It's now just a week until we go back to the Assisted Conception Unit (ACS) for the results of our bloods/swabs and to finish our consent forms to start treatment. I thought the four weeks since the last appointment would have dragged in, but actually it's been such a busy few weeks that it's almost here before I've had time to realise.
Last weekend we had a scare with my Dad, and to be totally honest we thought we were going to lose him after he collapsed when he was out shopping with my Mum. He's still not better, but it looks like he's out of the woods and hopefully he'll make a full recovery with time. It couldn't be more apt to have Father's Day today, I've never been so grateful to have my Dad than I am just now.
After going to my second meeting of the Infertility Support group I went to, one of the girls had given me the name of the lady she went to for acupuncture so I gave her a call. Her name is Maureen and she was lovely, taking the time to go through everything with me and explain it all. She likes to see clients before they start any drugs, so to be on the safe side she wanted to see me before we go back to the ACS - so my first appointment is on Thursday!!!! It's a longer appointment as she'll need to get all my background and things, and I'm kind of looking forward to it and dreading it in equal measure. I'm not so worried about the needles as such, as I had some acupuncture on my leg (one of the many many things they tried!!!) but for some reason it feels like a big step to actual start going for it purely for IVF purposes.
It isn't going to be cheap either, the first session is £40 and then it's £35 each session afterwards. When I spoke to Maureen she told me how many sessions she recommends during a cycle, and working it out I think it'll be around £215 per cycle of treatment. I know a lot of people think things like Chinese Medicine are a con and don't work, but when you've been TTC for so long you'll give anything a go and money doesn't even come into it.
So it's going to be a busy week this week. I've managed to stop myself filling in the consents until now, so this week I plan on taking my time to go through everything to make sure I understand it all, then it's my acu session on Thursday, a wedding on Saturday, my sister's 40th birthday on Sunday and back to the hospital on Monday to get the dates to finally start our IVF journey.
S x
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Saturday, 26 May 2012
1st IVF Appointment
Our appointment was at 9am today (not 10.15am like I though - good job I double checked last night!!) which was great because it was less time for me to work myself up before hand!
The nurse we had was really lovely, and took a lot of time explaining everything that was going to happen to us and making sure we understood it all. She took blood from both hubby and I to test for Hep A/B/C and HIV plus another AMH for me but we've had them all done before so it's not something we're concerned about at all. I also had to have swabs taken to check for infection and chlamydia (again, already had it done so not worried) but it was fine and barely even uncomfortable apart from my leg still not being great.
She also gave us a pack of forms we have to complete before starting treatment, some of them we have to do at home and the others when we go back next time. We go back 4 weeks on Monday to the ACS (Assisted Conception Services) unit and we'll get all the results then from today's tests and go over everything that will happen with the treatment cycle. I know my AMH is 12.5, so when I told the nurse that she said that was good and I'd go onto protocol 7 - and that's the one they like people being on because it's easier and more straightforward which is great news!! All being well and providing AF decides not to mess around and there is an appointment available, we should be able to start our first cycle within roughly a week or so of the appointment!!
One thing hubby and I will have to discuss before we go back next month is how we feel about a single or double embryo transfer (SET/DET) The policy at our clinic is to only put one embryo back if you're under 35, but from speaking to other people who have had treatment there it seems that you can sometimes push for a DET and they'll allow it. I know there are risks with a multiple pregnancy, but I have read up on it quite a bit and I am leaning toward a double transfer rather than a single. Anyway, it's something we'll discuss more over the next couple of weeks and even then we'll have to see what the clinic says.
When I say we were given a pack of forms I'm not kidding, here is a list of what we have;
*A letter detailing what is in the pack
*An acknowledgement of Information provided form to sign
*A "Female partner" questionnaire
*A "Male partner" questionnaire
*Consent to contact GP
*A patient registration form
*Consent to IVF/ICSI
*"Welfare of the child" information
*Consent for use of eggs/embryos for treatment and storage of embryos
*Consent for use of your sperm and embryos for your partners treatment and storage of embryos
*Your consent to the disclosure of identifying information (one for each of us to complete)
*Information about the embryo transfer pathway
*Consent to embryo transfer pathway
Told you I wasn't kidding!!!!!!! lol
They'll keep me busy over the next few weeks anyway until our next appointment, and it's so exciting to finally be staring the next step on our journey to having a baby. I never for a minute thought this is the way we would (hopefully) be having a baby, but I guess there's nothing for it but to get on with things and hope that it works and we finally get our longed for baby.
