Round One....

So, I've got my head around the IVF, well, as much as it is possible to do so. If I want my own child this is how I've got to go about it, needs must.

I've had my tests and can gladly say that I haven't got AIDS, Hep B or C, Chlamydia, I am CMV+ and my blood group is O+.

I've had my first meeting with the ultasound wand and my ovaries look good, there are no cysts, fibroids and my womb looks clear.

I was even delighted to hear (after all the negativity about my age & chances of sucess) that I had 'the ovaries of a younger woman'.....Yipee

I'd chosen my sperm donor....a 6ft snowboarder, dark hair & eyes, whose interests were maths,physics, movies,listening to music, concerts and spending time with friends or a 5ft 9 policeman, dark hair, bluey/brown eyes, into cars, cooking, football & wine....an easy decision...the snowboarder it is then...He seemed more of an all rounder.

Things were looking good. So far, everything was going according to plan. Surely the universe would of stepped in and created a problem if this was not 'meant to be'.

First things first was to find out when I was ovulating. This involved peeing in a pot once a day and waiting for the two little blue lines to appear on the little white test sticks.

Hurrah....I've ovulated.... Now I had to wait 7 days before i could start taking my HRT tables. (HRT??? At my age?....Apparently so!)

I was on the short protocol, the one designed for older women who were not expected to create as many eggs. By all accounts this is the easier of all the protocols, although not actually any shorter in time, the actual time spent injecting drugs was less.

I was on the HRT for about 20 days....

I was expecting to turn into a hormonal banshee, maybe flying into rages or floods of tears...but nothing...I didn't really feel any different.

After a few days of stopping the HRT, I was due at the clinic at 8am. (ouch, now that did hurt)
I am not an easy early riser and the drive to the clinic was a good hour and half so this meant getting up at 6...that was the worst bit.

You'd get to the clinic, be there all of 5 minutes, have some blood taken and then have to drive back.

On my second visit they told me I was ready to start my injections.

One shot of Suprecur in one leg and then the Menopur shot in the other leg.

The Suprecur was easy, although stung a little..

Mixing the Menopur made me feel like an alchemist as I mixed 3 amps of the FSH to one water solvent trying hard not to create too many bubbles and have what my friend described as 'bubble trouble'....

As unlikely as it sounds, I quite enjoyed my injections!! It seemed symbolic and was a sign that I was really doing IVF.

A few more trips back to the clinic and one more close encounter with the ultrasound wand and I was told I was ready to go...

The nurse told me that I had a 'mixed bag' when it came to my follicles. I had 3 large ones and 3 or 4 that they were hoping would ripen up by the time I had my egg collection...

All in all, I had only been on the injections for a week, and despite putting on a little weight and feeling a little bloated, I have to say I experienced no side effects...all was good...

I was excited...this was it...In a week or so I could be pregnant....