IVF/ICSI Support Group

Hi Jessica: just managed to catch up on postings.. i think the amount of Puregon prescribed corresponds to your age and also your blood tests like FSH, AMH, E2 etc If you are concern, you can check with your IVF specialists again on the reason behind 300IU and also for how long Puregon is expected. I think my doc is more conservative in a sense that he started me low and increase along the way. I think the alternate day-blood test will tell doc to adjust accordingly. Dun worry too much. i understand the difficulty of bloating cos i had that on and off but be dilligent in taking your egg whites, and protein food + fluids cos that helps to ease my bloatiness a little.

Siblinghope: I think 8 is also a good number and you won't risk OHSS post ER. Most importantly relax and dun exert yourself post ER and ET. Blessed week ahead for you and all the ladies doing ER + ET.
 


Jessica, not forgetting to flex your toes and feet. White chrysanthemum is lighter in taste than yellow ones. White can be boiled and soaked in hot water, hence more convenient. White is not as cooling as yellow but you can find out more from the stall selling herbs.

snoopy69, thanks and I've tried in my last fresh cycle. Maybe the progesterone has not totally shed off your body that cause your AF to go haywire. Heard that AF will delay and my TCM Dr mentioned too. Is Dr Chen Qiumei from TongJi?

moo3moo, take good care of yourself.

Baby, you may want to continue consuming folic acid if you are going for FET in Oct. You can buy from Unity at $2.50 for 100 tablets. It's the cheapest I can find in the market.

Piglet02, yes and only realise it when you mention about it. Most important you turn it to the correct dosage unit before you inject and ensure they are fully press when do injection.
 
Hi ladies,

Was reading this forum and would like to share my journey with you all. I was also an IVF patient with DR Loh at KKIVF for 2 yrs before I conceived my first one in 2008. I ca fully understand the anxiety and stress that each one of us are going through. I even had OHSS at my fourth cycle and had to be hospitalized for a week.
But strangely, at my 5th cycle, dr loh prescribed aspirin for me in order to enhance implantation of the embryos. And it worked. After a ye, I went bk again and he prescribed the same medication and it worked again.
Perhaps you might want to ask ur doctors what does asprin does and how it helps.

All the best and shall pray for u all.

Serene
 
Hi Jessica, dun worry too much abt the 300 iu. I was on 450 iu for 12 days from day 1. The docs must have a reason for giving us such high dosage..
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We just need to pay more only.. Hahaha...
 
Enigmaysl,think u r right cos my gynae said i was responding abt 3 matured follicles (though there are few small ones) in the past when i'm doing iui, he said that was although fine enough for iui but if it's ivf, he hopes there are more cos they can be frozen.. I have tried b4 Gonal f in my 1st cycle of iui but did not response gd which is why he changed to Puregon in 2nd & 3rd iui.. This is my 1st time doing ivf, frankly speaking, i was very stressed everytime when going to inject Lucrin & next week hv to inject both together (28 days for Lucrin & 14 days for Puregon).. Thanks for your encouragement, it really helps to ease my stress & worries (as my hb was working overseas, i hv only myself to decide whatever issues i'm facing, so sometimes i was very down)..

JoynFaith, yes, i will do my flexing diligently & start strolling (not jogging) everyday.. So i presume white ones is better for us as it's not so cooling, right? cos i think too cooling also no gd for our body, will check with the stall tmr.. Thanks for your precious advice on this cos i'm quite ignorant on all these chinese herbs..
 
Aspirins thin our blood, thus increasing blood flow to the womb. After pregnancy, increases blood flow to fetus. Aspirins can also help if implantation is hindered by antibodies in mummy's body or antibodies that resulted in repeated miscarriages.

I m on aspirins since ER this round. After pregnancy, Dr loh said can stop but I m worried. he said no harm taking also.. So I continue with aspirins till now.

Some pte drs are more aggressive, can ask patients to start aspirins 3mths before ER/FET. Side effect of aspirins include getting bruises easily when knocked n blood not being able to clog easily when bleeding.
 
