Pom Poms, Placards and Picket Lines. The Berries are putting up the barricades and will not be crossed! A delightful bunch of 30 something Ladybros TTC #1.

[happylass]

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 Ladybros:

Smidge 39, TTC since Jan '13. Unexplained. Some high NK cell immune treatment. IVF#1 Short protocol Jul'14 BFN; IVF#2 Nov'14 and IVF#3 Feb'15 both Long protocol BFNs; Natural FET Jun'15 - Another BFN. Trying to work out what to do next.



Happylass, 37, TTC since Aug 2012. 3 failed ICSI cycles, 1 failed FET and 1 abandoned cycle due to poor response. Awaiting next and final cycle with own eggs hopefully Feb/March time. HATE THIS SHIT!!



Beaky 35, ttc 3 yrs, 2x failed iui 1 long protocol ivf cancelled, 2 short protocol IVF both BFN, very low amh/poor responder etc. 3rd IVF in January.



Tigerdog, 35, ttc since Jan 2013. Unexplained. IVF #1 chemical pregnancy. Currently redoing tests in preparation for IVF #2.



barkingtreefrog 36, ttc since Dec 2011. clomid bfp summer 2013 then mc @7 weeks, iui bfp summer 2014 then mc @6 weeks. Factor V leiden thrombophilia diagnosed at the repeat mc clinic. IUI bfn Jan 2015, IVF bfn April/May 2015. FET bfn August 2015, remaining frozen embryo perished. Private tests showed high nk cells activity and th1/th2 as well as mthrfr gene. Started downregging for long protocol ivf in Oct 15 plus two intralipid drips, and got pg. Third mc @ 6.4 weeks despite heparin, intralipids, metafolin and prednisolone. Last Ivf attempt starting February 2016 then on to adoption. 



Kuma - 40. TTC 2.9 years. Low AMH high FSH - DH antisperm ABs. Failed IVF June 14 and March 15, cancelled cycle June 15. Last try Jan 16. 



Lucieloos, 36, Low AMH & sperm motility. ICSI#1, April 2015, Czech Republic, BFN. Icsi#2, cancelled before EC. Icsi#3 & 4, Embryo Banking. 3 blasts in freezer. Icsi#5 in Czech in Jan. NHS cycle in Feb / March.




Sesame, 40, ttc 2 years with no dp, multiple failed IVFs, 4 ETs, 1 bfp followed by mc, poor responder with v low AMH, but still looking for the golden egg.

Nolly, 33, TTC 3 years, 1 confirmed MC, 2 more suspected. still in limbo. 



Funkymonk 33. Ttc since October 2012. Mc June 2013, Mmc dec 2013, mc June 2014. Factor v Leiden thrombophilia. Abandoned IVF Jan 2015 due to thin lining. Abandoned FET Aug 2015 due to thin lining. 4 embies on ice. Currently experimenting with different cycles in an attempt to thicken lining.

Clem, 39, ttc since 2013. diagnosed with anovulation by nhs so on a course of clomid. no male factor issues. all other test results have come back okay inc. ovarian test reserves. currently being referred back to nhs for single funded cycle.

Nolly, 33, TTC 3 years, 1 confirmed MC, 2 more suspected. Starting IVF in January.



Antonia79 36, ttc #1 since 2009, adhesions made for sticky insides & one tube removed, confirmed NHS IVF route Sept 15, TTC naturally again as recommended by doctor until IVF cycle starts (early - mid 2016) if not conceived by then.



Grin - 35, TTC 3 years, NFI why I can't get pregnant,, 3 X failed clomid attemots, 2 X ICSI failed fertilisations, 1 x IVF BFN. Doing another cycle in Mar 2016 and thinking of embryo donation.



The Roll of honour:

Pip - Quite simply the Best In Show.
Lumen - The Legend that is....

forty that's great! 6 is brilliant. I always had day 3 transfers as I didn't have big numbers of embies. You'll have at least 2 weeks from transfer til otd does that make you up to 8?

Sesame hugs. What will you do now?

Happy hope you have a lovely break with plenty of real champagne!

Tiger enjoy your relaxing weekend! It sounds lovely. I have family staying so it's a bit hectic here!

