abc IVF experience sharing - 2021/2022

@Mazzaroo2022. So sorry its not going as planned but like Milly said you're still in with a chance! Really do hope it works for you try and stay positive! And like you said you may be able to get in with the NHS. I rang mine last week and they've told me there's a huge back log of appointments, so even though my HSG was in Nov, they're saying my follow up appointment won't be till at least MAY! WTH. Glad I went private now.

Thanks @Millymillymillymillymilly thats super helpful! I do have a frostie but the grade isn't as great as the one that was transferred so i'm literally in a pickle and not sure what to do. But like i said i have my follow up Friday so will see what the Dr says. I feel like I would rather have a medicated cycle as my body is obviously not doing what its meant to naturally lol so i'd rather be on meds. I don't even mind the injections now, I just want a proper protocol where they check everything thoroughly.

I didn't have a paper given where they track follicles? But maybe that's because everything was so rushed for me in terms of egg collection being booked so quickly. I will ask on Friday to see what it was but like you said maybe frozen is better as they have more control over the process. Sounds like what i need! Although I got my peak today so I'm secretly hoping for a bfp naturally 😂

Hope your pregnancy is going well, did you try anything in your 2ww like pomegranate juice? or brazil nuts etc? Wishing you a happy and healthy 9 months! Thanks for creating this thread x

@star2022 I'm so sorry, I was wondering how you got on. One in the freezer though so fingers crossed that one is meant to be.

I got off to a great start but unfortunately it all went downhill today. I got 12 eggs which I was delighted with, 8 fertilised, and in day 3 5 of them were normal 6 cells or above. So I went in for my 5 day transfer this morning thinking I'd surely have 2 of the 5 make it to blastocysts. Unfortunately, none of them did. 1 of them was a morula, so a day 4 even though it was day 5. They transferred this and said they would keep the rest until day 6 in case they catch up... But I don't have much hope. During the transfer I asked about my lining and I was told it gets thicker and thicker and they don't measure it at this point. It really annoyed me as if there is a problem it may not! I feel like I should have pushed more.

I've already made a plan to push for my NHS round next as most likely this round will be unsuccessful. I think now having realised injections are the easy bit that I would be happy doing the long protocol. I had 4 eggs massively ahead of the rest so I think long might suit me better and get more eggs. I'm not sure ABC would change much in their protocol and I'd be keen to try something different next time, so hopefully the NHS will finally come through.

Hi everyone! Congrats @Millymillymillymillymilly that is amazing news!!! So happy for you! Thanks for tip on lining!

@Mazzaroo2022 i really hope you're getting on ok!

So unfortunately mine failed, had to take some time off to process things as I started spotting 2 days before my test date so I was already prepared for the negative outcome and then had a 7 day long AF to top it off. I have my follow up with the Dr this Friday to find out more, but to be honest with the way my cycle went I wasn't very hopeful. I feel like it just started off badly just because of how i responded to the meds.

With that being said I still have 1 frostie, which we can do a FET for hopefully but I have a lot of questions for my follow up as I wasn't told anything regarding my lining, or progesterone levels etc during the whole process. And having started spotting despite being on progesterone, I can only think that my levels weren't high enough to begin with.

Does anyone know the timeline for FET? And the meds they use? Is it a medicated cycle?

I understand the first one is always a bit of trial and error but just wondering if anyone knows how flexible ABC are with their treatments? Like would they add additional meds if necessary? Or are they quite stuck on 'mild ivf' ? I'm contemplating whether to move clinics or try again. I'd rather pay for more meds/blood tests if I needed it than just trying another mild cycle and hoping for the best.

@Carolineanne the injections really aren't that bad at all honestly. The Bemfola is a prefilled pen which is tiny and it just feels like a scratch. The cetrotide is fiddly to make up but its fine too. OH did all my injections for me - i used an icepack before and after to prevent pain/bruising!

Good luck to you all!

