Sorry it has taken so long.....

Silly me lost my password!

If it makes anyone feeling better after journeying with me through my posts, I am now blessed with a little boy. OMG! Yes....on my first cycle.

Good luck to all those who are reading this blog to prep yourself for IVF.

Day 13 post embryo transfer

I have got to day 13 so fast! It's funny……in the first few days after the embryo transfer, I was just hoping that the 2ww just passes quickly and I can know the result. Today, at day 13, I am in 2 minds. Of course I still want to know the result, but because the day is approaching, I am so worried if it's a negative. So many questions….will I have to go through all the injections again if my embryos are not good enough to be frozen (I have yet to collect the report from KKIVF). Even the mere thought of going into the procedure room to be sedated freaks me out.

If it's a positive, so many people will be happy. Not only us, but our families. It would be a life-changing event, but such a happy one! Then again, will my beta rise normally, can I hold it out to due date? So many questions which I do not even dare nor want to think too much about.

Let's just cross the first hurdle. The first hurdle is not to have menses! hhahahah
2nd hurdle - get a positive sign on the stick and high beta in the blood test
These 2 are quite a hurdle…

and…..I have having slight cramps like just before my menses.  Ah….just hope my body stops playing with my mind.

What happens after embryo transfer

According to this www….

http://www.nyufertilitycenter.org/ivf/embryo_transfer

3-Day Transfer

Days Past Transfer (DPT)	Embryo Development
One	The embryo continues to grow and develop, turning from a 6-8 cell embryo into a morula
Two	The cells of the morula continue to divide, developing into a blastocyst
Three	The blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell
Four	The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus
Five	The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation
Six	Implantation continues
Seven	Implantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop
Eight	Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream
Nine	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Ten	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Eleven	Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy

5-Day Transfer

Days Past Transfer (DPT)	Embryo Development
One	The blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell
Two	The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus
Three	The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation
Four	Implantation continues
Five	Implantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop
Six	Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream
Seven	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Eight	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Nine	Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy

As of today, I am day 13 past embryo transfer date. So…...if I do a pregnancy test today, it should start showing a positive? I read another lady's blog and she started testing from day 10. She pasted all the test strips on a page! So amazing how the positive line just got darker and darker with each passing day. She is sooo brave. I am worried that by testing, I am jinxing myself. And what if there's still HCG in me? This lady was doing the vaginal depositories, but I am doing the Pregynl injections. Although I do not remember being injected anything after my embryo transfer, I read that the Pregynl injections I have been taking also contain HCG. My last injection was on 25th November (Monday). So…..since we have different protocol, I better not take the risk. Not only about jinxing myself, but a false positive is more heart breaking than a real negative.

And….. I am really tired of hoping. Each time I hope and hope, even plan, nothing comes true. Even as of now, I am so worried my menses will arrive. If this is a negative, my menses should arrive Saturday (tomorrow) or Sunday. It is always pretty much on time and I doubt the Pregynl injections would delay it.

So…. day 17 past embryo transfer date, which is a Tuesday, I will be back at KK for my blood test. It it often referred to as the "beta" test. This is because it measures a beta chain portion of the human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone emitted by the developing embryo. I will give H's number for KKIVF to contact, cos I dun think I can take the news. Apparently the "news" will be out between 1-4pm, but often before 1pm. I don't know how I am going to keep myself occupied!!!! That is if menses dun arrive before Tuesday. 

Day 9 post embryo transfer

Wow!
9 days! another 8 more days to go…..
driving me nuts though…..
Anyway, today is last day for the Pregnyl injections. Phew…….

What has been happening?
Well, I have been having abdominal pains i since last Tuesday (6 days ago). To be specific, it is an indigestion pain.

How does it feel? Terrible….
1) Your tummy will bloat up as if it's a balloon
2) If you are lucky, you will release gas (I say lucky cos it helps to deflate that balloon). But one of the side effects of the medicine is constipation!!! So…..I had no gas to release
3) Pain is similar to gastric
I know it is not gastric cos I had indigestion pains before…..

What happens?
When it attacks you, you can't stand straight. The best thing to do is to lie down on your side and use a small pillow or a rolled towel to cushion your tummy. Try to fall asleep if possible. I used the Yu Yee Oil when I really reached my max for the pain. Cos I not sure if it's ok to use the Yu Yee Oil. I asked the KKIVF nurse. She said, can use on baby, so should be ok. Hmmmm…..in any case, I avoided the womb area. Felt so much better after my Yu Yee Oil….

