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....

HEEELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I'm still about. Diet has gone to pot but yoga still going. Currently trying to conceive naturally ( ) and in the 2ww. Cycle due to start next weekend. September is the month when we go back to FC to start IVF again if nothing happens.

Hope everyone has been enjoying the weather, is been glorious! Got loads done in the garden, well, I supervise and Mr. Ant does the work

Hellooooo I'm glad there's still some berries around! Tiger not long at all! I bet you can't wait for a lovely break. But yes more waiting is shit. I'm hoping to do the nk cells test this cycle, af rocked up the other day unfortunately. What other tests are you considering?

Ant fx for your 2ww, you never know! Clem just proved that eh! I've been terrible on mfp, hardly keeping up. But I'm still doing my yoga class too which I love, I'm definitely going to keep it up. I love the idea of being able to supervise while the Mr does the work but it doesn't really pan out for me!

Any news anyone? My new job is going well but otherwise not much from me!

Smidge how are you? Any sign of a job?

Hey beakster, glad the new job is going well, and hope you manage to get in for the NK cells test. I was wondering about the hidden c but I'm thinking I won't bother.

Yeah, I'm not really dieting either .ant. Might do the 800kcal blood sugar diet for a week or so to shift the weight before hols!!

Loving the yoga here too - 4 classes this week and I've bought some amazing new loud leggings with stars on - DH was when he saw them but they make me very happy!

Those leggings sound amazing tiger! Any pics? I had to laugh this morning in class as the instructor said that yoga makes you really fertile.... Just cause she's pg! I think the hidden c is relatively cheap to do but I don't know how worth it I think it is.

Ha, if yoga made me fertile beaky, I would have an army of kids by now! Here's a pic of the leggings (without me in them!)

Now then, I LOVE those leggings! I usually wear a pair of trackie bottoms but those leggings have inspired me to find a pair of my own.

They are fab Tiger!! Love them. Let me know what you find too Ant, mine are plain black and boring!

No jobs yet beaky. There seem to be fifty million different agencies these days. I'm sure when I last looked for work here (probably 10 years ago now ) you only needed to register with 5 or 6 and you'd be covered. I think the main difficulty is telling them I want a career role for career salary but then when I look online thinking actually I wouldn't mind doing this easy role that's local for a big pay cut! Happy to for a short term thing but then it kind of contradicts the ambitious persona and will probably stop them putting me forward for something substantial in the future.

I'm probably over thinking it.

MrSmidge has got through the 1st interview of a job but it's in central London and he hates commuting so I'm trying to put him off a bit as I'm so sure he'll be miserable (and selfishly I want him to love being here!!) . But obviously one of us needs to start earning pretty soon.

V impressive leggings Tiger! Stupid yoga teacher saying it makes you fertile though. I think we should list all the things that are supposed to make you fertile and ship them off into room 101. .

My mum's birthday today. I need to try and bake a gluten free cake. . I have no ingredients and only the Internet to guide me. Also need to bake it in time to take it round - yet am lazing in the bath with no desire to get out. (I'm so lazy but self admonishment isn't giving me any kick up the bottom either - berry wang please!)

Good luck Ant.

Don't know about a wang smidge, but I can help on the gluten free baking front. I have a very reliable rice flour sponge recipe I can share, or I would recommend nigella's lemon polenta cake as a pretty foolproof gf bake. I made Strawberry cheesecake cupcakes at the weekend - gluten free and very easy!

This weekend I made strawberry cheesecake cupcakes!

Argh weird repetition - posting on phone whilst also doing a conference call is probably not the best idea!!

Ooh, yes please share, I love sponges, so a reliable gluten free version would be great. I actually did Nigella's Apple and Almond Cake in the end and it was a hit Very pleased. Made two 20cm round tins though, so I think next time I might reduce the quantity!

Here's the link smidge:

mojomums.co.uk/recipes/gf-victoria-sponge-with-buttercream-and-jam/

Can't take the credit for coming up with this one, although I love to experiment by adapting recipes, but it's the most reliable simple Victoria sponge I have come across. I used it for my wedding cake!

Aaaaaand AF rocks up bang on time. Two more goes of this trying naturally nonsense before heading back to FC for round 2. Fuck you, Mother Nature.

I'm sat eating a whole block of salted caramel fudge straight out of the packet nursing a big mug of sweet tea with my mardy face on

Ah well... on the plus side, bourbon and coke tonight and maybe a take away and a snuggle with dog and Mr. Ant

Sorry to hear that but definitely enjoy those treats to make up for it Ant. Am drooling at the thought of the salted caramel fudge!

It was the same here. I was sort of somehow hopeful post biopsy but no, turns out the last 3.5 years were a fairly acurate predictor of this month's outcome. Just to ram it home, this AF has been a shocker - upset stomach and several hours of pain in the middle of the night. Cheers for that.

Got a text message today from the FC reminding me of an appointment on Sat 25th. That I don't have, to my knowledge. They must have changed it without telling me. I am glad, as it is three weeks earlier, but it is cutting very fine as we go on holiday in the early hours of Sunday morning!

Hop everyone else is ok?

Those cakes look amazing!

