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

Hey Garden, thanks for the . I get to test tomorrow morning - joy! And then I am off on Sunday - will be back the weekend next. Hope to be cycle twins with you when I get back. Have you got your meds? Are you starting when AF arrives next? Or is there an appt in between? Fingers crossed for you :)

Not sure when I'll be starting tbh. Our appt with the consultant is on the 18th but then they'll need to do tests etc and then I'll start meds on CD21 of the next cycle after that. So, if the tests are straightforward, I may well be starting meds towards the middle / end of May; if they are happy with the tests I've done privately, it could be the end of April; and if it all gets complicated, it could be June.

But I am just enjoying not being on clomid this month. Although I didn't have horrid side effects, I certainly feel spritelier without it and I think that embarking on our SWI-a-thon this cycle will be a lot easier than with the meds Isn't it odd how meds that are meant to help you fall pg can lower your sex drive ...?

Hope you're looking forward to your trip.

And FX for your test tomorrow; I know you said AF has arrived but you never know!

xxx

AF on its way out, Test negative. It's so much easier to get the bad stuff out first - LOL
I really hated being on Clomid -it also reduced the amount of CM for me - and definitely agree on the lower sex drive. Being on the FSH injections were very different. I had normal amounts of CM.. and except for the insemination cramps, it was pretty ok. Hope my next cycle also goes the same way.

The good news (based on my intuition and NOT hard facts) is I got CM when I was supposed to -- so it confirmed the growth of the follicle and then I think I did also ovulate but perhaps ahead of insemination given the prompt text book arrival of AF. Also the pinkish CM was very different in texture than the pre-ovulation CM - - which is also confirming in my mind that I did ovulate.

I also resumed my running this morning - that kickstarts a weekend of pampering - Manicure, Pedicure, a leisurly bath, and a hair cut. And the best part - look at the weather -- it's simply fabulous. I think we're very fortunate to be in treatment during the summer.
Have a lovely weekend ladies. I will be lurking for your updates during my travels and till my next treatment.

Garden - related to the many different permutation/combinations - - I hope that they go through as smoothly as possible.

Womanly definitley sounds like you ovulated which is great news.

I am also going to be indulging in some pampering - hair cut and massage planned for today!

I totally agree about the weather; I am going to take two weeks off work after our embryo transfer (FX that we get at least two!) and just enjoy the sun. I love April, all the trees near us are flowering and I reckon it has to make us more fertile!

Hope everyone has lovely weekends

xxx

Sounds good on the pampering front :)

Ah, I love that post womanly, that we're fortunate to be having treatment in the summer, talk about a positive spin on something. I'm going to remember that.

sorry AF got you womanly and garden. i don't post that often, mainly because some days i have to shut it out of my mind and not think about it at all. but i love your self-pampering drive, i will join you on that. i'm also making this high-heel april. i never normally bother but they really have made me feel a bit stronger lately!

well how about this for a rollercoaster week - the fertility clinic called on monday and said that my pct had definately withdrawn all funding. however, that they were chasing up my case due to the wording in my referral letter. so i wrote a real begging letter (that made me cry!) to the pct. had to wait all week, but got the call today (my first appointment is due next monday) to say that they will fund me.....but only for 1 cycle. talk about all the eggs in one basket!!! but going with womanly's positive view on things, what a lovely time of year to have just one perfect round of ivf. you never know, people win the lottery don't they?? am totally going to worry about further rounds and piles of debt after this one, and just relax and try to enjoy this one shot which other people may not have from now on in my area. and yes time off work during the 2 ww sounds the way forward.

also, completely agree about clomid, i hated it, made me feel really low.

any advice about what to ask at the first appointment on monday?

x x x

Carebear hurrah! That is such good news! I was going to post last week to ask if you'd heard but then I thought the last thing you need while you're worrying about hearing is me asking as well!

