Well, after a lot of consideration and various other things going on in our lives, we decided that as ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection) is the only remaining viable option for us to have a family, we would go for it.

I had decided some time ago that it was the right time for me to change job, having been at my present employer for 4.5 years and we've recently moved home so it's all change! Naturally, this has presented some issues re continuing with this process and where I move job-wise. Thankfully however, I've managed to reach a compromise with which I'm very pleased.

During my three months' notice period, I started on the same protocol as before with the Buserelin (Suprecur) injections, latterly proceeding to Puregon this time (FSH). By the time I start my new job, I will have completed the ICSI cycle and will know whether or not embryos have formed. I have been offered excellent opportunities on a permanent basis, however, feel it would be inappropriate at this time to accept until I'm completely over (emotionally and physically) the ICSI process and therefore have decided to accept a brilliant contract in the City for nine months. I will tell the companies offering permanent opportunities why I am declining - it's always best to be open and you neverf know, when this is all over and done with, they might well still have a place for me. I have been honest with my potential new employer about the ICSI and it will allow me easy access to Hammersmith IVF when needed.

In a recent scan, an enormous cyst was found on my left ovary and I was terrified that I might have to go in for surgery like the last time, to have it removed. Thankfully, my blood results confirmed that it was not producing hormones nor interfering with the protocol and I have been able to start the Puregon (FSH) earlier this time round.

Interestingly, I have had some quite severe side-effects over the last six to eight weeks, some occurring in parallel with the last protocol. These include extreme fatigue in the afternoons, hip pain and less resistance to infection generally.

Only another ten days to go - I will keep you informed as to our progress! Keep your fingers crossed for us both.

During a recent stay with my mother-in-law in Cork, my husband very kindly arranged for me to spend the day at Hagal Healing Farm in Croomleigh, Cork.

I must confess, I was a little worried about spending time alone in the middle of nowhere with new age types but would not change anything for the world. It was one of the best experiences of my life so far and so relaxing.

The farm itself is hidden away in the remote hills of Croomleigh, just outside Bantry. There is a serene calm about the place and its surroundings. The farmhouse is decorated in an ethnic style and I instantly relaxed upon entering it. I also loved the "sun room"; this was a huge room at the top of the farmhouse, the ceiling of which was mainly glass. I spent time relaxing in between treatments there. The scenery was amazing.

Janny and Fred run the farm and came originally from Holland, setlling in Ireland in the 1970s. Both are so friendly and welcoming. Janny takes care of the therapies and healing. Fred has been trained in cookery at Ballymaloe and looks after the gardens. The vegetarian lunch provided was superb!

During one of the massages, I became aware of an intense blue light above my closed eyes and sensed that Janny had her hands crossed above my eyes. It was the strangest and most enlightening feeling I've every had and certainly felt like it was doing some good. On mentioning this to Janny, she said that blue is a very healing colour and I was amazed to have thought that I had experienced spiritual healing.

I recommend a visit to the Hagal Healing Farm if you just want to get away from it all and spend some time in a relaxing and welcoming environment. The treatments were fantastic and I hope will help with the ICSI!

Well, so far, this cycle seems to be going a bit better than the last time. I went for my Day 9 of FSH (Puregon or Gonal-F) on Friday and it seems I am ready for egg collection on Monday.

This is quite a scary prospect for me considering what happened last time. The possibility of no embryos forming again is going to be somewhat more final this time round as there is no other way forward and I am serious about not going through another cycle of drugs etc.

Next week is my last week at work before I start something new in a fortnight's time so if all does go well, I will have a couple of weeks to recover and relax.

I thought it might be useful for you to see exactly how the process has worked so far and what it involved so I've attached an extract from my ICSI spreadsheet below. You can compare this with the IVF cycle I did earlier in the year for reference:

