OPU done !!!

Good morning friends. As you guys know I was not at my ultimate feeling on the last post. I had my Ovidrel 250 mg on Monday (6/5/2013) 8.30pm.  I woke up Tuesday with a new feeling and new hope. I really hope I do get 6 follicles during my procedure. If not, I should take it in a positive way. I got my battery charged and I was getting excited for my procedure. Oh I must say I had around 5 to 6 pimples on my face all of a sudden and very hot flushes. Maybe it was the reaction to all the medications. My husband and I decided we should put up in a hotel a day earlier just to avoid any traffic jam on Wednesday. Dr did advise me to eat well the night before transfer since I had to fast from food and drink from midnight. She asked me to drink a lot of water since I had a small body so that I will not have any complication after the procedure. So, we decided to go for Johnny's. We had the steamboat with chicken soup and NOT the tom yam. First time trying the chicken soup and it was good also. I had to avoid spicy food. I drank a lot of soup and had a lot of water. Patients were not allowed to use any makeup, fragrance, contact lens, nail polish and jewellery during the procedure. I took out all my accessories the night before.

I woke up fresh as ever and excited for the procedure. We left earlier. Luckily we did, as we got stuck in the jam a while. We reached the hospital at 7.15am. I had to be there by 7.30am and my procedure was at 8.30am. We went to Level 2 and handed over the admission form. I had my height and weight taken. I do not know how I grew 2 cm though...hehe....We were brought in to a super cool room. It was so huge and first class. It had a huge washroom. I guess that's were some of our 15K or 17K was going. The nurse asked me to change into my operation gown (not allowed to wear inner garments). Nurse came and checked my pressure. She asked me if I was nervous. I told her I was not. She told me that my pressure was high. I was shocked since I felt fine. A while later, anesthesiologist came in. She was friendly as well. She asked if I went through any operation. I told her I had 1 D & C and also 1 laparoscopy for ovarian cyst removal. She told me ok u had 2 general anesthesias and this time will be a mild one. I might wake up in the middle and it is normal and to worry. She put a needle on my left hand for later use. She also asked me to urine whatever left in my stomach just before the procedure. A while later, I was visited by Dr Helena. She was as cheerful as always. She was really concern on how I was feeling. I told her I was fine. As we were talking, Dr Prashant came in as well. I greeted him. He told me that he was happy to see me smiling (our previous meeting, I was not smiling definitely). I told him, 'It is a new day and new hope'. He said, ‘YES, new day'. He left and Dr Helena was talking to us a while more and wished us good luck and left. As I was not aware what time I will be going in, I was visiting the washroom 5 minutes apart. Hehe...I was surprised that I could urine that many times without drinking. Nurses were constantly checking my pressure and I was fine after a while. I was asked to order some food to be taken after the procedure. Nurse told me to have something light to prevent from vomiting. I ordered a toast with butter and jam and a cup of hot Milo.

Finally 8.25am, a boy dressed in his operation attire came to check if I needed to go to the toilet and they wheeled my bed to the operation room. I was given operation cap to cover my hair. Dr Prashant saw me. He told me, 'Let's go'. He was energetic. I walked to the operation theater. It was not as scary as the D&C and laparoscopy. Hehe. I got on the operating bed. Dr Helena and the anesthesiologist were joking where I want to go in my dreams. As I was about to think and tell, the anesthesiologist was like, ‘Raub have a lot of beautiful waterfall right?’ She told me she went to one but can't remember what was the name. I told her that I myself had not have been to one. She told me, 'Never mind, next time bring your baby and go'. Hehe ...I hope so. She told, 'Now u start to dream of the waterfall' while she put an oxygen mask for me. Tap Tup Top....I did not know what happen after that. I vaguely remember Dr Helena was telling me we got 6 eggs taken. I was asking her if it was real. She assures the number. I vaguely remember the anesthesiologist asking me which waterfall I went. I woke up when they wheeled me to the recovery room. I was thinking whether I really had this conversation or I was dreaming. I asked one of the nurses if she knew how many eggs were collected and she was not sure. I was just thinking was it my dream or that conversation really happens because I don't remember opening my eyes while talking to Dr Helena. My husband came and joined me a while later. He had produced his sperms after I was brought in into the theather and went for breakfast. I felt really fine after the procedure. Few nurses were asking me if I really went through procedure as I was energetic as ever. She said usually patient was not like this. My husband also commented that I should behave like a patient. Hehe. As we were talking, a patient who went through OPU was wheeled to the bed next to me. Oh....I could see why the nurse told me that. The patient looks so sickly. I was a rare type I guess. Dr Helena came in again and told me again that I had 6 eggs. Pheww.... I was relived. She was proud that her estimation was correct. She then left. I got my breakfast a while later. I just had 2 slices of bread and Milo. Nurse said after breakfast I could change and I must try to urine then I can go to see Dr. I changed in the toilet and tried to urine after a while I managed to release it. Then only I realized that I was bleeding. I had 3 liners on since I did not bring my pad. Never thought that I would bleed.

