My sweet man made me yummy caramelised onion poached chicken sandwich, loaded with avocado, tomato and with my requested fried egg. Yum!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Happy Lunch after egg retrieval
I was starving by the time I got home. As my man said, it's unbelievable that I have such a healthy appetite!
My sweet man made me yummy caramelised onion poached chicken sandwich, loaded with avocado, tomato and with my requested fried egg. Yum!
My sweet man made me yummy caramelised onion poached chicken sandwich, loaded with avocado, tomato and with my requested fried egg. Yum!
IVF Egg retrieval day @ Hong Kong Sanatorium Hospital
8th August 2013 (thurs)
Here comes the first verdict day, to determine how many eggs can be retrieved from my follicles. I am trying to keep my expectation down because I have no idea how my ovaries react to the stimulation drugs, the number of "eggs" left, and more importantly, how many eggs are viable.
The advantage of the drugs, esg Hcg drugs make me sleepy easily and hence I didnt have to worry abput excitement keeping me up. I slept through though I did wake up before my alarm went off at 7am.
The hospital is a short 15mins walk away from home, so my target was to leave by 7.35am latest. I did some stretching, had a short warm shower while my husband had his breakfast. However, I was cautious NOT to use any scented shower gel, facial wash and skip my skincare regime completely. I rem reading in various article that the eggs and embryo are sensitive the chemical scent and may affect the quality. Better to be safe than sorry.
My mood was light and happy, with quite a few laughs along the way strolling with my man. We arrived punctually, signed a few documents and it was time to get changed. My man was supposed to provide his fresh sperm sample and he was deliberating if he should go before I start my op, or after I started my op. Seeing no reason for him to stick around, I told him to go ahead since he still have to run groceries errand to cook lunch later.
We asked the nurse as to what time he should be back. She said I prob will be asleep for 1 hour after the 20mins op if all goes well. So his timeline was to be back by 10.30am.
As he went off to get his "boys" squirted out, I went to have my pee sample ready for my nurse. Afterwhich, I sat on the bed, looking out of the window thanking god for a beautiful morning.
The nurse came to do her stuff and I told her to prepare lotsa of warm blanket later because I will be cold. I told her I always feel cold after waking from G.A.
By 8.30am, the anesthesiologist came by and introduced herself as Dr Fung. She was nice, asking if I know what op I am going to have. (It's SOP in this hospital to keep repeatedly ask the patient the same questions) She told me it will be easy op but I may feel a little nausea after the op but I have nothing to worry.
Having read soooooooo much horror stories about OHSS after egg retrieval online, I asked her about the possible cramp etc. She told me not to worry and it's not common. Ok. If u say so.
By 8.50am, the nurse came to get me and we walked to the op room. At the entrance, there was this blue floor map and for some reason, it was sticky and my slippers got stuck on it! Lol! The nurse and I started laughing and we started joking about it.
Meanwhile, they had me climbed up the bed and the attentive nurse suggested to unbutton the top button since it was yanking on my neck.
They had me lay down, legs placed on this legs holder. They asked me if I was comfortable and if there was any pain. I frankly told them the left holder was pressing against my calf too much and it was mildly uncomfortable.The nurse quickly adjusted the holder and all was good again.
By 9am, Dr Ingrid came in cheery and I greeted her happily too. She asked how I was feeling and I replied all was good. I jokingly told her that "My future now lies in your hands". She laughed and said "such pressure" Lol.
While Dr Ingrid was jotting down some stuff, Dr Fung told me it was time to get me ready for the anesthesia. I had this oxygen thing stuck at the entrance of my nose, while she jabbed my left hand. Ok the first instance was first but once the drug gets pumped in, it was OUCH.
I was like "Oh that hurts". Dr Fung said not to worry it will pass and some other patients have it worse, saying it felt like their hand was on fire. Ok, I didnt have that so I figured I should stop describing the sensation. Then it hit my head and started to feel dizzy. I asked her if it was normal, she said yes and that was the last I remembered.
***************************************************
I awoke to someone calling my name. It was like waking from a deep sleep and you wished the person had let you slept on. I vaguely thought I heard her told me the number of eggs collected but I figured I must have misheard. My mind wasnt clear yet. However, first thing I requested was for the nurse to adjust my flat bed to semi inclined position. I have always hated lying flat after GA because it makes me more ill. However, the other reason was because I read somewhere from forum that in event that there are accumulated leaking water from ovaries, it is better to sit up to prevent the water from flowing upwards to the diaphragm from the abdominal cavity. It's the help keep any possible fluid down as much as possible.
