The Elderberry Pavlovas: Hanging up our fertility crystals, relaying the Yellow Brick Road and chasing that chopper. We want our BFPs and we want them now! (Thread 22)

[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 definitely no mention of baby dust or baby dancing).
Those not abiding by the rules may be escorted from the premises.

Gill and Tiger how will your dates work with Christmas? And will your clinics be open all throughout the holidays? We decided to hold off for treatment as Xmas and IVF seemed unmanageable. Our FC said most people don't want to have treatment over Christmas if possible.

Tiger I have just this very evening had your hot milk with nutmeg and cinnamon drink, and thought of you. In my head it is called Tiger's drink. Maybe Tiger's milk would be better.

I like these responses to the nosey questions. I usually say that we'll have to see what happens, which serves quite well for pointing out that these things are not always simple. It usually shuts 'em up, but nicely.

Smidge thinking of you and sending lots of love. I'll be awake at 2.30 your time, so will send some good vibes halfway round the world to you. I'll do the pompoms tonight though, as it may be a little early for pompom swinging in the morning.

Oo Smidge not long now, good luck for EC, let us know how you get on. I love what your dh says! I might try that one next time

Does anyone else wonder if when dildocammers are asked what they do they say, you know, dildocamming? stupid I know as it turns out our dildocammers are the consultants! So clearly they would say that huh.

Wild interesting review for you there, and glad they are willing to treat immune issues during your IVF. Did you discuss whether you will so long or short protocol? Also did he mention how he knew your cyst wasn't hormonal? Apologies for the barrage of questions! I'm pleased you're getting underway for IVF though. I think I will end up beginning in jan, I have the group session in 2 weeks and a consultation at the end of November. My cycle dates fall just after the appointment then on Christmas Day so I can't see I can start anything until after that.

Lumen how's everything going with you? Are you stimming now?

Pixie how are you getting on as well?

Gil good to hear you are making progress, I would try and wing Christmas if I were you, sounds like a lot of driving. I hope you get the best Christmas present ever! Hats off to you on the road biking, I really need to get back to regular exercise.

Good luck for your appointment Serenity let us know how it goes.

Bushy your mum sounds lovely and like she will be a great support to you. Weird about your dentist though, maybe it's just a complete coincidence? When are you starting your next IVF? Are you long or short protocol?

Jellie hope things are good with you.

Happy how are you doing? Have you had your follow up yet?

Tiger I maybe assuming it'll be a consultant, I know I saw a nurse before iui. My group session is a week after yours, will be interesting to compare notes. Did you get a pack with success rates etc in it? It freaked me out a bit as they give clinical pregnancy rates and then live birth rates separately
Your milk drink sounds lovely! Do you use normal milk or rice/almond type milk?

I'm nervous as asking for a pay rise this week berries! Any tips welcome!

hallo all, just wanted to say hi and good luck smidge. Was interested to read of your appointment gil. I've got mine tomorrow - a follow up. think we'll be asking for a private round :(. anyway - kept getting interrupted when tried to post all day, but hopefully tomorrow will have a proper chance to read and absorb all the news.

any suggestions on important qs to ask very gratefully received.

Are you going straight for IVF Nolly or would you ask for a round of iui maybe? I'd ask if there are any other investigations worth having but really I suppose you will want to crack on with IVF now. Hope it goes well but let us know.

thanks beaky. we thought about iui but yhe consultant was pretty negative about success rates so we thought push on since we're paying.

wild good to read of yr progress too

sory on phone its crap

Well I went to see the new FS today.
She's starting me on 175 of gonal f and doesn't want to do icsi. My last FS started me on 225 and I chose to do ICSI.
Now we wait.

Did you get 4 eggs last time Seren? Maybe a slightly lower dose of gonal f will result in more follies developing at a similar rate. Maybe straight IVF will result in the strongest swimmers fertilising with your eggs too. Fingers crossed. Hope you're managing to stay cool in your hot weather.

Any news Smidge? Fertilisation pom poms at the ready here...

Smidge how did EC go?

Nolly fair enough, you may as well go straight on to IVF if you're private. Let us know how you get on.

