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

So.. my left eyelid is twitching and I read somewhere that for women that means they are going to hear some good news... Do I really need this - this week of all weeks??? BAH!
How are you ladies doing?

Hi all and welcome Bella , good luck for Friday! Do let us know how it goes.

Garden I just got back from then initial consultation, it was straightforward, had a scan and a chat. I'd love it if we were sniffing buddies but I think you'll be ahead of me so you can be my mentor instead! . My AF isn't due for a couple of weeks and then it'll be 21 days after that but I'm much happier to be in the system now.

Teds I'd chase up if I were you....I thought you'd said you had an appointment for your initial consultation in a couple of weeks? Our app was at the ACU. I filled in a form today (consent for egg collection) and had previously filled out a couple of other forms...welfare of the child and disclosure of medical info if my memory serves me correctly. BTW your ttc expectations really made me chuckle! For some people it really does seem that easy doesn't it!

Hippy how are the injections going? Are you doing them to yourself? How hurty is it?!

Carebear I'm glad you reminded me about questions as it made me write some down. The HEFA website is really good as it has a questions to ask section which I found useful. I can link it if anyone's interested. Ooh I also meant to say, you should check if diet coke has aspartame in it as I've heard that's nasty stuff and best avoided....

Thanks Luck re acupuncture info. I asked about it at the clinic today and the lady we saw said there's no concrete evidence for it improving your chances but that if it's relaxing it's worth it. So I think I'll be giving it a whirl...

Sorry womanly I hadn't realised we'd got to page 9 and missed your posts. We've got a nice little group going here . How's the eyelid? Hope AF arrives soon so that you can get going again, wishing you all the best x

Knock knock! Can I join you guys? I'm loving reading all the posts, its great to know that other people are going through the same things dh and I are.

I've had my first consultation, scan etc and now I'm waiting for AF. I'll probably call the clinic in June now, as I have to get an up to date smear before we get started.

My consultant is down in Eastbourne, hubby and I are getting this through the NHS, I'm counting my blessings!

We've been ttc for five and a half years now, done the whole clomid thing and here we are.

Hi Bodeccia, welcome!

We sound like we're at the same point, exciting isn't it? My AF is due in just over a couple of weeks so that's when we'll be getting going.

Here's to this being a lucky thread for us all

I'll drink to that kool :)

Cheers, then! or , whatever takes your fancy

Hi Gardenpixie

We have our first ivf appointment in 5 weeks after the last one of my tests (amh). Did the consultants give you any guidance on ttc naturally? I was just a bit surprised when we saw the consultant the last time (actually it was one of his minions) and she just said 'right, so you have to choose between ivf and ivf and icse'. No clomid, no iui option, no put your feet behind your ears position advice...

From what I have read, we don't decide, they will judge the quality of the eggs and sperm on the day. I am just a bit cheesed off that no one told us what was wrong or what (if anything) we could do to help.

Ooo the list of questions is getting pages long now!

I wish you the very best of British with your cycle, I will be trailing after you with interest!

Ps. To any one diagnosed with PCOS, I have had great success getting my cycle in check with acuputure, it also make you sane! (at least for a little bit) and if you can find a nice acupuncturist they end up being your councillor too... Wonderful wonderful people.

Ooooooh hello and welcome Becca Bodeccia and Bella ... what a lovely group of ladies we have on this thread!

Bella that is so exciting that you are starting downregs on Friday. On this thread, Carebear is currently sniffing her downregs so I'm sure she can tell you if there have been any side-effects although I think she's doing well on them.

Carebear is that right? I hope you are still finding the drugs OK and that your sniffing technique is still holding up

Bodeccia I tried clomid as well! Very much looking forward to the Drs taking over and not having to worry about when I'm ov-ing etc. Very exciting that you'll be starting next month; looks like we all have very similar timings

Becca I think you are right about the Drs deciding on ICSI or just IVF closer to the time. From what I understand, our clinic (we're under Guys & St Thomas') look at DH's test sample to see if it's likely we'll need it and then they double check the actual sample just to make sure.

We've been TTC for just over 3yrs now and I share your frustration at not knowing what's wrong! I have PCO but do ov regularly and DH has slightly low morphology but not low enough to be considered problematic. Our consultant was really good about it and said that for some people, science just isn't advanced enough yet to identify the problem, but that IVF seems to be a really good solution for a range of issues so given it's the best proceedure currently available, we should have a really good chance.

