The two week wait is widely regarded as one of the hardest parts of the IVF process and mostly because, aside from the administering of progesterone, nothing happens. When I mean nothing happens, I mean nothing. There is no going shopping, no going for a walk, no driving, no spelunking or sky-diving and definitely no triathlons. All you can do is just sit there and count the days, hours, minutes and seconds until that test. That all important piss on a stick day. I decided that I would take the first week off work so that I could be with Nic and we could sit and wait together. The trouble of just sitting and waiting is that all that runs through your mind is
“Has this worked?”
“It probably hasn’t.”
“But maybe it has, maybe this is our time.”
“Are these pains normal?”
“How many days left?”
This just keeps going round and round, driving you mad. We decided that we just couldn’t so that. So we came up with a plan. A whole bunch of distractions that would keep us occupied and make the time fly by. At least we hoped. Before we get to that Nic wanted to write a bit about what she has experienced and how it has affected her.
The “Two Week Wait” (or 2ww) is renowned in the IVF community as the hardest part of the “journey”. It’s not really been what I expected. I had expected to have a perfect 5 day blastocyst to be transferred and some quality embryos to freeze. In the end we were very fortunate to get one. Our “Lazy”, the name I’ve given our 3 day, 3 cell late fertilising embryo!
I’ve been taking it ridiculously easy since transfer. And it’s really boring! I’ve been trying to keep myself busy creatively, as Tom will explain, and I have been trying to keep as relaxed as possible.
The Progesterone you take after transfer is nasty stuff. It’s to supplement the endometrium and help sustain any pregnancy. If we get a positive, I have to use this for 12 weeks! I started on Crinone Gel but swiftly switched to Cyclogest pessaries after having a reaction to it. The side effects mimic some of the symptoms of PMT and some of the side effects of pregnancy, which is a bit of a head fuck! Today I’m 8 days past the transfer and so far I’ve had: spotting (light spots of blood), various states of cramping, constipation, massive appetite and cravings, mood swings, sore boobs, weight gain and bloating. Lovely list, eh?
It’s really hard not to feel anxious at this time and “symptom spot”. Logically you’d think cramping and bleeding is a bad sign, right? Apparently not. Many women go on to have positive tests with these symptoms early on. Social media may be looked down upon by some, but without the lovely people on Twitter and Facebook, I’d be much worse off. It’s so useful to have access to other people who’ve been through what you’re going through, as it can be such a tough and lonely time.
I must say, if I’m honest, I’m surprised I haven’t started my period already. I really thought the odds were stacked too high against us. But now, 8 days on, I’ve become attached to the idea that Lazy has held on and that scares me a bit, because I know i’m going to be heartbroken on Thursday if we get a negative result.
A lot of ladies that go through IVF tend to test before their official test date given by the clinic. It’s a personal choice but I feel this is the wrong thing to do for me. Testing too early will give a negative because there’s not enough pregnancy hormone (HCG) being released in the urine, even if the embryo has embedded into the endometrium. It can also give a false positive if the “trigger” injection hasn’t left the system. This would drive me crazy! I will be testing on Thursday morning. Keep your fingers crossed for me, Tom and Lazy! 10 years in the making – I hope it’s made it. – Nic
So where do we start with the distractions?
Movies!
Nic and I are huge film fans, as you may have noticed within this blog. We have an extensive DVD and Blu-ray collection as well as subscriptions to Netflix and Sky Movies. We watch lots of different types of films as well as TV show box sets, lately we have been working our way through the Columbo Box set.
In addition to the films and TV shows we decided that we would get creative. The trouble with creative endeavours is most of them require some form of talent. We managed to find a few things that are great creative distractions with no skill or talent required.
I have already mentioned my love of Lego and it is a great way to unwind. It is fun to build and all you have to do is follow the instructions. I particularly like the movie tie-ins like Jurassic World, Back to the Future, Lone Ranger and Ghostbusters.
Much like Lego colouring in is no longer just for kids. We had heard that there has been a trend recently for adults to relax by doing colouring. Online we found a whole series of colouring books designed to be a relaxation tool. We could easily while away an evening with a season of The West Wing and the gentle sound of pencil on paper. I highly recommend this as a good way to keep your brain occupied. Just make sure if you are doing this with your partner you have plenty of pencils and two pencil sharpeners. Colouring is relaxing, arguing over who broke the cobalt blue is not.
After spending some time colouring in I decided that I needed to take it to the next level.
Painting by numbers.
In only a matter of hours you too can create mediocre paintings of horses who look a few straws short of a bale. Much like the colouring in, it is a creative endeavour that requires no skill at all. For some reason I prefer to paint horses but there were plenty to choose from. You could paint some awkward looking dolphins swimming towards a dayglo sunset or a lazy eyed tiger trying to look majestic in a jungle scene.
Once in the creative zone it was time to break free of the constraints of staying between the lines.
Nic decided that she would like to try her hand at jewellery making. For the last few weeks our postman has been laden down with beads and wire, no wonder he always looks so grumpy. She is currently trying to decide what to do with them all! She has created an Etsy shop to sell some of them and others she will keep for herself.
Currently my main hobby is photography and I have a small camera collection of film and digital cameras.
Some belonged to relatives and others I picked up cheap on eBay. I find it really relaxing to wander around snapping street shots, portraits or landscapes. You can see more of my best photos here:
but here are a few examples.
If there is anything you can do to stop yourself getting sucked into that horrible vortex anxiety that is the two week wait then do it. This is what we have come up with and would love to hear about anything else people do or if anyone has any suggestions then please let us know. You can never have enough to do during the two week wait.
Thanks for reading,
Tom and Nic