IVF #3, FET #3 Symptom Spotting: 1dp5dt - 7dp5dt

Since my transfer I've found myself reading more blog written by people who have undergone IVF treatment, particularly those who blogged about their 'two week wait'. Blogs were a better source of information compared to forums because people tend to keep blogging after the outcome of the test, whereas people on forums often disappear and there's never any follow up. So the person who had spotting on Day 5 disappears and you never know whether that was an implantation bleed or sign of an imminent failure.

Of course, not only is every woman different, every pregnancy is different and as I mentioned last week the side effects of medication and the symptoms of early pregnancy often go hand in hand. This means you can't really compare one person's experiences with your own, but it's sort of nice to know that other people are going through the same thing as you (or went through it, no matter what the outcome).

And with that in mind, I thought I'd share a quick rundown of my first week after transfer, just in case you've found your way here by Googling "4dp5dt blog post".

For the lay people at there the first number and two letters, such as '4dp' stands for the number of days post, the second number and letters stands for 5 day transfer (which is how old our embryos were when we transferred them). The second number will always stay the same but the first number will change each day.

1dp5dt (Friday)

I was feeling pretty crampy, almost as though I was gearing up for my period. I was pretty emotional as well as feeling generally anxious. Probably the other main symptoms were feeling headachey and light-headed which I put down to starting the Clexane the night before.

2dp5dt (Saturday)

I think that it was around Day 2 that the tiredness started creeping in. Considering I was sitting at home with my feet up, I wasn't really doing anything which warranted getting tired about. There was less in the way of cramps this day so I guess that what I'd been feeling was from the transfer itself. With Olaf and Elsa this was the day that I felt very definite implantation pains which I didn't feel this time around, so I kind of wound myself up that perhaps it hadn't worked.

3dp5dt (Sunday)

I finally got some actual twinges and unusual sensations in my abdomen. Perhaps a sign of implantation? I also had an overwhelming sense of happiness, it wasn't really that I felt sure it was working, but I just felt like I was doing everything I could and I was cool with that. Still very tired and my chest felt a little sensitive as well.

4dp5dt (Monday)

I started to feel really thirsty. It wasn't really that I had a dry mouth, just that I was aware of needing to drink more. I also had a fantastically vivid dream that night. I was still feeling pretty happy but waves of emotion would hit me as well and I would need to have a bit of a weep. I think I was also suffering from a touch of hayfever as my nose would alternately block or run at various points in the day. Ended up with a massive craving for doughnuts.

5dp5dt (Tuesday)

Back at work at last. This is both a good thing and a bad thing since I need to focus on what I'm doing so I have less time to obsess about what's happening in my body but also people keep asking me how it went and how I'm feeling which makes me think about it more.

I feel like I get hit with all the side effects/symptoms today. I feel knackered by about halfway through the day, I crack out the ginger biscuits I've been hiding in my locker because I'm feeling nauseous, I'm still really thirsty which of course means there are some moments when I end up going to the loo three times in an hour. Feel nauseous and bloated, end up leaving my jeans undone when I finish work because it's uncomfortable to button them.

I'm slightly anxious as I had a touch of brown spotting when I got up and again periodically through the day. We are moving seats at work and while I'm ferrying stuff from my old desk at one side of the room to my new one the fire alarm goes so I have to stand outside in the sun while we wait for the clearance to go back in. End up feeling really nauseous and kind of light-headed. Feel convinced that I'm out and it's only a matter of time before the inevitable happens and yet kind of optimistic too, decide to try and stay optimistic.

Have to do my Clexane injection on my own. Survive and don't die!

6dp5dt (Wednesday)

I had All. Of. The. Side Effect/Symptoms again today! A little more spotting but no where near as bad as the day before. Still feeling crampy but also incredibly bloated. I make it to lunchtime before I have to undo my work trousers. This helps to almost instantly relieve the nausea, though it seems to come back whenever I start to feel peckish. I eat quite a few ginger nuts.

More vivid dreams. More drinking. More peeing. Got really bad backache as well. Not sure if this is due to my chair at work or if I've been sitting differently because of the bloating.

7dp5dt (Thursday)

Mr Click sees me in the shower and announces that I must be pregnant because my belly is so bloated there's no way there's can be nothing in there! I've felt crampy all day, a mix between feeling like I'm gearing up for a period with a mix of IBS-type cramps thrown in there as well. Begin to wonder if all this peeing might not be a UTI instead and debate whether I should try blasting it with cranberry juice.

Still feeling tired and have a little bit of spotting though the lightest so far and it's pinkish rather than brown as before. Begin to feel anxious about waiting another week for the test.

I'll share how the second week of the two week wait has gone in another post.