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....

Ha! Thanks for the toilet dance beaky i'm imagining some do the twist type moves!

Well, our final little embie is on board. Was the smoothest transfer so far,

and another PUPO!!! Go smidge!
When do you leave for the UK?

In just under 4 days!

clem how did you get on today? Glad you are feeling a bit better now. I agree with what everyone else says about et being a doddle compared to ec (at least for how you feel afterwards…)

tiger hooray for being pupo!!! I’m so glad you got some good blasts! When do you think you’ll test then?

smidge pupo!!! Yay! Yes, an easy transfer is absolutely correlated with the likelihood of bfp, I’m sure there’s probably papers on it and everything! And amazing that you’re coming to the UK in just 4 days – that’s one hell of a way to distract from the 2ww!

beaky I completely understand how an imminent af creates that added stress when you’re trying to make a decision about treatment – I can recommend letting go and leaving the decision for another month, that’s something that really helped me – it wouldn’t make any difference to the outcome but could possibly help you to feel better about things.

barking how are you getting on?

My back is feeling much better today thanks. I had a nice long walk yesterday, along my run route, which was lovely in fact. Waiting on af arriving now, I think she’s due tomorrow. If you see her, could you please let her know to arrive nice and early on, so I’ve plenty of time to call the clinic and get a decent scan slot? That’d just be grand, thank you.

4 days smidge! And PUPO to boot! Fingers crossed. I won't be doing any toilet twists but if it's any consolation I've been suffering too - although a bit more back to normal today, thankfully. Maybe beaky's dance helped!

barking how are you feeling today?

clem have you had the transfer or are you going for day 5? Have been thinking of you.

happy how are you? Fingers crossed you have a less manic week.

Glad your back is feeling better smidge. Do you have some nice spring like weather where you are? I've just taken my pooch for a lovely walk, the sun shining and the daffodils are all out. I suspect I will test, at the latest, on good Friday, when I would be technically 16 dpo. Otherwise this weekend is a bit early maybe. Argh. I'm home alone all weekend too as Mr T is on his stag do, which means I'm going to be driving myself round the twist! All my close friends are not local, so I don't have many distraction options and my only real hobby is yoga, which is off limits. I guess I'll just focus on making stuff for the wedding, and finishing a sewing project.

My last two embryos made it to blasto and are in the freezer. Pleased with that, much better than last time. Problem is, now that things look reasonable, I'm allowing myself to have hope, and that, frankly is terrifying.

Arghh my post didn't post!

Smidge yey! Pupo! Hmm the implantation window thing is confusing to say the least. Everything crossed for you!

Tiger really pleased that things have gone well with your other two! Yey to Frosties! Everything crossed for you too.

Clem any news? Have been thinking of you.

Sesame your walk sounds lovely! Glad your back has been ok too. fx for this cycle. I feel like I've left decision making for quite a while now! Did I say dh has now said he wants to go straight to de? Arghh. I don't but I can totally get where he is coming from.

Happy any news? Is the inspection done now?

Barking I hope this week flies by for you, your side effects sound awful.

smidge 4 days! Way to do the 2ww distraction! Good skills lady!

sesame kept a look out but didn't see it, hope it turns up tomorrow

tiger totally with you there, hope is indeed terrifying. All so fucked up isn't it?

happy are you on holiday next week or do you break up on the following Thursday?

I had my scan this morning. 16 9 17 14 6 9 6 on the right and 11 14 13 7 12 11 11 on the left. Still feeling really sick. They took my blood and said they'd look at the results before deciding whether to reduce my dose to slow the biggest ones down. Didn't get the call so continued as before. Back on Wednesday for the next scan.
Way more follicles than last time, so I'm immediately thinking they're probably all shit quality. Because as tiger says, hope is terrifying.

