TTC on year on...

WOW. It has been a whole year since I last updated this blog. We started our first IVF cycle as planned last year but this didn't go well. My wife under responded and our cycle got cancelled. We managed to convert it over to IUI as she did have 2 follicles that had grown. The result of this was a BFN. It was really difficult as IVF is suppose to be some miracle intervention and everybody seems to have such success with it. After this failure, we ended up taking a break for several reasons.

She had been suffering from stomach pain for a few months and the drs had put this down to indigestion and had put her on an antacid. During the beginning half of last year, the attacks started to get more frequent and she was referred for scans etc. and it turns out she had gall stones and subsequently her liver function was all over the place. She was put on a waiting list to have her gall bladder out. We couldn't have carried on TTC with all this happening so we had to wait. In the end this was done in July. She then had to recover from this. Her liver function went back to normal and the pain attacks stopped. Apparently her gall bladder was chronically messed up and was definitely something that had to be removed. She also ended up with a post surgery infection too due to the infected gall bladder. We spent a glamorous evening down at the walk in center. This cleared up though with antibiotics.

We also bought our very first home last year and moved in, in August. It is a 3 bed with lots of room to grow our family. While renting would not have been the end of the world, it is so lovely owning our own home. As we had prioritized IVF, it was something we thought was years off. Thankfully our parents clubbed together and gave us the remaining money we needed towards a deposit, so we used the rest of our savings on our house deposit. We are glad we did though. As this house feels special and I have an overwhelming sense of being 'home' whenever i walk through the front door.

We decided that following the failure of IVF #1 and the fact we were unable to continue with egg sharing, which made their prices more reasonable, we decided to move clinics as we had not been happy with the care we received and also the extra costs that they added on to cycles, that were not only unnecessary but something that our other local clinic did not even do. Our first clinic insisted on me having an infection screen done to check for HIV, HEP B etc under the guise of 'welfare of the child' and tried charging £150 for the privilege. Luckily I donate blood and they were willing to accept a letter from then saying that I carried no blood borne viruses. They also got really arsey when I would not give consent for my physical description to go on their sperm donor match form. I pointed out that as a female, I did not want an exact match to my features and would just like my hair and eye colour noted. I also pointed out that I was a heath care professional who was paying thousands to have a child so the whole welfare of the child thing is complete bollocks, as I could have had sex with any old bloke and got pregnant. They also charged £750 for their sperm and if we were to import it from another clinic they wanted to charge us £500 just for importing it (not including cost of the sperm and shipping that we would have had to have paid!) They also used to shout confidential information out at the reception desk which was directly next to the waiting room, so the entire of the city new that they had cancelled our cycle and pretty much the whole tale. The final nail in the coffin was when our second scan showed she was still under responding and the nurse said "Are you actually injecting the medication?" as if we were just squirting it out of the window (also bearing in mind I administer injections as part of my job!). It was the most patronizing stupid comment ever.

When we moved to our new clinic, I asked when I needed my bloods taken, and they were like erm what are you talking about? Turns out they don't do them and the sperm matching was literally just her handing us a list and being like "Pick one?" and when we said that we were thinking of shipping sperm from America and inquired about the additional costs, she was like erm what additional costs? You just pay for the sperm and shipping. I even asked her again confused and said "Yes, but how much do you charge us for not using your sperm bank?" She looked at me really weird and just repeated "Nothing" haha. We seemed so perplexed by the difference in both their attitude and practice. It was a pleasant surprise though.

Another issue that cropped up was that when we referred ourselves to our local NHS attached clinic, we also transferred my wife's endocrine care from London due to her raised prolactin. She met with the new consultant in November who got a copy of her notes from London and immediately thought she saw a tumour on her pituitary MRI that had been missed. She ordered a repeat MRI and sure enough, she does have a benign tumour! She restarted her medication for this in January and her Prolactin levels are now much lower again. We were suppose to start IVF#2 a month ago, but her CD2 bloods noted her elevated Prolactin and the fertility consultant would not let us continue with the cycle until her levels were reduced. We found our last week that her levels have gone from 1100 down to 500. So he's given us the thumbs up to start.

Today is CD 1... Scan and LH/FSH bloods in the morning and we start stabbing on Friday morning. We have had all the bloods in our fridge for a month now, after the false start of last month. We are just keen to get going now

Sorry this post has been very word heavy. Having a year off TTC has been difficult but we are in a much better postion now than we were a year ago. My wife is in much better health (we didn't know she wasnt last year though) and we have our lovely home and a clinic that I have faith in.

