a Big couple of days

Sunday was nice having a day off meds.. a little sleep in and a slow day.. was feeling a bit yuk really so slow was good. We were on dinner for church and that went OK .. but was extra tired afterwards.

We pre-booked a car park for Monday on Kent St so that we could save a few $$

Monday morning was a bit dud as I couldn't eat or drink anything!

We got to the clinic at 10:55am ... 5 minutes early

I was pleased to hear that I had the same anaesthetist as last Egg retrieval... filled in all the paperwork and then was taken through to the surgery area where I was weighted and height checked.. then into the little waiting cubicle .. NO.2 again :)

We waited for a while .. 

with me in the "beautiful" theatre attire :P

The nurses came through and more paperwork, the Scientist came through and spoke about the process.. she asked how many eggs we would like to fertilise and we agreed to make a final decision after we knew how many eggs there were! Next came the Anaesthetist who put the cannula in my hand and spoke about the sedation.. we were going to go for low sedation again like last time as I ws mostly awake then with just some pain relief and then our Dr came in .. she was happier with the progress this cycle and said she would be open to putting two embryos in if there were two.. then we went through to the theatre room.

My robe came off..leaving me in the flimsy gown.. onto the bed, legs up into the special holders - everyone was getting ready .. the anaesthetist gave me a little something.. the Dr asked if my panda socks were lucky and I told her I only bought them the other day when my feet were wet from from all the rain in the city.. so we'll see if they are or not :D haha 

It's all very hazy and I think I was actually out for most of it .. not like last time ... i vaguely have a memory of the Dr saying we had an egg but then I wondered if that was last time. Guy thinks the Anaesthetist saw pain on my face and gave me more - I don't recall - strange feeling really!! It was all pretty quick this time. There were two eggs.. the scientist kept looking through fluids and said she's come let us know later if there were any more....

Back to our little cubicle No.2 .. Guy went off to do his thing ..

In recovery - I had a nice glass of water - never tasted so good! Peppermint tea and rice cakes with peanut butter .. check out my stylish 'over the shoe socks' here too... Panadeine and Panadol and a warm heat pack for the cramps.

The embryologist/ Scientist came back and said that yes there were 2 there.. and I said please go ahead and try to fertilise both of them.. I asked if the other follicles were just empty and apparently one had a shell of sorts (can't remember the exact language) but nothing inside. Guy came back and agreed with them trying to fertilise both using PICSI.

My heat pack got cold and cramps still bad so I rang the nurses bell and the poor nurse who eventually came thought there was a problem i Assured her I just needed it reheated and she went off to do that.

Not long after I was able to get changed back into my clothes.. and then had the cannula taken out and given the feedback survey link which I quickly did on my phone ..

We went down to the Pharmacy to pick up more medications.. Panadeine and more injections for later in the week.. all going well! We had to wait as my record hadn't been uploaded yet .. eventually the lady came out with it and I paid and we left ...

We walked to the Dymocks building where I had about a half hour of Acupuncture and some good positive talk .. my Dr was right this lady is a great IVF coach :D I have a tentative appointment booked for Sat morning.. when hopefully I'll be having the embryo transfer :)

Tuesday brings good news ... one of the eggs fertilised normally and the other shows signs of fertilisation but doesn't have two pro nuclei .. so they will watch it .. maybe it will still catch up.. hoping it's just a little slow/ got some lazy genes .. we'll find out more with the next update on Thursday!

This waiting is HARD .. but that's how it is ... feeling really well supported by family and friends :) So thankful for this!!

The app where we should be able to see photos seems to be broken and so no photos yet :( ... I've emailed them about it and hopefully it will be fixed soon!! I do like the idea of seeing photos and videos and they would be really great to bring out at a 21st (but that's getting WAY ahead)

Tomorrow I have to take another injection - to prepare for the transfer :D

Triggering tonight

Well the hormones are making me feel pretty yukko!! Been a quiet day today.. not done very much, just been working on some artwork and resting!

The nurse phoned this afternoon and my EC is scheduled for 11:30 on Monday ... so I have to take the trigger shot (Ovidrel) tonight at 11:30pm... guess I'm not having an early night tonight :(

I've booked in for Acupuncture after Egg Collection which is supposed to held relieve the bloating and cramping .. and help geet in good shape for the transfer a few days later... hope so!