The first thing I did was to grab my mobile from the safe next to me. Ok, it was frankly quite a stretch but oh well, I didnt topple. I texted my man and told him I was out of the op and awake. I had prepped him in the morning to bring me my water heat pack. It took me 3 tries before I could send a proper text without all the typo. Yes, every word had misspelling.
I looked at the time and realised it was only 9.50am! SO much for the sleeping for 1 hour. My husband quickly replied ok but he was still in the supermart! I told him to hurry because I am REALLY COLD, despite the 4 layers of warm blanket. The nurse came over to check on me and I told her I am cold. She exclaimed I already had a lot of warm blankets and I touched her with my cold hands. She immediately got me another warm blanket. I too asked her for warm drink but she was reluctant to give me because she said most patients will puke. I told her, NO, just give me because I AM DYING OF THIRST. So she gave me a cup and i gulped it down fine.
Other than that, I was honestly thankful I didnt feel anything else. I am expecting cramps, headache, bloated feeling and nausea but I am very lucky not to experience that. I wasnt even groggy by 10am so I just took my phone, played some music while i played my "Pet Rescue" game waiting for my man. Not too bad, cleared 2 levels and reached level 136.
By 10.10am, my man arrived with my heat pack! YEAH!!! Instantly warmed my hands and chest up and I felt even more awake and alert. My man asked if I was ok and I gave him the victory sign. It was quite funny because none of us rem to ask the nurse how many eggs we have got. Instead, I told the nurse I desperately NEED TO PEE. Again the nurse looked kinda stunned because she mentioned its too early for me to get out of bed...but she asked if I was feeling fine and really urgent, to which I replied YES to both. She told me to give her a few mins before coming back to get me.
My husband helped me up. Ok, first 10 seconds, my head needed some adjustment to find my balance. After that, I shuffled to the toilet and saw the nurse had prep the toilet seat with a pee measurement basin to check the volume output. I peed like there was no tomorrow and it was a lot. I flushed the seat paper away and opened the door, the nurse was standing outside and checked the pee basin. She said "Wow! That's alot of pee indeed!" Lol. At least this declared I have passed stage 1 since I am urinating normally.
Getting back to the bed, I drank alot more water. I was busy drinking water like a camel and I must have drank like 10 cups. I was really thirsty. I chatted with my man for a while and it was only an hour later that I rem to ask my husband to find out the number of eggs. He went out and came back with an incredulous smile.
"You are a mother hen love! You have got 18 eggs!" Wow!
I am pleasantly surprised. I only expected 10 or so given my age at 38 and I have PCOS. However I told my man not to be too happy because my quality of eggs is yet to be determined. Not sure how many will fertilised or any abnormal ones.
Opposite us (thru 2 the curtains drawn), we overheard the nurse telling the lady they retrieved 4 eggs and something about freezing them for next round. My husband was whispering is that bad, I told him not necessarily because maybe all she need is one good egg and maybe she have 4 mature good quality eggs whereas I may be over stimulated with lesser quality eggs.
My lunch arrived and I had wintermelon soup since the nurse insisted I shouldnt have porridge even though I was famished. Sigh. I polished off everything in a flash.
The nurses came back to measure my blood pressure, and gave me a jab to my hip butt area. Ok I know that is gonna bruise because I saw a lot of blood. Sigh.
By 12pm, I was all alert and ready to go back. I got changed, my man went to make payment. I got my meds such as estroferm and the vaginal insert gel for thickening my lining I think. All medication starts tomorrow. The nurse told me to eat 4 egg whites daily, avoid herbs and chinese "blood nourishing" stuff including ginger and red dates. What?! No red dates? Instead, I'm supposed to drink milk and eat high protein food.
I got home by 12.45pm and my man started to make his chicken sandwich. I was still starving and requested for half sandwich. When I finished my chicken avocado sandwich with caramelised onion, I was still hungry so I asked for another WHOLE sandwich. Afterwhich, I am full and contented and drank half gatorade before sleeping.
