Cycle 1 - The Stims Diary

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Day 1.

Am I the only one that briefly thought they would be that miracle story where they got pregnant the cycle before starting IVF?

Ridiculous thought, I know, but part of me still hopes that luck might be on my side for once.

Not this time though.

Instead I’m currently hugging a hot water bottle and watching a YouTube video on how to prep an Ovaleap pen ready for the first injection tomorrow.

Let’s see if science can do it for us.

Day 2.

First injection done.

Our protocol is Ovaleap 150iu once a day in the evening then adding in Ovamex 0.25mg in the morning from day 7.

I made my husband do the injection so I didn’t have to watch but it was actually fine. Tiny sting when the needle went in but I didn’t feel anything else.

I’d read online that putting ice on the injection site can help so I did do that for 10 minutes while I waited for the medication to warm to room temperature. My clinic advised me to take the Ovaleap pen out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before using it (but also not leave it out for more than 20 minutes which did feel a bit stressful.) It was super easy to use and even comes with a little booklet to keep track of how much medication is left in the cartridge.

The clinic also called me today and booked my first 3 scans - currently booked for days 9, 11 and 13, including a scan on Easter Monday! I was worried the holidays would mess up the appointments but thankfully not!

We’ve officially started IVF.

Day 3.

I’m sure this is an obvious statement but knowing what to expect from a situation makes it much less daunting. I barely felt the injection today, I’m still using the frozen peas on my tummy which I’m sure is helping.

Side effects - bit of a headache this morning but that’s it so far. Fingers crossed it stays this way, currently chugging my way through 3 litres a day to try and ease the bloating and limit the risk of OHSS.

Day 4.

I had to do my own injection tonight, I much prefer someone else doing it. I can’t close my eyes when I’ve got the needle…

I can definitely feel my ovaries doing something today. Not quite sure how to describe the feeling, it’s not painful but it’s pretty uncomfortable. It seems to come and go and if I keep busy I can distract myself from it but I’m dreading the next 10 days.

Day 5.

The discomfort continues, I can feel it in my lower back now as well. It’s better when I’m moving but I took the dog for a walk today and had to walk at a slower pace. I’m still trying to do gentle exercise, mainly to keep myself sane, so went swimming this evening and that seems to help.

Day 6.

The bloating has been pretty uncomfortable today. We went out for dinner and I wore jeans, could barely do them up. Trying to tell myself at least it means the medication is working…

I’m really hoping they decide to do the egg collection earlier than day 14 though.

Day 7.

So the Ovamex injections started this morning and, oh my god, it stung like hell. The injection itself was fine but, for a good 5 to 10 minutes after, the whole area stung. I also had a nice red rash for a few hours and now have a bruise forming.

Tomorrow I’m injecting it into my thigh!

Day 9.

The thigh injection was much better! Still stung but nowhere near as bad.

Today was our first scan day and it was good news! So far, I’ve got 16 follicles on my right ovary and 27 on my left ovary. A mix of measurements but about 15 measuring 10-17mm. The scan was quite uncomfortable, I could feel the probe prodding my ovaries but I’m so pleased we’ve got lots of follicles.

We’re going back in 2 days for another scan and hopefully given the green light for the trigger shot.

Day 10.

I feel so boated and uncomfortable. I’ve also felt sick on and off throughout the day, it seems to be better after I’ve eaten but then that makes the bloating worse.

Roll on Friday.

Day 11.

We had another scan today and I’ve now got 9 follicles >17mm, with a further 12 or so between 10 and 17mm. The clinic confirmed trigger shot tonight with Buserelin (hoping it reduces my risk of OHSS). It was a 1ml injection which felt huge compared to the other injections I’ve had. I could feel it going in under the skin but thankfully it didn't sting like Ovamex did. 36 hours until egg collection.

I’m beginning to feel a bit anxious, it’s great that we’ve got so many follicles but I know it doesn’t always result in embryos. And we have no idea what my husband’s semen analysis will be this time, after the shock of the terrible results last time we’re hoping they’ve improved, but again, there’s no guarantees with any other this.

Nothing has been straightforward for us and I think I just expect to get bad news now. I can’t let myself get excited because I know how heartbreaking and painful it is when it goes wrong. I hate that infertility has done this.

Day 12.

I didn’t think I could feel more bloated and uncomfortable but I was wrong…! It’s been uncomfortable to sit today so I’ve spent most of the day on the sofa. Very thankful not to be working today.

This time next week we’ll know if we’ve got any embryos. I really hope that we do, I don’t want to have to go through another egg collection so soon after this one.

And here ends our first stims cycle. Overall it’s been manageable, icing my abdomen before injections definitely helped. I managed to keep up with 2.5-3L fluids a day and made sure to drink electrolytes daily which I think kept the constipation under control. I’ll do a separate post about egg collection and the painful wait for news with that process.

L x