Grab your Ganeshas and collect your cats: The Elderberry Pavlovas in the Quest for the New Year clusterdiff (thread 25)

[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.

A 67% fertilisation rate seems pretty good to me HB, they'd obviously cranked the Barry White up last night. I think you are getting my quota of sleep. Was up at 6:30am to pick up DH from the airport as he'd been in USA with work all week. Then drove straight to FC for bloods and waited nearly an hour before they were taken. We were able to natter to the couple we knew though as they were there too and we even had a coffee with them afterwards. Who knew that going to the FC could be a social outing! Think I'll be crashed out on the sofa soon though.

Hello ladies, finally have the time to catch up, it has been a really busy week and now I'm home with Mr T, happy days indeed.

pip at the universe sometimes and to you for having to deal with pg ladies. Hope you're doing ok.

well done hb, also cheerleading in this corner for you - come on embies! Put your feet up and relax, sleep as much as you need

beaky I think I'll be doing a very similar Ivf protocol to you. Good luck for your scan on Monday.

Glad you've got some perspective wild and you're feeling more cheered. The whole process is unsettling.

12 follies sounds good happy! Will be doing a lot of pom-pom waving and cheering for everyone over the next few weeks.

smidge af is like that for me every month. Grim isn't it. At least one day a month I'm worrying about leakage . Still, glad the arrival of af means you're on to the next stage!

minx glad you're recovering ok.

jellie when are you starting your DE process?

Hope everyone is having a nice Saturday. I've been feeling oddly emotional today, not really sure why. Need to cheer up a bit. Have made a lemon almond and polenta cake, hoping that will help!

socialising at the FC is a new one on me gill but it must be nice to be able to be open about it with each other. Definitely get your feet up. I'm also on the sofa, where I plan to stay this evening!

HB that's great! Excited for you and pom poming away to encourage them on to excellent blasts. Hope you are feeling better soon but as the others have said, take all the sleep/rest you need.

Gill I think that's really lovely that you've got this couple you both can chat to about things. Boo to no lie ins, I think that's one thing I find difficult ha and I want a baby?! as since down regging started I've had to get up early every morning total whinger

Tiger good to hear from you and pleased everything is going well! The cake sounds lovely! I too am spending the evening on the couch and loving it!

We've been viewing houses today, I'm in love with one but don't think we will get it

How was the beach Wild?

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends!

Good luck for Monday, HampshireBlues, hope the eggs progress to the next stage.

beaky> House hunting is so exciting! Have you made an offer?

In more 'TTC has made me an irrational cowbag' news did the news that yet another nun has had a surprise baby make anyone roll their eyes. There seems to be one of these news stories every bloody year! I guess the story behind it might not be so happy but still a nun! Pregnant! That's just rubbing it in. shakes fist

Hi everybod! How you're all having a fab weekend.

HB sorry the ec wasn't straight forward. If you need to rest you rest up. When is your next update? Is transfer Wednesday? Or don't you know yet?

Gill Lol at socialising at the fc. I must say its "nice" in a way to have someone in real life to talk to. My colleague is just looking at clinics now. As sad as I am that she's in our boat, its good to chat together.

Tiger - glad you're having a nice weekend with Mr T. Don't worry at feeling emo! I cried buckets at the book thief on Friday, I had to go to bed after! Pmt! I think

Beaky! Loved looking at houses! Mind you we looked at masses of sh1tholes! Good luck with the one that you like!

TS? A bloody nun? Is this the second coming? Sheesh...

Afm- things might start properly this week! Take my last pill tomorrow and then wait for my bleed. Fingers xd these cyst's have done one. If we can do a pompom for that, it would be marvellous. I don't know what they'll suggest if they're still there... Knitting needles? (Poperama!). Anyway hopefully all I'll have to worry about is my lining! ??????. I'm 7 parts excited to 3 parts bricking it

A nun Tammy?!! Ffs! we've put an offer in but it's very popular so who knows...! How are you doing?

Jellie I will definitely do the clear womb no cysts dance! My FC said if they were still there after a month on the pill they would aspirate them. When will your scan be? Fx for you lady.

I'm such an eejit, my baseline scan is Tuesday not Monday. I would have totally rocked up there tomorrow if I hadn't double checked my plan!

HB how are you? Hope you're feeling a bit better.

Beaky I have to go for the scan as soon as I start my period. So day 2 or 3. I'm hoping it's this week as I have to take my mother to a funeral on Monday so before or after would be great.

Just swinging by to wish all of you currently cycling the best. hb hope tomorrow goes well, and same for you on Tuesday beaky. Waving my Berrie pom-poms as I type!

Hope all the Berries have had a good weekend; sorry I've been AWOL and got a bit behind with the news. Feeling a bit jaded about the whole ttc thing right now as this months IVF has also been cancelled due to a cyst... grrr now on the pill for a month, but looking at the comments it seems like cysts are a common thing right now....

Wild - don't stress about your appointment, if they can treat me I'm sure they will be able to treat you out too. I've a really low ovarian reserve, only 3 antral follicles over a year ago and very low AMH of 1.6. Your results should really just influence how they treat you. With hindsight I think I should have done long protocol as my high FSH seems to start the ovulation process really early in the cycle, but my clinic chose short protocol and I only got 2 eggs in the end. Apparently with downregging they can get the follices to develop at a more steady rate and can potentially stim for longer rather than have to stop if you have one follicle which is much bigger than the rest. Ask lots of questions, and ask us too, I'm sure there is lots of good berry wisdom with all of our combined experiences.

