Friday, 9 March 2012

5 weeks

5 weeks - embryo is the the size of an orange seed.
I downloaded the "What to Expect when You're Expecting" app and discovered that our embryo has grown from the size of a poppy seed to an orange seed in a week. They grow so fast :)

Positive signs
Every morning I remember to take my temperature to make sure that my BBT stays high at around 37°C. If it drops dramatically that means the pregnancy has ended. I also make a mental note each day my period hasn't arrived. So I'm now 5 days past my due period. These are the little things I do to make sure everything is still going okay. So far so good.

Chemical side effects
I'm still suffering Crinone side effects. Bloating. Constipation. Shortness of breath. The other night my stomach swelled so much it was almost bigger than my boobs. I was hunched over in the bathroom struggling to breathe. And then I gingerly waddled into the living room to lay on the couch. I struggled to roll over to my side. When my stomach expands, it pushes against my diaphragm making it more difficult for me to breathe. It has gotten a bit better today, but it's so hard to suck my stomach in while I'm at work.

It costs how much?
Today we received a major invoice for assisted reproductive services totalling $8460. We also received a separate invoice for the gynaecologist and blood tests. In total we're looking at $9630 for our first cycle so far. I'm pretty sure we can expect more invoices to come. Concept don't charge their fees upfront but they do make you sign a fee schedule which lists all the approximate costs. It's still a huge scary surprise when you open that invoice though!


Tomorrow I have my follow up blood test to check how my levels are going. Hopefully everything is going along well. Will keep you posted.





4 comments:

  1. Hi MC, have really enjoyed reading your posts. I have undergone my first IVF treatment recently too, and have my pregnancy test on Wednesday. Sh*ting myself Daryl! I did a sneaky pregnancy test today, it came up with a faint positive result, but not reading too much into it, could just be to do with my Pregnol injection 8 days ago. I have been very bloated too, just this weekend, thought it might have been my period coming on...but after reading your post...I'm hoping not. Anyway, just wanted to wish you all the best, like I said, have enjoyed your posts, hope they keep coming:-)

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    1. Hey, good luck with your test on Wednesday. Those last couple of days leading up to it are the worst. Let me know how you go, I'll cross fingers for you.

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  2. Hello
    I will start with Synarel today, your blog gave me a bit of relief, I hope I don't have side effects with Synarel, I am very scared, in our case we cant have babies because my husband did have cancer, He is now OK, but one of the consequences is that we can not have babies in a natural way. Has the process being painful? or has it been OK?

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    1. Hi there, Apologies for the delayed response. From memory, taking the Synarel wasn't painful. I barely felt the needle go in. I don't remember many side effects from Synarel, but the crinone had very uncomfortable side effects.The worst part of the whole process was after the egg collection as I was put under anaesthetic for that procedure and I felt awful for the rest of that day as the anaesthetic wore off. Good luck with your procedure! MC

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