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

Hello ladies,
carebear hope your first day was a great start to a very good cycle.
I have been meaning to share this here - - it was what I posted on another thread...and is relevant to IUI but also applicable to IVF - - so here goes.

I start today with this plan. I test tomorrow and then wait for AF to begin the second cycle of IUI. Had AF symptoms at the start of the week - - and now feel like the calm before the storm...so waiting. Might not test even and perhaps wait till the weekend is over...
And garden I did vote too :)

EXERCISE:

1. Reduce intensity of morning runs to 3-4km/30 mins five days a week with two rest days.
2. Start Yoga.
3. Swap running with walking & yoga when injections begin.

DIET:

1. Organic milk - every day.
2. Egg-whites and wholemeal toast every other day with milky porridge.
3. 2l of warm water every day.
4. Fresh pineapple twice a week.
5. Warm food and hot water bottle in front of tv and in bed.
6. Switch to brown rice and pasta.

SANITY CHECK:

1. Plan a calendar of relaxing and fun things to do through March - April.
2. Try not to stress about weight.
3. Avoid chocolate and easy sugars completely.

Oh womanly you are such an inspiration - thanks for sharing. You have given me the nudge I needed to start thinking about looking after my body and mind a bit more. If you don't mind I will pinch some of your ideas!

Hope you're ok and FX AF stays away

Teds that's great news, what cd will you be on your appointment day? Not sure if it will be the same as us, as we are not ICSI, but when we went I was day 25 so started the following cycle on day 23.

Garden what are the blood tests for? That sounds a silly question but I just meant specifically!

Womanly that is a great plan and definately inspiring. I've been thinking about doing some yoga again and I will now. What's the wisdom being the egg-whites? I've heard of pineapple, lots of sites seem to recommend that. I particularly like sanity check point #3!

Mine so far are:

1. Give up caffeine drinks completely - have switched to roibos tea
2. Walk more
3. Switched chocolate to 85% cocoa rather than cadburys
4. Listen to a-ha

ha ha. will try harder tomorrow. well i have to say i don't feel any different yet. I did forget to take a big sniff with the first go this morning and just sprayed so lots dribbled back out my nose again.

and i'm sorry but i have to admit my interests at the moment are;

top: sniffing (really hope that people at work don't start to think I have a coke habit!)

near top: what kate wears when she gets back to waitrose in anglesey

bottom: Nick Clegg and the AV vote system

Hello all, I'd like to join in here. We're just starting our first cycle. I'll be doing my first injection tomorrow morning. Ugh. but exciting too!

Did the first injection just now - Yay :)))

Welcome hippyhen and well done on your first injection - is it the stimulating drugs that you've just started? Hope you're feeling ok on it whatever it is

carebear how did your second sniffy morning go? Hope you had less dribbling! Can you tell your colleagues that you have hay fever...? My blood tests were for: LH, FSH, AMH, estradiol, HIV, Hep B, Hep C, rubella immunity and probably some others too... I have had most of them before but the drs wanted to get up to date ones.

womanly I had milky porridge this morning

waves at luck hope you are well?

I thought I was going to have today off but found out yesterday I have lots of work to finish because one of the teams I work with hadn't done all they should have done yesterday so I have to pick it up but I do get to work from home and, as I'm self- employed, it means I get an extra day's pay

Hope you all have a lovely Friday xxx

The one I've just done is called Suprecur (the brand name) - ie Buserelin acetate. It's to stop the ovaries functioning on the natural cycle so that the next drug - the stimulant - can then take over.

Sadly we're having to go private because the NHS around our area no longer funds IVF. We're thinking very hard about how many cycles we can afford. I think it would be 3 - or 4 max. With ICSI as well the first one is costing 5,000. I hope subsequent ones might be less, if we get embryos from this one.

I'll treat myself to a read of this thread in my breaks today :)

Hi Hippy crikey that is a fair old whack. We have set aside some cash to fund private cycles if we need to and it's frightening isn't it?

However, I just keep remembering our consultant saying that although statistically we have a 1 in 3 chance of any given cycle working, that doesn't mean you'll need 3 to get pg; loads of people get lucky on their first one so fingers crossed you'll have a little person and some frozen embryos at the end of this cycle.

