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....

Lucie excellent news for you glad the embryps are behaving themselves :) such a good way to start the morning.
Happy what a lovely haul of eggs :) good job.
Smidge Thank you I completely agree with you with regard to the emotions. I feel much more pragmatic about it today.
Sesame You're welcome I do enjoy a google party. Hopefully i'll receive feed back today. Glad you got a positive answer from the clinic re the TSH levels.

on to my last 5 days of Progynova and have my scan on the 28th. So it feels like its progressing now. Have been reasonably fine on the meds so far but have started bleeding over the last two days really heavy and uncomfortable and have boobs which feel like they've been inflated by a car tyre pressure pump. I'm looking forward to getting off the tablets now.

Mightily glad it is Friday! Feeling a bit sorry for myself as AF has appeared, but I'm planning on doing very little this evening except snuggling up with the hound and Mr T in front of a film.

Lucie I was wondering how you were getting on. It sounds as though your two embies are doing well, will keep cheering them on.

I'm sorry you didn't get the job forty. A close second means that you must have done well, I hope another opportunity comes up soon for you.

10 embies is amazing happy. Fingers crossed for continued great results. DJ sesame has definitely done a good job on the decks recently!

Interesting that TSH is supposed to be below 2.5 sesame. Mine came out at only just under that (2.46) and I wonder whether it is contributing to my issues if the optimal levels are meant to 1-2. I have raised this at various points

beaky how are you doing? Have been thinking of you and just hoping that this is your time. How long until OTD? I am losing track of the days.

Good news that your funding is through clem although pretty poor of them not to bother telling you.

nolly how are you doing? Thinking of you too.

So, with AF arriving today that means I'm two weeks away from kicking off the drugs and getting on with my cycle. I don't really feel very well prepared, despite waiting all this time!

Evening all.

Pip brilliant! I don't think I've ever had that much

Forty sorry you didn't get the job, I do find weepy moments are all the more common as a result of this ttc/ random hormones situation

Happy over the moon for you on that haul and the fertilisation rate too, have you done anything different in prep for this cycle?! You expecting et on Sunday then? What's the lubion like so far? Do you know why they gave you that?

Smidge hows the packing going?

Sesame loving the dj skillz thanks for thinking of me. I've not been great tbh. This has been the most headfucky cycle yet. interesting info re the clexane and pred (I can't spell tonight!) have you taken them previously? I have absolutely everything crossed for you for this cycle. Did you drugs arrive? Have you ever had issues with cysts? I know they can affect poor responders more but it's so difficult to get info about it all.

Lucie great news on your two embryos, hopefully another two blasts for your ice collection.

Tiger boo to af! Sorry she rocked up today at least you can have cuddles from tigerpup tonight and you can get going with the new protocol really soon! I dunno what I'd do without beakypup lately. She's like my bezzy pal during ivf! Thanks for thinking of me too. Exciting times ahead for you

I had a bit of a shit couple of days, I've been really down and had shit going on at work too so I've been really stressed. This morning when I went to the loo there was a fairly big streak of red blood then pinkish cm. It's kind of a faint brown now so I'm thinking I'm out. I've never made it through a cycle of iui or ivf without bleeding early. I hate this shit so so much. I have just been on the verge of tears all day. I really don't want to have to go through all this again but I know I'm not ready to stop.

Sorry, my post is really badly written. head up arse

beaky sorry to hear you have had such a crap few days. hope you are feeling ok/a little better

lucie good news about your 2 embryos. its quite a store you are building up, by the sounds of it.

forty sorry to hear you didn't get the job, so gutting to get so close. just chalk it down to one of those things (good interview practice, if nothing else) and fingers crossed you get the next one.

tiger sorry af appeared, hope tigerpup is looking after you.

seasame glad to hear you've managed to get a good price on your meds...worth knowing shopping around, can save money (rather than just having from the fc you are with)

hi to everyone else.

so update on my side...had the finance person ring me up from the fc, and confirmed (after me sending all the info on, and the email from my docs, confirming funding)...that she had been in touch with the ccg, and they were again questioning funding for fucks sake. both they and I thought this was odd, and they promised to get this resolved asap. good news is that they did sort it out, and by thur morning, they confirmed I had the funding woohoo so we are booked in for next week, to kick everything off with them (good news is the recent ORT and SA tests we had, saves time now, as they won't need to retest).

so hopefully, next week I'll have a better feel for how soon we can get started (we've told them asap). any advice on what we need to ask in the meeting with them next week?

