Eggsellent Egg buddies! For those having ivf during April, May and June and any others still around :-)

Hic. Me too Res.
You doing ok?

I must go to bed - I have drunk a bottle of prosecco tonight.

Ha! Hi Brooker.

Many, many months ago on this thread I expressed my absolute hatred of Chris Martin (& his loathsome wife). Having just observed him on Graham Norton tonight I am reminded what a complete twat he really is.
So glad to get that off my chest.

Anyway, sorry egg buddies, back to you. I have been lurking for a while and cheering you all on. Hello to my old friends and hello to all the newbies.

Res and Tame I'm especially thinking of you both.

Afm, I'm currently awaiting results for NK cells and various blood tests. Another month of protected sex (what a joke).

Good luck everyone. x

Sucking - 6 is good! I achieved 2 pregnancies (didn't last but that was a problem with me) from 6 eggs. Let us know what happens next!

Cups - really hope it's your time. Keep us posted...

Rach- yes, I cycled with donor eggs in Zlin. Gennet is regarded as an excellent clinic from what I gather??

Sorry to hear that the nightmare fortnight is getting to you so badly Cups I hope so much that your fears prove unfounded and you get your BFP.

I hear you on the water thing Rach - I didn't realise how little I really drank until this process. I had to buy myself a two litre glass jug - which I fill every morning and put beside me where it serves as a visual reminder to keep drinking - and at the end of the day I know I've had enough if it is empty, whereas without it was I losing track of how many glasses I'd had and was never sure if it was enough.

The protein may be a bit harder to get without meat sources, but is definitely doable as long as you really like your nuts, beans, peas, quinoa etc. My IVF nurse also suggested making a breakfast smoothie with protein powder (has to be a natural one with no artificial sweeteners though, so check labels with care) and silken tofu, frozen blueberries and fruit juice - which was actually pretty nice.

As for me, the clinic called to say that six of my eleven eggs have fertilized, so I'm still in the game for now. Just got to wait and see if they keep going now - and if they will want to do a 3 day or a 5 day transfer.

Hi Tame - yes City Fertiloity is linked to Gennet! Do you know Gennet??

Turquoise, Sucking, Little no I'm going privately as NHS only available after 3 years of TTC in my borough. Haven't been told I'm high risk of OHSS but always a possibility with stimms. I reacted to a really small dose of Clomid (25) so goodness knows what would happen if I blasted my ovaries with crazy doses!

I'm almost 34. Have low AMH (6.5 - tested 2 years ago) which one clinic told me is about right for a 38 year old. Have really long, irregular cycles and my lining doesn't thicken up until the last minute - and even then not enough. Had 3 rounds of Clomid with no luck. One specialist told me I have mild PCOS but all other tests/specialists have said I don't. No idea what to believe! DH has low volume of sperm but quite good concentration and motility within that. Also just been told I have a very slight arcuate uterus but apparently nothing that would hinder a pregnancy.

NoBeer thanks for the advice! I don't think I have auto immune issues but then again we get told so many differnet things at each clinic that I really have no idea anymore! I know that I need to up my fluid intake - I am SO bad at drinking water. ALso I'm veggie. Considered starting to eat chicken for more protein but I just can't bring myself to. But I'm seeing more and more about how important it is so might rethink...

Sucking really glad they managed to get the IV in 3rd time... I know all about trouble with needles... horrible! But will be worth it in the end. Good luck for the call!

Cups I really hope things ease up for you. Could you try something very simple like some warm milk before bed to make you that bit more sleepy? Sounds silly but the more sleep youcan get the more relaxed you'll be and before you know it you'll be at the end of the sh*tty 2WW!

Cups. It is torture. Hang on. Fx for you.

Cups: just popping in to say I'm thinking of you. The back end of the 2ww is terribly hard. I'm praying that you get your BFP! Xx

Good luck to the rest of you egg buddies too. I'm willing you all on.

Res I had a work colleague who was the exact number of weeks I would have been. It was torture watching her bump develop. I know it will be even worse having to watch that with someone who has had IVF at your clinic (((hugs)))

Sucking that's a great number of eggs. Good luck for the call today, I hope you get good fertilisation

Welcome Rach, I've never heard of city fertility I'm afraid but I'm a northerner so there are only a few clinics around here. Try not to worry about OHSS as your clinic will monitor you really closely.

Turq oh god I hadn't thought of stuff like that when applying for a mortgage. We are hoping to move next year to a bigger place. Can you just blame any big expenditures on holidays/home improvements?

Sorry I've not been around, I'm really struggling now. I'm 9dpd2t today, I've been feeling really low. I'm struggling to sleep. I have had some AF like pains and some weird sensations. I can't see how I could get a BFP, it's such a long shot with one poor quality embryo. I keep waking up with my heart racing and I feel like I can't breathe. I've been to my GP who says it's panic attacks she offered me a sick note but I've got too much on at work plus I've only got another 2 working days until I'm on holiday.

As for me, my egg retrieval went quite well.

I did realise today what a shockingly bad influence I have been on DH though. He is a nice Southern boy from the bible belt and never used to say anything worse than 'darn' when annoyed. But today when we got stuck behind an idiot driver on the way to the clinic he was roaring about "fucking wankers who need to learn how to bloody drive."

I can't imagine where he learned language like that, nothing to do with his nice English wife I am sure...

We got there in plenty of time though and got settled into our room. But when the nurse tried to put in the IV for my anesthetic she bodged it up and left a massive bruise on my hand. She apologised and fled to get the anesthesiologist saying he would do it right. So he went for my other hand and promptly did exactly the same as the nurse had done. So that was two mortified HCPs in my room and they still hadn't got me hooked up Fortunately they got it right 3rd time.

