how many more days? i can only guess

Today is day 9 of stimulation. I went in early (enough on a Sunday) for a blood test, then had coffee and a fabulous chocolate eclair at the Patisserie at Marylebone High Street while waiting for the ARCG to call back. Another blood test at noon and back home now. Instructions for today is 75 units of Gonal-F immediately.

Yesterday was a bit of a strange one though. I went in for the usual blood test and the results must have been crazy because I was then told to poke myself with Cetrotide, a different drug. What this drug does is to delay the LH surge, which means it just delays my body from ovulating. My eggs are not mature yet - they need to grow just a bit more - so LH level has to come down.

Cetrotide comes in a big box with two alcohol swabs, a large syringe, two needles and a vial with white powder. It's like doing Chemistry at O Levels all over again! After mixing the solution I poked myself below the belly button and it was actually quite painful, and painful to watch too as it was a large syringe and everything had to go in. I decided I don't like Cetrotide very much.



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I had bouts of nausea that come and go but today was better. The only side effects of all the drugs (so far) are the sore area where I poked the Cetrotide, the bloatedness where my ovaries are and a bit of a headache. But the latter can be just because of the cold. I actually woke up to hailstorm this morning! Rubbish London weather indeed.

But everything I go through is nothing compared to the joy and happiness that T and G will have if this works. I saw a pair of twin boys at the Patisserie this morning and it reminded me of what T told me - that she thinks she will have twin boys from my donated eggs. I wonder how they will look, with a little bit of myself and G mixed together. Hmm.

Dr C told me last week when I was still in Hong Kong that the first recipient of my donated eggs, M, got pregnant but subsequently miscarried. I was really disappointed but I'm sure M will be trying again soon. I just hope that my seeds of labour will bear fruit. Really, spending time with T and G just made my realize how some people are destined to be great parents - and if anyone deserve to be parents, it's them.

Fingers crossed!

Side-effects of gonadotrophin injections

It will be my fourth jab later this evening but thankfully I have not experienced any serious side effects (so far!) as there is a teeny weeny chance that I may get Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, which is defined as a serious complication marked by chest and abdominal fluid buildup and cystic enlargement of the ovaries that can cause permanent injury and even death. Sounds super scary, innit.
The only drama I'm getting from my body is a slight "fullness" around the abdomen. I like to think that my follicles are like little ant workers working really hard, producing more and more eggs by the hour.

Oh, and an update on the thread I posted on the maternity website: I have since received four more enquiries! These are real women who desperately want donated eggs; yet I cannot help them even if I wanted to because of some law in Hong Kong that prohibits more than three 'live births' from the same donor. I truly feel so sorry for them because their only other option is to wait for their turn on the donor list. One of them is desperate enough to ask if I would like the procedure done in Singapore. I will have to think hard about this one.

I wonder, if I encourage my friends to donate their eggs will they think me mad? It's certainly not the same as donating blood! Then again, it's just giving up a part of yourself, your cells, your genes; only this procedure is more tedious and potentially more dangerous.

We sure need a egg donation centre of sorts in Asia.