I asked the nurse if it was normal. She told me shouldn't bleed very heavy as it might be internal bleeding. As I was not bleeding that heavy, I told her I want to go up. She called the nurse in Level 6 to check if I can go and see the Dr. The nurse asked me to go up in 15 minutes. We were given 1 hour parking hour. We went to Level 6 and Nurse M asked my condition. I told her that I was bleeding. She told me it happens to some patients. It should be gone in 2 days. She also introduced Utrogestan tablets to be inserted into the vagina. I had to start the tablet that night itself. I had to take 2 tablets every morning, evening and night. She did mention if the tablet falls on the ground just throw it and take a new one. We do not want to be infected. She told me not to take spicy or sour food. It might upset the stomach. She advised me to take it easy for the next 2 days. My transfer was scheduled on Saturday 11.30 am. I have to be there at 11 am. I was required to drink 3 glasses of water 1 hour before the procedure. I was advised not to have any cosmetics, perfumes, deodorant, scented body lotion with strong smell on transfer day. She says that embryo doesn’t like strong smell...They like natural smell only. This scent affects the embryo quality. As for the husband, no after shave or deodorant. I should not be driving for the 2 days also. We were done and after a while Dr called us in. Dr said I responded much quicker than other patients. Hehe..I had my stomach scanned as we were travelling to Raub. My stomach was fine. Dr wished us luck and she hope that we have some embryos to be frozen. We left the clinic. We bought some pads as I was bleeding, went to the hotel, rested there for 2 hours and left to Raub. I felt the pain when I was walking. I could not laugh as my stomach hurts whenever I laughed. We had our lunch and reached home around 4pm. I could hardly walk straight. I had a bad lower abdominal pain. I just lied down. I inserted the Utrogestan tablet at night while I was lying down. I had a pillow just to elevate my back. I rested for 30 minutes. I had some white white particles whenever I went to the washroom. It is quite messy, so please wear ur liners or pad yaa. Below is how the tablets look like.

Today, I feel much better. I feel a very slight abdominal pain. I am thinking if I should be calling the clinic to get an update on my embryos. I am anxious and nervous at the same time to know the result. Hehe....Sorry for the long post. I just want to let u guys know so that you will know what to expect during the journey. Just for more information on IVF, please refer to the link below.

http://www.klfertility.com/fertility-treatment/ivf-in-vitro-fertilization/
http://www.klfertility.com/ivf-laboratory/

Dear embies,
I am waiting for u to bloom and grow as a healthy baby soon.

Not a happy feeling....

Hi friends. I went in for my checkup again on Saturday to check on my follicles. I was super excited for the appointment with the hope that my smaller follicles have reached the desired size. Dr Helena scanned me and it was disappointing that they refused to grow. She was quite shocked it did not grow. My numbers were low. She told us that those small ones who don’t grow indicate it is not a good follicle. My heart sank. All the excitement flew off the window. Earlier, she estimated my egg retrieval would be on Tuesday but since my follicles were not up to par, my Puregon injections dosage was reduced to 150 IU and I will have to continue Orgalutran as well hoping there would be some positive changes. We will have another appointment on Monday. I was briefed on the injections by Nurse N. We paid the remaining RM5000. Completed IVF payment. We went back to our hometown since the election was next day. I totally shut down during our travel. Tears rolled down. I was so quite. My husband realized that I was quiet all the way. He tried to console me. I was just quiet throughout the journey. I was much better when I reached home. We voted yesterday. I did not think about my follicles after that.

