A Taste of IVF Over 40

I have finally found a detailed description of what happens to an embryo after it is inserted: http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/13/8/2107.pdf 
Ah … I can now make myself a cup of relaxing decaf tea.  Hmmm … what am I supposed to worry about now?  Back to the old chromosomal abnormalities I suppose.  

I have found a very good blog for information about IVF and infertility: http://www.healthline.com/blogs/infertility/2006_11_01_infertility_archive.html  The entries in the archives answer some of our common questions in a little more detail. 
Mind you, I still don’t completely understand why the embryos don’t fall out before they embed, but in an effort to appear smarter than I am [...]

I found a blog from Dr. Licciardi at http://infertilityblog.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html. He says:
“Can embryos fall out of the uterus through the cervix? Maybe they can. They do get up into the tubes. Pregnancies in the cervix are extremely rare, so I would think that the number of embryos traveling down the cervix would be pretty low. On [...]

Blimey.  I can’t wait any longer
 … c’mon little ones, burrow down and snuggle in tight … it’s test day in one week and I need a nice strong positive result. 

I feel like I am  g o i n g   i n s a n e.
Time is moving so slowly.  I feel so lethargic.  I simply cannot concentrate on anything.  This is all starting to get to my husband.  Oh, he’s being very good about it but I’m sure his patience will wear out.  I need [...]

OK.  I got it.  There are actually detailed instructions that the nurse gave me (with the syringes) that I didn’t see until now.  The needle goes into your belly.  It is a little complicated to organise the ampoules and needles (unless you’ve done it a few times I bet).
I reckon I am the first person in history [...]

I have to take two more injections.  I give myself one today and then the other one in four days.  I was surprised when I read the instructions – this hormone is obtained from the urine of pregnant women.
I am a little confused.  The nurse said I should inject it into my stomach and the [...]

Wow!  I am so over the moon!  Four good-looking embryos!  The best two are for me today and the other two will be frozen for later.
I left home in such a tiz this morning.  I was all ready to leave but I couldn’t find my sunglasses.  It’s so sunny in Melbourne today that I had to wear [...]

The easy part.  Tomorrow I shall drive into the city and get the embryos put inside me.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed because at this point I have no idea what quality the eggs are and how many of them successfully fertilised. 
Will I have any embryos left over for freezing?  Will there be any that [...]

Alright.  I had my eggs collected and there were only six.  Yes, secretly I hoped for more than six but the real crux of the matter is the quality of the eggs and embryos, right?
Let me tell you what it was like.  I checked into the Day Procedure Centre at the Freemasons Hospital at 09:15am and [...]

Oh such excitement!   I had no side effects today; I’ve been very lucky.  I just feel very protective of my belly and it feels a little weird – sort of delicate.  I like to keep it fairly still because when it moves too much it feels even weirder! … could be psychological!
We are off to the [...]

Well, I did it! It was at 10:15pm last night, whilst I was watching Medium. My husband gets up early and so he’s usually in bed by 10:00pm. He even stayed up to support me (although he couldn’t look!). Well, it didn’t hurt … AT ALL. It didn’t sting or anything. The only difference I [...]

OK … it’s started!
A nurse rang me at 02:10pm today to tell me when I was going into hospital.  I was just about to ring her but she saved me the trouble.  I am really anxious and excited.  I am to go to hospital and have my eggs picked up on Saturday morning.  Therefore, I have to [...]

OK – I am waiting patiently for the announcement of when my ‘trigger’ injection will be.  Then, they will be able to collect my eggs.  I wonder how many eggs I have?!  Such excitement!  I wish I was working right now – time would surely fly faster. 

Today I did a stupid thing. 
I forgot to prepare my injection properly before I jabbed myself.  I stuck it in me only to realise that I hadn’t set the dosage dial or pulled out the injection button.
Ew.  I had to pull it out of me and then do it again.  I guess I saw it [...]

I’m wondering about my sperm donor.  He must have been advised by now that we have selected him.  He also gets to read our profiles (I think).  I remember filling out a sheet that asked us what message we would like to give to our donor.  I hope he has a warm feeling inside and [...]

So much anxiety!  I was so excited to go to the doctor today that I forgot to take my nose spray before I left home.  Not to worry.  I took it when I got home, I was only an hour late.
He could see 8 follicles and then he found … a polyp. 
Hmmm … one of [...]

