TTC for 10 months and the rest! 10 plussers welcome! Thread 3 (the one where we all get our bfps!)

[lucieloos]

New thread ready for us chatty ladies! If you have been trying to conceive for over 10 months pop in and join us. We are a friendly bunch!

Lucccccccciiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee! Sqqquuuuuuueeeeeeeeeee!!!!

So sorry Sammy. You will get there you will

Bloody hell, that's AMAZING news Lucie! Massive, massive congratulations! :) xxx

Oh gosh kitty, genni, mama, spinning and pikz! Thank you so much for stopping by it really means the world to me! I'm so overwhelmed at the moment I really don't think it's sunk in. I never in a million years thought this round would work especially with only one little 9 cell and a day 3 transfer! I guess it really is true though that it does only take one. It's been almost a year since my first failed transfer. I've been through 5 rounds of IVF with egg collections and 1 cancelled IVF and it's been a long hard slog but I was determined to keep going. I pray that this is a sticky bean now but I know I can get pregnant which is a massive thing for me having never seen a bfp!

Kitty, I only thought of you and some of the other penis dragons the other day and wondered what you were all up to! So lovely to hear from you and hope all is well with you and your little one.

Genni, I often used to check in on you and watch your progress. I've lost track now but you must have your precious baby.

Mama, I remember our conversations about IVF a while back and I hope your are blessed with a little one now too.

Spinning, ahh I miss you now you aren't on the boards so much but I see you are keeping a good eye on us!

Pikz, thank you so much my lovely. Hope you are well.

Itsme, Boris, star, Trixie thank you so much too you have all been truly amazing and I really meant it when I said I love this group the other day. It would all be so much harder without you.

Sammy, I'm glad you have spoken to the clinic. Will they not offer you the meds without be the treatment? I do think the immunes had a part to play and I would definitely recommend trying them as I don't think they do any harm even if they don't work. If you have trouble with your clinic and you want to try pred or pio etc I can see if I can help out and may be able to get some for you. Big hugs.

One thing I would say I think helped which may be a complete coincidence is acupuncture! I did it for a few months when trying to conceive naturally and it didn't really do anything for me and I found it all a bit of woo and nonsense but seeing as I was throwing the kitchen sink at it this time I signed up for a few more sessions. I was quite late organising it so think I had 2 sessions before egg collection, another one a couple of hours after transfer and one on Monday. During the one on Monday I was telling her how I didn't feel it had worked, that I didn't have that many symptoms etc and then she put the needles in and turned the relaxing music on and left me to it. I started running through what I would do in work the following day, what I would make for dinner etc etc (I always find it quite hard to turn off in the sessions and as I said didn't really believe sticking a few tiny needles in me would make any difference whatsoever). I thanked her and left and as I was driving home I felt some pulling and tugging in the uterus area. When I got home I noticed my first pink spotting and when I went to bed that night it was the night I was awake most of the night with quite intense cramping so as I say it may all have been a big coincidence but I kind of feel it helped with the implantation and the reason I did it is because medical studies have shown that acupuncture can increase implantation rates by 65%!

So I have been out and bought DH a 'lovely daddy' Easter card and I'm going to write it out from the baby and give it to him when he gets home in a couple of hours. Can't wait to see his reaction.

Ahhh what a day! I need to sit still and chill out for a bit!

I'm so glad it has all paid off for you Lucie. Interesting re the acupuncture. I was planning on sticking with reflexology but can't find any helpful stats. Thinking I may have a reflexology session during stims as I find it so relaxing and then book acupuncture for after transfer.
Aw, lovely way of telling your DH

X post before, hi Genni

I'm going to book acupuncture. Was thinking of it anyway, and now you've convinced me Lucie.

They might do, I'll ask at my review ( whenever that is), but as its a NHS round next we'll have to sort it out ourselves anyway. Thank you so much for the offer. I don't even know what pred or prio are?! Xx

I did acupuncture during both cycles - don't know if it made any difference but it definitely made me feel as if I was doing something proactive. I saw a fertility acupuncturist at various times throughout my cycle and immediately after embryo transfer.

It can be really helpful for helping thin lining sammy as it increases blood flow. My problem wasn't blood flow, but crappy oestrogen, so it never did a lot for me in that regard, but others swear by it

I did find hypnotherapy incredibly helpful while cycling. I saw a wonderful woman who specialised in hypnofertility, as well as listening to quite a few IVF relaxation / guided meditation Mp3s at night before bed. It really helped with positive visualisation and despite being a MASSIVE sceptic, I became a total convert, as I found it seemed to massively chill me out and keep me semi sane

Pred = prednisolone, steroid used for immunes

PIO = progesterone in oil, the evil bum jabs of injectable progesterone, brand name over here is Gestone (I've also seen people talk about Prontogest I think)

Xxx

Yes sorry Sammy as banana said prednisone is the steroid which helps lower the immune system and pio is progesterone in oil aka gestone which is an injectable form of progesterone so you know you are definitely getting enough. Ask them about all of these things and try and get them to prescribe as much as you can without having to go for testing but if you do need any help sourcing things yourself then let me know. I would also ask about viagra pessaries for your lining. Dr Sher raves about it for linings which are difficult to thicken. You should go onto his forum and ask him some questions about your situation. He is an amazing man to reply to each and every woman so quickly and knows his stuff although as banana and I have discovered his word is not necessarily gospel but he is a help and gives some food for thought. I have asked him so many questions I had to keep changing my name in the end!! Definitely give the acupuncture a go as well. It's a little pricey but I do think it's worth a try if your adopting my approach of throwing everything possible at it. Try and find one who specialises in fertility or does a good bit of fertility related treatment rather than a more general one as they tend to know a lot more about the IVF process. I had a session of hypnotherapy as well last year and she also have me a great cd which I listened to religiously on the round before this one and found very relaxing.

