IVF / ICSI - everyone welcome for questions, hand holding, and waggle dancing

[Gardenpixie]

Ladies, we ran out of space on the old thread so here is a sparkly new one with dedicated areas for waggle dancing, hormonal outbreaks of bonkersness, sniffing, injecting and progesterone pessary related fartiness.

For anyone thinking about starting IVF / ICSI or going through it at the moment, do come and say hello. These wonderful ladies have kept me sane through the last few months and are a source of all knowledge concerning tests, down-regging, ov stimulating, DIY injections and much more so if you need any info or just some company, do join us.

So here's a welcome for everyone and an enormous waggle dance for many many more BFPs to come

That was of course meant to be two blastos!

Good luck pumpkin. Fingers crossed for your two little bundles. The progesterone has really messed with my system too. I switch from constipation to the opposite problem on a weekly basis. Only 2 more weeks of it to go though!

Clairebear I think the blood test you're referring to is the AMH one? The result of this led them to increase my menopur (stimming) dosage. Good luck

Thanks girls-just came away from lying on sofa having watched a film-another chosen for tomorrow already! Owl constipation so awful-never been a sufferer and now have real sympathy for those qho go through this regularly. 2 more weeks of progesterone for you-thats good. How are you feeling?

Jumping yes 2 little blastos-how are you getting on?-any news with appts or dates?-I daren't go back a screen as I have had all my msg wiped before! Hope it's going okay for you though.

I am relieved yesterday is over-when we asked about 1 or 2 embryos to transfer they said on day 3 if there is a top quality one it will be 1, if sub quality 2-hence my worry/concern when we were told to have 2. However, we always agreed that we would do what the clinic advised-they are the experts after all. I always assumed blasts were transferred alone-no they too have a 'quality'. On the day they were scored at 5BB and 4BB if anyone knows-but on cross-questioning asking embryologists their opinion they said one (I suppose the one 5BB) is nearly perfect and the other is just below. Mr google has shown conflicting info though! I said to DH they are both perfect to me! After the transfer, the dr said after looking under scope one was nearly hatched.

Sorry, now a reflective moment-it just seems to me through this whole experience there has been so many hurdles to overcome. When we got past day 3 and were told day 5 I thought YIPPEE but then sadly, there's no definate to all this. I have been convinced for bad news at every step. I rang my clinic today to ask a few questions-namely-what are our chances-was told the embryologists know their stuff, they're only going to be honest and if they said good chance...However-non-commital comment 'You can have perfect embryo which doesn't implant and you can have imperfect ones which make healthy human beings and vice versa'-it's just the former have more chance of success but the latter also have a chance. HELPFUL. I suppose it's fair to say that the patients,experts,doctors,scientists can do all their hard work but at the end of the day I am certain there are other factors and variables that cannot be controlled and some of it is luck.

Sorry for that last bit-but does anyone else feel like at the end of it-just throw your arms up and say 'I can't do any more to help/hinder it-what will be will be'. xxx xxx

Hi pumpkin I'm well thanks, on the stimming injections now so feels like it's all moving quickly! I'm back at the clinic on Wednesday for a scan to see how my ovaries are getting on so there's a chance we might get to ec within the next week.

I know what you mean about just putting your faith in the specialists, odd to surrender yourself like that but they know what they're doing I guess!

Funny you should say that pumpkin - on Skype to my mum yesterday and told her I had a very Doris Day attitude to the whole thing - que sera sera! I'm not planning on doing very much different to normal when my injections start because I reckon normality is the best way to stay stress free - if the embies are meant to implant, they will.

Good luck with your blasties - I'm sure you will get good news :)

On the whole 'que sera sera' thought - my mum is surprised I'm not taking to my bed for weeks to 'stop anything happening' as a result of day-to-day life (I'm sure she thinks they'll just 'fall out' if I stand up ). I'm planning on easing back on the gym following EC until I test at least and if I get a bfp will just do gentle stuff (perfect excuse to be a couch potato!) and I'll be avoiding situations I know will stress me out, but otherwise I'm planning on life as usual (or as close as possible). However I have to say that this whole process has encouraged me to look at life in a new (more laid-back) way and I find I'm not letting myself get stressed about things like I would before, so there's a benefit already!

Anyone taking any other 'precautions'?

Yes i know exactly what you mean jumping about looking at your life and eliminating things that stress you out... as a result I sometimes feel a bit like I've hit a big old PAUSE button - which can get me down a bit - so I am am learning to love not having much on in the evenings, and taking baths and pottering about the house at weekends....work is still quite stressie but I've arranged to work part time once all the EC and ET is happening (fingers crossed) and for sometime after that too...

I am trying to eat lots of protein - as i read that that really helps your body be more accepting of potential embies - yesterday I had a protein smoothie from a health food shop near work - it was banana, peanut butter, avoca (?I think) and something else I'd never heard of - it was in fact delicious! So lots of fish and chicken and eggs basically - oh yeah and a few too many beans and lentils & greens! Anyway goodluck tomorrow pumpkin with the scan on ovaries - fingers crossed they are getting nice and juicy with all those stims!

