Assisted Conception (and all the bits in between) volume 7

lucy- DH and I got in around the right time, I guess, because we only had to wait 6 weeks for our appt. They gave me the option of starting my monitoring cycle right away, because I was at a good time in MY cycle, but wound up postponing until the next month. Everyone has to do a monitoring cycle, but you can alleviate costs by asking your GP to do your day 1-3 bloods, which ARGC will happily accept. Also, if your GP can do HIV, Hep B & C testing, etc. you'll save a bundle as well. The main cost in your monitoring cycle is the immunes testing, which is £860. You don't have to have it done, but since it's what ARGC is known for, I decided to go whole hog. I also decided to postpone treatment after monitoring cycle due to holidays, and they're cool with that as well. You can start as soon as your monitoring cycle is done.

Drugs are kicking me in the ass, as at previous clinic I only had to sniff twice in the morning and twice at night. Now I'm doing it every six hours, and the hormones are really affecting me. I've got my eyes on the prize, as difficult as it is at the moment.

DON'T GIVE UP HOPE!! It's not over til it's over...

woowa- Good luck sweetie, have everything crossed for you!

BB- Don't panic! Did you call the clinic?

BB I hope you've talked to the clinic and have got some advice/reassurance about it. When is egg collection scheduled?

Woowa I'm keeping everything crossed that there'll be a couple of healthy little woowas to transfer on Wednesday. You've already got one DD from this, so the process does work for you. Sending you lots of positive thoughts. Be nice to yourself today and tomorrow, and give yourself a couple of treats, be it a tasty slice of cake or a new pair of shoes! x

woowa sending you a hot cup of tea and everything crossed for you.
baby have you called them up to ask if you need to go early? Can you go early?

Hi all. Just to update, they got some eggs today, fertilised some. We'll find out in the morning what they look like (ICSI has a relatively low fertilisation rate because they have to strip the egg of its "shell" and inject the sperm in), and whether there'll be anything to transfer on wednesday. Sadly they don't work on saturdays which would be blastocyst day, so if there is anything living left over they'll have to freeze - but last time there wasn't anything over, so we're no expecting anything. Just praying for one.

Thanks for the information womanlyand lots of luck that this cycle is the one for you.

BB I was at CRM London on Saturday for IUI. It was my first time there (Viveka use it as their satellite clinic). I pay viveka, not them, so don't know what they're like about the money side of things, but thought the people there were very nice. Have your tests come up with any reasons why embies haven't stuck so far? Wishing you lots of healthy eggs for this cycle.

Lucy My IUI cycle was 25 days and they skip that cycle before starting the second round. I have PCOS so have irregular periods..though my average has gone from 28-33. 42 is a wierd number but DH thinks it's to compensate for the 25 day cycle...

Womanly can you get them to do a scan or blood test this time round just to reassure you that you've ovulated? So, have you had one 'normal' cycle between IUIs? And is it normal for you to have a 42 day cycle, or do you think it was the hormones from the first IUI messing your body up a bit? Lots of luck this time round

Lissy, sorry to hear you're finding things hard going. Apart from drugs messing with your mind, you must be tired too having to wake up at 1am to sniff. Still, hopefully this stage will be over soon and you can get onto the next exciting stage of egg growing! I called ARGC this morning about cancellations (yes, I know I'm on the 2ww after IUI. Just call me Miss Optimism) and they said they hardly ever get cancellations so looks like I'm going to have to wait til the end of July (when I turn 40, gulp). Out of interest, after your first appt how long did it take for treatment to start? Did they monitor you for a cycle first? Did you go to your first appt with all of the day 1-3 blood tests and rubella immunity? Sorry, lots of questions but you're the only person I 'know' having treatment there.

Lastly, does anyone on here take DHEA? I've read good things about it re egg quality and IVF success. Obviously I'll check with my consultant before taking it, but would be interested in any experiences you have.

Hi to everyone else too x

Hi everyone,
Apologies for going silent - - it's been a frustrating week - The week before I tested and got a bfn on cd 32..and then it was a looooog wait for AF...which finally and mercifully showed up yesterday! Day 42!!!
Good news is that AF is here and I started my injections today.

Lucy I am on puregon - 75 till my first scan (day 8 of injection) and then they take a look and let me know what's next. BTW your consultant sounds EXACTLY like mine ... so I know how it feels. What worked in my case was taking DH along... it turned out my consultant was just woman-shy -- with DH he was as chatty as a bird...
On my first cycle I had one dominant egg -- and it did not work - i got my period on day 25. They did a multi-disciplinary meeting and then came back with a ... let's go with the same approach for round two. So here I am.

My main issue is ovulation -- ie the follicle will grow to a decent size whether I am medicated or not...but despite the ovitrelle injection it does not break and release the egg. This first IUI cycle they are convinced I ovulated..though they did not scan me or take a progesterone test...so I don't know really...

italian glad you are OK after your accident. these things often happen out of the blue and hopefully when it does happen we do all the things to minimize damage - sounds like you did all you could do in such freak incidents.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I thought I posted last week, but I guess I forgot to press the post message button...

Italian- Sorry to hear about your accident, but glad that no one got seriously hurt. It only takes a second, doesn't it? Excited to hear that your treatment is going to start soon.

rowing- You're back! Glad everything went well. Good luck on your 2 ww...hope it goes quickly. I have no words of wisdom on that, other than to take care of yourself, do things that take your mind off of it, etc, etc.

woowa- Hope egg collection goes smoothly and painlessly. Keep us updated!

lucy- Good luck on your 2 ww as well! Hope to hear good things!

