Well ... my IVF journey is nearly at an egg ... it feels like it's been a very fast process and has gone fairly smoothly ... not sure if that's a good or bad thing!!
We went for Egg Transfer and paid the rather hefty bill of 3,900€!!!! The cost of IVF is not cheap. This will either be a very expensive baby or a the most expensive period of my life! I think the end bill was slightly more as we ended up having ICSI ... I also spent 1,000€ on the drugs so the total cost of our first IVF cycle has been nearer to 5,000€. Unfortunatly none of our eggs made it to freezing so if we have to try a second cycle we'll have to pay the full price again. Based on a normal ratio of IVF working one out of 3 times, our baby could cost us 15,000€.
I found Egg transfer itself quite uncomfortable. It's like a slighly longer smear test and as there is no pain relief you do feel everything. It's not exactly painful but you do grit your teeth a bit!
So now I am at home resting with my little embies on board. I really hope they make it. Today is 5 days past EC which means they should be turning into Blasto's which would mean they have a good chance of continuing to implantation. I think implantation should take place sometime this coming weekend. There is very little scientific reasoning as to why embryo's do or don't implant and nothing that science can do to help them. Having had a normal pregnancy and a miscarriage I can only hold onto the fact that I seem to have a good implanting history and so this time shouldn't be any different. The biologist told me the quality of my embryo's was very good so I'm holding tight onto that!!
After ET I was told to rest and do nothing for 2 days, after I am supposed to take it easy although I can resume normal life. It's been pretty hard doing nothing as I am quite an active person. My daughter is staying with my parents but will be home tonight so normal life will resume whether I like it or not ....
Whatever the outcome I am very happy with my treatment at Clinica Fertia. I would say that some of the early appointments and scans were a bit rushed at times and I wasn't always given very much information ( I got most of my info from the fab IVF forum ) but during EC and ET the clinic were fantastic and the biologist is brilliant. Clinica Fertia do need to sort out their appointment times as you always have to add on a 45 minute wait to any appointment but other than that I am very happy with the treatment I received there. If this cycle doesn't work I would def do another cycle at Fertia as I feel they have learn't a lot about me and my body this cycle and have the expertise to use that information more successfully in the future.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
IVF in Spain - Egg Collection!
Well, it's all happened rather quickly for me!
I went along to my second stims scan on Wednesday the dr told me my follicles were ready! By this she mean't they'd grown to the right size for collection. Hurrah that means that I only had to do a week of injections! I had to do one more shot that night .. it's called a trigger shot and is basically a special injection you have to take exactly 36 hours before Egg Collection. I think it matures the eggs ready for ovulation. So I did my last shot on Wednesday night at half past twelve and then spent a relaxing Thursday with no injections and nothing to do except eat a lot of protein and drink a lot of water!!!
Friday was actually a holiday here in Fuengirola but IVF clinic's don't have the luxury of holidays or weekends as they are ruled by our eggs and so they opened especially for me on Friday! I think actually in hindsight having EC on a holiday was great as we were the only people there and so had the undivided attention of the clinic and no queues or difficulty parking!! I also felt quite special as an anaethiatist, the biologist and the dr had come in especially to collect my eggs ....
The actual procedure was very very quick. I thought I'd be put to sleep but I was only sedated. I was chatting away ( in a drowsy way ) to the dr's who kept telling me I should try to be quiet and could feel a bit of prodding down below ... I thought they were just getting everything ready but then they told me it was all finished! Our appointment had been at 10.30, they started around 10.50 and I was in recovery by 11.15. I had to stay for a while so they could monitor me while the sedation wore off and my husband had to go and do his thing with a plastic beaker. He informed me after that there were some seriously hardcore magazines in his little room!
By half twelve we were allowed to go home. The biologist ( a man named Luis ) was lovely. He informed me they'd got 8 eggs and told us a bit about the procedure for fertilising them. He was there throughout the morning and was really supportive, warm and friendly. I am so glad he's going to be looking after my little eggs on their fertilisation journey!
I thought the whole team at Clinica Fertia during my egg collection were great .... they were warm, friendly and caring but also professional. I was very happy with the way the egg collection went and felt I'd been looked after well.
I was told to go home and rest and take progesterone capsules three times a day ( down below not by mouth! ) I was feeling really groggy from the anasthetic still and Luis told me to take it really easy for the rest of the day, although I should be feeling much better by tommorrow.