[quote Millymillymillymillymilly]@Carolineanne I don't believe they do at abc.:) Good luck![/quote]
Thank you ! Starting the process on 23rd March when period comes ! How bad are the injections for anyone who has done it ? Hoping to only have to do one round ( please god!) has anyone got any good tips on what to eat or things to do during the process to increase chances of pregnancy ? I have a 2 year old naturally but have had 3 early miscarriages back to back so hoping ivf will just get me one more pregnancy and then will never have to deal with this again ! Secondary infertility like all infertility really sucks . Will def ask about the lining that’s a really good tip. Best of luck ladies ❤️

@Millymillymillymillymilly Congratulations!!!! So delighted for you. Thanks for the good advice. My lining was going up from scan to scan but I'll make sure I find out what it is when I have my transfer on Tuesday based on your experience x

@Carolineanne They didn't at ABC St.Paul's. You just had to fill in a covid questionnaire each time you came in and they checked your temperature. Fingers crossed you'll be ok. Is it soon? Good luck! X

Hi all do they test for covid before egg collection - just worried incase I catch covid and have to cancel or do u have to bring a neg test or anything ! The stress !

Hi all, hope all of your cycles are going well. I had my egg collection today and was so impressed with the care I received. I was a bit apprehensive as I felt my treatment call was rushed (although I did flag this and they said it would be investigated as 15 .ins is far too short) and they were slow to sort out my prescription (definitely chase if you haven't heard anything from the pharmacy within 48 hours).

I'm taking it easy today but honestly don't have any pain so far, just quite bloated. I was told based on my amh they would get a max of 8-9 eggs even though I had 18 follicles at the end.... But in the end they got 12 eggs! So I'm really delighted.

@star2022 I started on Bemfola 150 as well but ended up taking it for agessss as they wanted smaller follicles to catch up to the bigger ones. I took it for 12 days in the end. Congratulations on the 2 embryos in the end. What a massively great result after 2 eggs. I really hope all goes well with testing, but if not you have that frosty 🤞🤞

@friendlyBadger Congratulations!!!! I live for these positive stories! So happy for you.

Did anyone find their hormones went a bit mad on the progesterone pessaries? I've been fine for the injections but have heard the pessaries are worse and am a little worried. Any experience / advice would be appreciated x

@friendlyBadger OMG congratulations!! That's amazing news! how are you feeling?? It gives us all hope so thank you for sharing your result! I'm a week away from testing and its driving me mad. I have no symptoms at all, I'm 6dp3dt so maybe still a bit early.

Just to update, of the 2 eggs i had retrieved, one was a Grade 1 transferred last week (3 day transfer as I only had 2 embryos) and the other one made it to 5 day blastocyst so we've managed to get 1 frozen. It's a grade 3AB which i'm really happy with considering I did think at one point I wouldn't have any! Now I just need this one to stick, but I'll be honest I don't feel very hopeful.

Hope you're all well!

@star2022 i really struggled the last few days of the 2ww and was convinced i was out because i had no symptoms at all (my sore boobs disappeared a few days ago) but I tested today (8dp5dt with a 3BB embryo) and i got a BFP on a frer! A bit worried the line isn't dark enough though (I've had a chemical in the past) but i have my blood test tomorrow morning so not long now :)

@Piaopiao
They said the reason for down regulation was to make sure my ovaries were completely asleep and no follicles were growing at all before starting stims. She also said that it ensures that certain follicles don't soak up all of the drugs. I think that means that the drugs get more evenly spread between the follicles? But not 100%...

Hope your 2wws are going well!!!

@friendlyBadger

Hey,

Looking back at my notes, I had 2 follicles at around 16mm and 7 smaller ones between 14 and 15mm on the day before the trigger shot (28 follicles in total). I didn't have a scan or blood test on the day of trigger shot but the day before and I was concerned that they were immature, the nurse said it's fine.....

I read the trigger shot should be given when 3 follicles reach 18mm, so I didn't have a good feeling about this cycle even before the egg collection and I don't think they got it right for me. My 1st cycle was a bit better, I had 3 follicles at 19mm, 18.6mm and 17.9 mm on the trigger shot day.

Did NHS by any chance explain to you the benefits of having down regulation? Create seems to be the only clinic don't have that. There are long protocol and short protocol with down regulation (check Millymilly's note with CRGH, I think that was a standard short protocol with down regulation), with ABC, it's short protocol and no down regulation.

The protocols are so different across clinics. My E2 level was 9000 during the 1st cycle, CRGH doctor said in that case, 15 eggs were just mature enough to perform ICIS but not actually all mature. If they were all mature, the E2 level will be over 16000 (so E2 1000 means one mature egg?). I was told by ABC, E2 level over 6000 is already at risk of OHSS but CRGH doctor said they can go ahead with fresh transfer with E2 level of 16000!

