Anyone else about to start IVF?

[gardenpixie]

DH and I have our first IVF consultation in a couple of weeks and I just wondered if there was anyone out there who was in the same position?

We've had loads of tests done already so the Dr says we may well be able to start the treatment cycle sometime next month or early May.

We've been TTC #1 for 3yrs now and I am on cycle 5 of clomid so will continue with that until I start the IVF drugs. There are no obvious medical reasons why we haven't conceived naturally, just a case of unexplained infertility, I guess.

I know the odds of getting pg still aren't great but I am really excited about the fact that IVF even exists (isn't amazing what they can do?) and, although I am a bit apprehensive of everything it will involve, I am thrilled to be given the chance to see if it might work for us.

I would love to hear from anyone with any advice or who is in the same boat,

thanks for reading

It is hard to keep a handle on food when we're going through all of this isn't it? I think the most important thing is to avoid stress and go easy on ourselves about the odd kg here or there (that's my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it). Cutting our booze had really helped me keep my weight under control - made me realise how many alcohol calories I must have been consuming !

As you ovulated on your own before, I'm sure the FSH will work; I have heard of people struggling to ov on clomid because it throws all the hormones out of kilter whereas FSH obviously just gets straight to the point.

We were told that most women need to take pre-IVF FSH for around 11 days but maybe you won't need as much if you are going for IUI? I guess they don't want to stimulate as many follicles for IUI as they do with IVF? Not really sure tbh!

Gosh we'll be so expert at all of this soon that we could set up as fertility consultants.

I think spring is a good time to start new treatments as everything is getting in the mood to flourish so lots of prayers to the spring gods I think!

I started my injection today in the morning. I am aiming for 7:30 am everyday. I need to take them till they say stop. My scan is on the 21. I think with ivf the dosage of fsh increases too.

I hope the injections go well! Will keep you posted on when I'm going to start mine.

*Terraviva" our consultation has just been moved back to the 18th (quite a relief tbh as we can both take the whole day off) so we can compare notes

Luckbealady I hope your appt goes well today - keeping my fingers crossed that it's full steam ahead for you. Do let us know how you're doing

Womanly how are you doing today? Are your injections OK?

Hope everyone's Monday is getting off to a good start

Garden, am doing well. Still figuring out the intricacies of giving myself shots. Lol. Feel a bit bloated and some abdominal pain.. but ignoring it is quite ok

Hi womanly does that mean you are brewing lots of lovely eggs? I always get more bloating at the beginning of the cycle; I think by the time I am near CD14, there is just one follicle so it's not as painful.

Off for ov scan now ... will report back later!

Hi all, just a quick update...

Had our appt yesterday and it was all v interesting. Met a lovely nurse consultant who made us feel v at ease. DH needs another sperm test to check whether we'll do ICSI or IVF and then full steam ahead on one or the other so I'll probably begin the drugs in May. Am now v excited!

Next stop is the info evening. If any of you are doing this at Seacroft in Leeds - see you there!

Happy Tuesday, everyone

xx

Luck that is great news how exciting!

So pleased you met a lovely nurse too - makes all the difference dealing with approachable people.

I might well be starting the drugs in May too so fingers crossed it'll be a good summer for us

Hi, hope everybody is doing well. Garden, how did the scan go? I am due for my scan tom. Not sure what is in store for us..and am trying to manage the blues of my expectations.

Good luck with ur cycle in may luck.

Hi Womanly - am doing well thanks. I actually didn't have my scan because my dr was running 45 mins late and I had to get back to work for a meeting...

Which wasn't ideal but I know I have ov'd without the HCG shot before and I'm pretty sure that I ov'd on CD15 or CD16 (Wed / Thurs). And we had been SWI-ing with due diligence so we have done all we can!

What I don't know is how many follicles were ready - sometimes I've had one and sometimes two so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the first time I have missed my scan is the time that I've super-ov'd and will be pg with triplets by the time I go for the IVF consultation next month

How are you doing with the FSH injections? I hope they were Ok and that you haven't had any side-effects.

Good luck for your scan tomorrow!

Terra I read your thread about the fuck mix up with your appts and who you needed to see hope you are OK and that you don't have to wait too long to see the right person

Luck have you had your info evening yet?

Happy rest of the weekend to everyone xxx

Hi Garden pixie (and everyone else), I'm in a very similar situation to you. We've got our initial consultation day at guys and st thomas' for ivf treatment on 11th april. We've also been trying for 3.5 yrs (I'm 33 DH is 35) and after endless tests and seeing a different doctor each time at my local gyne clinic (each one younger and more clueless than the last)they can't find anything wrong. We haven't been to an info evening but even on the phone the people at the bridge clinic seem a LOT more switched on so that has made me feel very cautiously optimistic. Am at the 'don't want to get my hopes up too high' stage.

Best of luck to you all, x x x

Hi Carebear that's very exciting - the 11th isn't far away at all.

DH and I are going to Guys & St Thomas - they all seemed really understanding and switched on at the info evening. I have also been seeing a private consultant for clomid and when I said we had been refered to G&St T, she said they are one of the best in the country so enormous fingers crossed for you for the 11th.

xx

Best of luck Carebear - And good to hear that Guys & St Thomas is one of the best in the country :)
Garden Fingers crossed for you honey. I am very familiar with your swiathon and have all fingers and toes crossed for you. This weekend I learnt that a friend is now 4 months along -- and she was trying for a long while and also had a miscarriage which is awfully hard... So am happy for her and she truly believes that it does rub off. :)
The FSH injections have been fab really compared to my experience with Clomid. I even quite like doing the injections myself!!! (Now that can't be normal!) I told the doctor today and he was smiling -- He was remembering my not so great feedback on Clomid - LOL.
So the scan shows an 18mm dominant follicle. I have an Ovitrelle to take when they call to instruct me on that. After that it's sperm donation and insemination. Of course in my mind, I have already delivered this baby and am thoroughly in the seventh moon!!!!!! Who ever said 'one step at a time' surely wasn't thinking of me!!! LOL
Carebear I am reading your statement on being cautiously optimistic again and again - hoping it will sink in. Garden if you remember, on Clomid, I got to this stage each time but even with Ovitrelle ovulation did not happen. So FINGERS CROSSED.

