First Fertility Clinic Appointment Tomorrow

@thislittlebird yeah last time I had it done the lady told me the basics on the spot and then I had the full results the next day on my NHS app. This one just said it'll take them 7-10 days to write the report and I'll find out the results from whoever referred me there. 🤷‍♀️ Managed to book OH in for an SA next Friday though so will contact the secretary that day and tell her we've had all the tests done so could she please schedule a follow up appointment. Unless she asks me about my 8th July appointment I just won't mention it!

Weird that they didn’t tell you why they were asking @Juno231. I assume the doctor will discuss another time? Did she tell you how many follicles etc?

@PurpleUnicorn01 ah don't worry it was fine and the staff were absolutely lovely. It was at Queen Mary's in SW London

@juno231

Omg that sounds horrendous. What hospital was that? Hope you've recovered you poor thing x

Well that HSG was the most undignified thing I've done in a hospital setting so far. Raised up high on a table in a room with 3 people and naked waist down with my legs in the butterfly position so that a small Indian man could be at eye level with my fanjo lol. Highlight was him cleaning it/wiping it ahead of the procedure, fo sho. Pain wise it was better than expected but still not fun - I genuinely thought I'd poo the table from pain but luckily it only lasted about 30 seconds? That was purely the dye as well, the insertion of the catheter wasn't noticeable.

Dude said my tubes looked clear which is good. In hindsight I wanted to challenge him but my mind wasn't in the right frame for it at the time. I say this as I could see the xrays the whole time and I could very clearly see the outline of my left tube but absolutely nothing on my right? Implying the dye hadn't gone through. But he's the expert!

Ultrasound wise the lady told me nothing about how it went - she did ask some questions though which implied maybe some anomalies? Like she had to clarify with me that I wasn't on any hormonal medication (but from the tone of her voice/confused face it looked like something was indicating it - so not just a fact check pre procedure) and then double checked with me how long ago I came off the pill. So I'm not sure if she saw too many follicles/cysts or none at all (I'm in FW so should have some activity). I won't find out until my next appointment with the fertility clinic though.

Only OH's SA left to do and then next steps!

Got the SA pot through today! Checked the online appointments and they're released every Friday afternoon for the following week so the waiting times can't be too bad? Unless we ended up trying week after week without managing to get a single appointment lol.

@Juno231

We are Birmingham NHS so il will definitely try and have a look. Thank you for your help.

@dogmam hope your getting on okay

@dogmam didn't realise you were on Monday! Best of luck to you too

@PurpleUnicorn01 I think the timeline depends a lot on which hospital you're with. I know for some of the ones in London it currently takes around 2 months to apply for funding for IVF and then another 6-8 months waiting list to start it. If they make you redo blood and SA tests plus do a hycosy/hsg before they refer you for IVF that probably adds another couple of months to it I'm afraid. Definitely check the infertility board to see if there are any IVF threads relating to your local CCG? A lot of them talk through the current timelines.

I know some are combining it with private IVF in between - as a lot of the CCGs allow you two private rounds before you forfeit the NHS one. So whilst they're on the 8 month waiting list they carry on privately in the meantime and leverage off the free tests the NHS have done.

@dogmam thank you I found you all.

Hi guys, I hope you don't mind me joined. I have my first appointment in 2 weeks with gynaecology after my gp referal. Just wondering what your timescales were until you started treatment. We have been ttc for 2 years and we know he has a low count. I've had a day 21 test that's it.

Thanks all x

@Juno231 yep all clear and looking healthy apparently! I did it privately so it was a lot of money to spend to find out that absolutely nothing is wrong, but on balance I think if I hadn't done it I would always be wondering what if...

I just got a letter from the NHS saying “my referral is being reviewed”. Is that normal? They said I should hear by the 4th March but if not I need to call after that date, and they gave me a number. I guess communication from them is a start 🤷‍♀️

@Kitekat81 amazing - let's hope I feel that way too! That must mean your tubes were completely clear ?

@Juno231 I don't know about the hsg but I had the hycosy and it was absolutely fine. It wasn't any more uncomfortable than the previous internal scan I had, and I didn't have any cramping afterwards. It was all over in less than 10 minutes!

Yeah it’s really frustrating @dogmam. I just don’t trust them anymore because of it, and feel I need to second guess everything.

We had to use (what I assume is) a private clinic for his SA. On the Rhod Gilbert show he had a handy hatch to put his pot in in the room he did it in, and my husband had to take his for a walk around the London Bridge area to another building lol. He has to do another one in early March, so hopefully there’s no delay.

I chased my referral this morning and they claim it’s been done. Let’s see if a letter arrives. I don’t have high hopes based on my experiences to date, unfortunately.

Fingers crossed it’s as comfortable as these things can be @Juno231

Got my HSG this Friday which I'm starting to feel a bit nervous about.

OH still hasn't received anything about his SA so I'll make him call (somewhere?) for an update. Spoke to my friend whose OH will be having his SA redone at the same hospital and apparently their services are closed until 29th of March due to covid with a big backlog so it doesn't look good timewise...

Ew, not sure you'd want to use those magazines anyway!

@thislittlebird 🤣
Pre covid you could do it there. Just not now. It's a pain.

Interesting @paintfairy. My husband said they were allowed no porn mags because of covid.

@thislittlebird covid rules apparently

Me and my other half were also told his SA results were 'fine' by the GP and just by chance I asked the receptionist to send me a copy of them only to find they are not fine! Low motility and morphology. My 21 day bloods were fine but I've never actually been offered 3 day bloods, it's never been mentioned by my GP or the clinic.. I get spotting for a good 3 days before AF too, my fertility consultant didn't seem concerned about this when I mentioned it during our first call and she specifically asked me about my periods.<
forgot to reply to this @dogmam. Your experience sounds so much like ours. No day 3, much confusion and the receptionist dishing out incorrect results is so infuriating, they really need to start booking appointments for results right away. I asked for our results a few months later after being suspicious of no bfp and oh look! they were not in fact fine.

...in the car? Why won’t they let the guys do it in there?

@dogmam :cough: he did it in the car....🤣 They just won't let you do it there?