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

Hi womanly yes I will PM you the self confidence exercises. Do you know when you are going to start your meds again? I hope you are having a lovely bit of well deserved down time and looking after yourself. Thanks for your kind words re EC ... I will know more about whether it will be at the weekend or first thing next week when I go for my next scan which is tomorrow ... eek!

Big warm for you xxx

The hospital just called and my estradiol levels have gone from just under 7000 to 750. So I've gone from injecting 75IU to 300IU and was told to inject as soon as I could.

So I don't know what that means? Obviously I am now scared that all my follicles have disappeared / shrunk etc. Ergh!

Guess I won't know until my scan tomorrow morning

Will catch up properly later but Garden, try not to freak out, I know its easy for me to say...but they've done the tests and are now reacting to the results - which is a good thing. The drop may be because some of the more dominant follicles are winning the battle with the lesser ones, which should also be good eh.

Hang in there, thinking of you xxx

garden I can totally understand why you're feeling worried but I'm guessing that getting the levels down is what was intended? Hang in there hon.

I'm on the iPhone app so I can do this really easily now !!

Thanks skitoo ! Have just found an article outlining the comparison of ivf patients whose estradiol levels fall and apparently if the fall has been caused by an intentional reduction in the drugs then it is not linked to poor outcome whereas if it's spontaneous then it is. So that has calmed me down for the evening and I will just pounce on a dr when I go back tomorrow for bloods and a scan...

I wonder when I'll get my sanity back ...? xxx

Thanks kool sorry for x posts! Great emoticons action! Xxx

That's positive news Garden. Unfortunately we have to trust these guys and they really do know what they're doing, so the upping and downing of dosage. Try to stay sane overnight and then you'll get some reassurance in the morning.

I too am on iPhone so can do the emoticon dance

xxx

Just got back from the hospital ... and my follicles are still there! They are growing, just. Some are hovering around 16mm and there's one that was 17.9mm.

So it looks like I might be HCG-ing on Saturday and then EC on Monday but I'll know more when I get my blood test results from today later this afternoon.

I am heartily bored of all the trips to the hopsital but I keep telling myself it might all be worth it! It is quite reassuring to see the follicles on the screen as at least there is proper visual proof that things are actually happening.

Hope everyone else is doing well today s all round xxx

Morning Everyone - the sun is shining here so is keeping me feeling perky, hope it where you all are too

Great news Garden, woo hoo for your growing follies! Would anyone care to join me in the follie growth dance? Come on Kool, Care you know you want to

Thanks for the advice on weight loss, I do feel like I'm not really giving it my best go at the moment so probably do need to do something more focused like that. I already switch between Kg's in the gym and stones at home - whichever gives me the most pleasing result . My problem is that I cave in at the weekend. I manage to be pretty angelic all week, fruit/cereal for brekkie, salad for lunch, fruit for snack and then sensible dinner but then the weekend comes and I feel like I deserve a treat so indulge, not in particularly bad things but just a lot more than during the week so I put back on the 2lbs I lost during the week . Last weekend was doubly bad as we had a house full of guests, it started Thursday night and drank a few glasses of for the first time in ages. Got a quick holiday booked for couple of weeks so would really like to lose at least a couple of the lbs by then..

Hi Womanly nice to hear from you , hope you're taking it easy and being kind to yourself. So during my clomid cycles where I actually developed some decent follicles I was given the hcg injection to mature the eggs and induce ovulation (my body can't do this on its own ) The day this was done varied every cycle but in an ideal one it would have been day 14. It was ovitrelle or pregnyl, just different brands I believe and initial dose was 10,000iu and then 7 days later I had to give myself a booster of 5,000iu. The booster as I understand it was to ensure I had a decent luteal phase and therefore stood a chance of implantation. It did work once and bean did stick but it was just a duff one, so wasn't meant to be .

Care I went to track down that article in the times but the b*ggers make us pay for the on-line service now don't they. It sounds a bit like the treatment someone I know had where he was diagnosed as having blood flow problems in the testicles, so they put a couple of small springs in his body to manage the blood flow but get this where do you think they put the springs...?? in his neck!?!?! , apparently they would find their way down the body and alleviate the problem sure enough his count did increase a bit.

