Assisted Conception (and the bits in between) Volume 10

[MoJangled]

Our new home, hope you all find me soon...

Ginger Happy Birthday your plans sound lovely. I second Badger's back door recommend . It sounds awful but it is much easier than the front (you'll get the hang of it quickly). I was recommended to lie down for half an hour after each 'application'- DP brought me a cuppa in bed in the morning. And i sofa surfed in the evening. Good luck my dear and hope the spotting bu**ers off soon for you x

Ginger happy birthday!!! Best of luck with the evil pessaries - really not the kind of birthday present a girl should hand

Pocket I'm going to be a bit ahead of you. I'm day 7 of stims now so I guess EC will be sometime next week (probably end of).

I've now been put on cetrotide as well which they want me to take at 5am - that means a 4:50 am alarm call (as I need to be properly awake to inject myself). Am sure there is some reason they make us do it at 5am rather than tormenting us!!!

Hi all
Just a quick one from me to say hello and that I've been thinking of you all. I have no idea what's been going on with you all, but I suspect I have a lot of catching up to do.

My Mum went home last friday and back to work for me on Monday. I was very sad to see her go but we had a brilliant month. A week in Greece in the sun and sea was just what the doctor ordered. I know it sounds cliche but there is something about being in the sun and sea that is good for the soul. I definitely feel that I've come along way from June's miscarriage and that I'm on the up. Even (mostly) managed to forget about TTC for the month. Ate and drank way too much and just enjoyed.

Did come back to a crashing reality with the (3rd) message from a very good friend at home announcing her pregnancy (2nd) due in March. So now 3 out of my 4 best friends are due in Dec, Jan and March. Of course I'm happy for them but it did bring it all back home again.......

Anyway I will do my homework over the next few days and catch up with you properly asap.

I hope you are all well and have had a nice summer.

oxo

Welcome back Sunny lovely to have you back and hear your update. You sound chilled which is great

Hi everyone, baseline scan on Monday went well so started stims last night, I do feel a bit better this morning but the last few days have been really awful I?ve honestly felt like I wished I never started it, I haven?t really eaten for the last 2 days as I?ve felt so sick but fx am out of that now.

Just got the mentalling about stims working now!! This is the bit I'm most worried about since the first twunty consultant I saw told me not to expect to get to EC due to my AMH @ 4.2 & FSH @ 12 [he was entirely proved to be a twunt by the next [lovely] consultant I saw but even though I know he was talking out of his arse he still said it so it is still out there iykwim]

Scans booked for Tuesday & Friday next week, if I respond ok then I?d expect EC week on Monday eeeek but can?t let myself think that far ahead, one stage at a time, see how I get on next Tuesday [nailbitingemoticon]

ginger on the pg boards there are always loadsof people saying about spotting, I?m sure it?s all fine, am still chuffed to bits for you .

mini how are you getting on? What is the cetrocide for? Eurgh to 5am? I am still doing my buserelin in the morning but thankfully the nurse said we could do the menopur in the evening otherwise I?d be up at that time too to mix all 5 bloody powders up!

Mo exciting stuff! Have got everything crossed for you for Monday

pocket looks like it will be mini next week, me [fx fx fx fx] the week after, then you maybe the week after that? October is going to be a busy month for pee sticks lol.

Waves at Italian & everyone else, sunny sounds like you have had a nice month too.

Hi Badger, I agree about back door insertion preventing seepage, but it is rather tricky and a little uncomfortable..

Mini, yey for EC being sometime next week, all the best of luck with it! I was also on cetrotide with the menopur but was never given a specific time to inject, isn't it strange how different clinics have different rules/methods? Good luck with the early starts!

Sunny, hello, and nice to meet you. I followed your story a bit before I crashed in on the conversation, and it is good to hear you have been taking it easy and getting some well deserved Sun and Sea.

Scarlett, so sorry to hear you have been feeling so bad on the drugs. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids whilst on the stims (though you probably know this already). Good luck with the stims, and don't let that twunty consultant get to you!

