IVFers thread

Hi sooty and soosy I'm fine - have been away for the w/e at a hen do. Got blood test on tues and start fsh injections on thurs if all's well on tues.
sooty I'm sure your eggs are fine - though I haven't a clue what's good/bad/average

Thanks Soosy, yes there seems to be so much chance involved in it all doesn't there? And you never know when your luck's in (or out). Have you moved house yet?

Sooty don't worry about the eggs you only need one! I produce so many eggs, but I don't get pg very often. So more eggs don't necessarily mean success. I have a friend who on two cycles had none. Keep calm.

I had my first seven day scan today - apparently there were four small eggs and they have increased my dose of drugs.

Does anyone know if that's it? Four eggs? Are you likely to grow more or will the drugs just develop these four more?

I was hoping to have more but I the woman before me only had two growing so I guess I can't complain. . . it's just that I have heard that the more eggs the greater the chance of success - is this an old wives tale ?

How are your drugs going nomore? Haven't heard from you for a while, hope that means you are feeling better. .

swerve
Nothing much to report here - I seem to have hit a bit of a quiet patch. Got blood test on tues coming and start fsh a week today if all goes well at blood test. Off for a hen w/e this weekend.

Hi Swerve, could you explain to me the process for having a frostie implanted? I was just wondering what the protocol and timeframe was . . . ?

um, I think people react differently. I often got sick (a thumping cold) but my worst reaction was complete short-term memory loss. Goldfish-like. At least so dh tells me. I can't remember much about it

Yes, this weather is certainly lifting my spirits.

Can I ask, now that I am on the Menopur is it normal to get hot flushes and nausea? I am also really tired . . .

Hi all. I hope you all had happy, sunny long weekends and that's why everyone's been silent.

Nomore, how are you getting on? and you Sooty? I hope all those injections aren't too bad.

I'm now being monitored for the frostie transfer. another scan on Friday. Hopefully it will all happen in 2 weeks. oh, the joys of waiting!

Hi gals, yes soosy, I already felt some 'movement' in my abdomen after my first injections last night. Gave me some serious insomnia too - but I'm not sure if that isn't just anxiety about 'the next stage'. One of the other stresses for me is that my much younger sister (32) is pre-menopausal and basically 95% infertile. Hoping to become pregnant myself gets all mixed up with her pain. And because she is also quite competitive with me it will be even harder for her. So in a funny way it will be a double edged sword if it does happen.

Sooty, you will feel much better once you start the FSH injections, but you may also feel very full after about five days, it is your follicles growing, if you don't feel it either don't worry it doesn't mean that the drugs aren't working. Good Luck.

NoMore, Hypno CD very good I have one too, I get so relaxed that I fall asleep! If you can try and listen to it before and after Embryo Transfer too, as the more relaxed you are then the better.

I am keeping everything crossed for you two... Have a good weekend.

soosy thanks for your advice - I really don't know how you manage to keep going through this if. You're amazing. I am gonig to try and relax - DH has been sending me to have long soaks in the bath and telling me to listen to my hypno cd! I can't stop thinking about it but will make the effort to try to.
sootyk Great advice for moving - we have also moved loads (DH in the forces) but 18 months ago we bought our own place. The other thing that makes you throw away loads of stuff is having to pack, load, unload, unpack all your stuff yourself. I found myself being much more ruthless when I knew I was the one who would be loading/unloading all the boxes from the van rather than having removal men!

I started my withdrawal bleed yesterday and some of the pmt symptoms are fading off (the emotional bits) so that's good. Still got a stressy headache, but that may well be down to being so stressed. Did I tell you my job's being re-evaluated at the moment too? Couldn't have come at a worse time!

Oh soosy, if only we could exchange tasks - you seem an expert at all this and I am an expert at house moves . . . here and back from 0z three times and also as a renter of 20 years . . . need I say more. My advice for moving is simple. Throw out heaps - how to do this? Three criteria 1. Is it beautiful? 2. Is is practical? 3. Is it of sentimental value? Now the catch is that in order to keep it, you must satisfy 2 out of 3 criteria. Not just 1, don't cheat. Good luck.

I am stating my menopur today, feeling quite optimistic and happy to be getting going - though still a bit stressed about the three injections. It will be a relief though after a month of suprefact injections to know the end is in sight, especially as DP (Darling Partner) is phobic and will have nothing to do with them - bless him. Apart from that he is a solid rock of support so can't really fault him.

Good advice about the wine, I have been moderate, but from what I can tell the only influence of wine on conception seems to be in terms of potentially playing around with your hormones - and I think the drugs are well and truly in charge of that right now. There is so much nonsense out there on the web about alcohol, it's as if they think we are too stupid to understand the difference between TTC and implantation/PG.

And nomore - you are lucky about it happening quickly at least - we had to wait 6 months for our cycles, and as I am now 39 that was quite hard - kept thinking we should go private anyway. But we didn't so here we all are . . .

