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

ok, so no, i've never had a hysteroscopy. Just ultrasounds at my hosp. They even gave us a an US picture of our embryos being squirted (?) in!! I threw it away when pg as it was a bit weird for me!

Back on track with the menopur mixing. I thought it would be second nature after having done it before but i seemed to have forgotten. This evening I forgot to push the air out of the syringe and i can say that it was MORE PAINFUL and BLED LOTS. So there is a reason for pushing that air out :)

Hello babybarrister and good luck with your finalcycle of IVF. When was your last one?
keziah I hope you get to the bottom of your mum's breathing problems and get reassured that the hosp aren't releasing her too soon. While providing care they're also under pressure to free up beds I expect, so it's good to follow your instincts and question their decisions.
bucksfizz I've been going to acu for a while too. After the last mc I think it's helped enormously to regulate cycles that had become haywire (and moods!)
Italian I can't actually remember how wheatgrass works, I mean it's very good for you whatever but it's also very successful at reducing fsh. I don't know if it's why my reading went from 9.9 to 5.2 but I like to think so! I get it in a powder form from a whole foods near me and just mix a tsp with a little water daily.
Hi to everyone else too and wishing you all a good weekend

Lucy, I'm due to start ivf. I haven't heard too much about wheatgrass but I have been using acupuncture for about 7 months now with very good results. It seems the only thing that works at managing the endometriosis pain every month. People say it might be psychological but I think there is more to ir. I've gone from wrenching for hours and being unable to stand up once a month to using a hot water bottle and a painkiller to manage pain. It also makes u think a little more about how you nourish ur body during your cycle. Make sure u get a good one that specialises in fertility though. Hope thus helps, going to do some wheatgrass research now....

Italian...I'm hoping for lots if follicles for you! Are u feeling ok on the drugs? Not too tired? X

Italian we are with Care also! Hope all goes really well with you.

Lissy - Mum is off oxygen. Am bit concerned as Dr said she may be home early next week, but they don't know why her breathing has been so difficult so am concerned. Hopefully tomorrow will find out more when we visit.

woowa- A hysteroscopy is a procedure where they map your innards...they use a camera to measure your uterus, ovaries, cervix, etc, so when the time comes for ET, they know exactly where to go. It's also a way for the docs to see if there are any fibroids, and in my case, to dilate my cervix.

Italian- I know what you meant about the crying :) I still say crying with joy is WAY better than crying in misery. I'm so excited for your treatment to start!

AFM, AF finally arrived yesterday. Hormones are still making me feel nutsy, but seems to be relieved a little bit. After all the hassle of getting note from GP and approval from private insurance, it may be that I will have to get my hysto at ARGC, which private won't pay for. ARGH. Have ultrasound and bloods scheduled for Wednesday at O'Dark Early, so really moving along now. There's still hope for the Wellington, but won't know until next week.

Keziah- How's your mum doing?

rowing- Did you get your flights sorted?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

How exciting italian, do you have a date yet? Or does it depend on your cycle? Where are you being treated?
Hope everyone else is doing OK. I'm feeling surprisingly sane still, even though I have only taken three tablets

woowa - it is hard, I always got dh to do the menopur as he better at that, I just injected it! Hope it goes well... you may not need more if you stimm really well when they scan you.

End of May we have our review for failed cycle.

thanks lucy tee hee

Got in a flap mixing my drugs this evening and managed to squirt it all over the bed. Probably hundreds of £ of drugs wasted. ARGH. I had forgotten the fiddly ness of mixing up 3 vials of stuff then changing needles and injecting it. Will have to ask for more of it. So cross with myself.

Woowa, definitely less leakage up the back passage

hard to keep track of this thread :)

um, excuse me, what's a hsyteroscopy? Assuming I may have had one and not known given that i'm on second IVF cycle!!

Progesterone pessaries... I got mine today (woo) and the nurse said that at my hospital they are now advising up the bottom, a change from when I last did it! I seem to remember that when put up the, er, other, it just all leaked out, so maybe putting it up the "Rear passage" keeps it in better? Anyone got any experience of this delightful comparison?

italian - yes DH is a wheelchair user, and I don't mind you asking at all. But no, we're not into disabled rights, more just getting on with life trying not to get too cross when things aren't right. Most people genuinely have no idea what it's like for wheelchair users, this isn't their fault, so we try to be gracious and accept the situations that we come across. Hope that answers it?

Endometrium looked ok this morning and some follicles are there, so starting on the meri-whatsitcalled tomorrow. eek. INterestingly, my last cycle was NHS funded, and when I was pg i went in and gave back the left over drugs and syringes - well, i didn't need them. Today the nurse asked if I'd kept them because if I had have done I could have used them and been charged less for this private cycle!! Well, no-one told me that then! When you're pg you're not really thinking about next time. Anyway, this time, whatevr the outcome, I will hold on to those valuable drugs.

Thanks for the education on ARGC. INteresting what different places do - sounds amazingly technical. Do you mind if i ask how much it costs, just out of sheer nosiness?

Night all.

Sorry, just reread and see you're about to start treatment

bucks, hope the treatment at herts and Essex goes well, have you started already? You might be able to tell I'm slightly supplement obsessed but wheatgrass is meant to be v good to reduce fsh, and acupuncture is meant to help too.
Hello to everyone else. Due to start drugs tomorrow, hoping I won't turn into a crazed hormonal madwoman!

