Eggcellent Egg Buddies - a thread for those IVFing in November, December and January

[eurochick]

New thread. Welcome back to all the regulars. Welcome to all the newbies - please come and join us if you are IVFing or thinking about. The regulars are a mine of information at this point!

Do you realise that this will take us through a year of egg buddy threads? I believe Karbea started the last one around Xmas time last year for those cycling in 2013 and I immediately jumped on it as I was about to start my first cycle in January. Blimey.

Here is the AMH/age chart I found:

fertilitycheck.ie/AMH-Anti-Mullerian-Hormone

Thanks Euro - I didn't think your AMH could go up! How did you do that? Thanks for sharing your thoughts on SET. Why does a double transfer only increase the odds of it working by 10%? I would be thrilled to have twins, but reckon the pregnancy would be tough and angst-ridden, the birth would definitely involve being sliced open and then there are all the increased risks, aren't there? But I really want two more children and could also see the benefits in having two at the same time. Then I would be done and never have to think about IVF again. It's a tricky one! According to that graph, I have 'Low Fertility' yet I got pregnant 3 times in 9 months last year, and two of those pregnancies were achieved with only one tube. Of course I have no babies from these pregnancies and no tubes as a result, but am hoping I'm not too infertile yet. My clinic gave me a 1 in 4 chance of it working before we started. Bloody depressing! I think that statistic has actively encouraged me to transfer two, if I can, because their success rates seem so low. It's a tricky one. I bet I still go for two if I can. Thanks for the response, Euro - much appreciated!

I agree with Bugger, Beetle - you are definitely a very strong lady. Wow - I somehow missed that you were pregnant with twins from a SET. I didn't even think about how that could happen. And it happened to your friend too, Euro. You ladies are making me rethink my initial choices. Do they freeze your embryos individually? The success rate for pregnancies after a frozen cycle at Homerton are truly dire for my age group. I think I'll ask them about it if my cycle can go ahead on Weds. Thanks guys x

ICSI increases the chances of identical twins (they think injecting the sperm weakens the embryo wall as the needle is bigger than a single sperm swimming in) so it divides more easily. But it can happen to anyone - it's totally random.

Well my bestie could have ended up with triplets - it was the luck of the draw. She did one full round of IVF and got 4 blasts. Had one put back as part of that cycle and got a BFN. Had 2 put back next time and was initially pregnant with twins but mc'd one after seeing a heartbeat but went on to have a healthy singleton. And then had the last embryo back and got identical twins.... If she'd had that last one back on the middle transfer, she would have got triplets! ARGH.

Hi all!

I was told to take the clinics advice but they usually recommend only chucking one back in due to the higher risk in multiple pregnancies. But I guess it can still happen naturally anyway?!?

stars how was your scan?

Crikey, it appears my eggs are nearly ready egg collection planned for Thursday. I am in shock, I really thought it would be next week.
Only 2 more jabs left woohoo!

Oh Bunny - good luck!

Euro interesting and facts. A work buddy got PG with triplets from a double transfer (sadly MCed the lot). I am still going for two potential idiot if we are lucky enough to have two healthy ones. I worry a lot about the risks of twins though as if we do end up with a healthy PG but a premature birth we have DS to consider also. I have actually talked it over with our family a lot in case we need to rely on them for childcare etc. My two FETs I chose to have SET as I couldn't face DS (14 months on the first attempt) and twins. He will now be just over 3, at the youngest, which I feel is doable again, naive idiot emoticon

Beetle I panicked as my AMH has dropped a lot over 3 years (54.3 in 2010 to 16.something earlier this year). My consultant was completely blasé about it. He reckons it varies a lot depending on which lab it goes to as well.

Had my baseline scan today, which of course was far less straight forward than it should have been. Both ovaries have several large corpus lueteals on them - seriously bigger than my follies ever got . I was worried they were either cysts or something else to hamper the cycle. Had to have my E2 levels tested but all is well so I start on 300iu Gonal f and 40mg of Clexane tonight - along with 8mg progynova and aspirin (well, plus the 5mg folic acid, vit d, metformin, prenatal vits, prenatal omega 3 and Co-Q10 ) So here goes. Next scan/E2 on Saturday. Fingers crossed I can stim for less than 25 days…..!

