Profile

Lifeslurper resides in a big brown land called Auuustralia. Her early years remain a mystery cloaked in a veil of depression.

Age 42 Lifeslurper meets the vague but gorgeous Wobbles. “What took him so long to arrive?” She asks.

They make their way together in the world just fine, but are not fine to make a baby – not without some outside help. Enter ART and 2008 the year of 4 IVF cycles & one lousy big fat negative.

Lifeslurper is now 47 years old! Time for a baby is running out fast, so too is her sanity. Now it's 2011 - Lifeslurper & Wobbles have moved into top baby making gear. Donor Egg Cycles are the way to go, after a long pause to take stock after a glorious donor egg BFP & the subsequent loss. This year saw 2 cancelled FET cycles, & and menopause causing delays.

Where to from here? After 10 cycles Lifeslurper & Wobbles now await their WobblyBub who is due in May 2012 - actually make that...um....*sigh*...what's the point?

Post Cycle Anxiety Disorder?

Teddy Lifeslurper wondered if the Crinone brand extensions had been a wise choice.

Teddy Lifeslurper wondered if the Crinone brand extensions had been a wise choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is there such a thing as ‘post cycle anxiety disorder?’ If there isn’t already then I have just coined a name for what is probably a common condition.

Five spectacularly unsuccessful IVF cycles down and some strange things have been happening. I feel different to what I did before, and here was me priding myself on my ‘superior’ knowledge of self. I am at a loss to really describe the situation with any clarity.  

 I have become vague, worse than what usually occurs a few days in on a stimulation cocktail of FSH injections and Synarel nasal spray. I am word searching all the time. I speak and not only the words but the entire topic goes completely from my mind. A mind as empty as my womb. What is happening? I have seriously been wondering if I had some kind of breakdown or if I am heading straight from IVF to Alzheimers.  

Sure, I live with depression, but this is something else. I have a sense of panic in most things I do, even the most simple of tasks. Feelings of being overwhelmed when deciding what to cook for dinner, which lane to drive in, and which supermarket register to line up at. Actually, I feel a complete loss at most things these days. 

It is easy to blame IVF for everything. I know I do blame IVF for most things. Here at the Lifeslurper Spa Resort it has become a favourite comment; borrowing from the old ‘letters to the editors’ featured in newspapers of yore, before the days of online comments when it was popular to include the line; “…of course, I blames the government” somewhere in the body of the letter. Here we say; “I blames the IVF!” as a response to any event such as when the tea bag supply runs low, or when a light globe blows. It is quite convenient to have a handy scapegoat ready. 

Yet something more seems to be amiss.  Continue reading Post Cycle Anxiety Disorder?

Aiming for the IVF stars

 

Contrary to advice Teddy Lifeslurper kept all FSH in the one basket.

Contrary to advice Teddy Lifeslurper kept all FSH in the one basket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the planets fail to line up in our favour.

 

Often life goes into a dark eclipse as the heavens throw us into chaos. While others enjoy light displays in the skies above us, the only clue of recent activity is the giant craters in my ovaries.  

Our fifth IVF cycle is over. It ended prematurely last week. There has been plenty of time to dwell on its failure since. The stars had fated this from the outset. The entire cycle seemed out of kilter, error upon mix up, topped with communication problems – it just never felt right.  

 

As I was being put ‘under’ Monday week ago, ahead of my egg pick up (EPU) I had a slight panic.   

Continue reading Aiming for the IVF stars

Two Days and counting before IVF Liftoff

    

The ancient society of Hormonia - Sailing down the Progesterone River, by the Temple of Syneronium

The ancient society of Hormonia - Sailing down the Progesterone River, by the Temple of Syneronium

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here we are.

 

It has taken a very long and arduous effort, but we are back. Round Five of IVF is about to dawn.

 

In the last few weeks there has been the inevitable lead up.

 

Suspecting we have been numbed by all ART has brought us so far, other big important life events such as the long overdue release of Wobbles’ book got kind of lost in the maelstrom that is life immediately prior to a new cycle.

Continue reading Two Days and counting before IVF Liftoff

Living in the IVF moment

The part Lifeslurper dislikes most about IVF is whatever phase of the process I am in at any given moment. 

When it gets to the pointy end of a cycle, I long for those seemingly far distant times between cycles when nothing was happening. When I am heading towards egg pickup (as I am now) I longingly look back to the days of constant injection (which stopped yesterday) with a sense of nostalgia. The 24 hour wait on fertilization results seems to take as long as a course of down regulation medication. Any other time in the IVF cycle would seem preferable. Then there is the 14 day post embryo transfer wait for a blood test to see if there is any reason to celebrate. These 14 days seem endless. One day on the two week wait becomes the equivalent of one of those South Pole six month ‘days’ where there is no nightfall.  Continue reading Living in the IVF moment