Candle smugglers of the world unite! The Berries have loaded up the charabanc and have Barry on repeat. Destination BFP (via the pouch of Douglas)

[happylass]

The small print:

The Berries have strict entrance criteria: TTC #1 for 12 months+, over 30, NO instadiffers, must have a special pimping pot and absolutely no mention of baby dust/dancing. Not that we're fussy

Current passengers

Happylass, 37, TTC since Aug 2012. 2 failed ICSIs. Hopefully FET early May with only frostie. Long awaited NHS appt in June
Beaky 35, ttc coming up 3 yrs, 2x failed iui 1x long protocol ivf cancelled due to poor response. On the pill awaiting short protocol IVF in may
Minx, 34, both tubes blocked, 1 buried ovary, IVF info evening June, IVF "booking in" appointment in July
Nolly, 33, TTC 2.7 years, mc Dec 2014. awaiting ivf August 2015 while dh is off on a jolly.
Wild 40 - TTC for three years. Embies on ice and planning FET with immune treatment in June.
HampshireBlues 36 TTC 3.5 years, unexplained. Cycle 1 chemical pregnancy, cycle 2 abandoned due to cyst, cycle 3 failed. Plan thrombotic profile, scratch and short protocol.
Lumen, 35, ttc since Nov 2011, unexplained, two IVF cycles in 2014, both bfns, waiting for lap&dye and results of numerous bloods, aiming for one last IVF cycle in the summer.
Tigerdog, 34 ttc since Jan 2013. Unexplained and all test results good. Currently in the middle of long protocol IVF, 13 eggs collected and awaiting news for next steps.
Gillster, 41, TTC since Feb 2012. Had IVF in Feb 14 and had 6 one cell embies frozen due to polyp. 2 x 2 day embies finally put back 14 months later on 16th April, BFP 28th April
Smidge, 39 this month, TTC since Jan 2013. Unexplained. IVF#1 Short protocol July '14 BFN, IVF#2 Nov'14 and IVF#3 Feb '15 both Long protocol BFNs. High NK cells immune treatment. 2 frosties due to be put back in natural FET in May or June.
Kuma - 40. TTC 2.5 years. Low AMH high FSH - DH antisperm ABs. Failed IVF June 14 and March 15. Looking to change clinic and try another natural cycle in June 2015.
Lucieloos, 35, TTC 18 months, low AMH & sperm motility. 1st ICSI in Czech Republic in April 2015. Awaiting results.
Barkingtreefrog, 35, ttc since Dec 2011. Clomid bfp summer 2013, mc @ 7 weeks. IUI bfp summer 2014, mc @ 7 weeks. Diagnosed with factor v leiden thrombophilia (but
not thought to be the cause of the mc's as they were too early). Failed IUI January 2015, failed IVF March 2015. No further NHS help. Going private for nk cells testing and a scratch before putting the frosties back, hopefully this summer.
Rain, 33 ttc since March 2012. unexplained. mystery bfp oct 13, MMC Nov 13. NHS IVF starting in June
Spare planning FET with remaining frosties shortly
Pont 1st IVF in Czech Republic in July.

I just re-read the email. It says the stay is 14 days until transfer, not 14 days after transfer. I am an idiot

We had a long chat last night, and think the options are:

1. Stay with the same clinic and do an egg sharing cycle so we don't have to pay
2. Go to a different clinic and do an egg sharing cycle
3. Go to Serum
4. Plead with the GP to see if we can get funding to transfer to our clinic, but this is the long shot because of the wait (somewhere around 3 years)

We've got the follow up appointment with our clinic tomorrow, so will ask them if they'll put us on the antibiotics that Serum is suggesting (which means we don't have to pay Serum for the tests and prescriptions, plus the antibiotics are also shown to improve sperm quality, which would help us whichever route we go down). If they won't, we'll send the sample to Serum this week and see what they say.

As you all know, I'm a big fan of having a plan, so I'm feeling a bit calmer and less negative know we've got some sort of route forward. Might all get scuppered at the meeting tomorrow though..!

Ohhh that's some very interesting options spare! How old do you have to be to do the egg sharing? I know I am probably past it and barely have enough for myself lol but would be a good way to keep costs down. I am also facing at least a 2 year wait for nhs cycles. I definitely think you should be able to transfer the funding to a private clinic if it's that long!

I know a lot of clinics in the UK don't believe in the infection tests that serum do. I am waiting for them to confirm they have received my sample! It's been a week now which seems a while. I think I might email them again to check!

The HFEA have set a limit of 35 for egg sharing, unless there are 'exceptional circumstances'.
So I am tempted to sneak a cycle in now, and then save our money for if that doesn't work, If that makes sense?

Yes it's 35 for egg sharing Lucie although CRGW do offer a sperm sharing programme. I think it involves quite a lot of donations though!! No good for us due to DHs antibodies
Great to have a plan spare. Think I am struggling a bit at the moment without one!