Morning all.
Forty 6 fertilised is great. I'm a bit surprised with that number that they aren't pushing to blast but as Sesame says every FC has a different policy. Maybe your missing 2 weeks are the 2ww? Hope you're recovering from EC - take it easy.
Sesame hope you're doing ok, thinking of you.
Tiger I started both my private cycles on Northisterone and it did indeed make me feel very bloated and achy. It quickly disappeared once the bleed started though (and then quickly returned again after a few days of stimms!)
Thanks for all the half term wishes. Not going to be much of a week off though as we had notification of Inspection this week. We're being visited the week of March 14th so a hellish month ahead. To really take the piss I'm due to OV around that time so if I do a natural FET that's when ET would be
I have managed to escape for the weekend though. In Stratford for a lovely break with DH as its my birthday tomorrow thirty bloody eight and still not a whiff of a BFP In true Berry style I cracked open the real Champagne as soon as we arrived last night
Hope everyone has a top weekend.

Hmm it appears I've still got a lot to learn and a lot to ask this clinic, I didn't question the three day transfer but I've just read the document again and its a provisional appointment apparently it could change depending on how they are progressing.

Happy have a great weekend a way and happy birthday for tomorrow enjoy the champagne :)

Oh and yes to add I think the tww counts hence I missed out the date :)

Great news forty - 6 out of 6 mature eggs fertilised is an excellent result. Hope you're able to put your feet up.

Happy Birthday happy! Hope you're enjoying your weekend away. I am really feeling so bloated today - not the best day to be trying on wedding underwear!

Hope it's not too hectic at your house beaky! Very quiet here, Mr T is getting the wood burner going and I'm about to make something healthy for dinner.

How's your day been sesame? Did you get to yoga and lunch? I felt good after a yoga session even though I didn't fancy it when I woke up. Would you continue yoga through stimming?

Managed to do some shopping and collected my wedding shoes. I love them! Might pop a picture on . Also made a batch of fudge as I'm thinking of doing it for favours. Was a Jamie Oliver blog recipe and was too crumbly....

forty that's an excellent fertilisation rate, I'm so pleased for you. Fingers crossed that you've got some good growers there. I think most clinics in UK do the majority of transfers on day 3, but will wait till day 5 if there are a few still going at that point. Will you transfer one or two embryos do you think?

Tiger we ignore valentine's day in our house but today I thought I would finally get out on the bike. Been injured for the last three weeks, and come next week I'll probably be reserving energy for ivf and stopping the exercise (other than swimming I think this time) so today is my last opportunity until after this shit is over. But I appear to have thrush, and sitting on a saddle is just misery. So that put paid to that idea.
If your weather is the same as we have here it will be a stunning day for a good dog walk [Smile]

sesame ashtanga yoga is the only one I've tried. Not very good at it though!

forty see, berry wisdom is all you need! With 6 fertilised I'd be surprised if you don't go to day 5.

Happy do inspections work differently in Wales? It's 24 hours notice here. What shit timing. And all that stress for the next month is not what you need .

Well, I'm almost there. Final round. Intralipid drip on Friday and stabbing with suprecur starts next Sunday. Just want it all over with now, I've had enough.

Another Monday morning...so cold today. At least I don't have too many more of these early starts left!

Hope you had a fantastic Birthday weekend happy and enjoy your week off.

sesame love the teapot, I am also hankering after a new one. My current one was a gift from my best mate on my 15th birthday - I've had it for 20 years and it has massive sentimental value! I think I will try and carry on yoga but see how I feel. I usually do Ashtanga and dynamic flow, so fairly fast paced but I'm booking myself in for the more relaxed Yin and Yang class this week. Have three classes to use up, really don't want to waste them!

barking thrush is a bitch. I used to be prone but since I pretty much stopped drinking I don't get it. Hope you managed to enjoy your day. Not long till you get started, although it has taken a while to come round. How are you feeling about it all?

forty any news?

beaky hope you had a good weekend?

Last day of northisterone today, so will just be on knicker watch for af, due on Thurs but not sure if the drugs will delay.