Oh beaky that's shit. As a fellow 'always out before test day' sufferer I can only sympathise. I'm so sorry.

The shipping container should in theory be setting sail on Monday but I never got confirmation from the people there - they just said they'd send me a receipt when my funds cleared ( I'd sent them a screenshot of the bank transfer so am hoping that'll be ok to release the shipment). Anyway, am glad it's out of the house. In the meantime I managed to fall smack off the kitchen counter when reaching up for a set of scales, and missed the top step of the step ladder on the way down. I'm surprised I didn't break any bones, the massive swelling and bruise on my hip don't even do justice to the fall! Then two days later I managed to trap my fingers in a sun lounger so badly I couldn't even put them in ice it hurt so much. Doh. Again, nothing seems to be broken but I think it's all a reflection of how mentally exhausted I am from ttc, moving, getting MrSmidges visa sorted etc. just got to hope these things don't come in threes....

Blood test for me tomorrow in readiness for our final attempt. Ugh. I feel a broken woman. We may need to start a new thread on how to stop the bitterness, negativity and general flatness. (Or maybe that's just me )

Hi Berries. I'm applying to join your lovely thread if that's ok.

Yesterday my first IVF cycle ended in a BFN and I'm coming to terms with being in this for the long haul. beaky I saw your post and am especially thinking of how you are feeling today.

So this is me: Potatoes, 36, ttc 3 yrs since Feb 2013. Preceded by 12 yrs of vaginismus so unable to ttc. Infertility unexplained. Never had a sniff of a BFP. Ovarian polyp removed July 2014. Hypothyroidism diagnosed Dec 2014 and thyroid levels took a year to bring under control. By which time too old for NHS treatment. First IVF cycle Dec 2015, ending in BFN yesterday.

However I see your minimum criteria include possessing a pimping pot and I don't know what that is....... Am I in?

Welcome Potatoes. You are indeed in. Sounds like you've had a hard time of it.

A pimping pot and generally one of those ramekins left over from a Gü pudding. They are used to pee in for Internet cheapy pregnancy tests or ovulation tests. Pimping comes from 'pee in my pot'.

beaky I'm thinking about you. I've still got all my fingers and toes crossed for you. Sorry about the spotting, scary biscuits, far too much menkull. Hugs from me. Yes I got my drugs, thanks. I don't really know anything about cysts, sorry.

forty glad things are progressing. Hopefully the discomfort will ease soon and you can move on to the next stage.

lucie fingers crossed for a nice blast or 2 to complete the collection!

tiger did you ask your fc about your tsh? My doc said he looked at my t4 levels tested alongside and all look normal not that I know what a t4 is. My af arrived on Friday too - cue weird syncing of cycles across virtual space.... so glad you are finally getting going.

clem congrats on the funding. Do you meet with the fc consultant next week? Do you go straight to ivf or will there faffing with ovulation induction/iui next? I suppose questions similar to the ones you asked at open day would work. What protocol they put you on, how they will monitor for risk of ohss, timescales, do they programme with bcp, do they run a 7 day service for scans or ec? Does that help?

smidge those accidents sound nasty, so glad you came out relatively unscathed. I know what you mean about all the negativity. It appears to be a permanent state over here too. Good luck with the fet.

potatoes welcome, sorry for your bfn and for finding yourself here, but the berries are a good bunch and hope your stay is short. I thought pimp was a more gentille way to poas without peeing on your hands or toilet seat.

So with the arrival of af, my natural cycle is now getting underway. I don't live anywhere near the fc, so have to travel there tomorrow and will be staying with relatives throughout. I don't want to take all that time off work either, so plan is to work remotely on some days. Logistics of everything have been a pit of a pain, but I'm getting there now. Relatives don't know about treatment though, I've told them it's a business trip. Just need to sort the small matter of how to hide 2 ovitrelles in their fridge. Any suggestions?