Serenity interesting that she is taking a different tac, fx it works better for you this time. When do you wait til?

Gil if you lead the pom poms dance I'll follow along have you decided about Christmas or will you wait and see nearer the time?

Gillster and Beaky I had 6 follicles, 2 eggs but no fertilisation. We are hoping to start in three weeks.

Hi Berries. Good to see it a bit busier in here.
Good luck Smidge. Keeping everything crossed for you.
Tiger almost our whole ICSI cycle was nurse led, and we were private. We saw the consultant at our initial appointment and again for EC but it was the nurses who did the planning appt, all the dildocams and even the ET (which I was a bit at).
I think we'll be leaving our next cycle until after Xmas. I have to wait for my natural cycle to come back anyway but, assuming it returns in the not too distant future, we'd probably end up cycling over Xmas if we started straight away, which I really don't want. Hopefully everything will work out and we can start early in the New Year. Will find out more today anyhow as we have our follow up appointment.
With regards to telling people about TTC I'm pretty open about it now. All our family and close friends know. It's impossible for me to take time off work without raising suspicion as its highly unusual for me to be off plus it's marked down on the cover list as LoA for everyone to see! So I told the people I'm closest to in work (a couple of them have had IVF themselves) but I did get asked a few times where I'd been by people I didn't really want to know so I just said I'd had a medical procedure.
Think I may be a bit more vague about the dates for our next cycle with our families though. My DM is great and only really text to ask how I was feeling after EC and ET. MIL and SIL are far more full on though and were on the phone asking for news every day. MIL even rang up 2 days before OTD and said "I know you must have tested by now...I've worked it out' Ummmm no!!
Hope everyone has a good day. Good luck to all those with appointments coming up.

Quite a few people know we are on the IVF roller coaster and I was pretty open about treatment for my last FET. I have loads of annual leave to use up now and now that work is much quieter I intend to take most of the 2WW off (assuming I get that far).

Haven't decided about Christmas yet. I sort of mentioned to my folks that they might like to come down but I got the impression they were fairly set on staying put. It was so much easier last year when we had Christmas Day on our own due to flying out to States on Boxing Day. Quite enjoyed it being just the two of us.

Come on Smidge , I'm in the mood for a good shimmy!

Can't believe your inlaws Happy. At least the imminent birth of my nephew will keep my inlaws occupied for a bit! Dreading November to be honest as know of 3 babies being born then. At least I will have started treatment though rather than being in limbo.

Killing a bit of time before a non TTC related eye appointment. It's a rare occurrence that I go to a hospital and am not poked and probed with something!

[Grin] at Poked and probed Gill' I know how you feel. In fact 'poked and probed' should feature in the next thread title. That and drumming, smidge's, or was it pixie's, typo for stimming.

I haven't told anyone in RL about the fertility treatment, purely because I can't bear the idea of people asking for updates. I don't think I could bear that. And Bushy is spot on in saying that the Berries are the biggest support you could hope for.

It looks as if quite a few of us will be cycling in the New Year. Bring it on, I say.

Definitely agree that the berries are the best support. Understanding, but with a wicked sense of humour.

There have been so many posts since I last wrote that I will have to write more detail tomorrow, but didn't want to leave you hanging with my latest. Thank you all so much for your good wishes and Pom poms!

Well, I was out for the count again, which was great. Have no recollection of coming back out into the recovery area even, but either someone carried me on to the chair or I did it myself à la sleepwalking, as that's where I came round. This time I felt quite nauseous and just sat there for ages with my eyes closed waiting for it to go away. They told me they'd had to give me a bit extra anaesthetic as one of the nurses had to press quite heavily on my tummy to try to manouvre my left ovary, and she said she could feel the dildocam through my tummy so was expecting me to feel more bruised afterwards.

They ended up giving me some anti nausea drug through the cannula when it got worse, but it didn't do much - I ended up being sick in the taxi on the way home!! Thankfully they'd given me a really cool sick bag (plastic, with a hoop at the top holding it open) so at least the poor taxi driver didn't have to charge us extra for cleaning!

