I am 31 years old and my DH 29. I can't believe I am writing this, I used to daydream about submitting my BFP on here, I NEVER thought this day would come. I am thrilled to say that after three years of trying, including 6 failed rounds of clomid and one cycle of IVF/ICSI I am pregnant!! me - pregnant!! My husband and I always knew we would have problems as I have severe PCOS, I say severe as I never have periods, so no ovulation at all. Compared to Clomid I actually found IVF much easier to deal with, however I was a poor responder to the stimulating drugs and only had 3 follicles. Our doctor suggested that we cancel the cycle and we were gutted but decided against his advice, we chose to gamble and go ahead with the collection anyway. We were so fortunate that all 3 eggs were collected and all 3 fertilised, better still by the day of the transfer we had 2 top quality embryos, the other had arrested. We had a Grade A plus 8 cell and a Grade B 7 cell, so it really is quality over quantity. My DH is fine but his sample was not so great on the day of the egg collection due to poor morphology so we opted for ICSI, plus we did not want to risk normal IVF with only three eggs so this was a good call. We decided to transfer both embryos as this gave us a 40% chance of success, it was 32% with one, we had a three day transfer as too few embryos to push to blastocyst. So the two-week wait began, the first week was fine. I took a week off work and got plenty of rest but stayed active with housework and evening walks. It is also important to point out I had acupuncture all the way through IVF. Below are some of the things I experienced but it is important to say that I have been on progesterone suppositories since egg collection so it is hard to tell what is pregnancy and what is the drugs. I have also been on slow release metformin since 2 months prior to starting stimulating. I have chosen to only mention the things that struck me as strange and that I never had in my two week wait on clomid.
1dp 3dt - Rash (very itchy like hives), twinges, cramps and pressure.
2 dp 3dt - Rash, hungry, twinges, cramps and pressure, creamy/ gloopy CM
3 dp 3dt -Rash, hungry, twinges and fell asleep in afternoon (which is unusual for me)
4dp 3dt - Rash, hungry, twinges and sore throat
5 dp 3dt -Rash, wet/watery cm and odd period pains/ twinges, feel like I am getting ill
6 dp 3dt - Terrible constipation, like knives are in my bottom with sharp shooting pains where there should never ever be pain!! feel like I am getting ill.
7dp 3dt - Constipation continues, boobs hurt on and off, really cold and unable to get warm, fall asleep in the afternoon again, sore back.
8dp 3dt - Diarrhea begins, still really cold, dizzy when I stand up, sore back, boobs hurt off and on period pains so think AF is coming, teary.
9dp 3 dt - Diarrhea was awful (4 times during the day), Insomnia begins, dizzy when I stand up, AF pains so I think period is coming, boobs hurt on and off. At this point I am going stir crazy and want to test and have to force myself not to.
10dp 3 dt - Wake up at 6am and POAS but don't look for an hour and a half so DH can look with me, so I stare at him until he wakes up. We get a BFP!! but I don't believe it as it could be an evaporation line so I dash out at 8am to buy a digi. Comes up BFP with same FMU super fast and shows 2 - 3 weeks on conception indicator (which means my HCG is over 200 according to Clearblue). I had a sore back – was unable to get comfortable and AF pains continue, boobs hurt on and off, mild nausea.
11dp 3dt - Diarrhea, AF pains, mild nausea, dizzy when I stand, boobs hurt on and off. Tested again in afternoon BFP (I just love seeing a positive test)
12dp 3dt – BFP with FMU. AF pains continue, mild nausea at times, boobs hurt slightly on and off.
I find the strangest symptom is the AF pains, it really does feel just like AF is coming. It makes me nervous but I have read it is very normal and can continue for weeks but it really does feel exactly the same!! Also I thought my boobs would hurt more at 4 weeks but it is just waves of boob ache. Very excited, cautiously optimistic and wonder how many we will be blessed with. So any girls out there who are going through IVF I know how you feel and I never thought it would happen for me but it did and when it did it felt amazing, it was like I had won the lottery – only so much better.