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!

Round Two!

It has been a while since my last update, not down to lack of activity! I have just completed another IVF cycle. I don't want this blog to be cumbersome for anyone to read from the beginning, so I don't plan to repeat things I've already experienced and blogged before.

I had my egg collection yesterday. The main difference with my protocol on this cycle was taking the growth hormone from the start. I was also switched to a higher dose of Menopur and lower dose of Gonal F a couple of days earlier. My trigger drug was Pregnyl last time, but Ovitrelle this time. I preferred it because it was in a prefilled pen!

There was a slight concern again that the follicles were small. Perhaps mine just like to put on a spurt at the end! My last scan on Sunday showed 5 follicles on LHS (one was too small) and 2 very small follicles, maybe 3 on RHS.

Egg Collection was a breeze this time. I felt completely fine. I'm a little bloated/swollen, but no pain at all. We got 8 eggs collected, which was a wonderful surprise. I was hoping for more embryos this time. 4 have fertilised (last cycle was 3). We'll find out the quality tomorrow and they will be frozen Friday. Fingers crossed for 100% survival rate !

Until tomorrow ...

Onwards and upwards

Our three embryos are frozen. There's no more to do now except wait until I can do another cycle.

I'm feeling much better today. Period-like pains gone, and stomach muscles have eased up. I tried to put my suit on for a job interview and there was no way I could do the trousers up!! I have been monitoring my weight. It has come back down again:

Snow Babies

A call at lunchtime today told us that our three embryos have been frozen.

All three survived, and are now 8 cells. They also said they were all top quality! Given the highest grading :) This means they have the best chance of surviving and resulting in a pregnancy.

So, we have a low number of embryos, but hey quality not quantity!!

Three embryos going strong!

News today from the clinic is that all three embryos have survived so far and are developing. They are currently 4 cells each. Hoping they develop to 7-8 cells tomorrow and can be frozen.

Three Embryos!

I'm uncomfortable, I feel like I have period pains, along with the after effects of a stomach bug/food poisoning. You know that feeling when your stomach muscles ache because you have been throwing up so much ?!

Other than that I'm fine. No bleeding, and have taken no painkillers since leaving the clinic.

I had a call today from one of the embryologists. Three of the four eggs have fertilised! He said this was a good rate. I'm slight disappointed about the one that didn't, but so pleased to get three. I'm not sure what the chances of them surviving to Thursday when they freeze.

I also spoke to my PGD nurse, Karen Fordham this evening. It's so nice talking to her about doing this, as opposed to the years of conversations about why we still don't have funding !

I said I realised the number of embryos was low, and she said it wasn't a surprise and it was the reason for doing the IVF now, rather than waiting for the PGD workup to be complete. . She agreed we needed more and also agreed I can do another cycle straight away. I need to have a period first, and then can start again on the one after that (March).

Hubby asked me if I really want to go through it all again. I don't see not doing another cycle as an option! If I don't, it kinda puts to waste what I've done so far. I have heard the odds for PGD are 1 in 10. Meaning we need 10 embryos to get one, good quality, free from TCS embryo. (and this doesn't take freezing/thawing into account).

I will do it again, who knows, might get more embies next time!