Anyone else want to join me in getting ready for ivf in 2013? Good egg buddies wanted!!!

[Karbea]

Hello,

Dh and I have been trying for over 2 years and had one failed ivf (Icsi) attempt at the Argc last spring. We are going to go again in the new year.

I wondered if anyone else was planning to do the same? And whether anyone fancied joining me in 'princessing' (stolen from style & beauty :) ) for ivf?

I'm not sure what this means in terms of what I'll do, really hoping for some help in researching how to get the best eggs ever, and perhaps how to improve dh's little swimmers....

Anyone up for being a good egg buddy?

[BeadyEyes]

Wow - I have my appointment next week as well. Still don't know what protocol i'm on - I hope it's short protocol. I have low AMH and ancient, withered ovaries, so I assume there's not much to shut down in there.

I have somehow managed to convince myself that I am magically preggers and will cancel the appointment. Someone please come and slap me!

[Northey]

I know - I have a mildly sensitive left nipple. Obviously a pregnancy symptom...

[Sharonbenn]

Gosh so many of you are nearly up and running. So exciting. I know what you mean about wondering if you are doing the right thing. We've had so much time to think about having a baby I keep questioning myself. Now that the process is underway and I'm waiting for our new patient appt it is becoming a reality. I also don't know whether to be excited or scared. Good luck to you all. I look forward to being on our journeys together. X

[delilahbelle]

Quiet on here today :)
I have had a nice and healthy day. Long country walk with DH, food shopping for lots of healthy meals during the week, and now relaxing whilst DH cooks a roast.

My clinic said 2-5 weeks on the pill before I stop the pill, it's been a week and a half so far. So as little as a week and things could really happen.

[ScarlettInSpace]

Hiya everyone, I went off line pretty much for christmas, so sorry for posting on the first day and not coming back! Thought I'd better introduce myself properly...

History-wise I had an ectopic about 13 years ago and they had to remove my R tube, a hycosy last April showed the R ovary 'pre-menopausal', v small and the consultant said it looked like it had the blood supply restriced during the surgery years ago.

FF to now, been TTC 2 years at the end of Feb, OH has 2 kids from previous relationship. Because of my history I wanted to get on with investigations as early as possible so in Jan 2011 we went to GP and stretched the timescales a little. June last year had AMH come back at 4.22 so low for a 35yr old [FSH was a little high at 12]. August we got rushed through to IVF [long protocol which I was about at the time] but it was abandoned before EC due to poor response. The irony of it all is that the only follicle that formed was on my [previously written off] R ovary, the L so-called healthy ovary didn't bother to come to the party at all...

Like euro I had a REALLY shit time on down reg, practically suicidal [I kid you not] it was truly horrible. I think I was over-suppressed and that is why the stimms, despite being nearly full dose [I was on 5 out of a possible 6 powders] just didn't work. The thought of going through that again for nothing is fairly hard but if they insist its the only way they will fund then at at least we will know what to expect this time [so I can stock up on hankies & clear the cupboards of razor blades!] [Oh and clear my social calendar, I missed a christening & an engagement party last time because I was so ill/low]. At one point I was reading the buserilin leaflet to pick out the side effects I HADN'T got to try to make myself feel better

My appt to follow up was booked for 18th Dec but I moved back to 22nd Jan so I didn't have to deal with it through Christmas, got a letter Xmas Eve saying it had been pulled forward to 15th Jan so next Tuesday.

I'm preparing for a battle on the short vs long protocol so we will see what next week brings! Turned 36 over xmas too boooooooso feel like I'm on the wrong side of the fertility fence now...

Will be re-starting mid-end Feb, although I have developed a fear that they will refuse to let me try again due to poor response last time, I know this is daft but I can't stop thinking it

Oh I'm a big advocate of Acu too btw, and my womb lining was also described as beautiful by the nurse whilst counting my follicle.

Only tip I can remember from last time was to switch to semi-skimmed milk from skimmed and drink 1-2 pints per day whilst stimming. I hate mile but got around this by making decaf lattes & Hot Chocolate.

[EuroShagmore]

Scarlett in the nicest possible way, it is great to find someone else who had a tough time downregging. Most people I know who have done it IRL or on the board say vaguely "Oh I think I had a couple of headaches" or something like that. I felt like such a outlier with my extreme reaction. It is helpful to know that it just happens that way for a minority of us. (I also remember reading the side effect list and ticking them off to my husband at the time when I was about 10 days in and feeling utterly, utterly miserable).