Anyway, the main news is that they drained 12 follicles, but only got 8 eggs, which I have to say I'm quite disappointed at. Last time we got 10 from 11. AliG said though that clearly we're just after better quality ones though, so I shouldn't be concerned at this stage. (Fair point, but hard to put into practice)

I had more of a chat to the embryologist lady this time, and she talked about the maturity of eggs and how they look to them if they're immature vs mature (different outer edge), though I couldn't get a read on how many she thought were mature for us. Certainly got the impression that they weren't all mature though, so was a bit down about it at first - but then the nausea set in so I kind of forgot all about it, and now just hoping fertilisation looks good when they call tomorrow. The embryologist also said they'll do the assisted hatching part at day3, which surprised me - I thought they'd only do it at day5, on whichever was going to be transferred. But she said it was safer earlier as there are fewer cells. Also confirmed they can still freeze blasts that have had the assisted hatching done, so not to worry there.

Ok, long me me me post. I'll aim for sleep now and write again tomorrow. Keep those hips a movin' and those pom poms a shakin'...

Hey Smidge glad all went well, 8 is a good number of eggs - definitely quality over quantity. I was out for the count during EC too - apparently I asked DH about 10 times how I got back in the room afterwards. I have no recollection whatsoever - he says it was like dealing with a drunk person ha! Sorry to hear you got prodded and poked so much - hope you're no too sore.
Gil my in laws are lovely and very well meaning - they just have no boundaries, unlike my own family who have a strict no interference policy. I'm sure I told you about last Xmas morning when my MIL gave me the lecture about needing to tilt my pelvis after sex and eat more sprouts (not at the same time - well I don't think that's what she meant anyway!!) if we were ever going to manage to conceive.

Just back from the FC. Looks like we'll be doing a fresh cycle again in January as I'd hoped. If it wasn't for Xmas we would probably get going sooner but, to be honest, I'm glad of the break. Consultant said that given the embryos were top notch the implantation failure was either due to my womb not being receptive to pregnancy or because of a lack of some chemical given out by the embryos that's needed for them to implant? Anyway I'm starting to take 75mg of aspirin from today plus an omega 3 supplement. She also said to make sure I'm getting enough vitamin D - but this is covered by the pre conception vits I'm taking anyway. We at also going for an endo scratch with this new cycle. She said there's definitely a higher success rate amongst women who have the scratch after 2 failed cycles, but no stats on women who have it after just one failed attempt. In any case it can't do any harm so why not?

Good evening Berries,
Thought I'd drop in; still feeling rubbish but trying to tough it out! Have my treatment planning session tomorrow so getting myself back in the zone! They have warned me that if my body doesn't follow the plan that we would have to abandon due to Christmas so a bit 'meh' about that.

Smidge hope that the nausea has settled and you get some rest tonight. Eight is a good number and as you said it all comes down to quality. I'll keep everything crossed for good news in the next few days.
Happy the idea of a scratch makes me queasy but if it helps......January is not that far away especially with Christmas in the way.
Seren I hope that all is going ok and you are feeling well.
Beaky I have no experience in asking for a pay rise, but if you don't as you don't get........
Bushy I'm glad you had a good session with your mum and a decent one to one. I hope that you are feeling better for it. It is really quite exhausting keeping this kind of thing from you. As a side note perhaps we should all move to Ireland to get free cycles!
Gill how exciting that you are getting going soon.....I get what you are saying about Christmas! the only reason we have told DH parents is for that fact.
Wild I'm glad that you kind of got some answers and it sounds like you have a plan going forward.

Smidge 8 eggs is great! Agree its quality over quantity you need. Pom Poms out for the lurvvve fertilization dance tonight! All fingers crossed for you. Your sickness and taxi journey sound awful, hope you feel better soon.

Happy eat more sprouts?? WTF! Clearly thats where Ive been going wrong. Your appointment sounds like it went well and hopefully Ill be joining you in the January IVF'ing! Did they go into the explanation of womb not being receptive any further? I'm just wondering what they mean. It sounds like you have a good plan going forward though. Re the vitamin d, I take extra of that on top of pregnacare as my acu said the pregnacare probably wasnt enough and it doesnt do any harm. Did they say what the omega 3 supplement does?

