The Trip - Part 1
The great thing about this trip was how
much fun it was, it was a great holiday even though we were there on this secret mission, we had such a good time. It was the first time Dad and I had gone away just us two, so it was something I was
looking forward to. Most people would probably think it was a bit weird, like I had friends that said to me, “What the hell do you talk to your Dad about for a week?!” but Dad is one of my best
mates, so it was just like being away with a mate. In fact, we still laugh now about how we should feel guilty that such an important life changing trip was such good fun! We arrived on
the Sunday afternoon and managed to get the hire car and drive the 2 hours to the town and find the apartment we had booked. It was perfect,
right in the centre of town, a 5 min walk at most to bars and restaurants, exactly, what you want out of a holiday right?! I didn’t have an appointment at the clinic until 12pm on the Monday so we went out for a walk to explore the local area and have some TAPAS! Firstly, aren’t tapas a friggin’ dream?
Who doesn’t want to try a bit of everything and get away with ordering like 5 dishes?! My family and I love this kind of eating, so we were in our element! Plus, everything was SO cheap!! The guy who
we rented the apartment from had also recommended a cheese place we should go to where they offered a glass of wine and to try 3 different cheeses for 3 euros, cheese and wine!!! For 3 euros!! We
immediately felt like we were going to like it there!!
Monday came, so we went to the clinic
and met the doctors for the first time, this was a bit weird, nerve wracking but nice at the same time, I had been talking to them at the clinic for a few months by now, so it was really nice to put
faces to names. Plus, the Spanish doctor was rather handsome, so this didn’t go a mis either! Hola Senor! Let’s just say if he was the donor, that would be okay with me! But life just isn’t that kind
is it?! And he was about to look right into the depths of my vagina, probably a bit further than you need to delve on a first date, so we didn’t get off to the right start on our love affair. Plus, I
was there on my first mission of having a baby, so Dr Handsome would have to miss out this time. Anyway, as suspected, I wasn’t responding as well to the treatment as they had hoped so they were
unable to do the egg collection as planned, they gave me my dosages for the next 2 days and booked me in to go back on Wednesday at 5pm. So of course, we went and checked out
the cheese shop – and it was amazing! Give me cheese and wine and I am anyone’s! On that theme, the next day, we went to the winery that was at the end of the road we were staying at, it was AMAZING.
The clinic is in Logrono which is the capital of the Rioja region, so there was a lot of wine places around and beautiful scenery of all the vineyards as you drive from Bilbao airport. It is insanely
gorgeous, one of those places you probably wouldn’t ever go as its not one of the “top tourist destinations” but honestly, I would recommend it to anyone – especially if you like a good glass of
wine!
Wednesday came and we had the whole day
to kill so we decided to go to San Sebastian for the day (this is where everyone thought we were going in the first place!!) It was about an hour and a half drive I think from where we were so we
headed off in the morning, went for lunch and headed back in time for the 5pm appointment. To be honest, everyone absolutely raves about San Sebastian and it
was one of the places Dad and I had both said we would love to go to, but it was pretty average! The food was alright, the little streets were cute and it was nice to be by the sea, but other than
that, was just a little town. I don’t think it helped that there was some kind of burn your bra, hug a tree type protest going on so it was rather noisy and a little manic but in the little streets
it was alright, but to be honest, not really as good as our little town we were staying in so we were a little disappointed! But, I did have fried cheese on a stick as one of my “pinxo” with lunch,
so not all was bad in San Sebastian, that on its own was worth the trip. We got back and went to the clinic for another scan and to hopefully be told I could have my eggs collected the following day
(you have to take what they call a “trigger” shot the night before you have them collected – or 12 hours before or something anyway and obvs not eat because of being knocked out). Alas, I was still
not responding as well to the treatment apparently and my eggs were still not ready for collection. It starts to get really uncomfortable the closer you get to having them collected, your ovaries are
designed to grow and release one egg a month and these injections are designed to get them to grow as many as they possibly can – so if you have ever experienced an uncomfortable feeling in your
ovaries before your period, times this by about 10-20 and you kind of get why it’s a bit uncomfortable. To be fair, its not unbearable but in the end I didn’t have many eggs collected, there has been
people in the Facebook groups have nearly 10 times the amount I did – THAT must be uncomfortable!!
So, they said to do the trigger
shot on Friday morning at the crack of dawn (5am I think it was) then not eat or drink anything all
day from 10amready to go back in for egg collection on Friday evening at 5pm. It felt weird as I was a bit
nervous of the pain but mainly nervous of how many eggs they would be able to collect, as I hadn’t responded well enough to the treatment. The bulk of the cost of treatment is in the egg collection
procedure and medication, if they got a load of eggs and froze them, the frozen transfer cost is actually relatively low so it felt like as long as I got a few eggs in the freezer, the pressure
wasn’t quite as high. A lot of people need to know all the information there is to know and take in all of the details for every possible scenario but to be honest, I refused to google or ask any
questions about the procedure until after I had it done. And I am SO glad I waited because it sounds nasty – seriously, google it, unless you plan on having it done, then I strongly suggest you
don’t. Another beautiful part of this process is pessaries… There are tiny little capsules of disgustingness. They are apparently to help replace the hormone that helps baby to grow up to 5 weeks
when then the placenta takes over (some clinics recommend taking them up to 12 weeks), the hormone that is normally there when you get pregnant is messed with by the injections and egg collection
when you have IVF so this helps to supplement this. But they are hideous, you have to put them on a stick and then basically shoot them up your vagina by pressing this button on the bottom of the
stick. They then leave sticky white fluid in your pants, like chewing gum. Sorry for the imagery but I need to share my paint in this with you all because its fucking mortifying, you have to take
these from about now until whenever the clinic tells you (12 weeks, or I did them for about 5 weeks after reading online the placenta takes over then anyway.) Its just another lovely way to ruin any
shred of dignity you think you have left during this process… and it only gets worse, seriously, the hippies that tell you growing a human is this gorgeous journey are liars, it’s amazing, don’t get
me wrong but its also the least glamourous thing you will ever do in your life! 😊
