I've been taking Gonal-F since last week, and from tomorrow, I'll start Luveris. That's of course on top of the Syranel that I had been taking. Bloodworks also start soon, and then the Ultrasound. If everything goes well, I'd expect the Egg collection to be next Monday/Tuesday.

(I know I'll jinx it by saying this, so let me touch some wood before writing this, haha)

I have been unexpectedly relaxed this cycle. There were a few small dramas with the jabs hurting just that tiny bit, or me panicking for a few seconds when all the Gonal-F did not go in a single shot, but that's nothing compared to the chaos in my head in my previous cycles - natural or FET or the fresh IVF.

Being a bit busy with your friends and families helped. From cancelled and re-scheduled parties that I had to organize at my home, to my parents selling our family home to buy a new one, to taking hours to get ready for a friend's party and arriving ridiculously late, all helped. Although I did not watch as many games in the World Cup as I planned, following it, and watching it a few early morning helped. I am hoping that looking forward to our anniversary next weekend will help me this week. We haven't planned anything yet, but thinking about a quiet lunch or dinner according to the weather...

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get a successful outcome this cycle. And trying my best to keep the negative thoughts at bay. Hopefully my next post is as cheerful!

We are marching ahead with all guns blazing. Alright, agreed, its not that dramatic. We've just said yes to another IVF cycle. Its another long down cycle, so I collect and start my first round of 'medication' next Tuesday, which happens to be CD20 for me. I have opted for Syranel nasal spray instead of the Lucrin injections, just to save us some money. Lucrin is once a day injection that costs $200 extra, while Syranel is to be used twice a day (around the same time), and is included in the cycle cost.

With my normal 26-28 days cycle, I would be starting Gonal-F after 10 days or so after starting Syranel. My FS also mentioned an additional injection on Day 6 of Gonal-F, but I was crazy enough to not ask her what the injection was, what it does, what the cost was, and how many times I am supposed to take it! From the note that she gave me, the injection looks like Luveris (I can barely read her handwriting), which I have researched as being used to increase the quality of the eggs when the LH is low. I am not aware of what my LH levels were in my last cycle, so I am not sure why this was suggested for me. I have asked the nurses to call me back with some info about the injection I am getting, hopefully I'll get the answers early next week. I will of course be going gluten free and dairy free this cycle, lets see how it goes. I will probably be getting the antibodies checked after the cycle, and then decide weather to continue or not with the diet accordingly.

Speaking of IVF, I mentioned before about my neighbor starting her first round. Well she did, and though she had a dramatic journey because of the cycle almost being cancelled because there weren't enough follicles (they collected 14 eggs at the end!) and having a car accident on the egg collection day, "everything" went well, and she is now pregnant. I had honestly prayed for her, and so was very happy for her. Of course I was bit disappointed about my own cycles in the past now that I could see how "easily" it worked for her, but there were no tears, so pretty proud of myself.

Well, just to get into the routine of walking that is suggested of us Trying To C, DH and I went for a bush walk on Saturday. We started off to do a 3-hour walk near Bundeena, but were lost, so decided to take another route that we found online instead. It was labelled a hard 1-hour walk down to the beach and back. The interesting point was that the route led to one of the legal nude beaches in Sydney (Werrong beach). The path was quite steep, but enjoyable. Best of all, there was only one more couple there, so we decided to ditch our clothes, and feel the salty water the way we never felt before ;) So a life's first, and probably last. But I had good fun. Carefree for a few minutes does your soul some good :)

So, just some more waiting and then the jabs and sniffs (and inserts!) start. Looking forward to the end of it all, here's to hoping that its a really good end!