At the end of last week I had not one but two fertility clinic visits, at two different clinics. On the one hand things went “well” – I was happy with the doctors I saw and their explanations of their findings – but on the other hand the outcome of the visits put my plans not on pause, but in slow mo’. Continue reading
I really like the atmosphere at the private Harley Street clinic (a.k.a “The Baby Making Place” or TBMP) I’ve been to so far however, it’s pricey and it’s not really conveniently located from my office. Since I’m going for stimulated cycles I’m going to need monitoring via ultrasound scans and inevitably some of these will fall on work days. Because of this I think it is more practical to chose a clinic that’s nearer to work.
There’s a big NHS hospital very close to my office (which also happens to be the hospital where I was born!!) and they have an Assisted Conception Unit (ACU). Their prices are lower than TBMP – on the procedural side it’s not a massive difference per treatment, but after a few cycles the significance of that “small” amount increases dramatically.
Continue reading
So for the last 3 days my morning routine has been to wake up and POAS (fertility forum speak for pee on a stick). Following my “breakthrough” last weekend I’ve been impatient to know what’s been going on inside my body. I called Dr A last Monday to see if we were going to try and monitor my hormones and see if looked like I was going to ovulate and have a “normal” cycle, but her response was to wait and see.
WAIT AND SEE?!?!?!
That’s all I’ve been doing for the past couple of months, and there will be plenty more of that to come once I start TTC in earnest! As you have probably guessed by now I’m no good at waiting… Continue reading
Last week I had my NHS ultrasound (still no signs of ovulation) and then went to see my GP to discuss the results of the consultation at the private fertility clinic. In the 5 days between the fertility clinic consultation and seeing my GP I’d been doing some serious thinking about whether this really is the time to go ahead with “Operation Baby”.
I’d always said that I wanted to TTC before I got to an age where I’d be likely to need medical intervention, whether that be conceiving with a partner or through donor insemination, hence I’d had age 35 in mind as the “cut off”. Having just turned 33 I’d been thinking I’d probably try to get a deposit together to buy a house/flat next year, spend a few months settling in, and then TTC just before or just after 35. I’d never imagined that medical intervention, actual fertility treatment, would be required at age 33. But here I am faced with that exact situation.
Sunday 13th September 2015.
I’m never going to forget that date. That’s the day that, with my heart in my throat and butterflies in my tummy, I went up to TBMP (“The Baby Making Place”) in London to find out whether my lady organs were still in functioning order.
First of all I was met by a nurse who took my paperwork and explained what would happen that day; then I was taken in to meet Dr B. He seemed nice and I’ve long got over feeling weird about seeing male doctor when it involves my lady bits – the man’s a gynaecologist, he must be sick of the sight of vagina all day long!
Anyhoo…
I’m not the most patient person in the world and once I get an idea into my head it’s all systems go with researching and planning its execution ; so since I’d decided that I was serious about Operation Baby I decided to jump right in and start finding out my options.
I called and emailed around some the of London fertility clinics I’d found on Google to gather some information on treatment and prices. One, hereafter known as The Baby Making Place (TBMP), invited me to an information session they were holding on donor conception aimed at single women and lesbian couples – just what I needed – so I dragged my friend L along. At the end of the session they offered a discount on initial consultations so I decided to make an appointment for a Fertility MOT
The story of a wannabe mama 