One of the more positive aspects of IVF is actually having regular contact with your IVF nurse. Your nurse will fill in all the gaps that your Doctor hasn’t told you about or that you have forgotten to ask. Your nurse who take you through the whole IVF treatment process step by step. She will get you to repeat everything that she has told to make sure that you understand everything that is going on.
The nurse is the person who will make all your blood test and ultrasound appointments for you – at times that they know are convenient for you! They will be your first port of call if anything goes wrong while you are undergoing treatment – like breaking a vial of medicine, like having unusual pain when you shouldn’t. They offer solace and advice when unusual things happen during the treatment process.
They will be the one who will be the one who rings you with your pregnancy test results – positive or negative. They will lead their ear in times of distress. They will recognise when you are close to breaking point and get you in touch with a counseller of need be. They may offer you some impartial advice and answer all your questions even though they have probably heard the same ones millions of time before. They usually will also recommend those questions that you have that you should discuss with your doctor.
The nurses play an important role are the unsung heroes of the whole process. In Friday, I discovered my nurse had moved on to look after another Doctors patients. I was shocked – my trusted advisor was gone. I now had to deal with a new nurse who knows nothing of my history, does not understand me or how I react to things. This is a big change and one that I probably didn’t want to deal with now that I know I will soon be starting yet another IVF cycle.