I slept like a baby and dinner was ready by 6.30pm, my glorious chicken mushroom carrot soup. Apart from my tummy feeling slightly tight from over eating, I was fine. No pain thankfully and I went to weigh myself. I was 53.8kg after dinner and water intake. Ok. My waist was about 83cm. Ok, I think I am about 2 cm bigger than usual and slightly heavier than normal.
I did some stretching since I am still recovering from a bad back. I actually felt less bloated after stretching. Happy!
I went back to sleep by 12am. Day is finally over and celebrating my jab free day!
Here comes the first verdict day, to determine how many eggs can be retrieved from my follicles. I am trying to keep my expectation down because I have no idea how my ovaries react to the stimulation drugs, the number of "eggs" left, and more importantly, how many eggs are viable.
The advantage of the drugs, esg Hcg drugs make me sleepy easily and hence I didnt have to worry abput excitement keeping me up. I slept through though I did wake up before my alarm went off at 7am.
The hospital is a short 15mins walk away from home, so my target was to leave by 7.35am latest. I did some stretching, had a short warm shower while my husband had his breakfast. However, I was cautious NOT to use any scented shower gel, facial wash and skip my skincare regime completely. I rem reading in various article that the eggs and embryo are sensitive the chemical scent and may affect the quality. Better to be safe than sorry.
My mood was light and happy, with quite a few laughs along the way strolling with my man. We arrived punctually, signed a few documents and it was time to get changed. My man was supposed to provide his fresh sperm sample and he was deliberating if he should go before I start my op, or after I started my op. Seeing no reason for him to stick around, I told him to go ahead since he still have to run groceries errand to cook lunch later.
We asked the nurse as to what time he should be back. She said I prob will be asleep for 1 hour after the 20mins op if all goes well. So his timeline was to be back by 10.30am.
As he went off to get his "boys" squirted out, I went to have my pee sample ready for my nurse. Afterwhich, I sat on the bed, looking out of the window thanking god for a beautiful morning.
The nurse came to do her stuff and I told her to prepare lotsa of warm blanket later because I will be cold. I told her I always feel cold after waking from G.A.
By 8.30am, the anesthesiologist came by and introduced herself as Dr Fung. She was nice, asking if I know what op I am going to have. (It's SOP in this hospital to keep repeatedly ask the patient the same questions) She told me it will be easy op but I may feel a little nausea after the op but I have nothing to worry.
Having read soooooooo much horror stories about OHSS after egg retrieval online, I asked her about the possible cramp etc. She told me not to worry and it's not common. Ok. If u say so.
By 8.50am, the nurse came to get me and we walked to the op room. At the entrance, there was this blue floor map and for some reason, it was sticky and my slippers got stuck on it! Lol! The nurse and I started laughing and we started joking about it.
Meanwhile, they had me climbed up the bed and the attentive nurse suggested to unbutton the top button since it was yanking on my neck.
They had me lay down, legs placed on this legs holder. They asked me if I was comfortable and if there was any pain. I frankly told them the left holder was pressing against my calf too much and it was mildly uncomfortable.The nurse quickly adjusted the holder and all was good again.
By 9am, Dr Ingrid came in cheery and I greeted her happily too. She asked how I was feeling and I replied all was good. I jokingly told her that "My future now lies in your hands". She laughed and said "such pressure" Lol.
While Dr Ingrid was jotting down some stuff, Dr Fung told me it was time to get me ready for the anesthesia. I had this oxygen thing stuck at the entrance of my nose, while she jabbed my left hand. Ok the first instance was first but once the drug gets pumped in, it was OUCH.
I was like "Oh that hurts". Dr Fung said not to worry it will pass and some other patients have it worse, saying it felt like their hand was on fire. Ok, I didnt have that so I figured I should stop describing the sensation. Then it hit my head and started to feel dizzy. I asked her if it was normal, she said yes and that was the last I remembered.
***************************************************
I awoke to someone calling my name. It was like waking from a deep sleep and you wished the person had let you slept on. I vaguely thought I heard her told me the number of eggs collected but I figured I must have misheard. My mind wasnt clear yet. However, first thing I requested was for the nurse to adjust my flat bed to semi inclined position. I have always hated lying flat after GA because it makes me more ill. However, the other reason was because I read somewhere from forum that in event that there are accumulated leaking water from ovaries, it is better to sit up to prevent the water from flowing upwards to the diaphragm from the abdominal cavity. It's the help keep any possible fluid down as much as possible.