Fuck me! Clexane is a stingy bastard!

Bunny, there must be something in the air, as I might be having EC on Friday and it's only day 6 of Stimms today! I don't think I've ever had ec so fast! On the other hand, it may be Monday! I go back Wednesday for another scan, so we'll see what my follies are up to then! So EC thurs for you! Exciting! Are you triggering tomorrow night then?

Beetle, I'm so sorry to read about your loss of twins. I must have been absent for this time. Hope you're doing as ok as you can be hun.

Val, I've heard clexane is a pain in the bum! Literally. Ouchie.

Liking the SET versus DET discussion. I've had 3 put back the last couple of times! Well I am over 40 and actually the embryologists encouraged me too. Not all were great quality though and they seemed to think it upped my chances of one sticking. I would do it again, but would take advice from the embryologists as they know what they're talking about and also have to justify how many they transfer against the risk of multiple birth. Frightened to death of triplets though, having said all that! But don't think it would ever happen to me! Famous last words!

Wowsers Stars you and Bunny are speedy! That said, most are compared to me. Bugs most say 12-14 days of stimming - although as I said before both my previous cycles have been 25+ days. It was a successful cycle first time but in Nov my lining never really got there and then started to deteriorate so even if we had got the embryo numbers and one or more came back healthy we would have had to have frozen. Straight in at 300iu this time (last time built up from 75iu due to PCOS) in the hope the stim is shorter (sorry if I am repeating myself)

Stars - clexane is a pain in the tummy. It is the delightful gestone that is a total pain in the arse what joys that it is these two drugs I am 'hoping' to stay on! Both would be continued to 12 weeks PG Still, small price to pay (physically, financially it's a bitch!)

Ladies. I'm getting some bruising on my injection sites. I've forgotten if this is normal.

Great news Bunny

My TA officially announced her pregnancy today. I'm so pleased for her she has really been through the mill with a loss at 20 weeks.

Wow, bunny and stars, that is quick on the egg collection! Mine should be early next week I think. I am on a slightly lower dose of meds this time round so it may take me a bit longer to get to EC than it did on the first cycle. I don't seem to be having any side effects from the drugs whatsoever, which whilst I know that is a good thing, it makes me a bit paranoid that they are not doing what they need to!

Interesting to hear everyone's views on single or multiple transfer. We had a single transfer last time because we only had 1 embryo, but I think that at my age (39), my clinic would ideally transfer 2. Not sure what we will do this cycle, it will depend I think on how many embryos/quality etc, but need to think some more about it.

Oh and whoever it was that posted the recipe for the fruit omelette, thanks for that, I tried it and it was really good!

oh and pip, I think bruising is normal. I have huge bruises on both legs at the moment, I think I just keep getting a vein (you'd think by now I would have worked out how to avoid that but clearly not!)

Thanks ladies, it is rather quick. FC nurse said PCO can speed up things (or slow them down).

As my first go though I didn't really know what to expect, I will assume this is a good and positive sign though

bug iirc? Yep Thursday will be CD11, jab day 10. I'm at Oxford.

stars exciting and scary too! FX for you too, 2014 must have magic in the air! Yep ovitrelle(?) tues night.

thanks bugs, will try it with raspberries/chopped almonds, I made it with blueberries and a tiny bit of icing sugar, was lush. I usually have a fairly healthy, protein rich diet but it all went a bit haywire over Christmas, so trying to be a bit better again about what I eat.

Congrats to Stars and Bumny on your imminent egg collections. That is indeed fast! Do you have any idea of how many follicles are developing?

Pip - my stomach is well bruised from the injections. My DA loves to pull up my top and squidge the loose skin on my belly. He was trying to do it at our kids' music class yesterday and I was trying to stop him and hide the purplish green bruises from the other mums.

I feel really anxious today as to what my lining is doing. I have finally stopped bleeding after 13 days so am really hoping its thin enough tomorrow to proceed with the cycle. I couldn't sleep last night for worrying, I am back at school tomorrow and haven't even thought about my job at all or planned a single lesson for the kids. All I can think about is IVF. I can't even face texting all my pregnant friends to see how they are. Am too jealous x