Good morning ladies!
Relatively busy day today! We'll get the last shots we need for our trip to Egypt!
I should also try and make a reservation for a hotel for our one night in Paris...
It's so great to see the thread active!
Jen: you're welcome; I posted this a while ago during my last cycle and it seemed useful to other people, too; it's the whole point of posting it!
I still think it's a personal choice, but at least it can help people make an informed decision.
As for bed rest, it's a good question. Do ask your doctor exactly on what scientific basis they require you to follow those limitations. I sure would. One of the nurses burst out laughing when I told her about some of the recommendations I had heard here and asked her if I should follow them. For example, the "no baths" rule. She found it downright ridiculous and she's been working in fertility for 11 years. The clinic has very high success rates so believe me, they know what they're doing. Heck, in the week before I tested, 4 women out of the 6 who had received ET got a BFP!
Women who don't struggle with infertility do sports, have sex, drink alcohol even, go to work, run, jump, take baths, shower, and so on before they learn they're pregnant. And technically, they're in their 2ww as well! Given that we're given so few chances of conceiving, I can understand the need to be a little more careful and not run after trouble. But doing all sorts of crazy things out of fear just to avoid feeling guilty suggests a need to address other issues, such as one's self-esteem/emotions in regards to infertility and especially one's dealing with the fact that IVF might never work.
My clinic's recommendations are:
taking the day off the day of the transfer,
no intercourse or orgasms till the pregnancy test (so the uterus does not contract and the cervix stays very zen too),
no intense physical activity that involves intense cardio, lots of jumping (such as flamenco or jogging),
risks of fall, receiving a kick (which means that walking is 100% okay and also encouraged; I put my regular training and put it on hold during the 2ww and replace it with 30 minutes of walking every day)
and no lifting heavy objects (because it can momentarily cut your blood flow in the groins). Taking the 2ww off work is recommended
if, and only if your job involves intense physical activity or heavy lifting. For the rest, you
just consider yourself pregnant so you don't drink alcohol, and so on.
Above all, do picture your uterus for what it
really is. Because of the common front view cut that we see, we get the impression that the uterus is a small pouch, so it gives the impression that the little embies might just bounce or fall anywhere in there, hence the instinctive need to lie down so the embies, helped by gravity, rest on one of the uterus walls and hopefully implant, right? Well, that instinctive image is all wrong! When I got my transfer, my nurse explained to me that the uterus is in fact like a sandwich. When you look at a side view of a uterus cut, you'll see that the two walls are in fact pressed together. So your embies, I've been told, are like two little peas trapped inside a honey sandwich. They just can't go anywhere, whether you're standing up or laying down, putting your feet up or standing on your head. They're just stuck there.
jenn: hello girlie!
I'll make you the same comment I wrote for Jen. You have my support 100% for breaking your clinic's silly rules that have no empirical basis whatsoever. Oh, and about your DH, LOL, tell him I fully respect his skepticism, also tell him that studies in the medical field generally use p<0.01 and below instead of the standard p<0.05 in other fields and tell him that, with some samples as big as 220 folks, huge standard deviations would not have reached statistical significance when comparing experimental and control groups. If he still has doubts and want to check what correction they might have applied to account for outliers, kindly pass my message to get his little tush off the couch and go check on Medline by himself (simply use acupuncture AND in vitro as keywords). And whoaaa!
Now THAT'S a short protocol! Wow, why is it indicated in your case? Never heard of that! I'm curious! Glad they could spread the costs for your meds!
Tanya: hehehe I know; all waits are difficult and the most difficult is always the wait you have to do right now!
In a couple of weeks, I'm sure I'll hear you say that waiting for your fert results is really hell compared to waiting for your cycle to begin, lol! I totally get what you mean about bed rest and I find your attitude right on spot and super healthy!
shake that bootie sista, I'll shake it with you!
arizonakiwi: awwwwwwwwwwwww thanks so much for bringing up the dream! Yours sounded so tender as well! Isn't it the best feeling in the world? Aw, here I am, all emotional in my office!
Thank you for the comment on the list! Doing my best!
Jul1e: Congratulations on becoming an Auntie!
I'm sorry that the second twin has anemia issues... sure causes worries that you and the parents could do without. Glad to know that she's improving though!
Congratulations on the evil AF's visit! You're officially our ice-breaker!
I'll adjust the list right away. It looks like you're down regging for a LONG time, though! Whew! I'll only do down regging for a max of 16 days, maybe less! Strange how our cycles always differ... I understand the conflicting emotions surrounding a new try. I do want my little treasures, and you saw how thrilled I was to being another cycle, but right now I'm not so thrilled. Basically, I don't necessarily like cycling. I like having hopes and do something, but not necessarily the something per se!
And you're right, the drugs do have an effect. There are good and bad days.. and in the bad days, you really think, "Well, this better give me a baby because I don't want to do that for nothing!" I really hope they have answers for you about the freezing, because the suspicions you have sure won't help you get over those negative feelings. I sure would be mad at my clinic if those were the reasons why they wouldn't freeze my embies. Do ask for their fragmentation and normality; those were the two reasons why some of our embies were not frozen. One was oval-shaped (abnormal) and the others were too fragmented. Though, when it's all there is after fert, some clinics will still transfer that kind of embies (fragmented), freezing them makes less sense because they'll either die during the freezing or the thaw. Keep us posted, both about the info you get and about the emotions you feel. That's what we're all here for, sweetie! *hug*
Literatriz: thanks for posting your info in more details; I'll add it to the list for sure. And I do wish babies to you both!
Isn't it great to look at more precise dates? Always exciting to get a calendar! And think of due dates...
Okay, time to end that post and get going!
Have a lovely day!
Sophie
