TTC for 10 months and the rest. Ten plussers welcome. Thread 2.

[lucieloos]

We have been so busy chatting I've started a new thread. Welcome all 10+ ladies. Hope we all have some luck on this thread.

Fingers crossed for you, Lucie! Hope you get the news you want today! :)

How are you doing, Banana? I'm amazed that you've never poas. That's impressive. I peed on loads the first few months, then stopped for a long while, but did pee on a fair few last month when af was a bitch late. I think it was star who asked about the 4aa part, but I was glad she asked because I meant to and forgot! You learn something new every day!

Star, good luck with moving and renovating! I've given up tracking this month too. I'm much less stressy and I think that's partly because this is the last cycle where, if we were to get pregnant, we would have to cancel our honeymoon. Don't get me wrong, we would much rather have a baby and im kind of hoping to invoke the law of sod, but if we don't, it means we still have that to look forward to, if that makes sense? After this month, if we were to get lucky, we could still go anyway.

Hope everyone else is OK! :)

Just waiting to go in for my appointment with Dr. Gorgy! FX for good news from you by the time I come out Lucie.

Ahh it's been confirmed I have one hatching blast suitable for freezing. I'm pleased but also a little disappointed that the other one didn't make it seeing as it got so far yesterday. That's 4 we have frozen now but was hoping for 5 or 6 so will see what happens with this NHS round and then decide what to do next. Might give mini IVF a go.

Good luck with your appt trixie. Will look forward to hearing about it.

Lucie - sorry the other one didn't make it (I felt really sorry for my straggler that didn't make it, but congrats on another frozen blast!

What is mini IVF?

Trixie - good luck for your appointment, looking forward to hearing all about it.

Mpp - fx for law of sod!! Xx

Thanks Sammy. It's where they use less medication so you develop less eggs but the quality is meant to be better and it's cheaper. I don't seem to be making many eggs anyway with full stimms so may be worth a try but see how I get on with the NHS first.

Lucieloos, pardon my ignorance as I am massively new to this (and not starting IVF until May/June)

Why is that you are freezing embryos and not transfering each round?

Itsme, i transferred 2 on my first IVF and I have the suspicion I may have ovulated early and therefore my lining would have been out of sync and there would have been no chance of them implanted so I don't trust a fresh cycle/

Also as I am 36 and would hopefully like more than one baby we decided to bank some embryos up as I don't produce many eggs at 36 so if we got lucky on a fresh round and then wanted a sibling in a couple of years it would be much harder again at 38. I think my reserve is diminishing and we need to make hay while the sun shines!

Aw disappointing that the second one didn't make it Lucie but brilliant to have another super embryo in the freezer. I remember speaking to my clinic about natural IVF which sounds a bit like mini IVF, I have read good things about it.

My head is still spinning a bit from my meeting with Dr. Gorgy. We went through my history and he has suggested some other immunology tests as he needs more info before being able to properly provide an immunology treatment plan. I need to check how much these will cost and speak to DH. I imagine they will not be cheap. It's tough because part of me thinks we could just go ahead with prednisolone and intralipids at my clinic alongside the NHS IVF and it may well be successful but if it's not I'll regret not doing these tests.

Trixie, sounds like you have lots to think about after your meeting with Dr Gorgy! Knowing that on your first IVF you produces around 8 blasts would it be possible to have your first attempt on the NHS using pred and intralipids and if that doesn't work look at having the further tests then for use with your frosties?

I can't help feeling down today. I know I am being ridiculous and should be so pleased we managed to get another blast and I am but i really wanted to get to 5. For some reason I just felt with 5 we would have a decent chance. It looks like we are only getting one blast per round now so just takes so long to build them up. Sorry for whinging everyone. I know I'm being ungrateful really. We have our NHS appt tomorrow so will see how things go with that.

You still have a brilliant chance with 4 Lucie, I think it is natural to be disappointed when things don't go as we hope they will. Don't apologise, it's important to get these feelings out. Good luck with your NHS appointment tomorrow, great that you can get straight on with that.

I think part of my concern is that I have read that when there are immune issues they can get worse as you keep trying and can affect egg quality - I asked Dr. Gorgy about this and he agreed that we use condoms for now which feels really odd. Its all so complicated.
I also read that pregnancy can kind of reset immune responses for a period of up to 18 months after a pregnancy which is good to know for the future!

Thanks trixie I know we should be extremely grateful to have 4 blasts especially with such low numbers and I really am. I need to look on the positive side of it now I guess. We could always try another private round and have 2 NHS rounds as well which we are very fortunate to have. Just wish we could get a few more than 2 eggs collected a time. I'm just such a worrier and it consumes me sometimes that this won't work for us!

What did Gorgy think about your results so far? I can't remember what they all showed now? You were positive for the mthfr thing and had the nk blood test and biopsy. Did they show raised nk cells? Does the situation just get worse the more you try IVF? I don't get the condom thing. Does he think the quality may have been affected by one IVF or is it because you may have an immune issue and you shouldn't get pregnant even if it's naturally until it's resolved?

Urgh I'm having a real wobble now and feeling like this won't ever happen. Just had a long chat with DH about today. Feeling utterly drained so may not make much sense. I think the condom thing is because the immune reaction can get worse the more times it happens and we want to reduce it. I actually felt really disappointed today, I had to wait 40 minutes for my appointment as he was running late and then was only in there for about 30-35 minutes. I was hoping for advice on treatment but have to have more tests which will cost a lot more money first. DH wants to know a bit more about why we need the tests, what this means re treatment etc and I didn't ask. May email the clinic for a bit more info.

