In Vitro fertilization is the proper medical name for what the press dubbed ‘test tube babies’ many years ago. Eggs are removed from the ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory dish before being placed in the woman’s womb. In Vitro Fertilization may be recommended for a number of reasons including; age, other techniques have failed, the woman’s tubes are blocked or the infertility cannot be explained.

Although techniques for In Vitro Fertilization vary, a normal method of IVF would go something like this. At the start of your treatment your doctor gives you drugs to block the hormones your pituitary gland usually produces during your monthly cycle. The reason for this is to assist control over when the eggs are ready. After this your ovaries are stimulated by drugs to create more than one egg.

Cramping After IVF...

To monitor your developing eggs, vaginal ultrasound scans are taken as well as blood tests to ensure that the eggs are increasing the estrogen level. As soon as the tests show that the time is right, you will have another injection of a different hormone to help your eggs mature. The reason for this is that the eggs will be collected between 34 and 38 hours later, even if it is the middle of the night. Eggs are usually collected by ultrasound guidance which takes around 30 minutes and you are either given a drug to make you drowsy or a general anesthetic.

Next the man must produce some fresh sperm at about the same time as the eggs are collected. After a short storage period the sperm are washed and spun at high speed to enable the most active and healthiest to be chosen. Sperm which has been donated is kept in a freezer but the same method for preparation is used. The process then continues with the eggs and sperm left for 16 to 20 hours in a laboratory dish to mix and after that period, checked to see if they have fertilized. During the next stage, only successfully fertilized embryos are kept and left for a further 24 to 48 hours before a final check is done.

Once your eggs have been collected there is a waiting period of two days, then you are given pessaries, an injection or gel to ready the lining of your womb.

Cramping After IVF

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