The first thing I did was to grab my mobile from the safe next to me. Ok, it was frankly quite a stretch but oh well, I didnt topple. I texted my man and told him I was out of the op and awake. I had prepped him in the morning to bring me my water heat pack. It took me 3 tries before I could send a proper text without all the typo. Yes, every word had misspelling.
I looked at the time and realised it was only 9.50am! SO much for the sleeping for 1 hour. My husband quickly replied ok but he was still in the supermart! I told him to hurry because I am REALLY COLD, despite the 4 layers of warm blanket. The nurse came over to check on me and I told her I am cold. She exclaimed I already had a lot of warm blankets and I touched her with my cold hands. She immediately got me another warm blanket. I too asked her for warm drink but she was reluctant to give me because she said most patients will puke. I told her, NO, just give me because I AM DYING OF THIRST. So she gave me a cup and i gulped it down fine.
Other than that, I was honestly thankful I didnt feel anything else. I am expecting cramps, headache, bloated feeling and nausea but I am very lucky not to experience that. I wasnt even groggy by 10am so I just took my phone, played some music while i played my "Pet Rescue" game waiting for my man. Not too bad, cleared 2 levels and reached level 136.
By 10.10am, my man arrived with my heat pack! YEAH!!! Instantly warmed my hands and chest up and I felt even more awake and alert. My man asked if I was ok and I gave him the victory sign. It was quite funny because none of us rem to ask the nurse how many eggs we have got. Instead, I told the nurse I desperately NEED TO PEE. Again the nurse looked kinda stunned because she mentioned its too early for me to get out of bed...but she asked if I was feeling fine and really urgent, to which I replied YES to both. She told me to give her a few mins before coming back to get me.
My husband helped me up. Ok, first 10 seconds, my head needed some adjustment to find my balance. After that, I shuffled to the toilet and saw the nurse had prep the toilet seat with a pee measurement basin to check the volume output. I peed like there was no tomorrow and it was a lot. I flushed the seat paper away and opened the door, the nurse was standing outside and checked the pee basin. She said "Wow! That's alot of pee indeed!" Lol. At least this declared I have passed stage 1 since I am urinating normally.
Getting back to the bed, I drank alot more water. I was busy drinking water like a camel and I must have drank like 10 cups. I was really thirsty. I chatted with my man for a while and it was only an hour later that I rem to ask my husband to find out the number of eggs. He went out and came back with an incredulous smile.
"You are a mother hen love! You have got 18 eggs!" Wow!
I am pleasantly surprised. I only expected 10 or so given my age at 38 and I have PCOS. However I told my man not to be too happy because my quality of eggs is yet to be determined. Not sure how many will fertilised or any abnormal ones.
Opposite us (thru 2 the curtains drawn), we overheard the nurse telling the lady they retrieved 4 eggs and something about freezing them for next round. My husband was whispering is that bad, I told him not necessarily because maybe all she need is one good egg and maybe she have 4 mature good quality eggs whereas I may be over stimulated with lesser quality eggs.
My lunch arrived and I had wintermelon soup since the nurse insisted I shouldnt have porridge even though I was famished. Sigh. I polished off everything in a flash.
The nurses came back to measure my blood pressure, and gave me a jab to my hip butt area. Ok I know that is gonna bruise because I saw a lot of blood. Sigh.
By 12pm, I was all alert and ready to go back. I got changed, my man went to make payment. I got my meds such as estroferm and the vaginal insert gel for thickening my lining I think. All medication starts tomorrow. The nurse told me to eat 4 egg whites daily, avoid herbs and chinese "blood nourishing" stuff including ginger and red dates. What?! No red dates? Instead, I'm supposed to drink milk and eat high protein food.
I got home by 12.45pm and my man started to make his chicken sandwich. I was still starving and requested for half sandwich. When I finished my chicken avocado sandwich with caramelised onion, I was still hungry so I asked for another WHOLE sandwich. Afterwhich, I am full and contented and drank half gatorade before sleeping.
I slept like a baby and dinner was ready by 6.30pm, my glorious chicken mushroom carrot soup. Apart from my tummy feeling slightly tight from over eating, I was fine. No pain thankfully and I went to weigh myself. I was 53.8kg after dinner and water intake. Ok. My waist was about 83cm. Ok, I think I am about 2 cm bigger than usual and slightly heavier than normal.