HB good to hear from you and good luck for your appointment tomorrow, I hope you start feeling better soon. Are you long or short protocol? Also, I asked and I got, woohoo! Very pleased with myself

Ive had really really sore boobs this cycle, also started spotting yesterday so I think af will arrive over the weekend, then I need to get my bloods done at the fc on monday. I wonder what they will be checking and if they do any different tests this time.

Thought Id add the list again so we can update where we are at and theres a few (Wild Bushy and HB that i can see) not on it too so dont forget to add yourself!

Gillster 40, TTC Feb 2012, IVF Feb 2014 resulting in 6 frozen one day embies. No transfer due to polyp. Failed FET cycle in September due to polyps. Starting 2nd FET cycle on 4 Nov.
Happylass, 36, TTC since Aug 2012. Antibodies in DH's sperm. 1 failed cycle of ICSI. 1 frostie and 1 more private cycle already paid for. Appointment at end of month to discuss plan of action.
Smidge, 38, TTC since Jan 2013. Unexplained. IVF#1 Short protocol July 2014 yielded 1 blasto, BFN. IVF#2 in process - Long Protocol Oct/Nov 2014
Serenity 34 TTC Jan 2013, unexplained infertility, DH has textbook super sperm, 3 rounds unsuccessful clomid, 1 ICSI June 14 with complete fertilisation failure, next ICSI Nov 14.
Jelliebabe - 40, Threw the pills away 8 years ago. Unexplained but have a very low AMH, 1st IVF with clinic in Prague, 2 embryo's, chemical pregnancy. 2nd IVF in London branch of clinic - 1 embryo, BFN. Hoping to go back to Prague for Donor eggs in January
nolly, 32, TTC since Sep 2012, unexplained. 6 months clomid did sod all, next appointment 29th Oct, hoping to start private round ivd soon.
Pixie, 33, TTC June 12, DH has zero sperm count but managed to extract some under surgery, start downregging in a week, long protocol, ICSI Nov
Tigerdog, 34, ttc 21 months. Unexplained after all tests and currently on waiting list for IVF.
Beaky, 34 ttc since aug 2012. Unexplained with recurring cysts and adenomyosis. 1 failed IUI, IVF appointment in November and hoping to start first cycle in January.

Hi hb hope that all goes well at your treatment planning session.

smidge sounds like EC went well, and 8 eggs sounds good to me! Will be cheering them on from here!

serenity that sounds like a good plan. I had wondered about ICSI, as I thought it was recommended only if there is a problem with the swimmers and I'm sure you said there were no issues with your dh?

haha to 'tigers drink' wild, it's good stuff! beaky I use normal milk. I was off dairy and on the almond milk for a while but to be honest I'm not really following the OTT healthy diet that I was earlier in the year. I keep meaning to pick up Zita West's guide to getting pregnant again and follow the diet in that, but I have struggled with motivation.

I'm not sure about dates over Christmas and clinic opening here wild but I doubt I'll be able to start this side of Christmas due to the timings of various appointments and my cycle. I'm away for a week over Christmas too, so that complicates things further. I think I'll be starting in April instead unless a miracle happens once I've settled in to my new job etc. I feel a bit more at peace with that now.

Sounds like you've got a good plan there happy. Interesting to hear that they are putting you on asprin. I decided to take it last cycle, didn't get pregnant, but had a pain free period (usually in agony) with much less (tmi) clotting so think I will start it up again next cycle. OMG to your MiL! Luckily my in laws are not the type to ask or talk about these things, so there is no danger of having such discussions!

The only information I have been given beaky is a sheet describing the usual treatment protocol. The group session is in an area where I sometimes have to work, and I am feeling a bit twitchy about bumping into colleagues!

I'm feeling somewhat lacking in motivation, particularly in terms of following a healthy regime. Have started the daily meditations again though, so perhaps that will be a good starting point!

Hey Berries, I've kept a very low profile in both real life and online this time but I'm having my egg collection on Friday.
This is the third and final time for me.