I had the flu vaccination just a few days ago. Now I'm wondering if that was a really stupid thing to do just before my cycle started. My body's just getting over the jag, and I started to feel a sore throat yesterday, I really hope I'm not coming down with sickness. First scan is Tuesday, do you think a cold would impact on ivf?

So basically pipbin being a berry means buying lots of Gu chocolate puddings? Well yes, I think I can do that.

tiger you would think after a year of thyroid stuff I would be able to help but I'm not very knowledgeable. I still get tsh and the other one mixed up. However I eventually learned that while they like someone's tsh to be under 4 that is actually for people 60+ and for our age should be under 2, closer to 1 if ttc. And not pinging about all over the place each time you test - unstable thyroid causes early miscarriage. So I kept plugging away until I got a dose of levothyroxine that brought tsh under 2. It's pushed something else a bit high (t4? I wish I could remember) but consultant said not to worry about that. I have seen five doctors in the last year and they all said something different and none of them knew fuck all about it. So I kept going until I felt well and ivf clinic said level was ok.

sesame how about taking a cool bag, keeping injections in your room in that and using the freezer to recharge the ice packs? Or buy something horribly healthy looking from the health food shop (like a slab of tofu), empty the box, put the injections in the empty box and store in fridge. Or do what I did at xmas: put injections in mum's fridge in a carrier bag and get busted going to the loo with a bag every night at 7pm!

Potato, welcome! The ladies on here are great and will be able to give you lots of advice and support.

Sesame, eekk exciting that you are getting going again! I have never needed to refrigerate my ovitrelles they said they were OK out of the fridge so long as they are used within a month. I'm sure a cold won't impact on things. Wishing you lots of success.

Beaky, hope your hanging in there. What dpt are you? Could it be implantation? Brown blood is old so is not usually anything to worry about.

Smidge, good luck with your bloods.

Happy, anymore updates?

We made the day 5 call today and both of our embryos are still going. They were only early blasts this morning though so they want to keep them going until tomorrow before deciding whether to freeze. Really thought we would know one way or another today. I don't know what the chances of early blasts progressing are like or if being a little slow impacts on chances later. Just praying they keep going.

welcome potatoes sorry you find yourself here and sorry to hear of your bfn yesterday...hope you are holding up okay. I really hope your stay is short.

seasame yes, meeting with the consultant next week, and will be going straight to IVF/ICSI from what I understand (we have already had preliminary discussions with them at the end of last year, after our ORT and SA tests). thanks for the advice on the questions to ask them. good luck for your natural cycle too.

lucie keeping everything crossed for your embryos.

Not great news from me today I'm afraid, bfn this morning. So back to the drawing board. Thanks for thinking of me though berries.

Clem brilliant that you have got the finance sorted and can now get going! I'd just run through any suggestions they can make specific to your situation, any other tests/treatment they recommend, whether there is anything such as supplements/diet they want you to follow. I can't think of much else now but I'll post again if I do.

Smidge thanks, it's so shit isn't it. I just don't understand why on 3x400 cyclogest per day I still bleed. I get awful side effects from it too. You've been super unlucky with your accidents lately! I hope you're feeling better soon it all sounds so painful. Fx for your final attempt, how did you get on with the blood test? I really really hope this works out for you. I'm with you on the bitterness negativity and flatness unfort.

Potatoes welcome, so sorry for your bfn, it's just awful. How awful that you missed out on NHS treatment too. What did you do to get your thyroid under control? Btw, since we've not long been in our new house, my gu pot is missing so I had to pee in a tea cup today grim Are you going to do another round?

Sesame thanks for thinking of me, yes far too much menkul with this lark. Glad your drugs turned up in time. When we were staying with family I kept my drugs in a vanity bag with moisturiser and face cream etc, which hid them no problem. How much are you injecting and how long for if you don't mind me asking?

Lucie fx for another 2 blasts, it certainly sounds promising. Will you find out tomorrow?

