When our last NHS round failed i felt down. Why was this taking so long to work? Why could every else get pregnant so easily? I started to even resent the people that it worked first time for...and that was wrong but i was so fed up. Yet, it never entered my head to give up. I was all ready to start the process again...i hate waiting.
I knew we would now have to get a loan to fulfill our dreams. But luckily for us my fella's parents had the money set to one side and offered to pay for us. How amazing!
We decided to check out Access Fertility as they have package deals and i had heard good things about them. We decided to do the 3 rounds, 50% refund programme. This was £10,800, which actually is a great deal considering a normal round can cost between £4-6k. We had to pay for the Meds ourselves, so that was probably around £900 for the first round (fresh)
I will do a run down of the process and things i did differently this round.
Supplements I have been taking for Egg Quality and overall IVF support
- Folic Acid (5mg)
- Collagen Complex with Hylauric Acid (recommended by Acupuncturist to support womb and keep it moist)
- CoQ10
- Levothyroxine 75mg (Prescribed for my Thyroid Antibodies)
- DHEA 75mg per day
- High Dose of Vit D
I also did accupuncture. I did around 2 sessions before collection, then a session before and after transfer.
Let's begin!
When our funding got approved, we could pretty much start on my next period. I got my meds from our clinic as they were cheaper then going to ASDA. I chose to take Lubion injections instead of pessaries as i really struggled with the pessaries (they are so messy) and i was always conscious i wasn't getting enough of the dose.
The Stimming part of my cycle was pretty much like any other round. It went quick, and i responded well. I always seem to get a decent amount of follicles on each ovary, on my first scan they were between 9mm and 13mm with a random 16mm! I think i averaged around 16 on each side from what i can remember. after next couple of scans i was told to trigger on Saturday 2nd March at 10:30pm (this night i was throwing a surprise party for my fella's 40th! so i had to do it in the toilets)
When we were talking about egg collection they suggested i may need to freeze all like i had done previously but i stressed how much i didn't want to do that this time and i really wanted to do a fresh transfer. She said as long as they don't get more than 20 eggs out then i can do a fresh.
On collection day (Monday 4th March 10:30am) they got around 11 eggs. I was okay about that, it was average for us. I now just had to wait to see how many fertilised - this was the worrying stage.
On the 5th March we got told that 3 had fertilised. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst. We had to pray all three survived. When they rang they asked if we would like to put two in this time....I said yes of course!
On 7th March they rang and said we wouldn't be doing a transfer today as there were no clear two front runners in our embryos and they wanted to get them to day 5. This was good news as it meant they were progressing well and they wanted to put the best two in. So we were penciled in for the 9th March.
Transfer day! 9th March 2019.
We had two clear front runners now and they told us the gradings, we had a 5AB and a 3BB and put them both back in. We went in the morning, and then literally two hours later we were on a train to Manchester for food and drinks (no alcohol for me of course) with friends to celebrate my fella's birthday. I had such a good day laughing and eating the best food. It was the best thing we could have done as it took my mind off worrying about what to do after transfer...the do's and don'ts.
Its' all a load of bollocks the Do's and Don'ts.... Eating pineapple core and all that.
The only advice i recommend is to keep your feet warm (keeps your womb warm), keep the blood flow going (accupuncture/walking) and laughing (this advice was from a friend who did IVF)
Here is the run down:
Day of transfer - still bloated and fat from collection. Transfer in am, Manchester Bem Brasil pm. Feeling really full. Ate a lot!
1dp5dt - kept waking up last night/early morn. Had about three wee’s. However I was out yesterday and drank a lot of liquid. Had salty food. And was still very bloated and gassy. Today I feel fairly normal. Pain on left side of lower back in pm.
2dp5dt - Accupuncture today. Woke up at 3:30am for a wee. Loose bowels 7am. Loose bowels again midday. Pain in lower left hand side of back.
3dp5dt - feel very normal. Work up early for a wee again. Loose bowels again.
4dp5dt - decided i should test to check my trigger is out...bfp. faint line on frer. Think it might be trigger leaving as it’s 11days since trigger. Had that feeling that af was due this afternoon, like a dull ache...then yellow cm when wiping in Evening. sore boobs when touched.
