Day 5 and all is well

It's a while since I last posted and its been a big few days. I now have a new job, which starts on Monday. Not sure if starting a new job and my first IVF cycle within a week of each other is a test of 'how much pressure can I put myself under all at once' or just plain crazy.

Anyway, to add to the complications of my life, yesterday I flew to Melbourne for a funeral. A close friend's Dad had died. He was 84 and not in very good health and had had enough of living a low quality of life, so he was ready to go. Funerals are never easy, even when the person is old. It made me sad to see my friends so sad and missing their Dad. It also made me think how I will feel when my own Dad dies - it will just be so hard to lose my parents. Thankfully, neither of them look like going anywhere yet.

So, more juggling of injection timetables were needed to fit in with flights and so on. I had my first blood test while stimming on Thursday (Day 3) and my E2 (estradiol) level was 513 IU. The nurse said this was really good - showing that I was responding to the FSH but not too much. In fact Dr D thought that it was a great response, given my age. So I got a big 'tick' and was really happy. Good response to stimulation - another hurdle overcome.

I discussed moving my injection time from 8.3oam to 7am so I can get to the clinic for blood tests and u/s and still get to work on time. She said it should be ok and I am now moving my injection time back 15 mins a day so that it will be 7am for Monday. I am still tolerating the drugs really well. I am drinking gallons of water to keep the headaches away and it seems to be working. Sometimes I am getting a bit of blood at the injection site but not always, and sometimes it stings more than others, but generally it is all fine.

Monday, as well as being my first day at my new job, is also my first IVF cycle ultrasound. It is very exciting and I can't wait to see what the follicles look like.

Needless to say, I am back at the top of the rollercoaster again. It is great to finally be moving through the cycle and all going well so far. I also think the chances are good for an egg pick-up some time next weekend, although that is purely based on my guess work. From my highly scientific research (on the internet!), it looks as though the average length of stimming is about 10-12 days. Sydney IVF state that stimulation needs to happen for 11 days or more, I assume to mimic what would happen in a normal cycle. After Monday's ultrasound, I hope to have a better idea.

This morning I was also doing some research on the 1 embryo or 2 transfer. It is a really tough question. It seems that older women (like my good self) often have 2 embies transferred to increase their chances of a pregnancy. The rates of pregnancy are almost the same with transferring 1 or 2 embryos, if there are good embryos available for freezing (ie. if the first single transfer doesn't work, the later ones probably will). It will really depend on how many embryos we end up with and what their quality is like.

Lovely husband and I really love the idea of twins, especially since it will get increasingly more difficult to have another child as I get older. But the risks really do give pause for thought.

The 'vanishing twin' syndrome happens a lot - where one foetus disappears some time in the first 3 months. The surviving one goes keeps growing but the rates of birth defects and complications goes up.

The biggest issue is going into pre-term labour. It seems that the uterus just sometimes isn't big enough to go the full distance. There are a whole host of problems associated with pre-term labour - low birth weights, breathing difficulties and so on, not to mention the risks to the mother.

Anyway, deciding whether to take the risk of harm to the babies or me, or lowering our chance of succeeding, is going to be incredibly tough. We will have to be guided by the doctor but I want to be armed with the facts first.