Does anyone else use the phrase sixes and sevens? That's how I feel atm. I am sure I have some kind of implantation problem but I have no idea what it how to fix it. I don't know what to do now. Any suggestions gratefully received!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend anyway.

Beaky, so sorry about the bfn and bleeding. If you are bleeding on pessaries can you clinic try you on something stronger like gestone? They are going to email me with my results in the morning. So nervous!

Evening Ladybros. Just a quick check in before bed.
Beaky I'm so very sorry about the BFN and also that you're not feeling yourself. You wouldn't be human if this hellish nightmare didn't take its toll. Be kind to yourself, lots of treats are the order of the day!
Potatoes I'm sorry you find yourself here but you are more than welcome. You're in the very best of company here. And yes - stock up on the GÜs asap, I won't pimp in anything less!
Lucie glad all is progressing well with your embies. Fx for good news tomorrow.
As for me we had a call yesterday to say all 10 embies were looking as they should and they were going to push on for day 5 ET. So in tomorrow to (hopefully!) get PUPO for the 5th time.
Eyes are starting to close now so will catch up with everyone else tomorrow. Night all!

beaky so sorry about your bfn, make sure you take the time you need.

happy hoping all goes well for your ET today

Happy, good luck for ET today!!

Ahh it's been confirmed I have one hatching blast suitable for freezing. I'm pleased but also a little disappointed that the other one didn't make it seeing as it got so far yesterday. That's 4 we have frozen now but was hoping for 5 or 6 so will see what happens with this NHS round and then decide what to do next. Might give mini IVF a go.

Afternoon all. Just a quick update. We had 2 embies transferred back this morning and another 3 have gone in the freezer. If I'm honest I feel a bit blindsided as I hadn't even considered that there might be frosties given that we only had 1 frostie from our first 3 cycles. I'm definitely not complaining as I know some would kill to be in our position and I do feel very blessed. It's just that I assumed this was our last shot and I'd already mentally moved on from IVF. We were even thinking of going to Czech at half term to look in to DE there plus we've started to research the adoption route. All a bit of a headfuck really.

Hi Berries, I'm still here.

Following docs advice, we kept trying naturally as this is optimum time for possible bfp. Two natural af's later and still no closer to getting a bfp. We're at CARE Notts tomorrow for pre scan and semen analysis. Friday is blood test day for hep, sickle cell and hiv. 11 Feb back at fc for final run through and signing consent forms. I've been on autopilot since first of Jan and just going through the motions. So as fuck all is happening, I'll be on the quiet until I get a date on when things will kick off.

I hope everyone is as well as can be.

Lucie great news on your new frostie to add to the collection. Yes I was thinking of asking for gestone or similar next time. That was my last NHS cycle though so off to Prague for me now.

Happy woohoooo! That's great news although I do appreciate that it's a total headfuck when you've built yourself up for one thing and then something else derails that completely. I really hope this is the one for you lovely.

Clem thank you, and have you heard any dates yet from the clinic?

Ant at least things are underway for you now, fx you get a bfp first time.

Sesame have you kicked off the injecting yet?

I have been thinking of going for one or two consultations with private clinics to see what they recommend for my circumstances, and deciding what to do after that. Is that totally stupid? I know it costs but I feel like I've only had the one opinion which followed the NHS line for the most part and I want to hear from someone else about what they think/would do. But then I might pay for someone to tell me the same thing again. Is this totally stupid?

Smidge how was your blood test? Are you starting your fet cycle now?

Beaky, I didn't realise you were going to Prague. Which clinic are you using? Gennet? I don't think it's silly getting a second opinion. We also did that even though we were having treatment in Czech we got a second opinion in the uk as well after our first round.

Antonio, good that you are getting all the blood tests and paper work done and you will be on your way before you know it.

Happy, fantastic news about the frosties and congrats on being pupo. Really hope it's your turn this time.