Pip very best of luck for this round, I really hope it is successful for you. LEt us know how you get on on friday and we will continue the pom pom fertilization dance for you

Tiger Ive also really struggled with motivation, Ive found a couple of helpful articles I can share with on here if you like. Its basically saying to change one small thing at a time so that you dont feel like the whole task is overwhelming, and also focusing in on one goal at a time. Ive set myself a couple of small targets I want to achieve and so far this week I have stuck to them mostly!

beaky ref the cyst, they did blood tests when it was found at my baseline scan - LH and FSH tests - which told them it wasn't hormonal apparently. Also it was tiny, so they were happy to go ahead. I think I will be long protocol, but I need to get up to speed on what the different protocols are.

Actually, I've done nothing the last two days apart from read up on the whole immunes treatment thing, when I'm not working anyway! I've got Dr Beer's book which is very interesting and I feel as if I'm finally starting to grasp it all.

smidge I'm delighted that EC went off well. Eight is good, I think we are always hoping for the perfect score on everything and it is normal to fret over every stage and result. Hope you are feeling ok today.

HB and Pip good to see you around. Pip good luck for Friday

Waves to everyone else. There's lots I want to talk to you all about, but I've spent all my time on obsessive googling and now it's bedtime. I'll get into what is happening with the rest if you lovely ladies tomorrow.

beaky please post the motivation articles, I need them!

Pip l'll wish you good luck on here too. Third time lucky - you more than deserve this and it's only right you should lead the next clusterdiff! (Love that clusterdiff is now in my predictive text!).
Beaky that was my reaction to the sprouts suggestion. She even tried to sneak some on to my plate at lunch. Sprouts make me vom
The consultant didn't really say too much about the receptive womb issue. Just that given that the embryos were such good quality then there are only the 2 reasons why it didn't succeed. Apparently there's a huge amount of research going on at the moment in to why perfect embryos don't implant. They are hoping to be able to overcome this in a few years. I think the omega 3 is to help the chemical that the embryos need to produce for implantation. Makes sense for me to take it as I'm veggie so don't eat fish. How much vit D are you taking Beaky?. My Zita West vits have 500% of the RDA so I'm hoping that's sufficient?
HB hope all goes well with your appt. I agree that a scratch sounds grim. I think they should rename it. Something like 'endometrial massage' sounds far more appealing.
Updating the list.....

Gillster 40, TTC Feb 2012, IVF Feb 2014 resulting in 6 frozen one day embies. No transfer due to polyp. Failed FET cycle in September due to polyps. Starting 2nd FET cycle on 4 Nov.
Happylass, 36, TTC since Aug 2012. Antibodies in DH's sperm. 1 unsuccessful cycle of ICSI September '14. Starting cycle 2 in January.
Smidge, 38, TTC since Jan 2013. Unexplained. IVF#1 Short protocol July 2014 yielded 1 blasto, BFN. IVF#2 in process - Long Protocol Oct/Nov 2014
Serenity 34 TTC Jan 2013, unexplained infertility, DH has textbook super sperm, 3 rounds unsuccessful clomid, 1 ICSI June 14 with complete fertilisation failure, next ICSI Nov 14.
Jelliebabe - 40, Threw the pills away 8 years ago. Unexplained but have a very low AMH, 1st IVF with clinic in Prague, 2 embryo's, chemical pregnancy. 2nd IVF in London branch of clinic - 1 embryo, BFN. Hoping to go back to Prague for Donor eggs in January
nolly, 32, TTC since Sep 2012, unexplained. 6 months clomid did sod all, next appointment 29th Oct, hoping to start private round ivd soon.
Pixie, 33, TTC June 12, DH has zero sperm count but managed to extract some under surgery, start downregging in a week, long protocol, ICSI Nov
Tigerdog, 34, ttc 21 months. Unexplained after all tests and currently on waiting list for IVF.
Beaky, 34 ttc since aug 2012. Unexplained with recurring cysts and adenomyosis. 1 failed IUI, IVF appointment in November and hoping to start first cycle in January.

Good to see all the little steps forward us berries are making...good progress ladies!
So should we all be taking asprin and vit d and omega 3? With what I'm already taking i'd definitely be rattling.
Smidge that Sounds good to me.
Pip hope Fri goes well
Apart from tiredness, sore nips and feeling sick meds going ok but still a week of down regging. Bit boring this bit.