As for me, well the emotional rollercoaster continues! Last night I went for a lovely meal with DH and had finally stopped worrying, and the spotting seemed to be calming down. Then I had a bit of cramping but tried to ignore that, and went ahead with the backdoor insertion of the pessary and went to bed. Overnight I had several cramps, and this time they were more painful. This morning I woke up to discover blood rather than just the brown stuff and so I full on panicked! I rang the clinic again, but after the nurse discussed with the consultant, they just adv me to rest up and take paracetamol for the pain and continue the pessaries. I asked if they could do a blood test but they said no, not at this stage. They also could not do a scan earlier as they say they would not see anything before the 6 week mark anyway. This was difficult to hear as I want to know either way, but I did as told and surprisingly things have seemed to have calmed down now. There is still bleeding but not heavy and the cramping has all but stopped. Could it be the pessaries which are triggering the bleeding?

Anyway, hope this post isn't too depressing, as I am still believing, honest!

All the best of luck to everyone approaching their next big milestones!

Hello everyone else.

Am attempting to post one handed and with left hand as I feed my littlies. I do lurk when I'm feeding but have decided must try posting too!

Just really wanted to wish Mo and Pocket all the very best, also waves to Sunny and Italian and finally very sorry to hear your news Hoops xxx.

All well here. We're even starting to get some sleep! And lovely podgy babies . So definitely worth all the stresses to get them x.

Big waves to Teds and gorgeous bubbas!!!

Ginger my heart was pounding reading your post! You are sounding amazingly on top of things but I hope you're taking it REALLLLLLLY easy... Don't know about pessaries triggering bleeding, all I know is platitudes about it could be nothing to worry about. Hang in there xxx

Scarlett brilliant that you're out of the evil downreg! Hope you start to feel nore human again now. Prove the twunt wrong by having triplets...

Sunny welcome back and hang onto some of that sunshine vibe for the next bit!

Mini that sounds inhumane! 5 am! It would be interesting to know why...

Pocket the 30 min lie-down after pessaries is great, isnt it, I listen to the zita west relaxation tape in mine. Well, one of them, I'm on 4 a day and they dont all fit with a lie-down opportunity. How's downreg land treating you?

So the bench seems like quite a nice calm backwater after everything leading up to it. I can't really believe anything's happening, I'm not getting any symptoms apart from weight gain but that always happens with steroids and progesterone, no sense of anyone at home, no interesting tinglings or burrowings like I did with DS. Hey ho.

All together now... Keep On Believing!

Ginger i was so hoping that all the bleeding had stopped. I have heard they can't meaningfully scan before 6 weeks but they can do blood tests - Argc do they every 48 hours after Bfp until six weeks, but may depend on the lab. I have everything crossed for you.

sunnyg lovely to have you back. I'm now day 9 of stims at Argc so can fill you in in my findings if you are still interested.

scarlett glad you are starting to feel slightly better. These drugs are so rough sometimes and it is so hard to then eat and drink everything you are supposed to. hope you get some lovely juicy follies.

Mo thinking of you and sending lots of burrowing vibes.

Teds yay to lovely babies and feeding.

So, day nine now. Got scan today so will hopefully get a better idea of when EC will be. Ooh, but I do have an exciting celebrity spot. Whilst waiting for my call to see if I needed repeat bloods was sat in cafe in Marylebone high street and none other than Barbara Windsor walked in. Bit of excitement to liven up the wait.

I'm a believer!

Goldfrapp Believer has just come on my iPod. Yet another good sign for us ladies. Debating whether to download some Justin Bieber, so we can officially claim Belieber aka Believer status, maybe that's a step too far

Dont stop believeing

Hi Teds, lovely to officially meet you. Your new babies sound gorgeous and you sound very happy, am glad you are enjoying the experience.

Mo, not too much longer now on that bench. Hope the embies are burrowing in and getting nice and comfy. Don't worry if you are not getting the same indications as you did with DS, I'm sure every pregnancy is different. Keep doing what you've been doing and keep believing!

Mini, hope the scan goes well today and you get a clear idea of when EC will be.

Pocket, I'm loving the fact that Goldfrapp Believer came on your ipod at the right time! Not sure about the Justin Bieber/Belieber status though..

