First IVF Cycle - Any advise?

mizzy409

I'm 41 years old and single, so it was a hard choice to move forward with trying to become a mom on my own, but now that I have I'm very excited. Because I tried to get pregnant in my 20s when I was married without success even with fertility drugs, and because of age and finances I decided to go right for IVF. My doctor has recommended something called mini-stim IVF. It uses less drugs. It does produce less eggs from each cycle but the pregnancy rates are similar to full IVF. It also means less affect of the drugs on the mother and the baby which I'm all for minimizing the chemicals/hormones being pumped into my body.

The process has been challenging so far, picking a sperm donor, figuring out financing, all while trying to manage a new job with some demanding deadlines. I've been planning since January for a late June cycle. I've really taken my time and planned out when to have my first cycle. Planning around paying off some bills, and then a vacation planned with some friends and the timing correlates with when things should start to slow down at work. But here I am, just about a week and a half from starting the process with birth control pills. I'm currently scheduled to have my baseline Ultrasound on June 24th. Start Clomid on the 25th, and Bravelle on the 27th. If all goes well, Egg retrieval will occur by July 4th and by the end of the month I'll know if it was a success.

I'm prepaying for three cycles, so of course very afraid it won't work and I've just flushed a lot of money. But I'm more afraid it will be successful and because of my age that I'll lose it. As excited as I am and trying to be positive, thinking more about my future as a family rather than alone, but of course I have all kinds of fears running around in my head.

So with all that said, does anyone have any advice for me? I'll take anything from advice on questions to ask my doctor, about the process/procedure, to how to deal with the emotional pieces of both success or failure.

Thanks so much!