S x
The nurse we had was really lovely, and took a lot of time explaining everything that was going to happen to us and making sure we understood it all. She took blood from both hubby and I to test for Hep A/B/C and HIV plus another AMH for me but we've had them all done before so it's not something we're concerned about at all. I also had to have swabs taken to check for infection and chlamydia (again, already had it done so not worried) but it was fine and barely even uncomfortable apart from my leg still not being great.
She also gave us a pack of forms we have to complete before starting treatment, some of them we have to do at home and the others when we go back next time. We go back 4 weeks on Monday to the ACS (Assisted Conception Services) unit and we'll get all the results then from today's tests and go over everything that will happen with the treatment cycle. I know my AMH is 12.5, so when I told the nurse that she said that was good and I'd go onto protocol 7 - and that's the one they like people being on because it's easier and more straightforward which is great news!! All being well and providing AF decides not to mess around and there is an appointment available, we should be able to start our first cycle within roughly a week or so of the appointment!!
One thing hubby and I will have to discuss before we go back next month is how we feel about a single or double embryo transfer (SET/DET) The policy at our clinic is to only put one embryo back if you're under 35, but from speaking to other people who have had treatment there it seems that you can sometimes push for a DET and they'll allow it. I know there are risks with a multiple pregnancy, but I have read up on it quite a bit and I am leaning toward a double transfer rather than a single. Anyway, it's something we'll discuss more over the next couple of weeks and even then we'll have to see what the clinic says.
When I say we were given a pack of forms I'm not kidding, here is a list of what we have;
*A letter detailing what is in the pack
*An acknowledgement of Information provided form to sign
*A "Female partner" questionnaire
*A "Male partner" questionnaire
*Consent to contact GP
*A patient registration form
*Consent to IVF/ICSI
*"Welfare of the child" information
*Consent for use of eggs/embryos for treatment and storage of embryos
*Consent for use of your sperm and embryos for your partners treatment and storage of embryos
*Your consent to the disclosure of identifying information (one for each of us to complete)
*Information about the embryo transfer pathway
*Consent to embryo transfer pathway
Told you I wasn't kidding!!!!!!! lol
They'll keep me busy over the next few weeks anyway until our next appointment, and it's so exciting to finally be staring the next step on our journey to having a baby. I never for a minute thought this is the way we would (hopefully) be having a baby, but I guess there's nothing for it but to get on with things and hope that it works and we finally get our longed for baby.
S x
Friday, 25 May 2012
The start of the next step on our journey
The day has finally arrived - we go for our first proper IVF appointment tomorrow after almost three years of TTC.
It isn't a major appointment - just bloods etc for more tests - but it's still a bit step for us as it means we're almost ready to start our first cycle.
I'll update when I come back tomorrow, but don't think there's much chance of me sleeping much tonight even although I know it's nothing to get excited about.
S x
It isn't a major appointment - just bloods etc for more tests - but it's still a bit step for us as it means we're almost ready to start our first cycle.
I'll update when I come back tomorrow, but don't think there's much chance of me sleeping much tonight even although I know it's nothing to get excited about.
S x
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Two week wait - of a different kind!
The two week wait (TWW) is normally the worst part of any cycle and the time when you can actually drive yourself insane with wondering "what if...." After TTC for so long I don't even bother with the TWW any more, however this week I have a more exciting TWW going on;
It's now two weeks today until our IVF appointment!!!
It's also almost seven weeks since my surgery, and although it's still taking longer than I'd like I'm slowly starting to be able to do more and I'm hoping that by my appointment in two weeks I'll be walking a lot better than I can manage just now.
It's exciting to think that we're almost ready to start on the next part of our journey, but at the same time it's terrifying as this is the final step on our TTC journey and if the treatment doesn't work it means learning to accept that we can't have children. I know I shouldn't really think about that part just yet, but after so much disappointment it's hard not to look at the negatives all the time. For a while I've known there was a support group in our area set up by Infertility UK, but didn't really feel ready to go because we were stuck in limbo waiting for IVF. I decided this would be the month I would go (plus it gave me an excuse to get out the house a bit while I'm still stuck so much) as I'm sure once we start treatment again I'm going to need all the support I can get without putting everything onto hubby. It wasn't a busy night (they knew not many would be along beforehand) but it was so nice to meet people who were so open and honest about treatment and how they were feeling. I didn't really talk much other than telling them where we were at just now, but next month I'll have more to talk about (and I'm sure many more questions) as we'll have had our first appointment by then.
