July 2009 - Page 2 of 2

I am now commencing IVF cycle #7. This should be interesting. My Doctor has changed the treatment protocol and I will now be having an antagonist cycle???

An antagonist cycle essentially means that at a certain point of the cycle I will need to inject twice daily – the first injection being a follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and the second being a injection that apparently stops you from ovulating. For those familiar with IVF, the second injection is a substitute for the nasal spray.

The antagonist cycle is more intense but the benefit of this cycle is that it is quicker than a normal IVF cycle. I have been told that generally the aim is for less eggs but more quality. Given I produce a lot of eggs, this should be interesting.

In any case, I had an appointment at the IVF clinic to test my hormone levels and also how many follicles I had. My expectations weren’t that high given it is only Day 6 of my cycle and I have been injecting FSH for the last 3 days (although tonight’s dose makes it 4).

Fortunately I don’t have to have the second injection just yet as the follicles are too small and immature. However, during my ultrasound visit I learnt that I had 18 follicles in one ovary and 9 in the other. Amazing! I only counted 5 of the 18 and expected a lot less at this early stage.

I am now hoping that they don’t all mature because there will be hell to pay as I get nearer to egg collection. That many eggs = bloating and sore tummy. My highest number of eggs collected was 22 so with a bit of luck there won’t be any more than that.

So my next visit to the clinic will be in two days time. Lucky me – I get to get up early on Saturday morning for an 8am appointment.

One of the most annoying aspects of IVF is organising your social life around the daily process of needles and injections.

This brings me to the events of last night which were just plain weird. For a start, I was in a library. Now this is not a place I would normally frequent. However, I happened to be at the library because I was attending an Internet marketing meeting on blogging! Yep – and this blog is the result.

In any case, I came to the library prepared with mini esky (ice box), ice pack, antiseptic swabs and syringe in tow. My plan was to escape my meeting at 8pm so I could duck off to the toilet and treat myself to another dose of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH). Just want everyone wants to do. Not!

What was weird about the whole episode was that I felt like some druggie escaping off to get my next fix – especially since I have never been a user of illegal substances.

The location of the library certainly added to my overall feeling. For a start, the library was located in Fitzroy which is an inner city suburb of Melbourne. Fitzroy is quite eclectic and fashionable but I would also say it would probably have a higher than average proportion of druggies in the area. So it would be fair to say that this contributed to the overall weirdness of what I was doing.

It also felt strange injecting in such a public place away from the privacy of home. Fortunately, by the time I went to the toilet the library was closed to the public but I think that just added to the weirdness of my act.

In the back of my mind was the thought of being caught out in the random act of giving myself an injection. How would I handle it? What would I say? How would the person react? Would they think I was a user? I don’t think I had a readily available answer.

And fortunately, my act was done undetected with no unwelcome intruders. Phew!!!

Archives for July 2009