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

HoHo am sorry have just realised I posted when we were on page 29 and missed a whole page, have not read it all yet but see there has been a bit of trouble for you with scans I did not mean to sound offensive and rude. Am going back to read it all carefully now please accept appologies

HOHO great news and best of luck with EC tomorrow, will be thinking of you.
garden so very exciting to see pixie's heartbeat, what utter turmoil for you, hope you have been able to take a few deep breathes and relax slightly. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly now. when is your next scan or do you have to phone Guys on Mon?.

Good week all with DR/ stims EC scans etc

Hi everyone, hope your Sunday evenings are nice and relaxing. I'm just waiting for my weekly fix of Downton Abbey.

Garden, I have my fingers firmly crossed that your little bean will settle in now, did you just have a feeling that they were wrong?

Glad you are in a happier place bugsy.

I am starting dregging injections on Tues morning. It's all cone around really quickly, hoping the process all runs smoothly. What sort of symptoms should I expect while dregging? Or do symptoms only start with the stims?

OMG garden thank goodness for that! I hope the little one hangs on in there and grows nicely in time for the next scan.

clairebear good news re: appointment and the start of your IVF journey...

bugsy glad you're feeling a bit better. Thanks for the well wishes :)

zeebee I have been positively EVIL on stims, so you have my sympathy. Glad you've got to grips with injecting.

Cloclo I didn't have any symptoms from downregging (which was a bloody good job as I was on them for 6 weeks!!!) So you won't necessarily get any...but I know others do.

It's my birthday today I'm 36. Eek.
It's been a quiet one, no booze or parties, just family and a meal out.

Egg collection tomorrow. Double eek. I'm not scared, oh no...

Happy Birthday Hoho best of luck for EC tomorrow xxx

Good luck today Hoho, let us know how it goes.

I'm in for my ec tomorrow, nervous but excited too!

hoHo good luck today - will be thinking of you and sending goooood vibes! where is your clinic? Are you in London too? Happy birthday for yesterday - 36 is YOUNG! Feel better knowing you too were EVIL aka on the stims. My poor poor DH - i'm buying him some tickets to a gig he wants to go in October as a sorry-i've-been-a-nightmare present...

jumping woo hoo - good luck tomorrow for your EC - gosh that's come round quickly hasn't it? How may days were you stimming for?

clo DR drugs were fine - altho the first week I found I was quite moody/stressed - work overload didn't help! And then the second week was OK - was very tired in the evenings tho - come about 9pm I was ready for bed....

I had first blood test this morning - she asked if I was OK with needles before she injected - I laughed - you HAVE to be OK with them when going through all this don't you?! So waiting to hear if they will change my does of the Gonal F this afternoon. Just got into work now and was surrounded by 2 different people talking about their DW's pregnancies and how tricky it is blah blah - the stims inside me wanted to say: well they are lucky to be pregnant! Anyway - onwards - trying to be positive about it all!

Happy Monday's to you all
ZB

Fingers crossed for you gp. My clinic wouldn't book a scan until 6w6d feeling quite relieved about that now given what you're going through now. When is your next scan?

Good luck today hoho & good luck tomorrow jumping. These EC's seem to come in waves!

Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better bugsy Good luck with the next steps. Hopefully you'll have a new action plan soon.

12 week scan for me next monday, feeling quite nervous about it as know several RL people for whom it's gone badly recently. DD waking up a lot at night atm, I'm knackered!

Hi Zeebee, at asking if you're OK with needles! I was stimming for 12 days (used all of my Gonal-F, was on dose of 225/day), did the trigger injection last night (that I DID feel!) and today is the first day in a month I've not either sniffed or jabbed with drugs (I feel like I'm in a drugs anonymous meeting) at it felt a little strange not to have to do one or the other!

Am nervous about tomorrow - even more so when the nurse gave me a suppository pain-reliever to use before I go (tbh I'm just as nervous about that than anything - I've never used one before so I guess inituition will kick in when it comes to (ahem) administering?!).

Owl, good luck with your scan, I'm sure it will be OK - this thread seems to be riding a lucky wave at the moment!

jumping v amusing re NA meeting - I know how you feel. yesterday my DH kept saying to himself (outloud) "it's just the drugs talking" if I was vaguely snappy...

not surpised you are nervous about tommorrow - will be thinking about you - what time is the EC scheduled for? Are you able to take a day or two off work? GOOD LUCK!!!

Wow 225 per day - that is a good dose - I seem to be on 150 per day but I guess that might change after I hear from them this afternoon...

Dreading that trigger injection - in fact we might ask a cousin of ours who is a GP to administer that one to me (altho I gather it can be at around 12 midnight that you have to shoot up & )?

ZB

zeebee my hcg injection was scheduled for 10.30pm exactly, I think it depends what time you egg collection is booked for. I didn't find it that different from any if the earlier injections though.

thanks owl reasuring! Think it's just the length of that needle that is sitting "hawk like" in the back of my fridge!!
Good luck with your scan on Monday BTW - fingers crossed for you!