Anyway, I am so pleased for you

Is your first appt next Monday (the 18th)? That's our first consultation too so I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

FWIW, the questions DH and I are going to ask include:

1. Should we have a sperm DNA fragmentation test (DH is a gardener and works with pesticides which apparently can cause DNA fragmentation meaning eggs fertilise but don't go beyond a few days)

1. If not, can we pay for ICSI without jeopardising our NHS funding for the main treatment (we want to make sure we get some embryos and would rather pay for ICSI if poss)

3.If (oh please Universe let this be a possibility!) we get to the blastocyst stage, can we have two transfered rather than the recommended one because of my age (35 - which apparently is a grey area for this kind of thing)

1. What's the deal with exercise during the 2WW? (I have PCO so exercise every day to keep my weight down, I am a bit nervous about not being able to exercise during the 2ww but happy to give it a miss if it might help implantation)

That's our list so far ... what are you going to ask? If you are being funded for one cycle, it might be worth asking if you can pay to have any extra embryos frozen so, on the off chance that it doesn't work first time round (which it obviously will), you could then just pay for a frozen embryo transfer out of your own cash, rather than having to pay for a whole new cycle.

I'm not sure what approach your clinic to takes to that, but we've been told it can often save a lot of money as you don't have to go through the down regs and stimulation regime, they just wait until your body is ready and transfer the little chaps in.

And, can I say, I love your idea of high heels April; that, with womanly 's pampering directive has made me very happy

It has also made me feel better about buying some sky scrapers last week (usually wear flats) Anyway, I'm fairly sure that high heels must improve our chances of conception, right? Something about engaging core muscles, tilting the pelvis and just looking really hot...?

Right, my turn to do the housework this week so best go and fire up the hoover. Happy weekends everyone xxx

carebear that is very good news. :) Best of luck with your consultation... I often go with questions, get all worked up when I get answers I do not understand or that just do not make sense (perhaps I am all worked up..)..and then I always forget to ask one or two questions - LOL.
The good news about pampering oneself is that we can laugh at our mistakes :) So do not worry if you do not get all the answers or ask your questions -- Perhaps you can ask for a number / email to ask any follow-up questions? That way you can let some qs settle down in a day or two and then follow up with your qs.

hi ladies, both great advice thank you. garden i had thought of your question 4 but not 1-3 so that is really helpful thank you. i don't even know what ICSI is so am going to look that up! and yes womanly that is a good idea to let it sink in and then call them up after to clarify. i think there's a chance we might sit in stunned silence! actually garden the appt is this monday, the 11th. i'll post after to say how it went and what they said. and yes i've really wondered about the exercise thing, as i swim a lot - makes me feel so much better but i wonder if they will say just rest during this. and yes i've wondered about the number transferred in (if it works) as have read differing things about what the best chance of success is, with one or two.

i want to know if there is any other tests that would be offered on a private basis that wouldn't on NHS. for example i've heard about a post coital test to check how the fluids are combining etc. i've also heard about genetic / dna testing that a friend had (she had a chromosome missing?), and wonder if it would be prohibitively expensive. i want to know how much time i'll need off work and when they can get started!

i actually told my boss in the end on friday, for the first time, and she was great and started talking about blood types and the impact that can have if you and DH are different blood groups. funny that i have never thought about this before, but went out today and bought a book about what to eat for different blood groups, quite interesting. have either of you ever heard anything about that? i don't know about you but i have tried so many different things during this, grapefruit juice anyone? accupuncture? yoga positions for fertility? no caffeine and alcohol? "relaxing" (ie doing what i have always done, a fair bit of chick flicks and chocolate!) ha ha. anyway, one more thing to try. they've all helped a bit in different ways.

No, not aware of the blood type diets .. there was this thread that I started that summed up how to best prepare for assisted conception.. I'll share here when I log in via my laptop.

Carebear that's brilliant - tomorrow! EEK!

I haven't heard about the blood type theory; do let me know if you unearth anything. I too have tried all manner of things under the sun tbh ... grapefruit juice and yoga definitely ring a bell

I will keep my fingers firmly crossed for you tomorrow

Waves to womanly and anyone else who's around.

all round on this lovely sunny day

carebear I hope all's gone well today; how are you feeling? Brilliant news that they'll fund you!

