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LisaD - Hope the IVF treatment goes well and it works first-time.

Thanks Justine. I hope so too...it seems like alot, but so worth it!! The only real worry I have is the egg collection. I am hoping that I can get sedated for it. Fingers crossed!!

LisaD - They always sedate you for egg collection. I was drowsy in mine but could hear them counting the follicles as they came out. Some women are completely asleep in it. It doesn't hurt - the needle they put in my hand to sedate me hurt a bit (like a blood test) but I hardly felt the egg collection. My egg collection was on Valentine's Day - so romantic! I remember old ladies with walking sticks overtaking me for a couple of days after the egg collection though! There's no need to worry about it - you're nearly at the end when you get that far - I was glad to get to it. Best wishes. Justine

Justine- I found out today that I will be sedated. I think that was my biggest worry, and also IVF not working the first time around. I was told by the nurse today, that we have alot of positives on our side (we are 27 and our problem is not that extensive, mostly male and my cycle needs to regulate)and our doctor gave us a 45% chance of it working the first time, so fingers crossed! I have orientation tomorrow night, so I will learn all about it!

A 45% chance is very good and as good as its gets - we were given a 30% chance (that's the highest my clinic gives) and were told it would work on the second or third attempt. You've got an excellent chance of it working first-time. I also know someone who it didn't work the first-time for but they froze some of the spare embryos (my clinic just binned mine) and she did 2 frozen cycles ( you just do embryo transfer, which is really easy, for these - no drugs or egg collection) and got pregnant and now has a baby girl. Hopefully your clinic will be one that freezes embryos (only top quality ones can be frozen). It's useful for a second child if you get pregnant anyway. I really wish my clinic had frozen ours. Good luck with everything.

We had our orientation last night and it was overwhelming. All of th needles and drugs seem like alot. I have finally come to term with the fact that we do have to do IVF, but it still gets to me. And then last night when I saw the Progesterone needle...oh my!! That one scares me!!!

Yes those needles aren't nice. I hated the idea of putting all those drugs in me too (still do) but I guess it's the only solution they've got at present - just wish someone would invent a nicer one. Fortunately I had progesterone suppositories (you just put them up your vagina - much easier though a bit wierd) so didn't have progesterone needles. How long do you have to do the injections for? I had to do them for 2 weeks - 2 a night in my stomach. If you're thin like me the best thing is to slouch your back/stomach so the fat sticks out otherwise they hurt. The people who were not thin said they didn't hurt at all. You do get used to them and its only 5 mins each day but I was so glad when they were over. All the suffering is worth it to get a baby though.

Justine- I asked about the suppositories and the pharmicist told me to talk to my doctor tomorrow, but she believes that he will say stick with the needle. The ymay be able to drop it down to a one inch instead of a one and a half inch. I believe I have to do them for 6 weeks, but I am not totally sure. I had so much information thrown at me last night, I feel overwhelmed. I am going to call my nurse tomorrow and speak with her. I have come to the realization that for the minute or so of pain I have to go through a day is worth it! I think the anticipation is the scariest part! Thank you for always listening and responding!

LisaD - My needles were about one inch. I took progesterone suppositories from the day of egg collection for 15 days. I'd definately try and get the shorter needles and progesterone in any form other than injections if you can. My hospital gave me a booklet going through everything - it was very useful as it takes a while to understand it all. You're right about the anticipation being the worst bit and the first time you do an injection. After that you think it's not nice, but I've done it before so I can do it again and you know you've got 1 injection less to do. My husband did the injections on me and my kitten used to watch from on top on the door frame 6 foot up - I was scared she was going to land on me! Good luck with the treatment.

Justine-Well, I won the battle for the one inch needles. I am still wary of them, but it will be worth it!! That is funny about your cat. My cat is 20 pounds, I hope he does not even think of jumping on me!!! I start Lupron next week. Those needles are nothing!! I wish I could have gotten the supp., but no luck :(

Lisa - Just wanted to wish you good luck with the IVF treatment - you must be starting soon. Hope your cat doesn't jump on you if he weighs 20 pounds!!. That's big. My cat keeps trying to sit on the baby - I don't let her so she waits until I'm asleep and creeps up on me! She's got very broody since I got pregnant - sitting with her toy mouse under her stomach, washing it and sleeping with it. Its sweet!

Justine-We have started the Lupron shots. It is not as bad as I thought. I am even doing the shots on my own!! I am hoping that all goes well...I will keep you posted!!

Lisa - That's good. Do you know when the egg collection will be roughly? Do you have any more scans? I had a couple more before the egg collection I think. Let me know how it goes.

Hi, we are pregnant (5 weeks) from our first round of IVF. I'm 32 so I'm in the middle age range for IVF sucess. We are taking progesterone shots daily for 3 more weeks. They are horrible! My hip muscles hurt and are very sore. The make the lupron shots seem fun. But it is all worth the pain in the end so stick with it. Also as anyone had residual ovary pain after retreicval? I had some mild syperstimulation after egg retrieval and was in a LOT of pain for a week. Even now I still have some pain in my right overy, especially if I twist wrong or during some bowel movements. Did anyone expierence this?

Laura - Congratulations on your positive pregnancy test! I'm 32 too and got pregnant on our first round of IVF with ICSI. I just had to take progesterone as a vaginal suppository for 15 days from egg collection which was no big deal. I was also in pain after the egg collection - I had 33 follicles which produced 22 eggs and think I had mild hyperstimulation too. The pain got better when my period was due (week 4). My right ovary became very large (10cm ish I think) after the egg collection and stayed that way until the end of first trimester. I had multiple cysts on the right and the left ovaries due to IVF - the doctor was surprised I wasn't in pain with them but I wasn't. They did test me for cancer due to the large size of the cysts which was very scary but came back fine. I also had bleeding from week 6 to week 14 and a large blood clot in the uterus which also may have been caused by the IVF as my body seemed to keep growing the follicles/cysts like it didn't realise I was pregnant. I think it was confused by the IVF treatment. It's gone now but it was very scary and at one point the clot was several times the size of the baby and it looked like it would miscarry. Fortunately it didn't and I'm now 27 weeks and everything is fine. Your ovaries should go back to normal size around the end of the first trimester. I think you can take paracetomol for the pain but check with your doctor.

Justine, thanks for the info and congratulations on your pregnancy! I'm glad to hear that this is maybe just normal for IVF. I feel like the pain I am having is probably from cysts on my right ovary. Hopefully the Dr. will be able to tell me something when we go for our first sono monday. 22 eggs is amazing (we had 9 total), your body really responded well to the treatment. We had PGD done and ended up putting 2 back in (I can't wait to see how many actually implanted). Also nice to hear of someone who is having a sucessful pregnancy on their first round of IVF. I am very hopeful that this will work out for us too. Congrats again!