madison

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

My IVF Journey Day's 13 - 25

So Friday came and went without a hitch and NINE eggs were able to be collected!

Personally I thought that this was fantastic, but kept it real telling myself that not all would survive and grow into embryo's once fertilized. Which is true and how right I was.

We were called on Saturday morning by our IVF Nurse who informed us that 5 out of the 9 eggs had fertilized that morning. They were going to wait and see how things progressed but at this stage they were aiming to be able to transfer a 5 day old embryo, (called a blastocyst), on Wednesday. They would call me on Tuesday to confirm all the details!

On Wednesday the 16th March, we were impregnated with a tiny ball of cells that will hopefully grow into a beautiful healthy baby for us!

We also found out on Friday 19th March that out of the 5 embryos that had fertilized on Saturday only 2 survived until the 5 day or blastocyst stage, the others had all stopped growing at various stages in the last 4 days. The one remaining blastocyst is being grown until a 6 day stage and if it survives it will be frozen for us in case our current transfer doesn't work. It didnt survive!
 Whats next?
I am instructed to take it easy, get lots of rest do very little and above all RELAX! I also have a blood test scheduled for the 28th of March which will confirm whether my hormone levels are increasing, if they are then it looks promising. However, Monash then schedule you in for another blood test 2 weeks down the track to check these levels again. At this stage if they are still increasing then its going to be a viable pregnancy, if not then it looks as though it may not work!

Monash IVF
The blastocyst is an early preimplantation embryo, which by day 5 has begun to differentiate and consists of a sphere of cells with an inner and outer layer surrounding a fluid filled cavity. The outer layer of cells, the trophectoderm, give rise to the placenta and extra-cellular tissues, and the inner group of cells, the inner cell mass, give rise to the foetus.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Today I'm grateful for..

My beautiful baby girl!

She turns two today and I cannot imagine life without her, she is the sunshine that lights up my life!



I am eternally grateful for the joy you bring me and the mere fact that I have you in my life seems more and more like a miracle each day!

xox

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

My IVF Journey - Day's 2 - 12

Our IVF journey to date, (it's now day 12), has been a whirlwind event and as I havent been an emotional wreck like I imagined I would with all the hormone injections and other drugs I've had to take, I feel there really isnt anything to blog about. 

I just feel like a pin cushion.. That's all!

The scan from Monday indicated we have 7-8 follicles that are of a good size, so we have our egg collection now scheduled for Friday. There is no guarantee that any of these follicles will contain eggs and if they do they who knows if they are going to be of a high enough quality and mature enough?

We wont know this until after the egg collection!!

So we wait with baited breath, day by day until then....

Cross all your fingers and toes for us!!

Monday, February 28, 2011

My IVF Journey - Day 1

Phase 1, started at 8:30am on Sunday the 27th February, with my first dose of Syneral. A nasal spray that stops my ovaries from functioning.

It was simple, insert into nostril, push down on the nozzle and breath in, I have to do this on the left side in the morning and right side at night.

At first it was like any other nasal spray, but as the morning went on and time passed, a dull headache began to develop.

All the while my husband sat on the couch watching the morning news, while I soldiered on with my normal daily routine. I made him breakfast, fed, talked to, played with and entertained Sara.

Finally after cleaning up after both of them I had time to sit and eat my own breakfast. A whole pink grapefruit followed by a bowl of muesli.. Yum!

Phase 2, was another single dose of the Syneral nasal spray but this time into the right nostril. Plus my first injection of Puregon (450iu), which Rob injected into my tummy.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt as much as I'd expected!  I felt so silly after it was done as I'd been quietly freaking out that I would faint!

Syneral:
Synarel assists in decreasing the amount of oestrogen produced by the ovaries. This provides a more controlled situation for subsequent stimulation of the ovaries to produce eggs.
Puregon:
Puregon solution for injection contains follitropin beta, a hormone known as follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH belongs to the group of gonadotrophins, which play an important role in human fertility and reproduction. FSH is needed in women for the growth and development of follicles in the ovaries. Follicles are small round sacs that contain the eggs.