CD11 Nurse Update - ET Booked!

I decided to have a lastminute annual leave day, I'm absolutely exhausted and the weather was nice for us to have a family day together. We had a lovely day at Elvaston Castle & Country Park which Lucky enjoyed :)

Nurse called at lunch..
1) No more scans; they are happy with my cycle, womb lining progression and my body seems to be ovulating naturally. We are booked in to have ET on Monday (CD17)

2) I need to start the cyclogest on Thursday, using 1x twice a day (which will be CD13)

3) Continue taking using the clearblue digital opk and call them when I have a surge

4) the embryologist will call on Saturday. I presume this is to discuss the quality and quantity we want transferring... Still none the wiser!!

5) come in tomorrow to sign consent forms and we'll need to give them results for the HIV, Hep B & C bloods

6) Asked whether I'm taking folic acid.. Umm for the last year or so!

Phew, I had to try and remember all that whist Lucky was screeching for his banana... I think that's all??!

Monday's ET seems a little premature?? I haven't ovulated yet, and it's meant to be 5 days after oV as they are 5 day blastocyst!!? Don't quite understand that.. I'll do a opk tomorrow and if it's not positive I'll ask at the appointment

Can't believe it! I'll be PUPO this time next week :D

I hope & pray this works x

Natural FET Cycle CD8 - Nearly Ready!

It's been an early start with Lucky deciding to start the day at 5am and me not getting to sleep till 1am - Eek.. I wish I drank coffee...

Dan finished work an hour early and watched Lucky whilst I went to Nurture.

As I drove to Nurture, I was getting tearful and emotional.. Slightly anxious now! I'm usually googling and on fertility friends / nurture forum every day over analysing everything ... But this week I've done none of that. More than likely due to Dans fiasco last month!

I had a scan to check the womb lining and my ovaries. She said the lining should be at 8mm for ET and it's 8.1mm already! I have a large follicle on my left ovary, which is normal as its a natural cycle and I will ovulate from that ovary.

I then went through to have bloods to check the hormonal surge. I will get the results back at lunchtime.

I'm over the moon :) its also our wedding anniversary today!

Now I need to dig out that cyclogest prescription and hopefully get some today :)

Praying

I've been struggling at work at the minute, extremely short staffed so the workload is near impossible.. Not getting on with my management as they aren't helping with the pressure I'm under.

Spoke to my Nan this morning, as I do every Sunday.

Asked her pray for my IVF cycle.. As with my previous, she'll be the only person I'll tell in the family.

Also mentioned to pray for me at work & my sergeant.

It made it smile telling about us doing IVF again. She sighed, and said she always prays about my fertility, but had been asking God to heal my womb so I wouldn't have to go through this..

It made me shed a tear... Bless her.

For whatever reason, it's my portion to to go through IVF .. I gave up a long time wondering why, and accepting this is it! I try not to feel feel upset or bitter towards being infertile. I'm forever grateful for my beautiful son and will do all I can to gave him a sibling. I'm undoubtedly pleased IVF worked for us and grateful for Gods gift of science that has given me a child x

Boys Are More Likely to Result From Blastocyst Transfer after IVF

In a paper posted on Fertility and Sterility on-line, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Reproductive Medicine Associates in New York analyze data from their center and report that blastocyst transfer results in a significant sex-ratio imbalance towards male offspring. They found that almost 58% of babies born as a result of blastocyst transfers after a fresh IVF cycle were male. Approximately 51% of all babies born in the US are male.

The analysis included 1,284 babies from 937 deliveries that took place from August 2003 to August 2005 as a result of fresh IVF cycles. Sex ratios were determined for deliveries resulting from embryos transferred on the third day of culture as well as for blastocysts transferred after five days of culture. In addition, the researchers looked at singleton births to help determine whether the practice of single blastocyst transfer might impact sex ratio.

Deliveries from embryos transferred on day three of culture exhibited a much more balanced sex-ratio, close to that of all US births: 48.8% female to 51.2% male. For singleton deliveries from day three transfers, there was no significant change in sex ratio.

However, when the data from singleton births after blastocyst transfer were analyzed, a sex ratio of 36.3% female to 63.7% male emerged.