Hopefully in November, we will be introducing our little pumpkin :)

This will be our year

Goodbye 2014! Hello 2015!

2014 has been a pretty good year. Especially for my wife. She started her new job in January on a rotation post, she then secured a non rotation post in her favourite place and to top it off got a promotion a few months later and hopped up a band completely. This was such a relief as we were worried that leaving London and moving up north would hinder careers more, but that hasn't been the case. I would have moved up my banding more in London but I will catch up in a year or so and I enjoy my job more here so it is worth it.The NHS is just as political but the staff are far friendlier and that makes all the difference. I also finally got my driving licence which was something I had been putting off and dreading and it was my 2014 new years resolution and after failing 3 times it was 4th time lucky in November :)

My nephew also started school and we have really got to know him and he is such an awesome funny guy, before the move we only got to see him occasionally and didnt have a close relationship like we do now. We also reconnected with my old best friend and her husband. I have known her since primary school and we lost touch a bit when we both went away to university and they had a beautiful baby girl in March so it has been lovely getting to know old friends again, making new friends and seeing much more of my family again which was a main point to our move up


My wife also lost 2.5 stone and got her reproductive system the seal of approval to commence with IVF egg sharing. We start our first cycle in 27 days! Essentially her next period is when we get stabby stabby and hopefully finally become mummies. We did our last home insemination in March 2014 and applied for egg sharing in May so we are glad we are almost there. We started trying in January 2013 so it feels like 2 years of hoping and praying and we really hope that we get first time lucky with IVF!

We are also converting our Civil Partnership over to a marriage too in a couple of weeks on our second wedding anniversary :)

Flipping heck

Everything is going to plan and we are starting IVF Next month :D Sperm is reserved and we will commence stabbing in around 5 or 6 weeks.

Guns are blazing!

Exciting news! We have been matched with a egg recipient and donor sperm and start treatment in probably January if everything goes to plan. So exciting :) Happened way sooner than we anticipated which is obviously awesome! We can't wait to get going but it is also terrifying!

Eeeeeee x

Still waiting

We have now been waiting for 1 month and I havn't bugged the clinic yet :)

Estimated waiting time was 3 months so potentially 2 months to go. Though we are being realistic and it may be a bit longer. Time is going pretty fast though. been doing alot of nights which always makes the weeks fly by.

Protocol

Yesterday we had our first consulation with the consultant and we discussed proceedings and were given our ivf protocol. She is going to be on a short protocol. It was exciting and makes it feel very real. After 2 years of dreaming about our family and trying for a year in 2013, we are finally getting there :) The only thing slightly dudusjshwur was that she is CMV negative which means it will be a bit harder to match us with donor sperm but we will be waiting around 3 months on average for a egg recipient match so hopefully it will all come together.

By new year I hope this is all
sorted

Post appointment caramel latte before a long night shift and waiting room entertainment. Wheres Wally? :D

Green light

We had a lovely weekend after spending the past couple of weeks working long and different schedules. Friday night we went to the cinema and had our first Pumpkin Spice latte of the year. Then Saturday we met a couple of friends and their 6 month old daughter for breakfast and then we went for lunch with my sister at a lovely garden centre that do amazing cakes etc too. and we looked round the antique centre in the village. Today we chilled out and went for a coffee and a walk around a local museum and park. Autumn is definitely in the horizon and it is our favourite season.

On Saturday we got home to a letter on the doorstep which was from the fertility clinic telling us that my wife has been accepted for egg sharing IVF. We have an appointment with the consultant in 10 days time to discuss things in more depth etc and are just waiting for a recipient match now, which will hopefully only take a couple of months. It is very exciting knowing that all we are waiting for now is a match and then we will be starting IVF. Waiting times can be days to months depending on how many other donors they have with the same chacteristics etc. We were told they have more donors than recipients at present due to a recruitment drive but we are hoping that as recipients also know they have no waiting list that more women needing donor eggs will be going through the doors. We are just hoping that by new year we are starting, as that will be something to celebrate and a good way to start a new year.

My wife is also still going with her weight loss and now is only 5lbs away from her first target of getting her BMI to 29. Considering she started with a BMI of 36, she is is doing amazing and I am so proud of her. She is always beautiful to me but it is nice knowing we are going into this in the best possible shape. I am sure she will probably even get it down to 25 by the time we start. She is awesome.

So hopefully 2015 will be our year finally x