TTC for 10 months, and all the rest. 10 plussers welcome.

[MuddyWellyNelly]

New thread full of the most amazing women.

Thanks Donna - I know, if I get to have a baby I know I won't care how he/she came to be! I just always imagined surprising our families with the news with them having no idea we were even trying. Silly really.

Our appointment is 8 weeks from the day our gp did the referral - although I'm sure it depends on where you live. We're going to find out the wait times and private treatment costs before we decide on nhs/private. The consultant is the same person either way so I'm hoping we can pay privately for some of the tests to speed things up and then have the expensive stuff (if necessary) on the NHS. X

Well 13 of my blobs are still on the go! transfer will be Sunday at 10.30. at least it will give me a few more days to recover from ec. pain has now eased to a ache in the bloated belly. still chugging the water!

wishing everyone else a good Friday, will proper catch up later x

Wow fluffy fab news!

donna with out too much detail, did he do the sample at the hospital or at home then take it in, Barry did it at home and got there fuck knows what he was doing afterwards just within the 60 minutes slot that they like, but then it wasn't looked at until about 90 minutes after it had been produced, they recommend that the sample is looked at within 60 minutes for a more accurate analysis, but that will always be a problem with the NHS, sperm results can change a bit a few months apart, Barry had better sperm results when he was fat and lazy then after he lost 20 kilos and exercised 3 times a week I think another sample in the future might give you a better indication of what is going on, I'm sure Mr D will more than happy to whip up another sample for them but needs must, this is just a snapshot of now

fluffy that is excellent news :) you still have a footy team worth :)

Great news fluffy. Hopefully lots of frosties too. Will you have one or two put back?

Buzzy hope you feel better soon

Pikz that was brilliant!

Ha ha pikz! I enjoyed that!

donna as a few of the lovely ladies have said, I have a little girl conceived via ICSI, due to severe male factor infertility. You do need to have more than one SA, as they can really vary, if DH has been ill, stressed etc. Mr Gin's count varied between 1-3 million per ml and had awful motility and morphology. He did the whole no booze, taking suppliments thing, but tbh when the count is so low, I don't think it makes much difference. We did 2 mild ivf cycles, neither of which worked, but then did a FET with our one frozen embryo left from the 2nd cycle and she's just turned 1 now! I think for us it was very much a case of the clinic finding the few undamaged sperm and creating a viable embie. Has DH had any injury to his bits in the past? Mr Gin had retractable testicles or something similar as a kid and the consultant thinks that's what damaged them. Anyway, hope my story can give you some hope!

cos hope you are hanging on in there. I vividly remember that foof leakage feeling and dashing into Mcdonalds toilets etc to knicker check. All the womble pains sound like good signs. Have you got an early scan booked?

critter I was a bit shocked that they suggested genetic counselling at the grand age of 35! Here (or in London at least) I think they only bother with age if you're over 40. Hope you are still doing ok.

joy I'm sure things will be fine at the anomoly scan. I think they can tell a lot from the tests at 12 weeks. Are you starting to get the preggo exhaustion yet?

nellie hope you and miniellie are ok. Are you still hobbling? I just had baby G's 1 year review and the health visitor described her as v precious when I said she was ivf :) It's nice when people get it. Although she did say the whole well now you've had a baby and relaxed, you may conceive naturally

ray and fox not long until your cycles now. Hope you both have a lovely, relaxing Christmas and the thoughts of clinics etc aren't looming too much over your Xmas breaks.

fluffy sounds like you will have some for the freezer there too!

Waves to sam, toes and berry. Sorry I'm rubbish at keeping up with everyone, but wishing swift recovery from the ops.

Fluffy, that is fantastic. You will have loads to freeze too. Good luck for transfer.

Pikz, good poem! Hope you're recovering well.

Nelly and gin, I like to hear that people recognize how precious ten plusser babies are. Nelly, that was really interesting about what your consultant said. They seem to take an approach similar to the uk here, they will do everything they think has firm evidence to back it up which does seem sensible. All drugs have side effects after all.

Donna, my dh has a count that varies between 8 and 11 mil in total. At this level then icsi it the only option that is really going to work. I second what has been said about needing to have a second sample. Sometimes one sample is a dud one. If it is confirmed then I would really recommend that your partner has investigations to see if they can find a cause. Some things need treatment. One of the frustrating things I have found with male infertility is that a lot of the stuff you read is related to women's problems. Also doctors seem less clued up, icsi is the only real option. I agree with gin that there isn't much point looking at lifestyle changes if the numbers are that low. Get moving forward with the fertility treatment. We were told when we were first diagnosed that with numbers that low to would be like winning the lottery for natural conception to happen. 4 and a half years later and I have never had a bfp so I can well believe that's true. But. Icsi really works for many, many people.

We had our appointment today and we have to wait until January for the natural round. More waiting. But, the dr was very nice to us and said that he really thought a natural cycle with picsi is worth a go, and if that doesn't work we will try long protocol again. He said that would only give me the hcg shot 24 hrs before rather than 36. He said again about our embryos being poor quality.
Sorry for the rushed post, I have a Christmas party to get ready for. Taxi coming in 1 hour and I haven't even decided what to wear yet.

Hi all! Just checking in to say I'm still here, mostly reading with not much time to post!

Fluffy best of luck for Sunday, great that you still have so many on the go!

