Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I am hoping to begin IVF later this year and I have a few questions. Sorry if some of these are a bit basic but I am still learning!
How long is one IVF cycle from start to finish?
Is the egg retrieval generally performed under sedation or general anaesthesia?
How much time I will need to take off work? e.g. is it possible to work most of the way through or should I take, say, a week here or there? How many appointments are typically involved? (I live about an hours drive from my fertility clinic)
How many embryos are typically implanted - is it dependent on age? I think I read somewhere that it is 2/3 max. in Ireland?
Thanks for your support, hopeful....
Hi Hopeful,
The cycles vary depnding on what drugs your Doc has you on but generally it's around months, our last cycle starte on Dec 1 and we took the pregnancy test on 31 Jan.
The egg retrival is done under sedation so you will be in the Clinic for around an hour or more after the procedure before they'll let you go home, you won't be able to drive afterwards so someone will have to be there with you.
I'm not working at the moment which was great for the appointments, for our first cycle I was working for a witch who, although knowing the situation, was very unsympathetic and was very bitchy about me taking time off, which of course didn't help with my stress levels, so I left that job before we started our last cycle.
There are quite a few appointments invovled, you could have one every two or three days towards the end, depending on how the folicles are growing, In our Clinic which is Galway, they will only put in 2 embryos.
If you need any other info just let us know and good luck with everything,
Covie xx
Hi Covie! Thanks for getting back to me...really, really helpful!
That's all you needed....an 'ol witch to be putting pressure on you! The work thing is really awkward isn't it. I've already missed a lot of work this year due to surgery and an ectopic and I dont want to tell them I'm going for IVF. It sounds like the most intensive time is during the egg stimulation part so maybe I could take two weeks hols at that time......
Anyway, I see from your other post that you are feeling a little better after your birthday. Keep us posted on your progress!
Chat soon,hopeful
Hi Claire,
Thanks for your detailed response....this is really great as I now have a rough idea of how far apart the dates are.....I might actually steal some of those excuses hehe! Do you mind me asking what clinic you attended and were you successful in your IVF cycle? I'm attending the Cork Fertility Centre and I was told that I am ready to rock and roll in a months time! I'm all excited hence the late nite posting!
Once again, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.
Take care x
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