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....

Hi Sesame, thanks for Barry and the Spice Girls! I came off the dhea as wasn't convinced they were doing me any good. I'm still taking Coq10 etc though. The cycle itself was brilliant! On my first scan I had 8 follicles between 11-14mm. By the second scan they were all 14-16mm and the final scan they were 17-23mm and two new smaller ones at 13mm popped up. It was a lot better than any other protocols that I've done in terms of numbers and sizes which I why I'm so disappointed and puzzled to only get 3 again. We were hoping to freeze 2 more from this cycle before starting NHS but seems unlike now.

How are things going with the new fc?

Sesame Thank you. Glad the bloods results look good for you. I think the same as Beaky that it was 0 - 2 is optimal but having just done a quick google search there seems to be quite a few 'if's and maybes and somes' in the documents I'm reading regarding a higher TSH level.
Beaky Ooh whats your essay on ? How are you feeling. Dont blame you for wanting to slap the family member .. sometimes people just dont really think before they speak, even though what they say is supposedly coming from a good place.
Lucie sorry for the disappointment with the EC.

Hope you ladies are good, I had some news re the Job unfortunately I didnt get it. Although apparently I was a close second choice. (No consolation at all) Had a bit of a weepy moment when I found out, Surprising as I'm not normally one to cry if I don't get something I want so I'm putting it down to medication and emotional balance.

We had our update today and 2 eggs mature and both fertilised exactly the same as the last two times!

Forty, sorry you didn't get the job. Big hugs.

Beaky, good luck with the essay.

I thought of the berries today as I had the best load of ewcm I'd ever seen. You lot are luck I didn't have my phone with me. It must have been about 4 inches long!

Evening Ladybros. Congrats Pip on your mammoth haul . I'm a little concerned that it's ewcm that makes you think of us though!!
Lucie sorry to hear you're feeling a bit disappointed and despondent. Whilst it's only natural to stress remember the old IOTO adage! Also you've got a few in the freezer plus your NHS attempts. Apparently you should go in to IVF expecting it to take 3 attempts. Try to focus on quality over quantity. Keeping everything crossed for you.
Hope our PUPO ladies are hanging in there. When are OTDs Beaky and Nolly?
Forty I'm sorry to hear about the job. I'm a big believer in 'what's meant to be will be'. I'm sure something bigger and better will be along for you soon.
Clem great news on the funding. Fx things getting moving quickly for you.
Well we had EC today and got 12 eggs which is a record for me! In light of my earlier advice to Lucie re quality over quantity I'm now stressing as when we had 11 eggs on cycle 2 only 5 fertilised. Both cycles 1 & 3 saw 6 out of 7 eggs fertilise so I'm thinking more eggs = shit quality. Never happy eh ladies!!
Hope everyone else is ok .

Hi Happy, wow congrats on EC. I wouldn't worry too much I think you will still get a decent amount fertilised whatever happens. What protocol did they have you on? We are going for our treatment planning next week. Can you tell me what happens and how long it all takes?

Hi Lucie we did short antagonist with Gonal F. Exactly the same as last time. We didn't do treatment planning as such on our first NHS cycle as it was done during our initial appointment. We did have treatment planning this time but it was a bit of a waste of time as we'd already been told at our follow up that we'd be doing the same protocol again except for having Lubion afterwards. All we really did was sign the consent forms do it took hardly any time at all. They did give us the prescription so we could pop it in to pharmacy ready. I'm guessing they'll probably ask you when you want to start. The FC/Heath in general has been bedlam the last few times we've been in. It took us 1.5 hours to get there this morning and we only live 20 mins away!

Oh that's interesting! How come you used Gonal f? The consultant told me all they use is menopur and that they could use Gonal in exceptional circumstances but they would need to get written consent from the NHS for particular cases! Do you have to wait around at the pharmacy for your prescription to be ready or can you collect at a later date? I've heard it takes ages and my grandad is in the Heath at the moment and my mum visits most days so just wondering if she could collect. I will have to remember to leave extra early. Had a nightmare last time we went as there were massive queues for the car park which I hadnt made an allowance for. We ended up having to ditch the car behind some building! Luckily we didn't get a ticket.

