Blood Test on Day 2 of Period

I was instructed to return to KKH on the second day of my period for a blood test. I was wondering why is there a need to purposely do a blood test on the second day of my period and so I went online to do a search. 

So for the benefit of others who are as puzzled as me, here is why:

The main purpose of performing the blood test on Day 2 or 3 of the period is to check whether there is a good reserve of eggs in the ovary and that the hormonal system leading to their release is intact. This is done by checking on the levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). 

I found a detailed explanation of the importance of FSH and LH from RMC of Connecticut. 

Apart from the tests for FSH and LH, I am required to conduct a full blood count, test for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, Prolactin and Rubella Virus IgG Antibody.

The total cost for all the blood tests is $109 after government subsidy and a huge bruise on my arm. :(

Semen Analysis

Hubs went for a Semen Analysis today. He made the appointment for semen analysis when we were at KKH for the first appointment. Basically, Semen Analysis is conducted in order to know the quality and quantity of the sperm.

The nurse who helps you to book the appointment will advise you with the Do's and Don'ts before the test. As a guide, below is some of the Do's and Don'ts:

• avoid ejaculation for 24 to 72 hours before the test
• The semen sample has to be collected and sent to the lab within 1 hour.

The cost of the Semen Analysis is $75. There don't appear to be any government subsidy for this test. 

First Appointment at KKH

With the referral letter from the polyclinic, I went to KKH IVF Centre on 05 Jan 2016 for my first appointment. Hubs took leave together with me that day. We arrived at KKH half an hour before our appointment and waited for our turn to be registered at the counter. We waited for around 15 minutes before our turn came. The lady behind the counter requested for the referral letter and both our NRIC which I supposed was for the purpose of subsidy and proceeded to register us. 

As we wanted to come up with minimal cash and maximum subsidy, we are not allowed to choose a specific doctor to tend to us. Instead, we will be tend by a team of doctor. It can be Dr. A seeing us today and Dr. B seeing us the next time. All these will be based on the resources and manpower allocation. 

I was given a queue no. and was asked to proceed to another room for a routine test. The routine test includes taking my height and weight and blood pressure. After this was done, I was told to wait for my turn to see the doctor. 

It was the beginning of the long wait... I think we probably waited for around 2 hours before we finally saw the doctor.

Once inside the room, the doctor began to ask us some questions to establish some facts and history. 

The doctor asked us a few questions such as:

- How long have we been married for?

- How long have we been trying for a baby?

- During the time we are trying for a baby, how many times did we make love in a month?
- Is there any pain when we have intercourse?

- How long is your menstrual cycle? How many days did it take to clear?
- Do I feel pain when I am having my period?
- Did my hubby have any mumps before?

- Any tests that we did prior to this that makes us decide to come for the IVF treatment?

There are other questions that she asked which I could not remember. 

I was to make an appointment for a pelvic scan and a blood test on the second day of my menses. Hubs was to arrange for an appointment for a semen analysis to be done. After all these tests are completed, we were to go back for a review of the results and also to bring along any reports from that I had from my gynae and the results of any tests I had done prior to this. 

The appointment for sperm analysis was sometime in the following week. However, the appointment for pelvic scan is on 04 March 2016. My review will be held on 07 March 2016 which is 2 months later. 

The cost of my first appointment after government subsidy is $37. 

I have a feeling that this journey is going to be a long one. I will think I better save my leave and not go on any holiday this year... Sigh... 

Referral Letter from Polyclinic

We visited a polyclinic near our place on a Saturday to obtain the referral letter. My impression of polyclinic had always been the memory it had instilled into me when I was young. I remembered when I was young, I would need to reach the polyclinic as early as possible. Otherwise the waiting time could be really long. However, gone were the days when you had to wake up really early just to make sure you are one of the first few to reach the polyclinic. Nowadays, the polyclinic allows one to make e-appointments now one day before you visit the polyclinic. I think this helped to cut short the waiting time as you are only required to reach the polyclinic close to your appointment time.

Getting the referral letter from the polyclinic was not difficult. The doctor at the polyclinic asked us the reason why we would like a referral letter for IVF. He asked a few questions such as how long have we been married for, how long have we been trying for a baby, is there any reason why we will need to go for IVF just to have a baby. I guess those are kind of the standard questions they are supposed to ask. 

After speaking to the doctor, we headed to another counter where they helped us prepare the referral letter and also book an appointment. We chose to go to KKH for the IVF procedure. After all that is done, the only thing left for us is to wait for the date of the first appointment. 

We obtained the referral letter in mid Oct 2015 and managed to secure our first appointment at KKH on 05 Jan 2016. So I think as a gauge, the waiting time for the first appointment at KKH IVF Centre is slightly over 2 months.

My Unexpected Journey to IVF

I don't think anyone will actually think they will need to go through IVF in order to try to have a kid. Somehow, for some reason, some people seems to think having a kid is as easy as ABC. They didn't know that sometimes, in order for some people to have a kid, it can take years. It will actually take some hard work in order to even get pregnant. I know of people who are unable to conceive naturally and had to undergo IVF. I guess, I just never thought that I will be one of them.

We had been married for 4 years. Hub always wanted a kid. He thinks it is good if we are able to have one. If we can't, it doesn't really matter too. I want to have my own kids. Someday, one day, if I am able to. Our parents are not really giving us any pressure about having kids even though they had started to ask us about our plans of family planning. The good thing is that there is hardly any pressure over the traditional 传宗接代. So having a kid or not, is really up to our own decision. 

It took us a while before we decided to go for IVF. I had undergone some tests, plot my BBT chart and all. Finally, we spoke to my gynae who said that IVF may be the route we had to go through if we want to have kids. We asked him for the cost involved to go through IVF as we were kind of worried if it will become something that we cannot afford in the end. There is no way we can just put a stop in midst of it after we start the whole procedure. My gynae mentioned that because Singapore government is encouraging people to give birth, we can use our medisave for the IVF treatment to cover a portion of it. IVF treatment is further subsidised through the Enhanced Co-funding of ART Scheme if we were to go to a government hospital. So if we want to pay minimal cash for this, we should go to the polyclinic to obtain a referral letter and go to the government hospital for IVF treatment instead of going to a private hospital.

Ultimately, I know I will want to try what is within my means to have a kid. It will actually be easy for me to say that I will just "Let nature takes its course" and if I don't have a kid, I can just blame it on fate. However, I know I won't want to look back when I am old and ask myself "Why didn't I try this route then? If I did, maybe I will already have a kid now."

So here is it... We are on to the unexpected Journey to having a kid via IVF...

About this Blog

My intention for creating this blog is mainly for me to record down my unexpected journey to IVF treatment. 

During the time when I was making the decision on whether I should start the process of IVF treatment, I surfed around online looking for information of people who had gone through IVF treatment in Singapore, what to expect, the cost involved and how long is this journey going to be. I  managed to find some blogs like Little Human Project which I had found to be quite beneficial.

Overall, I find that most of the information available online is still quite scattered. I am aware there are some forums around where there are women who are able to provide advice. However, it is difficult to screen through all the responses from so many people in the forum.

I hope this blog will be able to help other people who were in similar predicament as me.