I did some stretching since I am still recovering from a bad back. I actually felt less bloated after stretching. Happy!
I went back to sleep by 12am. Day is finally over and celebrating my jab free day!
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
The day before IVF egg collection
7th August 2013
Nothing changed after the HcG shot on Tuesday night. Ate normally, slept normally and drank normally. I wasnt feeling particularly anxious or excited. I was just gonna leave it all to fate, though I must confess I have slight worries about the quality of my eggs as well as possible OHSS since I am a PCOS candidate. I didnt really dwell much on it and frankly, I didnt have time too since I was busy trying to get contractors in and out of my apartment to fix the bloody water seepage in both bedrooms due to the wearing out of the rubber seals. Sigh. Still, apart from that, I was in a happy chirpy mood.
I did wonder how many eggs out of the 10-11 follicles on each ovary will I get...and how their quality will be like. Afterall, at 38 going 39 in couple of months...it's no secret that quality is a real obstacle.
Nothing changed after the HcG shot on Tuesday night. Ate normally, slept normally and drank normally. I wasnt feeling particularly anxious or excited. I was just gonna leave it all to fate, though I must confess I have slight worries about the quality of my eggs as well as possible OHSS since I am a PCOS candidate. I didnt really dwell much on it and frankly, I didnt have time too since I was busy trying to get contractors in and out of my apartment to fix the bloody water seepage in both bedrooms due to the wearing out of the rubber seals. Sigh. Still, apart from that, I was in a happy chirpy mood.
I did wonder how many eggs out of the 10-11 follicles on each ovary will I get...and how their quality will be like. Afterall, at 38 going 39 in couple of months...it's no secret that quality is a real obstacle.
Monday, August 5, 2013
My IVF injections doctor followup #3 @ Hk Sanatorium
6th August 2013 (Tues)
I had to get my blood work out on Tuesday morn for Dr Ingrid. So I had to go in at 8am.
I had to wait till 11.30am before the report was out to see Dr Ingrid. She apologised for the wait but it was ok since I brought my books to read.
My third followup on scan to see how my growing follicles are doing. Apparently they are doing great! I was so happy that they are about 17-18mm in size for both sides! Talk about happy about being uniform growth. It's credit to Dr Ingrid. She must have controlled my stim injection dosage well. And strangely, this is the first and only session that Mr Probing Wandy did not hurt me like hell when she was scanning the right ovary. Normally, it was a searing tearing pain but this time because it was swollen, so it makes it easier for her to scan without having to probe so far in. Yes, I think I have deep seated ovary and my inverted uterine did not help.
So when we went to her room and to my surprise, she said she would go ahead with my egg retrieval on Thursday! Yeah brought forward by 1 day and NO MORE stim drugs or suppression drugs! During the review, she did mention that my readings E2 was slightly on the high side but she said not to worry.
I looked at my report and it said E2=10848 pmol. I dont know what is the norm but since she said not to worry, I wont.
Instead, I had to go to the outpatient to get my DECAPEPTYL INJ 0.1MG 1ML [0.2MG] injection at 9pm that very night. So that means I will have my operation on 9pm on Thursday morning. I prob will be her first patient for the day. Yeah!
So that night, after dinner, I walked to HK Sanatorium at 8.30pm and waited for my Jab. What they didnt tell me was that Ovidrel was prefilled and it takes 2 jabs!!!
This is the MOST PAINFUL jab of them all. Pain level at 8-9. I dont know if its the nurse, or the med itself, or the fact that the jab was done half a finger length away from the belly button instead of the usual full index finger length away. Anycase, I really couldnt move after the jab as the pain was spasming thru my lower body to my ovaries. Good thing i brought my ice pack and it felt better after 5 mins with the pack laid over the injected area, The coldness must have took the edge away.
I couldnt walk home, so I grabbed a cab back.
During the whole 9 days of Ivf stim injections, my body seemed to react fine to it. No bloating, no funny feeling. My ovaries felt fine too. I am thankful since I read ALOT of horror stories about sore ovaries etc.
After injection, my body was fine too thankfully. In fact, I continued to maintain a healthy appetite! However, I definitely did increase my intake of boiled filtered water. Maybe my physiotherapy back massage helps too since my back was still sore during the first 6 days but its better now thank god!
