IVFers thread

Coggy - not sleeping well either. Maybe we can have an all night party in the 2ww house?!

It's so annoying as I'm totally exhausted now.

Injection yesterday was ok but it is going to be such a pain to have to go to the GP every single day which is disruptive for work and means all my mornings with ds are screwed up if we want to go somewhere. I took ds with me yesterday for that one and he was quite fascinated by 'mummy medicine' luckily from afar so wasn't in the way. I've a lovely friend who is a nurse lined up to do the ones at the weekend so that's good.

Seabright - welcome and good luck wishes for today! Hope all goes well.

Did you all get pampered by your dh's for valentines?!

ooh...seabright...that is a good number. Hope all goes well today.

OAP...I feel fine, although I'm not sleeping very well...possibly the progesterone?? Or maybe just the whole thing on my mind....I don't know.

I keep thinking that I'm over stretching myself as I feel twinges every now and again but I know that if it was just a normal day/ time then I wouldn't even think twice about them....a bit like you and your weeing!

I have been weeing every night but that is partly because a) I am awake so there's nothing else to do and b)I am drinking gallons of water still!!
Besides I think 4 days post ET is far to early to even start thinking about symptoms!!!

Hi Seabright, welcome. Hope your transfer goes well tomorrow - was egg collection yesterday then? Five eggs fertilised is fab, you must be so pleased.

Hi,
My first posting. I am having egg transfer tomorrow. I am doing ICSI, 5 eggs fertilised and 2 (hopefully) be transferred tomorrow.

Hi all

SS - good news on the HCG front - are you a little less worried now?

Coggy - how do you feel? Glad you have 2 little embyros on board, hopefully burrowing in.

Sticki - hope the aches and pains have worn off now. What sort of sedation did they give you for GIFT?

Day...er...8 for me now I think. Am convinced it hasn't worked but then I felt mildly sick all morning which isn't usual. But this could be pyschosomatic - one month last year I was convinced I was pregnant, and indeed woke up several nights in a row needing a wee (this is how I knew something was up when I had DD) only to find that I wasn't in fact pregnant. Your body can do weird things under pressure.

LOL!
He is currently downstairs emptying the dishwasher while I MN.....he's looks after me very well.

Oh bless him Coggy - at least he is really taking an interest in it all. Would be worse the other way round. Could you spon himn a yarn that research quoted in the Lancet suggests that women who are undergoing IVF who are seriously pampered by their husbands have much higher success rates!??!

Glad your hcg is over average...it would have been worse if it was the other way round and at least the progesterone dip is easy (although a PITA) to sort out. Good news I reckon.

My DH is totally clueless with all things ttc bless him, but he is very enthusiastic. I really do hope this IVF works...actually more for him now. He will be so gutted if it doesn't.
I'll be really devastated too obviously but I will also feel really badly for him.

He hasn't asked me about testing again so obviously my minor hcg explanation was ok....however...he now keeps asking me if I can feel anything working??!!!!
Whereabouts in India am I buying his ticket to OAP??!!!

Hi all

well HCG was just over average for this stage - 599 (no idea what the unit of measure is).
My progesterone was low though so I have to restart the evil gestone injections that I was really struggling with (see earlier posts!) Not sure how low it was - she just said low not 'a bit low/ very/ worryingly' so I need to really call them again tomorrow and grill them a bit! Will then need to go back on Monday for another blood test.

Soosy - really glad you're still posting with us. How are you feeling about it all now?

Coggy - is your dh driving you crazy?!? I like the idea of keeping him busy with the cleaning. Or get him to search on Google for more info on IVF and when you can start peeing on sticks (given he is a bit clueless about this clearly! )

Sticki - how are you?

TRQ - How are you doing? Good to see you. You have such a good way of describing the magic that Im relying on. Thanks. Yes, its more invasive (sore and tired today) but not a huge amount more money (esp not when compared to another failed ivf cycle or pgs etc).

ss - hope you are doing ok today? I remember waiting for my hcg results with huge anxiety (biting my nails). They usually phone about 5-6pm with blood results for injections or can they do it earlier?

Soosy - no I dont think we have burnt down the house yet. Hope your acupuncture helping and your not feeling too sore with the sh*tty af. Glad to see you back in now and again.