AFM, STILL down-regging. Had my hysteroscopy at the Wellington on Saturday...so posh! I had a room with a balcony overlooking Lord's cricket pitch, not that I went out there. Blood tests and scans out the wazoo, today's scan showed a follicle or a cyst that measured 18 mm. On standby for Provera and Pregnyl. Not to mention that I'm sniffing every six hours now, so have to get up at 1 AM to sniff. Argh, I'm exhausted! Hopefully it'll be worth it. Still feeling quite down, but not so bad as last week. Just have to remember that the end justifies the means.

Hugs and sticky baby dust to everyone! Oh, and mounds of chocolate boobs!! (Get it, MOUNDS? )

Welcome back rowing, I'm glad the trip was good and congrats on the 2 embie transfer. I hope the 2WW goes quickly for you (I'm with you on the 2nd week sending you doolally, as by then you have a good idea of whether you're preg or not, and if not, you just want AF to arrive as quickly as possible so you can start again!) and that you have very good news very soon! In fact, we're cycle buddies. I'll be testing on Sunday 29th (yeah, right, ha, ha, in fact I'll be testing from any time mid next week!)

Glad you enjoyed the article italian. When/where are you off on your hols?

Very best of luck for the egg collection woowa. I'll have everything crossed for you.

I have acupuncture booked for Thursday, that'll be 5dpo, around implantation if the egg fertilised. I know the chances for IUI aren't great, but I do feel like I've given it my best shot whatever.

Hi to everyone else!

Hi all,
Italian, thank you for directing me to that! There is a bit of a debate raging about the chromosome crossover thingy on Fertility Friends. Who knows? I'll take any old baby me!

Hi all,
grrr, my stupid digibox just deleted Eurovision, just before the judging started!! Throwing it out of the window, if I get anymore cheek from it. [glares at digibox]
Sorry, digressing slightly there.
I have just skimmed the thread and can I thank Italian and Lucy for the packing advice! I did just as you said, actually I'm going to give up making decisions for myself, it's much easier to post the question on here.
Italian I hope you are OK after the crash. Have you been checked out by a doctor?

Just wanted to come on and let you know about the FET. It was quite a nice break really, very hot weather and the actual FET was very fast and efficient, kind of conveyor belt, but they do know what they are doing.
I even managed to meet up with another girl who was over for transfer so it was quite jolly.
I got two embies, both blastocysts, transferred and am now 3 days post transfer.
I think blasts usually implant within 3 days, but frozen embryos can be a bit slower. So I was told to keep taking the progesterone and oestrogen and test 13 days post transfer, but I plan to test before that rather than wait.
Not feeling too bad at the moment, but I know the first week of the 2WW is the easy one and the second the crazed, descent into chaos.
Right off to find the Eurovision online....

Hi all

Egg collection Monday. eek. Just given myself the last jab, the big HCG one. Feeling very blessed today.

Might not be back on the thread til I know what's happened, will let you know if they manage to make any woowaettes. We are ICSI which has a lower success rate than IVF in general because it's more traumatic for the egg. We are realistic but believe in Great things. The best thing I'll be able to tell you at the end of the week is if we're on the great 2ww.

Take care all

Thanks Italian! Have you seen that there's an article in today's guardian mag on donor eggs? Thought you might be interested

Let's hope so italian! It all went fine this morning. DH's abnormality count has gone done massively. Must be all those supplements I force feed him. He had 109 mil pre wash and 24 mil post wash, all moving well. I think he's going to frame the results and hang them on the hall wall for all to see . So here I start, the 2ww, the worst bit.

That's so good that things are moving along for you now too re treatment, and fab too that you're feeling positive about your eating treatment. Healthy eating is kind of a hard habit to get into. Even now with my DS I have to remind myself to not label certain foods as a 'treat' (chocolate, biscuits etc), because it then implies that tasty food that is really good for you is not a treat to eat, and will skew his idea of a balanced, healthy diet.

Wishing everyone a lovely Saturday. Give DHs sperm a cheer leader style shout and wave a pom pom if you have one lying around

Thanks Italian, it did go better today, lining was thicker (10 mm) and my one whopper of a follicle was still there, measuring 25mm. Let's hope Mr lookout's swimmers manage to find it on Saturday
How's everyone else? It's gone a bit quiet x

italian , hope you're doing ok. You're probably right and I could have been a bit more forceful, but I honestly did ask him things,
me: so do you think there's a chance that the lining will get thick enough by Saturday?
him: I don't talk about chances, I just talk about what's there.
me: If I did IUI again do you think the same thing would happen. Should I maybe just try a bit more of an aggressive approach like ICSI?
him: Let's just finish this cycle first and then talk.

I'm seeing him again this aft so hopefully the egg is still there, the lining is thicker, and he's a little more forthcoming. It confirms my instincts that it's maybe time to try a different clinic!
BB glad things are going well. I'm only just learning the terminology for all this but are you on short or long protocol? I've been injecting myself with Gonal F. My hands were shaking so much first time I did it, but it's weird, I watch a needle going into my leg and I really can not feel anything at all. If I don't get the ovitrelle shot this aft at the clinic I'll probably get DH to do it, as I don't think I'd be able to cope with a bigger needle