Hi Jessica, try eating egg whites. I was not responding too well to puregon even though I was already at 450 iu. They are only expecting at most 10 follicles. So on last 3 days I stuffed myself wif egg white( a bit organic ones from ntuc) n surprisingly on ER, I got 25 eggs retrieved...

Dun keep thinking abt ohss.. It may not happen. In my case I was lucky. So stay positive..
 
Jessica, it's important to keep our womb warm hence don't eat too cooling stuff often. That's to keep our baby and prevent from M/C easily.
 
Jesscia, dun be too concerned abt follicle count. What is more impt is u hv big n matured eggs that are capable of being fertilized. Those with Many eggs retrieved, in most insances at least half cannot use coz they r not matured n cannot be fetilised. Everyone's reaction to injections, fate n destiny are different. So dun compare or be stress over it. I m those who hv less than 10 eggs retrieved. But my attrition rate for matured/not matured and fertilized/ not fertilized embyros is low. No risk to ohss either though I bloated badly after ET thru out bfp.
 
Joynfaith- thanks for sharing. Hope the period cycle will normalize after this mth. Yes, dr Chen from tong ji, but now she no longer there. She consults at a medical hall at chinatown & ntu area on different days on appointment basis.

Jessica - my gynae also said dun run so much before ET so as not to overstrain the ovaries. Maybe brisk walk or swim instead.
 
I oso took aspirin straight after my ET for both successful cycles. So I guess that did the trick for me. But I cont with that coz I had high blood pressure during both pregnancies, so basically I was on aspirin most of the time.
 
Jessica, our cervix is closed. Is just a myth that swimming will increase risk of womb infection. No way that will happen. U can confirm that with your gynae. It is a good way to relax & the water reduces the strain of exercising. Pregnant ladies which normal pregnancies can swim all the way to delivery after first trimester. If the myth is true means fetus will be infected by pool water?! Sounds silly isn't it?

Just to share with u, this round the exterior skin of my down there itched coz of too much discharge. I just keep siting in salt water to kill germs n ease the itch. I bfp still. Our cervix is open only when due for delivery or for women who has incompetent cervix If not is closed at all time.

The only time we can't swim if wr hv an open wound down there due to delivery or when pregnant the dr found out we hv low lying placenta or pregnancy is not stable yet.
 
Hey Jessica, i understand it is tough to face the journey alone but you have all of us cycling buddies here to support you through. I had to adminster the injections myself as my DH is always travelling too. Listen to your body but do not get too anxious about every single symptoms. Once you relaxed, the symptoms will come and go but do prep up your body from now on so that it helps to deal with the medication better. I am sure your are in best hands. We will all support you through
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Take some half boiled egg whites in the morning and chicken essence if you are ok with it. I find that helps me.. All the best okie!!
 
Ladies, need help
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Anyone know whether the gonalf pen, see picture below, the gonalf is stored at front of the pen, there is plunger behind the medicine, then the vacuum behind plunger pump the plunger to push the right amount of medicine thru needle. My qn is if water gets into the vacuum area, you think it will get into the gonalf and mix in?
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I accidentally got the pen wet, water gets into the vacuum area, still can see watermark. I am so screwed! Sigh
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Hi Snoopy, Tanny, Joynfaith, Baby, thanks for ur concern. I'm ok, just restless waiting for the hcg to come down so tt I can start planning for FET.

Hi Baby, ya, I bought extra large pads, expecting heavy AF, but today is quite disappointing. I hope for a heavy one so tt my womb & ovaries will be clean.. got some cysts in ovaries oredy..
How many snowbabies do you have? How many do you plan to thaw n will they advise us how many to thaw?

Anyone know whether ohss will happen during natural FET? What abt medicated FET?
I found an article on IVF success using aspirin. Seems like it doesn't work for everyone.
http://news.insing.com/news/no-evidence-aspirin-boosts-ivf-success-study/id-c37b3e00
 
Moo3moo, try to relax yourself n the blood will come out smoothly. It's quite alot and in bigger clots. My advise for you is to rest more, once you come up from lying down or sitting down position, it's better to quickly walk to toilet. It will release the blood better n more so can faster clean the blood inside. Just my thought, not sure it's true or not, but no harm doing this. Because for me, I felt that it cleans faster. But most important you need to 'bu' yourself too.

