{"id":1377,"date":"2022-06-07T10:53:57","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T09:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pamap.accessfertility.com\/ie\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2025-05-01T14:24:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T13:24:20","slug":"continuity-of-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accessfertility.com\/ie\/continuity-of-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuity of Care | Sarah’s IVF journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re considering in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a way to build your family, it’s important to find a fertility clinic you can trust. The clinic you choose should offer continuity of care \u2013 from the initial consultation through treatment and beyond. We offer an IVF refund programme<\/a> that helps make things more affordable and works with your clinic for a seamless, stress-free experience. In this interview, Sarah shares the story of her IVF journey with SIMS and Access Fertility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve known each other for about 16 years. He\u2019s my brother-in-law\u2019s best friend. We\u2019ve always been around each other, and it was only around 9 years ago we decided to get together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of my own story and journey was that I used to be 24 stone. I lost an awful lot of weight in my early 20s and that\u2019s where it all started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was 24 years of age and couldn\u2019t climb the stairs without getting breathless. I knew something had to change. After about 2 and a half years I lost 15 stone, thanks to healthy eating and exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It improved my health but had an impact on my fertility. It was about six years ago, that I realised it wasn\u2019t normal that my cycle was either completely gone, or very sporadic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019d always had kids around us, and six years ago we decided we wanted children of our own too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We started at the GP, I tried a lot of drugs and we tried to conceive naturally for a year. My cycle got back on track, but nothing happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were at the Rotunda for about a year. My LH hormone was low, we discovered, and I wasn\u2019t ovulating. I had a pump attached to me, which I had to change every three days, and go into the Rotunda every three days. It was a lot of pressure on both of us. I was constantly injecting myself. I had to have an endoscopy on my uterus. They couldn\u2019t see why it wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In January 2020 we had our final meeting with the consultant \u2013 either go through it all again or try IVF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was brilliant! I can\u2019t tell you the relief it was. The four years we were trying, I actually had a mental breakdown. My anxiety level was through the roof and was put on antidepressants. Don\u2019t get me wrong, it\u2019s not their fault, but every time I went in I was having to repeat my story. It was like banging my head against a brick wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SIMS Swords<\/a> was like night and day. Nothing was hard. If I wanted to change an appointment in the public system it took forever and it wasn\u2019t always possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The support at SIMS was such a relief. Even though I had no clue, I knew someone was there, who knew my story. It\u2019s the simple thing that someone would answer the phone, they knew who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By that stage, I\u2019d been through everything, the injections were no bother. The relief of the procedure was that I could only do what I could do \u2013 it was out of my hands. There was no more pressure on us. They took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh 100% and we\u2019ve actually gone back ourselves. We had two viable embryos from when we had Charlotte, and we\u2019ve actually had a second transfer (St Patricks Day), but sadly didn\u2019t work out. We\u2019re blessed with Charlotte and we\u2019re going for another go. It\u2019s a testament to them that we\u2019re going back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve never actually met Dr. Adeola Adewole because everything was by Zoom, which was rather strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one. My support is Christopher. We\u2019ve been through everything together. To not have him there was hard. He wasn\u2019t allowed at appointments. Even egg retrieval (or ‘scoop out day’ as we called it!) On transfer day, he came and did what he had to do, and left. Then when we had the positive scan, he couldn\u2019t hear the heartbeat. He wanted her as much as I did, but was kept at a distance – that was really tough on him. Even when I was pregnant, having to go back to those rooms where I\u2019d been before, I couldn\u2019t have him there \u2013 there was a huge knock-on effect. That was the biggest hurdle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pretty much day one in the Rotunda. You\u2019re told that you could explore IVF \u2013 which is obviously an expensive procedure, but we have Access Fertility. When Chris was sent to SIMS to give a sample he saw them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you know what, it\u2019s my pessimism! I never thought it would happen. I didn\u2019t want us to feel we\u2019d wasted the money, I wanted the safety net. My husband didn\u2019t want the 100% version, so it was great that it was tiered. We went for the 70% which suited us, in terms of the flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were blessed that it happened the first time around. We\u2019ve had family members go down the IVF rabbit hole. For us, it was a last ditched attempt, and we gave ourselves 3 cycles as a limit. Having paid for it, there were no hidden costs, it was all done upfront. You don\u2019t realise how it all adds up. This way, we had nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Covid-19 had a devastating effect on many people\u2019s lives. For those trying to conceive, the pandemic made an already difficult journey even more challenging. Our IVF refund programme<\/a> is perfect for couples who have started their IVF journey but were unable to complete it due to Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We understand that you are making important decisions about your fertility, and we want to make sure you feel confident in your choice. Contact us<\/a> today for more information about our refund programme and how we can help you achieve your dream of starting a family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you’re considering in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a way to build your family, it’s important to find a fertility clinic you can trust. The clinic you choose should offer continuity of care \u2013 from the initial consultation through treatment and beyond. We offer an IVF refund programme that helps make things more affordable and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fertility","category-ivf"],"yoast_head":"\nBefore you started your IVF journey, where were you, and what were you doing?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What triggered the weight loss?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow did your IVF journey begin?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What was your experience like with SIMS Swords?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Would you recommend SIMS Swords to others?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect your IVF journey?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen did you hear about Access Fertility?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What attracted you to the IVF Refund Programme?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re not alone<\/h4>\n\n\n\n