Timeline for ivf (personal experience)
5th August
I went down to the polyclinic to get a referral letter, an essential step if you’re going the subsidised route. They gave me a queue number and told me the waiting time was about three hours. Not wanting to give up the slot, I took the queue number and then bought groceries, lounged around at home and then headed down as the queue number got closer (you can view the number and make an advanced appointment here).
I gave the doctor my detailed medical history, as well as let him know that I have blocked tubes, and thus need to go for IVF. He asked how frequently we had relations, and advised me to do it more. To which, I not-so-politely told him that the frequency had little to no impact on the success rate of conception. You’ll then need to go to the cashier and pay for the referral letter, and collect it, whereupon the IVF clinic will schedule an appointment within seven working days and text you.
18th September
This was the date of my first appointment. I tried hard to schedule it earlier, and preferably on a weekend, but it could not be done, and changing it meant further delays. My husband and I headed down to the clinic, and after measuring my height and weight, we waited for about half an hour before we saw the doctor. She reviewed my medical history, and then suggested I get a blood test, and my husband to test his sperm. The next appointments were scheduled for 30th September and 9th October.
30th September
Sperm analysis was submitted.
9th October
Went back again for our appointment. The test results were good, and I had to do a pap smear. Results of this would be ready in three weeks. We also did a Hep B blood test (not sure why we couldn’t have done it earlier but surreee), and were told that they would call us to schedule a counselling session. I think we’re finally in the IVF system too.
My thoughts
I’m actually hoping to get the egg retrieval done before the end of the year, because I turn 35 next year, and all research I’ve read says that the success rates dramatically decrease from 47 per cent to 38 per cent. Not sure if a couple of months honestly makes that much of a difference, but I guess I’ll just eat as healthily as possible. I’m also a little confused about the type of exercise I’m supposed to be doing – do I prep my body doing pre-pregnancy exercises/IVF friendly exercises or just follow the regular workout routine, which is PWR?
Kimberly.sg 