Moving house tomorrow!!!!

hi everyone, just a quick update from me...been a bit of a whirlwind today, clinic called me this morning, and called me in to do the et today, on day 3. so it would seem I am now pupo too

of my 3 embies, 1st didn't get past the 2 stage divide, the 2nd jumped from 1 to 4 (skipped 2) and isn't quite where they wanted it to be today, but the 3rd did everything that is should have done, exactly when it should have done it (nice and well behaved). because that meant there was def. 1 was the front runner, they wanted to get it back inside, rather that waiting until day 5.

one thing the clinic didn't do (I could email/call and ask), is talk to us in terms of grading of embryos...does anyone know how the grading works, or is it specific to each clinic?

Hurrah for being PUPO clem! Everything crossed for you.

Good luck with the move barking!!

How much time off did people take post transfer? I'm due back at work tomorrow but think I am going to take an extra day and then work from home on Thurs and Fri. I just can't face going back and being away just yet.

Have to go for a progesterone and fbc test today, and then I'm fully left alone to my own devices until OTD.

What's an fbc test Tiger?

And so then there were three... Congrats on being PUPO Clem. I think the grading is probably specific to each clinic, though they will no doubt look for similar things. All a bit judgemental though, like treatment for infertility in general. Size, shape and regular/eveness of the cells. At blasto stage they look for clearly defined outer vs inner cell mass (outer forming the placenta, inner making the foetus). Number of cells at each stage. That sort of thing. They were obviously happy with your embie number 3, so it makes sense to put it back.

Did my second (and last) jab of the HCG today. They said 6 clicks. I may have done 7. Trying to convince myself to throw the rest out rather than self medicate HCG in the hope it'll con my body into actually being pregnant!!

tiger, it was lovely and spring like here yesterday too, and there’s loads of crocuses and daffs in the park next to my house. Back to fog and drizzle today though, which matches quite well with today’s state of mind… Amazing news about getting 2 blasts for the freezer. You are allowed to hope, it’s about bloody time that we had some good fortune round here. I am keeping everything crossed for you. As for time off after transfer, I’ve gone back to work the same day on a couple of occasions. I’d recommend some extra days off towards the end of the 2ww, if you’ve got anything left to take?

beaky interesting that your dh is now liking the de option. But take all the time you to work out what’s best for you, and your body going through all of this.

barking hope your house move is going well today, so glad it’s finally here! The follies look good, good luck for your scan tomorrow. What time are you in?

clem hooray for joining the pupo ladies!!! You could call the fc and ask to speak to an embryologist and if they could tell you more about how they graded your embryos. As smidge said, I think the grading does tend to vary from place to place – and so does how much time is spent explaining how it works. I don’t know anything about blasts (cos I’ve never had one), but for cleavage stage embryos (day 3), they usually count the number of cells and may look at fragmentation and evenness of the cells. Sometimes they spot other signs of damage, like multi-nucleation. Only thing is while grading does help embryologists to pick the best to transfer, when they’ve got a handful to pick from, it’s a very inexact science and that doesn’t necessarily translate into which ones go on to become babies.

smidge at tricking the body into actually being pg, that hcg should certainly start to kick in nicely to tie in with implantation. How are you feeling about things?

happy have missed your ‘weekly check in’ this week – do you know when you’re heading for the fet?

Thanks for keeping a look out berries, af arrived bang on schedule this morning, no dancing needed - you can put that leotard down beaky…. Phoned fc and booked in for a scan on Friday. Got that sinking feeling just from picking up the phone – here we go again… Doesn’t help that I’m now choked with a cold and have af pains to deal with. Roll on natural cycle #3…

Full blood count smidge. Nothing much, but I'm still amazed at how many blood tests I've had this cycle compared with none on my last one! Even with my easily accessible veins I look battered and bruised. Add that to the bruised stomach from the Fragmin and the sort of rash I have developed all over my face/neck and shoulders, I have to say I'm looking pretty hot. .

I have done the deed and advised work I'll be off sick tomorrow and working from home the rest of the week.

Cross post sesame. Glad AF has arrived on time so you can get started. I had that sinking feeling with this cycle, although I waited ages, when it came to it, the thought of going through all that again was stomach churning.