I feel a bit better today. Am relaxing and feeling really rather lazy with it (but know it is important I do). The bleeding has not got any worse and the cramps come and go, but are mostly just little ones when they do appear. I still have hope. Maybe I'll be one of those women who bleed right through? I do hope not though, as 9 months of this does not sound appealing. Oh well.. back to feet up on the sofa.. which DVD shall I watch now?

Hi All

Can I join in and ask a quick question?

Does anyone have experience of Prostap injection? I have to inject it tomorrow and I am wondering what to expect. Really what I'm hoping is that somebody is going to tell me they had it and felt fine! {grin}

(I believe Prostap shuts your hormones down, effectively creating the menopause. Is this the "downregging", you all refer to? I'm not au fait with the terminology yet!)

Many thanks!

Ginger I had bleeding and spotting too and Care said they wouldn't scan me before 8 weeks, so I found a private company that just does scans (early reassurance and 4D ones) and paid the £75 - it was 6 weeks exactly when I went and we saw a little 2.8mm baby, with a heartbeat amazingly! They said it was too small for 6 weeks so would only date it 5 weeks on the scan, but when I had my NHS 12 week one they moved my dates so the baby was 6 weeks. I was prepared to only see a fetal pole and no heart beat at that stage. I think Care don't like to worry you so early but I had to know personally!! I then had the 8 wk scan at Care, then 12 week NHS one!

Mini how are you feeling with you EC next week ? excited? How are your 5am jabs going? Hope you?re braver than me with the needles. Btw Barbara Windsor is an excellent celeb spot!

Scarlett hope you?re feeling better and fx for your stims ? stuff your first consultant! Focus on proving him wrong.

Ginger honey poor you ? I can imagine how annoying and stressy your bleeding/cramping is. Its just one crappy thing after another isn?t it? Rest up and let everyone run around after you ? and don?t go to work for a few days (stay on the sofa and watch all those dvds)!

Hey Teds so lovely to hear from you and that you?re gorgeous podgy babies are doing well. And sleeping too. What a star mummy!

Mo don?t you dare go stressing! It is so your turn ? I am really wishing a MFP (massive fat pregnancy!) for you on Monday. go embies go

Welcome Frosticle I?m afraid I?m on different meds so cant offer any advice ? but have experienced downreg (see below). Best of luck to you on your ttc journey, hope its short and successful one for you.

Downreg-land is just fine, I don?t feel any different at all if I?m honest. My first downreg last year was awful, had terrible headaches for a week! The second in May and the third one now are totally fine? just waiting for AF (due any day) then I?ll book my scan for 5 days later? DP and I have had to repeat all the blood tests (hep b, hep c, hiv etc) as the first lot taken last year will expire before our next round. Now as if that wasn?t annoying enough, but my lovely GP surgery have mucked up some of the tests, so we have to repeat them. I am just hoping they get the results back in time

Big hello to everyone else

? then I saw her face now I?m a believer

Frosticle I'm a Prostap girl, it's my clinic's off-switch of choice!Welcome to the club! So I've had it 4 times. It's a synch really (despite a massive panic and much googling at midnight the first time we had to do it with only Greek instructions, but that's another story...). Its a single jab in your utter outer buttock - definitely one for your other half to step up and do. If he does it quite fast it hurts much less than pushing the needle in gently; think taking off plasters. You're right in that it switches off your ovaries, you dont feel much till your next period which turns up more or less on time, and then you dont get the normal oestrogen surge you would normally have at the start of your cycle and you start feeling the lack of them (this is being down-regulated). And, despite my being a total drama queen about the down-reg, I actually do prefer the single injection approach, it's a but abrupt but you only have to do it once! Very best of luck. If you can manage to do it in Pocket 's style you'll have it sussed!

Pocket so glad you're feeling well so far! bodes very well for this cycle. But how utterly crap re the tests, and I'm always impressed that they think we might have time and energy to go off getting all those diseases while going thru IVF, never felt less sexy or likely to play away than now.. Can the docs explain to your clinic and forward the results when available? The Doctors Lab near Harley St I think do a rapid turnaround service but it's private so £££.

