I don’t do so well. After my first scan at ABC, the next few days are a haze of throbbing headaches and bouts of nausea. My legs feel shaky, I can’t eat, my stomach is bloated. I knew this would get difficult and I was prepared to feel sick at a certain point, but it still isn’t fun. Especially as we are in London and there is so much I would normally love to do!

Jo gifts me a belated birthday present, a Thai massage. They do a wonderful job and my muscles feel better, but the rest of me is still a mess. I drag myself through it, mentally counting down the days and the injections that are left.

I google for any way to help the medication side effects, I drink endless litres of water, I eat protein bars,anything that helps.

We have another appointment at ABC IVF planned and I really look forward to it, hoping to get some relief for all of it.

We go for a blood draw first,and then I’m back in the, by now familiar, waiting room. Only Jo is by my side today, and she gets to enjoy the repeated questions as well on whether I have emptied my bladder – I have! I have!!!


We’re seen quickly this time. It’s really nice to see my consultant again, I tell her how I have been doing, and then it’s time for another scan to check up on my twenty-two follicles and whether they’ve grown any.

As soon as she starts looking, she says “You’ve been recruiting!”

I don’t fully get what she means until she tells me the numbers. I now have nineteen follicles on one ovary and twenty-three on the other, making a total of FORTY-ONE.

Yeah, that is why I have been feeling so terrible. My body is overreacting by a huge degree to the medication, and making way more follicles than necessary. Each follicle gives off some hormones, so I’ve been basically on the worst hormone ride of my life.

They make several contingency plans, depending on what my blood results will say. If they’re extremely high, I need to get the egg collection surgery as soon as possible. Or maybe we can do injections for another day, or for another two days.

The longer I do the injections, the more my follicles will grow, and the higher the chances are for a lot of eggs at the surgery (and therefore for an embryo later). But the longer I wait, the more at risk I am for overstimulation, and that can be very dangerous. It’s a difficult line to walk, and the doctor isn’t sure where it’s going to go.

We leave feeling a bit stunned.It makes me feel justified in a way that yes, I AM feeling this sick, I am not imagining it! But on the other hand, if I need the surgery this soon it’s not looking good for our chances.

We go back to the hotel so I can lie down, and hold the phone close.

The consultant eventually calls with the blood results. It’s not quite as bad as they first feared. I get two more days of injections, and another blood draw and scan then.

It’s good news, although it means more days of feeling terrible for me. All for a good cause!

 

 

 

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