During all these time, life goes on as per normal. I didnt ask for extra pampering from my husband nor do I need him to company me. I felt fine to do things as per normal with minimal change in lifestyle. I'm used to being independent so if I had him tagging along, I would be more stress. My husband still have no clear idea how this IVF works except he did feel sorry for my tummy bruise and did ask if there is anything he can do. He did do one thing I hate, he helped washed up the dishes and pots after I cooked dinner since I really dont want to stand by the sink for prolonged period due to my back recovery. He was sweet.
I told him to clear his sperms by yesterday which he did (since we thot the retrival was on Friday). So hopefully they will be alright on thursday...fingers crossed. Dr Ingrid didnt do another check since the last report 2 years back, and his sample last year for IUI was graded to be very high on motility. So I really hope this batch will be good too.... Go boys go!
I had to get my blood work out on Tuesday morn for Dr Ingrid. So I had to go in at 8am.
I had to wait till 11.30am before the report was out to see Dr Ingrid. She apologised for the wait but it was ok since I brought my books to read.
My third followup on scan to see how my growing follicles are doing. Apparently they are doing great! I was so happy that they are about 17-18mm in size for both sides! Talk about happy about being uniform growth. It's credit to Dr Ingrid. She must have controlled my stim injection dosage well. And strangely, this is the first and only session that Mr Probing Wandy did not hurt me like hell when she was scanning the right ovary. Normally, it was a searing tearing pain but this time because it was swollen, so it makes it easier for her to scan without having to probe so far in. Yes, I think I have deep seated ovary and my inverted uterine did not help.
So when we went to her room and to my surprise, she said she would go ahead with my egg retrieval on Thursday! Yeah brought forward by 1 day and NO MORE stim drugs or suppression drugs! During the review, she did mention that my readings E2 was slightly on the high side but she said not to worry.
I looked at my report and it said E2=10848 pmol. I dont know what is the norm but since she said not to worry, I wont.
Instead, I had to go to the outpatient to get my DECAPEPTYL INJ 0.1MG 1ML [0.2MG] injection at 9pm that very night. So that means I will have my operation on 9pm on Thursday morning. I prob will be her first patient for the day. Yeah!
So that night, after dinner, I walked to HK Sanatorium at 8.30pm and waited for my Jab. What they didnt tell me was that Ovidrel was prefilled and it takes 2 jabs!!!
This is the MOST PAINFUL jab of them all. Pain level at 8-9. I dont know if its the nurse, or the med itself, or the fact that the jab was done half a finger length away from the belly button instead of the usual full index finger length away. Anycase, I really couldnt move after the jab as the pain was spasming thru my lower body to my ovaries. Good thing i brought my ice pack and it felt better after 5 mins with the pack laid over the injected area, The coldness must have took the edge away.
I couldnt walk home, so I grabbed a cab back.
During the whole 9 days of Ivf stim injections, my body seemed to react fine to it. No bloating, no funny feeling. My ovaries felt fine too. I am thankful since I read ALOT of horror stories about sore ovaries etc.
After injection, my body was fine too thankfully. In fact, I continued to maintain a healthy appetite! However, I definitely did increase my intake of boiled filtered water. Maybe my physiotherapy back massage helps too since my back was still sore during the first 6 days but its better now thank god!
During all these time, life goes on as per normal. I didnt ask for extra pampering from my husband nor do I need him to company me. I felt fine to do things as per normal with minimal change in lifestyle. I'm used to being independent so if I had him tagging along, I would be more stress. My husband still have no clear idea how this IVF works except he did feel sorry for my tummy bruise and did ask if there is anything he can do. He did do one thing I hate, he helped washed up the dishes and pots after I cooked dinner since I really dont want to stand by the sink for prolonged period due to my back recovery. He was sweet.
I told him to clear his sperms by yesterday which he did (since we thot the retrival was on Friday). So hopefully they will be alright on thursday...fingers crossed. Dr Ingrid didnt do another check since the last report 2 years back, and his sample last year for IUI was graded to be very high on motility. So I really hope this batch will be good too.... Go boys go!
Saturday, August 3, 2013
My IVF injections doctor follow up scan #2@ HK Sanatorium Hospital
3rd August 2013. (Sat)
Comes my 2nd evaluation and scan.
Progress looks good. The follicles are growing nicely and they are about 11mm now on both sides. It seemed as if my right ovary has one more in quantity than my left, though its my left that I felt occasion twinge.