I won't be joining the milk drinkers. I am dairy intolerant and hate even the smell of milk. I am trying to eat plenty of protein though. :)

[vallinnapod]

Sorry to hear how tough ti was for you Scarlett - I was not nearly as bad as you but found down regging way harder than any other point.

Anyone been on Progynova before? I started on Friday and feel quite crampy. Could this be my lining getting thick quick?

[fairypangolin]

scarlett and euro - wow, I am very glad I am on the short protocol if that is how you found DR. I have read though that overall the long protocol has better chances of success (but also that these days drs are generally moving towards prescribing the mildest drug regime possible) but who knows really?

The nurse told me to eat more protein when I start stimming but I haven't heard about eating higher fat dairy as well. Happy to accomplish that via nightly ice cream...

bead and northey -I suffered from a bout of 'magical pregnancy' as well over the weekend but a HPT brought me down to earth. sigh. I got my prescription for Gonal F filled today so I guess I really am going through with it. I almost want AF to come early so I just get started and stop second guessing myself.

[ScarlettInSpace]

[ExpatAl]

Hi all, I am early days pregnant via IVF and also became pregnant with ivf 2 which resulted with my ds. I became pregnant at 40 and will be 42 in a couple of weeks. My IVF attempt before this one was abysmal with only 3 sorry looking eggs but this one resulted in 12 on the same drugs. Go figure.
For a lot of clinics the 1st ivf is a trial run to see how you'll react to the drugs etc and a lot will be tweaked in subsequent IVFs.

I did drink a lot of water during stims but also had the odd drink and ciggie. Both my successful cycles were when I kept to normal life as much as possible. So last time that included a wine tasting evening during stims and this time I had the Christmas work do and Christmas itself, when I ate and drank everything I was offered, including very rare beef and prawns and drank coffees. I was so tired of being held hostage to ttc that this time I really ignored that I was doing it - I kind of felt it was the best way. So I also drank quite a lot of lovely very old port one night. I had a couple of days when I felt shattered and had some long naps. My beta was on 31st Dec.

I also only told a couple of people I was going through IVF and definitely not work. I took the day off for the retrieval but went straight back to work after the transfer. It's a very stressful time and if you have too much time to yourself you can drive yourself nuts by analysing every twinge etc.
I kept to my usual diet which is quite high in protein anyway. I would say the protein is more important before you start stims.
Before I started stims I took a high dose folic acid prenatal and Eskimo fish oil in the evening and vitamin C, B vitamins complex and Eskimo oil in the mornings. Also one good quality ubiquinol a day. I stopped everything apart from folic acid during the stims.

I hope this doesn't come across as patronising. I googled endlessly for clues on what to do when I started. Am happy to answer any questions. Good luck!

[vallinnapod]

LOL why do we do this to ourselves? I was utterly convinced I was pregnant in October - to the point I left work, went to Boots and POAS in the work loos. This was despite having millions of PG tests at home and being 99.999999% certain I really couldn't be :)

Oh and for the past few of weeks I have felt PG. On the pill.

[ExpatAl]

I also posted for all those who think they're ancient.

[keepitgoing]

Scarlett good luck for next week's appointment! They will not reject you!!! Are you Nhs despite dh having kids? Awesome! (And sorry I should know this)

Thanks to those who responded re acupuncture. I think this just shows my man's not much of an expert despite his claims, so don't think I'll go again.

northey, and others, it could happen, the magical FCFU...

[ScarlettInSpace]

keep his kids don't live with us so don't count thankfully [well of course they do COUNT, they are very important iykwim, just not when assessing NHS funded IVF, at our PCT anyway] Just get the one go here though.

One of my friends said that if it didn't work then not to worry I have 2 kids in my life anyway so I'm luckier than some yes 20 hours a week of looking after someone else's kids makes me feel soooooooooooooooooo much better about the whole barren broken body situ some people really have no idea

I think the SK's are the reason I have a real barrier to discussing donor eggs, as I don't feel like a DE child would be any different to SK's in that they would be genetically OH's but not mine so it feels fairly pointless for me. I do love them dearly btw, we get on great and they are fab kids, but they are not mine.