If my work was down the road, I would go back, but I can't face being away from home just yet. I have Easter at the end of the 2ww so a few days to deal with the outcome then.

I really don't want to go back to the fc tiger, my life is so much nicer without that ugly bunch. But I also still want my own take home baby, and the fc is just a week of nonsense to put up with. Wow - I am such a grump today with af and all - have been a sweary woman at work and everything...

It totally makes sense to stay where you are until the weekend. Hope that Mr T and T-dog are both looking after you?

Necessary evils, eh sesame. It sucks. Everything crossed for you this time around.

After I wrote the word 'rash' in my last post, I have had a minor panic about the fact I've got a rash. I had one last time too, but stupidly never mentioned it to the new FC. Called the clinic who recommended piriton and then to call back tomorrow to review my medication. My fear is that it is some sort of immune response, but it could be the progesterone or other meds/hormones...or nothing at all...arrgghh.

T-dog has been my little shadow, following me everywhere. She has even, for the first time in almost three years, conquered her fear of the stairs and joined us in the bedroom. She just appeared one night with her bedtime blanket still draped over her, like a little pointy-nosed ghost!

Just a very quick check in to say I'm thinking of you all and cheering everyone on. Inspection is in full flow so literally working from the time I get up until the time I go to bed . Normal service will be resumed at 2:55pm on Friday. Get the ready!

Sorry about the rash tiger. Piriton is an old school anti histamine, so better to take before bed if you don't know already - I took it for the cyclogest problem. Aw T-dog is a wee cutie. That reminds me another reason I knew af was on its way last night... I was crying at the catch up of crufts last night... ...make that bawling by the time I got to the story of rosie and boo - infertility plus hero pup, what a combination!

Waves to happy, you can do it! is at the ready!

I'm glad I didn't see that sesame as I would have been bawling too! I just had to google Boo (a Lurcher - love them so much along with greyhounds and whippets!). So sad, dogs are amazing though. I am probably going to walk down the isle with t-dog next month!! crazy dog lady Hope you're feeling a bit less grumpy today.

Hang in there happy, over half way now! You'll deserve that by Friday. I have so much respect for teachers - no working from home, whilst hiding from the world!

I feel like time has slowed right down...driving myself crazy. Yesterday was an optimistic day, today is a pessimistic day...and so on. smidge, clem I hope you're both doing ok.

*aisle even!

hi everyone, how are your weeks going...its been quiet in here.

tiger thanks for the good wishes. how did your progesterone & fbc tests go earlier in the week? think you staying at home the rest of the week, was a good call, I'm taking it easy too. nice to hear t-dog is keeping you company (loving the ghost look).

smidge thanks for the advise on the grading. I've not called the fc and asked yet...I figured lets see how things go over the next few weeks, and then I'll get them to tell me.

seasame good to hear af arrived on time, shame beaky didn't get to put her leoterd on

happy hope work hasn't pushed you over the edge, fingers crossed you make it too tomorrow.

so, am trying to find ways to distract myself on this 2ww its not working am currently trying to see if there is a way to stop google bringing back any results when I type in a search that includes the words "is", "a sign of pregnancy" doing my best to not obsess tooo much, so am staying relatively upbeat most of the time. beaky/smidge how are you both feeling? managing to distract yourselves very much?

Wow so many PUPOs how are you all doing? When are the otds please??

Clem I wouldnt worry about grading right now, wait and find out if you need to at a later date.

Smidge are you on the way now? Eek excited for you!

Tiger t-dog is sooo sweet! Bless her looking after you. How are you feeling?

Sesame good luck for this cycle, I'm crossing everything over here!

Happy not long to go! at the ready!

Oops posted to early!

Barking how are you doing? You ready for ec tomorrow? I'll be doing a little jive for lots of lovely eggs!

that should have said tiger/smidge ...sorry.

hey beaky need details on this leotard, is it sparkly...does it have tassles

hope things are okay with you.

my otd is the 27th march....thing tigers was 28th march (my memory is probably failing me on that one tho.