However, because it looks as if there are MANY other follicles there, so Dr Ingrid told me she will reduce my Gonal F dosage to 100mg instead which works for me. At the same time, she told me she will start me on the suppression drug to prevent ovulation for 3 days, starting today on Sat. We were anticipating egg retrieval on Friday if all goes well!
Excited!
So as usual the nurse prepared me for the jabs but no one had pre warned me that the suppression jab Orgalutran (0.25MG) hurts like hell!!! OUCH! It makes the Gonal F jabs pales in comparison! The pain level was at 7 for the suppression jab. Plus, it definitely left a nasty purple black dark bruise. However it was localised to a small penny size due to icing. Important reminder, do NOT rub on the injection. It will cause bruising. I forgot since it hurts like hell and I shook on it. BAD mistake...
Comes my 2nd evaluation and scan.
Progress looks good. The follicles are growing nicely and they are about 11mm now on both sides. It seemed as if my right ovary has one more in quantity than my left, though its my left that I felt occasion twinge.
However, because it looks as if there are MANY other follicles there, so Dr Ingrid told me she will reduce my Gonal F dosage to 100mg instead which works for me. At the same time, she told me she will start me on the suppression drug to prevent ovulation for 3 days, starting today on Sat. We were anticipating egg retrieval on Friday if all goes well!
Excited!
So as usual the nurse prepared me for the jabs but no one had pre warned me that the suppression jab Orgalutran (0.25MG) hurts like hell!!! OUCH! It makes the Gonal F jabs pales in comparison! The pain level was at 7 for the suppression jab. Plus, it definitely left a nasty purple black dark bruise. However it was localised to a small penny size due to icing. Important reminder, do NOT rub on the injection. It will cause bruising. I forgot since it hurts like hell and I shook on it. BAD mistake...
Thursday, August 1, 2013
My IVF injection doctor followup #1 @ HK Sanatorium
1st Aug 2013.
Time to meet Dr Ingrid for my first followup after 4 days of stim. injection.
The oddest thing about the procedure here is that the nurses will prep u for the scan first before seeing the doctor. So that means, I will greet my doc with my legs wide open each time. I just found it kinda weird and rude to say hi with legs wide apart but that's just me being a prude. Hahaha.
Jokes aside, we were both happy to see each other. I assume Dr Ingrid is happy too since she had such a lovely smile. She looks very pretty when she smile actually:) Her trip was good and I was happy to hear that.
So begins the investigation and knowing how much ultrascan hurts for me, she went in gently with Mr Probing Wandy. On the screen, I could see round follicles. I could see quite a few actually Yeah. More than 3 for sure as compared to IUI process. She took the measurements and it was about between 7-8-9mm wide on both sides on Day 5. I think there are about 10-11 follicles on each side if I rem correctly, but I tend to forget since we didnt talk about it.
What we did discuss was that she was happy with the growth rate, and that she would continue with the same dosage for the next 2 days until she sees me on Sat 3rd Aug to review my progress. Again, she shared that because of PCOS, that's why we started on low dosage but it seems to work for me. I trust her implicitly.
She asked me as well if my partner will be freezing his sperms and i told her prob not, since he can produce on demand so long he has his porn. We all had a good laugh:)
So my injection resumes..
My blood work report on Day 2 of my period came back.
FSH = 4.1
Estradiol = 64
Time to meet Dr Ingrid for my first followup after 4 days of stim. injection.
The oddest thing about the procedure here is that the nurses will prep u for the scan first before seeing the doctor. So that means, I will greet my doc with my legs wide open each time. I just found it kinda weird and rude to say hi with legs wide apart but that's just me being a prude. Hahaha.
Jokes aside, we were both happy to see each other. I assume Dr Ingrid is happy too since she had such a lovely smile. She looks very pretty when she smile actually:) Her trip was good and I was happy to hear that.
So begins the investigation and knowing how much ultrascan hurts for me, she went in gently with Mr Probing Wandy. On the screen, I could see round follicles. I could see quite a few actually Yeah. More than 3 for sure as compared to IUI process. She took the measurements and it was about between 7-8-9mm wide on both sides on Day 5. I think there are about 10-11 follicles on each side if I rem correctly, but I tend to forget since we didnt talk about it.