Ps Lucie he said the MTHFR thing isn't a concern and double the recommended folic acid dose is fine bit also fine to take more.
My results were clear for the NK biopsy and elevated NK but he wants another NK cell test which gives more info.

Trixie, sounds like we are both having a wobble today. So from your tests so far apart from the mthfr there is nothing to indicate at the moment that you have an immune problem. I think it sounds like he's scaremongering a bit to be honest telling you to use condoms and things could get worse when you don't even know if there's any real issue there. I mean that could be the same for any of us. I would still be tempted to try the pred, clexane and intralipids along with gestone on NHS or in conjunction with your private clinic first. For the majority of immune issues that will be the treatment anyway apart from things like ivig which isn't even licensed in the UK. It's a big decision and I know you want to get it right. It makes sense to email him and find out a bit more about the extra tests and what they are for and then maybe you and dh can come to a decision. Did he give you anymore info on what the tests were called?

Oh and meant to say I am feeling a little happier now I have got home and spoken to dh about things. He said he is pleased with one as its still a step forward for us but obviously 2 would have been a good bonus. He said we could do the NHS and save up in the meantime and if the NHS doesn't work we could look at doing one more round in Czech and hope to get 1-2 more blasts. I would feel a lot more comfortable then as we would hopefully have 5-6 blasts altogether and I think if we can't get one to work out of all those we would have to move to donor. I thought he would be against having anymore private rounds so that has made me feel a bit better. Looking forward to hearing what the NHS come up with tomorrow now.

trixie I have allergic reactions to some things, each time something sets me off the reaction is worse than the previous, so I get why you may need to use condoms to avoid making things worse.

lucie I'm glad you are feeling a bit better about things and glad your DH is being so supportive. It seems like you are in a pretty good position right now with your frosties.

Wave and to all; you are a lovely bunch of ladies.

Trixie and Lucie, sorry to hear you were both a bit wobbly yesterday. I hope you both feel better today

Thanks MPP, I'm just getting ready for my NHS appt so will update you all on it later!

Thanks Lucie, I get it now. I only asked as I literally get one chance. I will have to beg borrow and steal the money to try and do a private round abroad if this nhs one doesn't work, which means we have come to terms with the idea that, if we are successful, our family will be made of three.

I didn't know whether it was really common to have lots of egg collections and then transfers at a later date, now I know!

I'm pleased you are feeling much more positive and hope all goes well for the NHS appt!

Really hoping for a better day for you both Lucie and Trixie.

Big hugs to you all

Agh I'm having a crap month. Can I vent here? My cycle started 15 days ago, 6 days in I had really heavy spotting and what looked like EwCM with a slightly gross smell (sorry tmi!) that lasted 2-3 days.
I did a hpt to check as it was so wierd and got a bfn.
Since then I've had quite a bit of spotting. No possitive opk this month (I usually get a possitive on day 11, and OV spotting at the same time).
Now I've got heavy bleeding and clotting like a period but it's only cycle day 15.
We haven't got the drugs yet but I could get hold of them so if this is AF we can prep for ivf in the Czech republic. but I don't know if this is Af or if I should start prepping for ivf on the back of this wierd cycle.
If this is AF our re scheduled trip to the Czech republic would be badly timed as DH needs to be in the UK at the expected time if egg collection for the sake of his child from his first marriage.
I feel so stessed I want to leave work and go hide under my duvet.
agh.

I realise this isnt that crap in relation to what some people are coping with. It's just the hormones playing me up.

Glad you are feeling better after talking to your DH Lucie. At the moment we just know that my killer cells are at 15% (when they should be between 5-10%) and he is suggesting a more comprehensive test, TH1 and TH2 ratio - DH is a bit annoyed that we have paid out for one test already to find out the level and now another test is needed for a treatment plan. He has reluctantly agreed that I should book in for this one though. The others are Chromosome karyotyping- which is more expensive and from googling seems to be done more when there have been several miscarriages. And a test called KIRS. I may pop over to the immune thread again and see if the ladies there have any experience of these tests.

It's hard because part of me wants to do everything in my power to prevent another BFN but DH doesn't want to spend money on tests which may not be strictly necessary. It is hard because there is still so much they don't know.

I know two friends of a friend who took 3 years to conceive and you do hear about people who take a long time and then it happens out of the blue or who have multiple IVF before it works. I guess we'll never know if people are conceiving with immune issues because not everyone gets tested.

Hope your appointment went well Lucie.

Thanks MPP, Boris and Pikz. Still feeling pretty fed up but I'll snap out of it.

Oh no Boris, it is awful when things don't go to plan in the lead up to IVF. I remember having a melt down because my meds were delivered a bit late. Can you e-mail the clinic and see what they say. I had a really odd cycle the cycle after we started TTC. I had some spotting on CD20 and convinced myself it was implantation bleeding but then it got much heavier and was pretty painful. I still don't know what it was but I'm pretty sure my next cycle was normal.

Boris, I have no actual advice on this, but I can imagine it must be more than a little annoying and irritating and confusing for you so vent away! Why on earth do our bodies never want to do when they're supposed to!! I second Trixie's suggestion that you phone the clinic and see what they advise?

Trixie, that's a tough one. I can see your point about wanting as much info as possible beforehand, but if it were me, I would definitely find the costs a major factor too.

Looking forward to your NHS update Lucie! Hope it goes well today.