I had my Orgalutran injection 4.30am today. Very early right? We have no choice since we were travelling far and we had to jap earlier. I was not so worried today. I just hope I had better numbers today. The clinic was closed today. The Drs were in to scan some patients. Dr Helena scanned me...... and NO good news. She was quite disappointed with the small follicles. I have very few follicles. Around 6 and 1 was too big. She said usually it will not contain any eggs. She expected more follicles from my ovaries. My husband asked her how many follicles one should have. Dr said that they would prefer 8 to 10 follicles. Those numbers have more pregnancy chances. My heart shattered in bits. I was so sad and I tried to hold it together. Dr was so surprised my numbers were low since my tests results were great. She never thought I would have any problem with the numbers. She was like not to lose hope and all. My eyes were already collecting tears. I was just hoping it will not drop. She was explaining the IVF procedure and looking at me. She realized my eyes were flooding already. She advised me not to worry and IVF is a stressful journey. Dr was like she is going to cry anytime and yes I was.....Tears rolled down my cheeks. I quickly wiped it off. Dr felt bad for me. She handed me a box of tissue. She told me 2 stories while I was wiping, wiping and wiping. One of it was her best friend who had 4 IVFs and the last one she was successful. She did not lose hope. The other was a lady who only had 4 eggs and had delivered twins. She was advising me not to lose hope and not to be stressed. So was my husband. She added that we will not know the number of eggs till the collection day. She said she expect 6 to 7. I think she was just being nice to tell that number. I have to wait and see for Wednesday. 

I was asked to go to 3rd floor to do my progesterone blood test. After that, Level 5 to sign in some forms for my Wednesday procedure. I went back to the clinic to collect my Ovidrel injection. This injection is supposed to be done at 8.30 pm today. We must be exact on the timing. This was to release the mature eggs. I was waiting for my turn with a soared eye due to the tears and reddish nose. I have that whenever I cry. Nurse N called me in. She asked me if I was having flu. I said no. Then she was like were you crying? Oh my....My tears came down again. She got shocked. She said u cool down first then we discuss...I was like its ok. She looked at me, she looked at my husband...She probably thought my husband and I had a fight. My husband told her I was sad because I have 6 follicles only. She was like just staring at him and she said OK??? My husband continued Dr said it was low. She was like it only takes 1 embryo. Don't worry. She said she thought maybe I was sad because of the election news since she saw my colored finger. I was crying and laughing to hear that. So sweet of her. She advised me not to worry and get stressed. All will be good. She told me to come in 7.30am on Wednesday. My procedure would be 8.30am. My husband was asked to provide his sperm on the day as well. She explained on the injection and we were done. We left the clinic, paid the parking ticket and got a call from the clinic. They forgot to give me a paper. She asked me to wait at the lobby. As we were waiting, Dr Prashant came out from the lift. I did not realize it was him at first due to my brain had so many confusions going on. He looked at me. "Are you (my name)? I was shocked. I was "Yes". Then only I realized who I was talking to. He told me that the girls were finding for me. I told him that I received the call. He asked me if my schedule was on Wednesday. I was Yes...I hardly could talk. The Dr was looking at me only. He probably would have guessed that I was crying. My husband told him I was sad because of 6 follicles. He asked Dr if it was OK. He said it is since you are young. I told him I was 31. He said it is OK. The nurse came to give me the papers. As the nurse was talking to me, Dr Prashant lift came. He got into the lift and told me "See you on Wednesday". 

I was so embarrassed to be crying. Just could not hold it together although I thought I would be able to. Again I was crying and quiet throughout my journey. Pity my husband. I reached home around 1 pm. I am better now. I just hope now that all my follicles contain eggs and they get fertilized and form a baby and I can hold him/her on my arms very soon. Looking at my numbers, I really do not mind if I don't have any eggs to freeze. I just hope there is a healthy baby by January 2014.

Day 7 appointment

Good evening friends. I went in for my Day 7 appointment today. I went with my husband....hehe...Previously I was supposed to drive alone but my husband's meeting was cancelled. He insisted he would follow. We reached the clinic at 9.15 am. My appointment was at 9.45 am. We waited and waited but both the doctor's were not in yet. Both of them had procedures in the morning. Should be egg collection I guess. They came in at 10.15 am. By the time, there were so many patients already. My name was called in first. We went in and Dr Helena apologized for the waiting. Dr said I looked tired. Maybe because of the injections. But I actually felt fine. I was very tired yesterday only. We straight went for the scanning. She checked on the follicles size...It was averaged from 8mm to 12mm. I am not so sure how many were there exactly. I think I will not know for sure till the egg collection day because the small ones are growing. Dr hopes that my smaller follicles will catch up. They look on the smaller side. I think I have around 8 bigger ones only so far. Dr had a hard time on the left ovary. I forgot to mention that I have retroverted uterus. Usually Dr would have problem reading my left ovary. I had my cyst removed on the left last year. This explains the smaller number of follicles produced on the left ovary. She read I had only 3 today. Two days ago she read I had 4. Dr asked me to continue Puregon 200 IU today and tomorrow. I will start my Orgalutran injection 0.25mg from today till Saturday. Dr mentioned the Orgalutran injection as a yucky one. She explained the reason why she said that is because that injection is painful. Orgalutran is to prevent me from ovulating. Dr asked us to come in again on Saturday. She thinks I may be ready for egg collection on Tuesday or Wednesday. She just booked a slot for me on Tuesday just to be on the safe side. 