Do you know how long you'll be on the downregs for? My downregs will be sniffy drugs (like carebear taking now) and they last for 2 to 3 weeks. I assume it's the same for you?

Right, back to doing someone elses work for them

Welcome hippy, I'm on suprecur too but have sniffy version, started yesterday.

I've got the technique sussed now, nozzle right up nose equals less dribbling.

Garden hope the results are speedy. Are you still due to start next cycle?

Hippy are you at guys too by any chance?

Hi carebear the results should be back on Monday, then I have to get an appt to discuss meds in the next week or so and I'm due to start sniffing on the 24th may! Eek!

Glad you have sorted the dribbling! Xx

Hey girls - all gloom and doom here as I tested and as usual bfn. When will AF arrive. BUT promise to jump on the wagon tomorrow.

Oh womanly I am so sorry... I really hoped you would get your bfp before your next cycle of iui. I am sending you a big hug xxx

Womanly so sorry, big hug from me too. It will happen and will be all the sweeter because of this pain. X

Garden good luck for test results on Mon. 24th is not long now.

Just been speaking to my brother who has 2 kids, the first was conceived after we started trying. It hurts to even hear about them. Am I a bad person eaten up with envy?

carebear you are not a bad person! It is so hard when other people seem to fall pg at the mere whiff of SWI. I have had to distance myself from a few friends who have all had two since we started ttc ... And one is pg with #3.

Obviously you can't do that with your family but don't be hard on yourself for feeling about it. We're all only human after all! I think it's better to let yourself feel those emotions rather than suppressing them .. . With me, if I try not to be grumpy or jealous about people having their fifteenth child since Christmas, I go slightly bonkers. If I allow myself to wallow, I get over it and can move on. We're all different though so ignore that if it doesn't help!

Here, have an especially big

How has sniffing gone this morning? Do you just sniff once a day? When is your scan to check you're properly down regged? Hope you are still feeling ok on the drugs xxx

womanly I hope you are feeling a bit better this morning. How are you doing with your looking-after-yourself routine? I hope you can spoil yourself this weekend within a lovely bath / massage / reflex / new shoes!

I had a hot water bottle last night and will be having porridge this morning ... And am going to try to do 30mins on the cross trainer later. I'm not fit enough to do thirty mins straight but will try just to take breaks at ten mins and twenty mins.

How is everyone else this morning? I hope you are all well and have a weekend of relaxation and pampering ahead of you.

Also ladies, I was googling last night and found several articles saying aspirin can help improve your chances of conception if you are undergoing fertility treatment or tackling unexplained infertility. Apparently it increases blood flow to the ovaries and uterus so you respond better to the drugs and implantation is more likely to happen.

I have always had a suspicion that, as well as pco, I have a strong immune response to swimmers. I'm allergic to absolutely everything else so it would not surprise me if my immune system snipers the poor chaps before they get to have their champagne and canapés with my eggs! Apparently aspirin reduces the allergic response and lowers insulin resistance which helps with the effects of the pco.

What do you think? It could all be total balls but I'm toying with the idea of taking low dose aspirin before my next appt and then asking the dr about it.

Sorry for thet ramble, I just wanted to know if anyone else had heard of it helping.

Right, off to persuade DH to have healthy porridge and fruit rather than a fry up wish me luck!

xxxx

Ah, thanks Garden. That's really nice and made me feel a lot better. Big hug. I like the allowing yourself to wallow bit, I always feel I should be pulling myself out of it. I've distanced myself from some friends too, thinking 'I'll call them next month when I'm feeling better or pg' and its never happened! I think one or two might be ok to pick up the friendship again eventually but maybe not. I feel pretty bad about it. Its hard isn't it.

I'm sniffing once in each nostril, 3 x per day. I have to call them on the first day of my period to be scanned on day 2 or 3. They said it could be between 3 and 5 scans between that one and the egg extraction day. I've felt fine so far, no change really.

That's interesting about aspirin. I will ask about that when I next go in.

Garden, with regards to an immune response, I wonder if there are any tests that could test for that sort of thing? When I asked at guy's about extra tests they said that ivf was good for identifying issues, so I wonder if they can pick up something like that?

Has anyone heard anything really bad about the effect diet coke can have? Its my worst habit (only 1 a day but can't seem to stop!).

