Endometrial Scratching

The term alone actually scares me tremendously! I have never heard of this term until I met Dr Wong for the first consultation on 10/1/2014.

Endometrial scratching is exactly what it sounds like. It is a procedure where the doctor intentionally injures the inner lining of the uterus by taking a small sample from the lining. Yeah, just like having a pap smear. "It has to bleed a little though", Dr Wong explains. This procedure is to be carried out after ovulation but before the planned IVF program. It is reported that the damage caused by the scratch gets the uterus to regenerate and repair itself which increases the implantation rates by as much as 20%, thus raising the odds of pregnancy and life births.

However, it is advisable not to have unprotected intercourse in the four weeks before the planned endometrial scratch procedure, to avoid the risk of a possible pregnancy as the physical procedure is detrimental to any early pregnancy.

Today is day 14 of my menses. My appointment with Dr Wong is at 8am. We reached Sunfert at 7.45am and our queue number is already a 6! By the time I was on the surgical table, it was 10.10am. I told Dr Wong that I believed I'd ovulated on 27/1/2014 and from the vaginal scan, he agreed. By 10.20am, the endometrial scratch was performed! I felt a sudden cramp and an almost immediate tummy discomfort similar to period cramps but the pain is bearable. Hopefully, it is also worth it.

Dr Wong also informed that my AMH ("antimullerian hormone") testing (or simply the ovarian reserve testing) results is slightly below the normal range with a reading of 9.6 pmol/l. The normal range as per the report dated 11/1/2014 is between 14.3 - 48.6 pmol/l. However, Dr Wong explained that such results is expected for ladies of my age. If it is below 6 pmol/l, then I may require further medications. For that alone, I am happy.

When I reached home, there were blood stains on my liners but it was minimal. I rested in bed the whole afternoon and the pain was gone before I'd realised it!

My next appointment will be on day 2 or day 3 of my next menses which is likely during the second week of February 2014. I am anxious to start...fingers crossed.

Semen Analysis

A day after our visit to Dr Wong's clinic (11/1/2014 at 5pm), Dr Wong personally called me on my mobile.

For a moment, I was very worried as I thought that my hormonal test or hubby's semen analysis ("SA") must be real bad to warrant a call from Dr Wong himself. But I calmed down to digest what Dr Wong had to say.

Dr Wong said the results of hubby's SA is slightly below the normal range. My heart sank but he quickly added that it is still fine.

Volume: I was not informed.

Count: 14 million sperm/ml [15 million sperm/ml for normal count].

Motility: I was not informed of the percentage of the sperm that should be swimming or motile but was told that the sperms are mostly very active.

Morphology: 1% of 'normal formed sperm' is found as opposed to at least 10% to be considered normal morphology.

When asked if we will require ICSI ("intracytoplasmic sperm injection"), Dr Wong says we will decide then and not to worry.

Well, a quick simple call but it made a big impression on me.

First Official Visit to Sunfert

Yes, we have decided to have our next ivf treatment at Sunfert under Dr Wong Pak Seng. I am very excited. Hubby is calm though.

Our initial appointment on 13/1/2014 was re-scheduled to 10/1/2014 at 2pm. The clinic was not very packed as I would have imagined as I was later told that Dr Wong had to perform a surgery at 5pm. We don't have to wait long before my hubby was asked to provide his sample for semen analysis ("SA") and we were then both asked about our previous medical history and our TTC journey thus far. We were asked whether we smoke or drink and when was the last time I did a pap smear or a blood test. My hubby confessed that he smokes an average of 13 sticks of cigarettes per day and I only managed to shake my head. I know it is hard for hubby to quit smoking so my only hope is that he smokes less. But 13 sticks are a lot! Sigh...

Anyway, I have done a hormonal blood tests on 9/1/2014 (I had a free voucher from Sunfert from an infertility forum conducted by Sunfert on 15/12/2013 which I had attended) at Gribbles laboratory but unfortunately the results have not reached Sunfert.

Dr Wong did a tummy scan, vaginal scan and pelvic check. We saw about 3 to 4 eggs on each side of the ovary and it looked like 1 egg had been released. Dr Wong commented that my ovaries do look slightly smaller than normal but everything else looks fine. The possible reason being that I had gone through 3 fresh ivf programs thus far and my ovaries may have been 'injured' during the oocyte retrieval (egg collection) procedures.

In our discussion later, the issue which concerns Dr Wong is the quality and quantity of my eggs. So, Dr Wong had suggested that I do an ovarian reserve testing which is AMH ("antimullerian hormone").

Another advice is to undergo an endometrial scratching procedure before we start the next ivf program. I have never heard of this before so when Dr Wong explained it to us, I find it very scary indeed!

Hubby was asked to take multivitamins called Bio-Selenium Plus as he is a smoker. It's selenium with zinc and vitamins A, E, B6 & C. I was asked to take co enzyme Q-10 which I am already currently taking daily. However, no Chinese herbs for me such as dong quai and pat chan. I then specifically asked if I could take bah kut teh and Dr Wong said "Why not?". I was beaming as I had craved for bah kut teh for so long! There are considerable Chinese herbs in bah kut teh and therefore I have chosen to avoid taking it altogether.

We left the clinic before 5pm without waiting for the SA results. We were both very hungry as we both had not had our lunch!

So off we went for dinner. Yes, we had bah kut teh! ;)

Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New Year 2014 to everyone!

No countdown for me last night but my mom and my sister stayed the night at my place so we weren't sleeping until the sounds of fire crackers 'died-down' in the distance. :)  Don't I sound like an old lady?! Hahaha!

Anyway, my car windscreen cracked yesterday morning as I was on my way to my office. Well, apparently a stone fell off a lorry as I was driving past it and the stone hit hard on the windscreen. The crack was seen almost immediately and it's about 30cm long! I've never experienced this so it kind of scared me and I had to drive real slow all the way to my office. I'll be taking my car to my friend's workshop today and hopefully the repair work will be swift.

Tonight I have a friend's wedding dinner to attend to but until now I still can't decide on which dress to wear. Frankly, I haven't really gone for any wedding dinners for months. In fact, I've grown sideways with at least one size up now! So most of my dresses are so tight-fitting that I feel it could burst anytime if I were to wear them the whole night! Ha!

I haven't given much thought on any new year resolutions yet but I guess one of them has to be to get pregnant soon. Does that count as a new year resolution?! ;P

I wish everyone a fantastic year ahead! Good luck!

"TODAY, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one!"