Hi all, Lucy-fsh was about the same ie 9. I'm about to start a round with herts and Essex they recommend up to fsh 15, so I'm nearly at the limit with argc too. I'm sorry it's been so hard for you. Your plan sounds like a good one and argc would be a good next step. It's exactly where I've just applied to if this cycle doesn't work. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

rowing- FINALLY! Get going on those flights! I remember my sister going to Prague in the early '90's, and she said that it was so beautiful, but everyone seemed so sickly. I think that's just an American's opinion of what Eastern Europeans look like.

lucy- Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better.

Italian and rowing-If you must cry for me, cry with joy...that's the best kind of crying.

AFM, hormones are turning me into the worst kind of monster. DH is afraid of me...I've been saying and doing the most awful things. I think I'm having a bit of a wobbly about having a baby (or very possibly two) with a DH who is in a wheelchair (woowa will know what I'm talking about). I don't think it's necessarily the fact that he's in a wheelchair, more along the lines of how helpless and stupid men are in general. Can't they do anything on their own? Sorry if I'm generalizing...these hormones really are making me act like SuperBitch. Still no AF. I feel like once I get it, maybe I'll start feeling a little less like a crazy insane person...

Hi all,
Italian what is that group like, have you been yet. Are you thinking of Czechoslovakia not existing? It divided into Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, after the collapse of communisim (thank you Wikipedia)

Lucy I'm going to Brno, which I think is quite industrial. It might have nice bits, well people say it does have nice bits, you know, down manholes and that kind of thing. I am imagining lots of factories pumping out toxic fumes and open face coal mines all over the place. Can't wait!
Better sort out flights...

keziah I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum, and hope she makes a very speedy and full recovery.

Hope you made your hospital appt woowa, I imagine you had post its all over the house to remind you when you woke up this morning.

bucksfizz, Sorry to hear about your tumour and hope you're feeling fully recovered. my current clinic (Viveka/CRM London) advised IUI because despite low reserve I have been pregnant recently (well, nearly a year ago now) and despite DH's high abnormality rate (98%) he has v high count (98 mil) so you could argue he has as many normal sperm as the average man, so they thought there was a reasonable chance of it working. BUT I am not sure they advised us correctly, which is why if the IUI cycle I'm about to start isn't successful, I'm going to move to ARGC, as I'd like a slightly more aggressive approach. I'm a bit worried about FSH (first reading was 9.9, second was 5.2) as ARGC only take under 10 I think. What's your reading? So in short, I haven't started any treatment yet, but AF looks like it's arriving today so I'm about to start IUI.

Lissy you're right about positive attitude, of course. I'm feeling much better today, I think because AF is arriving so I know I can start drugs and get moving. I think those last few torturous days were getting to me, where I knew I wasn't pregnant and was just waiting for AF. Sorry to hear the drugs are making you feel rubbish and hope AF cooperates so you can have hysteroscopy at Wellington. I had an HSS (hysterosalpingosonogram) at Viveka, I wonder if ARGC will want to do a hysteroscopy too. Probably.

Rowing good luck with going to the Czech Republic, I hope it goes really, really well and that you manage to enjoy a bit of the country too. Are you going to Prague? It's so beautiful there.

italian royal jelly is meant to help egg quality. I think it follows the logic that a bee is normal until she eats royal jelly and then she becomes a queen bee capable of producing thousands of eggs. I just take it in capsule form, from Holland and Barrett. I'm so pleased you're feeling positive, both about your eating disorder group and your treatment.

I've added myself in to the roll call:
Italiangreyhound 46, DD aged 6 (from IUI), MC 2006, IUI/failed IVF, awaiting IVF donor eggs May 2011
KeziahHopes 36, no children, male factors and testing for immue issues, failed Ist ICSI March 2011, no frosties.Waiting to see consultant in July.
Lateatwork 40, DD aged 2.5 3 MC, frozen eggs 2006, IVF at ARGC twins due October (using fresh ingredients...)
LissySilver 36 (almost 37) DH is T4 paraplegic, so IVF a must. 1st cycle May 2010 successful, miscarried at 8 weeks. Cone biopsy following an ERPC. Second cycle Oct. 2010 unsuccessful. Starting at ARGC next week!
Lucy Lookout 39, DS aged 3.5, low ovarian reserve, DH has high abnormaility rate, 20 week termination Feb 10, 8 week mc June 2010, about to start IUI cycle. ARGC appt in July.
Monkeybumsmum 35, DS aged 4, 2 MC's 2008, 2nd trim. loss 2010, failed cycle IUI 4/11, 2nd cycle about to start.
Nooknook 32, low ovarian reserve and thyroid issues, on 1st IVF cycle.
Tametortie 30, 1 dd with previous partner, unexplained fertility, TTC 4 years- 1 mmc in may 2008, currently egg sharing at crm in Coventry.
WomanlyTales 35, PCOS, Clomid resistant, 1st cycle IUI failed, Waiting for next steps
Woowa, 32, DH is C5/6 incomplete tetraplegic, IVF with ICSI only possibility. DD 14 months from 1st cycle, now onto second cycle...

Have a good day all x

Hi all,

Tortie, I can almost see your DD wobbling around, she sounds like a little sausage, completely adorable. Give her a kiss from me.
I'm going to Czech Republic, there are lots of clinics over there and very popular with the Brits.

Lissy feeling your pain at the horrible hormones! I'm always grumpy and grouchy so it's the perfect cover for IVF. Do you want me to cry for you, as you are lying there in a heap?

Woowa you sound like you are feeling a bit 'where am I'? Good luck tomorrow.

Italian where are you dear?

I'm supposed to be organising flights now, aaargh! Hate this bit of treatment abroad. I will be going for the FET either next Wednesday or Thursday.