Also with ABC, we had FSH only stimulation, other clinics will use combined FSH and LH stimulation, so instead of 150 ui Bemfola, for example they might use 75 ui Ovaleap plus 75 ui Menopur and duel trigger shots (ABC only use 1 trigger shot).

@friendlyBadger thanks for that info! yes its definitely an idea if I need to repeat the cycle didn't know about down regulation so its something I could definitely consider, thanks! How are you getting on in your 2WW? Will you be testing early?

@Mazzaroo2022 fingers crossed you can start soon! I didn't have any issues with my prescription - if anything they were trying to chase me and I kept missing their calls as I was at work. But glad you've got it sorted now! All the best with it! Do you know what meds you'll be starting on?

@waitingmyturn thank you that's also great advice! Hope you're doing okay? And I was on Bemfola 150. I went for my egg transfer yesterday, the only thing I found really nerve wracking was that they got me all gowned up and ready but I hadn't even had an update to let me know if the embryos were still ok (as I hadn't heard anything since finding out the 2 collected both fertilised) so i was a nervous wreck again lol.

Luckily, I had good news that both eggs were still going strong! One was a tiny bit better than the other so I had that transferred yesterday, so i'm officially PUPO! (pregnant until proven otherwise!) I also asked for a photo- to be honest I thought it was just routine that they gave it but apparently you have to request it in advance and i'm guessing there's an extra charge? But my Dr was so nice, he managed to give me a photo of my embaby ultrasound and one of my actual embryo too so I could see its cell division which was pretty surreal. OH was sad he wasn't able to come in, so i think the photo cheered him up.

So might be worth asking for one and they may give it to you!

Now the dreaded 2WW....

@Mazzaroo2022 you're welcome! They've been a nightmare to get to on the phone for me recently but I'm glad they got back to you when they said they would, and thank god you did phone and got it all sorted 😊 here's to the next steps 😄

@waitingmyturn thank you. I rang and ending up being on hold for 30 mins. Then they said someone would call me back which they did, but they said the prescription had only just been sent! Probably because I rang in the first place. First delivery slot I could get is Wednesday so lucky I chased or I would potentially have to delay another month. Can't say I've had a great experience on the treatment call either. But hopefully things will improve.

@Mazzaroo2022 not sure if it's different in different clinics but the nurse I spoke to said if I hadn't heard off the company within 48 hours to give her a ring and she'd contact them? Might be worth chasing up just incase.

Hi everyone, sorry haven't been on here for a while. I wondered how long everyone had to wait for their medication to be sent out? I paid the remaining fees on Tuesday and they said the pharmacy would be in contact within the next few days. Haven't hear anything and af is due in a week... Should I chase? 🤔

@star2022 Sorry to hear you've had such a stressful time. I can only imagine how worried you were when they said they just got 2. Was so delighted when you said they were both nature and both fertilised. It only takes one 🤞 Keeping everything crossed that you have one for the freezer as well x

@star2022 I actually had my nhs consultation today (in case my abc round fails) and they were talking about wanting me to take buserelin to down regulate before starting stims because it switches off the ovaries and means the follicles grow at the same time when the stims start (so in theory should get more eggs). My NHS protocol is the long protocol whereas I think we did short protocol with ABC. Anyway hopefully you won't need to think about future rounds but thought I'd share just in case it was helpful/reassuring! All the best

@star2022 congrats on the two fertilised, that's promising! How are you feeling?

Not sure on the drugs either I'm afraid but something to phone and ask the nurse maybe? What dose of Bemfola were you on? Maybe if you needed to do it again they could start you slower on a lower dose?

Had my consultation to start again in March and they're changing me from Bemfola to menapur? (Spelling might not be right on that) from what I can see online it helps with the maturing of the eggs but could lower the overall number of eggs, so again if you needed to do it again it seems different medication is an option too

Thanks so much @Piaopiao. That's really interesting about how a C grade can improve quality. That's really frustrating about your blast rate. Do you know what size the follicles were when you triggered? I've heard of people responding differently to different protocols so hopefully CRGH will be much better for you.

