Sweet relief & the wonderful benefits of a unicornuate uterus!!

After a practically sleepless night on Monday night, I called the dentist on Tuesday morning to beg for an appointment. Thankfully I went in at 4:30pm and they started the root canal, taking out the nerve in the tooth. Honestly, the pain I was in on Monday night and Tuesday was absolutely horrendous, I despaired of ever feeling good again.

The actual dental work was not my favourite thing either but the sweet, sweet relief last night was amazing and to wake up this morning after sleeping the whole night and being pain free, well it felt like a miracle - I am back to myself again, whoo hoo!!

Now despite a lot of whinging that I do on this blog, I am a pretty positive person, I do like to find the positive in every situation. Now, I have found the positive of having a unicornuate uterus - yeah!! I have been waiting for the 3rd trimester pressure on my bladder but it has not come, I figure it is because JBB and the uterus is pretty much situated all on my left hand side which has caused no pressure on the bladder. This is a beautiful thing because I can generally sleep the whole night through without a bathroom stop - whooo hooo - go the unicornuate uterus!!!

A whole bunch of information!

Well, it has been an amazingly busy few days. Work has been crazy – officially it has been hell week and we still have the ‘go live’ to go through tomorrow (for only half the sites – booo). I have been in at work by 6:30am every day and am having trouble sleeping because we are in the midst of another heat wave. Last night I had to ‘sleep’ in the lounge room with the air conditioner on but I didn’t really get very good quality sleep. The exhaustion is crippling and unfortunately increases the all day sickness which I am hoping will start to abate over the next couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to at least some of this project being over so I can go back to my 3 days a week.

The other thing that has been happening is the mad preparation for our tax on Friday – goodness, nothing like leaving things until the last minute. We broke the back of the work of it last night but then I realized at work today it didn’t save properly – gaaaaaahhhhhh!!! So we are back to the drawing board but after a ridiculously crazy problem solving day today – I am going to have to have a break tonight and get to bed early and face it all tomorrow.

In much, much better news – we have had another scan today and seen our gorgeous little JourneyBaby (with arms and legs – whoo hoo!!) and the heart beating away healthily. I have had a couple of appointments over the past couple of days. Yesterday I went to see the haematologist and he checked me out to make sure that everything was going okay – blood pressure was all good and he let me know how to do the injections as the pregnancy progresses. I let him know that it was likely going to be a caesarean and he said that it was actually a better thing so that they could plan to stop then Clexane before and then restart again. I also have to get a blood test to make sure that the Clexane has not had an adverse effect on blood counts etc.

So, today JourneyMan and I went for our first appointment with the obstetrician. He was recommended to us from our fertility specialist (well actually from the receptionist!!) for the fact that he is a high risk pregnancy specialist. So, here is a summary of what he said in regard to my myriad of conditions:

Factor V Leiden:

He is happy that I am on the Clexane and said that this would almost guarantee that I wouldn’t get a clot during the pregnancy – big yay on that! He told me that he has had many patients with clotting disorders so that is a big relief that he is experienced with this.

Congenital kidney defect (only have one!):

He said that I would need to be closely monitored to ensure that I don’t get any urinary tract infections so I will be having 6 weekly urine tests to ensure that everything is going okay down there! I did have a blood test as well as urine test today so hopefully all is good.

Unicornuate uterus:

This was the big one, he had a lot to say about it and also said that it was the biggest problem that we would face in the pregnancy. He said that on average most women with a unicornuate uterus deliver between 34-36 weeks though some go as early as 29 weeks and some can go full term. He said that we would definitely be having a schedule cesarean, which I expected so that wasn’t a shock. He said that I would have progesterone pessaries from 20 weeks to relax the uterus and hope that it stretches enough to get me to late term. The other thing that he mentioned was that women with unicornuate uterus can sometimes have an incompetent cervix and what could happen is that the cervix could open and you lose the pregnancy without even knowing – freaked the hell out of me!! His plan to ensure that this does not happen is that from 14 weeks onwards I will be having an ultrasound a week to make sure that the cervix is good. He said that if it does open up, he will put a stitch in it (?!?!!?).

So, all in all, pretty good. He was a really nice guy – seemed very patient and most importantly, he has had significant experience with all of my issues previously. I am very happy! I am still spinning from all of the information (on top of a significant lack of sleep) so haven’t had a chance to digest everything just yet. One thing that I am happy about is that although it is going to be quite time consuming to get to the ultrasound each week – I will be able to see our darling JourneyBaby every week – how lucky are we?!?!