ZB

Well it's a lovely sunny day here and I'm recovering from my egg collection in bed and playing on my laptop :)

It wasn't as bad as I thought, the 'virtual anaesthetic' knocked me right out and I didn't feel a thing. I'm still a bit drowsy now, and not in any pain or anything.

jumping I had my first drug-free day yesterday too, it was sooooo refreshing not to have to remember to take anything. Didn't have the pleasure of a suppository though, but I've got some to start tomorrow which I have to take for 2 weeks. Apparently these ones can go up your bum or fanjo, it's my choice. And what a lovely choice that will be
Good luck with your egg collection tomorrow, don't be nervous I honestly didn't think it that bad at all, and I'm the girl who was sobbing on the nurses shoulder on the way into theatre for my cervix dilation

zeebee I'm having treatment at the Hewitt Centre at Liverpool Women's Hospital. I didn't find the trigger shot any different from my other injections either. The most stressful thing was remembering to take it at exactly the right time!

the owl good luck for your scan next week and hope you get some rest. How old is your DD?

Hi Hoho glad to hear you're safe and sound following your EC today-it really is quite strange how you don't recall anything afterwards. Good luck for the phone call in the morning.
Jumping will be thinking of you tomorrow and sending lots of positive thoughts your way-just think of it as just one more stage to get through, one step closer.
Well this 2ww hasn't been too bad although not over yet! Back to work tomorrow so will be a distraction until OTD. Hope it doesn't stress me-shall just hide from any stress!
Love to all xxxx

Thanks Zeebee, Hoho & Pumpkin for the good wishes for tomorrow!

Zeebee don't worry about the trigger jab - it's not really any bigger, I just noticed it a bit more. Plus the plunger makes it seem different. I had to take mine at 10pm, so I'm guessing I'll be going for the EC late morning? I need to be there first thing to get ready. I'm off work all day and have arranged to either take Wednesday off or work from home, whatever I feel like (to be honest I'll probably end up working, I'll enjoy the distraction from a fridge full of chocolate from thinking too much about it!

Re. the suppository for before the EC tomorrow - weird it's not given to everyone, maybe they think I look like a wimp and need the extra pain relief?!

Hoho, glad the virtual anaesthetic worked - was it like being trapped in Super Mario Land?!

Evening Lovely Ladies

Thank you all so much for your kind words . It still hasn't sunk in and appear to be scared to say the 'T' word . So it's pigeon steps for us, need to get to next week's scan and then I think it might seem real.

HoHo, glad EC went well today and you're now resting up after all your hard work. The anaesthetic is actually quite pleasant isn't it, I remember dreading it as I've had awful reactions previously, so was good to just be nicely zonked . Sending over the very special delivery of bubbles, canapes and mood music for their night of lurrrrvvvve - waggles for the call tomorrow xx.

Good to hear you're not finding the 2ww wait to bad Pumpkin, fingers crossed it stays that way. How many more sleeps till test day?

Good luck for tomorrow Jumping. Yeah, the suppository is not so nice but hey in the context of the overall process, it's nothing! Hope all goes well and you get a bumper batch.

Zeebee, I second what the others have said, the hcg jab is really not that different to all the others and remember it'll be the last one .

Hoorah for getting started Cloclo, time will really fly now. I was really lucky with the DR's and was side effect free. Sorry if I sound like I'm always saying this but just drink loads of water, I really think it helps with all the drugs we have to pump our bodies with.

Bugsy, glad you're feeling better and that you're thinking ahead to next steps. Take care xx.

Wow Owl, 12 weeks, it doesn't seem so long ago we had the wonderful little owlet news - will be thinking of you on Monday.

Waves to everyone else.

First injection done - I had a little wobble beforehand but DH was very good really. Shame it has to be in the morning when we are already rushing around but I suppose it stops you thinking about it. Anyway, onwards and upwards!

I've just had my results back. They collected 13 viable eggs and 7 have fertilised. Is that good?

I'm a bit disappointed as I've been TOLD they'll assess the quality of the embryos and transfer them on Thursday(day 3) if they're ok, or Saturday (day 5) if they need a bit longer. Also been told they'll only transfer 1 embryo as I'm under 37. Only if the embryos are v poor quality will they transfer 2.

Is this standard procedure?

I feel like I'm having no say in the treatment....I've looked at the stats and I'm aware of chances of getting pregnant is higher when 2 are transferred (1 in 3 compared to 1 in 4). I just thought they'd discuss it will me first rather than being TOLD what they're going to do.

Obviously I'm aware the embryos may not even develop so all this panicking may be irrelevant anyway...

Cloclo well done for getting the first injection out the way. You'll find the next one easier and before you know it'll be second nature :)

cloco well done on the first injection. You'll be a pro soon.

hoho 7 fertilised is good I think (I had 5). At this stage I would try not to worry about how many they're going to transfer tbh. At my clinic it wasn't decided until transfer day (day 5). What they advise depends heavily on the quality of the embryos and unfortunately there's nothing you can do about that.