Looking forward to the med free day tomorrow :)

one more day...

So I went in on Tuesday to pick up the new meds and they are rather complicated.. Above is a picture of my new morning injections.. the Luveris is two vials - one of powder and one of water and it requires a syringe with a nasty looking thick needle to suck the water up and mix it in to the powder and then change the needle over and inject it ... it's really hard not to let a lot of air in during this process :0 It makes the other pen and one off pre-filled needle seem super simple!

My tummy is starting to look like a pin cushion :0

I am super super tired!!

Today my vampire was not great.. she ended up taking blood from my hand .. it didn't hurt as much as I thought it might thankfully :)

My scan was yukky.. one of my ovaries had gone missing and so was rather painful as she tried to find it and get pictures of the follicles however good news there seem to be a few that should be  good (God willing) .. today they measured 22mm, 20mm, 16mm, 14mm, 13mm, 12mm and smaller - It's likely there may be 3-5 eggs then... but we will see what happens.

Only one day left of injections now ... tomorrow morning will be the last of my three regular injections, and sometime tomorrow I will take the Trigger shot (once the nurses phone me to advise what time and what time Egg Collection will be on Monday). I am so thankful that EC is on Monday and therefore at the city clinic with my own Dr!! Hooray!

Sunday will be nice .. a needle free day!!

I'm a little concerned the nice big 22mm follicle will be too huge by EC and no good anymore.. but the others "should" be OK and it gives the 12 and 14 maybe time to catch up... waiting and hoping and trusting :)

Meanwhile I had a lovely morning - my big sister met me in town for breakfast :) She had to get up super early for this! Very thankful!! And I spent a few hours with a very pregnant friend.. Can't wait to meet her daughter soon!!

Three words I'm not not fond of

"wait and see" is soooo hard. Each step of this process is really waiting for the next thing.. waiting for a call from a nurse, waiting to see if things are progressing properly, waiting, waiting!

Yesterdays scan showed that there are 5 follicles ... 2 x 6mm, 8mm, 12mm and 15mm ... the smaller ones really need to catch up to the others :o I hope that they can.... I was disappointed with this as the Gonal F dosage is so much higher I was expecting there to be more. But it only takes one good egg right :) {Please Lord}

My blood test showed that the LH (Luteinising hormone - which helps follicles to mature) is low and so today I am going in to the clinic AGAIN to pick up a new medication (luveris) to inject ... Apparently it's a bit different so I will need a nurse to do the first one for me :0

Have been feeling quite yukky these last few days - headaches, sore tummy, nauseous, very TIRED! It's a tough time really but hopefully for a good reason!

A dear friend sent me these wonderful verses yesterday...

Psalm 145:17-18 The Lord is Righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Acupuncture with Tens machine

Today I had Acupuncture again and this time she plugged a tens machine in on two of the needles... It makes a tingling/ zinging sensation flow around that area.. Should help with blood flow and hopefuly help the follicles grow it's a bit wierd but bearable, especially if it's going to be beneficial - I did feel more relaxed after it thankfully :)

my early morning routine

This is my new early morning routine... 2 injections.. one of Gonal F and one Orgaultran (pictured left) and a bunch of supplements!!

I have to Gonal F pen pretty much sorted .. its the one in the middle at the front that you wind to the right dosage and then after inserting it you push the end down. It's a VERY fine needle so not too bad!

The Orgalutran, started yesterday is a bit of a thicker needle and once inserted you have to draw back the plunger to make sure there is no blood and then push it down.. this one is not as fun - it is Stingy for about an hour or so afterwards.

And the supplements came from my Acupuncturist (replacing some of the vitamins etc that I was already taking) Some of these are rather yukky to swallow :P

I get a nasty headache about an hour or so after the injections! So I'm looking forward to Acupuncture again tomorrow!

*DOING IVF AT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS CHANGE OVER IS CONFUSING*

a long post about a long day!

From steady rain to a heated train about 6:48am was a bit of a shock to the system... I was checking facebook when I saw a post from Genea about Daylight Savings starting and how it may affect treatment and timing of medications and to check with nurses. I hadn't even thought about it. (I commented on the post Thanks - that was brave of me publicly posting a comment wasn't it haha).

