On from the Chapter 1....
We now had to face the decision on what we were going to do to have a family. Natural remedies hadn't worked, ovarian diathermy hadn't worked and fertility medication hadn't done anything. I had to now either face my worst fear - IVF or continue on the path we had been on for the last 3 years which was going no where. I remember saying over the previous 3 years that I would never do IVF because it was too expensive and too emotionally difficult. I had to now face the fact my options had run out for the other treatments and IVF was now my only solution if I wanted to have a family.
So we bit the bullet and started the process in mid 2011. It was a lengthy and costly process in total with many different stages - the first stage required me to take lots of different medications and to self administer injections daily over a period of a few weeks. I hated this with a passion and thankfully my sweet husband became nurse and did these for me because there was no way I could do it myself. This first stage was to stimulate egg production so that they could be harvested under a General Anaesthetic and to be fertilised "in a test tube" so to speak. Thankfully everything went smoothly with the egg stimulation process and I successfully went for my egg retrieval with 24 healthy eggs being retrieved. Some women never make it to this stage which is heart breaking for them. In the recovery room after my retrieval there was a lady across from me who had only got 1 healthy egg out of her harvest. It left me feeling blessed and very sad for this women. I hope that egg turned into a little bundle for her.
The second stage began when the fertility clinic then placed my all my eggs with hubby's "deposit" in a dish together and let them work their magic together. Each day the fertility scientist would call us letting us know how many eggs had fertilised initially. We had 18 successfully fertilise - I freaked out over this number because I did not want to have 18 babies. However over the 5 day period of fertilisation and some embryos did not continue to grow to the next stage. So in the end we had 7 embryos survive to the blastocyst stage, which is where they are now ready to be transferred into your uterus when required.
The third stage began in late September 2011 when we had one of the fresh embryo's transferred, while the remaining 6 were frozen. I can't begin to explain the feelings that were going on inside of me when we had the embryo transfer done. Fear, Excitement.... and HOPE were just some things swirling around in my brain! However it was so hard not to get too excited as there was a 45% chance it may no work. We walked out the clinic door hand in hand hoping this will be finally our chance to have a baby of our own.
The two week wait began. It was one of the most excruciating times of my life. Just waiting to see if this little embryo has attached succesfully and we can rejoice in a pregnancy. The last week of our waiting period we left for a week away in Melbourne. It was a good time away and I enjoyed it as it kept my mind off the "wondering" and "maybe's" that were swirling around in my head. The night before we were to fly home I started experiencing some cramping and period like pain. I started getting concerned and prayed that it was not the end of this little embryo. We flew home the next day and during the trip home I started experiencing some light bleeding. I was in a state by the time we arrived home. This couldn't be happening, this was suppose to work. I was praying that this light bleeding was from the embryo attaching to the uterus wall which can sometimes occur. We left in it God's hands and prayed his will be done! A hard call to make but it really was out of our hands.
The next day we tried to carry on with life hoping and praying everything would be ok. We went to visit some friends and during that visit my worst fears became reality! I could feel more severe cramping and heavier blood loss. Our first IVF cycle was a failure - We were devastated!
The third stage began in late September 2011 when we had one of the fresh embryo's transferred, while the remaining 6 were frozen. I can't begin to explain the feelings that were going on inside of me when we had the embryo transfer done. Fear, Excitement.... and HOPE were just some things swirling around in my brain! However it was so hard not to get too excited as there was a 45% chance it may no work. We walked out the clinic door hand in hand hoping this will be finally our chance to have a baby of our own.
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| In Melbourne.... |
The two week wait began. It was one of the most excruciating times of my life. Just waiting to see if this little embryo has attached succesfully and we can rejoice in a pregnancy. The last week of our waiting period we left for a week away in Melbourne. It was a good time away and I enjoyed it as it kept my mind off the "wondering" and "maybe's" that were swirling around in my head. The night before we were to fly home I started experiencing some cramping and period like pain. I started getting concerned and prayed that it was not the end of this little embryo. We flew home the next day and during the trip home I started experiencing some light bleeding. I was in a state by the time we arrived home. This couldn't be happening, this was suppose to work. I was praying that this light bleeding was from the embryo attaching to the uterus wall which can sometimes occur. We left in it God's hands and prayed his will be done! A hard call to make but it really was out of our hands.
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| Melbourne City @ Night |
The next day we tried to carry on with life hoping and praying everything would be ok. We went to visit some friends and during that visit my worst fears became reality! I could feel more severe cramping and heavier blood loss. Our first IVF cycle was a failure - We were devastated!
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