IVF and Your Sex Life

8 Reasons Why IVF Impacts Your Sex Life

It's a pretty delicate topic I know but IVF is not conducive a good sex life. For a start, when you are doing a full stimulated cycle, the following passion killers are likely to, and do, happen:

1. You may bleed for several days after you expect your period to end because you have been taking a contraceptive pill since the start of your period
2. You experience intermittent spotting during your cycle whilst you are taking hormonal treatment
3. Quite likely you may bleed after egg collection and will be feeling quite sore and bloated for a couple of days
4. Your breasts may become sensitive to touch so any foreplay is just out of the question
5. Because you are inserting Crinone Gel to line your uterus, you worry that a pile of it will end up on your sheets (it does!)
6. You decide to avoid intercourse for the for 24 hours after transfer (just in case the embryo falls out)
7. Both of you will continue to avoid intercourse cause you are both scared your partners penis might dislodge the embryo (As if! But as IVF is so darn expensive you both don't want to repeat the process)
8. You then get your period

I think this just about covers the two months when you are cycling. Of course, you do have breaks in between when things get back to normal - whatever that is. But after several cycles of doing this, combined with all that previous experience of trying to conceive, you sex life just diminishes. You know you need it to bring sexy back but it all becomes too hard during this time. Its pretty ironic that this is the case, given that the old testicles need to be used to produce good quality sperm. See my blog on sperm titled Keeping the River Flowing).

The good thing about not doing IVF: Bringing sexy back.

Day 12 Breast Alert

A Sure Sign You Are Not Pregnant

Bad news. Constant breast groping has revealed my breasts are back to normal. They are no longer sore and tender and pumped with hormones. The pimples on my face have gone down only to leave my nose with ugly flashes of red (thank God for make-up).

I take the breast thing as potentially bad news - it seems unlikely that I am pregnant. However, I remain in hope that this is not the case. That hopefully, the lack of tenderness I am experiencing is just a sign that my body has worked hard to remove all those excess hormones that developed as a result of the injections.

I really don't want to think about the consequences of spending another $5,000 on yet another treatment. I am in denial and I am still weeks away from receiving any reimbursement from Medicare for yet another IVF attempt. Next year, some sweeping changes to Medicare will mean that IVF will not get as much favourable treatment so the out of pocket costs will definitely rise. The implications of this are yet unknown.

I contemplate the research I have been doing on IVF and count my fortunes that I do not live in the USA where IVF is more than double the cost of doing it in Australia. I guess there are small blessings in everything. The best blessing though, would be a pregnancy. Who I am kidding!

How IVF Impacts My Body

Five Side Effects of IVF Treatment

While I am in in the official two week waiting zone, I thought I would share some of the side effects I have encountered during full blown IVF treatment:

1. Acne
2. Bloating
3. Constipation
4. Spotting
5. Sore Breasts

Without fail, my nose has become victim to acne. Apart from the lumps on my face, I get to look like Rudolph before Christmas time.

Immediately after egg collection, my stomach bloats. The bloating usually subsides after a few days but I have been known to bloat for up to 1 week afterwards. Annoying if you are planning on going out to any fancy outing.

This time around I managed to avoid the dreaded constipation. It can however be a problem. My advice - drink plenty of water because it helps in overcoming this problem.

Light bleeding is common after egg collection. Most times it goes away within 24 hours although this time it lasted for about 4 days. My advice is to have some panty liners on hand.

I touched on the topic of sore breasts a few days ago. All those hormones definitely have side effects. The bad news is that if you aren't pregnant it subsides just before you get your period. The good news is that maybe you might actually be pregnant. Just wait the full 14 days before pulling out your test strips.

Day 4 - Fertilization Update

IVF Fertilization Success Rates

There are now 11 surviving embryos. Of these, 8 look good and 3 don't look so good. If we get 8 blastocysts tomorrow that would be fantastic but maybe it's a touch unrealistic.

Today is the first day since egg collection that I feel remotely normal. My tummy is still a bit bloated but the pain has gone. I can walk normally instead of being bent over like an old woman.

