Hi!
So I was reluctant about the whole ivf thing too, my biggest issue was in case it affected my fertility (my DH is infertile, I have no fertility issues)
I toyed with the idea of using donor sperm for quite a while rather than doing the injections & Egg retrieval and risk it ‘messing me up’
But in the end I decided it was worth it to have a child that was biologically mine and my DH’s.
I had egg retrieval early March so it’s still quite fresh in my mind…..
The injections - I was and always have been terrified of injections so thought this would be the hardest part, but I just closed my eyes and let my husband get on with them, apart from some stinging / burning afterwards they really weren’t so bad
Egg Retrieval - I was one of those unfortunate enough to over react to the stims and end up with OHSS - not all women will experience this fortunately! - so the egg retrieval itself was fine, they heavily sedate you so you’re not conscious and when you wake up it isn’t sore or painful past a little discomfort and period pain like pressure
I was however quite poorly for 5/6 days afterwards, quite intense pain and vomiting, but honestly, knowing they had managed to get 7 eggs which created 4 potential babies from me made the pain feel so worth it, and it was nothing a week off work, cocodamol and a bowl by my bed couldn’t fix. And like I said, not all women get OHSS so most just feel mild discomfort, bloating and a bit or nausea.
During the process the hardest thing by far is the unknown and the waiting….. the time between every scan not knowing how your follicles are growing, then the waiting to see how many eggs they got, then waiting to see how many fertilise and develop is honestly some of the hardest times of my life - plus I also starting ovulating before egg retrieval so they weren’t sure if they would be able to retrieve them before they ‘popped out’ naturally - that was paintfully difficult to accept it was possibly all over at that point.
Once we were told we had 4 embryos made it to the freezer I vowed I would not go through it all again but not to do with injections or physical pain, just for the emotional pain, which I was totally unprepared for. But now I’m 2 months on, I know 99% that if my 4 embryos don’t make it that I actually would do it all again.
The chance to have a baby that is so desperately wanted makes it all worth it, like you say, you may regret not trying, but if you do ivf and it works you never would regret it, even if it doesn’t work you probably wouldn’t regret doing it because at least you know you’d tried everything.
I hope my (brutally honest) experience helps you make the right decision for you and I’m writhing you all the best on your journey ❤️