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....

Oh Tiger I'm sorry that the number of fertilised eggs didn't live up to the quantity collected. I'd have been disappointed too - but 5 is still good. (if they'd only collected 6 in the first place you'd be v happy with 5). Fingers crossed that these are the ones. I like to think that IVF is a way to weed out the eggs that wouldn't have worked naturally, and (even though I know it doesn't quite work like that) think of it that each egg that doesn't work is one month of natural attempts/time that you haven't wasted.

I checked with the nurses and I'm to have "6 clicks" of the ovidrelle tomorrow and same again on Tuesday. FET on Monday.

I decided not to buy the extra pessaries today when they told me the price. I have a few crinones left which I'll try to eek out til test day. (I figure on a natural FET your body should produce progesterone normally anyway so this is just a top up (coz we all love the side effects and it wouldn't feel as if we were doing anything without ) so I'm going to take one every 30 hours or something instead of 24 to make them last! With the flight back home in the middle, and time zones to manage, I have no idea how well I'll do .

Still haven't told them we're off to England before test day. Think I won't tbh (until it's already done), and just send an email asking for what blood tests I need doing and hope my GP in England will oblige!

Hello ladybros, I've got my treatment plan. I'm going to be on a short protocol and they were taking about a possible IVF/ICSI split if manage to get 10 eggs or more but cross that bridge when we come to it.

Started taking the Norethisterone pills yesterday and will finishing those off 19 March. Wait for AF which should hopefully be around 22-23 March then it'll be on to stimming. I've been given Menopur (150 iu), Cetrocide and Pregnyl.

I made a schedule spreadsheet with all the info about when and what to take on the day I got back from injection training and my bloody laptop has chewed it up and made it corrupt which is a bugger. When I call the FC on cycle day 1 I'll have to ask them as I can't remember if I need to stim once a day or twice... I think it's am and pm but bugger if I can remember!

My AFC was 46 at the pretreatment scan which means I have to be careful of OHSS.

I'm waiting for my brain to suddenly go 'THIS IS IT! WE'RE MOVING NOW! SOMETHING IS HAPPENING FINALLY!' But so far, nothing. I'm just going on with normal daily routine and not giving it any thought. Is this normal? I should be feeling a bit excited at least, or a bit scared or something? Maybe it'll hit me at 3am in the morning, where I'll suddenly go into panic stations mode

Hope everyone is as well as can be

clem Glad to hear everything is on track. Good luck for ec! Remember to let us know how you got on cos I’ll be refreshing my phone like a loon otherwise…!

forty are you off on holiday then? Anywhere nice?

happy I’ve limited understanding of fets, but I think there are 2 types of medicated fets, the one where they dr you – and shut everything off before building up the lining again – and the one where they don’t – where you just take oestrogen to fatten up the lining, then add in progesterone when it’s all ready. The day of et is timed according to when you start the progesterone.

tiger I have everything crossed for your embies, but sorry you didn’t get the number you hoped for. When will you get updated on their progress?

barking sorry about all the painful jags. When’s your first scan?

smidge at open sesame! Glad you’re gearing up for transfer. 6 ‘clicks’ ovitrelle sounds quite similar to the regime I was on. Making the pessaries last sounds like a plan. If you get a bfp, would you need to get hold of additional meds once you’re in the uk?

ant yay for starting your ivf! That’s one hell of an afc you’ve got there, everything crossed that will translate into a few good eggs.

I went on a mid-week expedition to Costco last night to top up my supplement supplies, as stocks had reached critical levels. Was spun into a panic when I thought they no longer stocked CoQ10, searched up and down the vitamins aisle, this time with assistance, and eventually found some . All in, I spent £65 on supplements! That does include over a year’s supply of vitamin E and omega 3, but blimey, this is an expensive hobby!

smidge good plan on getting your stuff to last, by taking them every 30 hours instead. hope you manage to keep track of all your timings, over different time zones...why is nothing ever simple?

antonia sounds like you are on exactly the same protocol as me (short, with ICSI/IVF split, if they get enough eggs). talking to the nurse yesterday, she said they decide which way to go last minute, based on what they get in their egg mining expedition (my words, not hers) and the quality. I think how you are feeling is normal, I felt pretty much the same too (this is my 1st cycle)...life carries on as normal, I just have spent way more time on my back having dildocam's as of late...blood tests too. other than that, normal tho. however now ec is looming tomorrow, its starting to give us a weird out of body experience.

seasame I will of course keep you all updated on how it goes tomorrow (don't want you to break the refresh button ) I'm just hoping, in my dazed/sedated state, I don't say "open seasame" when they get me into the ec room, on the bed, with my legs in the stirrups

clem that's what the consultant should say to me when I go for a dildocam!

