IVF during Lockdown 2.0

It’s been a while since I’ve written an update properly about my last round of IVF.

I didn’t think that doing a cycle of IVF during Lockdown 2.0 would be too much different from the first. But infact it was. Weirdly, really different.

Being Self-Employed I knew that I would have to close the business for two weeks – roughly, whilst going through the second cycle. So when we were put into Lockdown 2.0 at the start of November it just meant that I really just isolated for longer than I needed to. I had my shopping delivered. I wasn’t able to work – so there is no way I am going to test positive or catch COVID before I started treatment. Happy Days.

I joked with my other self-employed friends, that Boris felt really sorry for me that I had to close my business for 2 weeks in November, when its generally my busiest time, that he just put EVERYONE in Lockdown 2.0 so I didn’t feel so alone!

One of the things that I found really hard to figure out, was was I even allowed to stay overnight at a hotel on the day of Egg Collection. Now the government guidelines gave a list of reasons but “medical reasons” was not one of them. My parents don’t drive. I’m an only child. And the only other option would be a taxi to and from the clinic which would cost around £100 return. Friends said they would take me, and this would actually have been SAFER.

However, we stayed over in Premier Inn during the first one, so I called the same hotel and explained that I needed to book, and why I was booking, and was it really allowed. Luckily they told me that as long as it wasn’t for leisure reasons then It was fine. I’m pretty sure IVF has never been a leisure reason!

Overall, it was all very strange doing another IVF cycle during Lockdown 2.0.

I couldn’t have a friend over for a coffee and a chat. I couldn’t work. I couldn’t even go out for a bite to eat or hav a (non-alcoholic) drink and a chat in the pub.

And actually that made the second IVF cycle overall a lot harder to go through.

I mean mentally, I’m a tough cookie anyway, or some would describe me as I’m quite stoic. But there is just no let up and there’s only so many times you can speak to people on the phone and have a zoom call and it’s just not the same.

So getting a BFN wasn’t great. It also meant I didn’t have to see people if I didn’t want to! However friends rallied around and sent me some beautiful flowers. After all they knew that this was the end of my paid-for so-far journey.

I didn’t even put the Christmas tree up because the house has got so many flowers in it from people thinking of me which was just beautiful.

I shall do a full write-up about my cycle coming soon 🙂