Kool I hope you and Mr Kool are having a lovely few days away, enjoying some time out together.

Massive post, sorry for bleating in but its so much more interesting than writing contract schedules zzzzzzzzzz. Must get on with some work as working from home today and need to take over from Garden with posting Wimbledon results, hee hee.

Waves to everyone else, Teds, Bodeccia, Bondi, Flick, Close, Pumpkin and anyone else I've missed xx

Had a little cry in public? Check!

Felt like throttling people on the train who were talking/eating too loudly? Check!

Down regs starting to make me a bit loopy? Check!

Thanks for the dancing skitoo I am sure it's working! I'll be watching the tennis, ahem, I mean working this afternoon too!

The weight loss thing is a bugger. I am sure that your trip away will be sufficient inspiration to nail it. I am sending lots of will power vibes your way! And with all the dancing we've been doing, the lbs should just drop off!

kool I am sorry the down regs are making you feel loopy. How much longer do you have to go on them? I wish I could give you some tips on them but as my body went into a total allergic meltdown and my mind gave up completely, I'm not sure I can! All I can say is hang on in there as you do feel heaps better once you start the stims.

And obviously come and have a rant on here!

FWIW a good stint of hard exercise made me feel a bit better ... I ended up sobbing on the cross trainer a few times but felt a lot better for it afterwards! I am not sure DH will ever consider me to be sane again though!

I am sending enormous hugs and big glasses of virtual wine - it's a special vintage that gives you the nice wine glow but has no calories in it and is entirely TTC-friendly xxxxx

Aw, thanks garden, I feel better already! I went for a walk which has cleared my head and has nothing to do with the crunchy bar I've just eaten.

I'm so glad your follies are behaving themselves now. I do have a good feeling about Guys and I know it's a pain that you've had to go every day but it sounds like they've really got on top of your treatment and are doing all they can to get you to EC. I've still got a week and a day of sniffing to go, by which time I may have developed a headache tablet addiction! I hope it comes around quickly although I'm still waiting for AF so it'll be a PITA if it hasn't arrived by then.

Thanks skitoo we had a lovely few days away in the country, it was so peaceful and we slept a lot! Just what we needed. Remind me when your treatment starts? And I can't remember if you're at guy's too? I know I could look back but it seems that I manage to lose messages if I start doing that!

Anyone else giving up caffeine? Zita West seems to think it's a good idea so I'm giving it a try but do so love my many daily cups of . I'm cutting down, figure that's a start....

Really looking forward to my first acupuncture treatment tonight

Kool glad you had a lovely time away and managed to get some rest. Hope your DH is feeling recharged and that his treatment is going OK. I really do have so much admiration for you both dealing with chemo and IVF together, you are obviously really strong and your little people will be very lucky to have such committed, brave parents

The Drs I ranted at spoke to about AF on the down regs said that the drugs cause up regging for a week or two then, when the down regging starts, AF turns up. It is common for it to take two to three weeks after starting the sniffing and if it's any longer than that, they give you something to get it started.

I know what you mean about Guys, they do know what they are doing. They are so sweet to me about my rubbish veins that hate giving up blood and go out of their way to make me feel OK about it rather than the difficult, high maintenance pixie I seemed to have turned into!

Have fun at accupuncture! I can't quite face it at the moment as I have at least four needles a day trying to get things out of me and one putting stuff in ... so i am sticking to reflexology which is lovely.

I don't know about caffeine tbh. I am certainly not going to have tons of the stuff post EC and, since starting the stims, I haven't felt like quite so much ... but I think I might allow myself a cuppa every morning otherwise as without a bit of tea, I do turn into more of a grizzly monster than normal

xxx

Just got my results back - my estradiol levels are 1,750 thingumies per whatevers. Which is good in that it means the follicles are still active so with any luck I'm almost there!

