Well, I haven't written lots about my second ivf attempt as in many ways it was similar to my first!
This time round the clinic ( Clinica Fertia in Fuengirola ) made some changes to try to ensure I got as many eggs as possible which they felt would increase our chances of having some better quality embyro's ... so they
* Scanned me every month to find the best baseline month with the most follies
* Increased my medication ( upped the puregon dose and started menopour from day 1 )
I stimmed for a day or two longer than last time and funnily enough found the injections much harder this time, maybe it was doing more a day! EC went really well, from my 14 follies, 10 eggs were collected and I went home with mild ohss which was quite painful but no pain no gain!! Two days later I had a 2 day transfer. For me this was the most terrifying part. Last time at ET we were told the quality of our embryo's were very poor and very fragmented. We had been warned that if the same thing happened it would be best to start genetic testing or look into other options. However wonderfully and amazingly we had 4 perfect top grade lovely embryo's! The dr said it was like looking at the embyro's of two different women! 2 embryo's were put back and 2 frozen ... I can't tell you what a difference it made to our positivity knowing we had produced such wonderful embryo's after last time. First time round I left the clinic after ET in tears, this time I left on cloud nine knowing we had the best chance we could have ...
And so began the 2ww ... as usual week one was fine ( the ohss was painful and I did look 6 months pregnant ) but by week 2 I was becoming a wreck! On my first cycle I started spotting at 10dpt so getting past that was my milestone. 10 days came and went and no spotting, I did have cramping and other pre menstral signs but I also felt different to my last cycle and def more hopeful.
On official test day I had to go to get a blood test. I was so nervous and went shopping afterwards. The clinic rang a few hours later .... BFP!!! Big Fat Positive! Hurrah I'm pregnant!
Obviously with my history of miscarriage nothing is certain yet. I have my first scan at 6 weeks at the end of this week and I am petrified of seeing no heartbeat for a second time. But on the plus side I know we made great embyro's this time, I know I can still get pregnant and we have frosties in the freezer which would make a third attempt much easier. But for now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my wonderful clever embyro makes it this time .... !
The moral of my story is that you can have a disasterous first cycle and a very good second cycle, so don't give up if it didn't go to plan first time. I might not stay pregnant but it was a very different story for this cycle and a very different cycle from day 1 ...
So what did I do differently?
This is what everyone wants to know ... well this is what I changed 2nd cycle ....
* I started having acupuncture from about 3 months before EC. I found a wonderful acupuncturist who specialised in fertility and she worked very hard to stimulate more follies, increase the quality of my eggs and improve on my general wellbeing. I believe 100% that the acupuncture worked for me. I had one session per week and two on the day of ET as well as two in the 2ww. I am still having them now!
* I took Royal Jelly and Omega 3 as well as Pregnacare Conception which I took in my first cycle. Royal Jelly is supposed to improve egg quality and fertility and Omega 3 is an anti oxident and embyro's like a nice anti oxident environment apparently! I stopped the Royal Jelly after EC
* As before I drank tons of water and ate tons of protein once I started stimms
* I chilled out!! We moved house 2 days before I started injecting and I firmly believe that having to deal with movers and packing mean't I had no time to think about ivf and was much more chilled. During stimms I was busy unpacking and therefore not stressing. I also carried on as normal with my daughter, taking her to school etc ... last time family took over, this time we managed by ourselves and I think without the fussing ( well meaning I know ) I just got on with stuff more easily
* I didn't rest up after ET! My clinic recommend 2-3 days sofa rest and no movement and then taking it easy. It didn't work for me last time and I didn't feel good staying on the sofa. Family practically strapped me down on in and I just felt like an invalid and frustrated. This time I rested the afternoon of ET but still padded around the house making dinner, putting my daughter to bed etc. The next day we stayed at home in the morning but then I took my daughter to the park to meet her friends and although I sat in the cafe it was nice to be out and about. We nipped to shops after before going home to relax. The next day we went on a family day out and had a real laugh. We had a little work and lunch out ... For me, all that was so so much better than sitting at home obsessing ...
I am very happy with the treatment I got at Clinica Fertia this time round. I felt they were positive but honest with me and wanted to do the best for us. They seemed more friendly this time round, I think they knew me better and maybe I was more relaxed with them too ... it was a more informal cycle which was nice.
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