The Berries: Projecting the sausage signal and chasing rainbows whilst chanting FUFC in the hunt for that elusive BFP (thread 19)

[happylass]

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!

Happy belated birthday Lady

Will catch up properly later; having issues since the password reset.

May need wanging as I had a complete meltdown in Thursday with the start of the down-regging. Am a little more settled but think that the enormity of it all caught up with me. Tbh I am finding really hard to not be sad; I know that I should be excited but....

Bushy feel you with the announcements although I haven't had the email version for a while....

Hello from NZ! I told myself I was going to have a ttc break and stay off mn on honeymoon but I have jetlag and have been wide awake for the last 3 hours while DH is snoring

beaky those odds aren't great but in context, my consultant told me 50% of pregancies end in mc (most people don't realise they're pg) so if you had only 40%, it's not a million miles away from the national average, as it were.

Here staying with diffed friend. They were trying 3.5 years. Cycle problems like me. Failed IUI, failed IVF then natural bfp 4 months after moving to the other side of the world!!! It made the bump rubbing and presence of bump easier to bear, and was nice to hear they finally got there, but also a bit depressing to hear that someone with similar problems didn't respond to either IUI or IVF . Trying not to overthink that one. She went to the same ACU as we're at so if I get a chance later I will be asking some questions....

DH now woken up, need to scarper.

boodle if you want cheap free accommodation in an area near nice walking you can stay at mine! It's empty and the neighbours can give you the keys!

Good luck hb, lady and bushy. I think I'm glad I'm going for the IUI first as the process is only as long as your cycle.

Wow barking! I didn't realise that you were going that far afield! Have a totally amazing time in NZ! Very pleased that your friend finally got there, though I bet it's hard to not be a little

So 3 berries in ivf provess now? Lady, HB and Bushy.You don't need a wanging HB, just don't be so hard on yourself for feeling like that.

Tiger I too swear by tripadvisor. Never go anywhere without checking it out on there first!

Where's Parsley with that Oreo ice-cream? I'm sat here scoffing a big bar of some chocolate called 'The Beast' from a visitors centre somewhere in Wales. I only intended on a few chunks but it's just soooo yummy!

Rang the clinic today that feather told me about. No appts until 30th June!! He must be popular! Usually private places can fit you right in! As it's a miscarriage clinic I guess sadly that the long wait also means that there are a lot of women with recurrent miscarriages.

Oops, missed a whole page out... tiger where is your sunny holiday?

bushy very sorry that you had a difficult time last night. Are you feeling better today? And Boodle I hope you have a well earned lovely week off just like you deserve.

Lady are you first of the 3 berries then for easter egg collection?

The chocolates all gone

Well, I just happen to have made avocado and lime pie

Well done funky - no Oreo ice cream today, just yet another Leon brownie . In my defence, it was free so I couldn't really say no.....

barking I can see how you'd have mixed emotions there, but remember every case is individual and I have a good feeling about you and your IUI!

Hb I'll wang you with something softish, I'm not at all surprised you're in a jumble. None of us ever imagined this would happen to us but life, as always, is a bitch.

Gosh, lots of Berry egg collecting going on! I hope you've all got your Easter egg baskets and bonnets at the ready!

The Berry signal failed to attract otters - I hope you're alright wherever you are lovely!

Because pics or it didn't happen

That actually looks like cheesecake!! I'm not sure what I was expecting, something like guacamole I guess! What does it taste like?

Well, I made this one very lime-y because DH likes citrus, so mostly it tastes of coconut, honey and lots of lime. The avocado is there mostly to give it consistency but I can't really taste it. The base is made of almond and dates. It is veeeeeeery good

Oo Because that looks good!

HB sorry you are having a down patch, but keep going cause you are going the right way!

Barking enjoy NZ!! Good advice re the iui, thanks. I am waiting for the nurse to ring to confirm we are wanting to go for that still. Hope it's not too difficult with your pg mate.

Funky that's a massive wait for private, good on the one hand as he is obviously very good, but so sad on the other hand. Are you going to go for the June appointment then?

Tiger I am so over work already this week, wish it would be Thursday already! It's the busiest week of the year so far for me!

Hi, feeling less raaaaa today, thank you for letting me rant and for your empathy! It def made me feel a lot better that I could come on here and let it out, saved my poor dh's ears!! Also really grateful to you guys for recommending my mad fat diary, watched 2 last night as I was a bit wired up and put me in a much better mood. I've only got 1 more episode to watch!

barking wow! All the way from nz! Have a wonderful time. Nice to hear about your friend,know what you mean re it being a bit depressing that their treatments didn't work but I actually saw the positive side, which is people still get pg even when they've been through failed cycles and have been trying a long time. I think it gives us all hope, also the natural bfps always lighten my heart,I think because I would love to be able to naturally get pg without all this Ivf hoo ha.