Egg mining is spot on btw!

Hope EC went well today clem.

antonia glad you have got a plan now - good luck with getting started. Your AFC sounds promising too.

Haha at open sesame!

My embryos are still doing their thing on day 3. I have 3 x 9-10 cell top grades, 1 x 6-8 cell that is acceptable for this stage and a slow growing 4 cell that is lagging behind. Expecting a call tomorrow that will confirm transfer on Sunday. Feeling a bit annoyed with Mr T, he didn't bother to ask the hospital about the recovery from his arm op, (despite me repeatedly saying it might be a while before he could drive and that it could be problematic, so to check) and of course now they are saying he can't drive for two weeks, which makes life difficult for getting to the FC in Sunday. Grrr. Basically he didn't want to change it so he was fine in time for the stag do (priorities eh?!).

Right now I'm collecting my wedding dress - a good distraction and making the wedding all seem very real now! Not long to go, 4 weeks tomorrow!

RANT ALERT:

The front page of the evening standard can fuck right off. A stupid fucking article about the "huge burden" that women having IVF abroad and then require treatment at home are on the NHS. This appears to be based on on consultant saying he has three patients who have had ivf abroad in his hospital.

Grrrrr.....firstly women wouldn't need to go abroad as much if the NHS adhered to nice guidance and secondly, why shouldn't they have treatment for their pregnancy afterwards. And huge burden my arse. Hardly likely to be compared to drunks, drug addicts, obese people etc so why single them out for vilification. Even as mothers, the likelihood of complications is not so high that it will bankrupt the NHS. And hospitals get paid more for more complex patients so why the hospital is whinging I don't know??!

Another example of women bashing and a complete load of bullshit!

tiger that article sounds like it needs to be deleted. I think they write this stuff, just to fill the air.

hi to everyone.

so ec went okay today...weirdly I found this a little more painful than the cyst aspiration that I had done under a local, today was with mild sedation. managed to sleep most of the afternoon away (think this was less about the sedation, and more to do with the fact I have had a lot of late nights recently, and was just knackered. only woke myself up to make sure I kept my fluids up and eat.

of the 12 follies, they got 9 eggs, which I am very happy with (a few more would have been nicer, just to up the chances a bit), but I may just be being greedy.

will get a call tomorrow morning from the embryologist to let us know how things are progressing, and then et will be mon or fri. think it will be a bit of a distracted weekend, but we are out tomorrow evening, so that will be good to take our minds off it.

quick question (cause its my first cycle), I've got to start taking cyclogest pessaries tomorrow, and they said I can choose where to insert (front or back ). for anyone who has had experience with these, which would you recommend?

Great news clem! 9 is fab. Fingers crossed for fertilisation!

I go for backdoor. I think quicker absorbtion and less leakage. I also get worried about thrush and other irritation if the fanjo has too much to deal with! I do alternate though, if either gets a bit much. Neither is great, I would rather inject!

thanks tiger appreciate that. seriously the things we put ourselves through how are things with you, did et happen today, or are you doing it day 5?

Great news Clem! Get Barry cranked up and fx for that call tomorrow. I alternate cyclogest tbf they are both rank. Also I was always told not to do the fanjo til after ET.

Tiger that is ridiculous. My consultant did recently tell me about someone who had 4 blastos put back at a clinic abroad and got pg with quads. That just made me think why hadn't they been able to get her of with 3 funded NHS rounds though! Papers are shite, and it's total women bashing again. I can't even read half the stuff that gets published these days. Anyway, I'm pleased your embies are making sch good progress and crossing all my fingers toes and legs for et on Sunday. I often have a similar issue with MrB, he likes to do what he likes to do. Grrr.

Sorry I haven't kept up much lately berries, I've not been in a good place. I'm hoping that's changing now though. Still no plan for our next steps and have a curve ball thrown in, in that I've got myself a new job, eek. Anyway hopefully I'll we reach a decision soon.

