IVF in July/August

We had to wait three months for the appointment, and then an additional 70 minutes in the waiting room, but the Professor has now officially granted us permission to begin IVF. The meeting itself was a bit pointless and anti-climactic, as it was basically an appointment to make another appointment for the end of May, once my insurance has approved IVF. Over here, six egg retrievals and all subsequent fresh and frozen transfers are covered for all female patients under 43 years, after three unsuccessful IUIs. I am so thankful for this.

The midwife talked to us about the process, and mentioned that I can choose between twilight anesthesia and local anesthetic for the egg retrieval. When describing twilight anesthesia to me, she said “so during the procedure you are in pain and are telling us, and asking for help, but afterwards when we ask you if you were in pain, you have no memory of being in pain”. At this description I visible paled and started to panic, my husband trying to comfort me. In this panicked state, it didn’t even occur to me to confirm that they do actually give their patients pain-relief during twilight anesthesia. However, as English is her third or forth language, I am going to put it down to a translation error.

The professor said that our main infertility issues are partly blocked tubes, spontaneous premature ovulation during IUI, thin endometrial lining, and a slightly lower sperm count. Happily, these are all issues that are likely to be circumvented by IVF.

Plus, I get to use a new orifice for medication delivery – over here in Europe, the IVF patients inhale their lupron through a nasal spray four times a day. Fewer injections are just fine with me.

I am on the long protocol. When I get my period in June, I go on the pill for 17-40 days, overlap the suppression medication, then begin Menopur injections. If it all goes to plan, we’ll know the result of our first IVF in August. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have a break cycle and then, if we can, a frozen cycle in October.

IUI#4 14DPO Not Pregnant

Not Pregnant. Those were the words that greeted me this morning. I’ve bought a bunch of digital pregnancy tests from eBay. I much prefer the definitive answer. No examining the strip under a bright light, or scooping it out of the bin to see if a line has subsequently appeared. No room for doubt or error. Not Pregnant.

The worst day of this cycle was the day of the trigger, when I discovered that I had spontaneously started to ovulate while my lining was too thin. I “knew” then that this cycle would be no different from the others. My belly full of holes was for nothing, and I even had to inject myself with the drugs for the first time, as my husband was due home late that night. I demolished an entire jar of Nutella.

This was our last IUI, which means that the next time my belly is attacked with needles, it will be for IVF. We will have a 40% success rate instead of 10%. For the first time, my adhesions and blockages will not interfere. If nothing else, we might even be able to see the result of our combined genetic material, even if it is just a small blob of cells.

Consultation appointment in two weeks, procedure in July/August.