NoMore, is there anything you do to help you relax and take your mind off things. I really know that this is probably a really stupid thing to say but anything including wine that helps you relax will be a good thing. you are more likely to conceive if you are relaxed and drink a glass of wine a night than it you cut it out completely before your 2WW. As I understand it from my consultant the key is too be relaxed, and I have to say the two times I have been PG I was v calm. I just don't want you to get soo stressed out, whatever happens it will be a shock. So just try (and this is really hard) to treat it as if nothing is happening.

I am thinking of you and trying to follow my own advice!, getting v stressed about house move.

I think DH and I are putting a lot of pressure on ourselves - I keep saying the chances of it not working are higher than it working, but I don't believe myself! I expect to crash completely if this doesn't work, though we hope to have the embryos and the money to do a couple of frozen cycles later this year. Am worrying myself sick about so much of this - I think the headaches are partly stress as well as a side-effect of the drugs.
RE NHS: though we only get one go I am impressed at how quickly it's all happened, I was really expecting to be told we'd have to join the back of a long waiting list for the ivf.

It doesn't really get any easier emotionally, well not until I had DS. Now I just look at him and realise how lucky I am to have him, but I still worry about him not having a sibling (main motivation for having no2, as I now feel I have been pg and given birth) but I know talking to only children that I am probably worrying for no reason. But my last cycle failure hit me hard we had a perfect score two grade one eight cell embryos, not bad for a babe hitting forty next year, and four to freeze. Physically it is never fun.

I am sorry I can't be more optimistic, you just learn to cope with it better and hiding your misery. Girl friends are a blessing, including those who have children. But girls I have complete faith in both of you, statistically you have to both get PG and it will happen.

Hi nomore, sounds like you haven't done so well from your primary care trust as we have - the old NHS lottery - it makes me very grateful. The money is still a big issue though, we have put off buying a house because we have decided to make our deposit available for IVF if we need it, fingers crossed neither of us will, but I do feel like you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to succeed first time round.

Hang in there, my symptoms have really gotten a lot better in the last few days, I have no idea why but I am not complaining!

Hi sootyk I would like to think of it as a 4-6 cycle treatment but this is the only one the NHS are paying for so I want it to be this one! We can afford more but it will take us time to save the £££ (hopefully we'll get some to freeze so it'll be cheaper)

This has all come up on us very quickly (I know I shouldn't complain) - when the clomid didn't work the gynae said well we've done all we can here, it's time to refer you for ivf. I asked about iui but gynae said you'll only get nhs funding for 1 'go' whether that's ivf or iui and iui has the same sucess rate over 5 cycles as ivf has for one. That's a brief paraphrasing of what he said but we saw him end of Jan when clomid hadn't worked and ivf hospital were contacting us by the middle of Feb to sort out baseline scan/blood tests etc. Can't help but feel we've been swept along in a tidal wave without any warning! It's only now that the hugeness of this has really hit me.

Morning all, hope you are feeling better nomore. I agree with what you are saying with IVF and the realisation that it isn't going to happen naturally. I had four rounds of IUI previously and I think that helped prepare me. My doctor says it is best to look at IVF as a 4-6 cycle treatment (if you can afford it) because the statistics hold for that long - ie a equal chance for each cycle. I am trying to think about it as a long haul rather than a cycle by cycle attempt. And Soosy, you have had a lot of cycles haven't you? At what point did you find it easier?

As for adoption, I can't help but think if I am successful I almost need to give something back. It weighs on me that I am going to such lengths and expense (or the NHS is at this stage) and yet there are still so many children out there that need looking after. I have found myself very aware of calls for adoption from overseas, or for older children and I wonder if this will pass. I guess it just seems like such an intervention and although I don't see it as selfish, it makes me question it all I guess. . .

You're spot on there soosy about the "final realisation that conceiving was going to be tough and the not knowing what is going to happen" I think also (without sounding too over dramatic I hope) that there's also an element of grieving for your body not being able to do what it's meant to. One of the things someone said to me on Mon that made me cry was that we just needed a bit of help and I snapped that it was more than just a bit - my body was crap and I was useless!
I really didn't realise quite what a nightmare rollercoaster I'd got onto with the IVF - I was just relieved when the gynae said he'd refer us that something was going to happen (I was worried he'd say keep trying naturally)

Yes, we did think about adoption, until one person told me that at the age of 32 and DH 38 we were too old to adopt a child under three in this country. We would have to go abroad. I have thought about it vaguely since DS as well but it's not so easy as we have to spend time abroad waiting for it all to go through and I am not sure that it is fair on DS.

I cried the whole way through my first cycle of IVF, it wasn't not only the drugs it's the was the final realisation that conceiving was going to be tough and the not knowing what is going to happen. You feel v vulnerable. My advice have a glass of red wine. headaches I'm not so good at!

It doesn't seem to help with the headaches though I'm getting a bit hooked on 4head - it helps a bit (temporarily at least)

Don't be afraid of the paracetamol!

I just feel so down and tired I have been having headaches, but headaches alone wouldn't normally stop me. Think I will sit it out for a few days and see if it gets better or worse. Not helped by the fact that there are lots of other stressful things happening in mine and DH's lives at the moment as well as the IVF...I know it'll all be worth it in the end though