Thanks for the birthday wishes Ladybros. Had a lovely weekend but back to reality now. Heading in to school in a bit but mainly because I left my car there on Friday. Will stay to do a bit of work though so hopefully I won't have to return later in the week.
Barking we get 20 school days notice of inspection so with half term as well that gives us a bit of time to panic like hell prepare. I'm not too concerned as my dept. had the Inspectors in back in September as part of a WAG audit in to Language learning. The woman who visited was very positive and she's leading the team this time so I suspect she may not even look at us.
Tiger I found that AF showed up about 3 days after stopping the Northisterone. My AF was always well overdue by then though. Fx it plays ball for you.
Love the teapot Sesame. I treated myself to some lovely teas from T2 when we were in Cheltenham yesterday. I was a sprightly 34 (and one of the youngest on this thread!) when we started TTC so really didn't expect to still be here at thirty bloody eight !!
Right I'd better get my ass out of bed. Have a good week Berries!

Morning all, Happy Monday. berry wisdom has won the day again. The hospital called this morning and have said that only 4 made it through the weekend but as of now they are all top grade and they are going to push transfer out to 5 days.

Hope everyone has a good week ? I have a day off so will be looking for new jobs :)

Forty good luck if you have et today, let us know what's happening though! Fx for you.

Happy happy birthday for yesterday! Hope you had a fantastic weekend with the real champagne from the champagne region. Sorry to hear you now have to prepare for an inspection though. When's your WTF appointment?

Tiger we had our lovely log burner on too, it's been snowing on and off here this weekend but it's a proper blanket today. The guests have been mental and do make me think why do I want kids! Yes definitely pop a pic of the wedding shoes on! It's so exciting for you right now! I can ask my friend for her fudge recipie if you like, it's basic but lovely and she does a white choc version of it which is amazing but so sweet. How are you feeling on the buserelin now? It's fairly creeping round, will you be stimming as soon as af turns up this week?

Sesame I love a teapot! And that one is so cute too I have two normal cheapy ones but would love a fancy one. That's good news about being able to start again ASAP, I think that always makes me feel better as the waiting is awful. Will you do exactly the same as last time? Hope you managed to have a decent weekend after the shittyness of Friday.

Barking well this has been a long time coming eh. Sorry your final biking day was spoiled, typical of this process basically isn't it. Anyway everything is crossed in the beaky house for success for you this time.

Arghhhh! That took me so long to write I've cross posted with everyone!

Forty great news and fx they all stay top quality. Wednesday for transfer then? I also have a day off so after the guests leave I'll be looking for a new job too

Happy glad to hear you still get the most of half term off and should only need to go in today! Enjoy your week.

Sorry happy I think I missed wishing you a happy birthday

I'm having one of those days! First I get to my London flat and discover that someone has taken a crap on the steps to the entrance to the flat! A human poo without a doubt, unless a huge dog came along, contorted itself to poo on the top step and then wiped its bum on an item of abandoned clothing!! I was traumatised to the point that I couldn't eat breakfast. I sincerely hope it's gone by the time I get back!!

Then I've been hetically busy but really needing to leave early for my nephews birthday, finally dashed out of the office a bit late, got on the tube and then realised I had left my nortisterone and burserelin in the office. So I had to get back on the tube the other way, walk the 10 mins plus trek uphill to the office, burst back in, run out and then leg it to the station. Missed my connecting train by one minute, so 20 mins wait on the platform. Sigh.

In answer to your question beaky I feel perfectly well physically but I think the drugs make me scatty!!

Woodburner and snow sounds lovely. No snow here, just really cold but quite sunny which is nice!

Great news forty fingers crossed for some top blastos for transfer!

Oh Tiger, what a crappy day . How bizarre!! I love how you are just hoping that the poo will have magically disappeared while you're out though. There are little signs hung up on some of the trees near here which say 'there's no such thing as the poo fairy' (an attempt to shame dog owners into picking up after them, which to be fair most do around here). But now whenever I see those signs I shall thing of you!

The poo fairy has been and taken it away smidge. Phew. The horror will stay with me for some time though.

I've been lurking for a while. A friend who did her very first cycle the same time I did my second just had her baby so needed time away from the IVF world.