I started my first NHS cycle with Menopur but I didn't respond which is a complete mystery as I used Menopur successfully for both my cycles with CRGW. I don't know anything about written consent though - she just asked me if I'd rather try Gonal F on the next go so I said why not! They only do Menopur in the 75 vials too which is a right faff if you're on a high dose.
Yes you can collect your prescriptions at a later date which is probably the best idea. We had to wait around on Friday as I didn't have enough drugs for the weekend - it took an hour and a half!

Oh that's strange! I just assumed it was a cost thing when he said they only used menopur. I would rather use a more fsh based med but I assume they will try me out on menopur first. I've done 2 cycles of menopur only so am used to faffing about with lots of 75iu vials. Just hope I don't have so many empty follicles this time. It really is a mystery what's going on with my follicles. So far 3 of my cycles have been identical! I'm actually quite looking forward to having a fresh transfer on the NHS if I get any decent embryos. It's been a long time doing all this banking.

CRGW gave me 1200iu vials of Menopur so I just mixed one and it lasted me just over 3 days - soooo much easier!!
Maybe you have to try Menopur first on the NHS? I thought it was similar cost wise. I suspect it has more to do with the Gonal F taking up so much room in the pharmacy fridges - the FC has to let them know when they are going to prescribe it so they can order it in.
Fair play to you for doing the embryo banking - I think I'd be too impatient!

Just dropping in quickly to pop Barry on the record machine for happy, followed by I Will Divide for lucie's embies.

pip congrats

Night all

Aww thanks Sesame, really hope they are dividing away!

Happy, Gonal is a lot more expensive than menopur. My meds have cost nearly twice as much when I've used it. The banking has been hard work I just hope it's going to be worth it. All we need is for NHS to work first time and we will be quids in but I would never be that lucky!

Happy, sorry another question for you! Do you know what the NHS triggered you with? Was it 10,000 Pregnyl? I'm wondering if I need extra trigger or something to try and mature my follicles.

Thanks Sesame. Bazza has come up trumps again. All 12 eggs were mature and 10 fertilised. We've only had 5/6 embies at this stage in previous cycles so I'm totally but .
Lucie I triggered with Ovitrelle 250 and I've only ever used this.
I didn't realise there was such a huge difference in price. I only looked in to the price of Gonal F via CRGW and it worked out about £115 per day compared to £100 for Menopur. But that's assuming that the doses are comparable? I used 375iu of Menopur but 450iu of Gonal F (but I'm not sure if they gave me the max dose of Gonal because I didn't respond to the Menopur ). The NHS can't be too worried about cost as they've just given me Lubion which is way more pricey than Cyclogest. If I were you I'd go with their suggestions on your first cycle then push for changes on your second if you need it (which of course you won't!). They are pretty blasé about things!

That's amazing news happy! Well done. Looks like you've responded really well this time. Hopefully you will get some nice frosties too. I've always triggered with 250 Ovitrelle as well. Just wish I knew what was going on with my follicles. Can't believe we should have got 7 or 8 based on their sizes but we can only retrieve 3 and even then only 2 are mature?!

Wowsers happy that's great news. Plenty to get jiggy with it!

Pip that's hilarious!
I can never tell what's EWCM anymore coz since ttc no condoms means I can't differentiate the different slimes

Lucie it is very strange, but you always seem to get a fantastic blastocyst rate so if you keep that up you may end up with another 1 or even 2 for the bank. I struggle to get that from 10 eggs so there's definitely a strong case to say quality over quantity.

Sorry about the job Forty. I think the emotions run high when we feel unable to control this part of our lives, that suddenly not getting what we want elsewhere too hits us harder.

Are you telling the NHS about your Czech Cycle(s)? Maybe they can shed some light on why follie number v eggs retrieved are so different? How long do you stimm for and what dose? It's quite normal I think to have a few empty follies. Cycles 1 and 3 I had around 11 follies and 8 eggs. This cycle I think I had 12 follies and 12 eggs. Cycle no 2 was really random in that I had 20 follies but only 11 eggs and 5 fertilised, but they put me on aspirin that time so I'm blaming that!

Apologies. My last sentence was appallingly written!

