All that she wants is A baby! The Berries searching for the 'sign' but never symptom spotting (honest), possibly using a vagina jack and trying to get a FUFC before boarding the IVF train (thread 18)

[Bunnygirlie]

The smallprint –
Berries have a strict entrance criteria (TTC #1, over 30, TTC for 12+months, NO instadiffers, must have a special pot and def no mention of baby dust or baby dancing UGH !!! Ooooh aren’t we strict!

Thanks parsley. Can't do clomid while on the IVF waiting list. Guess I'll just have to wait and see what the hsg brings!

Have you noticed any difference to your cycle since taking vitex?

They're a few days longer now (31 compared to 28/9) but I had the MC in between so I don't know which is the culprit there. I now OV around CD17 compared to CD14, and my periods seem a bit heavier than before but again, the MC is added confusion. I think I'll feel more certain that my cycles have gone back to 'normal' (whatever that may be) after I've had a few more. Unless I get my BFP before then, which obviously I would prefer!

I know what you mean Feather, sometimes I think it's never going to happen, but I will persist and eventually it will happen. I'm sure it will for you too. It's a shame you can't do clomid at the same time. Rubbish about your HSG too, but at least it's just a week and not a whole cycle.

Good idea about taking advice re vitex, I may ask at my next FC app in march, I haven't taken it for that reason and I've heard - as Parsley has just said, it can lengthen your cycles. Although mine is quite short anyway.

Oh you have made me TTC heating, BFP regs and 'staying in' ...

feather do you have a greater risk than anyone else of having an ectopic? I know the stats wouldn't necessarily make a difference to what's in your hrad though. I know the nurse said I had no greater risk of mc next time than anyone else but I wanted to scream at her - how do you know? How do you know there wasn't a reason for the mc and whatever caused it is still there?

It sucks that you can't do clomid while you wait, I wonder if that will be the same for us. I suppose I'll find out in 2 weeks.

Ooh barking you plucked that thought right out of my head! They really bloody don't know!
I've been wondering the last day or two about how long to wait this go round before heading back to GP, and I wanted to ask you barking what your GP said about your BFP and subsequent MC in relation to the NHS's assessment of how long you've been trying?
Do they make you start from scratch or is it included in the length of time you were ttc?

Hmm the vitex stuff sounds interesting.... My cycles sometimes have a shortish LP so I wonder if that would help..... Hmmm.

On another and classier note, has anyone's DH done a home sperm test kit? Am wondering if we should....

parsley I went back to the gp when I had waited 7 weeks for AF post mc and she sent me back to the FC. Because we didn't conceive without help (clomid) it didn't affect our 'tally' of how long we'd been trying, although we were told we had to complete the 6 cycles of clomid before any next steps so instead of moving to IVF referral in December which was our 2 year mark we had to go back and finish all 6 rounds first.

rp I thought you were getting all the tests done by your gp now? Will they not do a sperm analysis?

RP, do you take pregnacare or anything? Since taking that my LP has lengthened by 3/4 days.

Does anyone have any tips for the lovely internal scan thingy? I have one tomorrow and don't really know what it's purpose is.

No tips, Beaky, but I had one yesterday. Starting to get quite used to them really! I don't find them painful or anything like that - you just have to...well, let them stick it in and get on with it! The first one I had I think was quite general and was just looking for any glaringly obvious problems. I remember mine being a case of having my ovaries and uterus lining pointed out and being told everything looked normal.

Since then, they've become more specific of course!

I always wear a skirt or dress, just to minimise getting undressed embarrassment...Nothing quite as weird as having a dressed top half and a naked bottom half!

Oh...and henceforward, let it be known as the dildocam!

Or fannycam

I agree with boodle, wearing a skirt makes it slightly less awkward. I've had 3 dildocams, and in all of them the sonographer stayed in the room when I got undressed, so a skirt made it slightly less embarrassing cos you only have to take you tights and knickers off then. Hope it goes ok beaky!!

Hello everybody it was interesting at the FC today. Kind of made us feel a lot more reassured about the process.I'm not so scared of it anymore. The nurse was really excellent and talked us through everything and even the timescales and it looks that it could be looking at April for the collection and transfer if periods or coincide-eek!! She said something really interesting that it may take three cycles of IVF and that the first cycle they don't really expect you to get pregnant, it's more of an exploratory investigation kind of cycle. she also said that given my age and amh and sluggish tubes that it was a 50-50 chance of getting pregnant so 50% baby but also, obviously, 50% of it not working.

We're really lucky here in that they will fund IVF cycles on the NHS but what we didn't know was that they don't fund for freezing your embryos and storing them, think this was over £700 and then a £200 retainer fee every year and they say you can keep them for 10 years and this would be good if it didn't work and you later wanted to use them. The nurse said it's a no-brainer choice as if you can always withdraw your consent later. Also said they only freeze grade a and b embryos so you may not even get that level. If no consent then they will just throw the embryos away. It was very full on signing all the forms, bit like signing your life away!

Anyway after the explanation & form signing she did an internal scan. Apparently I have a very nice uterus and all is how it should be. I shyly asked whether she'd be able to tell if I was pg or not. She said she looked for the corpus luteum (sp?), the egg casing, but couldn't see one but that didn't necessarily mean I couldn't be pg. however, I think I'm clutching at fufc straws! Anyhow my af is imminent this weekend so when I get first day of bleeding I am to call to book-eek!!