Kool woo hoo for you starting soon! Next CD21 doesn't sound like it'll be too far away for you so huge hurrah!

Womanly how are you doing today? I reckon a twitchy left eyelid is definitely a sign of an impending BFP ... in fact I don't think you even need to bother with an HPT! Seriously though, I know it's frustrating to be in that time between a BFN and AF. I am still hoping you have a little bean hiding away who's just been a little shy about producing HCG

Big waves to everyone else how are you all doing today?

Not much to report here - I'm still waiting for the clinic to get back to me with my meds schedule appt. But given I am on CD9 and don't need the appt until CD21, I am failing trying to stay relaxed about it.

And I have to report that the low dose aspirin is having some interesting effects. I have Raynaud's syndrome (where my fingers and toes get very cold as the little blood vessels shut down when they feel cantankerous) and have had no episodes at all since I started taking the aspirin ... which is quite pleasing as I think that means the vaso-dilation is working.

And also, I think the vaso-dilation must be working on the old ovaries and uterus if my soaring libido is anything to go by. Poor Mr Garden, he's just not safe in the house anymore ... although he's not complaining

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what the medical people have to say about it when I eventually get my appt sorted! Although I might leave out the bit about the libido ...

I've just heard from Guys - all our tests were "fine" (not sure what that means exactly but good to know there were no problems); I have my schedule appt on Fri 20th and start sniffing on the 23rd.

Apparently the drugs company are going to call me to arrange delivery of the meds. This made me laugh as I'm currently freelancing at an ad agency and whenever anyone gets a delivery, they are summoned to pick up via an intercomm system; I have visions of an announcement that says "Gardenpixie, your Friday drugs delivery is in reception"

best get them delivered to my home address I think...

garden hooray hooray!! How VERY exciting!! Fabulous news .

You're giving me hope for our appointment next Mon. I wonder if they'll start us sniffing/injecting soon, or whether I'll have to wait until my next cycle in June? Fingers crossed!

xxx

Great news garden , how exciting! I'm so glad you started this thread, it's really reassuring to know there are plenty of people in this situation and going through it together really helps. Glad your aspirin is having fun side effects

ooh luck when is your AF due? Mine is a couple of weeks away so I wonder if we might be sniffing at a similar time? I bet you're excited about Mon.

Hope everyone else is well and having a happy day

Hi kool I'm only on day 7 so it's aaaages away, especially as I'm averaging between 35 - 40 days. But hopefully we'll overlap and you and garden and care can tell me all about it!

Am getting giddy just thinking about it! I totally agree, it's so lovely having everyone else here for support. Gawd bless you all.

In a total aside, are any of you watching The Apprentice? I love that it's back on, it's great stress relief to shout at the dimwitted malcontents.

xxx

Yey Garden, that's great news, glad all is ok and you start soon . And I agree, well done you for starting this thread and gathering such a great group of ladies. So nice to have others who are all about to go through the same thing.

Womanly hows the flickering eye? Was it a sign? Fingers crossed for you.

Welcome BellaBlister, Boddecia (great name) and BeccaBlue. Hi and cyber hugs to you all plus to Teds, Luck, Kool and Hippy. How are things for you all, do update how you're getting on. Gosh there are so many of us now. Shall we do that thing where we list a quick summary at the bottom so we remember who each other is and where we're at?

I've now been sniffing my down regs for 7 days, and I feel absolutely fine. Physically normal (with the old wet patch under my nostrils - now there's a place I didn't expect to find one whilst ttc ha ha )

Psychologically I agree garden its so nice to feel that someone else is in control and that there is loads of support (medically and emotionally) available this time. Plus the knowing that my odds this month have gone from probably less than 1% to about 32% feels much more positive. I do worry that if it doesn't work my next low will probably be lower than ever before, but hey ho its a chance we've got to take hey ladies.

and I agree luck, i'm a total apprentice fan am so glad there are people up for making such a fool of themselves for our viewing pleasure!

here's my song of the day

x x x

Hello ladies

Carebear I laughed about under the nose not being where you'd expect a TTC wet patch! Great song too!

How is everyone today?

Sorry for such a short post but need to get back to the work I didn't quite manage to do yesterday because i was googling ivf things in anticipation of the sniffing so busy.

Waves all round

Wow ladies, I had not realised that this post was 9 pages long!! Thank you so much for starting this thread as I starting to get lonesome as all my fleshy friends are preggers or just dropped sproggs. Good luck everyone!

