Sunday, November 03, 2002
husband and mother in law are still asleep (why am I living with my mil? too long a story. won't be for long, I know that).
and this is the first chance I've had to redigest all the stuff from Friday and the feelings that are developing.
first, no, we don't have dates for the first cycle yet. it seems the nurses didn't schedule me in when I called 3 weeks ago. I won't know until Wednesday, which is killing me. I like to have some control, be able to plan. very much hoping they won't just treat this as Day One, as then it can be 6-7 weeks before they fit us in. in fact will be quite angry about that, as we will have missed a cycle for nothing. but hey, I'll be able to talk to my dr about it on Wednesday when I go for my "dummy run".
this dummy run is scary. she wants to see how she goes getting a catheter into my uterus, because the hsg or whatever it was had trouble.
the hsg was also really painful and yucky and it seems unfair I have to have another procedure because it was painful and yucky. had a very tense moment with dr when she said that if she couldn't manage it she'd want to do a hysteroscopy to see what's going on. basically, I won't allow that. the hsg dr eventually managed - we could see on the ultrasound - so I will take a lot of convincing that I need a major procedure - I think it's a general anaesthetic, not sure, but it's a big deal - just because current dr can't do the same.
the pain is another thing. I have some strong tablets for Wednesday, and if possible I will be wanting something like that for every time.
the problem is I have a "false passage" that makes it hard to get the tube in the right place. that, and a very tightly closed cervix.
but this is all backwards. the catheter is necessary to put the embryos in once they're ready, so I may have half a dozen or more of those over the next year or so.
first, we have to get embroyos. the Pill is to set a baseline of hormones and control when my cycle starts, for the lab's convenience (fair enough - a happy lab is a lab that does good work).
then I have nasal sprays - Synerol - to make me premenopausal - yay - in other words quieten my ovaries down. this will mean hot flushes, mood swings, tears, etc. seven days or so
then seven days of both that and ?Clomid? or the other? can't remember - anyway, injections that will supercharge my ovaries. this could mean overstimulation, which is Bad. each follicle is about 2cm across when ready, so if 100 pop, I have a thing the size of a football in each ovary. we're aiming fro 6-7 each ovary.
some scans etc to see when they're ready
then a big booster shot at night, and exactly 37 hours later, they sedate me and use a needle through my uterine wall to vacuum out the eggs. whoo-hoo, sounds fun. luckily they have an anaesthetist there and apparently no one ever really remembers it.
then husband provides sperm (yes, that's his total effort. a wank!) and they mix up some babies.
two days later they put two in ( wondering about this twins risk, but that's another post), and two weeks later you do a pregnancy test - I wonder if I'll use my charts - and if they'd be reliable with all these hormones floating about.
the pregnancy test is a proper blood test.
and if it doesn't work, there ought to be a few frozen embryos to try again on a "natural thaw" cycle, which is where they just wait for you to ovulate and bung the embryos in then. not all thaw out right, of course, but most do.
simple, really.
we also spent 45 minutes with a counsellor talking about fun stuff like what if one of us dies while there are frozen embryos, and how to cope with the stress.
she says we should find one place to live and stay there. hear hear. am pushing to be moving next weekend. yes, we're spending a lot on renovation. but bottom line is we can actually afford to pay rent instead of living here, and this IVF thing is a big deal, and if it costs a couple of thousand to be in a situation where our marriage survives, it's probably worth it.
and this is the first chance I've had to redigest all the stuff from Friday and the feelings that are developing.
first, no, we don't have dates for the first cycle yet. it seems the nurses didn't schedule me in when I called 3 weeks ago. I won't know until Wednesday, which is killing me. I like to have some control, be able to plan. very much hoping they won't just treat this as Day One, as then it can be 6-7 weeks before they fit us in. in fact will be quite angry about that, as we will have missed a cycle for nothing. but hey, I'll be able to talk to my dr about it on Wednesday when I go for my "dummy run".
this dummy run is scary. she wants to see how she goes getting a catheter into my uterus, because the hsg or whatever it was had trouble.
the hsg was also really painful and yucky and it seems unfair I have to have another procedure because it was painful and yucky. had a very tense moment with dr when she said that if she couldn't manage it she'd want to do a hysteroscopy to see what's going on. basically, I won't allow that. the hsg dr eventually managed - we could see on the ultrasound - so I will take a lot of convincing that I need a major procedure - I think it's a general anaesthetic, not sure, but it's a big deal - just because current dr can't do the same.
the pain is another thing. I have some strong tablets for Wednesday, and if possible I will be wanting something like that for every time.
the problem is I have a "false passage" that makes it hard to get the tube in the right place. that, and a very tightly closed cervix.
but this is all backwards. the catheter is necessary to put the embryos in once they're ready, so I may have half a dozen or more of those over the next year or so.
first, we have to get embroyos. the Pill is to set a baseline of hormones and control when my cycle starts, for the lab's convenience (fair enough - a happy lab is a lab that does good work).
then I have nasal sprays - Synerol - to make me premenopausal - yay - in other words quieten my ovaries down. this will mean hot flushes, mood swings, tears, etc. seven days or so
then seven days of both that and ?Clomid? or the other? can't remember - anyway, injections that will supercharge my ovaries. this could mean overstimulation, which is Bad. each follicle is about 2cm across when ready, so if 100 pop, I have a thing the size of a football in each ovary. we're aiming fro 6-7 each ovary.
some scans etc to see when they're ready
then a big booster shot at night, and exactly 37 hours later, they sedate me and use a needle through my uterine wall to vacuum out the eggs. whoo-hoo, sounds fun. luckily they have an anaesthetist there and apparently no one ever really remembers it.
then husband provides sperm (yes, that's his total effort. a wank!) and they mix up some babies.
two days later they put two in ( wondering about this twins risk, but that's another post), and two weeks later you do a pregnancy test - I wonder if I'll use my charts - and if they'd be reliable with all these hormones floating about.
the pregnancy test is a proper blood test.
and if it doesn't work, there ought to be a few frozen embryos to try again on a "natural thaw" cycle, which is where they just wait for you to ovulate and bung the embryos in then. not all thaw out right, of course, but most do.
simple, really.
we also spent 45 minutes with a counsellor talking about fun stuff like what if one of us dies while there are frozen embryos, and how to cope with the stress.
she says we should find one place to live and stay there. hear hear. am pushing to be moving next weekend. yes, we're spending a lot on renovation. but bottom line is we can actually afford to pay rent instead of living here, and this IVF thing is a big deal, and if it costs a couple of thousand to be in a situation where our marriage survives, it's probably worth it.
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