So what was different? What made this round successful and the first one fail? It's impossible to tell and even if I could, what worked for me won't work for everyone. However I will still share just in case it helps any other fellow TTCers. Quite a few factors changed both in terms of treatment and lifestyle from one cycle to the next:
- Less stress - I began the treatment in the final week of what had been a very stressful job. I left to set up my own business. This is the first time in my life I truly understood what people meant by taking a weight off my shoulders. By the time the treatment had started, I had already secured some significant contracts and kept a few weeks after the treatment clear to take things at my own pace.
- Positive affirmations - I tried to imagine what was happening in my body at each stage and Tweeted positive affirmations (see Tweets below).
- Less expectation - While I still hoped, I prepared myself for the worst. I had to consider that this might not work. My hubby had firmly said this was to be our last attempt, as he didn't want it to take over our life (though I may have tried to persuade him for more rounds though had it not worked - I knew I was meant to be a mum). Given my body's poor response to the treatment after round one, I had to be prepared for the same.
- More experienced - after the first round, I felt much more confident about:
- Buserelin - these injections were a breeze the second time round. I relaxed so much, that it almost felt like an additional bit of acupuncture. I fretted much less about small bubbles and getting the liquid to the exact line.
- Menopur - these were the most stressful injections during round one, but again I knew how to remove that tricksy vacuum thanks to my tweeps (see also earlier post). I also referred back to my blog post on the injections and the YouTube videos to get me started.
- Egg collection and transfer - I now knew what to expect and how great the staff were at the EFREC clinic.
- More relaxed - All of the above factors, contributed to me being much more relaxed about the whole treatment. While I did cut back on alcohol, I had the odd glass of wine on special social occasions.
- Cared for myself more - I went for gentle spa treatments, participated in an Iyengar Yoga class and took Night Nurse when I had a cold.
- More Menopur - The clinic increased my dose of Menopur very slightly. I had four powders to one water (compared to three powders the first time around).
- Fragmin - These are blood thinning meds which I was prescribed after it appeared I had slight over stimulation following egg collection. When I was given them I was told that some of the top London fertility clinics were using them to help increase chances of success; and while that was not the reason they were giving them to me, they thought I should know this.
- No egg gel seen on transfer - when the Dr transferred the egg, the scan didn't show where it had gone. I thought this must mean failure, so again this contributed to me relaxing and preparing for the worse.
My body responded hugely differently from the first time. I got 9 follies, 7 embryos, 1 BFP and 3 frosties (first round was 4 follies, 1 embryo, BFN and no frosties).
My history of tweets below tells the story in real time (starting with the most recent post going back to the start of the treatment). You will see:
- even before the treatment started I had more follicles...makes me wonder if stress was a major factor.
- I still felt strong cramping and had some spotting (so don't give up hope if you experience this).
- the great Tweeps who cheered me along the way and kept me as positive as possible - thank you.
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