The authors attribute the higher proportion of male offspring from blastocyst transfer to the faster preimplantation development of male embryos. Criteria for selecting blastocysts for transfer favor faster developing embryos with more cells. Most of the patients in the study who underwent embryo transfer transferred more than one embryo, increasing the chances for a more balanced sex ratio. However, the greater disparity between male and female birth rates among singletons born after blastocyst transfer indicates that the practice of selecting the single, most fully developed embryo for a single embryo transfer could lead to further and greater imbalances.
David Grainger, President of SART remarked, "This is a fascinating finding. Further research in this area will help distinguish between the effects of culture techniques and the effects of embryo selection criteria on the sex ratio of children born after blastocyst transfer. In the meantime, doctors might want to examine the sex ratios of children born from their procedures in order to be able to advise patients in case they care."

(Luna et al, Blastocyst embryo transfer is associated with a sex-ration imbalance in favor of male offspring, Fertility and Sterility, published on-line at www.fertstert.org .)

Twins?? ...HIV, Hepatitis B & C

5mins before my GP appt I glanced through my phones calendar to see what I had planned today.. Eek.. Completely forgot about the appointment!

Lucky & I drag on some clothes and rushed to the GP surgery, typically timed during rush hour & school drop-off's. Ugh..

GP wrote out the blood forms without a second thought *phew* Said the clinic can call them for the results. Huge weight of our shoulders and a bit of money saved.

Went to work that afternoon, and like every conversion at the moment we were talking about Fifty Shades Of Grey. This lead us onto my Sgt talking about the "baby boom" in 9mths. My Sgt asked if I'm having any more and I told him I didn't want my son to be any only child but we need IVF so we'll see (no.. my line manager doesn't know what I'm doing next month!) he mentioned his friends needed IVF. They had 1 daughter the first round, then the second time they got twins.. I keep hearing this: "Twins" "Twins" "Twins"

Are we doing the right thing putting two back in??! Two blastocysts.. Two blastocysts, that were part of a previous successful cycle? Then again, we could put 2 back in and bfn .. That's 2 blasts gone, compared to just 1.. Lucky worked, and he was just 1... Oh God I'm confused!!!

Just going to pray about, whatever God wants for us.. I'll leave it in his hands! Who knows he may have the lottery ready for us, so a bigger car, house etc wont be a problem :-D

Eeek IVF FET invoice bill

Received our bill for FET in the post today.. It doesn't include my suppositories & HIV/Hep blood work

All of sudden this has made me so nervous!

We spend a fortune on Lucky. After buying a 'must have' outdoor playhouse tomorrow.. That will be our spending over with!

I've ran around the house and piled a heap of Gucci heels and Tiffany jewellery I haven't worn for AGES to put on eBay this weekend.

Oh God, please make this cycle work!!!

Haven't we all heard this...

Zita West Pre & Post Transfer Acupuncture Chart

These pictures were taken of the Zita West IVF CD to help with visualisation

Hope they help x

Egg Transfer - 1 blastocyst or 2

For the last few days me and Dan have been debating whether we put 1 blast in, or 2??! *SCREAM*

1 BLASTOCYST TRANSFERRED
Positives
Single pregnancy
Leaves 3 blastocysts, if we want to try again

Negatives
Increase chance of it not working
If it doesn't, we have to find another £1050 to do another FET cycle

2 BLASTOCYST TRANSFERRED
Positive
More likely to get pregnant

Negative
We lose 2 blasts in one go, if unsuccessful
If successful, we have 3 children under 3
Possible chance of triplets (one blast splitting - happened to an IVF friend)
Twins could mean increase chances of complications

Really not sure what to do.. I guess the logical thing to do is go for SET (single embryo transfer)?!

*SCREAM* Consultants appointment is nearing, I need a decision soon :-/

ICSI babies more likely to have birth defeats - Daily Mail article

Dan sent me this article this morning.

It's the Daily Mail, so let's not take it as gospel!!

Thought I'd share it

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-187163/IVF-injection-doubles-birth-defects.html

Trying for a sibling. The FET way!

Nearly 2 years since getting that amazing BFP and here I am awaiting our consultants appointment back with Nurture. Decided to go for the same Consultant Hopkinsson although its been a 3 month wait.

"Why am I doing this again. You've already got a child!" I guess the words; greedy, ungrateful, don't deserve success again - all spring to your mind. They certainly have done to me...

The last 15months with Lucky have been amazing, and he truly is our world, but how can we have him as an only child? The lack of cousins and relatives close by, the responsibility and somewhat burden he will bare alone as we age and get old, coming home to just his old parents after school, excitedly opening his christmas presents but only having to play with them alone, going on holiday without that sibling to play with.... Me and Dan are obviously always there for him, but both of us growing up with siblings makes us realise how important we feel they are to a family unit.