Ginger stay on that sofa! Stay, girl! DVDs, drinks and 0 stress for you and don't think I won't come checking up on you!

Hoop is there a story behind the name change? (that you don't mind sharing

Mini how entertaining! How was the scan?

I think it's time for the 8th series of... Mo Sympton of the Day: Massive boobs, atrocious mood and superhero sense of smell (today was choking and craning around for the source of a fart in a train carriage while everyone else blythely read their Kindles). The question is, is it just the blooming progesterone? Don't think any preg symptoms really count while on all these drugs, do they! I'm a non-stressing believer....

( )

Ginger give us your down load of best dvd's to watch. Need some inspiration. Hope it all sorts itself out soon.

Frosticle sorry, haven't had experience of that but someone else may be along soon who is more knowledgeable.

Happy Friday all xx

Mo just burst out laughing at your train fart story. So funny! Let the madness continue till otd. Hang in there honey.

Ginger hope your symptoms are subsiding. And you're lounging with your feet up!

Repeat blood tests booked for Monday. They should be back just in the nick of time.

Happy Friday Believers

Pocket, Mo and MiniH - many thanks for your response re the Prostap.

I feel properly encouraged and a lot more positive about taking it now.

Have a good weekend!

Thanks dear Hoops for your reassurance, and sharing your experiences, it really has helped! I do get a 6 week scan with CARE which is next Wed, but was just hoping for a blood test to put my mind at rest, but hey ho, will just do as I'm told and rest up and wait and see. The bleeding has not stopped but is no worse, and the cramps only pop up occasionally, some are worse than others. It is the last day of my week off work today so am having mostly a DVD day (Harry Potter, and Pirates of the Caribbean - just re-visiting some of my old favourites really, nothing special). My sis is coming to visit this weekend so am having to fight urges to clean, clean, clean and leave this to the DH when he comes home from work.

Pocket, I'm glad you are not suffering with the down-regging this time. Boo to your GP surgery re the bloods, so fingers crossed they do turn up just in time!

Mo, your symptoms sound encouraging, even if progesterone does mimic the majority, I too had/have a super hero sense of smell, so keep believing! Loved the fart story too!! ha ha

Welcome Frosticle and good luck with your down-regging.

Hi Mini, any news on the EC? Fingers crossed it's not too long now.

Happy Friday all!
xx

Hi all,
Just wanted to pop on and say Hi. I check how you are all getting on often and am looking forward to some more BFPs vey soon!
All's fine with me. Ben is 9 weeks old now, and is smiley and farty in equal measures x

Mo - I changed for olympics and just not got round to changing back - that is all!!

Ginger oh great Care do a 6wk scan, I was at Notts and they don't tend to do them there. But did get a blood test from them, at a cost - but then they refused to do the second one to see if numbers doubled which meant we were none the wiser - hence we got a private scan! They did an 8 week scan and then discharged us, which I found scary as NHS really not that bothered - but in later months I found monitoring scary and worrying so in reality the ignorance is bliss was true in retrospect!!!!

Lucy - wow, 9 weeks!! Mine is nearly 7 months now and trying to sit up, but keeps wobbling over bless him.

Hi Lucy, so glad it is all going well.

Mo loving your super human smell.

Pocket why is it that the simplest things always get so complicated. Hopefully all will run smoothly now with tests.

AfM - not much to report. Had a repeat blood test again this afternoon an they have adjusted my stims slightly. Have a scan tomorrow though so hopefully will know a bit more then. On Thursdays scan they said likely Wednesday or Thursday next week for trigger but so much can change so quickly. Have just booked three days away in Cornwall for towards end of 2ww - cannot wait! Will probably just sleep the whole time. just hope EC doesn't shift too much from expectations or OTD could clash with when away.

Hugs to all xx

Evening Ladies

I usually post on the ttc 10 months + thread but wondered if you ladies could give me a little hand hold just now?

