Follicle scan # 2

The second scan went well today. I now have 7 follicles on my left and still have 2 on the right ovary. The ones on the left have grown and are around 14-16mm but the 2 on the left have only grown about 1mm to 9.5mm. (I didn't get given exact measurements this time.)
My womb lining has grown to 10.7mm so it should be a lovely velvet cushion for when the embryos get put back. So the last scan is on Friday and they think I will be ready for EC on Monday.

I had to buy more drugs today to keep me going until Monday because this cycle has taken slightly longer than last cycle. I nearly lost all positivity when buying these as they cost so much and I had to pay £28 dispensing charge as well which I never knew about before.

Also I thought I should note down the vitamins and drugs I'm taking daily at this point:

Drugs:
Gonal F 450 x 1
Cetrotide 0.25 x1
Steroid 16mg x 1

Vits:
Conception multi-vitamin x 1
Folic acid 400mg x 2
Omega-3 750mg x 2
CO-Q10 100mg x 1
Aspirin 75mg x 1

Dr Husband at your service!

My Hubby is great when it comes to anything medical. A few years back I had to have my wisdom teeth removed under sedation and I was petrified that I had to be awake while they were yanking out my teeth! So the hospital let my Hubby come into the room with me - he was great and held onto me, well that was until he said "Can you feel anything?" and I said "only you squeezing my toe off my foot!"
So when it comes to IVF my Hubby loves to play Doctor. He's very precise with the needles and not even the tiniest of air bubbles is going anywhere near me when he's around. So what happens when he's not around?

Well during my 1st ever cycle Hubby did the jabs until he had to go away for work. The night before he went he made me do them with him supervising, so that I was all ready when alone. We also had a DVD and an instruction leaflet I could refer to if I needed to. So it came to the allotted jabbing hour 9pm and I got everything ready. I went to inject and I realised that the syringe was only half full - how did this happen? I thought back to everything I had done in preparation and I couldn't work out where I'd gone wrong, so I injected it anyway. Then I sat around worrying until it hit me - I hadn't flicked the top of the water vial and half of the water was it the top part that you break off! Oh no - surely now I'd given myself a stronger dose, what would happen? Would I be ok? I rang the out of hours number that the clinic give you and it put me through to the gyny ward at the hospital - I started crying on the phone to the nurse as I told her what I'd done. And did I get reassurance? "Well it's done now, just remember to flick the top of the water vial in future"! Thanks!

Obviously I was ok and you'd think that would have taught me a lesson but oh no - there are many more episodes like that! Take this morning for instance. I'm on my 4th IVF cycle and Dr Hubby is away but went through the injections with me again yesterday. So this morning I get the first needle and get rid of the air bubbles and stick it in me and think wow I'm really getting good at these, that hardly hurt at all. Then I realise that I hadn't set it to the right amount and I had to pull it out, set it and jab again! Then I remembered that I should have put a new needle on the syringe to jab again! So I'm sitting here with a very stingy tummy after the three rather than two jabs! I'm also planning to make sure that Dr Hubby is around for all my gestone injections as these are done with a bigger needle in the bum - I don't want to get them wrong!

Weight Gain during IVF

Loads of ladies complain about how much weight they put on during an IVF cycle. I myself had put on about 2 or 3 lbs during the last cycle. I found a really good explanation for it though which is particularly true to me:

Weight Gain: While the use of fertility drugs and corticosteroids such as dexamethasone, prednisolone and prednisone can result in fluid retention and a temporary redistribution of body fat by altering the body’s hormone and fluid balance, it is not a cause of permanent weight gain. The latter is far more likely to result from emotional stress associated with infertility and ART that often results in overeating. Besides, many women undergoing IVF are advised (often erroneously) to severely cut down on their activity thereby reducing their caloric expenditure.

http://www.ivfauthority.com/2011/01/ivf-commonly-asked-questions-fears-and_20.html

During an IVF cycle I don't do as much exercise as I normally do because I feel more tired than usual and there are other silly reasons stopping me, such as I don't do my usually swimming because in Chinese medicine this can cool the uterus and you want a warm womb. Also I don't do full-on hip swinging in Zumba in case I jiggle my follicles too much! These aren't excuses not to exercise, they're just genuine little worries that I can't shake out of my head - I want to do everything right and take no chances.

