The Catch Up

So, I will try and keep this very simple. We had always planned to go back to try again once Jacob got to around 12 months old. I was ready when he was only 7 months, but was still breastfeeding and not ready to wean. I ended up choosing to wean him at nearly 11 months, with the aim of going back to the fertility specialist a month later. We ended up moving to a different area, but still managed to get to our initial appointment only a couple of weeks later on the 21st of May. I had done some research before the move and found a fertility specialist/clinic that I was really happy with, and so far I have been very happy with my decision.

My new specialist sifted through our records and decided that he wanted me to have a laparoscopy/hysteroscopy & dye studies. I didn't have this done the first time around - as our male factor meant IVF/ICSI for us no matter what, and there was no reason to suspect endometriosis on my part - my old specialist wanted to do a few rounds of IVF before going down that road. My new specialist likes to make sure that he has done everything he can before doing a transfer - probably the reason why his success rates are higher than some big city clinics.

So the lap/hyst/dye studies were done a month later on the 17th June. I struggled a little to recover from the general anesthetic, but otherwise my recovery was very good. He found a floppy retroverted uterus (probably the result of my last pregnancy, not something that affects fertility), but otherwise everything was perfect. No signs of endometriosis, which was great news as it can negatively affect the chances of success with IVF.

As we have 2 frozen blastocysts from our successful pregnancy cycle, the next step was to plan a frozen embryo transfer (FET). My specialist has found the greatest success comes from trying to mimic a natural cycle as much as possible, so I was given a prescription for Serophene (Clomid) to try and help me ovulate, and a date to start taking it. They are tablets that you take for 5 days from day 2 to day 6 of a cycle. I was to take 1.5 tablets a day, or 75mg. Then a scan was booked in for day 12 to see what was happening. The scan showed 1 follicle on each ovary, but they were still only 9mm and 10mm (they need to be around 18-21mm to be mature). Another scan was done 4 days later, the 10mm one was not growing at all, and the 9mm one was now 13mm which was considered quite a slow growth. Another scan two days later revealed the remaining follicle was 15mm, again very slow growth. Yet another scan the next day revealed no change in the follicle size, and fluid from the follicle outside of it, indicating a possible spontaneous ovulation and resulting in a cancelled cycle. That was yesterday.

My specialist is still not really sure what went wrong as my lining was fantastic the whole time. He has arranged for me to have a blood test next week to check my progesterone level so that he can learn more. Then I have an appointment the following week (unless my period arrives sooner) to review the cancelled cycle and start again. Next time I will be on 100mg of Serophene (2 tablets). I am obviously feeling disappointed, but as my specialist said, I want to make sure that our embryos have the very best chance they can at succeeding. He is also not charging me at all for the cancelled cycle which I was pretty amazed by! They are simply carrying over the money that has been paid to the next cycle, and bulk billing for all the scans/appointments. Very impressive I thought, considering what I know of other clinics and what I paid at my last one.

Overall so far I am coping really well. It has been hard bringing back all the painful memories of our first experience with IVF, but this time around I have my precious munchkin to cuddle when I get home. There is not the sense of urgency that I felt last time, obviously I am still desperately hoping that we are blessed with a second miracle soon, but there are much worse things to do than spending the waiting time as a part of our beautiful family and sharing every day with my precious son.