@star2022 I'm afraid i don't really know but i would have guessed that they might be able to grow them more evenly with different drug protocols? Or I'm guessing some clinics might have let the dominant ones over ripen in order to get more of the smaller follicles? that's just my guess. i only really had 2 follicles that were growing on my first 2 scans. I was a slow responder so they upped me to 225 for the rest of the round (collection was day 14) and this made 5 more grow (although I ended up with 4 mature eggs in the end). It's frustrating you only got 2 eggs but good that they were both mature and both fertilized. Hopefully it's quality over quantity! Good luck 🤞

Hi all sorry I've been MIA been such an overwhelming week that I just didn't expect!

So to cut a long story short, I started on Bemfola 150 last week Monday and my first scan was booked in for Friday morning. So there I was expecting some small follicles nicely growing, to only find the nurse going quiet as she did my scan. Turns out, after just 4 days of stims I had 2 dominant follicles already at 15/16mm 😳 and one smaller one at 7mm - obviously not what I wanted to hear at all especially after having 15 follicles at my baseline ultrasound.

Does anyone know if this means I responded poorly to Bemfola? Or did i respond too well too quickly? Was it too high for me? Can't find any info on this at all as its unheard of.

Anyway, she said we'd need to book egg collection as they didn't want to risk losing those 2 dominant follicles. My anxiety was through the roof as you can imagine as i wasn't prepared for it to happen so quick and I kept thinking are they even going to be mature having only stimmed for less than a week!?

I was told to start cetrotide that evening, and my trigger was planned for Sunday 21:30pm.

My egg collection was yesterday and they were able to retrieve 2 eggs as planned which of course I was grateful for but still really disheartened that there's only 2. I've started antibiotics for 3 days and have begun my progesterone pessaries too.

On top of this, my OH sample yesterday was showing low motility but the embryologist said it's still within the range for ivf and that icsi won't be necessary. So all night we both tossed and turned thinking maybe we should have just pushed for icsi? Anyway, we had the call this morning that both eggs had been fertilised thankfully and they have now booked us for transfer on friday which is a 3 day fresh transfer. If they make it to the 3 days, one will be transferred and the other they will leave for 5 days and then freeze.

To say its been an overwhelming week full of anxiety is an understatement. I'm still on edge expecting the worse and thinking we will turn up on friday and they will say they didn't make it. I really didn't think it would be this hard so i commend anyone who's been through this journey several times!

Hope my journey helps anyone reading, and anyone deciding on abc to go for it as the service has been incredible. To be honest, i've only actually had 1 blood test done at abc and all my appointments and scans have been with Create anyway.

Hope you're all getting on okay whatever part of the process you are at!

@friendlyBadger

Hey,

BB grade embryos is good to fair quality so please don't worry. I would be more than happy to transfer a B grade embryo but sadly mine is 4CC which is actually poor with very few cells.

There are lots of successful stories with B grade embryo or even C grade embryo and sometimes perfect A grade embryos just don't implant for no obvious reasons. I read a paper that says if a C grade embryo is still growing, it might well turn into a higher grade embryo on the next day and once it implants, it makes no different to the higher grade embryos but it can also go the other way either stop growing or higher chance of not surviving thaw.

Actually I decided not to transfer my embryo not just because of the quality itself, it's because my blast rate is so low (1 out of 5 plus poor quality, I used donor sperm which was perfect quality) makes me really worried that the general quality for the eggs collected this time is just not good and not mature enough. I also have a day 3 grade 1 10 cells in the freezer from this cycle, if both FET fail I will lose another 6 months. So I thought I could just do another cycle with a different clinic and can always come back to these two embryos if I need to later on.

Fingers cross for your embryo transferred!

@Millymillymillymillymilly

Hey,

Thanks so much for sharing! Yeah have to say the process with ABC is so easy. CRGH's FET process is more complicated than ABC's stimulation process. lol

I have seen other ladies posting and there are more injections even after FET up to 12 weeks....Honestly not looking forward to my 3rd cycle treatment but like you said, things we have to do! I just don't have much fat on me, tried thigh once and it really hurts and had to change back to belly area. I can't even use the injection needle in the cetrotide box, it's too long for me and had to ask for the smallest needles from the nurses.

I just booked a consultation with CRGH for the 8th of March and let's see what is my new treatment protocol. Fingers crossed for your FET and hope it all goes smoothly.