Sorry cross post Smidge. I believe it's Pip who has a highly technical, patented method for telling the difference between the 'slimes'

Thanks Happy and Smidge. I told them at our first appt that we had one round in Czech and the results. He didn't really say a lot to be honest just we do things different here. I can't really tell them about any more than that can I happy? It might be too late now anyway as they have probably set up my protocol and Tuesday will just be to discuss over it.

I have been on various doses the last few cycles. This most recent one I was on 300iu Purgeon and 75iu menopur. Prior to that i did short protocol on 225iu menopur only. I have also done 300iu on the cycle before that. I grew 10 follies altogether this time. They said at egg collection 3 were too small but they would have expected eggs from the other 7. So out of 10 follies I got only 2 mature eggs. Guaranteed tomorrow at day 3 one of them will be 4 cell! It's happened exactly the same twice before it's very strange!

Lucie I definitely wouldn't mention that you've had more than 1 cycle elsewhere (assuming that you want the 2 NHS cycles of course). It might just be worth asking about the follie to egg ratio although if you're only mentioning the 1 cycle then I understand that won't carry much weight. I'm not sure how much you told him last time or what he wrote down but it's quite likely that you'll see a different consultant for treatment planning anyway. I actually haven't seen your guy around the FC at all during this cycle. I wouldn't be too sure that they've set up your protocol - they aren't the most organised. Most appointments start with "so why are you here?"

Oh ok haha thanks happy! I can't really remember how much I told him now or what he wrote down! If we get somebody else then I might just tell them that we had 10 follicles and only 2 retrieved. If they have something written down from last time I will just say there must have been a mistake!

happy Nice one, come on embies! X10! Just putting the embryo playlist on the iwotsit/scotify thingy Ready…Don’t stop dividing...! Btw, why are fc giving you lubion? I was considering but opted for gestone cos even that’s half the price and thought if I ever got a bfp I probably wouldn’t mind the shots in the arse.

beaky I’m thinking about you doll. How are you coping with all the menkull?

barking how did the scan go? Any news on af? I’m on knicker watch myself now. I have to line up travel to new fc plus time off work so if my body could give me about 2-3 days extra notice that’d be grand…

forty thanks for joining me at the google party! Really sorry about the job. I’ve been right where you are and it totally sucks coming second. But hopefully the thinking has helped to focus you on where you want to be. Will you get feedback?

lucie I had an ec with no eggs collected. Some reasons I’ve heard for collecting less eggs are: your body not processing the trigger shot properly, taking trigger at wrong time or spilling some, small/immature follies, ovulating early (due to an LH surge or spontaneous ovulation which can happen with low ovarian reserve), disappearing follies, overmature eggs that escape out the sides when the needle pops them, bad ec technique, egg too immature/early stage to respond to trigger (any size follie), pseudo follicles, bad luck. In two of my cancelled cycles I had my blood tested on ec day for hcg and progesterone. It confirmed that I had taken the hcg at the right time and my had body processed it. And on one cycle my progesterone was high on ec day, confirming ovulation a few hours before. It’s probably just luck and I don’t think there’s a lot you can do next time. If you’re not sharing your secret cycle you could just tell them that you’re very active on the forums and are worried about ‘empty follies’ etc. and see if they suggest anything. You could perhaps prompt questions about brand/amount of hcg or ask about taking a bigger dose? That’s my tuppence anyway not that you asked for it!

I asked for a call back from one of the docs at new fc yesterday. He said my TSH is ok – they just want it to be below 2.5 and to stay that way into pg, as if it rises above this level it’s a risk factor for mc. He suggests retesting TSH 2 weeks after bfp. I also got him to explain clexane and prednisolone, as I didn’t feel informed enough to decide whether I want them. He said despite no evidence of benefit for either, they ‘might’ help and have no or low risk. Clexane is meant to be a low ‘prophylactic’ dose although then commented on my bmi and suggested doubling it , and the corticosteroid is only for 12 days. If I get to ec/et I will give it a try.

I also just ordered all my meds via my old fc as even with a private prescription fee it still came out much cheaper than any other quote and overall 25% cheaper than new fc. Fx they get delivered tomorrow.

Eeekkk I've had my day 3 result already!! We have 1x7 cell and 1x8 cell embryos so pretty much exactly where they need to be today! I'm still not getting my hopes up though as I hate how this thing leads you into a false sense of security but I am pleased for today!! Just praying they keep growing and dividing until Sunday now.