Stimulation

Well I've just done my third injection and that one hurt! Dan did the first one on Saturday night. I didn't look and I hardly felt it. I did it myself yesterday without any problems but tonight I think I took it too slowly and now it is rather sore! Dan will be back on duty tomorrow! The pen is super, very straight forward to use! Think I may have managed to lock the sharps box however!

Gonal F Pen - Lesson

Baseline Scan

What a day of up and downs! Went to the Newcastle Fertility Centre today for a scan to see if the down regulation had worked and thankfully it has. I was a bit worried as I have had very few symptoms so far but I think I have been lucky. Scan went fine other than a shy left ovary but I do seem to have fewer folicles now than I did at the end of July which is a bit concerning but the doctor didn't seem concerned. As I have fewer folicles, I am less likely to suffer from over stimulation so I don't need to go for as many blood tests and scans which will be easier. Unfortunately, our injection lesson didn't go too well as the nurse was unfamiliar with the pre-filled pens we are going to be using. I have found some useful videos on youtube however and the nurse at Guy's has talked me through it over the phone. It all sounds easy enough. I think it is going to be more difficult psychologically than physically! We then had a bit of a panic when the nurse from Guy's asked if we could put starting stimulation back two days, which would mean my first scan would fall on a Sunday. I pointed out that this would not be possible. Finally, we have gone back to plan A after an hour of worrying, so I will be starting injections tomorrow evening. Trying not to think about the injections will see how it goes tomorrow.

Down Regulating

Side effects are not too bad so far. Had some monster headaches and the spray makes me sneezy but I can cope with that. Feeling very tired recently but not sure if that is to do with the medication or just exhaustion from work. Half term starts today though so chance to put my feet up!

Our Schedule

After our scan at Guy's on 9th November it will be either: Egg collection (EC) on Friday 11th, followed by embryo transfer on Wednesday 16th. or EC Monday 14th and ET Friday 18th. I'd prefer the first option, as this would give me a weekend to recover from both EC and ET before going back to work each time. Will have to wait and see. We will find out after the scan on Wednesday 9th. Going to cost a fortune in last minute train fares. Let's hope it is all worth it!

Full Steam Ahead

After lots of calls backwards and forwards between answer-phones, I finally managed to speak to Chantal, the PGD nurse on Thursday and told her about the fault with the phone line. Whilst I was talking to her, the drug company also tried to ring me. I managed to arrange delivery to work for Friday and a HUGE box arrived, including a polystyrene box full of ice packs. After some confusion over the sharps box, all the right bits are now in our fridge. I have started down regulation today. I have to take the nasal spray twice a day. It tastes horrible, makes me sneeze and feel rather dizzy! Hopefully I'll get used to it. I need to go for my first scan, to check down regulation has worked, on 28th October. I've managed to arrange this scan for the Newcastle Fertility Clinic at the Centre for Life. This will save a train journey down to London but will mean paying for it ourselves as our funding is all at Guy's Hospital. Everything is a bit overwhelming at the moment. Making a concious effort to try to relax, which is hard work! Going to have a bath and get an early night.

Still Waiting!

It has been 12 days now and we are still waiting to hear back from the hospital. Our original contact number is now dead. I have sent an email to the address on the last letter we received with no response and Dan has now left messages on another two answerphones with still no response. Next step is to look for an email address for the ACU itself rather than the PGD team and hope they can shed some light. Have we started or not? Going slowly mad here!