Hong Kong

Last week we were indulging ourselves in Hong Kong, but this week we've been dragged back down to earth and back into the usual routine of too much work and not enough Jonny and Flo time.

But we still have the memories fresh in our minds, so it was nice to go through the pictures we took and distil out some of the nicer ones to share with you all. I hope you enjoy browsing through them and that it maybe inspires a couple of people to make a visit... we both very much enjoyed the place and Asia in general.

Hong Kong 2007

We actually stopped over in Bangkok for a couple of days on the way back, but you'll notice that there's no pictures from there. Appologies, but we spent the two days there relaxing in the sun by the poolside and treating ourselves to hour long massages... so just to busy to take any pictures!

It was great to see Robert and Maria in Hong Kong and to catch up with the Dubai crowd in Bangkok! Hope we can meet up again soon.

Bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong

We are in Hong Kong. A city break to escape to our busy lives might sound a bit odd, but we are starting to unwind.

We leisurely wander the busy streets, we haggle over old Chinese communist posters, we choose dim sum from an all Chinese menu, we take pictures of all the things that strike us as beautiful, bizarre or plain unusual.

But most of all, we catch up with our dear friends Robert and Maria, discuss the past, future and present over a glass of wine and a nice dinner. It has been lovely so far.

A beautifully tailored protocol just for us

The last (and only) time my FSH level was tested, we were told it was elevated. This generally indicates a low number of eggs left in the ovaries. However, the FSH level can vary from cycle to cycle as Jonny pointed out in his last post. Since there is nothing you can do to make more eggs, our best chance to get pregnant would be to start the treatment in a good looking cycle (lowish FSH, good lining and a few follicles) and use a different drug protocol.

Or rather, the cycle selection method forces us to use the antagonist protocol instead of the most commonly used agonist protocol. Since the GnRH agonists surpress the GnRH surpressors, it cannot be used during cycle selection. Or in layman's terms: the most commonly used IVF meds mess with the hormone levels necessary to determine when to start the stimulation.

Agonists are given before starting stimulation and antagonists let you start stimulation without suppression. Although they work slightly differently, the outcome is the same. They both stop the pituitary gland from making LH. LH prevents ovulation. Meaning it prevents all the carefully stimulated follicles to pop and flush away before the puncture. Antagonists do this in a matter of hours, whereas the agonists take a week or so - they make it the pituitary gland overproduce, then it shuts down.

The antagonist protocol permits a simplified and shorter treatment cycle than agonists. That is the good news. During a good looking cycle, I'll stimulate for a few days and when the LH starts to rise, we'd add the antagonist to the daily injections. Done and dusted in just over a week. All we need now, is to get that good looking cycle! Bring it on, body!

IVF update: good news from Voorburg

On Friday afternoon we returned to the hospital at Voorburg to discuss the next steps of our ICSI treatment with the gynaecologist. We went with open minds following our latest insights from our trip to Gent and we happy to see that the gynaecologist followed suit.


Flo's menstrual cycle is back into its regular swing following the last treatment, which is good news since this offsets the problems with Flo not producing many eggs during each treatment. The gynaecologist gave Flo a quick ultra-sound scan and commented on her having a perfect uterus, another good sign. While Flo was putting her clothes back on, I asked the gynaecologist whether Flo had any more cysts and as he started to give me an explanation about the difference between a cyst and a follicle with an egg, Flo came hopping back into the room frantic to hear what he was saying. Apparently, a cyst is just a follicle without an egg, so it's quite common to see them. The problem only arises when the eggless follicle becomes too big, but in Flo's case it was looking OK.

Although making a point that our chances of successful fertilisation are lower than normal given that Flo is likely to produce less than ten eggs during stimulation, he was optimistic that, given the right protocol, we could still have a reasonable chance. He agreed that the protocols that we'd tried to date were not the best given our specific circumstances and he proposed a cycle selection and an antagonist protocol.

Cycle selection means we do some blood tests at the start of each menstrual cycle and only commit to stimulation and treatment if everything is looking good. Of course, looking good is a relative term and what this means is that Flo's uterus and ovaries are in good condition (no cysts and enough follicles) and that Flo's hormone levels are looking good. The really encouraging news was that the gynaecologist stated that, if things look consecutively sub-optimal for a few months in a row, that we stop for a few months and then take another look later to see if things have changed. The idea being that fertillity cycles, with peaks and troughs and that the time that we're doing the test may be in a natural trough. So coming back in a few months may give the body time to peak again.

Another thing that suprised us was the gynaecologist's willingness to try the antagonist protocol, despite the fact that it may mean carrying out the actual ICSI procedure during the weekend. Previously, he had stated that the hospital lab does not operate at the weekends which is one of the reasons that they prefer down-regulating, since it gives them more control over when the puncture will be performed and they can time it to occur during the week. He was now stating however that, although they prefer not to use the antagonist protocol, but in our case it was obvious that this was the best treatment and that, if the lab had to come in and work during the weekend, then so be it.

So, we couldn't have hoped for a better consultation really. We're getting what we want plus the gynaecologist is fully supportive of the procedure. So the next step is to perform some blood tests at the start of Flo's next menstruation. Unfortunately (well, sort of), we're probably going to still be on holiday at the start of the next menstruation, so we'll have to wait until April before heading back for the tests. But after waiting this long, another month is not going to hurt and I think going away for a much deserved holiday will only have beneficial effects for body and mind and set us in good stead to get back into the baby project!

Floor's delivered!

After what seems like an eternity, we finally got our arses in gear (actually, I can't take any of the credit other than for nagging Flo) and arranged for the floor to be installed. It's an epoxy floor, installed in three layers, which of course takes time. Three days in fact, one for each layer.


The timing was great... I was away all last week on a course, so wasn't inconvenienced in the slightest. Flo, however, had to spend three nights with her parents (thank you Flo's parents!) and the poor kitties had to spend three days locked in the back of the house! But it was a small price to pay... their toy mouse slides very well on the floor and they seem to enjoy skating on it, standing on it with their front paws while propelling themselves forward with their rear legs.

The house looks much fresher and much bigger now with the new floor... and it's given us incentive to continue and aspire to get the house finished this summer. That house warming party is starting to look like like a real possibility for the spring now...

And I can't finish this post without saying thank you to Jim for helping move the furniture out and back in again before and after the floor fitting... thank you! And Boris and Boika say sorry for making you sneeze and itch so much.