Hope you're all good and enjoying the sunshine. x

Hi carebear I haven't heard anything about diet coke but I will keep an eye out for any refs. The only thing I have heard is not to have too much caffeine but I'm sure one diet coke a day is ok!

Sounds like you have a lot of sniffing going on ... Glad you are feeling ok though.

There are tests that they can do re immunilogical issues but all they would do is recommend iui or ivf if they found it was a problem so I guess we will just carry on although when we DTD around my last ov before ivf, I might keep going with the low dose aspirin and take an anti-allergy pill or two just to see what happens.

Hope everyone is doing well today and that your weeks are all off to a good start xxx

Hi ladies, just wanted to say I'm still here, I've just been away over the bank hols etc. But am back now, and have our next appointment next Mon, where we will FINALLY find out whether it's IVF or ICSI, and when we start.

Meanwhile, I had AF last week, and on day one, with giant wombache and feeling uber-emotional, I had to go to sodding Mothercare to buy some vouchers for a colleague going on mat leave. Aaargh! TWO people in our team finished for mat leave last week. Sigh. Normally I'm fine about it, but it was all a bit much.

Anyway, enough of the moaning. care hope the sniffing's going well, how exciting!! And garden, I bet you can't wait until 24th May! womanly, it sounds like you're really focused on you, and I think that's the number one priority during all of this. You inspire me to start concentrating on myself, which is difficult when there's so much else going on. I feel like I want to crawl away under my duvet and stay there!

Onwards and upwards, it's lunchtime which is always a highlight in my day. love to you all xxxx

Hi all

Sorry I've not posted for a while, I got myself in a tizzy about having to wait and wait for our initial consultation but amazingly we've got it tomorrow, exciting . Next AF due at the end of the month so I'm wondering if I might even be able to get going this cycle....gardenpixie I know you're a bit ahead of me, so does this sound likely to you? . What's next for you?

I completely relate to everyone's stories about other people's pregnancies. I do remember a really interesting MN thread once before where someone said to remember that other people getting pregnant doesn't reduce our chances and that there are not a finite amount of babies 'available' so we'll have our time. I'm sure the thing I read was more eloquent than that but you get the gist! I try to take this advice on board but it's not always easy...

womanly I'm so sorry that this wasn't your month. You sound very wise and focussed though (I do wish I could avoid chocolate as per your plan!) and I do wish you all the very best this time.

carebear how is the sniffing going? How much longer?

What determines whether one sniffs or injects btw?

Is anyone planning acupuncture during their assisted conception? A good friend of mine had ICSI (and 2 DDs to show for it!) and had acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer. Does anyone have recommendations in South London? Maybe Guy's will have a suggestion...

Hope everyone is having a good week so far

Hi all, Luck I really feel for you, have so been there. Massive hug. How strong are you for doing it though, am sure I would have tried to duck out somehow. There was a point last year where 6 people i worked with were all pg, 2 by accident, 2 lots older than me, 1 very overweight lady.....sorry am being mean, but its not fair!!!! Kool you are right in your philosophy, just hard to feel it sometimes. I'm hoping one day we'll look back on this and realise just how strong its made us as people and that our lives will be all the happier for it - the pleasure / pain principle! Kool think you can get going at the next day 21 ish following your appointment. How are you feeling about your appointments Kool and Luck, have you got all your questions ready? Actually not that you'll probably need them they give you so much information. One tip though is to write it all down as there's some things I've forgotten since. She told me to drink lots of milk, but I can't remember if thats just when injecting on the stimulating part. I'm now sniffing on what is day 27, my cycle is usually 30 so sometime before about day 4 I go in for my first scan to check if I've down regged ok. Did any of you read Kate McCann's story about IVF in the sunday times, I found that quite interesting.
love and hugs to you all. x x x

Morning all,

Care thank you for the hug , it's cheered my morning. You must be getting excited now, are you? I'm really looking forward to the appointment because it will (hopefully) finally give us a timetable. I feel like life's on hold at the moment until I know when we're able to start the treatment, which protocol we'll be on etc. Good to hear that we could potentially start on day 21 - that would mean the week after next! Although surely it won't be as fast as that? How quickly are the drugs delivered, does anyone know?

kool I'm having acupuncture already because I thought I'd try it to regulate my cycles. Since I've started it in November, my cycles have reduced in length slightly, from 40-ish days to 36, and I find it a really relaxing experience - I've often fallen asleep during my sessions! I'll continue it during my treatment for def. BTW good point re: there not being a finite number of babies; I shall try to remember that although, like garden, it helps me to wallow once in a while and get over it quicker.

