This and that

Its been a long week! So much has happened. My DH got back from China on Saturday which made me very J. He bought an awesome camera which I played with whilst keeping one eye on the (very boring) Springboks vs Wales game. Sunday was spent packing up our ENTIRE kitchen (very tiring) but it was good because I got a little spring cleaning in and managed to donate a whole lot of “stuff” to my maid.

 

Monday they started with our kitchen – what a freaking NIGHTMARE! Cooking from your dining room table is not ideal and trying to cook something decent with a microwave is also not great. The kitchen is slowly taking shape and is looking pretty good, there are still a few things that need to be done – like changing the handles on the doors and cupboards and doing some tiling were the gas stove is going. Anyway it looks great. The only thing is that because both DH and I have typical Type A personalities – we need to be around to check that everything is done to OUR exacting standards. Which means that we have had to take some leave to be at home this week which is not all that bad but also means a mountain of work for next week.

 

In other news my AF arrived and I have started on my second pack of OCP’s. One down 2 to go! At least my hair and skin is looking good! I see on Fertilicare that a lady who did ZIFT got her BFP. This makes me feel like there is still hope. Today I went to go and buy my Menopur for my next cycle (want to try and recover the financials before the Xmas season). Um R7500 later. Not good. Feel like drinking after seeing that bill. Oh and you will be very proud of me – I have officially stopped smoking, maybe not so much stopped drinking but the smoking had to go. It’s a disgusting habit and doesn’t improve my chances for a BFP by any means.

 

I feel like Im way behind in my blog reading. Sorry guys, life has been just OTT hectic but I will catch up soon!

For my friend Robz, whos FET cycle was cancelled – sweety Im thinking of you during this difficult time.  xxx

Inofolic

Hi gals,

Ive had such an excellent response to my post on Inofolic, within a couple of hours Joni and Robz had both sent me info on it. Robz even ordered it for me through her pharmacy – thank you dear friend. For those that would like to know Inofolic can be ordered through Dischem at a cost of R290 for 30 sachets. DONT go to the vitamin counter because they just give you blank stares, you need to go through the dispensary AND a portion of it goes through medical aid – whoo hoo!

Now what is the hype all about? I found an article on the net regarding PCOS and ICSI cycles. A doctor in Italy I think it was has done controlled randomised studies to determine that giving IVF?ICSI patients myo-inositol combined with folic acid (Inofolic) resulted in better quality eggs and better pregnancy rates. I have copied the abstract from the paper below:

Myo-inositol may improve oocyte quality in intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles. A prospective, controlled, randomized trial.

Papaleo E, Unfer V, Baillargeon JP, Fusi F, Occhi F, De Santis L.

IVF unit, Gynecologic-Obstetric Department, Istituto di Ricovera e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, San Raffaele Hospital, Vita-Salute University, Milan, Italy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of myo-inositol on oocyte quality in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. DESIGN: A prospective, controlled, randomized trial. SETTING: Assisted reproduction centers. PATIENT(S): Sixty infertile PCO patients undergoing ovulation induction for ICSI. INTERVENTION(S): All participants underwent standard long protocol. Starting on the day of GnRH administration, 30 participants received myo-inositol combined with folic acid (Inofolic) 2 g twice a day and 30 control women received folic acid alone, administrated continuously. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Primary end points were number of morphologically mature oocytes retrieved, embryo quality, and pregnancy and implantation rates. Secondary end points were total number of days of FSH stimulation, total dose of gonadotropin administered, E(2) level on the day of hCG administration, fertilization rate per number of retrieved oocytes, embryo cleavage rate, live birth and miscarriage rates, cancellation rate, and incidence of moderate or severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. RESULT(S): Total r-FSH units (1,958 +/- 695 vs. 2,383 +/- 578) and number of days of stimulation (11.4 +/- 0.9 vs. 12.4 +/- 1.4) were significantly reduced in the myo-inositol group. Furthermore, peak E(2) levels (2,232 +/- 510 vs. 2,713 +/- 595 pg/mL) at hCG administration were significantly lower in patients receiving myo-inositol. The mean number of oocytes retrieved did not differ in the two groups, whereas in the group cotreated with myo-inositol the mean number of germinal vesicles and degenerated oocytes was significantly reduced (1.0 +/- 0.9 vs. 1.6 +/- 1.0), with a trend for increased percentage of oocytes in metaphase II (0.82 +/- 0.11% vs. 0.75 +/- 0.15%). CONCLUSION(S): These data show that in patients with PCOS, treatment with myo-inositol and folic acid, but not folic acid alone, reduces germinal vesicles and degenerated oocytes at ovum pick-up without compromising total number of retrieved oocytes. This approach, reducing E(2) levels at hGC administration, could be adopted to decrease the risk of hyperstimulation in such patients.

For our last IVF we used inositol only but Dr V wants me to try the Inofolic for the next cycle, so I will start when I start on my next pack of BCP’s. Dr V attended a conference in Spain this year and apparently listened to this doctor present his paper on Inofolic. I cant say whether it did make a difference last cycle but I’m basically willing to try anything at this stage.

To M Im so incredibly sorry to hear about your BFN, please take care of yourself. It is just so incredibly sad.

Randomness

Im sitting here with an aching mouth, went to the dentist this morning for a check-up and ended up decided to ask him to replace all my mercury fillings with the white ones, silly I know because this pain was self inflicted but Ive been wanting to do it for a while now. The only thing I cant handle from being at the dentist is the sound of that drill oh and the fact that you dribble for a while after!

Moving swiftly along to home renovations- DH and I have decided to replace our kitchen counters and install our gas stove! We have been toying with the idea for a while now but you know how it goes with trying to save for IVF etc. Suprisingly we got a quote the other day and its really not that much. We are replacing our shit-amine counters with 35mm saligna tops which is going to cost R4500 which in IVF currency is basically the change I get back. We bought a gas stove about a year ago which has been standing in our garage (sad I know) so that will be installed too – CANT wait, we both LOVE to cook! I’ll take before and after pics to show you guys!

On other news I see that Tertia announced her pregnancy, I cant believe it shes pregnant at 40! She needs to write a book to describe life after her twins, seems alot has happened to her since. I still cant get over the fact that s*x actually makes you pregnant, wow now thats a new one.

And in other totally random news, I started the pill last night, shoo pressure off for now!