[fairypangolin]

ExpatAl thanks so much for posting your inspiring message. Congratulations on the BFP as well. It's nice to know that all is not hopeless for the ancient. Did you do 4 IVF cycles in total? Were you on the short protocol?

I am considering acupuncture before and after EC but have no idea how to choose a practice, does anyone have any tips? Is there a registry for 'proper' practitioners?

scarlett I know what you mean about people saying 'you should consider yourself lucky to have X' as I had that experience with one of my friends about my DS. The thing is that if you want a child you want a child and comparing your situation to other scenarios that are "worse" is not really very enlightening. All of us who are trying IVF only want what most people take for granted - to have a(nother) child.

[EuroShagmore]

fairy try to find a recommendation if you can (I am happy to recommend mine if you are in London).

ExpatAl thank you for your message and congratulations on your pregnancy. I am taking the "carry on as normally as possible approach" and that will involve the odd glass of wine. I gave up alcohol and caffeine for a few months last year (including my first cancelled IVF attempt) and all I got out of it was misery, not pregnancy! The self-deprivation just made the whole process worse. I realise though that this approach will not suit everyone but I think it is the right one for me. People get pregnant in all sorts of environments, after all.

[SweetieTime]

Just popping in to let everyone know there is a documentary, Baby Makers, following 4 couples through ivf treatment on BBC4 tonight at 9pm. Sorry for the short notice only just seen it is on.

[EuroShagmore]

Thanks for the reminder! Someone mentioned it on another thread yesterday but it had slipped my mind.

[ScarlettInSpace]

Ooooh thanks sweetie

euro one of my closest friends, the mother of my goddaughter [who was an IVF baby] had a really easy down reg but struggled to stim, it took her 3 go's, when I said I didn't know if I could cope with down reg again she said something along the lines of 'you can't want a baby as much as I did then, I would've done ANYTHING'

As it happens time is a healer and I've decided if they tell me I have to down reg again well, then I will but yes it's nice to 'speak' to someone who understands how low it goes

[vallinnapod]

Fairy - I too have two recommendations. One in Hampstead (my first cycle) and one in Epsom/Kenley (my current one - clinic in Epsom/her house in Kenley) If you are outside London ask you clinic for a recommendation.

[AdaKate]

Hi...please can I join IVF 2013?? I had my Baseline scan today and bloods (this is my 1st cycle) and have surprisingly started injecting tonight! Was a little nervous, but all went well. I'm on short protocol with Gonal F and going back for another scan on Saturday...it all seems so real. We are private funding as I'm 43 and no chance of NHS help.

Have been trying to speed read thru this thread - so much information - a great read. Thank you. I did however pick up on a few things that I might be able to help others with....low sperm count for the DH....worth trying walnuts....seriously...my DH eats 50grms a day (we then mix with raisens just for a tastier snack). We had the same problem after a vasectomy reversal and within six months the count went from below 3million and not particularly good other readings from the sample to 27million excellent progressive and good for IVF.....we were that shocked I actually asked the consultant whether he had perhaps got the wrong results. DH also takes Centrum multivitamins. Some may scoff, but we have certainly managed to turn the results around.

Also fairypangolin did I read that you are with Bourn in Cambridge?? And that you are looking for Acupunture? Where are you based in East Anglia?? I may be able to recommend.

I too have stopped the alcohol (dull but hopefully worth it) and now drink Decaf tea - which to be honest I don't mind. Water and protein are also priorities.

So it's IVF 2013 for me.....

[Northey]

A sensible veg-heavy and caffeine-light day today. How long does it take for ivf healthy living effects to filter through? Should I have started months ago? Gulp.

I was a bit alarmed by all the advice to drink milk, until I saw the post about ice cream. What an excellent idea. I may also experiment with custard tarts :)

[AdaKate]

Can't beat a good custard tart...would that really count? ...arrhh who cares, enjoy!

[keepitgoing]

north good luck today, and good luck to those who've just started.

Scarlett wouldn't DE be different to SKs though, as you'd be pregnant with them, and have them full time, warts and all? But I totally see your point, and don't think you need to go there yet, and am sure you won't. X

[Northey]

You're up early, kig!

So tired today, and really tempted by a massive mug of coffee, but will resist.