Just wanted to say hi all and thanks to womanly for pointing out that we're doing our cycles at the loveliest time of the year. Also, if they work, we'll be on mat leave next spring! Not counting chickens...but am trying to think positive.

DH has his test tomorrow to determine whether we'll be doing IVF or ISCI and then back we go to the unit (don't know when) to hear the news and talk injections and treatment start dates. Blimey!

And, guess what? I'm eating a salad - yes an actual salad -and am finding the dieting thing a lot easier than ever before, probably because of the motivation. I've already dropped 4lb.

Enjoy the rest of the day. It's raining here, but that's good for the garden, esp my potatoes. (Thinking positive again!)

xx

Hi ladies, had my initial meeting at the clinic today, saw 4 seperate people (admissions, consultant, nurse and pre-op), they were all so helpful and very matter of fact. We were in there for 3.5 hrs, and got more useful information than the last 18 mths definately. This is the clinic at guys, and you can definately tell the difference between there and my usual gynae clinic. The consultant was pretty sure she thought my problem is polycystic ovaries (which another consultant ruled out), but she said through going through the various stages of IVF can help pinpoint exactly what is causing an issue, which I really like the idea of as what I really want are answers about why its taking so long, you know? Also, the explanation of what happens at each stage made it sound far less like scary science and more like a sensible managed medical procedure. We both left feeling, well how to describe, not elated exactly as they didn't say it would definately work, but maybe like we just took several steps forwards towards the truth and possibly success. We both just got home and are completely and utterly exhausted. Weird.

Womanly, i just some of your old posts, are you still going to have another 2 rounds of IUI or do you get to choose?

Garden, there is still a fair bit of waiting around in there in between appointments etc and limited reading material in the waiting room, but it seemed to fly by anyway. They were all really very supportive though, and knowledgable.

Luck, well done on the weight loss. I can struggle to keep my weight down and the biggest thing for me which makes a difference is drinking enough water - what they make flight attendants do on flights is to drink from a 2 litre bottle so they can track how much they've drunk.

oh also fyi i asked the consultant about the blood type thing and whether that can impact - she said it was cr**! which DH thought was very funny.

best wishes all. x

Luck hurrah for you and your weight loss - you have inspired me to have roast veg for dinner tonight rather than pizza!

Carebear I'm so pleased that you had such a positive experience and that you feel you are a step closer to knowing what needs to happen for you to have a mini-bear. One of my frustrations is not knowing exactly why it hasn't happened for us yet so I hope we will get some clarity too. Thanks for the tip re all the waiting - DH has a very short attention span so will be sure to pack a good book for him!

Waves and hugs to womanly

Right, off to walk the hound before dinner so he'll be tired enough not to try to pinch the grated cheese

xxx

hi everyone - hugs to garden - - this is a quick visit to check in your appt - carebear - Glad it went well and you got the info you were looking for.. loved the cr** comment :)
Great job on the weight loss luck - I wish I could say that I diet well... I do not!! Just had cheese cake for desert!!
Talk to you more when I get back.

Hi, Garden how are you feeling about monday? Good luck with it, hope it goes well.

x x x

Thanks carebear, am just about ok for tomorrow although DH and I have just filled in all our consent forms etc so it is all seeming quite real! I think I will feel better after the appt when we know more about what to expect next.
How are you?
Xxx

Hi ladies, I am back from my trip I know you told me this was a good thing - it's what DH said too... but sitting in the plane, overwhelmed with tears as the elderly man sitting next to me shared pictures of his grandson who he was going to meet for the first time I felt like I would NEVER get free of this topic..or the pain of the failed attempts...