Right, back to Soderling vs Hewitt on center court erm, work

Ladies - am popping my head in very quickly as am soooo snowed under with work

GP I'll need to catch up properly but sounds like you are having a roller coaster but that things are okay-ish now? Hope so xx

Kool sorry the down regs appear to be sending you a bit loopy and hope the acupuncture is soothing xx

As for me I appear to have managed a 27 day cycle which is fabulous - each day longer gives me a bit of breathing space between my ACU appointment and starting sniffage in July.... please don't make me wait another month... Gah.

Catch up properly laters xx

garden Wow - this day to day thing is quite gruelling - I totally hear you on how you are feeling... VERY GLAD follicles are growing and I really am praying the hours speed up till Monday for you. And ABSOLUTELY YES - this is going to be worth its effort -- you just keep marching on - - (It's so easy for me type this - I know - - but I am just trying to give you all my energy and good will ..)
skitoo thanks for sharing - I do not seem to ovulate on my own and even with the Ovitrelle...so wonder when this journey of mine will result in a bfp and if I'll be sane when that happens. Am reading Les Miserables..and there was a note there about how 3 of these benedictine nuns went mad due to their gruelling schedule of perpetual adoration...and I thought - mmm, sounds like what we women are doing here with our perpetual ttc -- BIG GROUP HUG FOR ALL.

garden and on the family situation - that is really tough. We are at out most vulnerable during these cycles no matter how hard we try to be tough and strong... so my first instinct is to try and avoid them staying over at all.. If there was no option but for them to stay with you - - then I would try and get DH to work from home and be a buffer while you handle the calls and the updates from the hospital in private. Would that be possible? My SIL was here when I went for my p test - and when the call came we were shopping in Uniqlo... so you can imagine me trying to make sense of the results and the instructions of how to use a freaking pessary in the middle of a crowded shop!!! it was funny after...but the good news is DH took his sister away for a walk and then asked me to go upstairs and look for pink tights after...so I had some time to just digest the info and not burst out and cry.... long story ..but it might help to have someone to deflect attention while you need your space..and time to digest...

Kool thank Crunchie its nearly Friday Glad you're feeling better and oh so jealous of your country break, sounds lovely and just what you both needed. Good luck with acu tonight, hope you enjoy.

Garden, am so pleased that you're back on track, see the men with the big heads at Guys have got you all under control xx. EC is just around the corner, a new bit of the journey, like you say you're nearly there

I've really cut back on the caffeine already. I have to have first cuppa when I get up and then another when I get to work with my breakfast but thats pretty much it. If I need another hot drink, usually because I'm freezing my a*se off in the office then I have a peppermint tea. I did try decaf but thought it was nasty, so rather go without. Whats everyone done about alcohol?

Kool I don't get started for ages (boo) am back on pill to sort out cyst, thicken lining and to hopefully induce AF as I don't usually do that on my own. Hopefully it'll work and then I can book in, have scan to make sure sorted and then get started on day 21. Should be mid/end July and at Oxford.

This centre court match contract has me gripped this afternoon

x-posts Womanly - I think I only ovulated twice with ovitrelle in all my cycles. All my day 21 bloods only had scores in low 20's, which was told is kind of borderline ovulation, except the pg cycle where I didn't have any bloods done as didn't have the jab till day 22 .

Bundle for the big 'Nun' group hug ((((()))))

Teds you are such a trojan with work! I hope it is a good type of busy and that you are well

Womanly thank you for the energy! I did laugh at the idea of receiving pessary instructions in a supermarket; I had visions of of me in the shop screaming "I put it where???" down the phone. Thanks for your advice, I think you are right, if DH can distract the parents, then I can nip off somewhere to take the call. Lord only knows how I'm going to explain hyperdermic needles in the fridge

My first reaction was to tell them they couldn't stay but then it's so sad about their friend that I don't want them to feel they have to stay in a B&B somewhere. They are nuts about our hound so I also thought I might ask them to take him out to give myself some space.

Hope all is well with you and DH?

Skitoo we are obviously work on the same contract. I have been enthralled by it. I am particularly intrigued by the Hawkeye references and the subclause relating to 2 sets each...

