IVF Treatment Archives - Page 4 of 4

Tonight heralds the night where I will inject the final needle that will trigger ovulation. I got the call from my nurse and was instructed to use Ovidrel at 9.30pm (EST) tonight. Of course, this means I will be checking in at “Hotel M” (my affectionate term for the world famous IVF clinic) at 10.30am Friday for my egg collection at 11am.

Hubby will also need to produce some sperm when we check in at the “Hotel.” It’s funny but I never really thought about how he produced his sample but I now have it on good advice that the cubicle where he is to “produce” is well equipped with visual stimuli including videos and magazines. I assume the content is soft porn. Who knows – it remains unspoken as I am sure my husband will not want to divulge this information.

In any case, after an intense couple of days of multiple needles, I find myself strangely looking forward to this last jab. On a personal note, I am feeling fine and not overly bloated which is good. I recall that our objective was to have less eggs of better quality (not 22 of poor quality like last time).

I find myself wondering how many eggs they will retrieve, will they fertilise and will they survive to a day 5 blastocyst. But most importantly I wonder if all these conditions are met – will the little embryo finally implant. This is place where IVF has failed in my last 6 attempts. At yes, time to keep playing the waiting game.

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.

Triggering Ovulation

IVF Antagonist Cycle