IVF Journey

IVF: Dollars & Cents

Dyan

The most common question i’ve received on IVF. How much did it cost?
I know some of you have emailed me on this and i have yet to reply cos i can’t remember where i kept the receipt and i just found it so here goes, the detailed  breakdown of the IVF Treatment.

Things to note: 

1) My IVF was done thru National University Hospital (NUH)
I think the price differs slightly among the three government hospitals (KKH, NUH & SGH)
A friend told me NUH charges slightly higher than the other 2 but really not a lot higher, maybe a few hundreds here and there. If you are going the private route (Thomson, Raffles etc), then the charges will be totally different from what i have here cos you’ll not be eligible for the Government Co-Funding.

2) I’m a subsidized patient. If you’re a private patient in any of the three hospitals, the price will be a little bit higher.

3) I’m on a short IVF protocol. I did not take any other injections before starting on my stimulation jabs.
i went from taking Nor-E pills straight to Stimulation jabs.
If you are older or have a small egg reserve, your doctor might put you on a longer protocol. Longer protocol means more drugs, more checkups and higher costings.

Continue reading “IVF: Dollars & Cents” →

Le Familia, Makan Chronicles, Pregnancy

Rajah

Dyan

So we had an advanced Birthday cum belated Mother’s Day treat for the MIL at 21 on Rajah. Been wanting to go there since i read so many reviews from other bloggers.

But i was sorely dissapointed.
The price was reasonable though. So if you are not very choosy about the buffet spread and you just need a place to eat and be merry, then i think 21 on Rajah is perfect. We only spent $197.00 for 5 adults and 1 child lunch buffet. That is close to what we spend for two pax at Carousel.

The good thing was, even though lunch buffet ends at 2.00pm, they allowed us to stay there and chit chat till about 3.00pm. Nobody bat an eyelid. Nobody told us to leave. So that’s a good point!

We told the in-laws of the good news yesterday and everyone was so happy and that made me happy too!
Such a little thing, yet u made so many people happy already!

Continue reading “Rajah” →

First Trimester, IVF Journey, Pregnancy, Trying To Conceive

empty

Dyan

you know it’s still quite hard to believe that i’m pregnant.
Some of my Mother-In-Law’s friends were wishing me Happy Mother’s Day yesterday and hope i ‘sangkut’ with a child soon. They didn’t know yet about the little thing i’m carrying now.

No one has outrightly asked me how it feels like to be infertile and if i could explain it, it would be infertility is invisible.
You don’t lose anything. You don’t have visible scars nor will you die from it. But boy, it hurts.
Hurts so bad when you see numerous negative test results.
Hurts so bad when you see someone who just gave birth few months ago, got pregnant again.
Hurts so bad when everybody is celebrating Mother’s Day and all you have is that aching emptiness in your tummy.

And all you want is a child to hug you and smother you with kisses and tell you that they love you.
I know that emptiness. Too well.

When i found out i’m pregnant, i promised myself i will not complain excessively on the morning sickness, back pains and how i can’t fit into my pants. Neither will i be that annoying mom-to-be, stroking my tummy every minute in front of someone i know who’s dying to be a mom. Yes, while i deserve to be happy and blessed after all i’ve been through, i can’t shake off that feeling of being ‘lonely and hopeless’ away.  That feeling of despair, bitterness & heartbreak.

But i’m human. I might forget. I might accidentally gloat and i apologize in advance.
If you are still trying to conceive, please know i understand how you feel. I really do.

IVF Journey, Trying To Conceive

Race to the end!

Dyan

My 2ww is coming to an end soon! My blood test is finally tomorrow! 
So far here’s what i had during the 2ww. 

1st – 3rd Day after Transfer: 
Cramps and twinges at my abdomen area. I still go out for dinner and to my mum place because of my sister’s merisik session. The next day i went for a jamming session and on monday i went to the recording studio to do the final mix. But i make sure i don’t walk too much. No shopping trips for the 1st week. 
Most of the time i rest at home but i don’t lie down all the time. I had really long vivid dreams. Must be all the medications. 

4th – 7th day after transfer: 
I start to have heavy discharge. Very creamy lotiony type of discharge. Very little cramps. I also had loose stools. Not exactly diarrhea cos it was a once-a-day-affair but definitely loose stools.
I was starting to wonder if it is even gonna be successful but i kept my hopes high. 

