IVF Journey: 25w4d pregnant

This is my IVF diary. My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for four years now, and have a diagnosis of 'unexplained infertility'. We have finally reached the top of the waiting list for IVF - a form of assisted conception. I'm blogging about what happens as it happens, as a kind of therapy for me and as an awareness raising exercise of what IVF is all about.

I had a routine appointment with the obstetric Consultant today, following up on my nausea.

The husband came with me, to protect me from it all. I’m overwhelmed and needed the support.

Arrived for a 9.45am appointment and waited a little while, then saw a nurse to give a urine sample and check blood pressure and fetal heart rate. Then waited a little while longer to see the doctor.

It wasn’t a doctor I’d seen before but she was very nice.

We talked about the nausea, and she said I should come off the drugs if I didn’t need them, but stay on them if I needed them. She suggested I try cutting out one of the two drugs over a couple of days, and see how it goes. She amended my notes and GP letter so that I can continue to get the metoclopramide if I need it. So that was all very helpful.

We then talked about the high blood pressure. She explained that I was being monitored for a number of things as I was at risk of pre-eclampsia and that at the moment my blood pressure and one of my blood test readings was an indicator but nothing to act on quite yet. She explained that I would need to be monitored at the hospital on two days each week (ongoing) and that any time I should be prepared to stay in overnight after a monitoring session if the pre-eclampsia develops. I might be put on hospital bed rest, or I might be at some point (hopefully not yet) delivered early at short notice.

I feel like I’ll have to give up work pretty soon as I just can’t be committing to very much just now. I’m not even pregnant enough to start maternity leave yet, and I feel fairly well so it is weird to be off sick so much… and yet work is just becoming too much to manage alongside this. Which is disappointing. I’ll just have to man up and deal with earning nothing.

Oh well, at least I know now.

It is a relief to get some firm ideas of how this might progress and what the time commitment to treating it might be. But it is also a worry to have all this kicking off so early in the pregnancy. I continue to feel very low and overwhelmed.

In addition to this appointment I was supposed to get my blood pressure monitored today on two counts – having been told to at my last monitoring session (last Friday) and following my home monitoring yesterday. However, having seen the Consultant she said I didn’t need to be monitored today I could go in next on Friday. She also said she would speak to the home monitoring trial people to see if we could agree on a process so that I’m not getting double monitored and pulled in several confusing directions.