Coggy - bless your dh! (Or hide him in the cupboard under the stairs for the next 2 weeks!). Hope you manage to distract him - but something like 24 or the west wing from Amazon to keep you going?

OAP - Day 7! Getting there! When does your DH get back? Dont worry about being snappy - you have lots on your mind. Impressed you are not snappy with DD - sadly I have been today which makes me feel v guilty.

Take care all

Sticki - I looked into GIFT too. I was told that, in suitable cases (e.g. where the fallopian tubes are open), it can be more effective than IVF, but that it tends not to get recommended, in part because it's more invasive and therefore more costly. My specialist said that one of its suspected advantages is that, whereas with IVF the fertilised egg ends up in the womb sooner than it would do naturally, GIFT allows the egg to stay in the snug environment of the fallopian tube for its preferred amount of time before making its leisurely way to the womb when ready to implant.

I also know of ZIFT, a mixture of IVF and GIFT, where the egg is fertilised in the lab but then put back into the fallopian tubes instead of the womb. (It's strange: I studied all these technologies as part of my degree 20 years ago and NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS did I think they would be relevant to me!)

But, never mind the technology! As Coggy says, we just want you to be one of the 40%!

Best of luck!

xx

Soosy, glad you are still around. Would GIFT be an option you could consider? It is interesting isn't it as an idea - no good for me as I only have one tube left and that doesn't work at all and is blocked from here to eternity, but sounds a good idea in practice?

SS - glad you have got to today safe and sound. Its funny what you can fix on to worry about isn't it? I was convinced DD was ectopic for weeks last time.

Coggy - would suggest sending your DH to India where he can keep mine company. Best place for them if they can't be calm and helpful!

Sticki - hope yesterday went well for you. Do you know how many eggs you had?

This day 7 I think for me, depending on how you count. Am driving myself mad with symptom spotting for the last couple of days, but am very snappy with everyone apart from DD so think I am premenstrual. Roll on the weekend.

Hello everyone, hope the house is ok and you haven't burnt it down in my absence! Thank you for all your messages.
Coggy keep your DH busy with housework and threaten more should he mention the word test in the next 10 days, that should do it!
SS I am sure your test will be fine tomorrow, sometimes your HCG levels indicate whether you are expecting twins or not....
Had some acupuncture today, But suffering a huge af, which makes me wonder... No decisions made yet, but the acupuncture, still on. I suppose its a question of IVF or IUI and the frozen embryos, but we can think for a while.

I'll look in on you all soon.

Love S x

SS...as much as possible try not to worry.
I'll be thinking of you tomorrow.
X

I am now worried about my DH!!
I don't know how he is possibly going to survive the next 2 weeks as he asked me today if I could do a pg test yet??!!!
Bless him......how on earth is he going to keep calm??!!!!

Hi all

Coggy - hope you are managing some rest....!

Sticki - that's so interesting about GIFT - after hanging out on the boards of an infertility support website I thought I was pretty aware of most infertility terminology/ treatments but until now didn't what GIFT actually was. It sounds fascinating that it can work where standard IVF fails.

OAP how are you doing?

Hi to everyone else.

Off to the clinic tomorrow for bloods - will let you know when I get the results - presumably in the afternoon although I'm not sure how much a single HCG test tells you given it's the progression that counts. Have convinced myself it's a chemical as all symptoms gone. But we'll see!

Yes I'm fine. All went well yesterday but I didn't really feel like I wanted to post positive news after hearing about Soosy IYKWIM.

Both embryos divided ok. One was better than the other but the embryologist said that they were both suitable for transfer so that was, again, a massive relief to hear.

I am now trying not to do anything unecessarily strenuous but have managed to bake some rather yummy choocy biccies which I would love to be able to share with you all!!!! (And put on the table next to the red wine and toblerone for Soosy.)
I normally don't do baking....could be my new hobby to get through the next 13 1/4 days!!!!!

Sticki...I am very interested to hear about GIFT. I had no idea how different it was to IVF. I guess you only really know about the processes you are going through...there are so many different routes and combinations aren't there? My DH was most bemused when the nurse asked if we were having ICSI!! Of course he'd never heard of that before cos he's had no need to!!!
I seriously hope you are in that 40%.
X

Yes, a very sad little house. Not at all the same without soosy on the sofa.