I was happy with transferring 1 blast as (a) the success rate for single/2 embryo transfer at 5 days is not that different, (b) miscarriage rate for twins is higher (c) although I'm desperate for another baby, having dd already makes me understand the reality of how tough a twin pregnancy would be (d) risks to the babies with twin pregnancy. Fingers crossed for you

Hello everyone, nice to see that things seem to be ticking along, and am sending good nesting vibes to all. I know I've not got any experience so far of this in practice, but if it helps, my (patient) surgeon told me that they'd only transfer 2 eggs if they didn't look that great by day 5. He said the success rate for one good egg implanting and snuggling in is better than risking putting in two and both dying/being awful pregnancy/twins (which is something they're trying to cut down on). HOWEVER, he also told me it is the mother's right to demand two put back if she really wants, even if that's going against clinic advice. I think it all depends on how things look at day 3, then they make a decision...my DH and I have tossed this back and forward (ie whether we'd want twins) and came to the decision that we'd go with what the clinic advised on the day. There is also always a chance that despite them putting one egg back, it can split anyway, so you'd still end up with identical twins....

Hope this helps a tiny bit. But in any case, you should still mention that you're feeling a bit left out of things with your clinic....

Waves to all today

Thanks Claire and theowl your advice has been helpful and I've calmed down a bit now :)

I just rang the clinic and had a chat with the embryologist (?) who said ultimately it is up to me, but what they recommend on Thurs will totally depend on the quality of the embryos (like you both said) and I can make my decision then.

So I feel like I understand things a bit better now and we can make an informed decision on Thursday :) I don't particularly want twins, I just want the best chance of getting pregnant, like we all do!

I'm very happy that we have 7 embryos (for now anyway) and don't want to seem ungrateful because I'm panicking about the transfer, I know some people don't make it this far.

jumping thinking of you and your egg collection today I hope it's all going well :)

Hoho, glad helpful. I only know this because I asked exactly the same questions, and becausee my chap knows me so well as he also wears a surgeon hat as well as a fertility expert one, was v patient with me when I asked about a million questions. It's funny, because so much of it is down to timing and there's very little one can do once it's in the lab other than cross fingers and put lots of trust in the technicians. My man also said to me that what will be will be, and whilst that's a possibly easy thing for him to say, actually makes a lot of sense! So fingers and toes crossed for you!

Hello!

Cloclo you'll quickly get used to the injections!

Hoho it can feel like you're not getting to make many decisions but I'm just working on the basis that these guys are experts in this, I'm not, so I'm happy to go with the flow, to a point! There are risks with transferring 2 embryos/blasts, so these need to be weighed against likely success rates. Having said that, your medical team really should take your wishes into account, so have a chat with them. 13 eggs and 7 embies is good though!

My ec went well, they got 10 eggs, so hopefully we'll have a few fertilise so we can do ET on Friday or Sunday snd have some to freeze. Feeling a little groggy and having cramps now but dh is doing a lovely Florence Nightingale routine!

jumping so happy that it all went well and they got 10 eggs! WOW what a crop - how was the anesthetic? Was it all done in one of those little scan type rooms they have at guys? I must say when i got there this morning for blood test and scan i had a furtive look [furtive emoticon] at all the couples sitting around thinking - I wonder if one of them is jumping and her DH!?

claire very interesting to read about your surgeons advice re 2 or 1 eggs - i must say we are totally undecided...i think we will probably go with whatever the clinic say in the end.

clo those darned injections - they do get easier as time goes on. My only advise is to make sure you do it 100% concentrating - I wasn't on Saturday evening and it was painful - my own fault for semi lying on the bed and not pinching my skin hard enough. I do remember someone on this thread admitting that they grew to rather enjoy doing the self injecting - at the time I thought they were crazy, but I can sort of understand that now - it's not as bad as a lot of other things..

ho ho that is great news re your 7 embies - so exciting!

I went and had an internal scan and blood test today - they have now reduced my Gonal F to 75 mg per day - (rather than 150 mg) and i feel so much better in myself today not . My folicles seem to be a wee bit over excitied - there are 3 massive ones and the rest look normal ish apparently - (i've been stimming for 6 days now) I have an abundance of them on my Right side compared with the left - which makes sense as I can really feel them that side of me - like a gentle pulling sensation. Still drinking tons of water - trying to do the 3 litres a day and pretty much hitting that target. Should have taken shares out in Evian before I started.

Hope those with scans this week are all OK - look forward to hearing your news.. skitoo special hello to you - hope you are doing well... garden thinking about you too - hope all OK?

ZB x

Sounds like you're doing well Zeebee. I had loads on my left hand side, it's funny how you can feel them, isn't it?! We were in the procedure room, the ec is done in a small operating theatre style room with a hatch (really!) where they pass the fluids to the embryologist. the anaesthetic was fine, I was out for the count and came around in the procedure suite around 10mins after coming out apparently. I was more nervous about hearing how it went than the procedure, so now am quite relieved! Now just getting nervous about 'the call' tomorrow! One step at a time, eh?!