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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!