The WIMBEWAI(N)F Club

Evening all

Picknmix you poor thing having an evil sore throat. I am sending you virtual hot lemon and honey , some spicy chicken broth (my sure-fire sore throat killer) and some soluble aspirin for gargling purposes. I really hope you are feeling better soon. That's shit news that you can't TTC this month, but maybe a month off is a good idea. I know that whenever I am ordered to take some time off once I get over my annoyance it is actually a small relief. Also at your doctor's stupidity. Was it your GP who gave you that fabulous advice or someone more specialist? I really really wish I had the money to start a WIMBLEWAI(N)F IVF/other treatment scholarship fund to see you all (i.e. everyone on this thread) right. Re your records, can I suggest sending the hospital an Information Request under the Data Protection Act? You are entitled to see your notes, so why not get a copy and sneak off to the private doctor without telling anyone?

Caitni that sounds like a really productive meeting at the Lister. I know that IVF is a scary business but god what an utter relief to have a doctor who knows what you are going through and who can help. I'm really excited for you that things are coming together, even if you do need to have ICSI. I hope you are now resting your fingers after that epic post.

Well, some maybe news from me. Because I am at 10dpo with sore back and boobs I peed on a stick on a whim. And although it is very light I believe I see a second line. Now before we all get excited and start screaming like schoolgirls, my DH has bollocked me for "testing too early" and claimed he could not see the line to begin with. But I can. And so could my camera. But I am going to wait a few days and test again before I consider myself to be up the duff. (And thenceforce will begin my second two week wait (for a scan to check if it is in the right place - argh!). I am not going to test tomorrow because I have two interviews and will unable to concentrate if I am thinking about babies! Anyway, I shall check in with an update as soon as there is one.

Speak soon.
XX

(ps the vomming was M&S ready meal related. Not hormones)

Hi ladies

PnM firstly, you poor poor thing with tonsilitis - I suffered from that for a few years before having them out in my early 20s and it's totally horrible (once even ended up rushed to hospital with quinsy throat as was in the process of slowly suffocating!). It's so painful and you have my full sympathy - hope those antibiotics kick in good and fast! Also, gargling with one of those dissolved painkillers can work wonders with pain relief...Secondly, what a bummer about not being able to ttc this cycle, so frustrating for you ...and thirdly, at how your PCT would act if you went private! I'm amazed at how NHS care can vary as my doctors have always been like "yup, you can go private and come back into the NHS if necessary" as I've gotten the impression that for fertility stuff often the attitude is that going private takes the strain off an already under-resourced part of the NHS. I really love the NHS (compared to the shocking expense of the Irish and American systems!) but I hate to hear of your struggles to get the help you need and deserve...re the metformin, how about clomid? Or re-testing? Things being "inconclusive" for PCOS doesn't rule it out entirely. My impression from MN is that women often struggle to get a good diagnosis of PCOS so perhaps it's worth checking out the pcos website that Attila recommends (verity)

MrsH I am so hoping that you caught the egg this month [fingers firmly crossed emoticon]. That temp drop could in fact be a temp dip and that combined with the cramps could also be very good symptoms (espec after Friday's nausea!). Where are you and your DD going on hols? What with Bucky in Miami, I'm getting more and more envious of folks' holiday plans!

JollyBear so good to hear from you and to hear that your little girl's a smiling cutie too . As MrsH says we all love to be reminded of keeping our eyes on the prize!!

Bucky hope you're having fun in Miami (when we have our meet up I'll be annoying you with my peculiar Miami pronounciation as two of my closest friends had one of their best holidays ever there and I've heard so many funny stories about it that I just cannot say it out loud without a comedy "My-am-iiiii" style pronounciation!). Also hoping that you come back with some good news that the clomid's worked!!

MOB hope you're doing well and taking care of yourself. After my experience at the Lister this morning I'm keeping you as my inspiration for how right ICSI can go!!

