Hello Ladies
I am coming to the end of my first IVF cycle, wanted to share my experience and get some advice from those ladies who have been and are going through the same thing.
My Background History: TTC for nearly 4 years. Fell pregnant naturally in Sept 2011 resulted in an Ectopic pregnancy & was told to rest for 3 months and then try for 6 months. If nothing IVF would start. Tests in the months leading up to IVF showed a blocked tube but everything else on both mine and hubbys side was normal so there was no reason why we shouldnt be able to conceive naturally.
In preparation for the Cycle, I drunk lots of fluids ate well, done a bit of exercise to prepare myself. I wanted to smile through it, be as positive as possible as I didnt want a negative attitude to impact on the cycle
Phase 1 - Down Reg: Went well, I did a total 23 injections before I started the Gonal F. (I was on a long protocol) Its weird because as soon as I did the Injection I felt weak and dehydrated more or less instantly so had to up my water intake to ensure I didnt become unwell. The injections didnt faze me and after a few I didnt even feel it! My hubby would tease me and tell me I was a professional injection taker!! My nick name was druggy for the first 3 weeks!! I even had to do an injection in the car park of Harry Potter World as we were there at a time which clashed with my injection time (its all so glamorous isnt it!! Lol)
Phase 2 Stimulation I was so happy to start Gonal F, I felt unwell for the first 3 days as I think the shock to my body triggered my illness but after a few days my body adjusted and after that I felt fine and didnt get any of the side effects which they warn you about which was great.
On Day 6 of the Stims I had a monitoring appointment which went well, they told me I was doing amazingly and reported 7 follicles on one side and 8 on the others and that they wanted me back in 2 days time. They had to do bloods but because of my illness Im constantly having drips put in and bloods taken so they struggled to find a vein, they had to call the anaesthetist and everything!! But I just smiled through it as I kept telling myself Im doing this for my baby!
On Day 8 of the Stims I had another monitoring appointment and as soon as I arrived they called the anaesthetist as they remembered how hard it was to get bloods the last time. This time the scan showed 18 follicles on one side and 17 on the other. I literally danced out of the clinic that day it brought me so much joy knowing everything was going so well.
On Day 10 of the Stims they called me and told me to do the trigger shot on the Sunday night at 10.30 and egg collection would be on Tuesday. I felt so excited.
Egg Collection went well; I was put on a drip of fluids and given oxygen throughout the process to ensure my illness wasnt triggered by what was going on. I had it under local and it went very well 14 Eggs collected. Which according to the nurses was brilliant? I felt fine the day of egg collection just felt drowsy from the pain relief and literally slept for most of the day.
They called me the next day to say that out of the 14 eggs 5 had fertilised and they were going to do transfer on day 5 to give them a chance to become Blastocysts. I had no idea what Blatocysts meant and had to do a bit of research to find out. They told me to call in every day to check on the embryos and if they felt they were not going to make it to Blastocyst stage they would get me back sooner. I think this was the worst part of the process, the waiting and not knowing if after over a month of injections if things where to go wrong at this stage it would be heart breaking. But I stayed positive.
The 2 days after egg collection I felt fine, I was in no pain what so ever I went out for a meal with friends, I dont know what change but on the 3rd night I woke up in excruciating pain, every time I ate it hurt, I had a sharp pain going up my bottom and in my lower abdomen, I felt weak and drained and even drinking water hurt. I rung the out of hours doctor as I was worried and they said that I have to remember that I have been poked and prodded, Ive had a needle poked into my ovaries, that the follicles would be filling with water which would cause me to be sore and everything would be swollen, bruised and squished down there so Im bound to be sore. (Sorry if TMI) They told me not to worry and that what I was feeling was normal. This gave me relief, I can handle pain if know its normal but I was worried something serious was happening. I was worried that if I felt like this sore when Embryo transfer was done would it impact on my chances!! But I smiled through the pain and stayed positive.
I think it is important to share the info about the pain I felt after egg collection with those ladies who havent had IVF before as the clinic didnt really give me any warning as to how I could possibly feel. Not everyone will experience pain and will feel fine afterwards but it is good to know just encase.
I then started Crinone pessary which you have to take every day till you are 3 months pregnant. I pray I get to that stage.
So on Sunday we made the journey down to have our baby put back in. The night before I felt so restless as I was told to call before I left to check they had made it through day 4 as this is an important day in the development. I rung and they told me to make my way down which was relief.
The Embryologist explained that out of the 5 embryos, 2 had developed into Blatocysts and had already stated to hatch which is brilliant according to them. They had already frozen one and would be popping the other one back in. As Im under the age of 35 the rule is that only 1 can go back in. The other 3 where going to be monitored for another day to see development and then frozen if they were ok. I had to ring today to get an update on them and they have managed to freeze 3 in total which is also good news.
