Saturday 22 September 2012

A belated ICLW welcome

Aaaah! ICLW crept up on me when I didn't expect it!

This is a "parenting after" blog. I know this will automatically make some people not want to read on further. But it's not that bad, honestly...

I got pregnant after lots of IVF. I had a natural ectopic. Then I had an early miscarriage after IVF, which sent me a bit bonkers. Then I had two failed FETs, a FET that turned out to be another ectopic, another failed FET and then, on my last two frozen embryos, I got pregnant with the Boy. It took 18 months, more money than I care to think about, and a whole lot of feeling crappy. All the bloggers who started treatment at the same time seemed to be pregnant, my friends were popping kids out, pop pop pop pop.

I went through phases of reading stupid books, either with dubious theories about diet (one more or less said to cut out everything apart from lentils, or some similar bollocks) or New-Age-y belief systems - reiki, Tarot, reflexology and more. I have just chucked out my feng sui book out this afternoon; I still have a little wind chime hanging above the bathroom door, which I desperately hoped would stop my fertility chakras going down the toilet. Or something.

By the end, I believed in statistics. Namely, that if I kept doing IVF, then it would work eventually. And I also had a backup plan if the FETs entirely failed, which was to take a year off treatment and spend part of that time doing the Trans Siberian Express.

Anyway, Russia's vodka supplies remain untroubled. Numbers triumphed where meditation failed. Either that or the wind chime thing really did make a difference after all. And we got there in the end.

I did blog about all this as it happened but had to can the old place for work-related reasons. And, anyway, it made sense to have a fresh blog - about the Boy, about life, and about having no tubes.



11 comments:

  1. Greetings from ICLW! It's great to read a success story. We're not to the point of really considering IVF yet (not to mention I don't think we could EVER afford it), but I love reading the happy endings of all this IF crap.

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  2. Hello from ICLW! I don't mind reading the odd "parenting after" blog! It's nice when you see that some people make it out of the trenches!

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  3. Hi there from ICLW! My *goodness* have you ever been through the ART ringer. It was the chimes, though....definitely the chimes. Congrats to you on The Boy! :)

    ICLW#96

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  4. Hello from ICLW. You definitely have had a journey & I am glad you have your little boy to share stories about now! I agree that happy endings are nice to read about = )

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  5. Hi from ICLW! Nice to "meet you". What a journey you've had but I'm so thrilled you have your little miracle. I will be following along hoping that your little happy ending can inspire my own!

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  6. Never heard about wind chimes over the bathroom. So did you toss the tarot too or do you still use them from time to time. I haven't touched mine in a year.

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    1. I've still got mine. They're beside my bed. I haven't done any readings for a long time though. I used to do them almost daily when i was ttc and I went off them after that.

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  7. After 2 failed IVFs and 1 failed FET, I feel exactly as you did almost left in the dark while everyone else has gotten pregnant. I love to hear stories like yours. It gives me so much hope.

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  8. Hi from ICLW! I haven't experienced ART like you have and honestly hope I never have to. Even if I do, it's the hope of the end result that will make it all worthwhile. :) I see that's what has happened for you. Congratulations on the Boy. :)

    Bree

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  9. Hi from ICLW...I also had a failed IVF cycle and its the worst feeling to know that its not guaranteed

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