Introducing Luke and Leia

Hi there folks. I had intended updating this blog within a day or 2 of Luke and Leia being transferred, but it has been a rough few days. Let's start with the transfer itself - there were a few problems passing through the cervix due to a "kink". Luke and Leia were none the wiser, but my cervix felt like it had 3 rounds with the great Cassius Clay!! After 15-20 minutes of mucking about, cervical clips and holding my butt up off the table the tiny two had found a comfy fold in my uterus. Anyway that hasn't been the worst of it!! Wednesday was the day 6 Pregnyl injection. Just as I thought I was on the mend, Thursday morning found me doubled over with cramps, vomiting and the squits. I was in so much pain I was sweating profusely and thought I was going to faint. Let me tell you, IVF is not for the faint-hearted, in fact I recall Kyvo saying she was glad it was me and not her as she would have had an ambulance on the way for her. So Thursday and the best part of Friday were spent on the couch. To add insult to injury we received a letter from the clinic saying we only had 2 Embryo's to freeze - this meant that the other 6 didn't make it. Talk about under whelmed given all the effort, but this is nature taking it's course and those 6 probably wouldn't have made it anyway. Saturday morning I felt a little brighter and of course this meant that day 9 Pregnyl injection was on the cards.The injection itself stings a little, but not too bad. It's the after effects which you wake up to the next day that bite the big one. Cramps, Nausea, unable to stand up straight due to pain and bloating!! Sunday and Monday I have not felt too flash, but tonight I have started sucking on some ice and have started to fell a little better. Couldn't come at a better time as I am due to fly to Brisbane tomorrow morning to work for the rest of the week. The positive is that there are no more needles until blood test day on Tuesday 4/5/2010. Just pessaries and cream now to keep the hormones kicking along - ah the joys of IVF hey girls!!

Well that's about the size of my stone for now. Below are some piccies of or much loved Day 5 Blastocysts and the other iced NewVoe's are in the deep freeze for now.

What a Week

I have been meaning to jump on-line and update the blog, as so much has happened. However, because so much has been happening I either haven't had time or haven't felt like it.

So let me back track a little. By blood test day 6/4 I was starting to feel quite full in the pelvis and somewhat bloated.The blood results checking my E2 levels were good so I stayed on the same dose of Gonal F which was 150iu every morning. Scan day was Tuesday 13/4 and this showed 14 mature follicles so Egg Pick Up (EPU) was scheduled for 10am Thursday 15/4. That night  (13/4) I had to have a trigger injection of Pregnyl 1500iu. Let me tell you - it stung like a Beeeartch!! On EPU day, feeling considerably bloated off  we went to Townsville Day Surgery where all the staff were fantastic. The past few days haven't exactly been a walk in the park recovering from the EPU, but survivable. I recommend a supportive, caring partner to look after you (thanks Kyvo), Panadeine, Panadeine Forte, Maxalon and a heat pack. At EPU and Embryo Transfer, you can only wash with non-perfumed soap and you are NOT to use any deoderant or perfumes, and nor is anyone you come in to contact with. Apparently the eggs, sperm and resultant embryo's are quite sensitive to these. At EPU they got 12 eggs, 8 of which have fertilized. We are thrilled - it's almost surreal to think that we have 8 potential babies. Tomorrow 20/4 is our day 5 Embryo Transfer. We are putting 2 Embryo's back to maximise the chances of conception. Fill you in on this after Luke and Leia have found their way into a comfy uterine fold. Below are some pictures of what the eggs look like post extraction, a Zygote (24hrs post fertilization) and a day 2-3 Embryo.

An Egg Hunt of a Different Kind

Where to start…..well I have been incredibly slack in updating our blog, but in my defence I have been reasonably busy with work, the start of IVF and Easter.

So, to the IVF update. Tuesday March 23^rd saw the start of the Synarel nasal spray. One puff in one nostril in the morning and one puff in the alternate nostril at night – to be administered exactly 12 hours apart. Cue the alarm!! I haven’t had too many problems with the spray to date. On a few occasions I have had a little bit of a hangover type head and the spray itself doesn’t taste that great when it runs down the back of the throat, but all in all no major drama’s. The spray is designed to stop the communication between the pituitary gland and the ovaries so that when the follicle stimulating drugs begin, it is the FSH that completely control what happens to the ovaries.

On Friday April 2 the Gonal F injections started. These are given once a day and help stimulate the ovaries to produce as many follicles (and eggs) as possible in one go. Sunday night I started to feel a little bloated and full in the pelvis – a good sign that the Gonal is doing its job in turning the normally walnut sized ovaries in to the size of oranges – lucky me!!

Today I had a blood test which tests for the Oestradiol levels in the blood. This level gives the clinic an indication of how well the ovaries are responding to the Gonal injections. We will get the results tomorrow afternoon and from these the dose of FSH is adjusted as required

The Stash

The Snort

The Jab