's just not practical to have my treatment there. So overall I felt pretty negative after she left! I have always wondered whether there was more investigation that could be done on me to figure out why I'm not getting pregnant, but when we were last at the clinic and asked the consultant about it she was dismissive. I spoke to a colleague about it this week and she suggested that I ask to make an appointment with one of the nurses to talk it through. So I called the clinic and asked for this. Well, it turns out that they should have arranged an appointment for me with a nurse anyway, to discuss the IVF treatment in detail - but they'd forgotten about me! Cheers then. We're now due to go in and speak to a nurse on the 6th Dec. I spoke to the nurse that we'll be meeting with on the phone this week. He's new to the clinic and is definitely the most effective communicator that I've come across there - so fingers crossed it's a positive meeting. In the meantime, I've ovulating again...

Distractions

So, no joy last month and I've just ovulated again. Good to see from the ovulation sticks that it's actually happening! There have been a lot of distractions this month - work, my business and a nasty flu bug. It's good to be distracted from all this.

Feeling positive

So, I started using the ovulation tests this month and got a positive result on Sunday. So we did what we needed to do using the preseed. I've been very aware of ovulating - my left ovary is very active. And today I actually noticed some good, stretchy cervical mucus which I haven't noticed other than when I have been on the fertility drugs! So I'm weirdly excited about that and feeling very positive about things. I really think that the reflexology has had an impact.