Sesame how you doing? Any sign of af? Love the mid week Costco shopping spree for supplements! I really need dhea as I've ran out but I'm skint.

Happy great to hear you have a plan for your frostie trf - did you get any additional testing done?

Ant great you can get started too.

Smidge absolutely everything crossed for you lady, I do hope this is the one.

Oops, get her pg, not of!!

quick update from me...spoke to embryologist earlier on, and of the 9 eggs collected, only 3 fertilised . apparently, my egg membranes are prone to breaking when the injection pierced them.

we are quite gutted to be honest. as this is our first cycle, to have such low numbers is pretty disheartening...suddenly things feel more unobtainable than before.

I am trying not to worry too much though (wasted effort/energy)...things are what they are. the 3 fertilised ones, the embryologist said looked really good, so I'm staying positive for them. lets see how they develop and what they say, when they call on monday...

Big squeeze clem. It's hard not to get disappointed when the numbers seem low, I was exactly the same, but hang in there - these are clearly the good ones. Will they do a day 3 or day 5 transfer?

We've only ended up with similar numbers. 2 day 4 morulas and 2 pre-morulas was the update this morning. The slow growing 4 cell arrested so is out of the game. My transfer is booked for tomorrow at 11.30, and I will go for a DET if there are two to put back (and the embryologist said he would have thought two as well). So, just keeping everything crossed for tomorrow.

Massive congrats on the job beaky, I have been thinking of you.

Hope everyone is having a nice Saturday. Trying to get through a load of wedding jobs at the moment!

thanks tiger, appreciate your support. they are going to assess on mon (day 3) whether to do et on mon or push on to blastocyst on wed. good to hear all your wedding jobs are keeping you busy.

beaky thanks for the cyclogest advice...they aren't the most glamorous side of ivf are they glad your doing okay, and taking your time for your next steps. I think sometimes space away from here is a good thing...just take all the time you need.

Clem IOTO!!! (It only takes one) and the majority of cycles don't have frosties, so you've still got a good chance.
I always went for bum bullets rather than fanny candles, far less mess. I was given utrogestin for my last couple of rounds and hated it (had to go up the front) so requested to go back to cyclogest this time.

tiger good luck for today!!!! Fingers crossed for a double PUPO by this afternoon I'm not even going to start commenting on that article, not sure I'd be able to stop.

beaky sorry you've been having a rough time but congratulations on the job!!! I'm still deliberating over applying for a job back in teaching, timing isn't great!

smidge good luck for Monday!!! Good plan spacing out the drugs, set up alarms on your phone to help!

sesame Always good to stock up on drugs when you can get a bargain. As I've got the mthfr gene I have to take folate rather than folic acid, so was told to get pregnacare max rather than pregnacare conception. However, I still had plenty of the conception one left so bought the folate they recommended at the clinic to take alongside it until they ran out, then switched to max, but having read the ingredients there isn't as much folate in them as the dose I was taking on its own, so I started taking the max plus the folate .

I'm struggling with these drugs, I don't think they suit me. Feeling constantly sick, tired, moody, sad, and not sleeping (just ordered a washing machine at 4am, at least I'm productive in my insomnia). I'm also finding them really restrictive, 3 jabs and 6 vials, two jabs requiring mixing, means it's not so easy to jab whilst out and about. And painful. Not sure why, but I just can't find a jabbing site that doesn't really fucking hurt. This is my fourth round of jabbing (not including the fet as I didn't have to do many) so it's not like I haven't done this before, but I'm struggling this time. Had another intralipids drip on Friday as well. Scans on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, fingers crossed the horribleness has produced something. Not felt anything happening in the ovaries yet.

clem I've been following your updates and have been pompoming like crazy for you ever since your egg mining. Sorry you are disapointed with the fertilisation, but IOTO!!! Hope you have some good news tomorrow and good luck if it's et then. As for the fanny candle vs bum bullets debate, I'm allergic, so both options are horrid as far as I'm concerned...

tiger good luck for today! Will be thinking of you.

beaky really sorry you're not in a good place right now. I've been thinking of you. But that's really great news about the new job - well done you! When will you start? No sign of af yet. I think she's due tomorrow - later is better for me to fit with work commitments, tho I can't help worrying that things might not go to plan.

barking sorry you're feeling so down about all the stabbing. Just one more week to go before et though - you can do it! I would try out some funky cheerleading dance moves for you, but I tweaked my back doing a yin forward bend in yoga yesterday and the pompoming for clem probably didn't help, so I'm not feeling that up to it. Good luck for the scan tomorrow.