How come you know got some cysts already?

I hv 9 snowbabies, but can only put 2. Starting from Oct, govt only allow us to put 2. I told Dr Loh, can make exception or not, just this time, as I always wanted to put 3. But he shaked his head. Hehe

Then dh n wife need to re-take hiv n hep c test again prior to FET. He said also new rules. Ahhh so many new rules.
Dr advised me to go for natural FET instead, maybe bcos my regular AF. But this time, I'mnot sure when is my AF coming. Sigh...
 
Heartbeat : can't help as I use puregon pen. hope others can advise u. else u call yr clinic 24 hr hotline?

Mom3moo : I got left 3 snow babies so this means dr loh can only thaw 2 at one time? Wonder how many inside one straw? If they store 3 in a straw, no way can thaw 2 only right? For Fet need to re-do HIv and hep c Again every time ah? I tot within 6 months it's ok.
 
Joyfaith:

I using gonel f but I use 1 pen for 2 days but after my day 2 jab, I notice that there still some left inside. My pen is 450 one n I pressed fully already.

Heartbeat:

You may want to call the clinic up tomorrow.
 
Baby, ok, will rest more, thx
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They did ultrasound scan to rule out ectopic pregnancy & could see the cysts inside ovaries.

How many do u plan to thaw to get 2 embryos? I thot some snowbabies might not survive thawing or their grades might drop?

Tanny, I have no idea too.. hopefully someone can advise us.
 
Hi!!!!

After resting for 1year, i am back cycling. Didnt really want to but age is catching up so better do something.

I am now doing with SGH Dr Yu. Is there anyone here with Dr Yu ?

Hazel, sometime no hear ? Are you still with Dr Loh? how have you been?

I have a bit of culture shock when i go to SGH because their operation is so small and only one consulation room.

Does anyone know Dr Yu SL ? She reallys look gloom when I last spoke to her. But I pick her cos she looks experienced. Anybody BFP with her ?
 
Hi... Since my ER i hvae no go pooing... I hv the feeling to poo.. but it dont seem to be that strong. What can I do to let the poo come... it like almost a week lor... I dont feel uneasy thou but not pooing for almost a week is no gd.... wa should I do? Can I eat laxative since now I am on 2WW?
 
Heartbeat - how did you wet the pen? Unlikely water from outside can get into the pen even if you dropped it. Was the syringe still in the pen when you got the pen in water. There should not be watermark though, did you drop the pen against a hard surface? It looks like you have already used up this pen.

Piglet - there will always be some balance the pen after injecting the proper dosage
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ask your nurse what to do with it.
 
Fatefully - you can try prunes or prune juice. Also, for 1-2 days, eat more easily digestible food (soups, veg, fruits) and lots & Los of water (2-3 liters daily). May help regulate your body back to normal.
 
heartbeats, you might want to call up 24hrs clinic to check on your Gonal-F syringe whether still can be used.

Tanny, FET don't require to retest HIV if your test result is valid for 6 months. Hep C test is newly required, so you will need to test it if you've not done so in your previous BT but not sure whether need to retest if have done. You might want to call up your clinic to check.

Fatefully, you can try to drink pure prune juice up to one mug per day or get softening tool liquid from your Dr. Try to eat more fruits. If you are taking high fibre fruits, remember to do drink more water.

Piglet02, I guess there might have some left over. I remember the nurse told me to bring the Gonal-F on my last day of injection and maybe they might withdraw the remainder and inject on me if needed. Keke... in the end don't need. So, you can check with your clinic what they want to do with the remainder.
 
Gals, thanks for all the advices & supports given, i'm really glad to find all of u here..

Hopeful, looks like egg white really benefit us a lot, emmmm.. 25 eggs are considered a lot.. ok, i will try to eat more egg whites, hope it will benefit me too.. btw, what do u do with the egg yolk if we only eat egg white, throw away or can eat together?

JoynFaith, i understand now, still remember a close gf oso mentioned this b4, she even use a towel to wrap up her tummy at night, dunno why but she said it's to prevent cold air from getting in, it's an old grandma story passed down by her grandma..