We went to the open evening at Seacroft (Leeds), where it will all happen for us, and I was staggered at how many people were there, it was standing room only. It really brings it home to you just how many people are in our position, and how lucky we are that medical science can give us hope, when a generation or so ago we'd just have to accept our lot. (Philosophical look on face...)

Have a good Tuesday, y'all! Time for a
xx

Morning ladies, hope everyone is doing well today.

womanly big hug from me and hope you have relaxed the plan a litle bit the last few days. Or alternatively that the plan has gone really well and you are feeling very proud of yourself x.

Welcome to hippy everybody is lovely here and I feel very much at home

garden did you get your results yesterday? Hope all is good.

care glad to hear that the sniffing technique has improved - this is a sentence I didn't think I would be writing! I thought that ttc was about falling on DH's penis and da dah, job done! I think the caffeine in diet coke wouldn't be great but one a day if you're not drinking coffee or tea can't be that bad.

Hello luck, sorry that you had to endure Mothercare. I don't think anyone can prepare you for how heartbreaking things like this become when you stuggle to conceive. It really shocks me how much my heart aches when yet there is yet another pg announcement etc.

kool hope all goes well today! You'll have to let me know how it goes - purleeze!! Is it with gyno or with the ACU? And have you filled in any paper work for Guys? I still haven't got anything!

Hello lovely ladies I hope you are all well today,

Luck you are amazing to have done the mothercare trip, that must surely earn you some karma points in the baby credit bank . You'll be shopping there for own little person very soon.

I know what you mean about the crowded open evening, it was the same for us at Guys. In an odd way seeing everyone else made me feel less like we had been singled out for bad luck and more grateful for the fact that ivf even exists. I suppose there's never been a better time to be leaning on the medics for help!

koolforcats how did your appt go? I reckon you'll be able to start on your next cd21 as long as you've had all your tests done, we might well be sniffing buddies!

I was also thinking about acupuncture to help with the treatment. I think I am slightly more inclined to go for reflexology as I've had both in the past and reflex seems to do more to my body than accu but I know some people for whom it is the other way round.

Sounds to me like you might have to try an array of pampering and relaxing treats before you start so you can find the right one. Obviously you'll need to check how massage, Indian head massage, facials and all day spa treatments work for you

carebear 6 people pg at the same time??? That's bordering on being rude frankly! How are you doing today? Hope you are still feeling ok

womanly how are you today?

hello teds hope all is well with you too.

I haven't had my results yet as I am still waiting for the hospital to get back to me re my next appt. But they did say if there was a problem they would call me ASAP so am keeping my fingers crossed that no news is good news! Although I am a bit peeved i couldnt get through to anyone in person yesterday and had to leave a message. I guess I'm going to have to work on being more patient

Happy Tuesdays all round xxx

Hi everyone,

Hope it's ok for me to gatecrash the party.

I'm on the long protocol for ICSI. I start down reg injections on Friday. To say i'm terrified is an understatement!

I'm really worried about the side effects, have any of you noticed changes in your mood? Will my husband start spending more time at work?

Hope you're all having good Tuesdays x

Welcome Bella and best of luck with your reg injections on Friday. That's only two days away - I am excited for you. Not sure of the side effects. There is another thread with a lot more experienced folks -- Assisted Conception - you could ask there too. Most folks here are just starting like you.
Luck I think it's fab you went to Mothercare -- I can go into these stores..but after a bit the whole self-pity thing takes over and then it's hard to stay away from the chocolate...
garden Hope you get through today. I think if there were issues they would have rung back immediately..so I think you're set for now...
Big wave to everyone else..I haven't been here for a bit so need to catch up in detail...
On my end, AF has not arrived. Did the test on CD32 and it was a BFN. So glad that's over and done with. I feel bad for my body because it's clearly confused and not sure what to do next... so hope it figures it out.. I was reviewing my cycles and I did have 41 day cycles in the past year..so hopefully AF will be here by the weekend. Will be back Friday to catch up in detail.