I'm feeling a little happier after getting home and speaking to dh. He said he is happy with getting the one frozen as its still another step forward for us and that 2 would have been a nice bonus but it doesn't matter. He said we should try the NHS and if it doesn't work we could always save in the meantime for one more go in Czech and hopefully get 1-2 more blasts. I thought he would be against more private treatment so I'm pleased about that. I checked with my doctor what he thought about 4 frosties and he said at my age they would expect at least 1 chromosomally normal embryo from 3-4 blasts so that's kind of reassuring.

happy so glad your cycle went well this time. Really hoping you’ve got a good ‘un inside you right now, but 3 back up frosties is ace, well done embies! It’s great that you’ve still got a path in front of you if this doesn’t work out, but if you are thinking of giving up on own egg IVF it’s an amazing way to go out with a bang! I have all my fingers crossed for you. When is otd?

potatoes and lucie thanks for the suggestions, to the tofu! My meds spent about 9 hours in a cool bag with 2 ice packs today. I wrapped them up as pretty little gifts for 'a friend' and have now squirrelled them away in the family fridge. Treatment is turning me into such a fibber… lucie, I never knew that about ovitrelle, thanks. In the instruction leaflet it only says store 2 to 8 degrees, but also refers to the ema website which does indeed say it can be out the fridge for 30 days. I can’t believe I never knew that before.

lucie thanks for the wishes, really glad you got another frostie and you can now move onto the NHS cycle. Fingers crossed you win a baby this time.

clem good luck for your appointment, when are you going in?

beaky, oh no! I’m so so sorry, am really gutted for you! Do you know what you want to do next? Yes, I recommend a private consult to find out what else you could try and what are your chances - it’s really helped me to get a second opinion and I wonder why I didn’t do it much earlier. The only time I didn’t bleed early I took both cyclogest together with a small dose of hcg/ovitrelle a few days after et (the hcg helps to stimulate your own natural progesterone production). I don’t really know a lot about failed implantation. Any docs I spoke to just said I could do whatever extra tests I want, but wrote off my failures as being down to old age On top of the gift wrapped epi-pens, I travelled light with have a shoe bag full of cetrotide, a Tupperware full of supplements, and a yellow bin. Protocol is no meds before day 5, then probably 150IU Gonal F, plus Cetrotide if I need it. Will know more at my scan tomorrow.

ant sorry no natural bfp so far but glad everything else is falling into place though. When would you start your treatment do you think? Just checking there's still time for a fufc!

nolly any news?

barking how are you getting on?

So that’s me arrived at destination for first scan tomorrow. There’s one outstanding issue of transfer of samples between old and new fc still to fall into place and it’s the last thing left to be sorted. I actually had a little stressy meltdown this morning as if it doesn’t happen in time I risk cancellation and losing the month, money and annual leave along with it. Anyway, new fc embryologist calmed me down a bit and also sent me a nice message to say it should be getting sorted.

Beaky sorry you had rubbish news over the weekend. Treat yourself kindly and I hope you're feeling a bit better today.
Lucie Great news re the blast for freezing.
Happy Congrats on the transfer hope you're doing well ?
Clementine Glad the confusion re the funding was cleared up. Hope you are able to start soon.
Tiger Am sure the two weeks will pass quickly. Hope your relaxing weekend helped.
Seasame Hope the first scan went well today ?

Hope everyone had a nice weekend ?

Sesame, how did your scan go today?

I had my NHS treatment planning appointment this morning and it all went well. We went through everything with a lovely staff nurse, filled in lots more forms and had more bloods for sti's. I could have started when af arrives at the end of this week but that's too soon after my last treatment and we are going away for a few days in a couple of weeks so asked to start on the next af which should be around 25th Feb. I just need to wait until then and ring when af arrives so they can get me straight in for my baseline. I know I will be on short protocol but she said medication etc and doses will all be explained at baseline. I'm looking forward to getting started with it now. I was surprised as well as she said it would be our choice if we wanted day 3 or day 5 transfer if we only have a couple of embryos on day 3. I thought they would have forced us into a day 3 transfer but she says not.

I'm thinking of going back out to Czech beforehand to get a hysteroscopy done. It's a pain going all the way back there but I'm not sure I would feel comfortable transferring any more precious embryos if they haven't had a good look around in there and given it the all clear.

Hope everyone else is ok.