I've been reading and it has been a very tumultuous berry world it seems. I'll write proper catch ups later but I hope everyone is well.

We have a donor couple that have agreed to donate their two embryos to us. We have to change clinics though so that is making it all the more difficult.

Other then that not much is happening.

Morning Ladies,

Sesame How often are you doing yoga during treatment ? (sorry if youve already said that I missed it)
Barking Bizarrely enough I've had thrush since the start of treatment with progynova and I had to leave spin class after about 10 mins because of the pain. Is it a usual feature of the treatment ?
Beaky Hope you had a lovely day job hunting and managed to get the CV out there :)
Tiger oof your day sounded horrible. I really hope today improves for you.

I have a question for the Wise Berry Collective regarding embryo transfer and numbers, I have been through out the whole treatment been set on transfering two unless the clinic advises me otherwise, but now I'm undecided. DH thinks two is great too and part of me does too but I'm in two minds. So ladies what are your thoughts.

bleugh sorry I just re-read my last paragraph and it reads horribly and I've used too many two toos and to.

have a question for the Wise Berry Collective regarding embryo transfer and numbers, I have throughout the whole treatment been set on transferring two embryos unless the clinic advised me otherwise, but now I'm undecided. DH thinks two is great and part of me does too but I cant decide. So ladies what are your thoughts ?

forty, glad to hear the your embies are being grown to day 5. The one time I had 2 embryos, I put both back as personally the small chance and risk of twins (and even having to cope as a single parent) was better for me than the prospect of no babies at all. I was aged 39 and had already had an ivf bfn (just one embryo) and a failed fertilization round behind me. But you should also consider your age, and your clinic’s advice on the embryos you have, percentage chance of success if 2 fresh transferred blasts, as compared with 1 fresh and 1 frozen (you typically only lose about 10% points). The fc might be able to give you real statistics for your age group and also let you know about their technology and statistics on freezing (how many survive etc.). Some fc’s might typically recommend 1 for 1st round of ivf, especially if there some good prospects for freezing. There’s also a very small risk of higher order multiples with 2 transferred. Good luck for tomorrow. What time’s transfer?

grin welcome back. Glad to hear about your embryos. Changing clinics is a faff, but definitely worth it. When do you think your cycle will go ahead?

tiger really glad to hear that the poo fairy has been. I usually catch up with the berry thread over breakfast, so I’m also glad I didn’t read your post while eating porridge this morning... Yin yang class sounds lovely, think of all those those restorative poses directing your prana to your ovaries…. . I’m not a yogi by any means – I just did some research as I wanted to continue to go to my weekly class – I like to weirdly hide at the front of the class, as that way I don’t get distracted by any beautiful, young, bendy things.

barking really sorry that you couldn’t get out on the bike at the weekend. I’m glad your ivf round is finally getting started though. Everything is still crossed for you.

happy glad you had a nice break. Do you know when you might get started with your FET?

beaky I’m planning to do the same again, another natural cycle. How are you feeling about things at the moment? Any news on your plans for a private round?

Well af arrived and that’s me ready to start again with a new round. I’ve booked in for my first scan on Thursday – eek! Things are moving very quickly.

forty my thought process was much like sesame described. My clinic were very single transfer focussed and all the literature said that's what they would insist on. Then I get to transfer day and they casually ask if we want two put back, as the second one wasn't good enough to freeze. We said yes to that, but if it had been good enough to freeze, I would have preferred to transfer one and do a FET another time.

Waves to grin.

Wow that's no messing around sesame, great that you can go again. I'm just on AF watch here - stopped the northisterone today and af due Thurs/Fri. Then it's baseline scan and the stimming commences! Finally plucked up the courage to ask my boss to take the 5 days IVF leave I'm entitled to. Really didn't want him to know, makes me feel vulnerable to share such intimate stuff. He was fine of course and it was worth doing to get the paid leave.

forty Ooo, the 1 vs 2 argument!