Nurse B explained how to use the injections. Nurse B had the 2 injections done for me. Puregon was fine, then she continued with Orgalutran. She pinched my stomach, counted till 3 and got the injection in looked at me. I was confused. After she injected she asked me, "No pain ah?" I was like "No. I did not feel it at all". She was amazed. I just felt a slight ant bite pain only. Maybe my pain tolerance was higher than normal. I will tell you guys how I felt after I finished the other rounds of injections. The Orgalutran injection must be done before 24 hours daily.

We did not pay today. The last payment will be made on Saturday. I just had my free 1 hour parking ticket and left the clinic.

Puregon Injection and appointment

Hi friends. It's a bit late update. I started my Puregon 250 IU injection on Saturday (27/4/2013) till Monday (29/4/2013). I have my injections daily at 7.55 pm. The first injection I did it myself because my Junior Dr had to work. From Sunday onwards he did the injections for me as he enjoys that. I had some very slight pain only. Just like an ant biting. It was not a problem at all for me. As of side effects, I had slight bloating and I felt some hot flushes. Yesterday, I had my appointment with Dr Helena. Dr said that bloating, hot flushes and mood swings were some of the effects and nothing to worry. I wished I had more than 10 follicles growing. But I had 9 growing follicles and 3 or 4 tiny tiny ones. Dr Helena reduced my Puregon dosage to 200 IU starting today. The reason she reduced my dosage is to prevent my bigger follicles to grow and prevent me from ovulating faster. Besides that, she hopes that my smaller follicles can catch up with the rest. I am supposed to meet her again tomorrow to check on my follicles progress. I hope the small ones can grow faster. I have to drive myself for my appointment. My husband has an important meeting so I have to drive a long and boring journey tomorrow. Hehe...

We paid another RM5000.

Till date, we have paid RM10000. Another RM5000 to go.

She's here again....

Ya, she's here one more time....I just finish my period last Wednesday and now I am having it again. I realized drugs can really affect science. Anyway, I got my period yesterday around 7pm. I remembered when I first went to KLFGC; I was told that if I have my period after 5pm, then the next day is considered as Day 1 of period. For example in my case:-

Period - 7pm Thursday (since after 5pm, Friday is considered Day 1)

I called my nurse today to confirm. Yes, I was right. I was told to start my injection from tomorrow, Saturday. I can do the injection any time of the day be it morning, evening or night. But the subsequent days, the timing should be the same. The nurse asked me to come in again on Tuesday (Day 5) for a checkup. By right I should be going in on Day 6 but since it is a public holiday, I was told to come in a day earlier. The nurse advised me not to take my injection for the Day 5 first. So I have to carry my IVF bag again to the clinic. Will update soon how my injection went. Till then take care friends and have a great weekend.

IVF on or off ?

Good afternoon friends. My appointment yesterday was at 11.45 am. My husband and I reached the clinic around 10.30 am. We were called in after 30 minutes. Dr Helena greeted us and we did not waste any time. Dr scanned me...Although she was counting the follicles, she was finding for the dominant follicle. She then measured it. It was 7mm...The size had reduced. Previously was 10mm. Dr told us that we were on the winning side but I had to do an urgent blood test. I was to be tested for estradiol and also progesterone level. I was asked to go to level 3A to perform the blood test. We immediately got it done. We were asked to come to the clinic in an hour’s time. We went for a drink, chatted a while and went back to the clinic. After a while of waiting, I heard my name was mentioned by one of the nurse. I was called in to see the doctor. I was not that nervous going in the clinic to hear the news. I opened the door knob looked at the doctor. Dr said "Good news". Pheww....I knew I was on the right track. Dr told me that my levels were good and I can start my IVF soon. She said that I will be getting my period in 2 to 3 days. Then I can start my IVF on day 2. Dr asked me if I wanted to take back my injections or come in when I get my period. She knew that we were coming from quite a distance. We decided we would bring back the injections with us. I did not understand the science behind the period again as I just finished my period last week. I was too excited I could start my IVF that I did not go into the details behind the science of my case. Dr said that we had won this time. Since my nurse was no longer with the clinic, I was assigned to another nurse; Nurse M.