Have pretty much given up booze since I started the stims - I had a shot glass of beer last night and that was about all I fancied

xxx

Right now I've finished watching the tennis on that contract , I shall get the gear on and go to the gym. I can then come home feeling all virtuous, stuff my face with naughty things enjoy a lovely healthy meal prepared by DH and go to bed with the halo on

Hi everyone

Really sorry that i've not updated in ages! I don't know what's wrong with me, well apart from the copious amounts of drugs i've been taking, i've just felt really overwhelmed lately. It's like a constant stress and anxious feeling.

Anyway glad to hear that things are moving forward for most of us. Great news about your follicles Garden!

Teds - 27 days, yay!!!!!! Won't be long now!

Skitoo, while you're at the gym, i'm at home watching CSI, eating crisps and drinking a glass of red. I really need to get myself to the gym!

Womanly, how is everything?

Kool, i'm very jealous of your weekend away! I'm totally with you on the crying during down regs! On the caffeine front, I switched to decaf, which I now prefer, obviously the drugs have altered my taste buds!

Bella30, my name twin. I just wanted to say, well just that i'm thinking of you xx

Well my news is.....I had egg collection on Tuesday. No one told me about the paracetamol suppository! That was different!
Wow sedation, really really knocks you out! I don't remember much of Tuesday, the husband was very entertained by my behaviour! My stomach is still killing me, I feel like i've been beaten up. It hurts to walk! The good news is they got 12 eggs, 10 were mature and 7 fertilised. I've got a blastocyst transfer on Sunday. My head is saying 'yes just put one back in' while my heart is screaming 'put them all in!'. Well perhaps two! It's lovely just having to have the progesterone pessaries, i'm really not missing injecting!

Sorry this turned into an essay.

Love to all xxx

Yey BellaB that's fab news. Good luck for sunday.

Kool, sorry to hear about the crying in public! Hope you're ok hon and it is just the drugs and not the stress of everything.

Garden you've had a right old time, so glad its all still looking good for you.

GP and Womanly you've been making me laugh with your stories of deep sea diving and pgi's (public gynaecological information)!

Hi to everyone else. Fridays nearly here yey!

So here's a question - if it came to it, how much money would you be prepared to spend on private treatment? How on earth do i calculate how much is too much?

x x x

care it's a really really hard question - i want to give you the easy answer - that it will vary for every person...but that's too easy. So let me think outloud about what I wd do .. not sure if that will help ... but here goes: How much have we got? How much can I move out into another place and still feel that should I or DH lose one of our jobs, we'll be ok...? I am hoping that I would have would afford me at least two cycles. I would then say - let's go through the first and then take a call if we want to go through the second. It is important for me that I can be responsible with the money I have. The more frightening process is the emotional up/down and around.... though sadly from experience I do know that I have experienced far better care when I was private than through the nhs.
You might also want to ask this q in the assisted conception thread - I did read about one person who went through a failed cycle nad then paid privately for immunity tests - to ensure they have more data to then go pay for a second cycle....

BellaB, thats great news, 7 fertilised, whoop whoop!! Am sending all my positive thoughts over to your clinic and hope you've got lots of goodies to choose from on Sunday . Sorry to hear the experience hasn't been too nice though, hope you're feeling a bit better today. My DH is v.worried about the sedation as I had a really adverse affect to the general I had for my erpc, he talks about it all the time saying he doesn't want to have to ever see me like that again . So do you have the choice of one or two at your clinic? Any more thoughts on what you're going for?

How much cash do we spend - a question that keeps popping in to my head Care and still haven't formed an answer. Its a real toughie . DH and I have had the odd conversation that goes along the lines of how many goes do you give it and I always conclude that we can't say at the moment as we haven't been through it once yet, so don't know how we're going to feel. I guess money wise it's how much can you really afford without having to compromise other aspects of your life, which will only make you more stressed and not in the right place for treatment. I've also read recently that someone who had a failed cycle on NHS paid for immunes testing before 2nd cycle which then helped tune meds for the 2nd go, which in my mind is money well spent.

Well we've made it to Friday and am unfortunately in the office today so will be missing the centre court action. Am very much looking forward to the weekend, looks like the sun is going to shine and I can't wait to treat myself to a lovely cheeky glass of red this evening (the one that I have been visualising since Bella put the thought in my mind last night ). We're meant to have lots of positive visualisations aren't we??