I took him at his word, went home and slept for two hours and then parked myself on the sofa with Sky + for the rest of the day! I spent a lot of the afternoon chatting with the girls on the IVF forum who were so supportive, one of them had been through egg collection at the same time as me. That sort of support is so important ....
I slept well on Friday and woke up feeling fine on Saturday although absolutely petrifed about how many of my egg's had fertilised. Waiting for the call was worse than waiting for a call to say you've got a job or to see if an offer has been accepted on a house ... it was horrible. Luis rang dead on 11 to say that 4 of my 8 eggs had fertilised .... hurrah we have embryo's!!!!!!! Egg transfer is scheduled for Monday, I just hope my four lovely egg's make it till then ..... stay strong egg's and keep dividing!!!!!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
I went along to my second stims scan on Wednesday the dr told me my follicles were ready! By this she mean't they'd grown to the right size for collection. Hurrah that means that I only had to do a week of injections! I had to do one more shot that night .. it's called a trigger shot and is basically a special injection you have to take exactly 36 hours before Egg Collection. I think it matures the eggs ready for ovulation. So I did my last shot on Wednesday night at half past twelve and then spent a relaxing Thursday with no injections and nothing to do except eat a lot of protein and drink a lot of water!!!
Friday was actually a holiday here in Fuengirola but IVF clinic's don't have the luxury of holidays or weekends as they are ruled by our eggs and so they opened especially for me on Friday! I think actually in hindsight having EC on a holiday was great as we were the only people there and so had the undivided attention of the clinic and no queues or difficulty parking!! I also felt quite special as an anaethiatist, the biologist and the dr had come in especially to collect my eggs ....
The actual procedure was very very quick. I thought I'd be put to sleep but I was only sedated. I was chatting away ( in a drowsy way ) to the dr's who kept telling me I should try to be quiet and could feel a bit of prodding down below ... I thought they were just getting everything ready but then they told me it was all finished! Our appointment had been at 10.30, they started around 10.50 and I was in recovery by 11.15. I had to stay for a while so they could monitor me while the sedation wore off and my husband had to go and do his thing with a plastic beaker. He informed me after that there were some seriously hardcore magazines in his little room!
By half twelve we were allowed to go home. The biologist ( a man named Luis ) was lovely. He informed me they'd got 8 eggs and told us a bit about the procedure for fertilising them. He was there throughout the morning and was really supportive, warm and friendly. I am so glad he's going to be looking after my little eggs on their fertilisation journey!
I thought the whole team at Clinica Fertia during my egg collection were great .... they were warm, friendly and caring but also professional. I was very happy with the way the egg collection went and felt I'd been looked after well.
I was told to go home and rest and take progesterone capsules three times a day ( down below not by mouth! ) I was feeling really groggy from the anasthetic still and Luis told me to take it really easy for the rest of the day, although I should be feeling much better by tommorrow.
I took him at his word, went home and slept for two hours and then parked myself on the sofa with Sky + for the rest of the day! I spent a lot of the afternoon chatting with the girls on the IVF forum who were so supportive, one of them had been through egg collection at the same time as me. That sort of support is so important ....
I slept well on Friday and woke up feeling fine on Saturday although absolutely petrifed about how many of my egg's had fertilised. Waiting for the call was worse than waiting for a call to say you've got a job or to see if an offer has been accepted on a house ... it was horrible. Luis rang dead on 11 to say that 4 of my 8 eggs had fertilised .... hurrah we have embryo's!!!!!!! Egg transfer is scheduled for Monday, I just hope my four lovely egg's make it till then ..... stay strong egg's and keep dividing!!!!!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
Shrek Forever After ...
I took my 3 year old to the cinema this week to see Shrek Forever After and we had a great afternoon!
The lovely cool air conditioned cinema was a welcome relief from the endless sun and the movie which we saw in VOS ( original sound version or English! ) was great, really funny and entertaining and great for little one's as there were lots of references to fairy tales, plus not too scary. As my 3 year old commented, 'I didn't even have to sit on your lap mummy'!
You can see Shrek in 3D or normal ... we went for normal, I think 3D might be too much for a 3 year old ... and it's on in both Spanish and English at cinema's across the country.
Afternoons in the cinema are def a great diversion in the summer and something we'll def be doing again ... Hmmm wonder if she'd like Toy Story 3?
The lovely cool air conditioned cinema was a welcome relief from the endless sun and the movie which we saw in VOS ( original sound version or English! ) was great, really funny and entertaining and great for little one's as there were lots of references to fairy tales, plus not too scary. As my 3 year old commented, 'I didn't even have to sit on your lap mummy'!