At the clinic around 7:25 and took an umbrella bag and then realised how thin it was and wouldn't help with my coat so I put it in my handbag and rolled my jacket inside out and put it in the bag too. It was so warm inside that I had to take off my fleecy jacket and my glasses kept fogging up.

When I scanned my card to check in it says Blood test and Finance - apparently that's who I have to see today. The place is pretty busy .. about 25+ people waiting I think, there are no spare tables and so I squeeze onto the edge of the couch in the TV section, Sunrise is on so I can get a bit of news, although my mind is not really focussing so I only pick up a few snippets. Tables free up and so I decide to go and get a GF muesli bar and sit at one.. it looked ok but it tastes like it has dairy in it and sure enough I hadn't checked well enough as the 2nd last ingredient was 'milk solids'.. oops.. I didn't finish it.

My name is called by a patient manager, K who I spoke with the other day about the anaesthetist and she checked if I was able to contact them, I said yes and thank you.  She apologised that they hadn't given me a fee estimate yet and says she will do it and bring it out to me. I wasn't too worried as it should be fairly similar to last time.. athough 'hopefully" more (only for the fact that I'm hoping we get to Embryo transfer stage this time) :D

I sit down at a different table as the other one is taken... for some reason (possibly the hormones in my system and my anxiety) I feel like crying and so I messaged my dear friend L who offered to pray for me if I needed it while waiting and this was one of those times! Very helpful!

My name is called by one of the vampires... she looked familiar but I couldn't remember if she was good or bad... once in the room I read her nametag and realised it was R, who did the last test last cycle ... which was painful. I am a little concerned but she inspects many veins and then seems satisfied with my right arm.. she goes in deep and gets great flow! Phew. Thanks God!

I checked with her about some concerns and she put me back in the queue for a nurse... so I go sit again.. and then am called fairly quickly.. this nurse remembers calling me earlier in the week - she was the one who ordered me new medication.. and asks if I got it OK.. I let her know I did... She didn't know about the medication and daylight savings and was going to check.. she reassured me about the scan.. that I didn't need it yet as today's blood test would tell them about my Estrogen and LH levels and that would then tell them if I need the Orgalutran yet and the first scan would probably by Monday.. I don't really understand as am sure it was earlier last time but that's Ok.

I ask her to put me in the Accounts queue so I can follow that up, I sit down again..and after a bit K comes out to tell me she hasn't got it yet.. has to wait for my health fund and that she'l email it.

I then leave, at this point it's standing room only.. so bizarre! I think maybe about 40-50 people??

I have about 1.5 hours to kill before my Acupuncture appointment

I find a cafe in QVB and have a fig and nut bar and a decaf coffee.. message Mum a bit .. then head off towards galleries for some window shopping.. not much open I'm interested in.. I sit for a bit at one of the tables there (my boots are great for the water but NOT for my feet.. starting to blister :(

I got to my appointment 10 minutes early and filled in the form ...  Patricia is lovely and starts off asking for my history... I share about headaches, AF, our Infertility and previous IVF attempts. After this we go into the other room for the Acupuncture.. the table/bed is heated.. pretty nice.. the Acupunture was fine.. it was actually quite relaxing and took away my headache COMPLETELY!
I had a ginger and lemon tea mmm .. and signed up for the IVF Acupuncture package.. so I'll be going back a few more times! I also ended up booking in for a massage at 1pm.. so I have another 1.5hours to kill in the city... I sat for a bit on some couches in an Arcade.. my big Sis phoned and we chatted for a bit then I went off to find some lunch.. found  a place in Westfields where you could design your own bowl..it was pretty good!

Messaged a few lovely friends who'd messaged me .. and had to cancel my afternoon tea date with a good friend, L .. we'll catch up sometime :)

Back for the massage... There were quite a few areas of tension but it was lovely and very relaxing overall!

I'm told to drink LOTS of water!

A nurse had tried to call when I was having the massage and sent a text with instructions.. I'm to continue Gonal F, start Orgalutran tomorrow and go back in for a scan and BT on Monday.

I called back and left a message.. I need to find out about the med times.

Train ride home, walking from station in rain in my raincoat from lovely G my phone started ringing.. it was a nurse phoning back..she said 1/2 hour to an hour difference for the meds should be fine .. so that's a relief :) the blisters on my feet are pretty sore now and so I'm plonked out on the couch!