The IVF Club

A Personal Blog About IVF Treatment & Infertility

Archives for December 2010

IVF Pregnancy Test Results

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Decision day was last Wednesday. I sat by the phone anxiously awaiting my blood test results after now 15 rounds of IVF. The call didn’t come until late in the afternoon. You can always tell by the tone of the nurse whether you have been successful or not. In this instance I again was unsuccessful.  I was expecting this more because that is the standard response however I was still hopeful I would get a different result this time.  Anyway my nurse told me that I needed to continue to take the steriod dexamethasome for the next 7 days but just one tablet a day instead of two so I could wean myself off the steriods. Not sure what would happen if I stopped them suddenly though.

Aunt Flo did not surface until the weekend so it was a very long cycle for me. Around 33 – 34 days in total.  I got hit with cramps late Saturday afternoon while I was vacuuming the rug. I didn’t feel too flash the next day either.  So now as the year draws to close I am left with no eggs, no baby, no job and am faced with the prospect of yet another round of IVF.

The job bit I can deal with as this was my choice but I had hoped there would be something nice to celebrate in the new year. On a positive note, my two cats will be happy that they will be in peace and won’t need to deal with the noise of a baby.

This blog also got nominated as blog of the year by another website for Ultrasound technicians. I guess it is nice to be infamous for something. Hopefully my story although not positive yet will help others as they go through their journey of IVF. I suppose if one has had a few failures with IVF, it can be comforting to be reminded that other people are worse off. Maybe I serve as a reminder to others that things aren’t quite as bad for them as they are for me. Although I am sure that there are many people who have tried longer and more often that I.

I really did not want to go down the path of doing IVF again. I have had quite a lot of attempts. In addition, the amount of drugs I am taking has steadily increased and the number of injections I will need to have next time will be horrendous. Call me a whinge but the prospect of having 4 needles a day plus all the other drugs is not very appealing to me.

My plan at the moment is to take some time off, enjoy Christmas and start getting outside, going for walks and enjoying the sunshine.  I have an appointment with my Fertility Specialist set up for the 15th December but I can guarantee I can’t see myself doing anything more in regards to IVF this year.

Waiting Zone

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This round of IVF seems to be taking ages. The Intralipid treatment went well. I was in hospital with another lady who was also having the treatment. Although she finished her treatment before I did, I was happier this time as my veins actually seemed to take the infusion better than last time.

The embryo transfer also went well. I had a female doctor do the transfer this time. Of the 3 remaining embryos I had, one didn’t survive and other two did although both were at various stages of development. I had the two Day 3 embryos put in though. One of them had started compacting which is a good sign but as I know from experience there is a high attrition rate after Day 3. The other embryo was very slow to develop and was only a 5 cell embryo. Ideally it would have been better for this to be at 6 cells or better. Still you never know, sometimes the cells develop better than expect. Unfortunately, there is still a lot unknown about embryo development and their chances of getting to the next level.

So at the moment I am in the waiting zone. Seems to be taking ages but it has been an eventful month in other regards. For one I have resigned from my job so I finish up in a few weeks time. I have not been happy where I am for a long time. I don’t like being micro-managed and it seems the more layers added to the hierarchy since I have been there, the more micro managed I have been.

Since I resigned, work has been pretty relaxed as my projects have been handed over to other people. The only downside has been the travel to Tasmania for the commercial run of a new product I am launching. I just got back from Tasmania yesterday afternoon.

Travelling when doing IVF can be a pain since I had to take a little esky bag and ice block to keep the pessaries at the right temperature and I also had to pack the injections into my luggage. My needle disposal unit was so full, I decided against taking it with me so I had a few used needles in the box along with my injections but they were well secured.

My stomach is really bruised from all the injections but I seem to be getting better at injecting and I seem to be getting smaller bruises. I think the art is all in how you pinch the skin and also the speed at which you inject. I now also put bandaids on my stomach after I inject as I have noticed that I sometimes wake up with blood on my bedsheets from the injections. Anyway the process seems to be getting a little easier although I am not sure I can continue the treatment I am doing and do a full on stimulated cycle – if I did it would mean 4 injections a day and judging by the size of the bruises I would run out of room on my belly. Anyway – time to fly. Still in the waiting zone and I am getting impatient. Secretly I feel that I will have the same outcome as before. Til my blood test outcome.