Mumming Around

You can keep track of only  IVF related posts using the IVF tag.   Timelines (if indicated) are rough estimate based on my memory.  Part 3 Takeaway: Knowledge is power. I mean this in a positive way. I learnt so much more about the IVF process by going private (and I thought I'd already read as much as I could before my public hospital experience). And this in turn helped me process my journey better, even the many disappointments that continued to pile up.  I procrastinated on this post because I was trying to figure out how to write it. I didn't really want it to be a step-by-step on how I changed doctors kind of post. This post isn't to convince you to change from public to private either. Rather, I hope this gives you additional information about what you can ask for, or things you can advocate for, that you may not have know about or get tested for during the chaotic and slightly impersonal process that going through the public route can be.  ~~~~~~Another ...

You can keep track of only  IVF related posts using the IVF tag.   Timelines are rough estimate based on my memory. They differ from person to person due to peak/low periods, longer queues during holiday season or lab closure for cleaning, etc. Note that this was also in 2021, and sequence of procedures may have changed.  Part 2 Takeaway:  Advocate for yourself and ask lots of questions. Do not shortchange yourself and your experience by keeping quiet . You deserve to know what the doctors are putting you through. I wish I had asked more questions, but I kept telling myself that I was going through the subsidised route and I should just follow the protocol. I finished the cycle (spoiler alert: no baby)  understanding things only on hindsight, and I ended the cycle feeling all the What Ifs, like I did not do everything I could.  ~~~~~This is a very lengthy post!~~~~~

You can keep track of only IVF related posts using the IVF tag.   I thought of starting each post of this series with ONE key takeaway I have from this part of the journey. For Part 1, it is to get fertility checked, even if you aren’t thinking of trying yet (or even at all). Your reproductive system is part of your overall health. I wouldn’t have known about my PCOS and polyps if not for this, and that PCOS can develop from stress.  My Health and Lifestyle at the Start I started this journey feeling completely normal, fit and healthy. I have always been active, and am naturally inclined towards a healthy and balanced diet (love vegetables, don’t really like sweet things, drink lots of water…albeit cold water haha). But I did have an extremely stressful job, sometimes working 18 hours a day, with predictable peak periods at work where I know my cycle could last past 40 days.  Tracking at the Start When I started my TTC journey, it was full of tracking and planning (which...

It's taken me awhile to decide if I want to log my IVF journey in more detail. To be honest, I don't remember too much of the finer details about my almost 4 year journey. I wouldn't go to the extent of saying it was traumatic. I just decided at some point that whatever happens, happens, and didn't retain much. For a glass half empty person (at times, glass completely empty person), optimism is not particularly a strong trait of mine, and keeping this level of neutrality was the best way I could cope.  But obviously I have started Mumming Around because I am finally well into a pregnancy, so something must have gone right in the end. Having this positive result should not mean I bury and discredit this difficult, painful and emotional phase of my life, one that makes me more determined to be a good mother.  To set some context:  Started my journey end-2020 at 30 with fertility checks both in private and public healthcare. Went through one round of IVF at KKH via the ref...