You can see Shrek in 3D or normal ... we went for normal, I think 3D might be too much for a 3 year old ... and it's on in both Spanish and English at cinema's across the country.
Afternoons in the cinema are def a great diversion in the summer and something we'll def be doing again ... Hmmm wonder if she'd like Toy Story 3?
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Babybjorn Travel Cot Light
The Babybjorn Travel Cot light is a fantastic travel cot ... it's easy to carry, easy to set up, comfortable, stylish, light and created with the highest safety standards in mind ...
It's not difficult to see why the travel cot is so popular for holiday and has recently become one of our bestsellers.
The Babybjorn Travel Cot light is readily avaliable in Spain but not so easy to buy in the UK, for this reason we have sent several cots recently to UK customers and have several enquiries per week about this product from the UK.
Delivery to the UK costs in the region of 40€ using a secure courier service and takes approx 2 - 4 days!
If you are a UK customer and would like to order the Babybjorn Travel Cot Light for your holiday then please email info@indybel.com for more information. Or check out the travel cot on our website http://www.indybel.com/. The Babybjorn Travel Cot light is avaliable in Blue or Silver and we can also supply the lovely cosy 100% organic cotton fitted sheets ....
It's not difficult to see why the travel cot is so popular for holiday and has recently become one of our bestsellers.
The Babybjorn Travel Cot light is readily avaliable in Spain but not so easy to buy in the UK, for this reason we have sent several cots recently to UK customers and have several enquiries per week about this product from the UK.
Delivery to the UK costs in the region of 40€ using a secure courier service and takes approx 2 - 4 days!
If you are a UK customer and would like to order the Babybjorn Travel Cot Light for your holiday then please email info@indybel.com for more information. Or check out the travel cot on our website http://www.indybel.com/. The Babybjorn Travel Cot light is avaliable in Blue or Silver and we can also supply the lovely cosy 100% organic cotton fitted sheets ....
IVF in Spain - First Stims Scan!
Well after a week of stim injections ( and I have to admit I've become rather attached to my injection pen ... it's absolutely true that you become completely used to injecting yourself very very quickly ) it was time for my first stim scan. This was to see how many ( if any ) folicules I have managed to grow.
I was quite pleased to discover that I have around 7 follies ... this is a fairly average number for my age I think. A lot of people get between 10 and 20 and I even heard of one person who got 40 but a lot of people also only get 3 or 4 ... so I'm happy with my 7 for now! Maybe round two they would up the med's to get a higher number. One thing I'm learning about IVF is that in general the first attempt is largely an experiment. The dr's don't know how you are going to respond until you start so on cycle two or three of IVF they have a much better idea of how your body will respond to the drugs and can alter the doses and protocol accordingly. They say there is a 1 in 3 chance of IVF working, so if we do it three times we should hit baby bingo. Unfortunatley it's a grueling process for the female body and I'm starting to wonder if I have the strength to do it three times, even with such an amazing prize at the end.
After the scan I was told to continue with my injection pen AND a new injection in the morning and a different second injection everynight ... so I am now injecting myself 3 times a day! Wow in a week I've gone from injecting virgin to injecting expert.
These two new injections are tricky, they are both the old style syringe types which are pretty hard to manouver with one hand. The night time one is even more difficult as it consists of two glass vials which need to be broken and mixed with a long needle, before transfering to a short needle for the actual injection. While attempting this last night I pricked my finger.
The syringe needles hurt a lot more going in than the pen needle, they seem blunter and wider ... nice! Pushing the liquid in rather than pushing a button is also harder ... I now realise how wonderful my lovely injection pen is! Today I feel like a pin cushion. I used to be able to see the injection spots on my tummy, now my tummy is just a mass of spots and I can't remember where I've injected anymore! The skin on my tummy hurts this morning where I've used the syringe ... I'm presuming this is internal bruising as I can't see anything on the skin, but my word it's tender underneath!
This is the reality of IVF! It's not difficult, but it's time consuming and it's uncomfortable and after a week or so you start to feel like a lab experiment. Half the injections have to be kept in the frigde and taken at particular times so you can't always go out when you want and the whole thing is fiddly and if you don't like needles quite frightening ... then there's the physical symptoms. I've been lucky as I've been stiming for 7 days now without too many physical symptoms but I'm starting to get bloated now and I'm constantly worried about my thyriod being affected.