Nurse M explained how to use my injections. I was to give her a call when I get my period so that we can make an appointment for Day 6. I was given Puregon injection Kit as below.

I had my cooler bag, ice bag, Puregon pen, puregon cartridge, needles, alcohol swabs, a consent form and my medication table. I was supposed to start my injection on Day 2. My dosage was Puregon 250 IU. Below is a video on how to use the pen correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLE5ra84u4Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcFr-CO_e-A

We then were called to make a payment. The Finance Officer noted that we were starting our IVF soon. She asked us how much was our package discussed with the Dr. We told her we did not discuss on that. She then checked and realized our package was RM15000 altogether. So we decided to break the payment into 3 payments. 

Total IVF cost - RM 15000

We paid - RM 5000 

Waaaaa.... :(

Hi dear friends. I updated my previous blog entry (Monday) while I was having a bad headache. It continued till night. After I had my dinner, things got worst. Terrible headache, tried to sleep but my headache won the race. I started vomiting again and again. 5 times till my throat was so sore. Whenever I drank water, it's out again. The headache made it worst....Felt so sick....I was thinking why am I having this just before my checkup. I was hoping my appointment result will be good though. My husband was helpless....He was asking me what he should do. I barely could speak....Then he asked if he can get me 100 plus. I agreed as I know my stomach was too empty and needed some energy. I agreed although felt bad that he had to go out at 10pm to get a drink. I drank only few sips as my throat was hurting so bad from all the vomiting. I was watching some movie and I dozed off. My husband woke me and we went to bed. 

Yesterday, I woke up at 4am. I realized my head was slightly painful. I tried to sleep again since I really needed to sleep else I will be in pain. Then I woke up before my alarm. As excited as I was, quickly smeared butter and jam on the bread for breakfast. Took my bath, got dressed but I just took a bite of my bread. Just could not get it down. My husband and I left our place at 7.30am. Reached the clinic at 9.40am. The traffic was much worse than usual. Surprisingly parking was so empty. So was the clinic. Just few patients and also nurses. There was a new nurse. I told her my appointment was at 10am. She checked and my name was 1.45pm. I was like it shouldn’t be. I don't know from where that time came. Luckily she said that it was not a problem. I was called in immediately. Dr Helena as inviting as usual. We had a short chat. She remembered my sister's wedding. She said good decision to postpone because it was not good to be stressful during IVF. She then wanted to scan me...While she was counting 1,2,3 then one Whoops came. I knew something was not right. I could see 1 of the follicle was bigger than the rest. I was having all kind of thoughts already. Dr measured the bigger follicle. It was 10 mm...Then she continued the counting. I think I had approximately 8 follicle on right and 5 on my left. I am not sure I was having more or not on the right because my mind kind of got blanked when I saw the bigger follicle. After that I went to see the Dr. She explained that sometimes it happens. The body chooses 1 follicle to outgrow the rest. She then asked me if I still have the Yasmin pills. I said yes. She asked me to take it till Sunday and come again to see her again on Monday. Sometimes the pills can withdraw back the follicle, sometimes it does not. If it decides to withdraw, I can go on with IVF else, postpone another month. My heart was like 'WAAAAAAA, not another month'. I have already postponed 2 months. Dr said we will see who wins next week. Is it us or the follicle. Hopefully we will win. Felt quite disappointed today but I am trying to be positive. I did some research on the internet. All of the cases I found had to postpone their IVF cycle. Hopefully I will be one of the very lucky one and all will be good so that I can continue my IVF soon.

Total cost:-

NO CHARGE.

(We were shocked because we thought we will be charged for the scan)

P/s - We drove 2 hours to the clinic, 5 minutes with the Dr, paid RM4 for parking since it was so short and drove back 1.5 hours more to reach home with disappointment. But I am trying my best to stay positive till next Monday. I started my Yasmin pill yesterday. Hoping for the best next Monday.