Ei hope you're fully recovered and enjoying life

So the Lister consultation was most interesting but also quite draining. The consultant was totally lovely (MrsH I saw Dr Jaya Parikh and she put us both totally at our ease - she really seemed to "get" ftc in such a sympathetic way that I almost cried with relief to find a medical person who truly understood). I was utterly fascinated by the ultrasound. I'm literally about to ovulate from my right ovary and was loving the sonographer pointing out the dominant follicle and all the other follicles and showing me my endometrium etc. Fascinating! And also very heartening as no cysts, fibroids or anything and also loads of small follicles (she counted 17 follicles in total, including the dominant follicle) which indicates I'd probably respond well to IVF drugs but yet definately nothing to indicate PCOS. However, my DH's sperm sample was even worse than last time - down to a concentration of 7million/ml (it was 13 million/ml back in November) but with slightly better percentages of abnormal forms etc. But even with the first SA she saw she immediately said ICSI, which I must admit surprised us both. Then when today's SA came back in the midst of the consultation it was even clearer that ICSI is our best route forward (well, pretty much our only assisted conception route forward). Poor old DH was very but also tried to put a brave face on it by saying at least we have a reason. But anyway, she did say that the early m/c back in Sept was a good sign, and that all indicators are that we'd have a high chance of success at IVF/ICSI (over 70% if we could get to a blastocyst stage).

We've now decided to take it easy on things for a little while, as I don't feel emotionally or physically ready to start IVF just yet. I know that seems crazy, since all I've wanted is a baby for so long now, but I just want to take a couple of months to get my head around the idea of IVF. This is how I handle all the big events in my life (I like to spend time thinking about things!) so I went into the consultation knowing that starting IVF in 10 days was never realistic for me. I'm going to tune up (so to speak) with some weight loss and acupuncture and look to start IVF in Apr/May (post Easter anyway). She also advised trying to get as much of the bloodwork sorted at my GPs as possible (even try to get the drugs funded!), as the ICSI element adds a whole level of more costs we hadn't originally expected.

So god, sorry for the "war & peace" length of this post! Am sat at my desk feeling a bit drained by the whole day, but also strangely upbeat...hard to describe...especially after a very fun but totally exhausting weekend!

Love to you all,
Caitni xx

Oh, and just spoke to my doctor re the long wait for the fertility clinic and she has recommended that I don't go private as the pct in this area wont share my files with the private practice and they will request that I pay to have all the tests/scans etc again.

I know I have access to my own notes so I don't really understand this.

She said she wont put me on metformin as my blood tests/scans have all come back inconclusive wrt pcos.

She finished up by saying, just be patient and you'll prob be preg by the appt in June anyway.

Errrrr, right. Thanks love.

Hello all,

Apol. for non communication, am currently holed up in bed with acute tonsilitus. Was away with work all last week (had to sit through various meetings feeling like death but pretending I know whats going on - not sure I pulled it off!).

I wonder whats going on with your cycle MrsH? Sounds very strange if your temp has shot down? You have your interviews this week don't you? It must all be pretty stressful for you so I maybe thats causing a bit of havoc with your cycle.

Hope you're having a fab time in Miami Bucky?? I appreciate the pom poms the other day - am def going to have to invest in a satnav for our bambino beans at this rate if they're still shanging out somewhere. Naughty beans.

How have you been Caitni? How did the appt at the Lister go???

Nice to see you Mibbes, your little boy is a cutie . And nice to see you too JB and to hear that DD is doing well!!

How you doing Ei? Is DD's room all decorated now?

I've had the stupidest of weeks - not only have I got this tonsilitus (and the upshot of this is that I've been told by the doc that I shouldn't ttc this cycle due to the anti-b's I'm on. Is nothing ever simple?) but my car was also crashed into whilst stationary and parked outside my house.

The driver had no insurance. Great.

Then whilst we were out there inspecting the damage, another car came flying round the corner (this was when it was snowing) and crashed into the back of the car - double .

So I have spent this week sorting out insurance, a hire care, getting my car fixed. Its been a nightmare.

Good thing we;re not supposed to ttc as not sure I'd have the strength or inclination to anyway!!