Hurty back also means I've skipped my run this morning. I'm feeling very guilty about that already. If I can motivate myself to get out of my jammies, I might at least try to walk the route later on. It's supposed to be pretty nice and spring like later on. Happy Sunday berries!

barking I like that ioto. sorry to hear your struggling a bit with all your drugs (I know I've only done this one cycle, but just doing the small dose merional and cetrotide was really starting to bother me (all the faff with mixing, bloody air bubbles and the localised irritation I was getting with cetrotide), so I totally get why its getting to you.

seasame thanks for the pompoming. please feel free to stop tho, as I don't want you to hurt your bad back even more maybe I should try to find a smartphone app that has pom pom's...reduces chances greatly, that we'll put our backs out.

so I'm feeling a lot better today (I think a lovely night out with friends yesterday really helped take my mind totally off things), and just gave me some brain space, to stop obsessing. I've also been continuing to do some mindfulness meditation (deep breathing, in silence really) morning and night for a month now, and that seems to be helping too...just calms me down a bit.

so lets just see what they say in the morning, when they call on day 3. think I'm excited and pertified, in equal measure.

forgot to ask...have a bit of a dilemma, that I need some advise on...

so after ec last friday (probably down to the sedation), it really wiped me out for most of friday and saturday, felt like I had no energy, and just wanted to sleep.

am I likely to feel the same after et?

I possibly have a funeral next friday, but if my embies make it to blasto, that will mean an et on wed. what I don't want to do is say I'll go to the funeral, and then feel terrible/possibly put myself in a place when I should be taking it easy, and end up over doing it.

You should be fine after transfer clem. My last one was fine, this time I felt a bit sick, but fine again now (and might have just been MrT's driving through central London). It isn't too invasive and the only additional drugs for me were a diclofenac suppositary, which I didn't have the first time. God I'm sick of shoving stuff up my bum already!

So I have two good blastocysts on board. OTD 28 March - which seems nuts given I've had a 5 day transfer. I can't see myself holding out that long....

Hope you're back isn't too bad sesame, go easy on those high kicks!

tiger Whoop!! PUPO!!!

Clem you'll be fine after et, I've never had any pain killers, it's just the speculum and then they feed the embryo/s up using a tiny tube, no more invasive or painful than a smear test really. Definitely no problem by Friday. I had to take the dog for a long walk after my last one as DH was away. I was tearful (fet and the embryo was damaged in the freezer plus the first one they took out perished altogether, so I'd gone from two frozen blastocysts that morning, to one dodgy one put back and nothing left for another try) but physically no problems at all.

tiger yay on being pupo thanks for the advice on how I'll feel after et.

barking thanks for that.

I think I missed your new job beaky. Congratulations! Good to have something else to think about for a while.

Woo hoo on being PUPO Tiger . There's no way you'll I'd hold out til OTD - be half way through next month's cycle by then!!

I am having the usual constipation issues after starting the Crinone (and knowing that I want to empty out the old bowels prior to the ET probably impacts the psychology too). I've got an hour and a half before I have to be at the clinic. Do we have a toilet dance yet?

Clem I'll second the no issues after ET. Any discomfort during the procedure is gone the second they remove their apparatus, and there's no sedation to get over either. Completely different from EC.

Clem big hug, but everything crossed for your 3, and yes ioto! Sending berry power to your embies.

tiger yey pupo!! Fx for you over here. Have you got some time off now?

Barking that just sounds awful. Fx for you for a good scan tomorrow. Hopefully you'll be in for ec early next week.

Sesame boo to the bad back, I hope it's not serious and heals up quickly. I'll not crack out an af dance yet if later is better for you. Mine is on the way, spotting today. Still not sure what to do about things.

Thanks for the good wishes on the job everyone! No start date yet but hopefully I'll find out soon. At least something is changing now!

Argh Smidge nightmare! Good luck for et though! Crossing everything for this little embie!