I have the best wife ever. The past 3 years have been the happiest I have ever been. I honestly feel so incredibly lucky to have her in my life. From the day that I met her, she has made my life infinitely richer. She is so beautiful, caring and strong and I appreciate every day we have together. Yes we have days when we bicker or are too tired and stressed but we also have many days that melt away where only we exist.
She is my favourite person in the whole universe and I am so grateful to be in love with my best friend.
She is also doing fantastic with losing weight and is 25lb's down and only has 10lbs to go to get her BMI to 29. She plans to lose some more too but to get below 30 is the main goal. We are glad our clinic accepts bmi's below 35 if you are losing weight, because if we had to start all these testing stages once she had lost weight, we would be waiting even longer for this to happen. Ironically it was her slimming world leader who suggested our clinic as she had donated eggs and knew the BMI criteria, so it gave us the head start to apply at the start of her weight loss journey especially as we knew the process took on average 6 months
Someday I know we will great mums. I have faith that it will happen and when it does, it is going to be AWESOME
Friday, 1 August 2014
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Sperm hunt
I am finding this wait now between appointments quite challenging. Thankfully life is busy at the moment so time is flying by and tomorrow it will be 2 weeks til our counselling session and 'big bloods.'
We have also been looking into our options more when it comes to sperm. Initially we just presumed we would use the clinics own bank, as it is cheaper initially and easier, but then we keep getting told of the shortage and how you could be waiting several months for a match and then you get very little information about the donor, just basic profile really. We have therefore decided that we are going to go down the route of importing sperm from Denmark, which initially costs £600 more but after 3 cycles we will recoup it back by saving £200 a cycle as sperm and shipping combined is cheaper than one vial in uk. The initial extra cost is £800 for a pregnancy slot, as in the UK only 10 families can be created from one donor and we have to pay for this law! I think it is a good thing but also a pain that we have to pay for a law we didn't create! It also is a joke because they could have 100 further children in Denmark anyway.
We briefly considered importing from America as they do not charge a pregnancy slot and meet this cost themselves and have a large selection of donors including adult pictures, but they do not buy back unused sperm and shipping is more costly and our clinic do not have a relationship with them like they do with the Danish one so they will charge us extra to import and store.
It is a minefield.
We will still have more choice in Denmark sperm bank than UK and can see a more in depth profile and baby photos. We want to have 2 or 3 children so obviously sperm is a long term investment in the mission to complete our family and we are thinking not only about baby no 1. but hopefully their brother and sisters to come :)
Seeing a baby photo will help ease my anxiety about inadvertently choosing a donor with ridiculously strong features that the child inherits and will ease that small place in my mind that will be trying to suss out if he or she resembles the donor. While I do not care ultimately who or what our children look like, I would love for them to look like my wife, because she is beautiful and I love her and I dislike the fact it will never be both our DNA in our bundles of Joy and so I at least want to see what the donor looks like so I know at least this much.
Roll on two weeks, so we can then sit around and do more waiting
We have also been looking into our options more when it comes to sperm. Initially we just presumed we would use the clinics own bank, as it is cheaper initially and easier, but then we keep getting told of the shortage and how you could be waiting several months for a match and then you get very little information about the donor, just basic profile really. We have therefore decided that we are going to go down the route of importing sperm from Denmark, which initially costs £600 more but after 3 cycles we will recoup it back by saving £200 a cycle as sperm and shipping combined is cheaper than one vial in uk. The initial extra cost is £800 for a pregnancy slot, as in the UK only 10 families can be created from one donor and we have to pay for this law! I think it is a good thing but also a pain that we have to pay for a law we didn't create! It also is a joke because they could have 100 further children in Denmark anyway.
We briefly considered importing from America as they do not charge a pregnancy slot and meet this cost themselves and have a large selection of donors including adult pictures, but they do not buy back unused sperm and shipping is more costly and our clinic do not have a relationship with them like they do with the Danish one so they will charge us extra to import and store.
It is a minefield.
We will still have more choice in Denmark sperm bank than UK and can see a more in depth profile and baby photos. We want to have 2 or 3 children so obviously sperm is a long term investment in the mission to complete our family and we are thinking not only about baby no 1. but hopefully their brother and sisters to come :)
Seeing a baby photo will help ease my anxiety about inadvertently choosing a donor with ridiculously strong features that the child inherits and will ease that small place in my mind that will be trying to suss out if he or she resembles the donor. While I do not care ultimately who or what our children look like, I would love for them to look like my wife, because she is beautiful and I love her and I dislike the fact it will never be both our DNA in our bundles of Joy and so I at least want to see what the donor looks like so I know at least this much.
Roll on two weeks, so we can then sit around and do more waiting
Sunday, 13 July 2014
Waiting for the next appointment...
We have got our appointment for counselling and further bloods in 4 weeks time. The bloods take 4 weekish to come back so hopefully in 8 weeks we will be on the list and waiting for a match and sperm. This can take days to months. We have mentally prepared ourselves for a 3 month wait, any longer than this and we plan to reassess, though I think there will be an element of we have waited this long. We are keen to avoid paying for a full price cycle as we are very keen to donate eggs too.
I want time to go quick but also realise we need to enjoy life outside of TTC too.
We have everything crossed x
I want time to go quick but also realise we need to enjoy life outside of TTC too.
We have everything crossed x
Friday, 4 July 2014
AMH
Good news in our household. My wife not only has a awesome uterus/ovaries but her AMH level has come back and is 36 which puts her in the good bracket. I feel so relieved, as the wait really stressed me out. Not even a bath or chamomile tea worked.
Now we are waiting for the appointment for counselling and 'Big bloods' which test for any infections and make sure you do not carry cystic fibrosis or other possible serious conditions. Fingers crossed we don't have too many weeks to wait for the appointment.