But first of all, Frostie - I used the prostap injection for downregging. I think I injected in to the lower belly and it was NOT painful or difficult at all. I felt very proud after. I remember having dark heavy bleeds a few days later which settled and re-started a couple of times. It wasn't at all unpleasant for me and I had no mood swings etc.

I am 3 day post transfer, nearly 4, following a blasto transfer during a natural FET cycle. I had 1 failed fresh cycle in May with a top rate blasto. My issues are tubal with a ??hydrosalpinx although no evidence of this at scan. Apparantly hydro's can leak fluid in to the womb and wash away the enbryo. But as I have no pain, symptoms, evidence on ultrasound scan (just at HSC), I am clinging to the hope that I won't have to have my tubes removed which is the treatment of choice for this condition especially where they are visible on ultrasound.

I know everyone's 2WW are torture espeically where assisted conception is concerned but for me if feels like a double blow if it fails as not only wil I not be pregnant but I know they will want me to have my tubes out - which makes me feel sick.

I am 8 dpo with no symptoms except for a shooting pain through the left side of the womb for a few seconds late 6 dpo. Has anyone else experienced anything smiliar as implantation maybe?

I have been pregnant before naturally and easily 2.5 years a go but I m/c. They think it could have been the m/c that caused the problems with my tubes as I have no chlamydia history etc which is the usual cause.

So in summary, should I be feeling more symptoms? Anyone else had an natural cycle FET? Should I push for immune testing?

I had been felling really positive but now starting to lose it a bit. Any help or wise words would be great. Sorry fpr the selfish post.

Hi Sarlat hope 2ww goes well. I had no symptoms at all till I was 6 weeks pregnant if that helps! I did immune testing, but it was expensive - though in my case I thought that was the missing piece in the jigsaw as I had several immune type illnesses (asthma, coeliac, hayfever) already. Most clinics say do 3 failed cycles before immunes, but we paid for them after 1 as I was certain they were an issue. Also they are cheaper than 2 failed cyles - and that ignores the emotional sides, so we pushed and convinced them on the economic scale!! Hope it goes well for you x

Evening layydeeeeeezzzz

Pocket thank goodness re tests! But not what you needed as part of a zen run-up to a serene and fruitful cycle... (does such a thing exist, I wonder?)

Frosticle how was your prostap injection? Welcome to the official downreg zone. Why not stick around and tell us how it goes?

Mini a trip to Cornwall sounds like a great 2WW antidote. Just let DH carry the bags!

Big waves to Lucy ! How fab, 9 weeks already! Aren't those smiles to die for? I even found the farts cute... (projectile poo less so perhaps) Hope you're getting some sleep as well as lots of cuddles.

Sarlat join me in the loony zone, I'm 7dpt with donor egg blasts so 3-4 days ahead of you. I also had a shooting pain, exactly the same as you describe, on the left side the day after transfer, and lots of heavy, achey, period-pain-like feelings. But to be honest the projesterone is pumping so much blood into my uterus that the engorgement brought about by the drugs could easily account for all this. If you're on a natural cycle, are you on any extra hormone support? I'm afraid I don't have any knowledge of tube issues (mine are immune and eggs) but I can completely understand the double jeopardy you're feeling. Re chlamydia, which test did you have? It's a complicated beast and some tests (urine etc) miss it in its dormant phase. The 'Greek' test, which some clinics are starting to offer, tests on period blood to get a sample which could contain dormant cells snoozing inside your tissues. Chlamydia can be a trigger for immune issues, so worth finding out, but to be honest just the fact you have tube problems suggests there could be inflammation which can also lead to raised natural killer cell activity etc. One option would be to have steroids as a precaution, which some clinics are also starting to prescribe, even if you don't go down the full immune testing route. But all that's for the future - maybe - and for now hurrah for your perfect blast and here's a big hand-hold and hug. And, since this is the believers thread, let's bank that shooting sensation as implantation!

Ginger are you going back to work on Mon? Perhaps a few more days taking it easy till this bleeding stops might be good? O_o [beady eye on you emoticon] Have a lovely WE with your sis.

Mo Symptom of The Day: shattered. But progesterone-induced insomnia will do that to you!