Womanly woo hoo for your 18mm follicle - that's awsome! Very good egg making indeed!

Oddly I've found that without the HCG shot, I seem to ov a little earlier when I'm on clomid. Maybe it quietens our natural LH surge...?

Anyway, I'm sure that with the FSH, things will be clearer for your body to deal with and I have every confidence that a fully ripened egg will be bobbing down the fallopian tube for a date with your DH's swimmers very shortly.

So pleased you are having a better time on FSH than you did on clomid

When will your DH have to get romantic with a pot?

xx

LOL Garden Thank you for the visual about my egg's date with DH's swimmers - - totally feeds the romantic in me
Not sure about DH's date with the pot - all depends on the phone calls I receive. Will keep you updated when I hear :)

So I take the Ovitrelle today and then DH's date with the pot and mine for insemination is for Friday. Now, I am really nervous.
How's everybody else doing?

OOOOOOOOOOOOH Womanly that is so exciting! Just a few more days until the various components will be shaking hands (or whatever it is they do).

Enormous fingers crossed

Am OK - between 4 and 6 DPO and trying not to drive myself mad with symptom spotting! Just thinking that April 18th (my first consultation) isn't that far away and then we could be starting the drugs a month to six weeks after that.

Will you be taking anything during the 2WW?

Garden Thanks for keeping me company - seems like I am the only one on the list that has something going on right now.

About the symptom spotting, I hear you - the 2ww is just plain hard. One part of me wants to go all out and live in a state of fine-tuned sensitivity -- and the other part of me is thinking - I would not subject this to my worst enemy, why am I doing this to myself?
Like yesterday post the scan, I found it so hard to tune off... I went through a gazillion pages (ok - exaggeration - perhaps 3-4 sites / 8 - 10 page views) to look at all the threads around IUI -- some ones I recognized from previously reading them a couple of weeks back. However if I had a friend doing this, I would immediately jump in and say - stop, save yourself this.
The waiting game - whether it's waiting for our period to arrive or for treatment to start or for an outcome from the 2ww - is just plain misery that we unleash upon ourselves. The wierd part is this is so easy to do too. The difficult part is finding things to do that we really want to do, that lets us express ourselves as human beings and APART from the role of wife, mother-in-waiting, employee, daughter etc...
As to if I am taking anything during the 2ww - so far they have not told me anything. It's insemination and then pregnancy test. I will try and remember to ask them tomorrow before I leave the clinic.

You are so right - the amount of time I have spent waiting for everything... ovulation, AF, Drs appts, scans, drugs, results etc etc. It's enough to drive a girl crazy!

You make a really good point though about seeing ourselves as more than just a wife, employee and mother-in-waiting. It can really take over can't it? I worked out the other day that during the 3 yrs DH and I have been TTC, I have spent at least 1 yr in the 2WW (poss a bit more as my cycles sorted themselves out after the first year). EEK!

I keep reminding myself that I also need to be a fully rounded person rather than just freaking out about conception otherwise, when I finally do have a little person to look after, I'll be some obsessed, neurotic nutter!

I think that in my post IVF 2WW, I'm going to indulge myself by watching all the rubbish TV shows I love (ER, True Blood, West Wing) as much as I want and claim that it is intellectual stimulation to hone my articulacy and appreciation of great screen writing (except for True Blood, of course, that's just because I fancy Bill Compton ).

Poor DH!

You are so right about us doing things we'd advise our friends not to do. It's such a tricky thing isn't it to keep sane during all of this? Oh well, if we can get through this, being a parent will be a walk in the park

Womanly is today the day? I think I read on another thread that it was ... anyway, good luck if it is! Keeping fingers crossed for you xxx

Yup, today was the day. Am home now and quite sore. Trying to stay aeay from the paracetamol until night time. Now its the 2ww till Apr 8. How are u doing garden?

that you are in pain. But very exciting that it could all be coming together in your tubes as I type!

I'm alright thanks. Got a bit thrown by YET ANOTHER colleague announcing she is pg yesterday but I am genuinely happy for her as she had a few mcs before this one stuck.

Think I'm about 7DPO now but I'm managing to step away from the world of menkulling as I know I'll be thoroughly insane with the IVF 2WW so need to chill before then otherwise my brain's wiring might go nuts!

Working at home today so it's easy to keep myself distracted

FX for your egg and sperm date

For the most part I am happy when folks get pregnant. There have only been two instances when I felt bad.. first was when a colleague announced her pregnancy with an adorable scan picture.. I think my tears were more my impatience with myself than anything to Di with her. The second time was when I saw a family in a restaurant, 2 kids, parents and gparents... as the woman rose to go to the ladies I saw her bump and that was a case of jealousy (embarrassing). Otherwise I love seeing pregnant women and kids. This past wknd I learnt that a friend was pregnant and she was like I did not want to share till the baby pops out... as if telling us Wd jinx her kid... of course she is always asking me if I am pregnant..so her double standards really bother me.
Can I just say for the nth time... this is not easy and for all the grief we give men on being insensitive, I think some women are as bad if not worse.

That's a good point! A friend of mine asked me if I was "up the duff yet and if not, why are we hanging around leaving it so long?" ... I maintained a calm exterior and just ordered more tea!

Oh well, we will get there! And we'll be much more sensitive