Part 2: Round 1.2 ?
January 2016
Starting our 2nd time of IVF with a frozen embryo, or snow baby/frosty as they’re oddly called online… The first round read can be found here.
Hoping that the whole process will be a lot quicker than last time and that the first stretch won’t drag again. Key differences this time versus last time? I had already had 2 acupuncture sessions before starting to fix my liver qi apparently; tried to relax more; and have even started taking cod liver oil — reluctantly as I’m vegan, or was.
Day 1 — Saturday 16 January 2016
I had requested that I started on the injections of Buserelin, rather than nasal spray as it didn’t work last time around. Had to pick this up from the hospital on Christmas Eve — you couldn’t make it up… I started the process over again, our bathroom has become a bit of a drug den stacked with all the kit once again.
Day 24 — Monday 8 February
Scan 1. Very disappointed as lining typically was still way too thick — 9mm… Advised I needed to go back on the 5 day course of Provera for more fun time shedding. Pretty sad and pretty emotional.
Day 39 — Wednesday 24 March
Scan 2. Felt no more confident as I headed to hospital for the second scan to pass through to next level, despite having a light period in-between the last time I was scanned. The nurse said my lining was borderline, but would pass through to the next stage — delighted! Picked up new drugs, different from last time as using frozen egg this time — Progynova tablets. This is to thicken the lining again (presumably without increasing the volume of follicles like last time).
The next week I felt better, less full of acne as when on the Provera. Glad not to be on that stage again, with a permanent period. Feeling ok, but just keen to be off of the drugs. :) Feeling happier in general about everything.
Day 52 — Tuesday 8 March
Back to get lining checked out — now 14mm which is good. Got my instructions and the nurse phone me later in the day with dates — transfer scheduled 17th March.
Day 54 — Thursday 10 March
Stopped taking the Buserelin injections for the last time today… The next day I started using lovely white hard creamy bullets, progesterone pessaries in a different form this time, from last time’s gel version. This treatment just gets weirder. On day 60, the 16th I went to see my acupuncturist for the last final night before treatment — using moxa sticks to heat up areas of my body — it stung but was ok and worth it if it makes my blood sticky tomorrow, as intended.
Day 61 — Thursday 17 March
Expecting to hear from hospital this morning, who will be warming up the embryo and advising us when to come in. Got a phone call from the embryologist at 9.30am, who told me she didn’t have good news — it hadn’t survived the thaw. After some (ok, lots of) tears we booked to go for a nice lunch and had a bottle of wine to accompany it. Stopped taking my meds immediately.
Doesn’t feel quite as emotional as last time though, perhaps as I wasn’t as in control this time around (it was not yet inside me, but I know you can’t control that either), it’s just rubbish this time around as I feel my body is more prepped and ready than it was last time around. Acne, bloat, periods and my internal sticky blood are the only tangible remains of the last 2 months.
By the 23rd April I was starting to feel myself, returning to my normal self, size, weight and shape — minus all the estrogen filled handles and extra curves my body seems to have acquired since starting the whole IVF thing — the increasing ‘womanly bits’ — as my best friend called them. Still pretty emotional, had some headaches and lethargy, but ok.
Had our review meeting with the Doctor, who said that everything seemed to be going in the right direction, and that it was very unfortunate that the frozen cycle hadn’t worked, as thaw survival rates were actually pretty good, so we’d been very unlucky. She explained that we’d be able to start the second and final full IVF round probably this May. And now we wait.
Total length of process: 61 days. Had period for 10 of those days.
