The first thing we did after leaving the clinic was go for a celebratory meal. After all, by getting this far and to come out with a big grin, was already a lot further than I thought I would get. I am a positive person but I am also a realist and as I have mentioned before, I knew that there was a real possibility of my Endometriosis putting a halt to everything (after all, some women are infertile due to Endometriosis alone!). So, my husband and I raised a glass to toast the occasion and I got busy texting the girls at Altrui while my husband studied the menu.
Just in case anyone is wondering, this was the last glass of wine I had and this was a month ago. As far as I am concerned, I will now follow the same healthy lifestyle as a woman trying to get pregnant – no smoking (not that I do lol), no alcohol, regular light exercise, healthy diet and commencing daily Folic Acid. I will do whatever I can to make my eggs as healthy and strong as possible to give them the best chance of fertilisation, implantation and turning into a baby 🙂
We enjoyed our dinner and made the long journey home. I sent messages detailing my day to the few friends and family I had confided in and tried not to count the days as I began to wait for results…..not so easy!
Luckily it was only a week or so until I heard from Alison with the first set of blood results – good news! My HIV, Hepatitis and Gonorrhoea were all negative….well I already knew that anyway! But also my hormone levels were brilliant meaning that there should be no problems stimulating my eggs. This was wonderful to hear, as again, I didn’t know if my hormone levels would be too low due to having had the implant….I was warned that my ovaries may be a ‘little quiet’ for a while… but nope, they woke up from their sleep and are now bright and alert and ready for action.
But I still had to wait for the all important chromosome analysis and genetic screen!
Whilst waiting, I received a proposed treatment plan from City Fertility detailing dates to commence treatments, check up scans and potential egg collection….ooo does this mean all my screening is clear? No, unfortunately it didn’t and my heart sunk. I was told that plans were made with the assumption that screening will be clear. If this is not the case, the whole thing would be cancelled and the search for a new donor would begin.
So I tried to stay positive again and spoke to my manager about these potential dates making it clear that I hadn’t had the official go-ahead yet…..the waiting was killing me! One minute I wanted to tell everyone about the incredible journey I was embarking on as I am extremely proud of what I am doing and with my own infertility issues, raising awareness is something very close to my heart and very important to me…… but on the other side, my sensible brain was telling me to just bide my time until I had all my results and then tell more people, after all, what would I do if I then had to tell people that I couldn’t donate after all??!
Thankfully I didn’t have to wait much longer as I soon received an email from City Fertility in the third week after my appointment with the fantastic news that my final results were all normal! 😀 Woohoo! Nothing genetic that could be passed onto a baby, including the Cystic Fibrosis gene. I have many friends with CF, many who have been through fertility treatments themselves so knowing that I do not carry the gene for this heartbreaking condition is wonderful news!
I was absolutely overjoyed to hear all this, that was it, the last test we were waiting for and with it being normal, I was given the green light to go ahead with the donation! I had a grin from ear to ear and could not wait to pass on the good news to the lovely ladies at Altrui. I thought about my recipient couple and how they would be feeling when they get told that their donor is all clear and good to go. What an emotional journey for us all and I am so proud to be a part of it ❤
I now await further instruction….!
My Egg Donation Journey! 