My Zen has been well and truly tested over the last 2 days and has not always stood up to the challenge which is why I've been a little quiet with the posts and updates (yesterday's was pre-written!).All is basically fine.. egg collection is scheduled for tomorrow, HCG trigger done (more to come on that with an explanation of today's photo!), 14 follies waiting to be suctioned and we're good to go. So why the stress?
Wednesday was just a long, tiring day. I woke up tired and it went downhill from there. I was at the clinic by 7.15am - the blood test stung and then bruised, the dildocam was uncomfortable whereas it never normally bothers me (does that make me weird/perverse?!) and I got pushed from pillar to post whilst waiting to hear if the retrieval was going to be Friday. By the time I got out it was 4pm. Taking into account that I was home between 8.30 and 10.30am, that's still 7 hours in the hospital. I came out just exhausted. Nearly cried on the phone to my Bloke telling him the plan and spent the rest of the evening on the sofa when I should have been going out to meet a new fertility friend and then to book club. But nothing 'bad' had actually happened.. I think it was just one of those days.
Yesterday went fine at the clinic.. egg collection confirmed for Saturday, got in and out relatively quickly, then home to catch up on my blogs. Which is when the meltdown occurred... I read Princess's post and realised that my Bloke's little swimmers had not been 'refreshed' in a while.. a long while. I did a quick search to check the recommended abstinence period and that's when the panic set in. The swimmers were definitely older than the recommendations and I freaked. I called my Bloke in tears, thinking that there was nothing we could or should do because it was only 48 hours until his sample was needed, but that at least he could calm me down before my head exploded. He was a star :) He thought it would be better to have fewer new swimmers than lots of old, potentially dead ones. He called his driver and left the office straight away to come home and 'clean out the pipes'... wonder what he said to his boss?! In the meantime I checked the evil that is Go.ogle (I'd avoided it whilst in my panic because it was just telling me what I didn't want to hear) and lots of posts supported my Bloke's opinion. It wasn't ideal to only have 48 hours of supply for the IVF but, particularly with his motility issue, it was better than a seriously old batch.
So that's what we did.. well, he did.. I don't think me blubbering on him would have really helped the 'atmosphere'! And I'm feeling OK with our decision. But I can't believe this passed me by! I'm pretty sure I knew the swimmers shouldn't be too old and my Bloke even mentioned it to me during the week but I just let it slip somehow. After doing everything to give this cycle the best chance of success, what a stupid omission!! But, what's done is done. My Bloke went straight to the supermarket after... well, you know, after.. last night and bought up all the foods that are recommended for male fertility. He's made a fertility 'power shake' to take to the office today and here's hoping those little guys appreciate it. Can I just take this chance to say how much I love my Bloke?! He has been amazing throughout this whole thing and my sanity would've long gone were it not for him.
So, now the Zen has returned, what the heck is the photo on this post?! I had to go to the hospital emergency room for my HCG trigger last night as they didn't really want me to do it myself and, seeing the 3 vials that needed mixing, I wasn't too keen either. You need to know that the Chinese are obsessed with IVs.. if you have a cold, you get stuck on a drip for a couple of hours. I've even had a university student walk into a lesson carrying her drip because she didn't want to miss class! And this photo is where it all happens. The room where I needed to go to get my shot was off this room... rows and rows of chairs with people getting their saline on. My Bloke described it rather well as 'like something out of the Matrix'. Apologies for the fuzzy picture.. I was trying to snap it on my phone whilst pretending to be texting. Think I might have given myself away when the flash went off though!
Wow, this post got rather long! Better go now... got to prepare tomorrow's post for when I'm out of action. And, please check back in tomorrow because I've got some big, non-fertility-related news to share... how's that for a teaser! :)
The Koreans are obsessed with drips as well. My husband went in for antibiotics and came back on a drip. Scared the hell out of me as they then sent him for a chest X-ray to check for tuberculosis! He didn't have it.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your news, though I suspect I already know what it is... I noticed your blog title change today.
Wow... what a day :( Must be difficult to be in at the hospital for so long... I get stressed just being at the fertility clinic for a few hours. Your DH sounds great... don't worry - we weren't give much specific information about abstinence etc timing for my DH... and better new ones than older ones :) Thinking of you for your big day xoxo
ReplyDeletethat is crazy! I can not believe you were there so long! maybe you can do icsi...if the sperm is not enough. But I wouldn't worry about it. Can't wait to hear tomorrow's post. Very curious now:)
ReplyDeleteYour DH sounds truly wonderful. I really wish you all the best. Reading your post reminds me of what an anxious time it was for us too. Not sure my DH had much more than 48 hours of back up and confessed 'some went on my hand' when I returned from egg collection but our fertilisation report was great in the end. Looking forward to your news...
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry that my post made you lose you zen. :( Don't get frustrated with yourself for "forgetting" about your husband's pipe cleaning. Realistically, us women have enough to keep track of that the pipes should be one thing we let the guys worry about. I think that no one obsesses about this crap except for me. So really, don't worry about it. My current RE doesn't even talk to his patients about the time frame...we only know because of my old RE, who was a stickler about it (his office actually called my husband directly to tell him when it needed to be done...no pressure...and as if I wasn't going to pass along the message). Are they doing ICSI? Because if they are doing that then it doesn't matter at all...they pick the best swimmers and inject them into the egg...no youth and verility required. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyways, my point is, I know things are going to be just fine for you. You are awesome and amazing, your husband sounds fabulously committed to this process, and if there is any justice in the universe, you have a BFP coming your way. I'll be looking forward to the update.
My hubby and I did back-to-back IUIs several times before moving to IVF, and his count would actually be much higher and with better motility on the Day 2 IUI than on Day 1. Whether your bloke's count ends up higher or lower as a result of cleaning the pipes, I think you'll be just fine!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
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