Hazel, i tried not to stress myself too much but sometimes can't help but to think, when start thinking, brain will go stray again, sigh.. Really hope i can control myself cos saw some of the gals mentioned here if too stress will oso affect the chance of pregnancy, am i right? I will confirm with my gynae when i see him on wed to check whether swimming is ok..

Enigmaysl, thanks for your great supports, i will try to relax.. Btw, is massage ok for us? Hope it will help to relax my over tense body.. I have start eating egg white, will drink chicken essence too.. how abt immunocal, when are we suppose to start taking it?
 
Hi Jessica, I only ate the egg white. Either throw away the yolk or ask hubby to eat.. Hahaha.. He is now so sick of egg yolk..
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Hi judebabe, I bfp with Dr Yu.. She is a nice lady. I ve not been to KK b4. So can't comment on the size. But I find that the nurses thr r really helpful n nice.. Hope u like it at SGH..
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Morning gals! So many new requirements now including hep c. Aiyo. The last tests i did were mainly hiv & hep b only.

Jessica - relax & don't get stress out! Things will work out fine. Egg yolk consumption depends ba. Cuz if daily cholestrol level may be high. Hehe!
 
Thanks ladies. I am so screwed!
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Called the clinic they say best not to use but i already used. They say bring along when doing first scan to show them. Sigh, so angry with myself.
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Ron, the syringe all intact, just that water got into the vacuum area. Hb tried to console me say the rubbery plunger acts like stopper to hold the medicine infront and dont leak backwards into vacuum then likewise water should not leak infront to the medicine area. But still cant help rule out there is still a possibility.
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Anyway, not sure is it i am upset over this, past few days after starting jabs, have been extremely irritable. How to know its effects of the medicine or i am going crazy? Anyone any experience?
 
Jessica : heh, I also hv the same question about massage. but tell myself don't do it if after doing it will keep worrying about it. I know i will be. They say massage has pressure points and in case press wrongly not good u see.

Think the 2ww is worst to go thru - I have no symptoms at all. My belatedness go off by ET day +2. sigh. I think gone case now. No feeling no tiredness no headache no cramps no soreness no backaches; everything don't have. Wished i have some of these symptoms. Now I resort to weighing and meausring myself daily - saw my weight hovering up and down during am and pm. Weird. And my waist line also decreasing - bloatness going faraway it seems. Oh no.... So sad. Keeping my fingers crossed for some miracle. want to know when can test Hpt while on pressaries only - the utrogestan. My BT is due on Sep 20 next Tue. Fet no need to queue right? So just make apptm with dr loh for medicated Fet and take pills from cd 3 onwards right?

DH are you here? Heard your wife also no symptoms until BT day? How many month now?
 
Heartbeats - don't worry, normal to feel emotional during stimulation stage.

Actually it is unlikely water go into the pen as the pen is basically tamper-proof, even with the syringe on. Each pen comes with some extra gonal-f so most likely the drop of the pen knocked some of the extra gonal-F passed the plunger back to the vacuum area.

This was a 300iu pen, right? Are you on a daily 300iu dosage? If yes, then the main "issue" will just be that you may have not injected the full 300iu dosage for that pen....

just curious, how did the "water" get into the vacuum area?
 
Hi Ron, i accidentally soaked 2 pens in water! Silly me!
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Feel like 'tok tok tok' my stupid big head!

The water got into the vacuum via the light blue part i guess, as that part not airtight i believe. Then water gathered in the vacuum area. As soon as i realised, i tilt the pens upright, water ran down and out via the light blue part but still can see watermarks inside. I saw that the gonalf medicine still looks ok but cant help feeling its still possible water can leak in and dilute the gonalf. Means my past 2 jabs may not be pure gonalf. Sigh, stupid me! So sad now, hopefully when do scan still can get some good follicle growth.

By the way, anyone on 150iu menopur also? Can i ask you use 2 bottles of menopur with 2 bottles of solvent or just 1 bottle of solvent?
 
Heartbeats - oic. don't worry-la, i will agree with your dh, if water really did get in from the blue part, the plunger will stop the water from mixing with the gonal-f. I have played with the empty gonal-f pen before (I pumped coloured water into my empty pen from the syringe side, and the coloured water can never get pass the plunger.. have not tried to soak the pens in water tho
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) Don't worry-la - stay positive!
 
