We were bundled out into the street after a brief rest directly after embryo transfer.
Moments before we had been led into a tiny room with just enough room for a recliner, another chair and a small cupboard, we soon realised we weren’t about to get the post-embryo transfer relaxation time with drinks and sandwiches. The embryo transfer line was long that morning and the clinic rooms small. This operation staffed to the bare minimum. Wobbles peeped into the drawer of the small cupboard and had his suspicions confirmed; inside was the mandatory clinic collection of pornography. This multi-purpose room also doubled as semen collection room. Hardly private from the adjoining waiting room, it appeared to be another clinic economy on personal embarrassment. A brief visit from the nurse followed as she handed us a simple post-transfer instruction list, and we were out. Continue reading IVF cycle – GAME ON!
My mouth started to hurt on Wednesday.
It began to be sensitive to heat and cold. Fairly soon every shade in between would trigger the soreness within my mouth.
This wasn’t a new situation. My history of sinus issues meant I had maintained a close relationship with my friendly dentist. The last time I’d experienced a sudden build in mouth pain I’d had a panic and got myself to the dentist the very next day. I’d been delaying having sinus surgery for almost a decade. There had been previous evidence that there were sinuses draining into the roots of some teeth. On that occasion the dentist examined carefully, called for far too many x-rays a before finally announcing that there was nothing wrong with my teeth. I needed to look to my sinuses for the source of the pain. Within months the massive three nasal and sinus procedures would be performed. Recovery would be slow, but I was rewarded with the ability to breathe through my nose and far less infections and headaches.
So why was my mouth hurting now? Continue reading A funny thing happened on the way to cycle…..
Monday morning 8 am – I began taking the prerequisite Progynova (estradiol valerate, a prodrug of the natural human oestradiol). The donor recipient cycle plan prescribed I take 3 x 2mg per day.
Monday morning 11.30 am – the headache began. These hormonal headaches are, I am sure, familiar to most IVFers. They don’t disable me and put me in hospital (like migraines have been known to) nor do they cause as much discomfort as say, my standard sinus headache. They are there, and act as a constant reminder that we are again trying to conceive.
Monday mid-afternoon Wobbles made the mistake of commenting “the medication couldn’t possibly be affecting you yet!” He won’t be doing that again.
The headache hadn’t lifted by our Wednesday morning appointment to see Dr Loverley. Continue reading Hitch-hiking through a tour of infertility
Time is the enemy of the IVFer in more ways than one. It erodes our reproductive longevity. It also robs us of our confidence in our remaining fertility.
Doctor Loverly’s “Let’s get you pregnant!” statement was still ringing in my ears, when the new-found baby hope – which was purely a result of finding a wonderful anonymous egg donor – began to show some cracks. Continue reading Time and donor egg cycler