Although this appointment is really just for bloods to be done, it's still a major step on the road as it's our first "official" IVF appointment. Next months appointment will be a lot more of a big deal as it'll be when we find out what protocol we'll be on and when we'll actually be starting!!!
S x
It's now two weeks today until our IVF appointment!!!
It's also almost seven weeks since my surgery, and although it's still taking longer than I'd like I'm slowly starting to be able to do more and I'm hoping that by my appointment in two weeks I'll be walking a lot better than I can manage just now.
It's exciting to think that we're almost ready to start on the next part of our journey, but at the same time it's terrifying as this is the final step on our TTC journey and if the treatment doesn't work it means learning to accept that we can't have children. I know I shouldn't really think about that part just yet, but after so much disappointment it's hard not to look at the negatives all the time. For a while I've known there was a support group in our area set up by Infertility UK, but didn't really feel ready to go because we were stuck in limbo waiting for IVF. I decided this would be the month I would go (plus it gave me an excuse to get out the house a bit while I'm still stuck so much) as I'm sure once we start treatment again I'm going to need all the support I can get without putting everything onto hubby. It wasn't a busy night (they knew not many would be along beforehand) but it was so nice to meet people who were so open and honest about treatment and how they were feeling. I didn't really talk much other than telling them where we were at just now, but next month I'll have more to talk about (and I'm sure many more questions) as we'll have had our first appointment by then.
Although this appointment is really just for bloods to be done, it's still a major step on the road as it's our first "official" IVF appointment. Next months appointment will be a lot more of a big deal as it'll be when we find out what protocol we'll be on and when we'll actually be starting!!!
S x
Thursday, 19 April 2012
The letter finally arrived!!!
After 12 and a half months on the waiting list, the letter finally arrived to tell us that we're at the top of the list to start treatment!!!
Our first appointment is on 26th May for blood tests/swabs, then we go back on 25th June to have the results, do consents and get our treatment dates. All being well we should be starting our first IVF(ICSI) cycle in July, which is a bit longer than we were expecting to wait but given my recent surgery it's not a bad thing to give me time to be back on my feet 100%.
So, now I have a date to work toward to get myself fit again and be ready to give our first go our best shot.
S x
P.S. We also found out on the letter that we actually get three cycles on the NHS rather than the two we thought we'd get - another yey!!!!
Our first appointment is on 26th May for blood tests/swabs, then we go back on 25th June to have the results, do consents and get our treatment dates. All being well we should be starting our first IVF(ICSI) cycle in July, which is a bit longer than we were expecting to wait but given my recent surgery it's not a bad thing to give me time to be back on my feet 100%.
So, now I have a date to work toward to get myself fit again and be ready to give our first go our best shot.
S x
P.S. We also found out on the letter that we actually get three cycles on the NHS rather than the two we thought we'd get - another yey!!!!
Monday, 9 April 2012
Leg Surgery now done.....
.... and I'm in agony!!
I was admitted last Tuesday, and then spent the whole day waiting until I was finally taken down to surgery at 3pm. Seems that the ortho team like to have their patients scared whitless before they operate though, as I spent another hour and a half sitting in the waiting bit of theatre before I was finally taken through to the theatre for my op to start.
I didn't find out until the next day what had happened (it was exploratory surgery) but the surgeon came to see me and told me that they'd reattached and lengthened the tendon, reattached the muscle in my thigh to the bone (apparently the surgeon could fit his hand between the muscle and the bone) and removed the bursa as it was inflamed. I was a bit shocked I have to say, as I'd started to think the pain was all in my mind as after 15 months of tests nothing had shown up.
I'm now almost two weeks post surgery, and the wound is healing well (aside from the bad infection I managed to have two days after getting home from hospital that is) The pain is starting to get a lot more manageable too, which is great, and I just hope it's almost the end of a very painful few months for me now it's all sorted. I still have another 4 weeks of not being allowed to walk on my leg, then it's back to the surgeon to see how it's healing and to find out if I can start walking on it again or not. I plan on working really hard at getting back to 100%, so hopefully in a couple of months I'll be back to (better than) normal and can start getting on with my life again and looking forward (?) to starting IVF.