5dp5dt - bfp. awake between 1am-4am again. Had a wee. Can’t sleep. Cloudy wee with really faint line on frer again. (12 days past trigger) 7am wee. Sore boobs. Feeling full and period like in the afternoon again
6dp5dt - fri - BFP! This cant still be trigger!!
Sore boobs.
7dp5dt - sat - BFP. Still sore boobs. Feel slightly nauseous sometimes...and having weird cramps/belly twinges.
Told our parents and close friends as they all know when we had transfer. Diarrhoea.
Afternoon nap.
8dp5dt - sun 17th March- BFP. starving when I woke up, went out for lunch, it was awful. Came home and had diarrhoea. Had no tea and went to bed around 9. Really bloated
9dp5dt - mon - BFP. Woke up with horrendous trapped wind in back and chest and belly. Had a headache most of the day. Little half hour nap when I got home. Early night 8pm. No sore boobs but I have also taken two paracetamol today. Nausea every so often.
10dp5dt - tues - awaiting more tests in the post. Hopefully will arrive today. Otd is tomorrow. Then need to ring clinic and let them know. Nausea.
11dp5dt - OTD - BFP (2-3wks) on digi.
Going to clinic to get more meds. Scan booked for April 9th at 8am. Cramps and aches today.
12dp - BFP Line is darker then control line :) shooting pains in Groin sometimes. Feeling bloated still but not as gassy. Gone off cups of tea.
Clearblue digi
17th March = 1-2 wks (8dpt)
20th March = 2-3 wks (11dpt)
27th March = 3+ wks (18dpt)
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On the 25th March i was supposed to be going to Cyprus to look at my potential wedding venue but because i got my BFP i didn't risk it. I didn't need a repeat of last year. However they kindly face-timed me and the venue is so special! I cant wait for that.
My 7 week viability scan was booked for April 9th, a week and a half before i got made redundant (great timing huh!) - it wasn't just me it was the whole of my team. And then at 6wks4days i had a brown blood bleed on my pantyliner. They told me it's normal and not to worry. However the day before my scan i had more blood, it was watery but heavier. the clinic let me come in because it got heavier and i had back ache.
I picked my fella up and we drove quietly to the clinic, he kept saying not to worry and it would be fine but i just knew it was too much blood to be 'normal'. I told the nurse the bloody details and she lay me down on the bed to have the scan. Rick was behind the curtain. She popped wanda in and did a bit of rooting. I couldn't read her expression. Then she went "oh!, would you come inside" to my fella. Then said "what do you see there?" and he said, "A baby?" ....then, "two?"
She nodded and smiled but she looked shocked too.
I couldn't help it...i said "Fuck off!" and then laughed out of pure joy whe she turned the screen to show me. I was so so shocked.
But yes we had two babies in there.....and a big blood clot.
She warned us that i had to have a little time off work (2 weeks) and to take it easy because if this blood clot came out all at once it could take a baby or both with it. So we went home, absolutely over the moon but very cautious.
Twins!
Crazy shit.
Around 5 days later i had another big bleed. I went into the clinic again as i had passed some clotsbut thankfully they were still in there. The clot had reduced a little though. We got to see their heart beats too.
When we made it to 12 weeks we announced it to everyone.
I am now 33+2, and its' not been plain sailing, we've had a few hurdles but for the most of it, it's been a great pregnancy. We're having a boy and a girl, the girl had a bit more fluid on her brain than normal but this has corrected itself. But now she is measuring small, and is 21% below her brother. He is around 4lb and she is around 3lb.
I go for a specialist scan tomorrow, if he thinks she is ok to stay in, we have our c-section scheduled for 28th October 2019 (mine and Ricks 10 year anniversary)
However if they feel she isn't getting the nutrients she needs we may have two babies in the world very soon.
For anyone who has read my story from the start, thanks for sticking with me. And for those who happen to fall upon it on their IVF journey, I wish you the best of luck and your time will come, just keep going.
Wish me luck for my birth, i pray i have healthy babies. I am so nervous....and have no idea what to do when they arrive haha...but i'm sure that will be another future blog.
