IVF Journey (1)

I have finally decided to commence on my ivf journey last December.

Consulted with Dr LC Cheng (WC Cheng & Associates @ Thomson Medical Centre) almost a year ago, found out that I have a block fallopian tube on my left. Felt really upset as I do not understand why it happened on me. As my husband was half way through his MBA course, I have not done anything since then...

I have a very fruitful journey for the last one year. (You may refer to my blog posts )

Month 1: I started off with a month of birth control pills to let my ovaries rest. A tiny pill a day is still ok actually...

Month 2: The injections begin... hubby initially promised to assist in the injections as I have phobias of blood & needles. On the day the nurse taught us, he couldn't do it out of fear of poking his wife. As I would not want to further delay the nurse's time, I took over.

I was confidently changing the needle head, adjusting the correct dosage of medicines etc. However, just before I placed the needle into my flesh, my hands got numbed and the whole world is like spinning.... and my hand holding the needle started to shake. I took a deep breath, calm myself with a little prayer and here it goes. (The nurse said just poke it in FAST!) I did it. I have placed the needle into my tummy, but my thumb has no strength to push the medicine in....and 5 seconds later, I tried to press it harder as the other hand is pinching onto my tummy fats. Hold on and count 10 seconds before I retrieve the needles and it is done. =)

The subsequent 4 jabs I did it at home nightly around 10 pm and my hubby was always there to give me assistance and moral support. (Thanks dear...!feeling loved) It wasn't easy as each time I tried, I still need to overcome my fear. I felt clumsy at this as I have once poked in and the needle fell out due to my shaking hand, causing it to bleed right away and I need to find another place to continue with the injection. I have also accidentally drop the whole tray on the floor.....

After 5 days of injections, I went back to Dr Cheng for the 1st scan. This time my hubby joined me in witnessing the follicles growing in my ovaries. Counted 30 of them ranging from 4mm to 12mm. Dr Cheng was happy with the progress and warned me of running the risks of OHSS due to the quantity of follicles produced. So his instruction was for me to take minimum 6 to 8 egg whites daily with hugh quantities of fluid intakes.

He prescribed me with another 4 days of injections and scheduled a scan after. As each injection was costly, about SGD 200+ each, the nurses at TMC were very helpful to help me combine the leftover so that I can have some savings. (Remember to leave the left over needles with the ice pack ALWAYS)

4 days later, we went back for the scan and we counted more follicles (36). The size ranges from 4mm to 18mm. Majority of the follicles are in the range of 14mm to 16mm. Dr Cheng's strategy is to harvest as many follicles as possible for frozen ET program. I guess he noticed I might run into risks of OHSS and also usually my uterus lining might not be good with so many follicles produced. All the nutrients have gone to grow the follicles I assume. This time he told me that I have to start taking 2 jabs a day as the follicles are getting closer to the ideal size. One in the morning (to prevent ripening of the eggs) and one at night (continue stimulating the egg growth). He gave me 2 days dosage to start with and I have to return for a scan. This time, the morning injection is complicated. I have to learn to mix the solvent with the powder form of medication, suck out the medication into the syringe and expel the air before injecting on myself. (Forgot to mention that the first injection I did was a pen syringe which is very user friendly, it just need to adjust the dosage, change the needle head and poke!)

In this situation, I made sure I wake up early in the morning to prepare for the injections...Hubby also wake up extremely early to prepare breakfast for us. His gestures really warm my heart even though I have to go through those scary and painful moments for the ivf journey. Never ever I feel like giving up despite all the difficult tasks assigned. Not to mention, hubby also prayed with me everyday to give me encouragement and to seek PEACE & FAITH & COURAGE from our heavenly father.

We scanned again. This time round, bigger follicles appeared. Dr Cheng officially counted 38 follicles. 2 outliers have grown to 22mm and a soldier of armies are in the range of 16mm to 18mm. Dr Cheng aimed to harvest this army and adviced me to wait for 2 more days with injections. Everything else is on track. He again emphasized to me that he aimed to do the FET (not fresh embyros transfered due to my womb lining is not ideal).