Processing

So far, this attempt #3 has been the oddest of the lot. A combination of choosing low-key and being forced into acceptance that we aren't in control has worked out pretty well!

It began with trying to combine a summer consult with our vacation plans and those of our RE. They pulled out all the stops to fit us in before our big vacation, and we literally confirmed the protocol and bought the drugs same day we flew. Then we embarked on an orgy of eating, drinking and coffee-drinking for 2 weeks in Italy. Injected the first few days in various airport bathrooms and hotel bedrooms, waking up in the middle of the night so it was the right time of day for Vancouver.

When it came time to see what was going on inside we were thrilled to see despite this non-standard preparation a good few follicles on both sides. In the end we got 7 mature eggs and 4 fertilized, not bad at all at 43. We were a bit surprised by a 2 day transfer of all 4 but that's the lab protocol at my age so we took the bonus of a Friday transfer, getting it in before the weekend so we made it in the end to our close friends' wedding.

2ww easier than others mostly due to a crazy busy work schedule - I much prefer to be distracted.

There were some good signs.....no spotting! In IVF#1 I had spotting for a couple of days and it was fine in the end (well, actually it was the first signs of a somewhat dramatic subchorionic hematoma that plagued me through the first trimester but that's another story). But no spotting was definitely a positive sign.

And the nausea that hit me like a brick in Toronto heading home late Thursday night. And the swollen boobs that seem to want to burst out of my normal work clothes. But more than anything a strange feeling of optimism underneath a superficial layer of anxiety and googling.

But last FET's chemical put me off POAS - the huge high of a BFP followed up by the low when we heard the number and got a confirmatory BFN a week later was tough. So after the Beta on Friday I held out, waiting for the clinic to call. No call Friday but on rechecking the materials from the clinic they did say they'd call the next day. No call Saturday!! By Sunday we decided they must have lost the results - or never got them, I'd gone to a new Life Labs - so I had stopped obsessively checking my phone every 4 minutes and in the end missed the call from the clinic!!

So inevitably in an unwatched-pot kind of way it was positive with a nice healthy beta of 116.

Of course with our history there are plenty of things still to worry about - some more probable than others. But we'll cross those bridges when we get there. For now things couldn't be better!

J

PS - I was really touched to see how many of my old pals here on IVF.ca were looking out for my update - your support means a lot and draws me back to this warm-hearted community again and again.