De Journey: IVF #1 Timeline

Reposted from an old blog : Dated March 2014

Profile:

Why IVF-ICSI?

Me: Born in 1981 , so am 33yrs

BForeva : Born in 1977, so 37yrs

TTC : Actively 1yr ++

IVF first time, neva preggy, neva had a false alarm too. Yes, I was a Virgin. :P

Recommended for ivf due to : teratozoospermia, irregular morphology but excellent swimmers and excellent amount, plus we just cant wait to do the next best thing, and i need to channel depleting energy to sumwher... hah.

Kinda decided on how to TimeLine my ivf progress. oh and there are a lot of blogs on it. but well, not all have similiar symtoms as you. When i read the blogs, i tend to look for similarity coz i sumhow do not want to read too much abt others coz the blogs may either heighten your anxiety = stress and hmm.. hope = expectations = stress. hah. so far no, im not stressed, a lil' worried but coping well. (maybe coz i got lots of other stuff to do but hev not done yet.. im a part-time student cum clean-house freak cum social butterfly cum familygathering organisers cum inspired wedding planner) heh.

The IVF procedure generally starts from first day of the menses that came a month before your IVFmonth, so i called the clinic to tell them and booked a date to sign the papers...

3rd to 8th Feb : Last menstrual period.

9th onwards.. Advised to hev protected intercourse, which well.. Withdrawal mtd as usual coz rubber seems , nay.

20 to 24th Feb : taken the tiny pill called No-E, apparently will make baby hairy if I get preggy after taking it. Ok, unnecessary info. And its function is to make your menses come earlier. (the next mth's one)

27th Feb : scanning, 7&8 follicles. Blood test for HIV. Its the initial scan and test before the first jab. Acupuncture session 1.

Was taught how to jab myself too..with Gonal-F to stimulate growth of follicles. Between 7-9pm.

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Starting DAY 1 of IVF Timeline with NUH, Prof PC Wong.

DAY 1 > 1st Mar : Gonal-F 150

DAY 2 > 2nd Mar : Gonal-F 150

DAY 3 > 3rd Mar : Gonal-F 150 Acupuncture session 2.

DAY 4 > 4th Mar : Gonal-F 150 Acupuncture session 3. Hubby freezed his frens~

DAY 5 > 5th Mar : scanning, R:9 L:4 & blood test E2:594pmol/L. Gonal-F increased to 225.Acupuncture session 4.

** A peculiarity for me, my menses did not come. So nurse did a preggy test, negative. heh.

DAY 6 > 6th Mar : Gonal-F 225. Acupuncture session 5.

DAY 7 > 7th Mar : Gonal-F 225, Centrotide (before noon jab), function slow down ovulation. Acupuncture session 6.

Nurse told me that there will be a red patch ard this centrotide jab.. and i straightaway thought of one of the blogs, saying how itchy it was for one of the jabs and had shared a tip to rub ice ard the jab area. I did it, and yes it worked. It was a lil itchy and am so glad that i read the blog. Oh and my bloody sister aka menses finally came, full blast. heh.

DAY 8 > 8th Mar : Gonal-F 225, Centrotide. Scanning, R:6 (13,13,13...) L:5 (13,12,8,9...) &blood test E2:1067pmol/L. menses day 2 - yes, they still scan u while u menstruating!

Now, yesterday was a lil bit of a scare. had to go back to clinic twice to take the 3rd jab coz apparently my E2 level - Estradiol, this is something in your blood that can tell the quality of eggs, so mine was not up to expectations. quite low so the 3rd jab Pergoveris - to enhance this E2 level. Nurse warned me its gonna be quite painful. it was, tolerable but you can like feel the liquid sipped into ur tummy :s nuting much one can do, to ease i just iced the area before and after jab. the slight pain is during the jab itself so... just think that its all gonna be worth it!

DAY 9 > 9th Mar : Gonal-F 150, Centrotide & Pergoveris.

DAY 10 > 10th Mar : Gonal-F 150, Centrotide & Pergoveris.

Scanning, R:10 (19,18,17...) L:6 (17,16, 13,...) &blood test E2:5000+pmol/L.

DAY 11 > 11th Mar : Gonal-F 150, Centrotide & Pergoveris.

Scanning, no blood test. Basically Prof said its all looking goooooood & we are taking it out Day 13, Thursday. Nurse advised on procedures - quite "mah-fan", "leceh"... anyway its all good and yup im ready :)

DAY 12 > 12th Mar : No jabs! except for the midnight jab the 36hours before Egg Retrieval. (I was 30 mins late, really hope it wont affect anything) Time to chill.. well now im doin my assignment to "fill" my time .. and guess wat! i picked up outfit for tomorrow. hah.

Day 13 > 13th Mar : Nuting much.

DAY 14 > 14th Mar : Citrone for progesterone production. No cramps, deftly bloated like I can't do tummy tuck for great pictures... So I'm wearing black n jeans jacket today. Can't seem to cover my huuuuuugggeee bum :( my BForeva says it's ok it's for the right reason. Heh. The embryologist called quite early. And out of the 11 eggs retrieved, they fertilized 7. So I got a lucky 7 in the lab playing with my other half. Heh.

DAY 15 > 15th Mar : Antibiotics/UtroGestan/Oestradiol/Citrone functions to enhance progesterone production.