Tiger my fc changed mine a couple of times but luckily it didn't have an impact. Annoying all the same. Good luck for it, I hope you can get on with the next cycle ASAP.

Ant boo to af rocking up, mine was a disappointment too, even after almost 4 years of nothing. The fudge sounds amazing though, where did you get it?

I'm tracking ov at the moment hoping to go in for the nk cells biopsy this month before we commit to spending any money on de IVF. I feel so frustrated though and am sick of the waiting.

Tiger I just about managed crow pose today at yoga! Woop! Then nearly fell on my face

Glad you've got an earlier appointment Tiger, even if it's a bit unexpected! Thanks for the cakey link.

I've got my nephew and neice here tonight. Took them swimming to wear them out this afternoon, then a late night watching a film (Home) so they zonked out immediately! Hurrah! Auntie parenting style works. Just got to find ways to entertain them tomorrow now. They want to touch everything!! And open everything and move everything and leave everything out and in the wrong room... I thought MrSmidge was hard to tidy up after, but these two are in another league

Oh, and grrr to AF.

Morning Ladybros. Been meaning to post on here for ages but been stuck in report hell for the past few weeks. Must have written 400 of the buggers but I'm finally finished. Yipee!!
Boo to AF Ant but everything crossed that you're saying FUFC soon.
Tiger my FC were forever changing my appointments. Here's hoping it gets the ball rolling sooner for you. Where in Croatia are you headed? I've never been but we've booked a cruise for next month and are stopping off in Split and Dubrovnik.
Beaky I hope you can get the biopsy sorted asap. Waiting around is the worst
Smidge I hope you survived your niece and nephew. I love ours to bits but I agree that they are hard work!
Have I left anyone out?? The Berries are seriously depleted in numbers at the moment. Definitely need a recruitment drive! Hope everyone has good week.

We have dwindled away happy, but mainly for the happy reason that some of our long standing members have finally cracked it! Hope you're doing ok?

We are doing a bit of island hopping: Dubrovnik, Korcula, Split, Vis and Hvar. 2-3 nights in each and just catching ferries between. Cannot wait! Haven't had a two week holiday in years.

beaky are you booked in for the biopsy yet? The waiting is the pits. So do you think you will go DE as a next step?

smidge hope you entertained the kids without a hitch on day two! You sound like a cool Aunty.

I am glad my appointment is earlier but it's bloody lucky that I can make it. I know how bad the waiting list is - if it had been rescheduled for whilst we were on holiday, it would have been another 3 month wait to get a new one. It's going to be tight though and involve a lot of rushing about. There was a clear the difference between Mr T and I on the issue - his first response was "we'll have to tell them we can't make it", whereas I my first thought was that I'd do whatever I can to get there and avoid any futher delays! Obviously he has come around, but I still find it irritating that I have to explain why it can't be missed, even after all this time!!

Smidge my dh is like your niece and nephew, when he is somewhere new he goes round touching everything. Once he was in the emergency exit seat on a plane and I was terrified all the way to Crete that he was going to pull the handle.

Happy I hope things are going well so far, very excited for you. Boo to the amount of reports though, that sounds horrendous.

Tiger that holiday sounds amazing, jealous! Is it this Saturday for your appointment? Will be waiting to hear how you get on.

I've booked in for the biopsy, it's a week Friday so hopefully that will be ruling nk cells out or in. Either way I think we will go for a de consultation in septemberish and I think you can start as soon as that's done and they match you. Hopefully that will be easy enough I am so sick of the waiting and watching everyone else get pg and pop out a sprog then get pg again while I'm still trying.

Ha ha to MrBeaky's nosy fingers!

Tell me how they go about matching you for donor eggs Beaky. What's the process? Do you get any say in where they come from? Medical background or indeed education/looks? (I'm picturing a dating service where you list all your preferences ) ha ha. (Though suspect as with men, box ticking gets thrown out of the window when you meet the right one

Hahaha Smidge, as if there would be a kind of egg donor plenty of fish/tinder app They match you based on your personal appearance, your physical details and think what you do etc. The clinic we are looking at do a full health profile, a psychological profile, they also store something (maybe blood) from the donor in case you need to test it for any reason in the future. They are very thorough, it goes into much more detail on their site than this! Also you can say no if you want to.

How's everyone? Any news? Very quiet again in berry hq.

Hi all, just checking in from a gloriously sunny Croatia.

Great that you're booked in for the biopsy beaky. The results came through in a week or so, pretty quick turnaround. Then you get a telephone consultation after and Prof Quenby was really happy to take loads of questions. I would also say that it would be wise to take a summary of your treatment to date, so you can give them the details to make the discussion more meaningful for you. Hope it goes well!

Afm, we have a plan. Scratch 4 August, planning appointment 11 August, then DR from day 14 on Northisterone, and a FET around 4 weeks after that, so mid Sept or. They did suggest I could try a natural cycle but that medicated would probably be better. Hate being presented with a choice that I feel ill equipped to make.

Hope everyone else is ok! Trying to forget about ttc whilst still holding out on dumb hope that we might concieve a honeymoon baby

Er, hello all..............

Just coming by to say hello to those who remember me!

And........do we have any recent bfps? I've been lurking on and off and think there has been some action but I don't want to name any names in case I missed something!!!!