OAP - I know what you mean about being impatient. IVF (or infertility) seems to just be one long waiting game.. waiting to start, scan, inject, collect, transfer... etc. It is torture! Hope you are feeling ok about it now - ticking off the days.

You asked earlier why we are doing GIFT. (GIFT is the forerunner to ivf used when they couldnt culture embryos - they collect the eggs then put eggs and sperm together in fallopian tubes.) When talking to Mr Serhal at UCH he talked about some recent research (backing up his own experience) that has shown when there have been repeated failures (6+ cycles)to get pg in ivf gift can work (0% pg rate in ivf blastocyst transfer vs 40% in gift). Some kind of magic can happen and the fallopian tubes support embryos that wouldnt make it when cultured. So we are hoping for some of that magic!

SS- Hope you are doing ok. Fingers crossed for Wed. Well done on your potty/accident ratio - looks like you are on the way. Damn hard work though I know! 3 months on and I had to deal with a big puddle in our local library today!

I agree the 16+6 is ridiculous but I guess they want to be absolutely sure you will get a line or level on the hcg when they do test. Ive been told to wait 18 days this time... haha Ive never got past 10 days after transfer before.

Coggy - how are you? How did today go?

Soosy - hope you are ok (if you are lurking). More hugs and I'll leave you a huge toblerone mountain and a lovely glass of red wine to try to bolster your spirits).

Sad little house today, isn't it?

Coggy - how did today go?
Sticki - best of luck for tomorrow

I really can't deal with this waiting for much longer - I am such an impatient person at the best of times, and can't deal with waiting for stuff, Am vacillating between being sure I am pregnant and then equally convinced I'm not. Roll on the weekend!

Soosy Im so so sorry to hear that af turned up. Pants pants pants
Take care of yourself.
big hug

Oh Soosy...I feel terribly sorry for you and your DH.
Can you leave decision making for a while until you get your head round this?

((hugs)) from me.
X

Soosy, am very sorry to hear this. Best wishes in whatever you decide to do going forward
Hugs

Soosy I'm so sorry to hear this.
A large hug for you.
SS x

Hello everyone sounds as though everybody is having a fab weekend. Sadly I shall be moving out of the 2ww house as af showed up today. Really really upset this time as I thought with 2 grade ones and hell of a lot of acupuncture this would have been my lucky chance.

DS not well either and I have to say it has been hard work this last cycle. I really don't know what to do next. We have two vials of donor sperm left and the 3 or 4 frozen embryos.
Whilst I have no problem with the embryo transfers and don't want to abandon the last two vials of sperm, and feel I should at least try to have a sibling for DS, but I am not sure about anymore IVF either. Tough decisions ahead. I hope the rest of you have better outcomes I will look in and see how you are doing.

Lots of love

Sticki - good to see you back on. Will be waiting for you in the 2ww house (I guess you could say I'm in the annex bit now) on Tues! There are loads of pee sticks in the loo, decaff tea and coffee in the kitchen.

The whole 16 day thing is weird to me. I don't understand at all why they say I still officially have to wait 16 days even though I had a day 6 transfer! I understand why slightly longer is better as the result is more reliable but 16+6 is silly and prolonging my torture!
I'm going in Weds am for my HCG as long as nothing dramatic happens before then and I should get the result back that day.

What day transfer do you think they will go for or will it depend on the number of embryos etc? I think Mr S does like blastocysts doesn't he.

Just had lovely dinner out with dh and ds (who was v v well behaved). Had to put ds in a nappy really though as a bit early in the process to expect him to use restaurant loos etc. But he's managed about 7 or 8 wees in the potty this weekend and only 2 accidents which I think is a pretty good start!

Goodness it will be a crowded house next week, how lovely. Shall get the welcome mat fluffed up in readiness for Coggy and Sticki.

Sticki - sorry to ask this if you have answered before (as we are on 12 pages now, and don't have time to re-read all!) but what is the rationale behind GIFT? I guess it gives everything a better chance as there isn't that artificial period for eggs etc in the lab, but why was it recommended to you? Don't they worry about multiple births etc?