IVF Journey: 17w0d pregnant

This is my IVF diary. My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for four years now, and have a diagnosis of 'unexplained infertility'. We have finally reached the top of the waiting list for IVF - a form of assisted conception. I'm blogging about what happens as it happens, as a kind of therapy for me and as an awareness raising exercise of what IVF is all about.

This morning the husband and I went to an NCT ‘nearly new’ sale to see if there was anything to buy. We came away with a box set of Mr Man books, but generally decided that we didn’t want some other baby’s smelly old vomit-stained stuff. I’d been told by a friend that it was a good idea to get second hand things because babies grow so quickly, but having seen some ‘nearly new’ things the husband and I have decided we’d rather get new stuff from Tescos or Argos for the ‘disposable’ clothes and equipment. Anyway, we’re not particularly short on money and it is nice for us to choose what we want rather than just taking what there is.

In the afternoon my friend A took me on a trip out to the aquarium. This was actually a big deal for me, going out all afternoon and not being supervised by the husband. I was slightly nervous as I’d not had such a big expedition in a long time. But it went very well, we had fun and I wasn’t too broken, and I was well looked after.

Of all of my friends, A has been the one who has kept in touch every so often and hasn’t forgotten about me across the course of me being ill. A has this lovely quality that he just takes people as they are. Consequently, with A (unlike most others) I’ve never felt hassled or criticised for not being better yet. Most of my friends ask me out for lunch and a drink and when I say I’m not up to it I don’t hear from them again, until they ask the same question a few weeks later and I say no again and then they give up. They don’t ask what I’d like to do. Instead, A made a few suggestions and we planned the day around times and activities that I thought I could manage. I’m so so grateful to A, he’s been a terrific support well beyond what any of the rest of my friends have managed.