Don't get me wrong I chose to do this and I'm glad I did, but if you are considering IVF it's important you know what you are letting yourself in for!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
I was quite pleased to discover that I have around 7 follies ... this is a fairly average number for my age I think. A lot of people get between 10 and 20 and I even heard of one person who got 40 but a lot of people also only get 3 or 4 ... so I'm happy with my 7 for now! Maybe round two they would up the med's to get a higher number. One thing I'm learning about IVF is that in general the first attempt is largely an experiment. The dr's don't know how you are going to respond until you start so on cycle two or three of IVF they have a much better idea of how your body will respond to the drugs and can alter the doses and protocol accordingly. They say there is a 1 in 3 chance of IVF working, so if we do it three times we should hit baby bingo. Unfortunatley it's a grueling process for the female body and I'm starting to wonder if I have the strength to do it three times, even with such an amazing prize at the end.
After the scan I was told to continue with my injection pen AND a new injection in the morning and a different second injection everynight ... so I am now injecting myself 3 times a day! Wow in a week I've gone from injecting virgin to injecting expert.
These two new injections are tricky, they are both the old style syringe types which are pretty hard to manouver with one hand. The night time one is even more difficult as it consists of two glass vials which need to be broken and mixed with a long needle, before transfering to a short needle for the actual injection. While attempting this last night I pricked my finger.
The syringe needles hurt a lot more going in than the pen needle, they seem blunter and wider ... nice! Pushing the liquid in rather than pushing a button is also harder ... I now realise how wonderful my lovely injection pen is! Today I feel like a pin cushion. I used to be able to see the injection spots on my tummy, now my tummy is just a mass of spots and I can't remember where I've injected anymore! The skin on my tummy hurts this morning where I've used the syringe ... I'm presuming this is internal bruising as I can't see anything on the skin, but my word it's tender underneath!
This is the reality of IVF! It's not difficult, but it's time consuming and it's uncomfortable and after a week or so you start to feel like a lab experiment. Half the injections have to be kept in the frigde and taken at particular times so you can't always go out when you want and the whole thing is fiddly and if you don't like needles quite frightening ... then there's the physical symptoms. I've been lucky as I've been stiming for 7 days now without too many physical symptoms but I'm starting to get bloated now and I'm constantly worried about my thyriod being affected.
Don't get me wrong I chose to do this and I'm glad I did, but if you are considering IVF it's important you know what you are letting yourself in for!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Baby and Pregnancy product sales at indybel.com
This July we have some great products in our summer sales ....
The Flexibath is Product of the Month and reduced from 39€ to 33€ .... PLUS a free gift!!!
We know summer in Spain is an expensive time for parents so we've also reduced our ....
Imse Vimse Washable Swim nappies, JoJo Maman Bebe UV sun protection tent, cuddlemoo toddler towels, Babybanz Sunhats and Seraphine Maternity denim skirt ....
Plus in our sales section we still have our great Birthing ball and Inch Blue speical offers on plus our Natalia baby massage oil, Skip Hop changing bags and limited edition Trunki's are all REDUCED ....
To check out all these great offers while stocks last visit www.indybel.com for pregnancy and baby in Spain ....
The Flexibath is Product of the Month and reduced from 39€ to 33€ .... PLUS a free gift!!!
We know summer in Spain is an expensive time for parents so we've also reduced our ....
Imse Vimse Washable Swim nappies, JoJo Maman Bebe UV sun protection tent, cuddlemoo toddler towels, Babybanz Sunhats and Seraphine Maternity denim skirt ....
Plus in our sales section we still have our great Birthing ball and Inch Blue speical offers on plus our Natalia baby massage oil, Skip Hop changing bags and limited edition Trunki's are all REDUCED ....
To check out all these great offers while stocks last visit www.indybel.com for pregnancy and baby in Spain ....
IVF in Spain - The First Injection
Last night I offically became a member of the self injectors club!!!
Since receiving my injection pen on Monday ( and a whole load of other scarey looking medications ) I've been slightly daunted by the size of the needle which looks a good 2 - 3 cms to me!
I watched the excellent online video which showed me how to set the pen up and do the injection and it all looked very painful and scary. Part of the problem was I was told I have to do my injections in the evening and so I spent the whole day waiting and worrying about it. If i'd had to have done it first thing in the am it would have been better!
I received lots of great advice from the more seasoned IVF girls on my IVF forum, all of them said that it looks much worse than it is and that once I'd done it I'd be amazed by how easy it is and wonder what I'd made such a fuss about ....
So last night with my daughter safely in bed and away from dangerous needles and Spain V Germany and Big Brother on the TV for distraction I attempted my very first injection! I actually did it along with the nice calm lady on the online instruction video ... this was a great way to do the first one as I did it step by step with the video and was able to pause and take a breath at each stage!