On a personal note, I am determined to get to at least 36 weeks. If I get to exactly 36 weeks, JB will be born on my birthday. Or if it is one day after that, it will be on my Mum’s (and late Nanna’s) birthdays – that feels very right to me.

Phew – long post, I am going to have to go and have a lay down now!

Hurdle 2 complete!!

We visited the Melbourne fertility specialist yesterday and he is fine with our decision which was a huge relief. I had to admit, I was worried that he would strenuously object to the plan but he was very interested and even asked me to bring back literature so he could have a recommendation for other patients if they ask. We have honestly been blessed with our fertility specialist, I have heard many stories out there of specialists not being great. Our FS has always been open to looking at different ways of doing things, he is very pragmatic and is no BS in his explanations, which I really like. He is writing up a history to send to the Thai Fertility Specialist, which is great and has once again confirmed to me that though I have the unicornuate uterus, it is basically a normal size so I should be able to carry a baby – yay!

For the first time since my cancelled cycle, I have felt hope stirring within me again. I am generally a positive and hopeful person but the cycles have knocked me around a bit. It is nice to feel that bit closer to holding a baby in my arms – it is such a beautiful dream. Speaking of the cycles, we were talking previously about the journey to where we are right now.

After the first appointment with the specialist, we decided that we would go straight on to IVF rather than the vasectomy reversal, the main part of the decision was that we didn’t want to wait which we would have done after the reversal. We were in a very big hurry back then. I had to have all the usual tests first. Blood tests and then an ultrasound and then we were back at the fertility specialist again. I found out at that appointment that I had only one kidney. This was a bit of a shock because I would have thought that I would have had some knowledge of only one kidney before 35 years had passed!

The kidney issue meant more tests before we started the first cycle. After everything had been cleared and we had attended the info night, counselling (I would hardly call it counselling) and paid the exorbitant fees (though let me say that for the moment, IVF funding is pretty good in Australia – though in the last federal budget, it was revealed that much of the funding is being taken away). I started on the classic IVF long protocol minus the birth control pill because of my Factor IV Leiden. I was bursting full of hope and absolutely sure that I was going to get pregnant on the first go, after all – apart from the one kidney, I had no issues except that I was 35 right? Hmmm, well so we thought.

After the first ultrasound I received a call letting me know that the cycle was cancelled. I was absolutely shocked, I just couldn’t believe that it could even happen. I went home after work and cried for about an hour – sadly this was not the last cycle that ended in tears. Thank goodness that I had found a wonderful forum to express my shock, they were so supportive and wonderful – honestly, I would hate to think what would have happened if I didn’t have that outlet.

The disappointment doesn’t reduce even after 5 cycles, the shock does but the disappointment, no that sucker hangs around – unfortunately it is by product of hope and truly, I wouldn’t want to lose that. As I alluded to at the start of this post, the last cycle has only been over for around 10 days, cancelled as well (what do you know, 5 cycles with cancellations at the beginning and end – how zen) so the disappointment is still very fresh. I try not to wallow too much but sometimes, it gets the better of me. It is nice to have a new plan though. Still another hurdle to get over, I have to see the haematologist to make sure I can take the necessary drugs whilst flying. I was not able to get an appointment until 3 September – hopefully they will have a cancellation. I have also started training for a 10km run – I am using running as a stress release!

Till next time!

Journey Girl

Come with me if you dare....

I thought that I would be married by the time I was 25. I thought that I would have 2 - 3 children by the time I was 30. I thought that my life would be *gasp* sorted out by the time the new millenium arrived!

As it happens, my life didn't turn out that way. There are many, many fantastically wonderful things that have happened in my life. I have travelled extensively, I have a wonderful family and brilliant friends but I found myself in my 30's, single and considering that I may not have the life of my dreams. Don't get me wrong, I loved being single - well around 85% of the time but down deep I wanted to meet a nice man, get married and have children.

I have never been a person that 'didn't want' children, I have always wanted to have kids of my own. After many years of being single, I had to contemplate that I may not have the opportunity. Happily, I met my gorgeous husband and we married 2 years ago (yesterday!). We started 'trying' for kids almost immediately and I say 'trying' because my husband had had a vasectomy so we basically went straight on to IVF.

After 5 unsuccessful IVF ICSI cycles, a vasectomy reversal and 2 laparoscopy's, can a girl who has a unicornuate uterus, one kidney and a blood clotting disorder get pregnant through donor eggs via a donor in Thailand? We have just begun to explore this option and this blog is to express my feelings and fears along the way.

I have followed many blogs over my own journey and wanted to create my own. Want to come along?

Journey Girl