Hello all, I hope you are well

Bucky are you still in Miami enjoying the sun? I have to say you are missing some of the grimmest weather in ages. I don't mind the snow too much but the rain that has come now is rubbish!

Caitni I hope your Lister consultation went ok and that you found your doctor good and reassuring. Who are you seeing there?

Jollybear it's nice to see you and to hear how well your little girl is doing. Reminds us all to keep our eyes on the prize!

Waves to everyone else.

Well this cycle is proving to be an odd one for me. We may or may not have caught the egg, but even if we did I am now 10dpo and my temp has shot waaaay down and I am having cramps. So, notwithstanding that I normally have a 13 day LP I am starting to think it is all over. I was all pukey on Friday night which made me think maybe something good was afoot but I am not that lucky! And next month DD and I are going on holiday on our own so there will be no bean in March either. Ho hum... Well, at least I don't have to go to work right now. Life could be worse!!!

Hello everyone,

Sorry for not posting for a while. I do check in to see how you are all going on but don't get as much time to post .

Ei Great to hear that the ball is rolling for you to see someone.

Bucky Miami! Wowsers! Have a great time and I'll have my fingers crossed that you come back with some good news.

PnM I was very impressed to hear you were being chauffered (sp? - see I can't even spell it, damn!) around . Your new job sounds very glam. Your wait for an appointment is just crazy. Going private sounds like the best option but it is that the NHS is so slow.

MOB Great to hear that you and the chicks are doing well. When are they due again? Sorry my mind has gone

MrsH Hope the interviews went well. Great to hear that your appointment is so soon. I really hope that you won't need it though

Caitni Good news you got a cancellation. It is rubbish that you have to go private. The difference in provision between PCTs is just stooopid.

GG Hello if you're lurking! Hope you'll pop in with some good news before too long.

DD is very well. Like mibbes (hello! )'s little man, she is a real smiler these days. I thought she'd slept through last night but DH was half asleep and told me the wrong time, it was 1.45 not 6.45!

Hi ladies

Bucky hope you're enjoying the heat of Miami! It's snowing again in Laaandon (though much lighter than Monday) so talk about the best time to go . Hope you keep getting promising symptoms

Mibbes aaaah, your little man is a total cutie! Glad to hear he's a little smiler too

MrsH good luck for the interviews next week . And thanks for the advice re doctors - have now registered with a new GP so will make an appointment there just as soon as I've been seen by the nurse .

Waves to PnM Ei (hope you're recovered now) MOB (hope the SPD's not too bad) and any lurkers.

I'm quite excited this morning as have just booked in for an initial consultatation at the Lister on Monday morning . They had a cancellation so it was either Monday or the end of Feb. It'll be another SA for DH (as recommended after his first SA), an ultrasound for me (as recommended to me by the radiologist as my next step after my HSG) and a consutltation with a consultant about what to do next [nervous but excited emoticon]. I booked it cos I was suddenly so downhearted at the prospect of waiting weeks/months for an NHS appointment (and my PCT funds only 1 IVF cycle with an 8-12 month waiting list so no way can I wait all that time!). Now it feels the ball is rolling again!

Awwww. He's lovely Mibbles

Hello ladies !

Just a quick post to say that am keeping an eye on you all when time allows. I love the comedy on this thread (Margaret Thatcher hair and welcome mats ).

Bucky have a great time in Miami (am very ). I really hope the clomid does the trick and I'm sure there won't be any Footballer's Wives hermaphrodite baby - did you see that ? And when they fake tanned the baby - hilarious !

MrsH glad to hear you are keeping your sprirts up hun and let's hope that BD was expertly timed...

Caitni booo for rubbish healthcare, hope you get registered elsewhere and get things moving ASAP - it is so bl00dy unfair that some people are made to wait and treated so poorly. Whereas hurray for Ei's new Doc

All going well here, have posted some pics of wee Evan which you may not have seen yet. Some nights we are seriously lacking in sleep but hey my wee man is worth it. Getting lots of smiles now which makes it all so worthwhile .

Caitni if I were you I would get a London GP and a referral here. You can always nip to Brighton if they come through first with your appointment, but London might not be bad.

