IVF advice.

Hey kiwi girl.

Will just share our experiences with travelling for ivf. We go to Wellington but live nearly 4 hrs from there with our nearest centre for the FA clinics being 2 hrs away (where we see specialist for review appts etc). I've done 2 fresh ivf cycles which resulted in a total of 3 frozen embryo transfers. For first fresh cycles we only had to go Wellington once which was to collect eggs. Second one I ended up there three times as my scan day ended up a weekend and then they were having issues getting a good look at my ovaries. All other bloods and scans were done in palmy (2hrs from us). Similar deal for the frozen transfers 1 trip to Wellington to transfer.
So for an average ivf you could expect one trip for egg collection and another for transfer depending on how it goes that could be within days of each other. I would presume nelson would have access to anything else you'd need.

Long story short they're really good at fitting around your needs when they can.
As for your second appt I guess it'll be to confirm ivf as an option and direct you as to how to proceed next.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Yep I'm pretty similar. Just be prepared for things to be a little unsettling when you do ivf. They can give you a pretty good idea of things like 1st and 2nd scans but as for exactly when egg collection and transfer will be that depends on the drugs and your reaction. Frustrating as heck especially as sometimes you don't know what's happening the next day until the afternoon before. You'll have 36 hours notice of egg collection though. Good news is when you pay you can start whenever you're ready! We've paid for one cycle and now saving for another. If that doesn't work I don't know what we'll do as don't have infinite money to throw away.

We were lucky enough to get public funding but all that resulted in was miscarriages blow it. Fully sucks having to pay I'm thinking about adoption/home for life but yeah the odds aren't great there either.

Its the time thing that freaking me a we bit, as of yet we haven't told my work what we are doing as I have changed positions recently. My work is not the type of job were it is easy to get time off at short notice without a good reason. I know at some point I will have to tell my boos but I feel like I'm jinking it if I tell anyone outside my family. Weird eh?

We have also looked at the payment options for ivf and am not sure what is the best option. Any advice?

I'm in a similar position, the clinic (not CHCH) is 2 hours drive away and all scans have to be done here unfortunately.
My work is also difficult to take time off from, and my husband works for the same organisation so cannot really take a whole day off on the same day as me to go to a 30 minute scan, so unfortunately I have done lots of the short appointments by myself.
I ended up travelling for the ultrasounds every four days, but the cycle was cancelled so can't let you know about the ER side sorry.
I'm also a planner and the lack of certainty about what I would be doing a couple of days out was quite hard. It is very overwhelming but I learnt to put trust in the professionals and take each day as it comes (which really wasn't easy!!!)
Good luck!

We are doing it private so overtime and time off at the moment is precious! However he's not really coping with not being involved with the appointments.

New schedule in April booked with a change in meds to overcome low LH levels. Hopefully the little follicles grow this time!

What a sweet dh you have amy!

Kiwi - 36 hours will be max you get before egg collection. As a teacher I understand where you're coming from. Getting time off short notice is hard. Just think of it as sick leave - if you woke up that day I'll they'd have to cope.
And transfer if it's in the days after collection (mine were always frozen then done later) you might have to go the same day they ring you. When you start treatment they usually give you the week you can expect collection then closer they can give you an idea.

I'm the same Amy. Have always intended to use hand me downs for the big stuff - figure the more stuff I can beg, steal, borrow the better financially. I love the idea of things handed down through generations.

Kiwigirl, I have been doing weekly accupuncture for just over a year now in conjunction with the IVF. I did get pregnant once, but miscarried at 8 weeks. I do feel that the accupuncture has helped with the quality of the embryos compared to previous cycles. I also find the accupuncture relaxing - but it is an expensive thing to do...

I haven't tried accupuncture, it's not something that has ever appealed to me. I try to do lots of other relaxing things when I'm doing the drug cycles. Oddly I'm far less stressed when I have started the injections, probably because the waiting is over. I felt better than I had in ages!