Jessica, i normally throw away the yolk and just gulp down the white. Immunocal, i actually only started to take recently (D4) of stimulation. supposed to help reduce the bloatiness. As for massage, i still proceed but i asked for upper shoulder and upper back + head massage. Nothing near the abdomen will be advisable i think.

Just got back from the doc and i am ready to go end of the week for OR... am just worried about the antibiotics given as I am normally easy to get yeast infection once on antibiotics.
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hi, my husband, "DH" has been writing here occasionally and I thought I should finally surface and share my IVF experience.

I am 36 years old and went through IVF with Dr S F Loh starting in late March and we really thank God that we succeeded on our first try though I had all sorts of complications along the way. Whenever Dr Loh saw me, he would say "Wah, you again... what else went wrong this time"?

When I started IVF, instead of 2 weeks of Lucrin, I ended up being on Lucrin for about 4 weeks as I developed a 5cm cyst and dr Loh said I can't proceed if the cyst doesn't reduce in size. We prayed and many friends prayed for us as well...and finally, after about 4 weeks of Lucrin, the size of the cyst was reduced to about 2cm.

I then started Puregon and was given 250iu. After 7 days, I went back for the scan and was told that I have many follicles. Was told to inject for another 2 days and thereafter, was Pregnyl and then ER. When it's time to take the Pregnyl jab, it's a good idea to ice the area before they give the jab -- not so painful this way. It is important to note that during the course of Lucrin/ Puregon, I was eating 2-4 cooked egg whites everyday.

On ER day, 45 follicles were taken out... which was considered a lot but honestly, I was feeling fine even though the nurses and docs said that I am likely having OHSS. Nurse Angelline at KK is really a kind soul - she told me not to eat oranges or spicy food so as not to upset the tummy and that eating lots of egg whites will help minimize bloating or symptoms of OHSS. I drank only warm/ hot water and rested as much as I could.

Dr Loh doesn't believe in TCM but I do think that the reason why i felt alright despite the large number of follicles taken out was due to the accupuncture. I had been going for regular accupuncture during the jabs, before/ after ER and after ET.

On day 2 which was suppose to be ET day, I turned up at the hospital only to see all the other ladies having their ET but was told by Dr Loh I can't transfer as he was afraid I am having OHSS. I kept telling him I was fine but he did not want to risk it and told me to wait for another 3 days while they take 6 follicles to grow them to a blastocyst stage.

I went home crying cos it seemed that at every stage, something wasn't going right. That weekend was torturous as we waited till the following Monday morning to find out if any of our follicles made it to the blastocyst stage. Thankfully, 2 of these follicles grew well to become blastocysts and they were transferred on day 5 (not including the day of the removal). 19 of my follicles were also fertilized and frozen.

So, as rightly pointed out my husband, I felt nothing during the 2ww and had absolutely no symptoms. In fact, the only symptoms I felt was that menses was coming. I was so sure that menses was coming...

On BT day, I was so scared and I kept telling the nurse I had no symptoms. Well.. she said, if your menses not here yet, then still go chance. I told KK to call my DH and don't call me. Fast forward, the call went to DH to tell him that I am pregnant but my HCG wasn't actually all that high. I think my HCG was about 500 whereas the other 2 ladies that were on the same cycle with me had HCG in the 1k+ and 2k+.

I still didn't have any symptoms after the BT and couldn't quite believe I was pregnant till the first scan which was just a little short of 8 weeks pregnant. That was when we found out we are having twins.

I had more complications thereafter which included a stay in the hospital due to bleeding. (This was my first sign of pregnancy symptom!). I can only blame myself for the bleeding as I think I over exerted myself on housework the day before and the next day, I started bleeding. I ended up in KK's A&E and lost so much blood that I thought for sure the babies are gone but they stayed strong and I had to stay strong for them as well. From the hospital, they also detected that I had a certain type of antibodies and even Dr Loh couldn't tell us if it will affect the babies. After the discharge from hospital, I had to get weekly painful progesterone jabs to stabilize the pregnancy and I was on bed rest for a month except for going to the toilet. We had to see Dr Loh for weekly scans and each time, he will tell us that there is still a big blood clot in my uterus so anytime, can start bleeding again.