Sam congrats on getting your first appt (8 weeks isn't that long, I had to wait 6 mths!) In my experience first appt included blood tests, dildo cam to check antral follicle count and lots of questions about us. We had been asked to do sperm analysis again week before the appt so they had those results as well. We were then sent away for another 6 mths to keep trying and only given green light for IVF at 2nd appt (we are unexplained).

Donna hello! Would echo the above comments about getting at least one more test done; there can be some variability.

cos excited to read about your BFP! I used to fantasise about this happening but gave up long ago...happy to see miracles still can happen!

Hello to everyone else, especially all of you still in the grip of early pregnancy fear - nelly, critter et al. Last day of term here (I'm an AHT in a secondary school) so finally ready to collapse/start looking forward to Christmas!

Those of you cycling in the New Year, are you prepping now by getting off the booze etc? I don't drink much anyway but wondering whether to have a booze free Christmas and be uber-healthy from now on. 1st cycle will prob be February at the earliest...am I being boring or wise?

I went for my 21 day blood text today. It should be fine right? I get positive opk tests.

I'm more worried about the scan. I don't know whether to hope they find something or not.

My friend just had her three month scan after 30 cycles of unexplained infertility. That's given me a bit of hope to carry on.

Good luck everybody

Fluffy - just wanted to say congrats on all the 'blobs' hope your not in so much pain anymore.

Donna - h had to repeat his SA due to low morphology score, and by the second one (3 weeks later) it was normal. Obvious there can be problems, but wait for a repeat test to confirm the result.

Cos - hope you're doing ok, I can only imagine how scary it must be... If I ever get to that point I'll be terrible!

Deeray - do you mind if I ask what picsi is? Hope you enjoy your Christmas party!

Star - thank you, I'm pleased it was only 8 weeks, just a little overwhelmed at the moment! Lol. You must have the patience of a saint waiting 6 months only to be told to go and try for another 6!

Travelling - positive opks don't 100% mean you're ovulating, but at least you know the hormones are doing the right thing as a positive opk means you got LH surge I recently starting temping after being told this, do you temp? The news about your friend gives me hope too!

I told my manager today as needed to arrange leaving work for the appointment on Monday. She was really understanding as she has actually been through all this (although didn't end up with a baby in the end through personal choice) so really gets it. She also understands how difficult it is with the pregnant colleague which makes me feel like less of a bitch when I'm biting my tongue to keep from snapping at said colleague when she's complaining about not being able to eat smoked salmon!

Hello to everyone I've missed, hope you're all ok. Xx

I don't, maybe I should. So a positive opk doesn't necessarily mean that you're ovulating? One more thing to worry about!

Sorry travelling, apparently not. I thought it did to, but it just means your LH has risen in preparation for ovulation. I didn't mean to worry you, really sorry about that.
I started temping last month and did see a rise a couple of days after my positive opk which signifies ovulation, I just feel happier each month knowing if it happened or not

I'm always worrying about something, so it doesn't matter . I think I'll start that next cycle then. Any helpful tips greatly appreciated

Hi sammylou how do you do the temping? What do you use? Chart?thermometer? Need to start tracking closer after 7 months of ttc no.2

Oooops sorry wrong thread! Only been ttc for 7 months.apologies

Travelling (and alien if you're still lurking) - I am in no way an expert... Only been doing it two months, and there are ladies on here with far better advice I'm sure. But here it goes:
Get a BBThermometer which goes to two decimal places
Get an app to record it all (I use fertility friend ATM but my free trial of the advanced bit has just expired so it doesn't seem as good anymore).
Try to take temperature at the same time every day (without getting out of bed and moving around!)
Try to make sure this is after 3 hours solid sleep (this very rarely is the case for me though!)

Everyone else, please feel free to add to this if you have any more tips!

Donna - working there sounds really hard, I'm finding it difficult with 1 pregnant woman in my office. Hugs to you. Xx

Donna that's good... We're at similar points then!
How long from referral to appointment? X

Wow, that is quick!
Yes, will be nice to compare appointments! Ours is Monday so will let you know what comes of it. X

Thanks Sammy. I'm going to try it. Right now I'm having . I don't drink normally, but I fancied it tonight and why the hell not!

Hi everyone, hope you've all had good weekends?
Travelling, hope you enjoyed your ?? last night, I had a few too!

I'm really nervous about tomorrow's appointment, I don't know why really. I'm even more nervous about going back to work after as an emotional wreck!

Sammy, moving towards the possibility of assisted conception is stressful, but remember it's also moving closer to having a baby. Tomorrow will likely be fairly routine but I know that's only reassuring to a point. Best of luck.

Donna, have I said hi yet? Yes your referral was very quick indeed! Working in a Labour ward? Wowsers - even going in to visit family member was enough to nearly tip me over the edge!

St4r hope you are enjoying the start of the Christmas holidays.

Ray I'm glad the consultant recognised you needed the ovulation addressing; and good that he's still supporting you doing it. Hope the Christmas party was fun.

Had my 8+5 scan today and it was all good. Little bean was wriggling about, and measured right on dates, which is unusual. She said there was absolutely no cause for concern at this stage, which of course has me worried all the same! Now going to try to stay away from the scans until my 12 week one, but I'm not making promises. Have the small detail of telling family, which unfortunately is going to have to be done before Christmas. There is no way I'd get off with not drinking otherwise. We're Scottish, after all .

Hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I'm off to make mince pies .