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!

A touch of Red ... Line

When we started our online baby site Indybel a couple of years ago we shopped around for a logo and web designer and met with several companies. None were quite right and then I remembered Redline whom I had met while working for another company. We immediately liked working with Redline as they are a very 'female' friendly company. This is important as many companies over here are run by egotisitcal males who don't really think women should be in business! ( It's true! Sorry guys ) The girls who run Redline are both hugely talented and very supportive of small businesses. We also felt Redline were right for our logo as we felt that a logo for a baby store should be designed by women but most of all they gave the best pitch!




Two years on ( and having received many complements about our logo, we still have a good working relationship with Redline. As well as the logo, they have designed our flyers which again we've had huge compliments about ( One man even told me they were the most professional looking flyers he'd seen on the Coast! ) our business cards, delivery labels and exhibition banners. They are just about to start work on our new catalogue which we are very excited about.



In this climate of chop and change we are really pleased to have been able to secure a good relationship with a company that we value and enjoy working with. Redline make design a hugely relaxing process which is great and their prices are very reasonable.



Redline are based in Marbella and specialise in graphic design, marketing, exhitibions, pr, web design, SEO, copywriting and much much more .... Check out their website at www.redlinecompany.com

IVF = I'm Very Famous !

The only day while ranting on here about how taboo the subject of IVF is, I started thinking about celebrities who may have had IVF. Jo Joyner who plays Tania Branning on Eastenders recently gave birth to IVF twins and gave a number of interviews about her IVF experience which she said she felt compelled to do as so few people speak out about it ....

So, I did a little research and am proud to announce that I am in extremely good company!

So here, just for fun, is a little list of celebrities who have ALLEGEDLY had IVF!

1. Courtney Cox and David Arquette suffered numerous miscarriages before turning to IVF. They now have a little girl CoCo and hope IVF will provide her with a sibling ....

2. Christine Brinkley sought IVF to have her third child ....

3. Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton had a little girl naturally in 2007 after several rounds of IVF and clomid ....

4. Marcia Cross from Desperate Housewives conceived her twins following IVF treatement ....

5. Celine Dion is currently pregnant with twins following years of IVF ..... her son was also conceived with fertility treatment ....

6. Hugh Jackman and his wife tried IVF for years before turning to adoption ....

7. Nicole Kidman ALLEGEDLY conceived her little girl following months of fertility treatments

8. Jennifer Lopez ALLEGEDLY conceived her twins via IVF although this has never been confirmed

9. Katie Price and Alex Reid are rumoured to be looking into IVF .... ALLEGEDLY!

10. Julia Roberts twins are also rumoured to have been concieved via IVF although she continues to deny any fertility treatment ....

11. Jane Seymour suffered multiple miscarriages and years of fertility treatments before finally having twins ....

12. Brooke Sheilds conceived her daughter after several IVF cycles ...

13. Emma Thompson went through several rounds of IVF in the hopes of giving her daughter a sibling. Eventually she and her husband adopted instead.

14. Trinny Woodall gave birth to her daughter after 9 failed attempts at IVF and two miscarriages

Aqua Park - Mijas Costa

Yesterday we went to the Mijas Costa Aqua Park for the first time. Our three year old had a great time and I have to say it was a really good day out!








At 18 euros per adult it's not cheap and that's before food and drinks but children under 4 can go in free which takes the edge off! We arrived at 11.30 and only had to queue for about 5 minutes which wasn't too bad although I'd imagine that July and August are a lot busier. We then secured beds ( which cost 3 euros for two ) right by the chidren's pool, so the perfect spot to watch the kids and sunbathe at the same time ... bliss!

The children's area is very nice. A large pool divided into two by a bridge houses a number of different slides and water type attractions such as elephants with water coming out of their noses and walkways under showers etc ... there are smaller slides for the really little ones and the water is thigh deep on adults so you do need to keep a close eye on toddlers but overall there was certainly enough to keep our energetic tot entertained for a good six hours. I woudn't necessarily recommend it for children under 3 but for 3 and over it's great ....

We had lunch at the restaurant which was clean and quick and chicken and chip type meals cost approx 4 euros per person so not too bad. There are numerous smoothie, ice cream and waffle stands dotted around the place too ....

For the adults there are number of different slides, a couple of swimming pools ( for kids too ) the wave pool ( which didn't have any waves while we were there ) ... grass areas and picnic areas. There is also an indoor games room, mini golf, trampolines and shows. The highlight of the day for my daughter was face painting in the water ... a rather odd concept but one that certainly pleased her!

The toilets were very clean and well maintained and you can rent lockers for your valuables for the day. The park was actually very well run with good queue management and a nice atmosphere ... but I couldn't say how it would be in high tourist season!

