IVF

Our first IVF cycle was to be the most successful of our 19 cycles.  I don’t think I could recount each and every cycle if I tried. You’d think something so massive would stick in your mind forever.

We encountered many nurses and doctors over the years. Sometimes it felt like we were guinea pigs for a new treatment and then other times like we were passing through a toll booth behind many others travelling the same route.

Our first few cycles gave us some rather traumatic experiences.

 I recall sitting outside the clinic with my beautiful Mum and husband waiting for embryo transfer.

The waiting room inside was full of patients including a lady recovering from her anaesthetic. The theatre was running 3 hours behind time. Trying to hold your bladder for that long and keep yourself relaxed is quite a challenge.  Then try staying relaxed with your legs up in the air surrounded by 5 strangers in a room the size of a broom cupboard. Oh and did I mention the 1 ply serviette they placed across my bits to defend my dignity.

One of the clinics we sought treatment at was housed at a women’s and neo-natal specialist hospital in the centre of Perth. There were always lots of pregnant women hanging out at the entrance to the hospital, fag in one hand, drip in the other. Foo often recounts the story and you all know how much he loves a story,of peering out the hospital window and seeing a heavily pregnant woman and her 6 kids leaving the hospital, only to find that their 2 door mini was boxed in by another car, the 4 little kids jumped in the back, mum behind the steering wheel, the 2 big kids pushing from the front and then raced around the back and pushed the matchbox car down the road, they all seemed to know their place like they had done it a million times before.

I came across a website very early on in our IVF journey: www.essentialbaby.com.au

It’s forums are full of many amazing stories of egg donation, sperm donation and embryo donation. There are stories of men and women whom have endured multiple failed IVF cycles. My tears have flowed through many tales of negative pregnancy tests, chemical pregnancies, miscarriages, stillbirths and the anxieties of those that fear they may never be parents. Although my tears flow just as fast when I read about positive pregnancy tests, hearing their baby’s heartbeat for the first time, morning sickness replacing the nausea and pain of IVF medications. The only difference is I have a beaming smile on my face and it gives me hope that just maybe the next cycle will be the one,

This website is amazing and the wonderful people that contribute to the forums have taught me how important it is to be your own advocate when it comes to your health. I learnt that the more you know and understand about your condition and the different avenues available to you then the more in control you feel.