S x
I was admitted last Tuesday, and then spent the whole day waiting until I was finally taken down to surgery at 3pm. Seems that the ortho team like to have their patients scared whitless before they operate though, as I spent another hour and a half sitting in the waiting bit of theatre before I was finally taken through to the theatre for my op to start.
I didn't find out until the next day what had happened (it was exploratory surgery) but the surgeon came to see me and told me that they'd reattached and lengthened the tendon, reattached the muscle in my thigh to the bone (apparently the surgeon could fit his hand between the muscle and the bone) and removed the bursa as it was inflamed. I was a bit shocked I have to say, as I'd started to think the pain was all in my mind as after 15 months of tests nothing had shown up.
I'm now almost two weeks post surgery, and the wound is healing well (aside from the bad infection I managed to have two days after getting home from hospital that is) The pain is starting to get a lot more manageable too, which is great, and I just hope it's almost the end of a very painful few months for me now it's all sorted. I still have another 4 weeks of not being allowed to walk on my leg, then it's back to the surgeon to see how it's healing and to find out if I can start walking on it again or not. I plan on working really hard at getting back to 100%, so hopefully in a couple of months I'll be back to (better than) normal and can start getting on with my life again and looking forward (?) to starting IVF.
S x
Sunday, 25 March 2012
A milestone and some other updates
Well, as of 7th March we're officially top of the IVF(ICSI) waiting list - woo hoo!!!! To be honest the actual date doesn't mean much as although that's the date you go on the list from nothing happens then.
After some prompting from my friend Lynn, I caved and called up the clinic (just to check you understand, nothing to do with me being impatient or paranoid that they'd forget me!) and they confirmed that we are top of the list and will be taken off the list at the end of the month when they do the waiting list. The nurse said we will receive our pack mid-April with an initial appointment for more tests (which is always a Saturday apparently for some reason) and another appointment roughly 3 weeks after that for results, consents to be signed and to get a date to start treatment. Fingers crossed it's a bit earlier than July though, goodness knows how I'll manage to wait another 3 months if I have to!!
The other thing going on just now isn't TTC related, although I did think it might impact on the start of our IVF but thankfully looks like it won't. I went for my pre-op for the surgery I've been waiting for on my leg, and was really surprised when they said I was being admitted on Tuesday for it!!! I'm pleased because I've done nothing but worry about it since then, and if it'd been a few weeks off I think I'd have made myself ill waiting. So, I'm being admitted to the hospital I work in tomorrow at 7.30am but hoping that I won't have to stay overnight and will manage to get home again the same day. The surgeon still hasn't fully decided what's actually causing the pain, so a lot depends on what he does and how much pain I'm in. All I do know is that I'll be back on crutches again for at least 6 weeks, but other than that it's just a wait and see thing really. After 15 months of being in pain I'm just glad something is happening and fingers crossed it'll stop after this.
So, a lot going on in the next few weeks to keep me busy and while away some more time waiting for fertility treatment - it's amazing how good you get at that!! lol
S x
After some prompting from my friend Lynn, I caved and called up the clinic (just to check you understand, nothing to do with me being impatient or paranoid that they'd forget me!) and they confirmed that we are top of the list and will be taken off the list at the end of the month when they do the waiting list. The nurse said we will receive our pack mid-April with an initial appointment for more tests (which is always a Saturday apparently for some reason) and another appointment roughly 3 weeks after that for results, consents to be signed and to get a date to start treatment. Fingers crossed it's a bit earlier than July though, goodness knows how I'll manage to wait another 3 months if I have to!!
The other thing going on just now isn't TTC related, although I did think it might impact on the start of our IVF but thankfully looks like it won't. I went for my pre-op for the surgery I've been waiting for on my leg, and was really surprised when they said I was being admitted on Tuesday for it!!! I'm pleased because I've done nothing but worry about it since then, and if it'd been a few weeks off I think I'd have made myself ill waiting. So, I'm being admitted to the hospital I work in tomorrow at 7.30am but hoping that I won't have to stay overnight and will manage to get home again the same day. The surgeon still hasn't fully decided what's actually causing the pain, so a lot depends on what he does and how much pain I'm in. All I do know is that I'll be back on crutches again for at least 6 weeks, but other than that it's just a wait and see thing really. After 15 months of being in pain I'm just glad something is happening and fingers crossed it'll stop after this.
So, a lot going on in the next few weeks to keep me busy and while away some more time waiting for fertility treatment - it's amazing how good you get at that!! lol
S x
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