I suppose if we didnt have the 4 frozen embryos we wouldn't feel such as urge to do this again? But we do, so here we are.. once again, trying to extend our perfect little family.

Please don't hate me for this, I feel an overwhelming amount of guilt in the 'IVF World' already, so decided to keep this cycle secret... just me, my thoughts and the blog!

Start of the Journey ♥ Sniffing Synarel

Wow, we are actually starting this journey. We are so happy and ready to start treatment.


I have opted to sniff twice a day for DR 9am and 9pm - it works better with my shifts at work.. i think!!

Been prescribed:
Synarel (Nafarelin Acetate) Nasal Spray 60 Doses

Thought I'd go through my side-effects and feeling;

Day 1
Oh God, I hated the first day of sniffing. At first I thought 'this is just like the nasal sprays i had for hayfever' not to bad... Then as soon as I brought my head forward - YUK YUK YUK the most awful bitter taste I've ever had. After each sniff I chucked any food I had down my gob as quickly as possible anything to take the taste away. After the 9pm sniff i Twitter'd how I was feeling and thankfully I was given the suggestion of lollipop

Day 2
Before getting to work I popped to the local sweet shop and brought a lollipop, a little skeptical that it would work.. but anything is worth a true, right?! Did the sniff and keep my head tilted back for about 30secs (longer than yesterday), and then straight with the lollipop = RESULT!!! Wooo Hooo..... Thinking this sniffing is going to be somewhat bearable now, yesterday I didn't think I would get past 1 week with this.
SIDE EFFECT
Already??! Seems that way... I have been majorly tired today... straight after the morning sniff - felt like I had been shoot with a tranquilizer! Thankfully I came home early and have been in and out of sleep since

DAY 3-4
Getting used to the synarel now, no need for the anymore! Awaiting for A/F to arrive .. shes due to make an appearance tomorrow - hope she comes on time so I can get my date for my baseline scan, dying to know whats happening in my tummy!! 1 more day at work then I can recharge my old batteries.
SIDE EFFECT
Dry skin, huge sore (.Y.) they are looking great and full though - so no major complaints and still really tired

DAY 5-6
Enjoyed a lovely day in London playing with my gorgeous niece; my little Ty Ty, taking and picking up my sister Nats from school, also fit in lunch with my mum and sister, seeing my Nan and most importantly - retail therapy. I guess I didn't think about my train times very well... Had to sniff on the train AND on the train station platform. Tried to do it as discretely as possible! Hoping no-one thought I over in the corner as a druggie - sniffing then tilting my head back must have looked a little strange - to say the least !! AF was due, had loads cramps, but she hasn't arrived yet. Just want to find out when my baseline scan will be Hope she comes today!!
SIDE EFFECT
Nothing, nada, nowt

DAY 7
Spent the day on the sofa watching all my recorded programmes on sky+, reading magazines and chilling out - perfect!! Can't find an acupuncturist in Nottingham, so help with relaxing i ordered a fertility yoga DVD and an IVF relaxation hypnotherapy CD which I'll download onto my iPhone to listen to it. Will do a review blog when I've received them. Signed up for Race for Life, really wanted to go for a 10k but if I'm pregnant don't think doing 10k will be a good idea.. so opted for the 5k race that way I can either walk it (if i get my BFP) or I'll try and better my time and run it (*whisper* if i get a BFN).
SIDE EFFECTS
A week of DR today... its going well, side effects are pretty minimal - so I don't think I'll to bad for my DH when I'm menopausal

DAY 10
Back to work now... I was fine during my rest days but I've been back for two days and I am absolutely exhausted!! I must admit I have done NOTHING productive at work this weekend.. I keep saying to myself its because its the weekend, and I'll get loads of jobs done come Monday.. well we shall see!! Me and DH have done our 1st all organic food shop and had a treat each, i got a Banoffee cheesecake - not organic but God it was calling me to take it off the fridge (if you have a Sainsburys' close by... its a must!!) soooo lush, only downer is that I've eaten my weekly treat on the 1st night... oh well, I eat it as slow as possible to make it last . Oh yea, still no bloody AF! Was out on patrol for work and picked up a HPT, went back to the station to do the business... but BFN. Was i surprised?? Not really, none of the usual symptoms that I usually get when I'm pregnant was there so God knows where AF has disappeared to! Going to give the clinic a call in the morning and see what they say ... what's plan B if you can't get past first base of IVF... More so annoyed with myself, that maybe this cycle just isn't meant to be... maybe IVF isn't meant to be... oh gosh, I'm getting tearful haven't felt upset about the IVF process for weeks. Really hope my clinic have solution for me. One more morning shift, then I'm on evenings and nights... can't wait for the lie-ins, I'm struggling getting up so early in the morning...
SIDE EFFECTS
Don't know if this is really to do with the synarel, but my boobs are about to burst! They are huge, firm, sore, tender with nipples like bullets - ouch!!!