Lol at the Easter eggs! Hadn't thought of it that way

because you've intrigued me with the avo cheesecake. Do you often eat quite 'healthy' natural deserts? I'm trying to work out whether it'll taste good to those of us who have a sweet tooth rather than Health food sweet, if you know what I mean!! I love avos and lime. I've seen a recipe for rhubarb and star anise upside down cake on guardian website. Got some rhubarb in garden so might give it a whizz over long w/e.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/11/rhubarb-upside-down-cake-recipe

hb I felt a bit down that it had come to Ivf being the only way. I think It can make you feel a bit of a failure but don't worry about that. I think we need to think positively and be very grateful that we've been allowed this chance, as we know it's very inconsistent in fertility care across different counties and I know lots of other berries would love to be starting so soon. Just take it easy and bit by bit and don't overthink it.

funky that choc bar sounds awesome!!

bushy, yes I've been on a health roll for the last six months or so and I'm GF to boot, so I try to make my own desserts rather than buy them. This one is good, believe me. It has six spoonfuls of honey so it does cater for a sweet tooth. I mostly pick my recipes from the Wellness Warrior website or the Honestly Healthy book.

I'm early for my fc appt, that hardly ever happens. I hope I can have a wee before they do any looking!!

Because, I looked at the wellness warrior site, she's very inspirational.

Hope it went well and you can start stimming! They doubled my stim dose yesterday which is disappointing, the same thing happened last time and I hoped changing drugs this time would help. Also means 2 injections in the evening. They've struggled to get my blood the last two times as well, I think all this IVF could make me develop needlephobia!

Just dropping in quickly to say I had a lovely chat with pg mate. She also had a mc. The reason the fertility treatment didn't work for her was low amh. She didn't respond well enough and only had two eggs so they quit the ivf and just did iui instead. The timing was very bad for them and it was very stressful. Basically plenty of reasons why it didn't work for them and none of them apply to me . They were just about to pay for private IVF over here and then found out they were pg . So good news for anyone with low amh as well - despite a failed ivf and being recommended donor eggs ivf they managed it au natural!

That's lovely for your friend, Barking, it sounds like she really deserves this baby! Hopefully the NZ air works for you too! Enjoy your sky dive, I did one over Lake Taupo, it was amazing. Are you going to do a bungee jump as well?

That's a lovely 'against all odds' story, Barking! Thanks for the house offer ...I read it about 10 minutes after booking a b&b in Brecon! Perhaps I should cancel and jolly up to yours...I could even bring my lovely cat who would not do anything untoward on your furniture, oh no!

barking your friends sound like honorary Berries to me - thoroughly deserved congratulations for them and also how reassuring for you too. Just think what all these amazing adrenaline filled activities you've got lined up will do for your circulation, everything shaken up and ready to go

How'd it go bushy? Sorry about the double up happy, but it's good that they're watching you so closely.

Boodle the Brecons are probably one of my most favourite places in the world. I hope you get some lovely sunny walking weather.

Sorry, I meant lady not happy - curse of MN mobile app, I have to rely on my shitty memory when posting!!

Went well this morning, not sure if the nurse was in a bit of a hurry as it felt a bit rushed, it was over in 20 mins. She basically showed me how to inject, scanned me with the probe ( is that what you ladies call the dildocam?) to find all was shut down and good, so I am properly down regged. I start injecting on Thursday eek, she said it was a good idea to alternate either side of your tummy. I asked about alcohol and she said just the 1-2 units is fine... Hmm so def time for me to behave, I have done since my naughty wine night, even though I have an open Pinot and I hate wasting wine!

I came out and hb I can totally relate to your meltdown the other day. I sat in the car and suddenly felt really overwhelmed,tearful and like shit this is all happening really fast. Basically a week Friday I'll go back for the scan and then egg collection and transfer would be the following week. The thing is we won't know when it'll all exactly be so quite difficult to cover my job ( teacher). I'll have to have a chat with my head but I'm not saying it's Ivf, I'm saying it's gynaecological problems. The nurse was saying people often take the whole week off but that's not possible in my job. Any other teacher berries who've done Ivf like to share?

barking glad you're feeling upbeat, sharing with someone who knows what it's like makes such a difference doesn't it. Unfortunately I have low amh so your friends exp not so good for me but yay for the natural bfp in the end, they really deserve it, bless them. Sometimes I think that when it's your time, it's your time, if you know what I mean.

Bushy, I'm a teacher but I was very open at work and all my superiors knew it was IVF. They were very understanding and gave me a green card to take off whatever I needed...how nice of them! (Although I have worked like a dog for the last 5 years so they probably felt I'd earned it...!)

I didn't take a whole week off but after egg collection I had the day of the op plus 2 additional days. I'm glad they knew because it would have been very difficult to explain the sudden appointments; sometimes you only know a day or 2 in advance. Not everyone at work knew but some guessed just because of the randomness of my appointments.

Parsley, if the weather stays as it is now, I will be delighted. I think it's forecast to be a bit cloudier at the weekend though. I can't actually remember if I've ever been to the Brecons but I'm sure I must have done in my youth as I used to do a lot of camping and hiking. Wasn't that good at paying attention to where we were going though!

Bushy I'm a secondary teacher and a few colleagues who've had IVF have all taken at least a week off. Check you're LoA policy it should cover IVF. Hard as it is to think of taking a whole week off your treatment is your priority at the moment.
Boodle whereabouts in The Beacons are you going? I'm less than 30 mins from the edge of the Beacons. You could have stayed in my house - we're off to Cornwall for the weekend! Make sure you climb Pen y Fan - the views are breathtaking when the weather is clear. It's been lovely and sunny for the past few days - long may it continue!
I've spent today recovering from a friends wedding yesterday, think I'm getting too old for late nights!
Cd 12 and no sign of OV yet. DP is home tomorrow so if it can just wait til then we may be back in the game this month. Have a good evening all, think I need to go for another lie down.