Christmas 2020 comes and goes. Lots of socially distanced doorstep visits to drop presents around to friends and family, all the while waiting for my period to arrive so I can start the next round of medication. One very thoughtful gift was this fertility wish card.
January 2021, a new year, new possibilities. What will this hold? This month is the hardest one yet. Covid infections are rising, schools are staying open under BoJo's recommendation. Unions are advising it's not safe and that staff have their backing to exercise their right to work from home, due to safety concerns. As I am worried that catching Covid could cause more damage to my infertility - I opted to stay at home if schools stay open to all. I work at home for one day. Then Boris announces schools aren't safe and that they should close. I am asked back into school to teach my year group pod. I am back in school with 15 children and it feels much safer. Within 8 days, I developed symptoms and go for a test and the worst thing happens - I am POSITIVE for Covid. Now this was not the positive I hoped for this year. I suffer a little but nothing top bad. I get over it and head back into to school after my 10 day isolation period.
Then we break up for half term, Nick and I celebrate Valentines Day with a run and then in rhe evening an M n S meal deal. The next day after 46 days of waiting my period arrives. I call the hospital to request treatment. I receive a phone call confirming I can start my estrogen tablets the day after. Yay this is happening! Two weeks from this date I attended the hospital for another internal scan to check my womb lining. The probe is in my uterus for less than 3 minutes the gynaecologist confirms I am ready for an embryo transfer!
Two days after the scan I begin to use progesterone pessaries. They can either be taken vaginally or rectally. They are little bullet-shaped, waxy feel pessaries. The first time didn't go so well, I could feel it and I'm not sure I pushed it in far enough. Then my thoughts go to that annoying tampon advert "Get it up there girls!" So next time I need to use one I push it in as far as it will go. Success: it is more comfortable, I can barely feel it. I continue to use these twice daily along with 3 x daily of estrogen tablets.
Now that was the prep for my body, then the embryologist needed to prepare our embryos. They thawed all 9 of our Pro-Nucleate embryos, 1 didn't survive the thaw, 1 had 3 nuclei and the other 7 are viable and developing well. The next day those split into two groups 3 of them are top quality of 8 cells and the other 4 are at 4 to 5 cells.
The transfer will happen on day 5 when hopefully we will have a blastocyst embryo. We will get the call on the morning of day 5 confirming the number of embryos and their grading and be given our time slot for the transfer.
We wait the weekend, ahead of our Monday morning phone call. Throughout this whole process I have had to isolate again due to Covid.
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