In any case, I am booked into admission at the clinic for 7.45am. Bugger - no sleep in. The big transfer happens at 8.30am and then I am off to work. Lucky work is only 15 minutes away from the clinic so I reckon I will only be half an hour late.

I've told my manager and she has been pretty good about it, even offering for me to work from home if I want to. I am not sure if it will help, I work in an office so nothing I do at work is ever strenuous on my body (maybe my mind but that is another story).

It is hard to know what to do. Believe it or not, there is a meeting at work I want to go to. Besides, I've tried taking time off to rest and I have also tried working after a transfer. Neither options have worked. I guess there is no right or wrong thing to do. I think it can happen either way - just depends on the quality of the embryo.

A lady at work got pregnant at 43 on IVF and she had her transfer when she was in the middle of some high level negotiations with a leading retailer. So it just goes to show that it doesn't necessarily matter.

Anyway, the woman in question has now gone on maternity leave and I arrived at work today to find out that she had a little baby boy. I am very happy for her.

Sore Tummy and Ovaries

What to Expect After Egg Collection

Well so much for thinking that I was feeling better from egg collection. The rest and relaxation has been good but it has ruined my weekend in terms of achieving anything. I am still feeling out of sorts with a bloated stomach and sore ovaries.

This is one of the not so pleasant aspects of IVF. I assume it is worse when there is a higher number of eggs collected but given I produce lots of eggs I have not way of comparing.

Usually it takes a couple of days to recover but this recovery is actually taking longer than normal. The key here is to keep drinking water (plenty of it) and panadol (less of it).

Maybe that Panadol I took when I wrote my earlier blog gave me false hope. In any case, I am hoping I am better tomorrow as I am back to work!

The Final Jab

Triggering Ovulation

Tonight heralds the night where I will inject the final needle that will trigger ovulation. I got the call from my nurse and was instructed to use Ovidrel at 9.30pm (EST) tonight. Of course, this means I will be checking in at "Hotel M" (my affectionate term for the world famous IVF clinic) at 10.30am Friday for my egg collection at 11am.

Hubby will also need to produce some sperm when we check in at the "Hotel." It's funny but I never really thought about how he produced his sample but I now have it on good advice that the cubicle where he is to "produce" is well equipped with visual stimuli including videos and magazines. I assume the content is soft porn. Who knows - it remains unspoken as I am sure my husband will not want to divulge this information.

In any case, after an intense couple of days of multiple needles, I find myself strangely looking forward to this last jab. On a personal note, I am feeling fine and not overly bloated which is good. I recall that our objective was to have less eggs of better quality (not 22 of poor quality like last time).

I find myself wondering how many eggs they will retrieve, will they fertilise and will they survive to a day 5 blastocyst. But most importantly I wonder if all these conditions are met - will the little embryo finally implant. This is place where IVF has failed in my last 6 attempts. At yes, time to keep playing the waiting game.

Another Test, Another Dollar

IVF Tests, Scans and Costs

Today marks the third scan and blood test that I have had in less than a week. The good news is that my follicles are coming along nicely and there are now 10 reasonably large follicles (hopefully with some eggs inside of them).

It seems that at certain point, the ultrasound team don't measure the small follicles - just the larger ones. What I'd like to know is what happened to the other 20 plus follicles that were detected only a few days earlier!! I suppose they are still there in hiding.

In any case, that question goes unanswered as I learn that I am scheduled for egg collection this Friday 31st July. This means taking the day off on sick leave and not working at my part-time job on Saturday.

It also means two more injections tonight and two more tomorrow night and then a final one on Wednesday night to trigger ovulation. All good fun. My aversion to needles is back with a vengence. The veins in my arms have gone into hiding. My stomach is looking pretty bruised from all the needles. I am starting to feel bloated and uncomfortable again from my swollen ovaries. My purse is $166 lighter after paying for two more antagonist injections. Is it worth it? Definately if we get a positive result and a healthy baby at the end of it all.