Bus 9 - Donkey Cart departing soon, all aboard with ivf, pcos, endo, sub/unexplained fertility jump on

I’ll add the Bus 10 link for any latecomers
@Marvellouslymadmum

Hello everyone

I still keep losing this thread! Gosh @thislittlebird that is close now. I hope it all goes well for you. Fabulous news!

I'm very pleased to be able to share my good news, too. I'm currently 15+3 weeks pregnant using a donor egg. It's taken a long time to get to this point, nearly 6 years now! And not at all the outcome I would have chosen for us but here we are. We are fortunate that technology has moved on enough that this was an option for us. And very fortunate that we have a loving family who've been able to support us.

We're due in October and so far I've had a fairly easy ride I think with minimal nausea. There's a few niggly things like constipation and mild incontinence which aren't ideal but as I'm high risk I am ticking along fairly well.

@kerrym87 oh god, that sucks. It’s such a pain when you’re trying to get to the next one and everything goes wrong. Sorry to hear about your grandad, hope you’re doing ok.

Let us know how you’re getting on with the prolactin and definitely ask the clinic!

@Marvellouslymadmum annoying about the appointment but good that you’re moving in finally!

I’m ok, 35 weeks tomorrow so it’s all getting a little too real. We’re sorting the house out and moving everything around to make room. I have leftover packs of cyclogest free to anyone if you want to pay just for postage? not sure how much yet but I’ll dig it out and count the packs soon.

@thislittlebird not yet. So my cycles are well delayed, this time thanks to 2 viruses and being unwell 3 out of past 5 weeks, grandads death (was at hospital and sorted medical stuff while I was there), funeral and work stress 😬 also got my prolactin tested as I've had intermittent 'lactation'like colostrum since I had implant in. Was told it was side effect but have not had implant in since 2019. Twigged I should probably ask my clinic as private more receptive as withh stress it's got worse. Waiting for result to see whether can start FET meda in couple of weeks time or if I need to have meds for prolactin first. 😒 how are you getting on x

Sorry for the very delayed reply @kerrym87. How are you getting on? Did the FET go ahead?

@Lauralozzle @Marvellouslymadmum hope you’re ok too

What's people experience of fet? Looking at April but they're suggesting medicated, which makes sense as my cycles are well scrambled for months after ivf. However, I am concerned that the transfer date would not correspond with when my natural ovulation and embryo 'arrival' into my uterus would be. My lining usually responds quickly and well to oestradiol and the embryo will go in after 5 days progesterone. Will it make a difference when it goes back as theyre giving fyremadel to stop natural ovulation? It made a big difference with my last ivf cycle when they started stims (all different drugs) and collected a little later in the cycle

@kerrym87 still, 3/4 is a very good outcome!

@thislittlebird 4, this was all that was usable from 25 eggs and 13 fertilised

@kerrym87 3 euploid is great news, I’m really pleased for you. How many did you test?

@thislittlebird we've got 3 euploid and one mosaic but worth freezing at moment. Glad you're getting more support x

@kerrym87 gp gave me details for mental health and then midwife finally listened to me after a few appointments of being ignored. This was a different one and I’ve asked if I can see her again. She followed up with me at 6.30 Friday evening to say I couldn’t be offered more scans in this area (same for being consultant led) but she had referred me to the birth choices people. It’s just nice to finally talk to someone who doesn’t seem to be just ticking boxes. I think London probably has so many older and ivf mothers that they changed the rules here so they didn’t have to offer as many scans and referrals, that’s my guess anyway.

How was your PGT-A testing? I didn’t have as many eggs as you, but I know it’s frustrating getting plenty of eggs but not getting many embryos.

@Marvellouslymadmum tmi warning, but since the ivf worked I’ve had none of the vaginal irritation that I’d been having each month for a year or two. I know I’d said to you before I wasn’t sure if it was thrush or bv, or ph balance etc. so I’m guessing this means it’s was my oestrogen levels dropping off as I got older (and now they’re high again). I’ve not had it at all since august. I’m hoping if we get to take a baby home I will be able to chill a little about these sorts of things, they are probably early perimenopause symptoms for me.

@Marvellouslymadmum I had to stop as I was trying to look at every eventuality and the costs were just scaring me...I got very overwhelmed. We've just considered our next step after but not how to do it.
Results are We've got 3 euploid and one which is mosaic but still worth freezing at this point. We'd need genetic counselling if we want to transfer that one and the type of chromosome deletion it has in some cells I've come across once befire and it caused some major health. All depends whereabouts on that chromosome the deletion is. We've got more hope and chance than we've ever had before although not guaranteed.