HB - I hope your weekend has been OK - thinking positive thoughts for you!

Pip - - life can just be sh1t sometimes.

Morning all. On my way to London for another week at work. My taxi smelt of sick this morning, and I've only just stopped feeling

Keeping everything crossed for you hb and let us know how those little embies are doing!

A nun getting pg?! Wtf. I was also reading about a gay guy (someone famous but the name escapes me) who is becoming a father in a co-parent arrangement with a lesbian couple. They did some sort of home insemination and voila - worked first time! How can it be that easy?!! tammy where are you up to in ttc again? Memory like a sieve this morning.

Houses can be very emotive. I love mine so much that I get tearful thinking about selling up! Good luck with the offer and with scan beaky!

kuma and here's hoping the pill sends that cyst packing. Are you NHS or private? Some of the treatment around IVF seems like trial and error a lot of the time, but hopefully what they've learnt will contribute to getting you the right result. I know what you mean about feeling jaded by ttc, I just don't want to think too much about it at the moment, although I had a little cry on Mr T this weekend about it all.

jellie I always get The Sadness about 3-4 days before af. This is when you'll find me crying over the lamest things!! Exciting that you're about to get started and hope the timing works out well.

Have a good Monday berries! Last one in Jan

Just had the call....all four have continued to divide but they cannot tell which would be the best to out back so we are going to day 5 blasto tansfer on Wednesday

So relieved was convinced that it would be pot luck and putting them back today.

Brilliant news HB!

20 follies now Berries . They think I'm at slight risk of OHSS . All or nothing eh?! They are coming out on Wednesday, thank goodness!

Ooh that's great news HB - bring on Wednesday! Hope you are feeling better after the yucky EC. Sounds like it was all worth it.

Exciting about the house hunting Beaky . I love a bit of house hunting but have no reason to do it, so please let us live vicariously through you. Having said that, I do think that you can be happy in most house and it all works out in the end whether you manage to bag your dream house or not.

Poor Tiger - long distance commuting is hard enough without vomit being involved. It's good that you topped up your batteries with a little sob in Mr Tiger, that's what he's there for! Have a nice second week!

Thank you for your wise words Kuma - you are absolutely right that it is all about getting the right treatment for your personal situation. After the way my follies behaved on the IUI cycle I favour long protocol, for exactly the reasons you outlined. Well, we shall se what they say.

More positive developments Happy - apart from the OHSS thing, but details, details.

The beach was lovely on Saturday by the way Beaky , very cold and windy but it definitely blew away the cobwebs.

Great news hb and happy. Fx for both of you x

Wow Happy that is a lot of follicles. I hope that they all have eggs and that the FC manage to keep on top of any signs of OHSS.

Exciting news on the house hunting Beaky will keep everything crossed that you are successful on the house of your dreams.

When is your follow up Wild?

A nun getting pg...what is that all about?? Seems like convents are not what they used to be!

Fantastic news HB and also Happy big day for the berries on Wednesday! Best of berry luck to you both

Will catch up later as about to go in to college eek!

The appointment was at lunchtime HB . As I feared my AMH levels are shockingly low - 2.7 which puts me in the very poor category.

The consultant was very good - he said to try not to panic! Hahah! Fat chance of that. As Kuma suggested he said it was a matter of being clever and finding the right treatment.

The plan is to do two rounds of stims and egg collection with a one month break in between. They will freeze the embryos (given that there are any!) and I guess do a FET when the time is right. They will also give me a growth hormone to help get more/better eggs or something. Obviously this all costs £ouch.

I feel pretty upset at the news tbh. I just wasn't expecting to have low AMH given that all other tests gave very promising results. It's also quite a lot o take in terms of the cost - I have more or less decided that I want to go for it and that I will find the extra money somehow. I've yet to talk to DH about it though. There is a part if me which wonders whether I am clutching at (very expensive) straws.

Oh Wild I'm sorry to hear that you've had some worrying news. I totally freaked when I had my AMH result too as it's not great for my age, but here I am sitting here with 20 follicles! Whilst it is an indicator of how you will react it's not the be all. How are your FSH/LH levels as I believe it's these compared to your AMH that are more significant? I think Kuma is the one to speak too, she knows more about this than me. The positive is though that your consultant is supportive and that you have a plan in place. Please try not to stress out. Hope you're ok

Wild - I'm sorry it wasn't better news if you've got any questions do ask or send a message - although I'll reply more quickly on FB as only use MN on my phone really. Which FC are you seeing? I spent about £4.5k on my first round. I think it's worth a shot, I wouldn't have been able do deal with the 'what ifs' if I hadn't tried.

Excellent number happy, that sounds like it will be a bumper crop. Fingers crossed that OHSS stays away.

Excellent news on the blasts development hb! Am willing them on for you.

Sorry to hear that it wasn't the news you hoped for wild and that your AMH is lower than expected. Hugs and for you. It's hard not to take these things so personally I have found, but as the others have wisely indicated, it is the treatment that is important and your consultant sounds like he has a good plan for you. This ttc business is tough but keep believing. Hope your dh is supportive.

Lots of pom pom shaking and cheerleading required for this week, I shall be busy dancing away (when I'm not stuck on a packed train like sardine as I am now).

I have to say I am a little confused by the whole AMH levels as I thought that this was a predictor of ovarian reserve and also on how you should respond to IVF I.e. help identify those at risk of OHSS and assist in drug dosing. Having said that, my AMH was pretty good but I haven't responded as well as last time on higher drug dosages.

So I am flummoxed!