The procedure went well and was not painful, I was told by the nurse at reception that I had drunk enough water and then when I was having the procedure they advised my bladder didnt look full which annoyed me as I could have drunk more water while I was waiting. The nurse advised that she couldnt see clearly but was sure she was in the right place and in went my baby. I said to the nurse You did put it in the right place didnt you as she didnt sound sure and she laughed and said Of course my dear My Hubby managed to drop into convo how long she had been doing it and she said since 1994 which made me relax a bit as I was thinking she must know what she is doing then!! lol
I was told to rest of 24 hours as the next 2 days will be important in the implanting stage so I literally spent all of Sunday on the Sofa and will be spending all of today in bed. My 2 weeks leave from work ends tomorrow so its back to work and in looking forward to getting back to reality as I need a distraction! I have been told to test on the 13th April.
I have woken up this morning and I have gone from feeling super positive to really really emotional and upset. I cried this morning for the first time in the whole 2 months that this has been happening and Im starting to feel really scared about how I am going to feel if the test is negative. My husband has been amazing through all of this and told me that no matter what happens we are one step closer to be parents and whether it happens this time or in the next cycle it will happen at some point. We are just waiting for that one who decides to stick and that may not be this time around but just try and stay positive.
I love how positive he is but its so hard, I dont know if its because Im on the final stretch and its now make or break time which is why I suddenly feel overcome with emotion or if I have felt like this all the way through and everything has just come to a head now.
I hope the above doesnt put anyone going through IVF off the process or scare anyone as the want for a baby will give you the strength to get through and it is all worth it. Plus everyones experience is different, but reading other peoples blogs really helped me through as it made me feel like Im not alone and there are other people going through it that can relate. It also educated me on what was going to happen next and what to expect.
Im sorry this is longwinded I didnt want to do a day by day log as I wanted to act as if it wasnt happening but I suppose the reality is it is all you ever think of deep down. Just wanted to reach out and see if anyone can give me some pointers on how to deal with the emotion
Are there any ladies out there who feel pregnant on their first cycle of IVF? Is there anyone who didnt fall pregnant first time, how did you deal with the emotion? Anything I can do to keep focused during this time? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated I appreciate everyone who is and had been through this as I know how hard it can be.
Thank you for taking the time to read my long story!! Lol..I wish everyone the best of luck in their journeys to conceive and pray that everyone gets this bundle of joy.
Nick Nack xx
I am coming to the end of my first IVF cycle, wanted to share my experience and get some advice from those ladies who have been and are going through the same thing.
My Background History: TTC for nearly 4 years. Fell pregnant naturally in Sept 2011 resulted in an Ectopic pregnancy & was told to rest for 3 months and then try for 6 months. If nothing IVF would start. Tests in the months leading up to IVF showed a blocked tube but everything else on both mine and hubbys side was normal so there was no reason why we shouldnt be able to conceive naturally.
In preparation for the Cycle, I drunk lots of fluids ate well, done a bit of exercise to prepare myself. I wanted to smile through it, be as positive as possible as I didnt want a negative attitude to impact on the cycle
Phase 1 - Down Reg: Went well, I did a total 23 injections before I started the Gonal F. (I was on a long protocol) Its weird because as soon as I did the Injection I felt weak and dehydrated more or less instantly so had to up my water intake to ensure I didnt become unwell. The injections didnt faze me and after a few I didnt even feel it! My hubby would tease me and tell me I was a professional injection taker!! My nick name was druggy for the first 3 weeks!! I even had to do an injection in the car park of Harry Potter World as we were there at a time which clashed with my injection time (its all so glamorous isnt it!! Lol)
Phase 2 Stimulation I was so happy to start Gonal F, I felt unwell for the first 3 days as I think the shock to my body triggered my illness but after a few days my body adjusted and after that I felt fine and didnt get any of the side effects which they warn you about which was great.
On Day 6 of the Stims I had a monitoring appointment which went well, they told me I was doing amazingly and reported 7 follicles on one side and 8 on the others and that they wanted me back in 2 days time. They had to do bloods but because of my illness Im constantly having drips put in and bloods taken so they struggled to find a vein, they had to call the anaesthetist and everything!! But I just smiled through it as I kept telling myself Im doing this for my baby!
On Day 8 of the Stims I had another monitoring appointment and as soon as I arrived they called the anaesthetist as they remembered how hard it was to get bloods the last time. This time the scan showed 18 follicles on one side and 17 on the other. I literally danced out of the clinic that day it brought me so much joy knowing everything was going so well.
On Day 10 of the Stims they called me and told me to do the trigger shot on the Sunday night at 10.30 and egg collection would be on Tuesday. I felt so excited.
