Week up to 14/2026

Hello! It’s been a while since I posted.

Initial Weeks

Last two months have been a bit hectic to say the least. We went ahead with the IVF procedure and as most of you know, the process is complicated and mentally draining for both. Especially for your partner. First month - they gave some tablets for general strength, melatonin, and vitamins to both of us. Then after a month and some blood tests for wife, the 10-day injection cycle started. While your partner goes through the hellish parts of the procedure, freaking hell! it was not pretty to watch from the other end. I don’t know how she made it through. First they started with 2 injections per day. Then moved on to 3 per day. Tests in between, so that the eggs don’t rupture too quickly before retrieval and finally 3 more on the last day, that too, specifically at 11 pm. All the injections are requested to be done at a specific time frame. Since both of us are employed, this became a mess - asking for permissions and leaves every other day. Thankfully both our company’s managers were understanding of the situation. A total of 27 injections in 10 days. The mental trauma and mood in the house was depressing.

First surgery

After the last day of injection, we were told to book admission the next day and not eat anything after midnight. I tried my best to calm her nerves. This was the procedure for retrieval, which took about 30-45 minutes with general anesthesia and then she was kept under observation for another 5-6 hours in the ICU. We were discharged at around 3-4 PM on the same day. For anyone undergoing this procedure, generally anything related to fertility is not covered under insurance so if you have plans for this in the future, try taking a cover add-on or some insurance that covers them. I have not come across any medical insurance that covers IVF costs in full. In the last company, I heard a colleague claimed up to 1 lakh. So maybe some do, to an extent.

Second Surgery

After discharge - doctor had prescribed some medicines for a week and upon completion, we were asked to come visit the doctor for post-surgery review and what needs to be done after that. The maturity and quality (grade) results were also presented, which was even more depressing. 3/14 collected. At this point, doctor currently had given us a 50% chance. Meanwhile, while listing the medical history, my wife described the burning sensation she had faced occasionally. She was asked to do a full abdominal scan and get an opinion from a surgical gastroenterologist in case of any issues. This was asked so that in the worst case, we don’t have any need to do surgery during pregnancy. We went to the suggested scan centre and were told a gallstone of a larger size was seen (thankfully no infection).

We went to another hospital that was suggested by the initial doctor and many others for the opinion and it was obvious. Surgery to be done the same week. While we visited him for opinion, we were asked to submit insurance details and admission formalities as well, which helped during admission time. Two days later, she was admitted. Same routine of not-eating post dinner the previous day. Surgery happened next day, in the morning, for an hour to remove gallbladder. Doctor called me after an hour to OT and showed what they removed and asked to take a pic (I didn’t know they were serious at this stage). I did take a picture. She was kept under observation in ICU for 2 hours and was transferred to the room after. Room provided to us was very nice and comfortable for both of us. Doctor came for a check-up later in the evening and asked to take solid food slowly at night. She also walked the same day which cleared so gastric issues. Apparently you get should pains due to gas because of laparoscopy. We were discharged the next day, post medicines and all thorough checks. Insurance approval didn’t take long and shout-out to the Magma insurance that my wife had, everything got completed cashless and stress-free. We were discharged earlier than expected and both of us went directly to home and asked MIL & FIL to stay at home.

She was asked to take 10 days rest and was scheduled to come for a post-surgery checkup (today). Everything went well and all doubts were cleared to my wife’s satisfaction. A medical certificate requested for 10 days was also provided during discharge. While the dietitian in hospital was very stringent about food intake, our doctor didn’t seem to care as long as you take it in small quantities and more frequently.

Work

For her, since she’s in the civil industry, she’s expected to be at work from 8.35 am to 5 pm, which is now extended till 6 pm. Some days after injection she had to take a cab back to work. It was frustrating. What’s even more frustrating was people assuming I asked her to go to work every day. Ugh!

For me, I expected everything to go more smoothly at work. It was the complete opposite. “Small” project release turned into a bundle of defects at the very end. Defect after defect and the pressure kept on mounting. I don’t know how many days I worked past midnight. This along with the permissions and leaves drove me close to insanity. On one day I lost it at office and thankfully my manager were understanding. I still can’t believe we went live. No issues so far till now and we move on to the next release. I’m thankful to all the colleagues at work who supported me and wished good luck during this time. Outside of work I just blabber everything to Sathya (who must have gotten used to it by now lol) and occasionally on Twitter. Haha.

Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. I had an extended weekend, which was much needed. My mom, dad, brother, mother-in-law, father-in-law and wife’s sister came to visit wife during this weekend and it was a good meet-up. My brother cooked chicken biryani and brought it home - which disappeared in an hour. A good 4-day stress relief period comes to an end.

Back to the grind tomorrow. See you next week!