8th – 10th Day after Transfer: 
Cramps started again. Now even more intense. But other than that it’s quite uneventful. I’ve not had any implantation bleeding so far. There was also one night where i had a bad indigestion and could only sleep at 5.00am. 

9th – 11th Day after Transfer: 
Craving for oily & grubby food. Got quite bloated and gassy. Kept burping and passing wind. It was quite embarassing actually. But they said bloating & being gassy is normal cos of all the progesterone inserts. Got very tired easily. Sleepy by 9.00pm and in the morning, i’ll have this slight headache which will eventually go away. 

Today is my Day 12 of transfer and i hope we get a good beta for tomorrow’s blood test!
So exciting! 

Shopping Spree

Shopping Spree!

Dyan

I have one more shopping tip if you guys are looking to participate in reliable shopping sprees on US Sites and share shipping costs with others.

I’ve been doing this since i was in my 20s! That was how i acquired Forever 21, Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria Secrets etc even before it stepped foot in sunny Singapore. I don’t know about other spree sites but i only trust this spree site and some of the spree organisers have been doing this for ages and i’ve never got cheated of my money in this community.

The spree site i’m talking about is Spreesgalore
I will join the sprees if i have only one item to buy from that site and shipping that one item to me would cost more than the item itself.

Some of the popular sprees got to be Forever 21. They open sprees for Forever 21 almost every 2 or 3 days!
Continue reading “Shopping Spree!” →

The Husband & Wife, The Travel Tales, Uncategorized

Gold Coast Day 2

Dyan

Just realized i’ve not continued on my Gold Coast posts and because i’m fairly free, i shall start on the Gold Coast series now!

Right from the start, i knew Day 2 would turn out to be really awesome because it’s Movie World Day!
I don’t go to Theme Parks all the time but when i do, i forget that i’m 30. I think Theme Parks does that to you, eh?

Started the day quite early and was greeted with this view. I miss this still.

DSC_00121 Continue reading “Gold Coast Day 2” →

IVF Journey, Trying To Conceive

The Start Of The Wait

Dyan

Saturday, 26 April 2014

The day of the Embryo Transfer. The procedure was scheduled for 8.30am but we had to report at the hospital at 7.00am. Was instructed to drink 500ml of water slowly from 7.00am to 8.00am and hold my bladder and only on that day i’ve realized how weak my bladder is. At 8.00am, i was brought into the day surgery centre. I was at the verge of peeing already. Had to wait for 15mins at the cold lobby area. Trust me, i was in all kinds of position just trying to hold my pee. At 8.15am, i couldn’t hold it any longer. Plead with the nurse to let me pee a little bit because it was really uncomfortable. The nurse making me laugh at their jokes, certainly not helping! One even came close to me and whispered “even if you accidentally peed at the doctor, do know you’re not the 1st one.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Continue reading “The Start Of The Wait” →

IVF Journey, Trying To Conceive

Halfway Through

Dyan

The previous IVF post was getting too long with updates. I’m halfway through IVF now so i reckon it’s time to do a new one and update from here instead. 

Saturday, 19 April 2014

We are back from our hospital appointment! Had a bad blood test experience again. I blame it on my narrow veins though cos the nurses there are so nice, it’s hard to find fault with them. Hahaha
But really, the malay nurse is the one who always had to take my blood test and all this while she’s been doing it at my left arm. But taking blood test every two days at the left arms results in bruises and she was really reluctant to draw out any blood from my left arm again today. But she couldn’t find any veins on my right arm. She tried to draw blood my right hand instead. Which is really painful by the way. I’ll give you my juicy arms anytime but my hands are kinda off limits, now that i know how painful drawing blood from your hand is. So anyway, she attempted to draw blood from my right hand and halfway through the vein collapsed. It was so painful when she withdrew the nurse and for the first time, i cried while taking my blood test. So embarassing! Hahahaha

But the nurses were so nice. Told me to go ahead and see doctor, do vaginal scans 1st, go down have breakfast and drink water and come back for blood test and that’s just what i did.
Continue reading “Halfway Through” →