ICSI CYCLE

1	25/06/2007	Period Started (Induced with Provera)
2	26/06/2007
3	27/06/2007
4	28/06/2007
5	29/06/2007
6	30/06/2007
7	01/07/2007
8	02/07/2007
9	03/07/2007
10	04/07/2007
11	05/07/2007
12	06/07/2007
13	07/07/2007
14	08/07/2007
15	09/07/2007
16	10/07/2007
17	11/07/2007
18	12/07/2007
19	13/07/2007
20	14/07/2007
21	15/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	1
22	16/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	2
23	17/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	3
24	18/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	4
25	19/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	5
26	20/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	6
27	21/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	7
28	22/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	8
29	23/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	9
30	24/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	10
31	25/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	11
32	26/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	12
33	27/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	13
34	28/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	14
35	29/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	15
36	30/07/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	16
37	31/07/2007	Buserelin (2 x 50ml)	17		Query Supressed Scan (07:30)
38	01/08/2007	Buserelin x 2	18
39	02/08/2007	Buserelin x 2	19
40	03/08/2007	Buserelin x 2	20
41	04/08/2007	Buserelin x 2	21		Period started
42	05/08/2007	Buserelin x 2	22
43	06/08/2007	Buserelin x 2	23
44	07/08/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	24		Scan and Blood Test (07:40)
45	08/08/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	25
46	09/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	26	1
47	10/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	27	2
48	11/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	28	3
49	12/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	29	4
50	13/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	30	5	Blood Test
51	14/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	31	6
52	15/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	32	7
53	16/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	33	8
54	17/08/2007	Puregon (125ml) & Buserelin (50ml)	34	9	Blood Test and Scan 07:10 -  No Injections until after scan
55	18/08/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Ovitrelle (22:00)	35
56	19/08/2007	No Injections	36
57	20/08/2007	Egg collection (07:00)	37

EARLIER IVF CYCLE

1	16/02/2007	Period Started (Induced with Provera)
2	17/02/2007
3	18/02/2007
4	19/02/2007
5	20/02/2007
6	21/02/2007
7	22/02/2007
8	23/02/2007
9	24/02/2007
10	25/02/2007
11	26/02/2007
12	27/02/2007
13	28/02/2007
14	01/03/2007
15	02/03/2007
16	03/03/2007
17	04/03/2007
18	05/03/2007
19	06/03/2007
20	07/03/2007
21	08/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	1
22	09/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	2
23	10/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	3
24	11/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	4
25	12/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	5
26	13/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	6
27	14/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	7
28	15/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	8
29	16/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	9
30	17/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	10
31	18/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	11
32	19/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	12
33	20/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	13
34	21/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	14
35	22/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)	15		Suppressed Scan & Blood Test
36	23/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	16
37	24/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	17
38	25/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	18
39	26/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	19
40	27/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	20
41	28/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	21		Period
42	29/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	22		Scan & Blood Test
43	30/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	23
44	31/03/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	24
45	01/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2	25
46	02/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml)x 2 Gonal-F (112.5ml)	26	1	Cysts removed
47	03/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	27	2
48	04/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	28	3
49	05/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	29	4
50	06/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	30	5	Scan & Blood Test
51	07/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	31	6
52	08/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	32	7
53	09/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	33	8	Scan & Blood Test
54	10/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	34	9
55	11/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	35	10	Scan & Blood Test
56	12/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	36	11
57	13/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	37	12	Scan & Blood Test
58	14/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Gonal-F (112.5ml)	38	13
59	15/04/2007	Buserelin (50ml) Ovitrelle (23:00)	39	14
60	16/04/2007	No Injections
61	17/04/2007	Egg Collection (6 mature eggs)			Antibiotics
62	18/04/2007	Progesterone & Antibiotics
63	19/04/2007	No Implantation due to no embryos forming

Wish us both luck for Monday!!!!!!!

Redzer

My husband and I got up at 05:00 this morning and set off for Hammersmith IVF. We were careful to avoid using any particularly aromatic cleaning products as this can be damaging to the embryos or ova.

I was first in surgery today and it veritably whizzed by. Amazingly, they managed to collect 17 eggs which is fantastic. Last time, we only got 6. However, the doctor told me that I am on the brink of having ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome and that luckily the blood results show that implantation on Wednesday should be ok. I hope so because the chances of frozen embryo implantation resulting in a successful pregnancy are much lower.

I need to drink lots of water now to minimise the potential of suffering from over stimulation.

All set for Wednesday hopefully. I dread receiving a phone call tomorrow informing me that no embryos have formed. I'll just have to wait and see.

Redzer

Wow - what a morning. Thankfully, I did not receive a phone call yesterday, as per our IVF cycle, to say that no embryos had formed so we went off to IVF Hammersmith expectantly.

It was a bit of an uncomfortable experience because my bladder needed to be full and we had to wait quite a while. However, it was worth it when we were told that out of the 17 eggs collected, 11 were mature and had sperm injected and nine embryos had formed! This was such a relief and personally I felt so happy. I saw the world from a very different perspective.

Fairly soon after the news, I underwent embryo transfer and two were inserted into the womb. My husband came in with me and it all felt fairly strange but we were very happy.

It's difficult now not to get too excited because of course, there is a lot that can go wrong from this point but we will remain optimistic. A blood test on 3 September 2007 will confirm one way or the other if the embryos have implanted.

Redzer