And we're off

I had another blood test yesterday and the nurse at the clinic rang me this morning with the results. It showed that I have ovulated and that it's time to start the first of the injected medications, Buserelin. I was surprised to hear that I need to start it this morning and, since D has gone to work already, I had to inject it myself. It was a bit fiddly drawing the right amount into the syringe from the bottle and I was slightly nervous doing the actual injection, but it seems I am a good nurse and it didn't hurt a bit (though the site is slightly itchy now). So the pattern for the next ten days or so will be a Buserelin injection first thing in the morning before D leaves for work, then I'll have a blood test on 5 April, and then we'll add an evening injection of Gonal F to the regimen. It feels very much like we're at the beginning of another journey but we don't know yet what we'll find at the end.

Blood test result

The nurse from the clinic called me yesterday afternoon to give me the result of the blood test I had on Monday. She said that the test showed that I had "surged" (i.e. ovulation had occurred) and that I need to have another blood test next Monday morning. At this stage it looks like we'll start the injections sometime next week.

Blood test

This morning I popped into the doctor's surgery to have yet another blood test. This one is to help pinpoint the time of ovulation. It was expected around day 11 and today is day 13. The nurse at the clinic will call me tomorrow when they get the results to let me know when we can start the injections.

Education appointment

I have been so crazy busy that it's taken me a few days to write about our education appointment last Wednesday.

File note

Dear A and D

Diagnosis:
1. Primary infertility secondary to azoospermia post vasectomy reversal
2. Unsuccessful first IVF cycle
3. Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, treated cardiac septal ablation, 1998 and 1999, second procedure complicated by vascular injury requiring double bypass graft
4. Allergy to aspirin and ibuprofen
5. Dysmenorrhoea, possibly due to endometriosis
6. Short menstrual cycle

Day one again

My period arrived yesterday, which meant codeine and a hot water bottle but the pain wasn't too bad this month, and which also meant a phone call to the clinic to let them know. I left a message on their voicemail and a nurse rang me back later in the afternoon. I need to have a blood test around ovulation and we have pencilled that in for 20 March. D and I also need to attend another education appointment next Tuesday. The injections that he needs to give me during this cycle are similar to last time but not completely the same, so we'll run through it again to make sure we get it right. So it seems we're back on the treadmill again, even though it'll be a while before we see any results this time.