I am looking forward to getting off the DRs - i find myself being quite cranky with my poor DH - he puts up with it tho - what a guy! I just seem to get so incredably tired in the evenings...

Pumpkin how are you? What movie are you settling down to today?
Clairebear exciting you might be starting all this so soon... garden and skitoo thinking of you two a lot as well - hope all OK this week - waggling hard for you!! Hi to everyone else....

ZB

Hi Everyone

Sorry for my absence, it as a crazy week last week and was away over the weekend in Scarborough with the in-laws which was lovely and relaxing. Just been catching up on posts just now.

Bugsy I'm so sorry about your news. Hope you've had a good few days of hiding under the duvet and having a good cry so that you can feel ready to move onto the next stage. Thinking of you, be strong and take as much time as you need for yourself.

Danny sorry to hear about your cancelled cycle, you too need some me time, sending lots of hugs your way and hope you can indulge yourself for a few days and then think about what you want to do next, but don't give up, thats the most important thing, hope you can get back some positive thoughts for your next cycle.

Clairebear, lovely to see you back and really pleased you're starting your next cycle soon.

Pumpkin, great news about your blastos, hope they're settling in nicely - remember plan lots over the next couple of weeks to take your mind off the 2ww.

Garden fingers crossed for your scan tomorrow, sending loads of positive vibes to you.

Update from me although I am very conscious I don't want to harp on too much about myself and please do tell me to shut up but hope its helpful. Had 12 week scan today with combined nuchal scan and blood test and all looks OK with the scan. Don't get the blood test results until about a week, get a call by Fri if the results look like I am high risk for Down's, but a letter in a week if I'm low risk. Fingers crossed, another horrible wait!!.

Hi to everyone else, sorry if I've missed anyone but only quickly skimmed through the last week of posts to try and get an update on everyone - will read through in more detail at the weekend.

Big hugs to all

xxxx

Afternoon ladies from a crazy-weathered Scotland! Am stalking phoning the clinic a lot still just in case they have a cancellation to see the nurse, but it's increasingly looking like it's going to be next month now. Which in a way is fine as it means I can pump DH full of zinc before then in a bid to get everything as good as it can be. Had a few "words" the other night about cutting back on caffeine and being super-healthy etc beforehand which didn't go down as well as I'd hoped. He felt I was nagging, I just want to give everything the best possible chance....anyhoo, friends again, so all is fine..... Thanks for info re water too, and will try and up my water when doing the stims etc. I read all of Zita West's book in a day, trying to get as much info as possible (which is also probably why I was bugging DH) and it's very helpful, must say. I did have the AMH test, and understand better now what that's for, which is good. Hope it does make a bit of a difference when needed. I'm probably going to be doing this quite bit my myself, as DH will be up in Scotland, but my treatment is in London with my old surgeon, so hope that the distance won't make things too awful. He'll obviously need to be there for his bits, but because he's a teacher, it's v hard to get time off outwith school holidays....will muddle on and get friends and family in instead to help. But I do worry a wee bit about it, must say, especially as we're keeping it to ourselves/very close circle in case it doesn't work this time. His work don't know at all we're doing it, so all a bit secretive at the mo.

This is getting long, and sorry about the brain dump! I hope everyone is well today and thanks as ever for your time. I'll be back as and when I have news, but hope each day brings good news.

Hi all, hope everyone is ok. Fingers crossed for a last minute cancellation for you Claire.

I'm waiting to start dregging on Tues, but am a bit worried because DH has come down with (another) cold - he seems to live with them permanently. Could this affect his sperm for the vital time it is needed in late October? And if I get a cold could that affect my treatment? Not sure what happens if you get ill :/

Hello all, just a quick one from me as we didn't have great news at our scan ... The technician picked up a gestational sac and yolk sac but no fetal pole. She kept going on about how we could have got our dates wrong but obviously with ivf that's not very likely!

So we have to wait another ten days and then have another scan but she said it doesn't look good.

Anyway, sending lots of love to you all xxxx

garden so shocked and sad for you. What heartbreaking news. I feel lost for words knowing what you've been through already. Please look after yourself

Oh Garden, am so sorry. What awful news after all you've been through. Be kind to yourself over the coming days, I know how hard it is. Thinking of you and your DH. xxx

Really sorry to hear that GP, sending hugs your way

gp how unfair! You must be so gutted. Lots of hugs and thoughts your way to you and your DH! Xxxx

So sorry Garden that you and DH are going through this. I know the waiting is horrible-sending love and thoughts your way.

Garden what a terribly cruel, sad shock for you both, I'm so terribly sorry. And what a long time to wait? I guess you need to in case things have started developing but I know how hard it'll be. I hope you'll be able to take some time away from work, or keep working to keep occupied, whichever you feel may suit you best. I hope at least that you and your DH might be able to take some time together xxx

garden what devastating news after all you have been through. I am so sorry and really feel for you and DH. take it one day at a time and I will be keeping fingers crossed for a miracle. Be gentle to yourself. Had you noticed anything? ((((hugs)))))

So sorry Garden, it must be upsetting and frustrating. Hope there's some light in 10days x

Morning everyone, hope all are well, staying sane and waggling.