Evening ladies and welcome Bella Becca and Bodeccia. I will catch-up properly but just wanted to drop in and say 'hi' and ask for sympathy. I haven't been in bed before 1am all week thanks to work being an absolute nightmare! Am stuck here again and have no idea when I'll get to leave tonight! Glad that I read somewhere recently that stress doesn't affect your chances of getting pg!

Tis exciting that we all seem to be progressing at the mo.

womanly any good news from that eyelid twitching? If not, hope you're doing okay x.

teds booooooo for working so hard! Will this help?

Hello everyone else, I hope you are all well. Sorry to post and run again but I have a hound who is desperate for a walk - will stop by later to catch up.

Xxxx

oh dear, starting to feel blue. had a real attack of paranoia about something trivial at work yesterday, and been struggling to keep feeling positive today.

any suggestions?

carebear so sorry to hear that. FWIW when I was on clomid, I found making sure I drank a lot of water and doing lots of exercise helped... But I don't know if that works with the down regs too.

Are you sleeping ok?

Can you take it easy at the weekend and have some time to look after yourself?

Sending big hugs xxx

care bear I'm sending you and a nice , so sorry to hear how you're feeling. Remember that you're doing something amazing....you're getting ready to make a baby bear...it'll all be worth it xx

aah, thanks guys. you're right garden i hadn't slept very much at all thurs night. had a good 9 hrs last night and took you're advice and went for a run this morning. will try to keep reminding myself of that kool. just feeling like i'm sinking. forcing myself to meet a friend tonight and not cancel and hide inside which is what i really feel like doing. got my first scan tomorrow though to see if i've downregged ok so that might get me back on track.

how's everyone else? x x x

carebear I am glad you are feeling a little better. I do hope you have fun tonight with your friend koolforcats advice is spot on - just think of how amazingly hard your body is working to grow a baby bear for you!

Can you go for a treat like a massage? I don't know about you but that always relaxes and cheers me up.

And obviously come and have a rant if you want! I empathise with the sinking feeling ... It's hard to keep level when there is something so huge at stake, but all we can do is take it one day at a time. My goals each morning include finishing the day without having downed too much wine or lost the plot entirely with mr garden! I think it's ok to be a bit nuts at the moment!

Sending hugs xxx

How is everyone else doing?

I have just got back from a big walk with DH and our hound. It was lovely but we are all shattered now!

What is everyone else up to this weekend?

Xxx

Nothing wrong with a cheeky glass or three of garden .... Just think, in a while we might not be allowed to!

I'm about to embark on flapjack making

Teds did you chase up your appointment?

Carebear I do hope you are having a chilled weekend and are feeling a bit better. It's an odd time isn't it? Lots of time waiting and procrastinating...that's what I'm doing anyway! Looking forward to AF in a couple of weeks (never thought I'd say that!) so I can do bloods and hopefully get sniffing 3 weeks later (more waiting!). You'll be well on your way by then

Hi to everyone else

Hi ladies,
After a looong wait, AF finally arrived today - YIPPIE - - yes, that's right - I am jumping for joy now that AF is here because I can now start my injections for the second round of IUI tomorrow morning. LOL Kool I totally know what you mean when you wrote in looking forward to AF..
I also want to catch up with the thread...
Welcome Bodeccia - When are you expecting AF? I know that the hardest part of all of this is the waiting...
Becca I have PCOS and haven't tried acupuncture...perhaps it's somethign I can try this cycle.

Bella How is the downregs going?
Care It's good to hear that you're doing better now -- Hope your meeting up with a friend helped tide you across. This isn't easy - - Sometimes we forget that it's allright for us to have a few downturns. Like garden reported from her initial consultation - it's perseverence not positivity that will see us to the end. I keep thinking of the cartoon who's trying really hard to hang onto something..and the pure determination in his face even though his nails are almost off the thing he wants so bad.. Keep going .. :)
Teds How awful for you to be working so hard - - I hope you got to catch up on your sleep over the weekend.
Garden hope you got some time to put your feet up this weekend :) I have been spending some time in my garden (pulling out stuff mainly)... The weekend was not going well...in fact the whole week was pretty stressful because I felt like AF was coming two weeks ago...and it was really a long wait till it did happen. Oh well... I'll take whatever positivity I can get... Onwards and Upwards ladies. Here's to a lovely few months of summer fertility exercises.
PS - the twitching of the eye did bring good news - recognition at work.. So if you do get a twitch in your left eye, it means you're about to hear good news :)