May 25, 2008
Cramping After IVF
IVF Products
Most people know the term ?test tube baby? but the correct name for this process is ?In Vitro fertilization?. Essentially, a woman?s eggs are removed from her ovaries and sperm from her partner or donor is used to fertilize them before being inserted into her womb. In Vitro Fertilization is recommended if you are an older woman, have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, those whose tubes are blocked, or if other techniques have been unsuccessful.
Whilst every clinic works slightly differently, the main procedure is a fairly routine one. Your doctor will give some drugs to block the hormones normally released during the menstrual cycle. The reason for this is so the physician has improved control over when your eggs are produced. To ensure you ovaries produce more than a single egg, further drugs are given.
Cramping After IVF...
It?s important that levels of estrogen produced by the eggs are monitored so a combination of blood tests and vaginal ultrasound scans are used. Once the time is right, another hormone will be injected to help the eggs mature. Timing is crucial, as you must have this injection 34-38 hours before your eggs are collected - this may mean you having it last thing at night. Ultrasound guidance is used to help collect the egg but it means you have to be given drugs or a general anesthetic to help you relax because it takes about 30 minutes.
It is now the male?s job to ensure that a fresh sperm sample is ready. 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. After the eggs and sperm have been collected they are left to mix in a laboratory dish for between 16 and 20 hours and then inspected to see whether fertilization has taken place. Only those embryos that have fertilized successfully are kept and left for a further day to two days before a final inspection.
Two days after your eggs have been collected; you are given an injection, gel or pessaries to help prepare the lining of your womb.
Cramping After IVF
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