I have (another) slightly neurotic question about stimming and follicles... had my day 9 scan yesterday and while there seemed to be a fair few follicles there, they weren't big enough to schedule EC for tomorrow (think I say something around 8-11mm on the screen although there were a lot of numbers so I think I was looking at the right ones!) so I'm going back for another scan on Saturday, with a view to Mon for EC, assuming they've grown a bit.

How long were you stimming for? Is this normal (and should I stop worrying)? I've reacted in a very typical, 'confirmist' way to all of the processes/drugs so far, but have no idea if this is par for the course! My Gonal-F pen runs out on Saturday too, so another thing I'm probably unnecessarily stressing about!

Sorry for the 'me me me' post - I guess the reality of the number of hurdles and 'ifs' only really hit me in the last week or so!

i just want to give you all a big cheer and hugs all round... My own IVF (3rd cycle) was sucessful. Beautiful DD, coming upto eight years old. worth all the heartbreak pain and injections.

It fades, the fuss fades...x

Hello everyone,

Sorry I've not been on here a while, I've had my head firmly in the sand once again re: this whole IVF thing. I have a really bad habit of doing this, I honestly 'forget' for long periods of time, and then I 'remember' with a jolt, often in the middle of the night when I dream I've forgotten to do my injections and wake up in a panic

Just wanted to say how sorry I am about your news garden and bugsy.

garden I really hope your next scan brings good news, it must be incredibly hard having to wait another 10 days, my heart goes out to you.

bugsy that's so sad, I hope you're being kind to yourself and you feel better soon.

Also dannygirl I wish all the best for your frozen cycle I hopes it works for you.

I had my op to dilate my cervix last week, it went well - they dilated me to 7 cm and I felt v strange walking around afterwards, like my insides were accessible to the elements

I started my stims the next day, and of course I'd totally forgotten how to fix up the injection, as it was 3 weeks since I'd been shown how to do it. Cue mass panic, and it was 7pm so the clinic was shut, but I found a video on youtube and managed to figure it out from that. Phew.

The stims have made me feel quite ill, much more than the buserelin ever did on it's own. I have a permanent stitch type pain on my right side, where my one ovary is (I only have one ovary) and feel quite bloated.

All this probably isn't helped my the fact I've got an awful cold / temperature type bug and generally feel lousy anyway.

Which reminds me Cloco I asked the clinic about affect of colds on treatment on Tuesday when I went for my scan. The nurse said a bad cold shouldn't affect treatment in any way, except to make me feel worse than I already do! With regards to your DH, I think sperm starts being 'made' 3 months in advance, so I don't think a cold now would affect your DHs count a month from now. Obviously I'm not a doctor so don't quote me on this, but DH has low count and when he started treatment was around the time of swine flu, so we asked the consultant loads of questions about this.

My scan on Tuesday showed my one ovary was doing a brilliant job on it's own and I had a good number of follicles (I think she said 18). I'm off work with this cold bug, getting lots of rest and hoping my day 9 scan tomorrow shows some of the follicles have grown.

jumping from what the nurse said to me on Tuesday, I think it's fairly normal to need an extra few days for your follicles to grow. She told me if my day 9 scan tomorrow showed they were the right size I would have my trigger shot on Saturday and EC on Monday. But she also said not to get my hopes up or tell work I'll definitely be off on Monday there was a good chance I may need a few extra days for the follicles to grow. So I got the impression it's a fairly normal thing to happen.

Thanks for that Hoho, the nurse I saw wasn't about to give anything away!

Hope your scan goes well tomorrow!

Hi Everyone, am so sorry for my extended absence, as you know I've been mentalling for the last week .

It looks like I was completely wrong though, well doubly wrong to be exact, as we had our 6 week scan this morning and am sat here still in shock looking at little scan pics of both Bert & Ernie . I was a complete state in the scanning room thinking it was going to be just like last time but we were very lucky to see 2 little heartbeats straight away - crazy! Think it's going to take me and DH a few days to get our heads round it!

Pumpkin, great news on your 2 little blasts, I hope they are snuggling down and you are taking it easy. How many trashy films have you made your way through, any good recommendatins?

Garden, hope you are as well as you can be sweetie, sending you massive (((((((hugs))))))).

Caramel, lovely to hear from you and fab news on the scan, can't believe it's 12 weeks already.

Jumping, try not to worry about staying on the stims, we're all different and respond to the meds differently, hard I know. Sounds like you've got a good number developing, so now they're just going to fatten them up. Big waggles for your scan on Saturday.

Hello again HoHo, ouch for your op but good news on statring the stims, sorry they're making you feel a bit rubbish. Even though you already feel bloated I found that drinking tons of water was good. Good luck for your scan tomorrow.

Sorry not to do personals to everyone else, hope you are all well. I must crack on with some of the work now that I haven't managed to do today for being in a daze.

Waves to all xx

Garden I'm so sorry, there are just no words...sending loads of hugs to you and just do anything you need to do to get through the next 10 days, I know its going to be awful waiting but hang on in there, we're all rooting for you. xxxx