The Ailments

So I have done all my testing (just waiting on the ultrasound date) for my cycle in hopefully late May. CFC can’t confirm your FET dates until you can get the tests back to them and let them know when your period starts.  So like all things TTC now I wait on AF. And let’s face it, in the past she’s been a bitch by not showing up when she should. Good thing I have 3 months up my sleeve, but even then… I’m still a bit nervous!

I was relieved when my doctor didn’t look at me like I was crazy to be considering going back again so soon – in fact she seemed quite excited for me. I really do love that doctors surgery, if anyone is in Melb Australia and needs a great inner suburbs GP recommendation send me an email. I struggled for years to find a clinic and GP that I love and now that I have I’m almost evangelical about them. Pricey, but you get what you pay for right?

We are off on our annual pilgrimage to the Sunshine Coast again on Friday – this time with baby in tow to meet my parents for the first time. They are beside themselves with excitement. It was this time last year I was in full planning mode for our trip to Cape Town and nervous as hell. Counting down those days until we left seemed so torturous this time it is almost an afterthought.  I’ve been looking at hotel / accommodation websites for Cape Town, but it’s just not as exciting when you’re going by yourself. Edie and my husband will be staying home as it’s much more economical and less disruptive to her this way. If this cycle doesn’t work then we’ll look at our options and we’ll all go over later in the year for another cycle.

I recovered from my emergency C section remarkably well – my platelets and blood pressure are all back to normal. I do have to repeat my GTT and I won’t be surprised if I am diabetic. Which is why I am putting it off until after we get back from our holiday.in early Feb.  After our holiday is ‘get fit or even just fitt-er’ time in the lead up to our cycle and just for my own general well being.  So I’ll be sitting that test again and also on the 18th of Feb having my gastroscopy  to conclude 100% if I have coeliac disease or not. I’ve been back on gluten for the past couple of months and have had no ill effects aside from much more wind (my poor husband!).

Edie is keeping us very busy. We have had a recent spate of immunisations and now that she is is 10 weeks (5 weeks corrected) 4.6kgs and she is getting a bit more of a personality and attitude. We’ve hit a Wonderweek this week and she is a lot more aware of her surroundings (and sometimes those surroundings don’t suit). God help us on holiday – I’ve already contacted someone on ebay and bought a second hand swing that we can use up there to give us some respite when she’s in a mood. I really did wind up with a Scorpio!

To be honest I sometimes question what the hell we are doing by trying for second baby so soon – but then I remember my age and it pushes me along. God knows my body won’t let me forget my age at the moment. I have a string of ailments from pregnancy, the worst being De Quervain’s tendinosis (not carpal tunnel) in both my hands/arms. I had grand plans once I was properly diagnosed to have a cortisone injection in my hands to hopefully put and end to it, but someone mentioned it can effect your cycle and my GP confirmed this so I’ll stick with seeing my osteopath for dry needling and deep tissue massage.  The thing with this ailment is that it gets worse POST pregnancy from lifting your ever heavier baby… so I just have to live with it really and manage it best I can until my babymaking days are over. I can’t believe I’ve had it since about May last year thinking it was carpal tunnel and it would resolve after delivering… life is cruel. I also have a dicky knee – it became sore in pregnancy from the loosened ligaments and it’s still not resolved…and now my plantar fascia has flared up again in my foot! This is all on my right side mind you so if you just chopped me in half I’d be ok if you just kept the left side. Another thing I have found after a weekend at our farm with Edie is that Portacots are not my friend either for bending over to get her in and out… so I’ll be straight on Gumtree to find a good used cot to take down there. But you know what? It’s still not enough to deter me from trying again.  I look at that little face and know that I want a sibling for her and it motivates me to keep trying.

Round Two…

Yes that’s right. I’m going back.

I never thought I’d be one of those women who would pop out a baby (or have one surgically removed) and be ready to go again straight away. But it turns out I am.

As soon as Edie hit the scene my husband and I were planning her sibling. ‘When can we go again?’I asked him… ‘if we sell those shares we can afford another full cycle without impacting our way of life too much…’and ‘We should see if our donor is free to donate again for us!’. I was literally still in my hospital gown, propped up in bed, emailing  the donor agency of Edie’s arrival and asking them if our was available again. Crazy I know!

Turns out our donor is currently up the duff so is not available … and I’m not sure if she’s still interested in donating. I also thought perhaps it was a mad surge of post natal hormones that made me want to go again so quickly. I’ve been waiting over the past 9 weeks for the urge to dissipate but it’s still just as strong. Even when Edie is being a little monster (AKA needy Edie around here) I keep telling her we will try like crazy to have a little brother or sister for her.

We have two frozen embryos in Cape Town – so the plan of attack is to go over for a cycle using them in late May early June and see what happens. It is a bit of a risk as they were a bit ‘slow to grow’ according to the embryologist.
1 X B3AA : this blastocyst of good quality
1 X B3AB: this blastocyst of average quality

She said she would not recommend travelling all that way for these embryo’s. Trouble is if we want a full genetic sibling for Edie, this may be our only option at this stage. Until we know if/when our donor is available it seems like the risk is worth it.

Financially it makes sense to risk it too. We are looking at just my airfare and we can get half paid out on points $1k, accommodation for approx 1 week in Cape Town for me approx $1k, spending for the week approx $500, FET costs $600 AUD and meds approx $400 – so about $2,600 to $3k as opposed to $10k or so for a completely new cycle.

I spoke with my OB at my 6 week follow up appointment and he said it would be fine to try again in May/June given my age which makes completing our family a bit of a priority in our lives. That will be 6 months after Edie.

I’ve made my appointments with my fertility specialist in March to get my medications, I’m seeing my GP this week to get all the necessary testing repeated and then I wait for my period.  That could be the tricky part given my wacky cycle history. But I’ve stopped breastfeeding about a 10 days ago (side note – weaning sucks!) so I’m hoping I’ll see it in the next couple of months.

So here we go again! Part of me thinks we are crazy but lets face it, I don’t have much choice if I want to have a sibling before I hit 45.