I went to see my GP after my CP for a referral and he referred me to the UCH reproductive medicine people (NHS) using the online choose and book system. The first available appointment was only 3 weeks after I saw the GP which I thought was pretty fab. Not sure if they do IVF but they do investigate and do cycle monitoring and IUI I think. Failing that I think the Homerton has a unit. NHS referrals don't seem to take too long (GG got in quickly IIRC) but then working your way to the top of the list is a bit longer. And you can always do the private bit if need be...

I love the snow too, but have 2 interviews tomorrow. Eeeek!

Higs to all. I hope you all got a snow day too.

Hi ladies,

very quiet on here today - are you all snowed in? .

Had a stay-at-home snow day today - was working from home in the morning anyway, as was supposed to head down to Brighton for the consultant app in the afternoon. Unfortunately, all the trains were canceled so I had to cancel my appointment (apparently so many women canceled that they were planning to cancel the entire clinic anyway!). They're rescheduling so hopefully not too long a wait til I get another appointment. Though am tempted to just get in the system in London instead...what do you ladies think? Should I just find a new GP and ask for a referral straightaway?

Am kind of loving the snow - this is more snow than I've ever seen in London! - though am not looking forward to getting into work tomorrow if it keeps up. It does make everything look so lovely though...

anyway, sorry for the lack of individual hellos - am in the midst of making dinner so just grabbed the laptop off DH to grab some MN time! Hope everyone's well

xxx

Yay for your GP Ei. I am thinking of moving to where you live.

Bucky I am confused... who on earth would put a clove of garlic between their toes?

Caitni for some reason I think Mr Needles might just do something around King's Cross too (although I could be making this up!).

No news here, temps are up, egg has hatched. Now I just have to wait. Wouldn't it be sod's law if I was up the spout with no job???

hi ladies
just a quickie to say hi
i had a phone call this morning from the subfertility centre i have been referred to to inform me that my appointment is booked for 330 on 5th march! less than 6 weeks away PnM i think you should travel up here for your investigations!! they are seeming quite efficient up to now
bucky i have heard it called a welcome mat before aswell mine is out of order at the mo so no mat out to welcome anything
i went back to see my gp and she gave me new antibiotics as they had my test results back already it had been 3 days!! in my last gps you had to fight for your tests and wait over a week for the results!! i am very impressed with my new surgery they are rather good
hope everyone else is doing well
xx ei xx

Bucky chuckle at your record-breaking CM - love the TMI of this thread . Very wise saving yourself for Miami!

I had a lovely grown up London day checking out auction houses around the Kings Road (I practically never venture as far west as Chelsea) before heading to Warren Evans in Shoreditch for a friend to buy a new bed (I used my work discount to get her an extra 10% off the sale price so we celebrated the savings in a pub ). So, er, not cultural but pretty tame all the same...

Oh Bucky sorry to hear you're in a funny mood (though your post did make me giggle too). I think MrsH is right that ovulation happens a fixed no. of days after taking the last pill. And drying up your lady parts is a definite bad side effect of it. I second MrsH - crack open the pre-seed and whey-hey! Am actually tempted to try pre-seed myself this month - I get copiuous CM but surely even more couldn't hurt the little blighters?

MrsH I'm worried I sounded a bit cavalier yesterday about you not working, as you said it wasn't entirely your decision. Hope it wasn't too stressful a time for you...ps was LMAO at your description of Natasha Kerplinksky - Margaret Thatcher hair is my new favourite insult!!

Waves to everyone else . Tis a lovely sunny day here and I had great fun this morning watching the sparrows, blue tits, starlings, blackbirds and random jays having fun at the feeding station we've set up in the garden.

Er, I am pretty sure that clomid does not cause hermaprodite babies otherwise there would be an awful lot of them running about!
And doesn't the botulism stay in your face? I am sure that Natasha Kerplinkyplunk must have carried on with the botox during her pregnancy otherwise her face would surely have collapsed. (Disclaimer, I am no expert either on botox or on NK) (sidenote: I saw her in Starbucks in Parson's Green a while ago and she looked ancient. Margaret Thatcher's hair and face caked in TV make-up. She was TINY though.) Doesn't clomid cause less CM anyway? But ovulation is meant to happen a certain number of days (I think I read 5-9, but check this) after you take your last pill so just break out the pre-seed and get on with it!