What to do?
Apparently nothing much you can do. I read somewhere that it's due to the injections. I guess due to the Pregnyl that I am injecting every 3 days? So what I do:
1) I drink some warm water before I start eating
2) I eat smaller meals and I take in food every 3 hours
3) I researched on what food that does not cause indigestion. I am staying away from milk products. Previously when I had indigestion problems, I took yoghurt/yakult daily and have meals at fixed timings.

I called the clinic last Thursday, after suffering for 2 days. Nurse says to drink plenty of water and eat more protein. Yucks….no medication? She even added "When you get pregnant, it will get worse". Oh dear…. I felt I was having a low quality life by allowing it to control me. I was even afraid to go out or have my weekly dinners with my family cos they are not aware of my IVF and I did not want to suffer an attack while out with them. Lucky for me, dinner on Sunday went on well…….

As I am writing, I had a light snack at 3.30pm, 3 hours after my lunch and just a little indigestion….but very minimal and pain level is not even 0.5. Oh, but I feel a little giddy though….. but this is much better than my IUI 2ww. I was on the oral pills for progesterone. I had to take it 2 times daily and each time I take, my whole world spins. That was  really bad. It was not as if I will black out. I just feel like my whole world is moving.

A gift for the nurses!

I love these!!!!

Made these for the nurses and medical care workers at KKIVF. I was apprehensive when I first went there for treatment, but at the end of it all, I felt really comfortable. I checked with my friend and she told me it would be nice for the nurses to receive a small gift or a card. She said….nursing is a "thankless job". So sad……After heading down to KKIVF so frequently in the last 2 weeks, they really work long hours!!!!!

It's best to send something that can last a few days. Sometimes, they get so busy and they dun go to the room to take. Apparently candies and chocolates are very well liked. Thought I would be a little different :) Just thought the nurses would feel that they are appreciated.

Ooh….I wrote some words on the card too. 

AND!!!! hehehe. of cos i saved 2! One for Michelle (was told by the nurse), the lovely anesthetist and my favorite Dr Tan!!!! I thought he had consultations today. But apparently not. BUT!!!!! As we were leaving, H saw him coming down the escalator! So happy! We said hi to him. He's really a warm person. He stopped to talk to us for a while when he could have just said hi and bye. 

Side gossip - I wonder when Dr Tan will leave KK. All the doctors @ KK, once they are promoted to Head, they leave for greener pastures. I guess the only reason why a doctor will continue to stay on in a restructured hospital, is because they can continue with their research and educating the students. When we met Dr Tan at the escalator, he told us he just came from a talk for some clinical students. I would think most doctors would want to earn as much money as possible. Why would a doctor want to continue to stay on and be overloaded? The newspaper recently reported that an orthodontist in a restructured hospital performs 80 surgeries a year. While, a private doctor only performs 3. Actually, I cannot remember if the time frame was a year or a month! But it shows the vast difference. But it also means that it's better to go to a restructured hospital should you need major surgeries! :)

Day 5 post embryo transfer

Slowly counting down….
refraining from goggling about all the symptoms "I am supposed to have". Like a crazy woman, I did that during the 2ww for my previous 4 IUIs and I think I really went crazy. I read every single symptom, every sign. Funny thing, I had most of the signs in my 1st and 4th IUI but nothing happened. :(

Anyway, decided to give myself a task list for this 2ww period. It might be easier on my mental health. At least I have something to complete each day. Some of the tasks are easy. Some are stuff that I have been procrastinating on. So each day, I will just flip it over and see what is the task. I wrote down the tasks yesterday so that I will not recall what it is today! :)

I indicated the dates on the hearts as well. Cos I find myself constantly counting! This sheet is blu-tacked to my table, on the left! I can look at it daily and think of my 2 embryos…..

I hope my 2 little embryos have multiplied well and preparing to stick…..pls……be normal and healthy.

Day 3 post embryo transfer…. meet E1 and E2!

See my embryos!! Isn't it like a miracle????? Wow…my egg and H's sperm. Through some magic, and care by the embryologist team, it fertilized…….
Wow…….this is just awesome…..

This photo will be given after each embryo transfer. Those that are frozen - no pictures.
Picture is now on my wall and I get to see them everyday!

I call them E1 and E2 = Embryo 1 and Embryo 2