Only Slightly Disappointing

The appointment on Tuesday almost went well. We completed all the paperwork, good grief, there are masses of forms to fill in.

Next was to hand over all the lab results from the last set of bloods. The HIV, Hep B, Hep C for both of us. Rubella, Chlamydia, FSH and Oestradiol and Smear test (which I'm still waiting results from) for me. The nurse said my blood results (Oestradoil/FSH) were fine but I would still really like to know what the normal ranges are, just for my own obsessing /interest.

There was a problem with the Chlamydia test. It was out of date. This test was done over two years ago before my longest pregnancy (In my referral forms it actually states that I had a successful pregnancy in Oct 05. Well unless I have a baby at home that I've failed to notice I really can't think of a much less accurate term, but there you go.)The point is this test must be carried out within the last two years. So we have to repeat this test and also chase up my smear test result.


The other surprise was with Mr L's results. He'd already had 2 SA that had come back with all good outcomes but this time his motility was low. Now I'm not freaking out over this as the sample was meant to be in within an hour and it wasn't (at least 90mins). I'm going to count this as a red herring for the time being, at least until we have the retest.

So that left us with a new SA, another Chlamydia test and a smear result to chase before next Tuesday. I phoned my GPs office and they say the Chlamydia test will take a couple of weeks and they cannot guarantee the smear result this week either. So that was that. A months delay.

At first I was really disappointed with this news. We could get the IVF clinic to do the Chlamydia test (4 days) but still had no way of speeding up the smear test. The more I thought about it the more I realised that 4 weeks isn't an awful long time and other factors will become much more straightforward.

My work will be so much easier. As a teacher I get lots of holidays but have no way of taking time off without begging/asking. I am entitled to time off for medical but I work in a small school and it's difficult to get periodic cover. Also my frequent trips out would gather some, very unwanted, attention. By waiting four weeks I'll start down regulating whilst still at school but it'll be into the summer holidays by the second week of stims. It also means I'll be off for retrieval and transfer which makes things so much easier. I can also relax for the two week wait. (This is all assuming I get to every stage, and that is something I certainly am not taking for granted.)

It also means I can give my health kick an extra month AND another chance at a natural cycle. I know, I know, I should know better. It's hard not to dream though.

When I was going over all the positive points for waiting a month I really started to question why I had been so keen to get going sooner. The answer is... maternity leave! Truly, that's it! As I have set holidays, if maternity leave falls over a holiday then it's a lost holiday. So no one would want mat leave to include July and August as this really is wasted. This made me chuckle. There is obviously a part of me, deep and hidden, that thinks this might just work out. I hope that little bit of optimism doesn't get beaten up too badly!

So that's it. Possible timetable.....

Day one phone call to order drugs.....around 28th May
Down regs........around 14th June
Poss starting stims....... 25th June?
Holidays commence......29th June.


As for the rest, we'll just wait and see. It's all rather sketchy but at least it's a plan. And that's got to be good.