I’ve had some very slight twinges of pain in my ovaries. Both basically at the same time. I’ve got another of those headaches that make my teeth hurt. I am apprehensive about my scan tomorrow – I want to know how many follicles I have. I am praying for lots of healthy eggs. I feel [...]

So far, the only symptoms I believe I have (besides the minor ‘ouch’ of the daily injections I give myself) are headaches.  These come and go and my head feels really tense and my teeth, jaw and neck hurt. 
My mum and I were speaking on the phone yesterday and I thought I sounded a [...]

OK.  I have been sniffing Synarel twice a day – haven’t missed one.  And, I have been injecting myself with my Gonal injections daily as well – at 3pm each day.  Good job.
I went for my scan today and the lovely doctor tells me that my follicles are underdeveloped. “I’m going to have to increase [...]

OK.  I know I said we had chosen a donor yesterday.
Well, this morning the Donor Administration rang up and said they had another donor.  Goodness.  After all the deliberation yesterday I didn’t want to get my hopes up.  I went in today for a second scan and picked up the profile whilst I was there.
Well.  [...]

Now I’m getting clever.
I took my little injection to the tennis I did!  I injected myself right there in the ladies’ room at the Champion’s Bar!  It’s amazing what goes on behind closed doors.  I then went back to our little group and had two chardonnays with no-one any the wiser (except my husband who [...]

Well.
I sat very still with my skin pinched and an injection looming for at least ten minutes.  Maybe more.  Eventually I mustered up the guts to inject myself.  And then I did that again … and again.
Eventually, I actually injected myself.  In fact, I had worked myself up into such a state that I did not [...]

The scan is internal.  You don’t have your legs in stirrups but they are in a similar position. 
Good news – ready to start production!   The wall of my uterus is thin and my ovaries are happy.  Suits me!
I was coughing like a mad woman with the doctor and again with the nurse – can’t [...]

Now I just have to shake this cold/virus/bug that I have.  It has been really bad. 
I have been coughing consistently for two weeks and I am exhausted.  I also have high temperatures and a runny nose.  My husband has been sleeping downstairs because I just cough all night … ALL NIGHT!  It’s killing me.  Well [...]

I’ve just realised I haven’t made the appointment for my scan yet.  Arggh!
I should’ve made it ages ago.  They told me about it on the schedule they sent me in the mail about a month ago.  Silly me again.
Made the appointment.  Phew.  It’s for Thursday.

I have now taken the pill for the last time.I am continuing with the nose sprays twice a day.  They are now easy to take.

I am now to start to take the Synarel nose spray along with my pill (until 17th Jan, when I stop taking the pill).
It’s not too bad.  I am to take a sniff of it every morning and every evening.  The drug in the nasal spray is narafelin.  A good source of information about this [...]

OK … OK!  I am to ring the Blue Team and let them know it is Day One of my period.  OK, find the little card they gave me.  What time is it?  Argh.  OK – now I was supposed to start taking the pill wasn’t I?  OK well, it’s already part way through the [...]

Meeting with the Melbourne IVF Accounts Department allows you to find out all about how much everything will cost and how to try and get the most back from Medicare.  It is a bit fast-paced but there’s a lot of information.  The are just down the hall from the councellor’s office.  We just chatted with [...]

My husband and I have discussed having another child and how it would affect us.  We’d done this to the point that there was not much to discuss at the counselling session. 
It’s good to know this service is available if there are undiscussed issues, or issues you didn’t even realise you had.
As we are [...]

Not a biggy.  I got a referral from my IVF doctor to go to a Melbourne Pathology branch.  The lady who took my blood was kind and careful. 
They like to test you for all the regular things like rubella, aids, syphilis, hepatitis, etc.

I must say that I almost totally botched my nursing appointment.  In order to see a nurse fairly quickly (I didn’t want to waste any more time!) I had to make an appointment at a satellite clinic.  I didn’t want to waste another month.  The lady on the phone who arranged my appointment was very [...]

My husband and I went along to see our new IVF doctor.  He was on time – yay!   I was certainly optimistic, happy and positive when we breezed through the door to his office.  This quickly changed when he pointed out to me that I was over 40 and basically said that my chances were [...]

I live in Melbourne and I asked my local GP for a referral to an IVF specialist. 
It seemed to me that my GP selected an IVF doctor from the top of his head.  So, I asked him how he came about choosing this particular doctor (at Melbourne IVF) and he said this IVF doctor [...]