At 12 weeks, we went for the OSCAR test and was told that one of the twins is high risk for Down Syndrome. We were devastated but decided not to proceed with amnio as we will accept the babies in whatever form they come in.

We also had to see a hematologist (blood specialist) regarding my antibodies and was glad that the type that I have doesn't affect the development of the babies.

Fast forward to last week where we had our detailed scan - Dr Loh sent us for a high risk fetal abnormality scan in view of my antibodies and poor OSCAR result and we thank God, that both babies are growing well and are normal. All their structures are normal and no sign of Down Syndrome was detected.

My babies have been good to me... I have an excellent appetite and have never once threw up. We're about half way there...now we just pray that babies will continue to stay in me for as long as need be. Am likely to deliver in early Jan if things go as planned.

In looking back at this IVF journey, it certainly hasn't been an easy one but it is definitely worth it. I know many different ones are facing different challenges and emotional roller coasters whenever an IVF fails. Do persevere and my DH and I will continue to pray for the many ones who are still going through IVF waiting for their miracle baby.

My TCM doctor did tell me to avoid certain foods and some actions that I should avoid so here's my list
1) "Bai chai" - the long, white vegetable
2) No cucumbers, cabbage, bittergourd, watercrest
3) No mangoes, oranges
4) No tea of any kind (not even chinese tea or chrysanthemum)
5) No cold drinks (I drank only warm water)
6) No barley
7) No squatting
8) Stay off my feet whenever possible

If anyone is interested in the accupuncture, you can contact Louise (female) at 9741 2365. She is in this little shophouse unit near Telok Ayer (10 min walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT). It isn't a big business but I truly believe she had helped to strengthen my body for IVF. I am just sharing the contact...Do rem that for those with Dr Loh, he doesn't believe in TCM so he will be angry if you tell him you going through accupuncture.

I hope that what I've shared will encourage some of you here to persevere. Our wish is that everyone will be bless with the babies that that so desire.

Have a blessed day.....
 
Hi Sammi: thanks for sharing a wonderful post to keep us all going. Wishing you a very blessed rest of pregnancy and a smooth delivery
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Hi sisters, jst done my ET today. My blastocyst transfer is supposed to be tomorrow. However got a call from the clinic in the morng that I need to do it today. I was so tensed and rushed to hospital. Later embyologist told that the embyos are growing very fast and one of them started hatchg, so they had to do a 4 day transfer.

So now in my 2 week.
 
Hi can anyone give me link for Ivf excel spreadsheet which has list of dos and donts durg 2wk.

Also pls advise how many days shd I tk brazil nuts and chic essence durg a week? Any specific time is better in a day? Appreciate ur response
 
Hope 283, all the best to you and hope you bfp!! At least embbies growing to good size for transfer!

Sami, your journey was really tough and wishing you a safe and smooth pregnancy. Thanks for sharing!!
 
Hi hope283,

All the best in your 2WW. I don't have the dos and don'ts spreadsheet. I stopped massages, mani- and pedicure (although some said it's ok), use gentle facial cleanser instead of anti-aging which contains retinol-a. I just try to relax, eat and rest well.

I stopped taking chicken essence after ET. Now still has two boxes at home.

Sorry can't help much.
 
Hi,

I am totally upset with KKIVF! Today is Day 1 of the cycle I am to do IVF. Called them, as instructed. And they tell me I need to do my blood test for HIV, STD etc. No one told me earlier that I needed to do it earlier!?! So now I have to do blood test on Day 1, pass it, before they would allow me to start IVF cycle on Day 2!! This means 1 extra trip to KKH..as if we don't already have enough trips to make??! Urgh......
 


Thx koirc. I thought chick essence wud help in implantation.

Marble, gen I remem they will tell u in advance, not sure where it went wrong. For me soon after doctor's visit for the first time, I was told to do the HIV test. Anyways wish u goodluck for ur ivf journey.

Anybodyelse in 2 wk now?
 

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