24 December 2011

File note

Dear A and D

A and D were seen for review following their recent unsuccessful IVF cycle. During this cycle A was treated with an A150 regimen, six eggs were collected, three of these were fertilised by sperm obtained by testicular biopsy. Subsequently a single embryo was transferred and one frozen. Unfortunately A did not conceive.

16 December 2011

Follow-up appointment

This morning we had an appointment with Dr C. It was the first time we had been back to the clinic since the negative pregnancy result and we were keen to find out what happens next. Dr C is much nicer than the other doctors at the clinic! She first wanted to find out how we were feeling. Then she explained that we can try again with the frozen embryo that we kept after our last attempt. The chance of success is lower, 25% to 30%, but we don't have to go through the stimulation process all over again. We will wait until I have been through another two cycles, so our next appointment will be sometime in late January. Interestingly, my last two periods since the pregnancy test were only 17 days apart, so it may be sooner than that, but it will still be a long summer! I am not feeling very positive at the moment, though perhaps I am just sick of the whole process.

21 November 2011

Monday Monday

I have just had call from Nurse K, the same nurse who called on Friday with our results. She was calling to see how we were after the weekend. I explained that we were very sad and disappointed, of course, but that we are doing okay at this stage and we are looking forward to the new year. I plucked up a bit of courage and explained how receiving the feedback form on Saturday had surprised us, not in a good way, and she took that on board and promised to pass it on. She agreed that it could have waited a week or two! I will be submitting some feedback but not right now.

20 November 2011

Feedback

Dear D and A

Thank you for choosing [clinic] for your recent treatment. As Medical Director I would really appreciate your feedback and I enclose our freepost questionnaire - and a couple of tea bags to help you slow down and take time to answer it! Thank you for your time...

18 November 2011

No beating around the bush

The pregnancy test I had this morning was negative. The only good news is that I can stop taking the progesterone pessaries, but that will trigger a period sometime in the next few days. We have a follow-up appointment with Dr C on 16 December. According to the nurse I spoke to, we can try again with the frozen embryo sometime in the new year after my body has had some time to recover. That feels like a very long time away. I don't know what else to write right now. We feel very sad. But we are going to go out to dinner tonight and I am going to have pint of the best beer I can find.

15 November 2011

Treatment cycle summary

Dear A and D

Re: ISCI cycle Wednesday, 2nd November 2011

We are writing to provide you with a summary of your last treatment cycle.

11 November 2011

Hormonal

Today is day 21 so normally I would be preparing myself for a miserable few hours with some (ineffective) painkillers and a hot wheat bag. Of course, as one of the nurses told me at the clinic, "We've completely taken over your cycle", so I'm pretty sure that won't happen this month! My fingers are still crossed anyway. It's exactly a week until I find out whether I'm pregnant or not. Time is going very slowly.

07 November 2011

Feeling better

It's been three days since the implantation and I am, as the subject line says, feeling better. I was getting pretty miserable on Saturday with my uncomfortable tummy. I completely lost my appetite, too, which didn't help. It is more important than ever that I eat properly, but it was a struggle even to put food in my mouth.

05 November 2011

Implanted

Yesterday was implanting day and it started off badly. I woke at 6am and went to the toilet and within a few minutes I was in pain. It felt a bit like period pain but it was worse and a hot wheat bag didn't seem to help. I sweated a lot and it was horrible. I called the clinic's after-hours number and left a message. The pain eased off and went away after about half an hour, so I called back and spoke to Nurse K, who had been about to ring me. She suggested that because my ovaries were swollen, going to the toilet might have shifted or twisted them slightly, and she said I should come into the clinic slightly earlier than planned. So I went back to bed and got another hour's sleep.

03 November 2011

The morning after

I have just received a call from the clinic to let me know how things went in the petri dishes overnight. Six eggs were extracted yesterday and five of them were found to be mature and able to be injected with sperm (the ICSI process). Overnight three eggs have fertilised and are therefore able to be implanted. Three is enough, I guess! The best quality one will be chosen for implanting tomorrow morning and the remaining two will be frozen in case we need to try again. We have an appointment for 10.30am. The implantation process will be relatively quick and easy, certainly nothing like yesterday's adventure. I spoke to D on the phone and he sounded much more excited and positive than I feel. Maybe I am still experiencing some tiredness from yesterday!

02 November 2011

Egg collection day II

At the moment D is having a wee snooze so I'll use the time alone to summarise how today went. We're both pretty tired but I have been resting most of the day. If I go to bed now I won't sleep well tonight. This entry may be a little graphic in parts!

Egg collection day I

When I was little and my grandma had chooks, I loved collecting the eggs. We would keep them on the bench in an old ice cream container and every morning I would have one boiled with toast soldiers. That was a very long time ago and the chookhouse has been taken down and replaced with an apple tree.

01 November 2011

Triggered!

