It’s the day of our flight to Portugal. I’m sitting here excited and terrified in equal measure.
On one hand I am confident that we have a good chance of success because it has worked once before with our daughter Ava. On the other hand, IVF can be a total lottery. Sometimes all the odds can be in your favour and it still doesn’t work. I’m hoping that the universe has some good vibes for us this time!
I started my meds on Sunday (5 days ago) and Audrey started her Gonal F on Monday. On one of the days we were both feeling a bit crap, and then we remembered we are both taking some pretty strong hormones. It’s easy to lose yourself in this whole process and forget what a big toll it can take on your body.
We’re getting a taxi at 1pm today. I usually book long stay parking at the airport, but this time it worked out cheaper to pre book a taxi. We are trying to travel light(er) this time. We have 2 suitcases, one carry on and a changing bag. As well as that we splashed out on a super small stroller that folds up and can fit in the overhead bin on the airplane. I’ll do a piece about travelling with toddlers and will let you all know how that worked out. In theory it sounds amazing. We are also bringing Ava’s Rear Facing car seat. We are very strong believers in extended rear facing car seats for kids.
And it’s totally free to check-in a car seat with any airline.
I’ve literally been packing for the past 2 weeks. I usually put loads of stuff in a suitcase, then come back to it a week later and get rid of half of it. I think for this sort of holiday, comfort is key. Know what the weather is like in your chosen destination, and pack accordingly. It makes things a little bit more complicated for me, being Type 1 diabetic and being on an insulin pump and CGM. Means I have a bit more stuff to carry with me.
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It’s always important to bring your meds on the plane with you.The temperature and pressure in the luggage hold is not safe for medication. Also, your bag could be lost and you would be stuck in a foreign country without your meds. The stress of that- no thanks! As a precaution, have your prescriptions and a letter from your GP or Fertility Doctor stating what your meds are. We’ve never been questioned about the meds, but better to be safe than have some over enthusiastic customs officer try to take them from you. Over my dead body would I hand them over!!
Well I better go and recheck all the bags. One more hour to go. Will update again after we have our first appointment at Ferticentro Fertility Clinic tomorrow.
The next few weeks might change our lives forever. How crazy is that?If you have any questions about travelling for IVF pop them in the comments below:)
Ranae x