[tryingforanother]

Hi,

I'm hoping those with more IVF experience will be able to let me know what to expect.

We have decided to do our first round of IVF starting in February next year. My DH will be away with work at the time (using frozen sperm) and the clinic is away from my home town (3 hours drive).

I am considering leaving my son in the care of his grandparents in my home town and going solo to the egg retrieval and transfer. I'm not concerned about having someone there with me, but I was wondering how long (hours?) I would need to stay at the clinic after the egg retrieval and then after the transfer? Will I be okay to drive, or at least get a taxi back to my hotel? I will stay at a hotel the day before the egg retrieval and until after the transfer is completed. I'm also planning to drive back to my hometown (3 hours from clinic) the day after the transfer - is this a bad idea?


How did you feel after each stage in terms of any pain, discomfort etc?



Thanks!

[minidiamond]

I'm not sure if you're aware, but egg pick up & transfer are on different days (sorry couldn't quite tell from your post !)

For egg pick up, it depends on your clinic & their anaesthetic protocol. I had twilight sedation & was never allowed to drive home, you'd need to take a taxi to the hotel & drive home the following day. I usually stayed in recovery about 1.5 hours or so, you are likely to bleed a little bit - but I also liked having a nice cup of tea & a biscuit so I took my time!

For transfer, you can walk straight out. It's like a pap smear. Some people & clinics like to lie down afterwards but I really don't think it would make a difference. You could drive home that day.

This post has been edited by Liltuss: 14/11/2012, 06:54 PM

[tryingforanother]

Thanks for your reply, Liltuss :-) Yes, sorry I may not have worded my OP very well. I am aware that they are 3 - 5 days apart.


Slightly off topic, is the day of egg retrieval counted as Day 1?


For exampe, if egg retrieval is on Monday afternoon (Day 1), then Day 3 is Wednesday?

[luke's mummu]

Slightly off topic, is the day of egg retrieval counted as Day 1?


For exampe, if egg retrieval is on Monday afternoon (Day 1), then Day 3 is Wednesday?

Yes it is.



My clinic didn't have the sitting/lying down thing after an embryo transfer - walk straight out the door! My Hubby drove us home (45 mins) and I vomited and had diahorrea afterwards - probably just nerves though.

[leathebeezkneez]

Day 1 is the day after egg collection, ie if egg collection is Monday then Tuesday is day 1. Good luck

[Chill-Pill]

Mostly it will depend on the type of anaesthesia they use at the clinic you go to. For egg pick up they will probably ask that you are driven home by a responsible adult and have them stay with you over night. Travelling back the next day should be fine although there is a slim chance that you could have hyperstimulated and may not feel comfortable in a car for a long period. Although if you have someone with you it may be just as easy to travel home the same day. The general rule of thumb is not to drive for 24 hours after surgery due to the medication, although your clinic may not use general anaesthetics they will probably give you some medication to make you groggy. After pick up you may be in the recovery room for an hour or up to three hours. So allow up to four or more hours from when you arrive to when you will travel home (most clinics have egg pick up early in the morning).

Transfer is usually quick and easy with no need to have someone with you and you could drive yourself home. Again though a small number of clinics do use valium or another similar medication for some transfers so check this first because then you will not be able to drive safely. Some women also experience mild cramping.

I am about 3 hours from my clinic as well and the travel time does make planning difficult. For my own cycles I always travelled home the same day and drove after transfer but not pick up. I had a very low response each cycle though and remained awake during EPU. For those with more follicles the discomfort may be higher. Good luck!

[Chill-Pill]

Day 1 is the day after egg collection, ie if egg collection is Monday then Tuesday is day 1. Good luck

our clinic also calculates like this. So pick up on Monday would mean a 3 day transfer on Thursday or a 5 day transfer on Saturday. So it is probably worth travelling home and then coming back for transfer.

[tryingforanother]

Yeah, I'm thinking it might be worth travelling back home in between. Just added cost to an already expensive joourney to stay all those nights in between at a hotel!

[KDsoon2bmum]

I wouldn't travel home until the day after egg collection. Just to be on the safe side if ur still groggy.. Most clinics would tell u that ur not allowed to drive for roughly 24 hours anyway.
But after transfer u could drive straight home.

[hillplain]

HI OP,

Firstly good luck with your cycle nect year. I hope that it is a successful one.

I too travel at least 5 hours to our clinic. I am fortunate that my DH mostly can come with me and (not so fortunate) that we have no dependants other than 22 horses and 14 dogs! Depending on time of EPU we usually stay down the night before as it is usually at 7AM! Then DH drives me home straight after. I have to say that the first EPU was one of the worst trips of my life and the second was a lot better. I have easily driven (1200kms) the next day for work on the second cycle. For ET I have driven down and back the same day on my own without a problem but find that I am often quite tired the next day.
I guess the biggest part of this is that each EPU is different and everyone reacts differently to their anesthetic too. If I was you and had the oportinity to be able to take some time out to relax after EPU then I would take it

Good luck!