I hear you on the need for a plan spare. I'm also struggling a bit without one happy as it all take such a long time to move things on with the NHS and I don't know if I'll get the next round funded. Still, GP appointment next week and hopefully know more from there.

Great that your dates are all lined up smidge! Are you going to holiday in the UK or go to Europe somewhere? Love the old peanut butter sandwich analogy

Where are you with a three year wait spare? That doesn't seem right - is that just for NHS treatment at an otherwise private clinic or in general.

Less than 2 months until I turn 35, started trying at 32.

Ohh I turn 36 at the end of this month so I don't suppose that is any good for me now

I also started ttc at 32 tiger, and really wanted to have tried everything the nhs could offer before I turned 35 so I could do the egg sharing option. Having two mc's along with the speed of NHS appointments anyway really fucked up that timing . I turn 36 next week .

spare and happy I'm another one who likes a plan . Now I've had the biopsy I'm going back to acupuncture, back on the vit b6 and vitamin c, and cutting out wheat (not going to go 100% this time though, cake still allowed as a treat.... ).
I'll get the results at the end of this next cycle, then possibly FET in August depending on the results and timings. I might try angus castus as well, does anyone have any thoughts on that? Am I the only one with a short LP now boodle and goosey have moved on?

Barking how long is your luteal phase? Mine is also relatively short. When I contacted serum they made a big thing out of it and said short luteal can sometimes indicate poor egg quality?! Also they said I would need careful monitoring as I probably already get a dominant follicle recruited before the end of the previous cycle and it would be very important to make sure that egg is retrieved. How long are your cycles overall? I have also started on 100mg of b6 now in an attempt to lengthen it. I used agnus castus on the recommendation of my acupuncturist before I began ivf but they didn't do anything for me.

Oh and what happened with boodle and goosey? Did they have success with short lps?

The plan sounds good Spare and I, like you, am a fan of plans. It is pretty settling isn't it? Out of curiosity, what antibiotics are they suggesting? (Nosey nurse sorry!)

Happy &Gill I hope you get your plans soon and can start planning for your next steps.

Lots of us with birthdays this month; I turn 37 in a couple of weeks and completed all of our testing with my results delivered a week after my 35th birthday at which point I'd missed the cut offs in our area.

I haven't tried angus castus Barking the only other supplement I took outside those prescribed was co-enzyme Q10.

Good news on the dates Smidge

HB They are suggesting Doxycycline for 40 days for both of us. I've googled it and it brings up a couple of academic papers suggesting it can improve sperm quality. It does say we would have to avoid sunshine while on it, so we won't be starting it until after the holiday..!

My vague plan at this stage is to try and do 2 egg sharing cycles back to back in July and August, freezing anything that fertilises, and then doing an FET in September or October. I got OHSS last time from 125 of gonal f, so I'm going to assume the same this time and therefore work on the assumption they won't do a fresh transfer. But because I can't have a due date before June/July because of this wedding, at least I can use the months between now and then to do something productive, and I won't feel like they are 'wasted' months, iyswim?

I was having a browse through the conception threads a few weeks ago and opened one about HyCoSys, only to see it is was one I had started. In 2010. So I don't know why the sudden urgency to do something productive every month, when this whole load of balls has been dragging on for 6 bastard years..!

There are a few berry birthdays coming up by the looks of it. We should have a virtual paaar-tay!

I'm another one for a plan! I feel super anxious without one. Also another berry who will turn 36 later this year. Boo

Barking I'd say coq10, it's a bit pricey but there is a lot of good/positive feedback about it for egg quality. Fx for your Biopsy will have the effect of a scratch! I also have a short LP, ranges anywhere from 7-10 days. As Lucie says agnus castus didn't do anything for me but b6 helped a little - Catching rainbows lady recommended magnesium too. lucie how long are your cycles? Mine average out at about 23 days.

Spare that's a few options to think about there, I do like your double cycle egg sharing idea - if you can get going with egg sharing now then why not and like you say it will hopefully give you a good bank of frosties. Are you still entitled to your NHS cycles?

smidge Ooo holidays! What options have you come up with? nosey So pleased your cycles have done the right thing this month, everything crossed for your FET! Love the grain of sand/peanut butter analogy, thank you!

Tiger crossing my fingers for you to get an extra NHS cycle or two if possible.

Happy hopefully you won't have to wait too long after your NHS appointment. It's ridiculous to think how long you'd have been waiting for even that appointment if you hadn't had some private treatment.

Erm, Can I ask early testers please, when is reasonable? Just trying to think what to do. Dh said we weren't to test at all and had to wait on the blood test at the FC - not sure if realised that means they'll have to ring me at work to tell me the result.