Embryologist called to say at this Day2, I have 4 good eggs, 2ok-ok, 1 below satisfactory. I didn't probe if it's gooooooood, verrryyyy good, average good or whatsoever ... I just didn't feel like I want to know. Heh. My ex colleague did tell me that her #3ivf only retrieve 3eggs, put in 2 and finally, a success with her adorable daughter. #1&#2 ivf were more better quality eggs etc etc.. But not successful.

Frankly, I'm a lil' sad. But more to worry. But still quite ok as in my mood is ok... Well.. I think I rate my mood by my appetite. It's good! Had a heavy heavy breakfast and is very happy with the meal. Pple do say that when one is stressed, one will eat. I am not sure if I'm that type coz I generally and always luv to eat anything savory. Heh.

Now, let me share a lil' info on my transfer which will be Day4 eggs. (I was hoping for Day 5 coz many many many forums say it's a blast-eggs=very good eggs n high implantation success) I can't do a Day3 transfer coz... The clinic close. Heh. So yes, I need to follow their schedule. Heh. N I began asking myself.. So was that suppose to b my problem like u know like they are dismissing my chances coz it's their day off?! Then, it struck me... If it's meant to be, it's meant to be yes?! Anyhow, although I Neva ask the quality of the eggs... I still turn to my secret stress-reliever&enhancer, Dr Google and was quite relieved to have read this... from

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a22106503/day_four_transfer

My RE does a 4 day transfer because:

Day 4 embryos that are showing signs of advanced development have a better selection value compared with those on Day 3. Not only have these embryos activated their genes, but they also indicate that the embryo has reached a more advanced stage. Further IVF research demonstrates that Day 4 embryos are the most stable embryo stage for freezing, thawing and transfer. Another major advantage to transferring an embryo on Day 4 is eliminating the need to transfer more embryos to achieve adequate pregnancy rates due to improved embryo grading and selection. This nearly eliminates the chances of pregnancies with triplets or greater, the biggest risk to a continued healthy pregnancy.

I have no clue about this but I do have a co-worker that went through 3 successful IVf pregnancies, with my same Dr... so to me, that says something. I just hope it works.

Hope that helps a little!

DAY 16 > 16th Mar : not much, it's Day3 of the eggs n the clinic is closed.

DAY 17 > 17th Mar : Feeling light hearted, I went for the transfer. Nearly peed at the Prof coz I reaaaallly couldn't hold.. Drank abt 750ml-1l of h2o instead of recommended 500ml. Heh. Anyhow burst out laughing with the nurse in the middle of the transfer... It was a good funny day. I decided to do acupuncture before and after, although Prof has told the nurses & even the acupuncture clinic lady .. That it is no longer needed. Apparently, the acupuncture is relaxing the muscles, so it's like sending the wrong signal to ur body instead of asking them to work... But, I had my own gut feeling.. So I just wanted to go..

My 2 embbies in Me!

DAY 18 > 18th Mar : 1DPT : at home, watching all the funny movies like recommended.

DAY 19 > 19th Mar : 2DPT : embryologist called to say my eggs stopped growing yesterday so I have no FET - Frozen Egg Transfer in future ... I developed rashes!! On my hands. Heh. N 3sharp pains at right lower back above hip.

DAY 20 > 20th Mar : 3DPT : went for a check of post transfer. Was upset with Prof coz I expected more. He touched my tummy like 3x n I meant just touch!! Told him by rashes, he said could be delayed allergic symtoms from the progesterone meds. Gave me anti histamine... N the sharp pains means nutting prolly.. I was really, well upset. So I spent time with my #cempedak ...

DAY 21 > 21st Mar : 4DPT : I've been just trying to monitor my breast development .. It seems great. Swell sensitive... And my rashes flared, after kook krunch cereals and half a choc cupcake. Heh. So I stayed away from choc.

Practically since DAY 22 - DAY 27, today... My breast stopped swelling. I broke down on that day wen I felt Nuting. It affected my BForeva, it was not a nice day. Well, I got back to stability ( I think, I had to) just trying hard not to think much of it all..

Applied for the Shichida job, got an interview.. But I cancelled on it coz.. Well.. I wanna do things on my term. Heh. Yes, I deserve that. Has been watching so many movies, I liked it.. N my assignments r done. Did hev prolly baby dreams, prolly not.. But had a dream of jabbing myself with a huge needle on my tummy.. Giving birth to a squarish baby thing but it was a funny dream.. And the last two nites, woke up in the middle of the sleep (3-4.30am), thought it was a sign that HE wants me to pray. I did. I do hev blasphemous thoughts abt it all.. I actually threatened to go anti-him, yes I did. But I did beg. I do extra prayers for his blessings. I'm just going a lil' crazy.

Tomorrow is the big test. But we hev decided to do a home test tonite so that I won't be that anxious, and be .. I dunno prepared for the worst. Life has to go on. And it will go on. I really hope the two eggies r ther. If HE permits.

De Day: It has been quite a wait. Today, apparently it's the 4th week. Time to check on my fate. Totally not having the best days of my life as I was on a lurch of positivity & negativity almost all the time. It's quite hard. I can't be too positive coz I'll b hopeful n negative coz well, it adds stress. Now however, for most part of it especially since De day wen my boob just stops swelling, I sum how knew. Or did I?

#ivf #icsi #ivfsg #ivftimeline