ET Day - Attempt 2

This really is it! Arrived in plenty of time for my appointment and a full bladder, and was taken straight down to the ward. Back in the same bay as my third Egg Collection, changed into the attractive gown and waited, fighting the urge to run to the toilet ;)

A nurse called me for a quick scan, just to check my bladder was full. The reason they want a full bladder is because it presses down on the uterus and flattens it, making the direction much easier for inserting the tube.

Soon after we were visited by the chief embryologist, the same guy we saw yesterday. He said that waiting was definitely the right thing to do, because 3 embryos have stopped developing. My heart sank, rapidly. I wasn't prepared for that news.

So ... this is our only shot. The remaining two will be transferred, and all our hopes are pinned on them. As our chances are quite low, the risk of twins is extremely low, so using two is not an issue and will give us the best chances. The two being transferred are both frozen ones from our first cycle.

Having had the dummy transfer already, everything was as I expected, just a little slower as they were dealing with the embryos this time, so were extremely careful. We got to watch on the screen as the tube entered my uterus. Although the embryos are too small to see, they put an air bubble in the tube behind them so they can see where they are.

In the attached scan you can see the air bubbles.

And then it was all over, I got a bit emotional, and was wheeled back to the ward and told to lay down for a further 20 mins. I then made a dash to the toilet once the 20 minutes were up and had a cup of tea before getting ready to take 'Squirt' and 'Squidge' home.

One of the embryologist showed us the sticks that the embryos were frozen on. they are literally placed on the end of the green sticks in this picture:

Now I enter the dreaded 2ww (Two week wait) I need to do a home pregnancy test on Sunday October 14th and go to the clinic for a blood test Monday 15th if it is positive. This will test the hCG levels (Human chorionic gonadotropin).

Apart from a blood test (8 days after Egg Collection) on Tuesday, there's nothing left for me to do apart from take drugs and wait!

ET DAY!

I'll keep this post short as it was a very non-eventful day in the end. We got to the clinic at 10:15, and we were basically sent home again.

They feel that tomorrow they will have a better idea of which embryo(s) to transfer. They'd like to see them develop a little further to be able to make a better decision.

Reading between the lines I think the embryos have not developed as hoped. Trying not to worry .....

Back tomorrow at 10:30

Friday 28th - Big news

I phoned and spoke to a nurse today, I seem to be reacting badly to the Crinone Gel. I've probably put up with the discomfort longer than I should have done. Looks like it's a side effect rather than something that is expected. The clinic faxed a prescription of an alternative Progesterone drug (Cyclogest) to my local pharmacy which I picked up to start using this evening. I hope the soreness wears off quickly. Very unpleasant!!

As we drove away from the pharmacy we then got the all important phonecall....

We have FIVE Embryos from our 13 which do not have Treacher Collins Syndrome. Hmmm so much for 50-50 odds, but hey, what a result! I was so scared the call would tell us they all had it. There were tears of joy, but got myself under control very quickly after Hubby reminded me there's still a heck of a hill to climb yet!

We have a chance!! ET tomorrow 10:30

Biopsy Day

We got a call yesterday to say we had 4 top quality and 3 good quality!

Today we had some good news, given that we are against the odds because we can lose embryos at each stage, we had our 7 'frosties' thawed, and only 1 has not survived. So add this to our 7 fresh ones, we have 13 to be biopsied.

I was so pleased when they told me that they were able to biopsy all 13 embryos, and all had survived. So tomorrow is the big day for PGD testing. Should hear Saturday, there's a small chance we might hear late in the day Friday.

Tomorrow is going to be tough!!!

Hubby knew I was feeling a bit 'lost' yesterday. Its a weird feeling, waiting for phonecalls with such important news and knowing the fate of your little embryos are in the hands of others. He arrived home with a lovely bunch of roses. :)

Cycle 3 - Fertilisation results

Of my 12 eggs:

1 wasn't fully developed
1 didn't not survive the ICSI injection
7 fertilised !!
3 have not fertilised

We will get a call tomorrow to tell us the quality, the biopsies will be done on Thursday along with our frozen ones (depending how how survive thawing, there will be up to 7 of those)

The PGD test will be done Friday, we are likely to find out the results on Saturday.

I'm so pleased we have a good number this cycle, as it helps our odds, and also as there is a risk that 3 day old embryos will not survive thawing (15%) it's better to have out larger number in this last fresh cycle.

Today I started the tablets (Progynova) and Clexane injections. Oh well at least my poor tummy had a break for 2 days !!

Egg Collection 24th Sept

I'm gobsmacked! They collected 12 eggs! Turned out there were 12 follicles, and all of them contained an egg. This good number has to improve our odds, so I'm really pleased. Of course we now need to see how many fertilise. Last time it was 50%. Hoping better this time. But at least of it is 50%, then we'll still have the 10 we need.

This Egg collection was fine, like the second one. Went to theatre a little early. Was back in ward about 30 mins later, and walking out just over an hour after that after a much welcomed cuppa and custard creme biscuits !!

Another drug regime now starts ....

• Crinone Gel (progesterone) morning and night (vaginally - lovely!)
• Progynova (oestrogen) tablet three times a day,
• 75mg Asprin in the evening
• Clexane (blood thinning) injection in the evening.

Waiting for that all important phonecall ...

Cycle 3 - Last scan

We went for our scan and blood test yesterday, and have gained a follicle. We now have 10! I think the sizes are getting close to what they need to do Egg Collection, so they called us in for another scan today. They weren't quite big enough so they've asked us to go in again tomorrow!

I think they then felt sorry for me, and phoned me later saying don't worry about a scan tomorrow, Egg Collection will be Monday regardless. Do Trigger shot 9 PM tomorrow (Saturday) then come in at 9am Monday 24th for Egg Collection.

Pleased with that :)

Sick!

Felt very nauseous again this morning, and was actually sick twice :-(. Felt fine for the rest of the day though. I am on a different drug this time, but would not have thought it would be that different. No such side effects in previous cycles.

Better news

Scan today showed 9 follicles. Seems the 'Dinky' ones caught up. The doc remembered the word! :-) Very pleased about this. We really need as many as possible. Looking back at last cycle we had 8 collected, only 4 fertilised.

I laid out my drugs ready to do. This lot is just for ONE evening!!

Cycle 3 - First Scan

First scan today since baseline scan. I felt extremely nauseous this morning, about 15 minutes before we were due to leave. Luckily it eased off else I'd not have been able to leave on time!

Scan showed 5 follicles. 3 on left, 2 on right. I was disappointed, really hoped for more, especially as often the number of eggs retrieved is lower then the follicle count. We need as many as possible!!

Hubby taught the doctor a new word ... "Dinky"! She thought it was great and hadn't heard of it before :)

Still, think positive, early days yet!

Cycle 3 begins

As I predicted, AF arrived yesterday so I had my baseline scan today. All is ok, and I start the drugs tonight. Protocol slightly different this time. Merional instead of Menopur, and instead of 225 & 225 split, I'll be taking 300 Merional and 150 Gonal F

Cetrotide will start later, at least after Cycle Day 7 and Zomacton growth hormone starts tonight and then alternate days.

The Strange thing about Merional is it comes as a powder vial and solution (just like menopur) but rather than mix up a batch and use it over 2-3 days, I need to mix 4 just to get enough to make up my 300 because it comes in such small quantities.

And we're off ...!