Beaky my cycles are normally around 23 days as well! Serum don't like this at all lol and it's why they have recommended the infection testing for me. My lp is normally around 10 days (AF arrives 11dpo). I normally ovulate on day 11 or 12 so a bit short both ends really. I will take a look into magnesium as well. If you are testing early make sure you only use a frer. You should get a pretty accurate result on them by 7-8dp5dt

Lucie it's usually 7 days, sometimes 8. Cycle length has evened out over the last couple of years, usually 28-31 days now puts fingers in ears, sings loudly and ignores any comments about poor egg quality
The dominant follicle before the end of the previous cycle doesn't make much sense to me - surely that would be more of a problem with someone who had a long lp?
Neither boodle or goosey managed success, boodle is on her way to being a mother by other means .

spare that sounds like an eggscellent plan

hb and beaky I think I might add CoQ10 to the mix. I figure I might as well throw everything at it while I have the possible effects of the scratch from the biopsy but no ivf for at least a couple of cycles while we wait for results.

beaky I think I might email the catching rainbows lady again.
I tested early after the successful iui and got a faint line at 12dpo on a frer.

Ohhh I thought you were going to have success stories with boodle and goosey and their short lps

I hadn't thought until I contacted serum that short lps would matter at all in ivf. I'm not sure about the dominant follicle thing she just told me it can start to develop before the previous cycle has finished. I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it.

What does the catching rainbows lady do?

beaky
I got my bfp from a FRER a day before the day the clinic wanted to do the blood test. It was v faint so I did a few tests until the line got stronger, then phoned them to tell them. They didn't want me to do a blood test...

barking technically we are entitled to NHS funding. But, at its worst, there was a three year waiting list and you lose entitlement if you have 2 self funded unsuccessful rounds. The NICE definition of a round is a collection one, so our FETs don't count but it is stupidly infuriating that you can't use your time on the waiting list constructively without potentially jepodising the funding.
In response to the waiting times, they introduced the option to transfer the funding to a private clinic if you have a diagnosis, which is what we are applying to do. The GP hadn't done it before so didn't know how much time it saves.

Lucie a lot of us have filled in her very detailed questionnaire and received a personal plan, offering advice and support.
Her website is here She has an approach that combines woo and science .
The plan cost £40 I think, but it was very detailed. She also sent me some meditation tracks which I've used a lot.

Spare, go abroad for ivf treatment in the meantime. It's cheaper and they will never know!!

Barking, thanks for the link. That sounds really good. What sort of thing does she tell you? I would like to do it but just had a look and think it has gone up to £99 now?

Just had a look Lucie, it seems so . My plan was 3 A4 pages long and gave me advice specific to my situation (post first mc, short LP etc). She made diet and supplement recommendations, provided mediation tracks relevant to my needs and explained her thoughts on what I needed to do and why. She also responded quickly to a couple of emails I sent following it up, and when I updated her on the successful iui and then second mc she was incredibly supportive, even emailing me later to ask how it had gone with the consultant. I guess she's become very popular and has realised how much time she's spending on each personal plan and follow up!

Aww that sounds brilliant barking! If it had still been £40 I think I would have done it. I will probably see how this next round goes in a few weeks and if still no success think about contacting her then.

Hello Berries! I never seem to have a chance to catch up at the moment. Been in at the deep end back at work after all my time off and (more excitingly) have been fitting in FC appointments to get the FET cycle underway. I am now taking an indecent amount of drugs in practically every orifice.

I'll do a proper catch up v soon. Hope you lovely ladies are all ok.

Barking your story about the oven and the camper van madee laugh. Hope it all worked out in the end.

lucie that's partly why we want to look into the egg sharing. That is free so we can't legitimately say we haven't had any self funded cycles... Then we can hopefully use our NHS funding for a round, and then save the overseas round for if/when none of those have worked (which is a depressing thought because that would be round 5!)
I think I want to try and get as many frosties as we can now while we still have options open to us.

Oo wild! That's fantastic news. Welcome to bum bullets/fanny candles. Mm what a sexy life we lead. What are you taking and what's your plan? When are you expecting the FET? You may be around similar times to Smidge!

Spare that's a good plan, but yes I get that about if you get to 5 rounds. Sometimes I wonder how I've got to where I am. All of this stress and shit monopolising my life for so long, in secret too!

The annoying secretary continues to live up to her name. The nurses said they'd speak to her about getting me booked in for my intralipids on the 10th. I later get an auto text message saying please say Y/N to confirm your appt with AliG on the 9th. I write back "N" as I'll be in tasmania and anyway there's no need for another appointment the day before.

Heard nothing from annoying secretary so phoned her today to check all ok for 10th. 'Oh yes I did see you'd said No, but I hadn't got round to speaking to you. The nurses shouldn't have said you could have the intralipids on the 10th as AliG already has 2 people that morning, and I know them, they won't want to change. One of them is a barrister so her schedule isn't flexible and the other is flying from somewhere' blah blah blah.

(A) barrister or not, her time isn't automatically more important than mine... I gave up my career to try to improve my chances of having a baby, surely that should trump her?

(B) AliG said it had to be day 10 so how come you're just picking the 9th instead?

Anyway, after double-checking, AliG said it would be fine for me to come in at 7:45am on the 10th so all is good. But seriously, why am I doing all the admin too - I want a discount!