My main and only gripe has to be that the water was COLD ! I really thought the water would be slightly heated and more pleasurable but it was pretty cold and it was a hot day so it shouldn't have been that cold. I'm sure it must be heated when they open in April and even in September. Aside from that we all had a great day out and I'd def recommend it for anyone on holiday in the Fuengirola, Marbella, Malaga area or if you live here with little one's!

The Mijas Costa Aqua Park is situated just off the N340 in Fuengirola. ( Marbella to Malaga direction ) Take the first exit after passing the Miramar center on your left .....

Summer Holidays are here!!

Well it's that time of year again when the little one's break up from school for ..... gulp ... TWO MONTHS!!!!!!!

As much as I'm looking forward to having my little girl at home with me for a while and not having to get up to take her to school, two months is a long long long time!

A lot of parents opt for summer schools and to be honest if I didn't have family out here for most of July and August I'd be thinking about this too. The truth is it's just too hot a lot of the time to be constantly outdoors and so little one's get bored after a while and thinking up daily acitivites can be really hard. It's especially difficult for working parents or those without the support of extended families to help ....

There are a couple of great sites for parents looking for activities for their children in Spain over the summer. If you are on the Costa del Sol check out my friend Aimee's site Kids in Marbella for little one's and babies in the marbella area. For the rest of Spain Mumabroad is a great site packed choc o bloc full of stuff to do .....

IVF in Spain ... Getting Ready ....

Well ... we are now officially on our IVF journey. On 18th of June I began to take the pill which is my clinic's verison of DR ( Down regging - preparing your body, closing down your cycle so the dr can start with a fresh slate so to speak ) and on July 5th I start stimming.

As exciting ( and nerve wracking ) as it all is, I feel it's important to be realistic ... at this stage the chances of getting as far as ET ( egg transfer ) are slim and that's miles before getting a bfp! ( big fat positive pregnancy test result )

So how does it all work?

.... As someone who up until a few months ago had never given IVF a passing thought I've had to learn a lot in a short space of time. But what I've learn't is really incrediable. It's amazing to think only 20 years ago women didn't have this opportunity and with more and more women suffering from infertility these days it's fantastic that something like IVF exists at all.

I do get a bit cross with people acting like IVF is a disease or infertility is an illness ... these days women who get pregnant just by dropping their knickers are the minority whereas women who struggle are the majority and yet we are labelled as odd and treated with sympathy. We are not ill thanks!

Worse are the awful people who ask 'when are you going to have another ... or when are you going to have children'. It's incrediably rude, I don't go around asking 'when are you going to lose weight, or when are you going to get your roots done'. I have some choice awnsers stored up for these people but don't think I'll ever be brave enough to use them! Worse are the people who say 'We only tried once and got pregnant, we got pregnant by accident, we weren't even trying' .... Grrrr .... just go away you insensitive thoughtless people!!!

The truth is IVF is incrediably common these days and I confidently predict that in twenty years time it will be the norm in terms of the favoured method of conception. The other week I was chatting iwth a friend who had two lovely little children and it turned out she'd had fertility treatment for both. The point is people just don't talk about it at dinner parties etc but I'd be very suprised if you didn't know several people who have suffered from fertility issues.

At the moment I veer towards panic and excitement that I am able to have a go at this amazing procedure. I've been told that there is nothing so amazing as seeing your 'baby' at cell stage, something you never get to do with a natural pregnancy.

BUT.... to get back to my point .... How does IVF work ?.....

In short, I take a lot of horrible drugs, inject myself, bloat up, become moody and hormonal and probably mess up my overactive thyroid meds while hubby doesn't have to do much at all ... then I go for scans everyday to chart the growth of my eggs.

Basically I'll be injecting stimms ... ( hormone stimulants ) which should make me grow approx 20 eggs on the chosen cycle rather than one ... ( no wonder I'll be moody! ) The thing is I might not grow 20 eggs, my eggs may not do well or horror of horrors I can over stim and they'll mature before the clinic gets a chance to get them out.

If we do get enough eggs and they are okay for egg collection then we do EC and hubby makes his deposit. Now comes the scientific bit ... if hubby has enough strong swimmers they'll swish them around in a testube with my good eggs and hopefully some will fertilise. Then you go away and have a sleepless night and wait to see if any have fertilised and if those which have are dividing ( cells ) in the right way.

Even someone with a good number of eggs might only end up with one or two that fertilise. And ... ideally you want enough to pop two back in and two in the freezer!

