Tuesday, October 16, 2012

IVF Workup in Taiwan (Part 10) : Menstrual Cycle Day 15 The Day After Ovum Pickup




The day after Ovum Pickup, we planned to go to Wulai (烏來) to see the waterfalls.  But before heading there, we had to do our duty first, go to Mackay Memorial Hospital and have 2 vials of progesterone injection.

After the injection, we went to Hankyu Mall in Taipei City Hall station along the MRT blue line.  Had our lunch there and visited Eslite Bookstore first. 

Wulai (烏來) is a small town in Taipei County, Taiwan, famous for its hot springs and aboriginal culture.  Going to Wulai is not hard.  By MRT, go to Xindian Station at the South end of the Green Xindian Line.  From there take Bus No. 849 to Wulai.

Going to Wulai Waterfalls, you will pass through Wulai Old Street where you will find delicacies and restaurants.  At the end Wulai Old Street, there are vendors selling different sorts of BBQs like their local hotdogs.  From there you will cross a bridge where you will see the hot springs where some locals and tourists bathe.

Reading from some websites about Wulai Waterfalls, it said not to take a taxi ride as it will be a nice stroll of less than half an hour.  So we walked…  We saw a lot of hotels along the way where they offer bathing in hot springs.  At first we were enjoying the walk taking pictures along the way however the road, called Lover’s Path, is uphill.  We were with our daughter in her stroller.  We had to push her up while walking uphill.  The good walk was no longer a good one anymore!  Though the weather was good, we were perspiring and getting tired.  As we walk, we see people coming down from the other direction, when asked if the waterfalls is still far, they would say no, just keep walking it's a good walk.  We wanted to give up already but we were already halfway so we keep going and going.


At 4:00 pm we stopped to call the IVF Lab as we were instructed the day before to check on the number of embryos fertilized.  I was informed that only 2 embryos were fertilized out of the 8 eggs retrieved.  I was saddened by the news.  I asked how come only 2 embryos were fertilized, the embryologist explained probably due to my age, the quality of the eggs retrieved were not as good anymore. 

The embryologist said since only 2 embryos were successfully fertilized, Dr. Lee might opt to do the Embryo Transfer (ET) the next day, Day 16 at 10:00 am, instead of Day 17.  The reason behind this, as explained to me by the embryologist, since there were only 2 embryos we are not waiting for other embryos to fertilized anymore so might as well put the embryo back to the mother’s uterus, the earlier the better for the embryos to develop.   So I was asked to call the IVF Lab the next day at 9:00 am to check if we are pushing through with ET.

I felt down at that moment realizing that I am not that young anymore.  My husband consoled me saying all we need is 1 embryo, so be happy that there were 2.  I was just thinking at that time what if these 2 embryos were not so good too?  Then the chance of getting pregnant becomes smaller.

We continued to walk up the trail going to the waterfalls, we were both silent that even our daughter felt the sadness in me.  While walking I was thinking if our out of town trip to Ye Liu the day before Ovum Pickup could have affected the quality of my eggs since we were tired with the long trip.  And if the Embryo Transfer pushes through the next day, would I be too tired from the day’s walk?

Finally, we reached the end of the walk, we saw the waterfalls…my daughter’s first time to see an actual natural waterfalls.  I cannot remember how long we walked that path but I am sure it was not just half an hour and the distance as I came to know was 3 kilometers. 

Feeling all tired, we took the train back and started to head home…hoping to be able to rest well that night and recover from the tiredness of the long walk we just had in case we are pushing through with ET the next day.





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