Last night at precisely 10.45pm D gave me my last injection (hopefully my last ever!) of Ovidrel. Everything went smoothly and it didn't hurt at all. The Orgalutran burned a little bit for a few minutes after injecting, but not the other two drugs. I had forgotten that D was leaving very early this morning for a business trip so it was a late night for him. In 36 hours, actually closer to 24 hours now, we will be at the clinic for egg collection. I am feeling less excited than I was yesterday. I find that I am preferring not to think too far into the future. I am concentrating on just getting through the next few days!

31 October 2011

A little bit excited

This morning's appointment went very well and I felt a lot more comfortable. First I met with the nurse for a blood test. She also took back all the syringes and needles and things that we had been given and now our green cooler bag contains only what we need for my final trigger injection. Then I met with Dr J, who was much friendlier this time but yet another new face! I am beginning to wonder if the clinic has a completely new staff rotation every week. Anyway, she looked at my follicles again and measured them. They have almost doubled in size in three days and another small one has appeared on the right side. A total of seven is pretty good, but we keep being told that it is quality rather than quantity that is important. I agree!

29 October 2011

Booked on

Dear A and D

As you have now booked on for treatment, an appointment has been made for you to see Dr C on Friday 16 December at 10.00am.

28 October 2011

Cattle class

Today we had an appointment at the clinic for a blood test and ultrasound scan. It is day seven and I have had five injections of Gonal-f so far, so it's time to see how my ovaries are coping under this hormonal assault!

24 October 2011

Poke!

Guess what? My first injection of Gonal-f didn't hurt at all. D definitely has a successful career ahead of him as a nurse. We watched the DVD yesterday and also followed the procedure in the very helpful leaflet that was included with all the other bits and pieces.

23 October 2011

A wee whine

Since we are very hopeful that this is the last time I will be able to whine about this for ages (say nine months), I will admit that today I am feeling thoroughly miserable. I spent a couple of hours during the night pacing the living room in a codeine-induced daze while holding a hot wheat bag to my tummy. I was sick and my temperature was all over the place. I just wanted to go to sleep but I was far too sore. It was no fun. Today I am feeling moderately better, but I am very tender around the middle. My back aches and I am going to go back to bed for a while later. At least it wasn't as bad as last month! I wonder if my cycle will change after pregnancy?

22 October 2011

Today is day one

Enough said! I am kind of excited. But also sore. Bring on the Ponstan and hot water bottles. Tomorrow night we will start the injections.

17 October 2011

A green cooler bag

We have a new resident in our fridge. It is a bright green cooler bag which arrived by courier last week. It contains many interesting things, including a Gonal-f pen with 20 needles, a syringe of Orgalutran, a syringe of Ovidrel, lots of packets of alcohol swabs, a sharps box, a plastic jar for a urine sample, plenty of instructions and even a DVD to show us how it's done. Confused? We were!

21 September 2011

File note

We received a letter from the clinic today with a copy of the note of our visit with Dr C. It confirms the main aspects of our fertility problem and proposed treatment. I have been taking my folic acid tablets. When I bought a new bottle of multivitamins today, it was nice to be able to tell the pharmacist that I needed one without vitamin A (too much of which isn't good for growing foetuses). September seems to be passing very slowly now!

11 September 2011

Another first

One little detail I forgot to mention about the appointment with Dr C: she prescribed me some folate tablets. I am already taking a multivitamin that includes 300mcg of folate, but these wee yellow pills pack a wopping 5mg. I took my first one today.

10 September 2011

First appointment

It has taken me a while to get around to writing a post about our first appointment. It was such a big day! We arrived a little early and then we had to wait about half an hour, but there were lots of magazines to read and the waiting room was comfortable.

06 September 2011

Trepidation

It's finally here - the day of our first real fertility appointment. ( I say "real" because this time something is going to happen - to me, specifically - as opposed to just talking.) This morning I will have a vaginal ultrasound. I actually had one of these exactly a year ago today. Two days after the first of Canterbury's massive earthquakes, I drove a wiggly road to Ashburton Hospital for what turned out to be a relatively quick and completely painless procedure. So I'm not too worried about that part.

26 August 2011

First appointment confirmed

Dear A and D

Re: Appointments scheduled

Further to our telephone conversation, your appointments regarding the IVF programme will be held on Tuesday 6 September 2011.

23 August 2011

Making contact

Today I contacted the waiting list office to see if my blood test results had arrived and to make a consent appointment. We now have an appointment pencilled in for 6 September at 2pm.

19 August 2011

Day three

Today is day three of my cycle so I had the full screening blood tests done at the Medlab laboratory. It was very quick and painless!

14 August 2011

A letter arrives

Dear A and D

Re: Publicly Funded Fertility Treatment - IVF programme

Your names have now reached the top of the public funded waiting list. Please find enclosed an information booklet and guide to public funded treatment for you to look over. I have also enclosed a privacy consent form for D which is to be completed and returned in the envelope provided.