IVF: THE SCHEDULE

A few friends have asked recently about the process that we’re going through and the key dates around that, so I thought I would take the opportunity to put them all in print.  (Mainly so when my mind leaves me and HUBBY’s not around I have somewhere I can go to check to see what I should be doing!)

I’m doing a “Pill Cross Over Cycle”.  I’ve tried to find some online literature to link to about this, but ironically when I did a google search the top post on it was written by me.  As google has awarded me the world expert status I shall regale you with what I think one is.  Be warned, I’m not a doctor.  (Just for those of you wondering…)

The Pill Crossover involves taking the birth control pill for a period of time and then overlapping this with the nasal spray and then stopping the birth control pill.  At least that’s what I’ve taken it to mean from what they’ve had me do.  The goal is to get my hormone levels so low that my body doesn’t want to do anything remotely reproductive.  Once that occurs they then give me medication to send my body into hormone overdrive so that it’ll produce eggs which they can then harvest, fertilise and hopefully put back (one at a time).

To give you an idea of what’s involved I thought I would post my schedule so you can see for yourself.

That’s it in all it’s glory. It’s quite daunting when first confronted with it, but I’ve found tackling it one day at a time and focusing on the key milestones has made it a little easier not to get disheartened.

My focus is currently on 12 August.  This is the day where I’ll have my first blood test.  The test will check my hormone levels, and if they’re at the right levels I could possibly start on the injections the next day.

If my levels aren’t in the range that they need to be I’ll continue taking the nasal spray and go for blood tests until they are where they need to be and then start the injections.

Once the injections start I’ll be going for regular blood tests and ultrasounds to track the progress of the follicle development.  Once the doctor is happy with where the development is and my hormones are doing what they’re supposed to I’ll be given an egg retrieval date.

An egg retrieval is done via day surgery and involves the doctor extracting the follicles from my ovaries.  I’m trying not to think too much about this stage as it seems like a long way off and makes it all a little too real.

Once the follicles are retrieved they’ll be able to tell us whether there’s any viable eggs (fingers crossed).  Any viable eggs will then be placed in  petrie dish along with some of HUBBY’s sperm and left to fertilise (fingers crossed).

We’re aiming for a 5 day blastocyst for transfer (fingers crossed). Here’s what a healthy 5 day blastocyst looks like:

Image source: Advancedfertility.com

Once the transfer occurs it’s just a pleasant two week wait to see if the embryo likes it’s new environment and decides to stick around for nine months and become the apple of my eye.  It’s all so simple really, what could possible go wrong? *insert manical laughter*