Back with a bump (but not in that way!)

Hi all, back from my globe trotting.

We had a great time in St Petersburg, it really is a beautiful city and we didn't have enough time to see it all, but the time we had was excellent. I got to see some of the amazing churches, cathedrals and the highlight was dinner in one of the royal palaces, followed by a private ballet performance and then a trip on the river. I may not see my Other Half much during the week at home but his job certainly does bring it's perks.

Here's a few pictures:

We got back from St Petersburg on Thursday 19th and then flew out to Crete, Greece on Fri 20th, well we nearly didn't make it as we had flash floods and the village where we live was nearly cut off, so I was so relieved to get to the airport and even a 2 hr flight delay didn't 'dampen' my spirits. We had a lovely rest, spent a lot of time reading and sleeping, but we made time to see a few sights........

Now, I'm not an overly religious person but the church that you see on the photo had just finished a service as we were passing, so we thought we would have a look inside. It was beautiful and we were the only 2 people in there which was even better as it was night time. There was one candle lit near the door, so we decided to make a contribution and light our own candle. I dedicated it to you all out there on your infertile journeys, and that I hope everyone finds happiness soon.

So what else? In amongst all of the travelling I have started down regulating. Can you believe I am now on day 9 of injections? I go for my first scan next week and if all is well I start stimulating injections...wow, it goes quickly when you're occupied. Oh, and my DHEA arrived, so I am taking that 3 times a day.

I am so far behind on catching up with everyone, so forgive me me if I take a while to get up to speed. I hope I find lots of good news out there.

Coming and going

We had a lovely time in London with my nephew, we did all the usual sightseeing things, the dungeon, the tower, the eye, Buckingham Palace etc. It didn't rain at all which is a miracle in England at the moment as it's been peeing down for months!

Here's a picture of us sat on the banks of the River Thames getting a face full of ice cream.

So it's a weekend back at home. It will be spent packing to go to here (St Petersburg Russia) on Monday, back on Thursday, then a quick turnaround before flying out to Crete on Friday. We are staying here and I am so looking forward to a week of doing nothing. I'll start down regulating the day we get there, so hopefully the warm, relaxing atmosphere will start me off well.

Have a good weekend and I will catch up with you soon.

Let's go round again

I went to the hospital today to pick up my drugs for round 2. Whilst I was there we booked in the dates for the scans so for the record (again) here's the plan:

• 21st July - start down regulating
• 8th August - start stims
• 15th August - day 8 scan
• 19th August - day 12 scan
• 21st August - possible egg collection
• 24th August - possible transfer? (TBC)

If all goes to plan it will be 34 days beginning to end. My first go was 52 days, due to my extended down reg (consultant was abroad) and then I had to stimulate longer than normal. So this time will feel much better, I hope!

As for the DHEA.....let's just say the scarlet pimpernel is easier to find. The pharmacy at the hospital cannot find out where to get it from, and neither does the fertility clinic, so I need to wait till Mr A is back from overseas to find out where the heck I get it from. In the meantime I exchanged a few emails with Portia today and between us we worked out which internet site sells the proper stuff. So just to cover my back I have ordered some on-line today. If any of you are interested in knowing where I ordered it from click here.

So I think that's all for now, we are off to London on Friday till Monday. We are taking my nephew as a 9th birthday present. We are planning on going to the Tower of London, London Dungeon, London Eye and an open top bus tour to see all the sights, but no word of a lie it has rained solidly in England for about 3 weeks, so maybe we'll sit on the bottom deck!

DHEA x 2

Guess what? The man, he said "Yes"!!

Mr A's secretary spoke to him and he does think that its worth me trying DHEA. He said I could go to see him and he would prescribe it for me or if I wanted to save some money to get it off the internet. Just for info he said I should have 25mg 3 times a day.

Well, I didn't want to spend £110 for the time it took him to write me a prescription and I actually felt a bit strange about getting it off the internet so his secretary persuaded him to just write the prescription without seeing me! It is unlicenced here so I need to sign a disclaimer but she asked him to do it without the disclaimer so I could have it before he went away on holiday.

And then she even came round to my house to drop the prescription off! We've spoken and text so much in the last month or so and it was so nice to finally meet her. I've really made a good friend there, so all this IVF stuff isn't all bad.

No idea if DHEA will make a difference, but if I start sprouting hairs on the palms of my hands I'll let you all know!!

Other updates - We went out with my friend J last night and her other half. J is my friend who's baby was diagnosed as having downs syndrome the day I got my negative. She's being doing so well and we have seen each other tons and spoke nearly every day but it was so nice to spend time with them as a couple. They are doing so well considering the trauma they've been through and she's getting back to her old self, even talking about trying for another baby. I am so proud of how she dealt with this and I hope they have happy days ahead.

The biggest news? It's CD1.....my period started today!!! So day 21 I will start down regulating. We will be away in Greece but I'm fine about that, I was more worried about taking my drugs to Russia (the trips are very close together) but we're back from there on day 19....pheww.

So back to DHEA, and I actually think it stands for:

Darling Hubby to be Ere we go Again.....