When are you off to Miami? Can I come?

Hi MrsH - glad to hear that MrH wasn't too knackered this morning - what a trooper . Since your temp is still low I think it's a good sign that you got the troops in there in time . Sorry to hear about the work situation but I'm glad that you're aiming for a lower stress life. It should help ttc, but should, more importantly, just improve the quality of your life (and family life) in general. I'm not too sure about Mr Needles yet, as I now spend 95% of my time up in the Kings Cross office so getting back down to Farringdon is a mild hassle. There's a lady close to the Kings Cross office who also works at Zita West. I'm tempted to phone up though have a feeling her fees will be exorbitant!

Oh no, MOB I ddn't think you were complaining, I was trying to cheer you up! Thanks for helping me schedule my sex life... DH got home this morning and fortunately was not completely knackered. I just hope we were in time since I think I felt the egg hatch at about midnight last night. My temp was still nice and low this morning so I am seeing that as a good sign...

Poor Ei with an ill kidney! The sore nethers do not sound good [wince emoticon] and I hope the GP sorts it all out for you.

Caitni will you go back to Mr Needles for the acupuncture or find someone new now that you are back in London full time?

Well, I am not working any more (not entirely my choice) and so have lots of time for MN, but also am concentrating on lowering my stress levels to see if that helps. I've noticed that my non-working friends seem to get pg at the drop of a hat! I am not sure about the new look MN either but it is easy to find the "threads I'm on" bit and I think for a newcomer the homepage may be easier than the old one. When I first came on MN I was looking for product reviews so those are certainly easier to find!

Hope everyone is well.

Agree about the new look MN MOB - also not sure I like it yet (though am sure I'll get used to it eventually!)

X-posted Caitni! Lengthened LP sounds good.

Duh! Just realised, MrsH that your DH is home TODAY. Guess you are at work - so leap on him tonight!!!

Morning ladies

I don't like the "new" MN
What do you all think?

Caitni Please don't feel bad about ranting the other day. That is exactly what you should be doing if you are feeling down. However, i'm pleased to see you sounding a bit brighter. Did your period arrive? I hope the appt on Monday is useful, and that they have some positive suggestions for you.

MrsH You will just have to leap on MrH tomorrow morning. If you have a today that could be perfect timing. I guess you have the difficulty of your DD being around, though. Could you pop her infront of a DVD for a minute and have a very quick quickie?? He can then sleep all he likes! Crumbs, I can't believe i am organising people's sex lives for them . You are absolutely right, all the pain is totally worth it, for a bean (or two!) I hope I didn't come across as moaning the other day, I didn't mean it that way at all. I'm so sorry if it read that way.It's just the reason why I haven't been on the pc much! These two babies are so, so, special to us particularly as they weren't so easy to come by.

EI You poor thing, you sound so poorly. Get yourself back to the dr. Sore nether regions doesn't sound nice at all. Could you have thrush as well from the antibiotics you've been taking?? Hope you're tucked up in bed or resting somewhere.

PnM Any luck with the hopsital?

Bucky Have you gone? If so, hope you're having a wonderfult time!

Hello also to our "post-natal" ladies and gorgeous babies. Hope you're all doing ok.

Have a good weekend everyone

Sorry to hear you're still unwell Ei so hope the doc can get it sorted.

MrsH also sorry to hear that bloody flight times is getting in the way - hope your DH was up for some fun this morning (or at some point today). The egg hatches up to 48 hours after the LH surge so there's still time - am keeping my fingers crossed for you

So can feel that AF is going to be starting today - pah! But at least my luteal phase seems to have now lengthened to 13 days, albeit with random spotting, which is definitely good news. I'm going to have to get back into accupuncture & yoga, as have so much more time on my hands now that I can fit it in again

Hope everyone has a good day