I ended up with 11 eggs, so a pretty decent haul, even if not quite as many as I might have hoped for.

I feel surprisingly okay for having been knocked out and poked up the fanjo with needles, and didn't take them up on their offers of prescription painkillers and have managed with just a couple of paracetamol.

I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep until they call me tomorrow and let me know how many (if any) have fertilized though.

Oh dear Turq I don't envy you the bank statement inspection, I would hate to have anyone totting up how much I have spent on pregnancy related rubbish in the last few months Maybe they will think you're a devoted health nut with all your Holland and Barrett supplements and such, and therefore a good super-healthy candidate to keep working and paying their mortgage.

Oh Res that's horrible. Try to stay away from her. How are you feeling in yourself?

Sucking those are brilliant results so far. I hope the rest goes as smoothly for you. How are you feeling on the meds? I will definitely drink more and increase my protein intake next time.

We are applying for a mortgage in a couple of months and just realised they go through your bank statements. They are going to think I'm crazy the amount I spend at Holland and Barrett, acupuncture etc. not to mention all the meds I will soon be buying. Hope they are sympathetic!

Oh no res - What an absolute kick in the guts

That all sounds great, Sucking. Good luck!

Can I have a moan? I must have been bad in a former life. Remember a while ago that I was going for a scan and saw a colleague in the waiting room who clearly was there for EC or ET? Well, guess what? You guessed. She's pregnant. So now I get to watch someone who had treatment at my clinic go through the stages of her pregnancy more or less at the same time as I would have (she's about 2 weeks ahead so coming up for 10th week).

I just heard from my clinic regarding my monitoring appointment this morning. My bloods are 2750 and my ultrasound shows 1 follicle at 21mm, 7 follicles at 19mm, 2 at 18mm, 1 at 17mm, 3 at 15mm and a bunch more little ones under 12mm which probably won't make the grade. So as that all looks good I get to take my trigger shot tonight and then I will be doing Egg retrieval on Thursday morning!

My bastarding polyp is still there lurking though - a blot on my otherwise beautiful uterus. On the upside though it hasn't got any bigger since my last scan, and my doctor has said that if it doesn't grow bigger between now and transfer he is willing to do the transfer, as said polyp is in the lower end of the uterus near the opening, and shouldn't affect an embryo poked in up the top end.

I just can't believe it is all going so well. I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop all the time... but I guess now my follicles have proved they can grow, I can move on to worrying that they will be empty on retrieval day, or that the eggs won't fertilize, or the polyp will turn into Godzilla... There's always something to worry about in this bloody process isn't there?

Hi Rach and welcome! It was me - I went gluten free! The immunologist recommended it. My first cycle of IVF failed but as I have some auto immune issues I asked my clinic to refer me to an immunologist. Fortunately my clinic has one in another city so I did phone appointments (I'm in Spain, so prob not much help). After extensive tests she recommended we only transfer 1 embryo because of some kind of genetic clash between me and DP, and therefore possibly between the embryo and me. So transferring only 1 would give it a greater chance. And she told me to go gluten free for the first trimester. Well, first trimester is almost up and apart from the horrible nausea and occasional vomitting I have never felt so well! I usually really suffer with allergies, get lots of colds, sore throats etc. So I think I might continue with the gluten free diet, but maybe just not worry about it so much if we go out to eat.

I also had OHSS. In the unlikely event that you do have OHSS they'll decide to freeze your embryos and wait a couple of cycles until you feel better before transferring the embryos.

Hope that helps, and good luck. You've joined a lovely group of kind, supportive women on this thread.

Welcome Rach, Have you been told that you're high risk of OHSS? I think your clinic would have an idea in advance from your AMH. I was told I am because I've got a high AMH. I was really worried about it, but my clinic just started me off on the lowest dose of stims and I was fine. They also told me that, if I did start overstimming, they would probably know before I did, which was reassuring, seeing as I was expecting to have a stroke or something at any moment! Hope this helps.

Hi Rach.

I was worried about OHSS too (actually I've worried about everything to do with this process) and asked my doctor if there was anything which might help me avoid it. And he pretty much said that if you're going to get it then you're going to get it - though obviously they do try to monitor and medicate you appropriately so you don't over-stim.

I don't think going gluten free is necessary unless you have (or strongly suspect you have) an auto-immune disorder (though I can't see it would do any harm to cut gluten out even if you don't 'need' to) but my doctor did recommend that I reduce refined carbs and increase my protein and veggie intake. He also said staying well-hydrated is really important too - and is key to resolving OHSS if it shows signs of happening.

I think women with a diagnosis of PCOS are the most likely ones to get OHSS - do you know yet why you're unable to conceive? Or are you just getting started with the testing process?

Hello rach and welcome- isn't city fertility linked to gennet???

Welcome Rach, you've come to the right place. Have you got a diagnosis?

I've never heard of that clinic sorry but I'm in the North East. Most of us are down South so someone will have. Someone went gluten free too, maybe Res?

Best of luck anyway. Which protocol are you on? Are you NHS?

Hi there,
Thought I might join in if that's ok? About to start IVF privately after 2 years of TTC. Got first meet in a couple of weeks. Hardest journey I've ever been on so I really feel for all of you.
So worried about OHSS - saw something about going gluten free, what was that about?
Also, does anyone know anthing about a clinic called City Fertility?

Res, I'm so sorry to read your sad news XXXX