In the end I didn't faff around and just stuck the needle in and it was fine!!! When I pushed the button it stung a little bit and then I think I pulled it out a bit quickly because then it did sting for a few minutes and bled a tiny bit. My IVF friends tell me that if I do it more slowly tonight it shouldn't bleed at all but overall I felt it was a very successful first attempt and as they all said, I wonder now what I made such a fuss about ....
I did my injection just as Spain scored the goal that put them in the Semi final of the World Cup ... I take this a good omen for my IVF cycle, after all if Spain can do it then so can I!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
Since receiving my injection pen on Monday ( and a whole load of other scarey looking medications ) I've been slightly daunted by the size of the needle which looks a good 2 - 3 cms to me!
I watched the excellent online video which showed me how to set the pen up and do the injection and it all looked very painful and scary. Part of the problem was I was told I have to do my injections in the evening and so I spent the whole day waiting and worrying about it. If i'd had to have done it first thing in the am it would have been better!
I received lots of great advice from the more seasoned IVF girls on my IVF forum, all of them said that it looks much worse than it is and that once I'd done it I'd be amazed by how easy it is and wonder what I'd made such a fuss about ....
So last night with my daughter safely in bed and away from dangerous needles and Spain V Germany and Big Brother on the TV for distraction I attempted my very first injection! I actually did it along with the nice calm lady on the online instruction video ... this was a great way to do the first one as I did it step by step with the video and was able to pause and take a breath at each stage!
In the end I didn't faff around and just stuck the needle in and it was fine!!! When I pushed the button it stung a little bit and then I think I pulled it out a bit quickly because then it did sting for a few minutes and bled a tiny bit. My IVF friends tell me that if I do it more slowly tonight it shouldn't bleed at all but overall I felt it was a very successful first attempt and as they all said, I wonder now what I made such a fuss about ....
I did my injection just as Spain scored the goal that put them in the Semi final of the World Cup ... I take this a good omen for my IVF cycle, after all if Spain can do it then so can I!
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN
IVF in Spain .... Shopping for IVF!
The other day I went on an IVF supermarket shopping trip!
Apparently while taking stims it's important to drink lots of water and eat a high protein ( and low salt ) diet ...
Taking this to heart I stocked up on water, meat, fish, nuts, peanut butter, cheese and milk. As well as course as that all important fruit and veg!
It's good to be healthy anyway but there's a lot to think about with IVF.
The coffee thing is confusing me. Some doctors say cut it out completely, some say it's fine. The evidence is inconclusive. Some people claim they conceived when they gave up caffine and some studies show caffine has an effect on implantation and of course pregnancy. During my pregnancy I cut down to one cup of coffee a day and one cup of tea which was well within the recommended daily amounts. Obviously I don't want to spend 5 grand on IVF and blow it because I'm drinking coffee but I do enjoy my morning cuppa.
I'm also very mindful of other advice which suggests you should make sensible changes but not change everything as your body won't know what's hit it, it's also important during a stressful process like IVF to have a few treats ....
Bearing this in mind I've decided to stick to my one cup of morning coffee for the time being. I might try to give it up during the Egg Transfer stage but I'm not going to beat myself up about it ... after all if one coffee makes me happy then surely that's a better state for my body than being tired and stressed out!
Apparently while taking stims it's important to drink lots of water and eat a high protein ( and low salt ) diet ...
Taking this to heart I stocked up on water, meat, fish, nuts, peanut butter, cheese and milk. As well as course as that all important fruit and veg!
It's good to be healthy anyway but there's a lot to think about with IVF.
The coffee thing is confusing me. Some doctors say cut it out completely, some say it's fine. The evidence is inconclusive. Some people claim they conceived when they gave up caffine and some studies show caffine has an effect on implantation and of course pregnancy. During my pregnancy I cut down to one cup of coffee a day and one cup of tea which was well within the recommended daily amounts. Obviously I don't want to spend 5 grand on IVF and blow it because I'm drinking coffee but I do enjoy my morning cuppa.
I'm also very mindful of other advice which suggests you should make sensible changes but not change everything as your body won't know what's hit it, it's also important during a stressful process like IVF to have a few treats ....
Bearing this in mind I've decided to stick to my one cup of morning coffee for the time being. I might try to give it up during the Egg Transfer stage but I'm not going to beat myself up about it ... after all if one coffee makes me happy then surely that's a better state for my body than being tired and stressed out!
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