2015 – Egg freezing diary

Thursday 2^nd July – Initial consultation with the consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist (£200). He said the same as the talk Kate and I went to in May: time is not exactly running out but the sooner I get ‘cracking’ the better. He also said that if timings work for me then I could go ahead as soon as next month. Eggcellent! 

Monday 6^th July – Managed to get blood tests done at lunchtime today ahead of egg freezing. Decided to mention my plans to Mrs Boss Woman (BW). She was supportive and said to keep her in the loop if I need time off work for any future appointments. Good to have her support.

Friday 17^th July – Consultant’s secretary emailed today confirming all the costs (approx. £7000) and that as long as my period starts before 5^th August, then this month will work!

Thursday 23^rd July – More blood tests completed in my lunch hour and it has been confirmed that as long as my cycle is on track then I should be able to start having scans on Monday 3^rd August – then first egg collection may be able to take place as soon as 10^th August. Feeling rather excited about getting started now!

Friday 31^st July – Great night out tonight in London with all my ‘single ladies’ and the perfect way to ‘celebrate’ being single for a year. All being well, in 2 weeks’ time I will have some eggs in the freezer.

Sunday 2^nd August – What a strange day. Emailed the consultant this afternoon to confirm that my period has started – never thought I’d be emailing that to a man! After that I hopped in the car and headed to St Albans for an early dinner to celebrate Mr B’s birthday in Darcy’s. All systems are go…

Monday 3^rd August – Another lunchtime dash to the consultant, this time for an internal scan to check what is happening. I’m shown how to do the injections which I will do at home myself every morning before work for the next 7 days. He talked me through the first one and we did the injection in his office. Then headed back to work with my stash of drugs and needles. The drugs had to be kept cool, so were concealed in a cool bag from Paperchase in the office fridge amongst all the yoghurts, leftovers and random pots of mould. Plus, I had a sharps bin in my handbag!

Tuesday 4^th August – Day 1 of self-injecting and it goes wrong! Some of the medication got stuck in the tube – only a tiny bit so hopefully not too important! I emailed the consultant straight away and he came back to say that it should all be fine. 

Friday 7^th August – Managed to leave work at 5.30pm on the dot and get to the clinic for a scan at 6pm to check up on the eggs. All looking good, and showing a likeness to frog spawn?! 

Saturday 8^th August – OMG! Today was the day I was meant to inject less than I did an excess amount. Emailed consultant, he replied straight away that I can just do less tomorrow – phew! Lots of people say these hormones can make you bonkers – yes is the answer I seems to have “egg freezing brain”?! 

Monday 10^th August – Up early and on the train with my precious cargo of eggs for a before work scan. Everything is looking good and the consultant is pleased that I have ‘responded so well’. Looks like there are at least 14 eggs, so I will probably only need to do the one round of this.

Thursday 13^th August – Another early departure from the office at 5pm for the final scan before egg retrieval day! It’s officially in the diary for 8.30am on Monday. Mum’s offered to be chauffeur for the day as apparently driving after the procedure is not a good idea.

Friday 14^th August – Booked Monday off work, Mrs BW was very understanding and has agreed that I don’t need to take Monday as holiday as it is a medical procedure. I am feeling OK – just very uncomfortable and full. Relaxed dinner tonight with my sister and brother-in-law, which is ideal as I really just want to curl up and keep the eggs safe.

Monday 17^th August – Egg collection day!

Mum picked me up at 6am and we drove to the clinic in North London. Got checked in, gowned up and then wheeled to the procedure room. The egg retrieval was carried out under sedation and after the egg collection I was returned to the recovery area where Mum was waiting. 

The sedation seems to have caused short-term memory loss; three times a nurse came in to update us on the success of the retrieval, and each time I said ‘lovely, thank you very much’ even though it was to advise us of a lesser number of viable eggs. Mum commented that her 34-year-old daughter had become a very polite gold fish!! Despite the numbers reducing, luckily from 19 eggs collected, 16 were viable. So the “insurance policy” is now in place and they are all safe and sound in the freezer.

On the way back I was desperate to stop and get a ham and cheese toastie and a cup of Earl Grey. Then the rest of the day was spent snoozing and resting.

In the late afternoon Sara, my sister and Esta, my 2-year-old niece, came to visit. Highlight of the visit was Esta climbing up on the bed, rubbing my tummy and questioning ‘Aunt Em OK? Eggs all gone now?’ In that moment, as she does at many other times throughout this journey, Esta simplified the event and made it all seem quite normal, we then enjoyed our usual snuggles.

Tuesday 18^th August – Back to work today. Physically I feel a bit weird and bloated. Mentally I feel great. I have also started to think about some other major life decisions… 

1. Hand in my notice at the end of this year and set up my own business
2. Start renovation work to my house ASAP