Series 2, Ep. 10 - Another Blood Test

Having spent time dating Jack, which had been the closest thing to a relationship for me in 5 years. It had made me realise that when I do meet the right person, it’s likely I will want kids to be part of our future. There is endless research you can do when it comes to learning about the fertility of women at various stages of their life. But The British Fertility Society says that ‘At birth, most girls have about 2 million eggs, at adolescence that number has gone down to about 400,000 and at age 37 there remain about 25,000. As I was approaching 36 I made the decision to use my savings to freeze my eggs.

And by no means is freezing your eggs a guarantee of conception, but it does act as a little security blanket. For me, the entire process lasted about 4 months, my clinic closely monitored my menstrual cycles, there were endless blood tests and scans, they prescribed the relevant medication to first get my hormones to the optimum level and to then stimulate my egg growth. I had to inject my own medication and the closer it got to my egg removal date, the more I had to do, some days I’d have 2 blood tests and I’d do 3 injections at various points throughout the day. It was an upheaval on my body, both physically and mentally.

Reading back it was quite a tricky time to reflect on, I was suddenly acutely aware and envious of my friends developing family situations and I think this was one of the loneliest points of my 30’s and where my desire to meet someone was at its peak.

The episode is taken from a 5 month period from Sept 2017 - Feb 2018. You will hear me repeat the last day from Episode 1 - Dexter Turner as the stories cross over the same time period.

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Key Characters:

Jack - An amazing man who I dated for 2 months

Beth - My best mate

Willow - One of my best mates who I met in my single years

Grace - One of my best mates who I met in my single years

Dawn, Tim - Some of my oldest friends

Simone, Faith, Heather, Chloe, Mel - London friends

Mum - Family

Todd - A guy I dated

Dexter Turner - A guy who briefly entered and quickly exited my life on a number of occasions and unjustifiably has become one of those people who is hard to shake off and annoyingly someone I’m quite fond of.

Locations:

Columbia Road Flower Market
http://www.columbiaroad.info/

Wilton’s Music Hall
https://www.wiltons.org.uk/

Crooked Billet
https://e5crookedbillet.co.uk/

Prince George
https://theprincegeorgepub.co.uk/

House of Hackney
https://www.houseofhackney.com/

Goodhood
https://goodhoodstore.com/

Cultural References:

Grenfell Tower
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40301289

International Women’s Day
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Entertainment References:

Notting Hill Carnival
https://www.thelondonnottinghillcarnival.com/

Happn
https://www.happn.com/en/

Les Enfants Terribles:
https://lesenfantsterribles.co.uk/

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Billboards_Outside_Ebbing,_Missouri

Medical References:

ARGC Egg Freezing Clinic:
https://argc.co.uk/

Chlamydia
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chlamydia/

STI
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/visiting-an-sti-clinic/

AMH:
https://www.createfertility.co.uk/fertility-diagnosis/amh

NHS:
https://www.nhs.uk/

IVF Treatment
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ivf/availability/

Diary, She Wrote was produced by Liz Beardsell in partnership with Bird Lime Media with original music by Ethan Illingworth.