What we did discuss was that she was happy with the growth rate, and that she would continue with the same dosage for the next 2 days until she sees me on Sat 3rd Aug to review my progress. Again, she shared that because of PCOS, that's why we started on low dosage but it seems to work for me. I trust her implicitly.
She asked me as well if my partner will be freezing his sperms and i told her prob not, since he can produce on demand so long he has his porn. We all had a good laugh:)
So my injection resumes..
My blood work report on Day 2 of my period came back.
FSH = 4.1
Estradiol = 64
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
My first 4 days of IVF Gonal F injection@Hk Sanatorium begins!
During my IUI cycle, I had performed the injections myself at home. However, I cannot say it was stress free and so this time round, I decided to just go easy and have the nurse to do the daily injection for me. Sure it was expensive (extra HK$90 per injection) and adding to the cost, but seriously, making baby shouldnt be a stressful thing, not to mention I have to endure the physical pain of it!
So I had my first injection at HK Sanatorium outpatient on sunday afternoon. On Sat, the nurse had asked me what time I had wanted to do the injection and I just instinctively told her 1pm. So she booked me in for Dr Ingrid at 2.15pm on Thursday 1st August for my first evaluation after the injection. THANK GOD my doctor is back!
The injection was relatively uneventful, except that I get to have a good chat with the nurses.
On some days, the injection hurts when the med is being pumped in, on some days I hardly felt it. Strange huh. Some nurses are better than others at the injection. One gave me my first bruise on Monday. After my previous self injection, I learned to ice the area before and after the injection to contract the blood veins, to minimise bruising and locality in event they do hit a blood vessel.
The nurse Julie was very very nice when I first requested for ice, after the bruise I had on Monday. She even reminded me to bring the ice pack during my jabs on outpatient days since they dont provide ice. Sometimes when they are not too busy, we have a few laughs here and there. It's nice not to be stress.
I read somewhere that Arnica gel helps with bruising but I didnt bother. Instead, I used Hiruroid cream instead. Lol. Then one has to alternate hot and cold pack on bruise area just to get the blood moving. I love simple methods.
As for the after effects, I was pleasantly surprised that I didnt suffer as much this time as compared to the IUI jabs. The last time, I felt so bloated and tired all the time! My waistline previously really balloned that even my husband was taken back.
This time round, even though the dosage was higher, yet I didnt suffer from bloating or weight gain. However, on the 1st and 2nd day of injections, I did feel immediately sleepy after the first hour but it will pass. The subsequent jabs, barely had much impact which I was really happy about!!
I'm just praying and praying that I will not overstimulate since I have PCOS and having too many eggs will be bad. Wish me luck!
So I had my first injection at HK Sanatorium outpatient on sunday afternoon. On Sat, the nurse had asked me what time I had wanted to do the injection and I just instinctively told her 1pm. So she booked me in for Dr Ingrid at 2.15pm on Thursday 1st August for my first evaluation after the injection. THANK GOD my doctor is back!
The injection was relatively uneventful, except that I get to have a good chat with the nurses.
On some days, the injection hurts when the med is being pumped in, on some days I hardly felt it. Strange huh. Some nurses are better than others at the injection. One gave me my first bruise on Monday. After my previous self injection, I learned to ice the area before and after the injection to contract the blood veins, to minimise bruising and locality in event they do hit a blood vessel.
The nurse Julie was very very nice when I first requested for ice, after the bruise I had on Monday. She even reminded me to bring the ice pack during my jabs on outpatient days since they dont provide ice. Sometimes when they are not too busy, we have a few laughs here and there. It's nice not to be stress.
I read somewhere that Arnica gel helps with bruising but I didnt bother. Instead, I used Hiruroid cream instead. Lol. Then one has to alternate hot and cold pack on bruise area just to get the blood moving. I love simple methods.
As for the after effects, I was pleasantly surprised that I didnt suffer as much this time as compared to the IUI jabs. The last time, I felt so bloated and tired all the time! My waistline previously really balloned that even my husband was taken back.
This time round, even though the dosage was higher, yet I didnt suffer from bloating or weight gain. However, on the 1st and 2nd day of injections, I did feel immediately sleepy after the first hour but it will pass. The subsequent jabs, barely had much impact which I was really happy about!!
I'm just praying and praying that I will not overstimulate since I have PCOS and having too many eggs will be bad. Wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)