HOWEVER I am back today and had a fabulous trip. Being by myself was not good and so the trip was perfect in that I got no time to wallow by myself. Instead I threw myself into connecting with folks and shopping and I have come back refreshed. Today my Mom kept saying - take care of your health and I realized that I must have worried her quite a bit previously for her to keep throwing this in every other sentence... so I interupted her and said - my health is fabulous and I realized that for the first time I did not feel 'broken' ....
Garden Best of luck for your appt :)

I need to chase up with the clinic to figure out my next steps.. will keep you updated when I learn more.

Garden how did it go?

womanly you sound to me like you're being amazingly strong and positive. If I was Gok Wan I'd say "you go girl!", but I don't think I can get away with it in rural Yorkshire...anyway, I'm loving your positive attitude, looking the world in the eye and taking control. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with it all but your post is exactly what I need to remind me to count my blessings.

Gosh, I feel more upbeat than I have done in a while. If I'm not careful I'll be singing 'I'm every woman' and dancing down the office.

love to all xx

womanly you are being very strong ... It is painful when you can't seem to get a break from it all but hurrah for you for staying so positive. Big hugs to you and I will also join in with carebears singing to make sure we all stay upbeat!

I have just returned from my appt and, all being well with blood tests for hep b & c and HIV, I will be starting ivf next month! I am on day 14 today and the scan showed a follicle ready to go so, given I can't start the drugs until next month anyway (I think i will be starting them on day 21 of my next cycle), we are also going to give nature one last chance with some dedicated SWI action over the next few days

Right, best go and get dinner ready for hungry DH ...

Hope everyone's well and enjoying the sun xxxx

womanly, so glad to hear you feeling a bit brighter. this really does suck doesn't it. I can so empathise, especially when you can't move away politely! Luck, what is the yorkshire equivalent? 'Go on pet'?
garden, good luck with this month, at least you can relax knowing you've got ivf the month after. I am day 6 and I start sniffing on day 23. I can already feel the stress levels going up and starting to reach for the chocolate and diet coke

womanly, luck and garden this is for you.................(from my current favourite film 'Whip It'.) turn it up LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! x x x

garden - Am excited for you - Isn't it wonderful to have a go at it naturally without the clomid and injections :)
care I love the 'Go on pet'
luck I typically listen to 'I am every woman..' during my run from the Bridget Jones soundtrack...
Am on Day 15 ... TMI alert.. saw some promising CM over the weekend and so did our thing -- hopefully something will happen and still awaiting the advice on next steps from the hospital...

Am looking forward to getting some sunshine on my skin today and then plan for our Edinburgh trip for Easter and then back to join my writing course starting May 04 Need to plan another massage sometime soon..

Wish you all a pampering week ahead :)

One song back :)

care ace song! See that blonde girl? That's me that is...er, maybe not! She's about half my size. Also love the go on pet!

womanly I love Gnarls Barkley - and also the pic. I'm smiling now!

garden brilliant news!! I'm hoping to join you in starting the drugs next cycle, just waiting for our next appointment date (drums fingers impatiently).

anyway, enjoy the sun and the bank holidays!

To continue the Bridget Jones theme :

thanks for the great songs ladies!!!! am dancing round my bedroom

love the lyrics too. x

How fabulous that our thread has turned into the home of madatory heels, pampering and most excellent music - good effort ladies!

I think I ov'd yesterday (judging by ouchy stabby pains) so, on the offchance that this cycle follows its 36 predecessors and ends in a BFN, I should be starting the down regs in 40 days. Eeeek!

I am so much calmer about it all after seeing the consultant. It was such a relief to talk to someone who didn't just fob me off with "oh it'll happen soon, just relax" or "don't worry, you'll be pg in no time as there's nothing wrong with either of you." She was very grounded and realistic so, for now at least, I'm not stressing about it ... although obviously I will way before as soon as I start the drugs

Carebear I can't believe you start your sniffing so soon, that's very exciting

And Luck hurrah that we'll be cycle buddies!

How are you doing womanly ? Do you know when you'll start the FSH again?

Have lovely evenings ladies; I know I'm technically on the 2WW but I might sneak in a quick glass of rose just to celebrate the sunshine

xxx