Hi everyone, I'm sorry my brains scrambled so I can't remember who said what for every person even though I keep looking!
I had antibodies etc back and all were negative, kind of helpful but also frustrating we didn't have anything to run with.
We're getting results of our 4 embryos pgta testing when hubby gets home from work, 4th collection with 4 embryos out of 25 eggs 😔 quality is a major issue for us
@thislittlebird yeah it's difficult, can you access the perinatal mental health team via midwives or Tommy's counselling to help? Not that it will help but vast majority of major issues picked up ate during 12 and 20 weeks scan. The should measure your bump throughout to assess growth but if you feel you need more input I would request an appointment with your consultant as with maternal age and ivf I would have thought you would be consultant led.
@Marvellouslymadmum fingers crossed for your lap. We are planning donor if this or next cycle doesn't work but it is pricey, deffo cheaper abroad, Cyprus supposed to be good too.

@thislittlebird Thank you, it’s good to hear from you too!

A microbiome test is on the list if this transfer doesn’t work. I’ve been taking optibac for women in the thought that it can’t really do too much harm!

I am having extra progesterone tests now. So I’m down for x3 daily cyclogest but I have a progesterone test the day before transfer and if levels are below 45 I’ll then be having lubion injections. I still have some lubion after my last round.

I think blood clotting issues will be looked at if this doesn’t work. The constant mentioned pgta testing in the future but I’m not sure it’s worth it when we get so few embryos. I suppose I’ll think about that in the future.

I’ve had two egg collections so far, one transfer with the first and (hopefully) x3 with the second if this one thaws successfully.

I read about that article and the frozen embryos/eggs that might be damaged due to the faulty liquid. It’s awful.

@Lauralozzle good to hear from you! I never had ANA but I'm glad they did it for you. How many ECs have you had now? I think naturalish can be good, we did something similar, and anxious is to be expected. You sound just like I was, I couldn't face regular infertility or IVF groups because everyone seemed to have success first or second try.

It's all gone quite fast since about 16 weeks and I'm glad it offers some hope, I know what it's like to be in the RIF club. I'm trying to remember what I had/did in case it's helpful for you if you have a 4 month wait.

• Microbiome test with Fertilisys and then treatment (antibiotics, probiotics, I also treated myself for thrush and BV a week or more before transfer in case there was anything going on in there causing issues)
• I self medicated with low dose pred on embryo transfer 3 and achieved implantation. I then did the NK cells test but that came back within range. So I pushed to try low dose pred for this last attempt (embryo 7) and maybe it helped, since I achieved implantation again on it.
• Pushed for extra progesterone tests and they increased my progesterone from just cyclogest to cyclogest + Lubion (I suspect cyclogest alone was never enough for me, my progesterone is naturally low and I bled before OTD on almost all attempts)
• Also tried blood thinners (Arovi) for the last two cycles, but wasn't tested for blood clotting
• DH had DNA fragmentation and supplements to improve it, also had hidden STD tests, karyotyping (he had known motility issues)
• We tried PGT-A this time and it was our only euploid embryo, so I do suspect creating normal embryos might have been a problem for us at our age. I will say it's sort of reassuring to know this embryo was euploid. With hindsight, I'm glad it was this one that worked. I'm already worrying something might be wrong with the baby, probably because of years of IVF and infertility making me lose confidence, but so far the tests have said normal or low risk etc, and I have to try to trust that.

@Marvellouslymadmum Everything does seem to be good, it's hard to believe really, at my age and considering how long and hard it was to get here. I might pay for an extra scan, it's frustrating that they won't see me between 20 and 36 weeks for a scan.

Definitely chase them up, it's all so long. How's your partner feeling about it all?

Did you see this? https://news.sky.com/story/ivf-more-than-100-patients-at-guys-and-st-thomas-and-jessop-fertility-exposed-to-faulty-egg-and-embryo-freezing-liquid-13071515

This was where I had my first cycle, glad I didn't do any more there now or I'd have been one of these patients. I was with Lister by Oct 2022.

@Marvellouslymadmum Yes, definitely a rollercoaster. I hope so too! I agree, people think it’s all plain sailing and ivf works but it doesn’t always.

I avoid the happy, pregnant first transfer cycle groups now. I’m always the one left at the end of them and they’re just a bit demoralising now. This group is good though, cause I know you all get it, and get the disappointment of it too.

@thislittlebird 25 weeks! Wow. Your journey honestly gives me hope.