One step nearer.
Now we are waiting for the appointment for counselling and 'Big bloods' which test for any infections and make sure you do not carry cystic fibrosis or other possible serious conditions. Fingers crossed we don't have too many weeks to wait for the appointment.
One step nearer.
Friday, 27 June 2014
Eager Beaver
Yesterday we went into the clinic for a scan to check my wife's antra-follicle count which helps determine your ovarian reserve. We also had bloods taken to test AMH level. T was really scared prior to the scan and had convinced herself something would be wrong etc. Thankfully it all went well and her womb lining was thin, she had 24 follicles (16-30 is excellent) and the only downer was a 3cm fibroid that was tucked up in her upper uterine muscle which apparently will pose no problem due to it hiding out of the way. It was really cool getting to see T's uterus and ovaries and I just kept thinking that this is the room where our future child could be collected and where they could be put back in as cute bundles of cells and that one day when I look at a screen of my wife's uterus, I could be staring at our baby's heartbeat.
Afterwards we went for a walk in the park and for breakfast before T headed to work. It was really lovely and filled with positivity.
We now have to wait a week to get the blood results but we have everything crossed. Following that the next step would be big bloods to check for any genetic carrier problems and any infections.
Fingers crossed
My sister has penned the phrase 'Eager Beaver' to describe the journey.
Afterwards we went for a walk in the park and for breakfast before T headed to work. It was really lovely and filled with positivity.
We now have to wait a week to get the blood results but we have everything crossed. Following that the next step would be big bloods to check for any genetic carrier problems and any infections.
Fingers crossed
My sister has penned the phrase 'Eager Beaver' to describe the journey.
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Our first IVF consultation
This afternoon has been pretty lovely.
We had our first consultation today at the fertility clinic and we got a really nice vibe about the place. It is really friendly and they provide nice tea and coffee. Though we were both too nervous to drink anything. Next time we will for sure :) The nurse explained the procedure and we chatted about our options etc. My wife has to go back in 3 weeks or so after her next period to have bloods and a scan to make sure there are no problems. Hopefully that will be ok. If everything goes textbook we will hopefully be ready to commence by Nov/Dec depending on how long we wait for sperm etc. I feel excited. When she talked us through the process, it all started to feel very real. Sitting next to my beautiful wife as we watch our embryo/s getting put inside her uterus is going to be an amazing moment and I just keep focusing on this when everything gets overwhelming. I know after that you have the two week wait and potential BFN and even with a BFP the scope for a category of misfortunes, but right now all i want is that tiny cute little ball of cells and after that a baby would be very much appreciated.
Currently I am dreaming about a blastocyst rather than a baby. Our future blastocyst.
After our appointment we went for coffee and a walk along the river with our dog and held hands and talked and dreamed about everything we have to come. We do this a lot but today it just held more hope than usual
Ivf we know can be a tough old ride, but for now we are positive and energised and I honestly cannot wait to jab my best friend and future mother our children with drugs.
Hurry up menstruation. Never been more keen to get hormonal bitch wife x
We had our first consultation today at the fertility clinic and we got a really nice vibe about the place. It is really friendly and they provide nice tea and coffee. Though we were both too nervous to drink anything. Next time we will for sure :) The nurse explained the procedure and we chatted about our options etc. My wife has to go back in 3 weeks or so after her next period to have bloods and a scan to make sure there are no problems. Hopefully that will be ok. If everything goes textbook we will hopefully be ready to commence by Nov/Dec depending on how long we wait for sperm etc. I feel excited. When she talked us through the process, it all started to feel very real. Sitting next to my beautiful wife as we watch our embryo/s getting put inside her uterus is going to be an amazing moment and I just keep focusing on this when everything gets overwhelming. I know after that you have the two week wait and potential BFN and even with a BFP the scope for a category of misfortunes, but right now all i want is that tiny cute little ball of cells and after that a baby would be very much appreciated.
Currently I am dreaming about a blastocyst rather than a baby. Our future blastocyst.
After our appointment we went for coffee and a walk along the river with our dog and held hands and talked and dreamed about everything we have to come. We do this a lot but today it just held more hope than usual
Ivf we know can be a tough old ride, but for now we are positive and energised and I honestly cannot wait to jab my best friend and future mother our children with drugs.
Hurry up menstruation. Never been more keen to get hormonal bitch wife x
Monday, 2 June 2014
Woo! Lift off!
I can't wait until we have a baby. Somedays this urge is exciting and sometimes it is depressing because it hasn't happened yet.
The consultant has reviewed our application and is happy with my wifes medical/genetic and family history and we have our first consultation on Thursday. Perk of going private I suppose. Apparently they discuss what to expect and then we will hopefully have an appointment set up to get bloods and a scan to check everything is ok. The appointment takes an hour so not sure what they fill the time with.
It doesn't seem real at the moment that IVF may be a possibility and that on Thursday we are going to a fertility clinic. Part of me thinks if only we could do this at home still and it work and it be all simple and straight forward but it wasn't working for us and we didnt feel comfortable with home insemination and home donors and we are glad to be moving on.
The consultant has reviewed our application and is happy with my wifes medical/genetic and family history and we have our first consultation on Thursday. Perk of going private I suppose. Apparently they discuss what to expect and then we will hopefully have an appointment set up to get bloods and a scan to check everything is ok. The appointment takes an hour so not sure what they fill the time with.
It doesn't seem real at the moment that IVF may be a possibility and that on Thursday we are going to a fertility clinic. Part of me thinks if only we could do this at home still and it work and it be all simple and straight forward but it wasn't working for us and we didnt feel comfortable with home insemination and home donors and we are glad to be moving on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)