First Consultation with Dr Roland Chieng

After KKIVF called to inform me of the negative beta-HCG result, I called Dr Roland Chieng's clinic at Mount Elizabeth Novena. I could have gotten an earlier appointment last week if not due to my work schedule. In other words, the wait between the call to book an appointment and the actual appointment could have been only one week. There has been many good reviews of Dr Roland mentioning that he is patience and has good success rate. Anyway, I've already used up all the government grants for frozen cycles, hence cost wise, there's not going to be any difference between continuing at KKIVF and going to a private practice.

My original appointment slot was at 2.45 pm yesterday but a staff called a day before to change it to 3.30 pm because doctor need to perform a surgery. The traffic along the 2-lane roads leading to Mt E Novena was terrible (as usual) and we arrived 10 minutes late because we made a wrong turn. There wasn't anyone else in the waiting area and I jokingly told my friends that the clinic staff outnumbered the patients. We waited about 15 minutes before we were called into his room (after he's done with another patient).

Doctor took down our IVF history and did an ultrasound scan. His first comment was why not just continue with KKIVF with the remaining 4 blastocysts? But of course, he understood our frustration of repeated failures. His conclusion: (1) check for sperm DNA damage and (2) check my abdominal for abnormality. When we were in his room, I didn't hear him use the word laparoscopy, but his staff told us to check if my insurance covers laparoscopy procedure. At this point, I was confused because I thought he was referring to hysteroscopy! (Read about laparoscopy and hysteroscopy in this NUH article.) Today's consultation took less than half an hour and it cost us $150 (1st consultation) + $100 (scan) + GST = $267.50.

DH has been scheduled for the sperm analysis on Saturday and it's going to cost $320+GST. As for me, I guess I can still ask him about the laparoscopy procedure in the next consultation after the sperm analysis result is out. I didn't expect myself to be so disturb by the idea of having to go for laparoscopy, so much so that I couldn't sleep well last night. The procedure seems very scary because it is done under general anesthesia and the camera will be inserted through the belly button!

The FMR1 Gene

"...different sub-types (called genotypes) of the so-called FMR1 gene (also called fragile X mental retardation gene) are statistically associated with distinctly different chances to conceive with IVF."

"The genotype associated with the lowest pregnancy chance was also statistically associated with a specific form of a common ovarian condition called polycystic ovaries, and with evidence of abnormal function of the immune system, reflected in autoimmunity (immunity against oneself)."

Source: https://www.centerforhumanreprod.com/fertility/first-genetic-test-predictive-of-pregnancy-chances-with-ivf/

Dr Sadhana says that there's evidence I have PCOS. Do I need a check on my autoimmunity?

Food to avoid?

I was chewing on my soon kueh during breakfast just now and I remember someone advised against eating turnip while on TCM. (Haha... random thought.) I've been taking TCM everyday since September last year until the day for trigger shot, but I've also been eating soon kueh pretty often for breakfast at my office cafeteria! I googled "turnip is cooling?" and this is one of the articles that appeared: Five foods to avoid taking with traditional Chinese medicine. Great... maybe this is one of the reasons why this cycle didn't work? Then again, Dr Sadhana believed that it was the TCM that boosted the number of eggs for my 2nd fresh cycle. She was expecting to retrieve less eggs as compared to the 1st, since I was on a lower dosage of Puregon. Also, Dr Lim didn't stress about avoiding turnip too. So, perhaps, there's nothing to worry about and I am thinking too much again?

IVF Frozen #4 Day 34 (14dp5dt)

It's official. BFN. Beta HCG reading is only at 1.5.

IVF Frozen #4 Day 33 (13dp5dt)

Test HPT this morning and it turns out negative. My intuition is right. Just have to wait till tomorrow for the official result before I stop all the medication. By now, I feel numb towards BFN already. After getting the confirmation tomorrow, I shall call to book and appointment with Dr Roland Chieng. Hopefully, he will be able to find out what is wrong with me (or us) and help us success in the next FET.

IVF Frozen #4 Day 28 (8dp5dt)

Woke up at 4+ am last night because I was so hungry. Tried ignoring my stomach but couldn't get back to sleep, so I ate biscuits and played Tsum Tsum. Turn back the clock 9 hours to 7+ pm, I ate a fish burger for dinner. This was usually enough for me, but not last night, I needed another cup of corn niblets. One of my IVF friends said it's a good sign that I'm hungry. At this point, I'm cautious about being optimistic because I was also hungry during my BFN cycles. So far, no night sweats yet (which happened in my BFP cycle), so I'm still worried. No craving for steamed red bean paste bun too (it was the only thing I wanted to eat the day after my BFP BT).

BT is 14 days after ET, but I realized that I was prescribed 19 days of Progynova and Crinone. I wonder why.

IVF Frozen #4 Day 27 (7dp5dt)

It's been one week since ET. Everyday, I'll visit this website to track the (possible) progress of my little beanie. Technically, I can POAS on Sat, but I don't know if I'll have the guts to do it. If there's 1 line, it could mean I tested too early. If there's 2 lines, it could mean chemical pregnancy. I'm halfway through the TWW and it is driving me crazy.

IVF Frozen #4 Day 20

Reporting here with my pretty ball of fully expanded blastocyst! Transferred only one out of the five frozen blasties. As much as I want to have twins, I'm more scared of miscarriage. Apparently, singleton has a lower rate of miscarriage than twins. This is already my 4th ET and 6th IVF (fresh and frozen combine) cycle. I'm getting so exhausted already. Will this ever end?

My 4th frozen cycle timeline:

CD1	Call KKIVF
CD4	4 mg progynova daily for 5 days
CD9	6 mg progynova daily for 2 days
CD11	Visit KKIVF for scan. Uterine lining 7.3 mm 6 mg progynova daily for 3 days
CD14	Visit KKIVF for scan. Uterine lining 8.2 mm 6 mg progynova daily for 3 days
CD15	Crinone gel inserts twice daily until BT
CD17	4 mg progynova daily until BT
CD20 / 0dp5dt	ET. 1 blastocyst transferred. TWW begins!
CD34 / 14dp5dt	BT