DAY 12
Great news AF arrived yesterday About time too, having me waiting!! It does explain the tears on day 10 though... At this point I am exhausted! My anaemia is low, I'm on my period so it will decrease again.. I've got 101 things on at work, but not getting around to any of them In the canteen at work I just had to curl up on the sofa and rest for my lunch break Back on the iron tablets!

Woke up with tummy cramps, so brought the duvet down to watch some GMTV, catch up with my Sky+ programmes, have brekkie and snuggle up with a hot water bottle... Low on behold I feel this scalding hot water run everywhere.. urgh... the water bottle burst.. great !! Now I've got a burnt leg, soaking wet sofa and duvet. So i result to the floor and then realise I don't know how to work the new TV... you'd think it would be relatively easy.. either the remote or manually on the ON switch is usually a good start.. well it doesn't want to play . DH's cleaning OCD has annoyed me this morning... can't find anything... normal people don't live in a show home... i can't any of my stuff.. then realise he has stuffed all my paperwork and mags in a holdall on top of the waredrobe... i've lost it Great start to the day or what!! Think I'll go back to bed for a couple of hours and start the day again - hopefully it will get better!?!
SIDE EFFECTS
Emotional wreck... more so down to AF I guess. Boobs are getting back to normal though, slowly but surely. A lot less painful today

Our Fertility History ♥

Thought I'd keep a diary of our 1st (..and hopefully last!) IVF journey

I'm Boo TTC since September 2006, we started whilst we was on holiday in Dominica Republic , thought it would happen the 1st month.. get the OV pain - have sex - legs in the air - BFP, right????? Didn't happen that month, that year or the year after... tons of OPKs, CBFM, Pre-seed later and we are about to start IVF

Read on for our history x

2006 - 2007

As I had previously had 2 miscarriages and had an ectopic pregnancy before we started TTC, I wanted to get tested to see if everything was okay, couldn't face the thought of another miscarriage We were referred to the Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic. DH and I took a load of bloods and the results came back that I had Protein C Deficiency which would have caused the previous miscarriages :( I was full of mixed emotions;

• happy that there was a reason,


• upset that i 'caused' the miscarriages,


• annoyed that I didn't know sooner,


• excited that the chances of another miscarriage will be decreased..

MAY 2008

As a year had passed with no BFP to celebrate, we went back to the GP to get referred to the fertility clinic. Went to the clinic and was told I would need a HSG and dye procedure and an ovulation blood test. DH did his business... Had an appointment in 3months time to get the results...

JULY 2008

We back to clinic to be told;

Ovulation - Excellent :)

Semen Analysis - Excellent :)

HSG - showed possible tubal damage :(

... i cried and cried... why was I broken, why couldn't I give my DH a baby!! Was given the option of either go for IVF or have a Lap and Dye to look further into the blockage. My head was all over the place, but DH decided that we should go with the operation... IVF was the last result wasn't it???

SEPTEMBER 2008

We came into the hospital day surgery for the Lap & Dye operation. Thankfully I was the first one in, so we wasn't having to wait around for ages or anything! After coming around from the operation the Consultant came to tell us that the left tube was blocked at the top (due to the previous ectopic pregnancy) and the right tube was clear!! We was given the option of either being referred for the IVF or to see if tuboplasty would work and continue TTC naturally for a year... IVF was the last result wasn't it???

JANUARY 2009

Back to the operating bed for a HSG with tuboplasty procedure. They were able to clear the blocked tube but felt IVF would be the best option

FEBRUARY 2009

We had decided that we need the last option - IVF was needed!!

SEPTEMBER 2009

We moved cities, so we came under a different PCTs so had to go through the bloods again (urgh, waste of time or what!!), but things thankfully moved quickly and we was eligible for 1 NHS cycle of IVF

FEBRUARY 2010



This month consisted of scans, sniffing, injections, mood swings - you name it! It's AKA as IVF.




MARCH 2010




A long awaited BFP!! Scary and nervous weeks ahead due to bleeding. But through prayer our Lucky hanged on in there...





NOVEMBER 2010




Delivered a healthy beautiful baby boy. He's amazing... We are so truly blessed. In LOVE

.... The story of the IVF continues - pray that this works