So ... then they grade them and a day or two later ( if you are lucky ) you go back for ET and hope you get two back in that are looking like they could be healthy embrio's and hopefully a couple more become frosties ( frozen eggs! ) ... ideally then if this cycle doesn't work you can have FET ( Frozen Egg Transfer )

Oh and don't forget if you go privately like we are this all costs a small fortune which counts for nothing if you end up with a BFN and if your cycle is cancelled mid way through I presume you lose the money already spent .....

We've got lots of things counting against us ...

* at 37 I'm at the wrong end of the success rate ... at 37 it's actually okay but at 38 your chances drop dramatically.

* Then there's my overactive thryoid which could be affected by the stimms. So if that goes out of sorts then we'd have to cancel the cycle as if I did get a BFP with my thyroid not under control then it can lead to miscarriage.

*Then there's hubby's migraines, kidney stones and ulcers which mean he's on a cocktail of pills which aren't great for fertility

* ...and oh and did I mention that during EC and ET I have to basically stay in bed which is hard with a toddler to look after

* ...and IF you get past all that you face the joys of the 2ww otherwise known as the two week wait, when you basically wait for the BFP or your period, all the while popping hormones that make you feel all over the place ... lovely can't wait for that bit!

It's all about PMA apparently... positive mental attitude ... So the above is the very LAST time I am going to have negative thoughts! My PMA is all about telling myself daily that the IVF will not only work but that I'll have twins! Ha ha, okay we can't afford twins and would have to move house, get a new car, give up my life for 2 years etc ... but hey if it works then I'd def be overjoyed with literally two for the price of one!!

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN

IVF in Spain - Choosing a clinic in Spain ....

Well it looks like our IVF journey is finally getting underway!

To recap, having conceived our daughter ( and a miscarriage ) naturally we are now just a year later faced with 'fertility' problems. It seems that my tubes have become miraculously blocked for no apparent reason and my husband has slightly 'lazy' swimmers! So together we are not doing a good job in the reproductive arena!

In the end we chose Clinica Fertia in Fuengirola over Ceram in Marbella. This was a very difficult decision and I feel like I should outline the reasons here for anyone who may be in a similar position to myself. I'm sure if this cycle ends in a BFN ( big fat negative - pregnancy test result ) we'll be thinking we should have gone with Ceram and maybe still will. While IVF does have a promisingly high success rate the chances of a BFP ( big fat positive ) in my age group are approx 50 - 60% so nothing is guarunteed, in fact far from it.
As someone on a wonderful IVF forum that I've become a frequent poster on commented, it would be amazing if IVF were a procedure with guarunteed success as it would make it easier and I have no doubts that in my daughters lifetime that may well happen ... for now though it continues to be a lottery ... with not too bad odds!

So why did we choose Clinic Fertia .... well mainly and this is important it's about 5 mins from our house. When doing IVF you have to visit the clinic frequently for scans, mini op's and tests ... Ceram is a good half an hour away and unfortunatly in a zone where parking is a nightmare. For simple logistical reasons CF won this point.

My tubes were actually diagnosed at Ceram and I received very good treatment there from the dr on my 3 consultations. I have to say the receptionist was not the friendliest woman I ever met in my life though .... nor someone you want to see when you are confronted with fertility problems. You want to see a nice smiley face. I went to Clinica Fertia where the receptionists were more friendly and the dr was also very nice and reassuring and most interestingly disagreed with the Ceram diagnosis that all was lost for my little tubes! I felt this was an interesting point. On the downside I have now had 3 appointments at Clinica Fertia and at every one have had to wait at least 30 minutes, even first thing in the morning ... Ceram were incrediably good at keeping their appointments on time ....

I googled the two clinics like mad and couldn't really find anything conclusive about either ... both had good and bad reviews on the net and both seemed to have good stats. In the end a friend of a friend said that she'd tried both and would def recommend Clinica Fertia over Ceram.

So in the end we chose ( not easily ) Clinica Fertia.

To be honest I don't know whether we made the right decision but it feels right at the moment. Having said that if it doesn't work at Clinica Fertia or the experience is not positive, I wouldn't hesitate in trying again at Ceram. I haven't heard anything particularly negative about Ceram, it was just that for this first try Clinica Fertia is more convienient ....

I hope this helps someone who finds themselves in the same situation as me ( although I also hope no one does ! )

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Update 12 /01 /11

I am now delighted to say that I am nearly 12 weeks pregnant with twins following our second cycle at Clinica Fertia in Fuengirola. Despite some dodgy time keeping I have nothing but praise for this clinic who have guided us through two cycles and given us the amazing opportunity to have twins. I believe the clinic have always been honest and fair with us and worked creatively to improve our chances following a fairly disasterous first cycle. Many thanks Clinica Fertia!!!

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN CLICK HERE