I was always vehemently 1. By our first ivf I'd already had two miscarriages and I saw putting two back as risking two chances on the one lining, whilst if something wasn't quite right it might be okay the second time. Also on the miscarriage front I couldn’t face the potential of a higher risk pregnancy as I knew I'd be a mess throughout the pregnancy anyway.
However, when we froze two, on the day of fet the first one came out and perished and the second one came out damaged. So on that basis, and also because I want this shit over with now, I've had enough, I'm leaning towards 2 if we have 2 for this round. With three miscarriages behind me now I feel like even if we implant twins I'm likely to lose at least one if not both anyway.
But then I'm in a very negative place right now. Easter 2014 our first baby was due, easter 2015 our first ivf failed, now Easter 2016 is bang in the middle of our last Ivf and it feels like shit repeating itself. I just don't feel like I've got the mental strength left to be positive, but don't see the point even trying unless I can summon up some optimism as I'll just blame myself for not believing it will work and then it being a self fulfilling prophecy when it fails. Which might be a lot of shit. But my head is a complete message right now and we still don't have any news on when we might be moving and it's all getting too fucking stressful! dh is getting down again as well - he didn't get a holiday this half term because we thought we were moving, now he won't get a holiday at Easter either because we have no idea when we're moving, and also the ivf has fallen in the holiday again after AF took so long to arrive.

Oops. Sorry. Turned into a bit of a rant there

grin how does donor embryo work? Are they spare embryos from a couple's own ivf round, or do they do through the whole process just to donate?

tiger hope the rest of your week improves immensely! Excellent news on 5 days off for ivf, I have to work any time back, or if I can't come in it's sick (and we only get 1 week of sick pay for the whole year).

Run out of time. Supposed to be working now. Just struggling to give a shit about anything right now!

Will pop back later for news from forty - let us know what you decided!

Ahhhhhhh! How have I missed the det discussion! Forty I am a low responder so only usually have two anyway, the best will always go back and the second isn't usually good enough to freeze so that goes back as well. I'd love twins as Id like more than one child and I've read up carefully on the risks - our fc had a lot of literature as it was NHS and they push for set. Having said that, on our last go there, we decided that we would trf one of the other was good enough to freeze so we could try an fet. It wasn't though so we put both back. Is it your transfer today? If so good luck!

Tiger what a shit day you had on Monday! Eewwww to the human poo. That is rank. Fx for af rocking up soon for you, I feel positive for you with this protocol, it feels very comprehensive. And good for you taking your leave entitlement, I would be the same as I don't like people knowing but recently I told my lecturer as we had 3 assignments due in during my cycle. It did help that they knew.

Smidge how are you getting on? We need some poo fairy signs round here, there seems to be a few dog owners who won't scoop. I think I scooped some other dogs poo the other day too, mistaking it for beakypups

Sesame great news you can get going so soon, are you going with the same set up as last time? Everything crossed!!

Barking would you go back for some further counselling? It's not surprising you feel this way after everything you've been through. It is so hard to keep going when you get batted down constantly.

Does anyone know what Duphaston is and do you know anyone who has taken it? I gather it's oral progesterone used in addition to cyclogest etc but I've never heard of it before now. Also I have my protocol and prescriptions now, the stims start at 450 then decrease to 375 then 300, I haven't done this before and don't know what the point of doing this is. It's not like I've had a ton of eggs from remaining on the highest dose previously. The trigger would be ovitrell but I can't work out the dose from the paperwork. There's a lot I can't work out to be honest and I feel quite stressed about it all. I need to go and work out costs of the drugs now too, arghh! Do pharmacies accept foreign prescriptions??

hi everyone. had a busy few days, so am now behind on all the posts...hoping to catch up later this week.

just have a quick question for you all...as I'm going to be on a short protocol, is there a rule of thumb as to how long short protocols take. I seem to think its roughly 14 days from CD1 to EC. Is that roughly right?

barking I'm sending positivity to you from here. Just keep doing what you're doing and try not to put pressure on yourself to be positive or feel a certain way - I hate that sensation that we should all be happy and shiny in the face of all this shit.

beaky I'm not familiar with that one sorry, is it on your Prague prescription? Can you email them a list of questions to get a bit more clarity? They get good results so hopefully you can trust their approach!

I have the RAGE today. Must be the effects of stopping northisterone and being pre af No one is safe!