Humbug, Chris, Micky, thanks for msg, I must say I am really blessed, being 37 means success rate is much lower than some you, so be positive, don't give up. I wish you the best too!
Boon Boon, I use Doc Sheila Loh at Raffles Hospital (heard she was previously from KKH, a friend I bumped into @RH, told me her brother did IUI with her when she was in KKH but after she tfer to RH, they all followed).
Fresh, you are welcome! You will succeed, have faith!
Lyn, my doc said there is no implication of fibroid even when I asked if the smoothness of the uterus may have caused the embryo not to attach to the wall after fertilization.. But my colleague's doc from Glen said the uterus has to be smooth and cleaned.. She also said for me, it may be the outer layer of the egg is too tough for my hubby's sperm to penetrate (this is usual in eggs produced by older women). Now no such test for toughness of eggs so I can only say, I kind of concluded that this is the case for me.
You have to be careful with those doc who are just out there to want to make extra bucks fr you since we are all so desperate. Suggest you seek 2nd even 3rd opinion!
Toey,
I did find that the pte hospital waiting time is shorter, but there are occasions where my doc is so fully booked, the nurse had to book me way in advance for subsequent follow-ups.
Re: painful in injection
Another colleague of mine told me that her friend had to use hot towel to roll on the spot where injection is done to sooth out the lumps. In my experience, I did not have any such "lumps" but do feel that when I started the Puregon, the area where injections were done was indeed tensed. I only apply hot towel/ hot pack over the area, and the next day, it was painless when needle is inserted.
Re: higher success rate in Govt hospital
If you have read the ST not too long ago abt more ppl seeking ARP after the govt announcement of grant. A doc from the pte hospital says because the grant is given to govt hospitals, more ppl are seeking treatment from them and will definitely affect the success rate in these hospital.
Success rate: when I raised this qn with my previous OBGYN, he said there are many ways to define "success", e.g is it successful up to the stage of fertilization, or transfer or successful implantation or when the no. of embryos transfer are all successfully growing in the mother or after the mother is successfully given birth?
I had 3 embryos implanted and only 1 stayed, I wonder how "successful" this is considered?
Re: Multiples:
I do not know how many of you (1st timer are aware that if your choose to deliver you (IVF) bb(s) in Singapore, you have to take up an insurance? Apparently only GE has such ins. the premium is payable the day of transfer according to the number of embryos you decide to put in. This will help you ease the financial stress in case of ICU (esp in case of triplets).
After all I feel IVF is all about balancing the risk and gain. I asked my doc how come she only target to grow 12 eggs, when my colleague in Glen had a target of 18. She said if I am hyper stimulated, I have a risk of water retention in lung and kidney and the cycle would have to stop; When she said we plan to do the 50%:50% IVF/ICSI, I asked how come we do not want to do 100% ICSI to boost the success rate, she said, there are risk of damaging the egg in ICSI; When I asked her why cant we wait till the embryos have cells that grew to 16 before we do transfer, she said the lab's envt is harsh, leaving the embryos in the lab for another day may cause the embryo to collapse (die)..