Egg Collection went well; I was put on a drip of fluids and given oxygen throughout the process to ensure my illness wasnt triggered by what was going on. I had it under local and it went very well 14 Eggs collected. Which according to the nurses was brilliant? I felt fine the day of egg collection just felt drowsy from the pain relief and literally slept for most of the day.
They called me the next day to say that out of the 14 eggs 5 had fertilised and they were going to do transfer on day 5 to give them a chance to become Blastocysts. I had no idea what Blatocysts meant and had to do a bit of research to find out. They told me to call in every day to check on the embryos and if they felt they were not going to make it to Blastocyst stage they would get me back sooner. I think this was the worst part of the process, the waiting and not knowing if after over a month of injections if things where to go wrong at this stage it would be heart breaking. But I stayed positive.
The 2 days after egg collection I felt fine, I was in no pain what so ever I went out for a meal with friends, I dont know what change but on the 3rd night I woke up in excruciating pain, every time I ate it hurt, I had a sharp pain going up my bottom and in my lower abdomen, I felt weak and drained and even drinking water hurt. I rung the out of hours doctor as I was worried and they said that I have to remember that I have been poked and prodded, Ive had a needle poked into my ovaries, that the follicles would be filling with water which would cause me to be sore and everything would be swollen, bruised and squished down there so Im bound to be sore. (Sorry if TMI) They told me not to worry and that what I was feeling was normal. This gave me relief, I can handle pain if know its normal but I was worried something serious was happening. I was worried that if I felt like this sore when Embryo transfer was done would it impact on my chances!! But I smiled through the pain and stayed positive.
I think it is important to share the info about the pain I felt after egg collection with those ladies who havent had IVF before as the clinic didnt really give me any warning as to how I could possibly feel. Not everyone will experience pain and will feel fine afterwards but it is good to know just encase.
I then started Crinone pessary which you have to take every day till you are 3 months pregnant. I pray I get to that stage.
So on Sunday we made the journey down to have our baby put back in. The night before I felt so restless as I was told to call before I left to check they had made it through day 4 as this is an important day in the development. I rung and they told me to make my way down which was relief.
The Embryologist explained that out of the 5 embryos, 2 had developed into Blatocysts and had already stated to hatch which is brilliant according to them. They had already frozen one and would be popping the other one back in. As Im under the age of 35 the rule is that only 1 can go back in. The other 3 where going to be monitored for another day to see development and then frozen if they were ok. I had to ring today to get an update on them and they have managed to freeze 3 in total which is also good news.
The procedure went well and was not painful, I was told by the nurse at reception that I had drunk enough water and then when I was having the procedure they advised my bladder didnt look full which annoyed me as I could have drunk more water while I was waiting. The nurse advised that she couldnt see clearly but was sure she was in the right place and in went my baby. I said to the nurse You did put it in the right place didnt you as she didnt sound sure and she laughed and said Of course my dear My Hubby managed to drop into convo how long she had been doing it and she said since 1994 which made me relax a bit as I was thinking she must know what she is doing then!! lol
I was told to rest of 24 hours as the next 2 days will be important in the implanting stage so I literally spent all of Sunday on the Sofa and will be spending all of today in bed. My 2 weeks leave from work ends tomorrow so its back to work and in looking forward to getting back to reality as I need a distraction! I have been told to test on the 13th April.
I have woken up this morning and I have gone from feeling super positive to really really emotional and upset. I cried this morning for the first time in the whole 2 months that this has been happening and Im starting to feel really scared about how I am going to feel if the test is negative. My husband has been amazing through all of this and told me that no matter what happens we are one step closer to be parents and whether it happens this time or in the next cycle it will happen at some point. We are just waiting for that one who decides to stick and that may not be this time around but just try and stay positive.
I love how positive he is but its so hard, I dont know if its because Im on the final stretch and its now make or break time which is why I suddenly feel overcome with emotion or if I have felt like this all the way through and everything has just come to a head now.
I hope the above doesnt put anyone going through IVF off the process or scare anyone as the want for a baby will give you the strength to get through and it is all worth it. Plus everyones experience is different, but reading other peoples blogs really helped me through as it made me feel like Im not alone and there are other people going through it that can relate. It also educated me on what was going to happen next and what to expect.
Im sorry this is longwinded I didnt want to do a day by day log as I wanted to act as if it wasnt happening but I suppose the reality is it is all you ever think of deep down. Just wanted to reach out and see if anyone can give me some pointers on how to deal with the emotion
Are there any ladies out there who feel pregnant on their first cycle of IVF? Is there anyone who didnt fall pregnant first time, how did you deal with the emotion? Anything I can do to keep focused during this time? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated I appreciate everyone who is and had been through this as I know how hard it can be.
Thank you for taking the time to read my long story!! Lol..I wish everyone the best of luck in their journeys to conceive and pray that everyone gets this bundle of joy.
Nick Nack xx
) Xxx