A funny thing was that she said stay away from forums!! Apparently there's one she's heard of that if you wear orange knickers it helps your chances!! We were talking about letting your employer know and she was on the side of keeping it quiet as a lot of employers view it as elective and put pressure on. She also said about trying to taking 2 weeks off around egg collection- not flipping likely in my job!! If that wasn't possible she said just to make things as stress free as possible as your health is the most important thing. What are the ivfers on here doing re time off?

Never heard of vitex sounds good!

Bit pooped from all the information and late night chat with dh so night night!!

Ohh a dildocam! brilliant!

Thanks Boodle, I get really anxious about things when I don't know what they are. Hopefully it is over quickly!

Thanks win, I will def be wearing a dress then! Bunny, Fannycam makes me grimace a bit!!

Bushy, sounds like your appointment went well, fingers crossed you are ivf'ing very soon.

Ooooh bushy sounds like everything is moving along quite swiftly then! That's great!

beaky agree with the others re skirt/dress. Although I nearly always forget and have to do the jean-yank of shame.

rp you should look into vitex! It may help! As for the at home sperm kit - is that real?? Ha! Think my oh would refuse point blank!

barking according to the ectopic trust, there is a 10% chance of it happening again. I don't know whether that figure goes up for someone like me - I lost my right tube 6 years ago due to it twisting on itself somehow (Gyno at the time said he'd only seen that once before in his whole career - and he was no spring chicken). So I'm worried that there is something wrong with my tubes, although when they operated 6 years ago, they said the left one looked 'beautiful' and my hsg about 15 months ago was clear too. I'd like to put my ectopic down to freak bad luck, but I can't shake the fear.

In terms of doing clomid while on the IVF waiting list, I'm not sure whether it's a blanket rule or just certain fc's that don't let you. basically, I was told that I can't have any treatment while on the waiting list, which seems like such a waste of bloody time!

Evening Berries. Been rubbish at posting on here this week tho I've got absolutely no excuse as I've not even been in work. Welcome bushy, glad your appointment went well. Good luck for tomorrow beaky. Can't offer any advice as I've never had the ol' dildocam .
Hope everyone is is well. Still patiently waiting for our next FC appointment to come through so that we can find out about the rubbish eggs/clumpy sperm combo. Cd 17 here and absolutely nothing to report. Night all!

bushy glad all went well. Did you not have to jump through the clomid hoop? I can't believe they describe the first IVF cycle as not much more than a trial run - we only get one NHS cycle here!

bluebirdy thanks again for that bbt adjuster link, I woke at 5.30 this morning and if I hadn't been able to adjust my bbt I'd have been in a right stress about whether I'd gone above cover line or not!
All looking good here for ovulating this cycle, and we dtd every day for 6 days in shag week.
All out of my hands now. Here comes the 2ww.

Barking same here on 1 cycle. My GP insists that nowhere in the entire country has more than one, as "otherwise it would be a postcode lottery". Well, yes. Yes, it would.

Was just musing about the home test kit for spunk. They are real. But I suppose the clinic is better if I can persuade DH. I know everyone says men have it so much easier during the ttc lark but honestly, I think I'd prefer a dildocam to a nurse knowing I'd just had a wank. At least we're not supposed to be enjoying gynae procedures.

The leaflet from the hospital re: jizz collection is hilarious. It has prominently typed in capital letters DO NOT USE HOSPITAL TOILETS FOR YOUR SPERM COLLECTION I am just imagining the socially awkward scene at the urinals that led to that warning......

Laughed my head off on the train at your last comment there, RP. Imagine! My oh said it wasn't too bad, the "material" they gave him was all laminated. Hmm.

Good luck Barking, that's a sterling effort there!

Thanks for all of the tips everyone

bushy ooh exciting!
I had ivf in January. My egg collection was on a Thursday so I had that day, Friday and weekend off. Embryo transfer was Sunday and I went back to work the next day. I only work in an office though but our doctor said unless you do a crazy job it's best to get back to normal ASAP.
I can't believe they describe it as a practice run, Crikey! I know we were very lucky it worked first time but it does happen.
Ref forums, the egg buddies forum on here was great for support and advice for specific ivf help.

Hello everyone!!!

barking keeping everything crossed for that wedding 'instadiff' x

Berry HQ has been hilarious lately! rp my oh finds the giving a sample experience mortifying. At our last appt they rebooked him for a second SA and he was mulling over whether he could go before work and he asked them how long the appointment would take, at which point I helpfully chipped in "isn't that down to you darling?" Cue much chuckling and a red faced Mr Tiger. Oops!

beaky it just cracks me up that laminating the 'material' is in someone's job spec. Although judging by oh's comments it was sometime in the 80s that they last did it!

barking rooting for your wedding instadiff here!

Bushy glad the appt went well!

Nothing to report at all here as this cycle is out. It's quite nice to have a break from obsessing.

Feather, the jean yank of shame made me lol! That's exactly what it feels like!

Interesting what the clinic said about keeping ivf quiet from work bushy. Before the bfp, when we thought we'd be ivf-ing in the next few months, I told my manager. I wish I hadn't. She was fine about it, but not particularly sympathetic, and said I would have to take any time as leave. It now means if/ when we do go down that route it'll be hard to call in sick!

Barking, does that mean you got a temp rise this morning? Has ff given you an ov day yet?

My DP has 'produced' all his samples at home. Was told that as long as he could store it somewhere warm and get it to the hospital within an hour it would be fine. Though he did drop his first ever sample off at the wrong hospital - they must have had a bit of a surprise as they don't even analyse sperm there!