With regards to food, as I've already mentioned, my Hubby makes sure I eat healthily but I do have to eat a lot more than I normally do to make sure I get lots of protein and I struggle with that.

Overall there's no need to worry - this is going to be my positive cycle and so I can start on my bump early if I want!

First Follicle Scan

Today's scan went well - yipee! The nurse was lovely, she showed and told me everything I needed. She even gave me a print out of my follicle sizes:

Left 6 @ 10.4mm, 9.9mm, 9.3mm, 9.3mm, 8.3mm, 7.7mm
Right 2 @ 8.3mm, 8.3mm

Womb Lining @ 9.6mm

Womb lining is already at an acceptable thickness and considering I'd only had 4 injections, the follicles are doing well. They need to get to above 17mm before I am ready for the trigger shot and the EC. I have scans booked for Wednesday and Friday to see how they're growing but they think EC will be next Monday.

I started the Cetrotide today to stop me ovulating by myself before EC. This jab always make my stomach sting and go red and bumpy for an hour or so!

Immunes

Stim day 5 tomorrow and I have my first scan to see how the follicles and womb lining are doing. Also I will be starting steroids. The steroids are to help combat higher than normal levels of Natural Killer Cells. I haven't been tested for this but because I have had 2 miscarriages and 3 failed IVF cycles it is a possibility that this could be the problem. So one basic treatment is steroids - prednisolone in my case. (It may be that I have other immune problems but the tests cost a lot of money and are quite controversial.)

"There is currently much debate going on in the scientific community about the role of the immune system in promoting or preventing a healthy pregnancy. There is a view pioneered by late Dr Alan Beer that the products of an activated immune system could damage the placenta and cause miscarriage, as well as damage the embryo and cause implantation failure. Natural killer cells, which help to keep the body from developing cancer, can over-populate the uterus or exist at too high levels within the blood stream. These cells then go overboard, killing the embryo or interfering with the endocrine system that produces the hormones that are essential for pregnancy." 
http://www.fertility-academy.co.uk/recurrent-failure/immune-testing-for-infertility/


Now to add to the controversy, I have been told to start taking them from ET but having done my own research, I believe that taking them sooner will be more beneficial. My research is of many cycles by other ladies undergoing immune treatment by various clinics/doctors.

Immune problems and testing are complicated but if you are interested here are a few links of further reading to help out:

Alan E Beer - http://www.repro-med.net/repro-med-site2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=31

Dr A Gorgy - http://www.fertility-academy.co.uk/about-us/dr-a-gorgy/

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=242395.0

http://www.ivfauthority.com/2011/05/understanding-immunologic-implantation_16.html

An Ode from my Hubby

The injections have started, phase 4 has begun.
The countdown is counting, could this be the one?

This is not the beginning, we are nearing the end.
Our life now has meaning, could we be on the mend?

Our house has been discovered, a home that seems just right.
We've waited a while, is the end now in sight?

It hasn't been easy, our journey's been hard.
We've stumbled and fallen, was it worth all the sharps?

The Secret says believe me, just ask for your dreams.
We worry and wonder, is that really what it means?

Our love has not faltered, our lives are the same.
But we still have to ask, will our love still remain?

The questions keep coming, the answers seem hard.
So maybe, just maybe, we should consider the past.

Yesterday, love healed us, it wiped away our tears.
And so tomorrow, it will remind us, there was no need to fear.

The answers should be simple, the answers - they're all the same.
Yes is the answer and yes, it WILL BE worth all the pain.

Happiness through simple things

Today is a good day and it's only 1 o'clock! I've had a half decent sleep, been to Zumba and I've done my nails with new  Jessica nail polish:

Hubby is due home tonight and so I'm happy that I'll be having hugs and kisses tonight.