Baseline

I'm now Nearly at the end of the suppression stage of the IVF process.  Just one more day of suppression then I start my stimulation medication – Gonal F – tomorrow.

Scan

 

Today was my first scan since starting the treatment, it was a baseline ultrasound scan, though as usual with the indignity of infertility, it wasn’t a nice scan on your tummy but more of an invasive approach. 

I didn’t actually realise that they could see how many follicles you have ready to develop eggs on this scan.  I thought you finished the suppression then once you’d been on the stimulation drugs a little while they’d start to see follicles, however I was wrong.  Apparently I have 17 follicles on the left ovary and 14 on the right (or it may have been the other way round).  I don’t really know how much of an indication this is of how many will mature after the 12 days of Gonal F, I’m not sure if you develop more or just some of them develop, I could have asked the nurse but I didn’t really take to the one I had today, she was very professional and efficient and that’s all you need really but she didn’t have the most friendly chatty manner for aksing lots of questions. I could look it up but as with a lot of the process I’d only find a general statistic on how many might develop and this wouldn’t really tell me what was going to happen in my case so I'm probably better just to wait and see what happens. I’m rather disillusioned with looking at statistics; there’s a 80% chance you’ll get pregnant after one year, a 90% chance you’ll be pregnant after 2 years etc etc etc.  I could waste away looking at hundreds of statics but all that really matters is whether I’m pregnant in a month’s time or not.

 

Side Effects So Far

 

As I said in my last post my side effects from the Buserelin haven’t been too dramatic though it hasn’t been the most fun experience of my life.  The main thing I’ve been feeling is tiredness along with a frequent feeling of my brain being made of cotton wool, that seems the best way of explaining this constant fuzzy headed, slow feeling I have at the moment. For anybody who knows me you’ll be aware that I’m generally buzzing with ideas and energy but that’s been somewhat lacking over the last few weeks. I also had a headache for about 4 days which I attribute to the medications, this wasn't helped by not being able to take ibruprofen, my normal go to headache remedy, while on the Buserelin.  Overall I’d say that Buserelin is a rather unpleasant drug and I’d hate to feel like this for an extended period of time but if this wokrs it will be a very small price to pay for getting everything I ever wanted.

NB:  Being a nurse I looked up the side effects of Buserelin in the British National Formulary and apparently one of the side effects is lactation!!!! Perhaps they should warn you about that one, I would have got the shock of my life if I’d started lactating, which, just for the record, I haven’t.

Almonds and Oranges

 

My ovary in 2 weeks time?!?!?!

My ovary now...

So tomorrow commences the stimulation injections to make me produce lots of eggs to be retrieved in 2 weeks’ time.   I remember a few bits from the group seminar that we did when we first started this process but the one that has stuck in my mind the most is the Dr telling me that my ovaries can go from the size of almonds to the size of oranges!!!  I can’t actually remember if he said they ‘do’ get that big or they ‘can’ get that big, either way I’m anticipating some major bloating.  I’d consider the need to borrow some maternity trouers just for that if the thought of wearing maternity trousers without actually being pregnant wasn’t so depressing.   So if anybody sees me and I’m walking a bit funny in a few weeks time you’ll know why.

 

As with all these side effect I keep telling myself, it will be worth it if it works, it will be worth it if it works and really I think it will be worth going through all this whether it works or not because it’s a process I have to go through.  I might be saying why did I bother if none of this works but in my heart I know that I had to try this in order to put to rest the idea of having my own children.