Ahh, the Two Week Wait. Also known as the TWW or 2WW. I really need to write a list of all the IVF anagrams that’s around, because they drive me up the wall and if you ever see them and have no idea what a BFP or MFI is then you’re just going to be as baffled as I was when I started out on this journey!
Anyway, I digress. So, in terms of a fresh round of IVF, ICSI, IUI, or even just naturally trying for a baby there is a 14-day window of time post-ovulation in which we ladies experience the slowest time of our lives – the Two Week Wait. This is called the luteal phase, so when the body has released an egg, it hopefully becomes fertilised, and then gets all cosy in your lining ready to make it a home for the next 9 months. If fertilisation does not occur, your lining sheds – your period arrives – and the next new cycle begins. Most women have a 28-day cycle, meaning that they usually ovulate about halfway through this – Day 14 – and then begin their next cycle around the 28th day... hence “the Two Week Wait”. We literally wait around for a fortnight to see if we got pregnant, or if our darling period decides to make an appearance. And for anyone trying to conceive, it’s the most agonising wait of all!
Now, of course, it’s important to note that this Two Week Wait rule differs from woman to woman. Not every woman has a 28-day cycle, and some have long or short luteal phases. Some women ovulate before or after Day 14, so of course not every woman is following this calendar to the fertility bible.
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| Ollie kept me and my goodies company for two weeks! |
So, what do we do with our time in this period? For assisted conception, a lot of women tend to take this time off work, as it’s crucial for implantation that they be as relaxed and stress-free as possible. Some women can’t bear the thought of two weeks cooped up on the sofa, so they go back to work for a distraction. I’ve got a great group of girls around me, and a few of them each bought me a selection of care packages to get me through those weeks – magazines, chocolate, face masks – they were gold dust to me! Obviously, I also binged on Netflix and baby-related DVDs (why, oh why, do I put myself through What to Expect When You’re Expecting and The Backup Plan when I’m at my most vulnerable?!). My cat Ollie was also by my side every single day – I definitely think he knew something was up and needed to protect me!
It’s strange to think that by this point in our first round of IVF, I had already experienced 25 agonising cycles of the Two Week Wait since trying to conceive a baby. Luckily – unluckily?! - I’ve never been one of those women who pee on a stick days before their period is due, therefore probably saving me hundreds of pounds! Nah, my dear old period likes to arrive to the party early, hang around for a bit, maybe slink off for a day or two and then come back in full force with a vengeance.
As it turns out, I’m typing this and I really can’t remember all that much about the first round of IVF and the Two Week Wait. I finished watching the entire series of Desperate Housewives for the third time, and met my best friend for coffee one day, but otherwise all we can do is wait.
And then we test.
Our clinic recommends that we test 14 days past embryo transfer (14DP5DT, in my case!). Others test 9 days past, 12 days past... which is a complete mind fuck and by the time I got to Day 10 I was going out of my mind with worry, tearfully demanding to my husband that we go straight to Asda because that’s the only supermarket open who stocks First Response Early Response pregnancy tests, and they’re the best ones to use! They detect even the teensiest traces of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG) levels in your pee, which is what occurs in pregnancy.
Most things you read will tell you to test with your First Morning Urine (FMU) as that has the most concentrated levels of HCG in it. So, come the next morning, I was ready and waiting with my tests. I had also bought a Clearblue Digital test, as I didn’t want to spend the next few minutes squinting at some lines to see if they “really were there” or not – just tell it to me straight!
It was positive.
There, clear as daylight, the words “1-2 Weeks Pregnant” were staring back at me on the little window. I completely fell apart sobbing (trust me, there’s a video that goes with this!) and J just held me, laughing with relief!
On my 26th cycle - June 2018 - I was finally pregnant!
KEB x
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