Learning all their is to know about IVF (and wishing I knew more)

Yesterday, M. and I had our compulsory session with the fertility nurse. The objective of the session was to make sure we were comfortable with the elements of the procedure, go through different aspects and supports and through the money stuff as well.

The nurse is really supportive and her information was comprehensive, though there were times when I wished her office was set up a little better so that M. could be better included. I realise I'm the one doing the spray/injections/day surgery, but he's the one supporting me and the one who'll but up with my frantic questions if I forget something. She's given me a tonne of information to go through as well.

What I'm doing is known as the Down-regulation cycle, or the Long Down Regulation cycle. Basically it means I start treatment a week before my cycle actually starts (in fact, I started treatment today). Treatment consists of a nasal spray for up to 24 days, injections starting around day 5 or 6 of my cycle and going for around 10-12 days, then an injection to trigger the eggs into fertility. Then there's the 'egg pickup' which involves a general anesthetic, then an internal ultrasound with a needle attached (pretty cool when you think about it). Then the scientists do their magic (funnily enough, they do this in a suburb where I lived for 6 years). Finally there's the embryo transfer, followed by the horrid two week wait. During that time I also take progesterone to keep conditions all nice.

What else did she tell us? Well she reminded us that there are counselors available, and that they can help me if I'm having trouble dealing with any part. She walked me through the delightful side effects of many of the drugs. She had no problem with me continuing my ballet class, though I'm not sure she understood how strenuous some of the jumps can be. She recommended 3 litres of fluids when I'm on the injections which is going to be delightful back at work. She also gave us the great news that with my health and age, I'm in the 'golden' zone for IVF, and my chance of getting pregnant could be as high as 50% (which is huge).

So with that down, we were all ready to begin the treatments . . .

Picture from Flickr