Now there's a thought.....

I was catching up on Portia P's blog the other day and my attention was drawn by her post on a hormone called DHEA which can help women have a better chance of increased egg production during IVF.

Well as you know my IVF#1 produced a pathetic egg haul of only 4 so I thought I would look into the possibility of trying DHEA.

I emailed Mr A's secretary and asked if he had heard of it. She called me back and said he had written a paper on DHEA and some of his patients are actually using it......surprised and slightly hopeful was my reaction.

So, she's got a meeting with him tonight and she's going to ask if he recommends that I get some. I believe it takes a few months to kick in, so won't make a difference to IVF#2 but if the treatment fails then it might have had time to be in my system by IVF#3. Hey I'll stand on my head in the middle of the motorway if it means it works, so I've nothing to lose.

So thanks Portia....lets see what he says.

New ideas

I was thinking recently about all of you out there that use acupuncture during treatment. I was intrigued as to how it might help. So I had a look at the website of a beauticians located in the village we live, as there was a sign in the window saying an acupuncturist was based there.

Well her website only included fertility and baby related acupuncture information so I gave her a call and she specialises in infertility acupuncture.....it must be fate!

So I went to meet her last week for a chat and she explained that the treatment can help the embryo(s) implant as well as helping the stimulating drugs to work better. Both of which pricked my ears up.

So I've decided to have a few sessions prior to stimulating and also the day of implantation (fingers crossed we get there). It surprised me that she actually comes to the hospital with us to do it before and after transfer....now that's above and beyond the call of duty to me, but if it works I may have to name my baby after her...but Wendy might be strange if I have a boy!!

She did mention it wasn't good to fill your body full of cold foods, and I will take some of her advice but I'm not going overboard. I think that if the embryo is destined to get through it all it will do so despite everything.

So not a lot else happening. I am not commenting as much as I used to as I tend to catch up one week at a time now, so don't think I'm not reading, I'm just doing it at a slower pace these days.

A Strange Post

Not a lot to say but I have 2 random questions for you all:

1. Wedding readings - do any of you have any great readings that you could email me? I have been looking for a while on the www but haven't found the perfect one. If you have my email address is onemiracleneeded@hotmail.co.uk

2. Does anyone know whether ice cream is to be avoided? I have heard that it helps egg quality, then I read on Erin's blog that you shouldn't have it...confused....can you help? also what's the story with milk...good or bad for you?

Thanks!!

Girlie shopping

My sister, brother in law and nephew came to stay at the weekend. On Saturday, me and my sister left the boys to it and went off for a day of wedding dress shopping.

Before we went shopping together I had got my favourites down to 3 so it would make my final decision easier. I put on the 1st dress then walked out to where my sister was waiting......she cried when she saw me, which made me cry too.......I just do not know how I will get down the aisle in the church without dissolving into a puddle of tears. After a few hours of trying and re-trying, I made my decision and we also chose her bridesmaid dress too...not bad for one days shopping.

I am itching to describe the dress to you but my Other Half will read this, so I will just have to promise to post the pictures of the big day.

We had such a great time trying on lots of beautiful dresses and being so well looked after in the bridal shops, its a pity us girls can't do it all the time. I even tried on a fantastic 'fairy' type dress just for fun, it was so Sex and the City!

Disaster happened today, when I found out the dress was discontinued!! The tears flowed again, but not tears of joy. To cut a long story short, they urgently contacted the manufacturer and found me one in a size bigger than I am so they can now get it altered to my size......pheww!

Other news, I got my blood test results today for my thyroid levels. Mr A had previously said I shouldn't try another cycle till my levels were stabilised. The good news is they came back normal so I must be on the right dosage of thyroxine now, which means we can plough on with try number 2 next month.....happy days.

Excited

Guess what I did today? I went to try on some wedding dresses!!

I was so nervous as I've never done this before. I decided to go on my own, as my sister is coming to stay at the weekend and we are going to look again and also look for her bridesmaid dress. So two dresses in one day = stress to me, so I decided to have an early peek myself.

So I tried 4 on and fell in love with one of them. It brought tears to my eyes and started to make me really look forward to the big day. Last week I didn't feel the excitement I should have felt about progressing the wedding plans as I knew we were carrying on with things due to getting a negative result.

But having tried a fantastic dress on I feel excited about things again. I am marrying the love of my life and I can't wait. I guess I just got a little distracted with other things for a while.

P.S The photo is not of me!!

Plan B

I know I should have posted a few days ago about the consultant follow up appointment, but I've had other things on my mind and I've been able to get some of my life back which really has been the silver lining to the bad news.

Anyway onto Plan B. Mr A said we really looking at an egg quality issue so its good that we've nothing to worry about when it comes to my Other Half. I asked him a million and one questions but he really said he can't draw any proper conclusion from one cycle. He said there's still hope, so we're going to try again. I have already started my breakthrough bleed (whooahh she's a bad one), so if I have a 28 day cycle (which I normally do) then day 1 would be around 1st July and then down regulating starts approx 21st July, which clashes nicely with our holidays (never mind).

He is also pulling out the big guns now. I am going to be on the maximum dose possible of Menopur, I think he thinks that there's more chance of me winning the lottery than overstimulating! Its a bit scary to be on the maximum, but if it works then it's fine with me.

The other thing he specifically mentioned was my thyroxine levels. My regular doctor increased my dose a few weeks ago and Mr A definitely thinks that if my thyroid function was not balanced then it could have affected my treatment. So I am going for a blood test this afternoon to see what its like now. Mr A says it has to be balanced before starting again, so I live in hope that little things like this may make the difference next time.

Not a lot else going on, met up with my old friend 'red red wine' at the weekend and think I spent a little bit too much time in her company, but I guess I was overdue a blow out.

Also booked a holiday to Crete for a week, we go the day after we get back from a 4 day trip to St Petersburg, Russia, so it is going to be a busy July, and treatment will be upon me again before I know it.