BTW you can't get vaginal viagra over here because we don't have any compounding pharmacies that can make them up, and the US compounding pharmacy that Dr sher uses apparently won't accept UK prescriptions

I've seen some UK clinics use viagra pills inserted vaginally, although Dr sher says this doesn't work

Penny at Serum in Athens recommends it to a lot of her patients, and she has a supplier in Malaysia called John Bowen who makes up 'v-cream' vaginal viagra in a sort of cream in a tampon style applicator

Now, I wouldn't normally advocate for buying drugs off random on the Internet, but Serum arranged this setup so it's the best way of obtaining it that I'm aware of

Agate's immunes faq on fertility friends has all the details

I bought it and John was incredibly efficient

Tbh I bought two bags of the stuff and it didn't work for me at all because, again, it's all about blood flow, which wasn't my problem

PM me and I'll send you one of the bags if you like. I'm unlikely to get through them all given that they did naff all for me!

I didn't realise they weren't available over here banana. That's brilliant you have been able to get some through penny's contact though. I really think you should give it a try Sammy xx

Yeah they have to made specially by a compounding pharmacy who crush the pills and turn them into a pessary formulation that can be absorbed

The faq actually has instructions for trying to make the pessaries yourself from tablets, which is ridiculous - it's farcical that we don't have compounding pharmacies any more.

I'd say the v-cream is definitely worth a shot. As I say, it made bugger all difference to me - but my problem wasn't blood flow

Serum do a lot of donor cycles where obvs the issue is syncing the recipient's lining with the donor's EC, so if the endometrium isn't responding I believe the viagra can work wonders

There are some great threads about thin lining on FF that I found really useful

Lucie I thought I'd have a nose to see if it was near your testing time, and see you got a BFP!! Congratulations! I'm absolutely thrilled for you xx Hooray!

Aww Ghengis, thank you so much lovely that means a lot that you have stopped by. Yes we are over the moon and praying for a healthy, sticky bean xx

Just wanted to say sorry banana and Sammy for the bfp and bfn yesterday. Banana, how are you holding up? Hope you're doing ok, please look after yourself.

Sammy good luck for the review appt, but it looks like you have a plan starting to formulate, which should help distract you.

Lucie, congratulations again! Have you tested again this morning? How did your OH react to the card? Hope you're still basking in a warm glow of that bfp. Here's to a healthy and happy pregnancy.

Boris, hope all is going well. How far along are you? Do you have any symptoms yet?

Trixie, mpp, stealth and everyone else, hi! Hope all is well. Actually stealth, are you planning a fet in a couple of weeks? Let us know how you go.

So exciting Lucie. Have an absolutely fabulous Easter!

star yes I am starting my FET next week. Have my progynova prescription, I just need to do a scan to make sure my lining has properly shed post AF. I saw my doctor a couple of days ago and he said there wasn't much left to bleed out so hopefully I will be go! Also obv need the results of my PGS to come back so I know which of our blasts are ok.

Am quietly terrified and thinking about all the things that could go wrong and that i should be doing immunes etc. But I think with my sensible hat on the right thing to do is just put one back and see whether it sticks - we can throw the kitchen sink at it later if necessary!

I'm having a mini meltdown. DH (or not so dear right now) just called to let me know he has a business trip on the date of our first IVF appointment (which has been in the effing calendar for two months...) and the NHS do that stupid thing where if you re-schedule an appt twice they reset the clock and start the treatment plan over again, so will have to wait another 8-16 weeks!!!!!!!!

And I've just fucking come on. I can't tell you how much I want to cry.

Itsme - so frustrating! But does he have to be there? Check if it's ok for just you to go before you loose your place in the q

Oh no Itsme! I take it you've already rescheduled once and your DH can't get out of the trip. I had to reschedule our appointment as DH had the flu and I can remember one of the ladies (Boris I think) saying she had gone to her first appointment herself so may be worth checking that. Also, for one of my appointments I managed to get a cancellation so you could always see if there are any earlier appointments available. Sorry for AF btw

Banana, I hope the weekend brings you a BFN (feels so odd writing that)

Stealth, try not to worry about immunes etc. You've got such a good chance of a BFP first time round.

Have a lovely long weekend everyone!!

itsme what the others said. Can you go by yourself? I can sympathise, we had to do our ivf round with a frozen sample as dh was away on business the week of ec. But it was absolutely fine.

That said, if he does have to be there I think you have to put your foot down and insist he is there. If he had an nhs operation scheduled no one in a workplace setting would bat an eyelid at needing to reschedule a trip around that, so that's what he should be doing.

I went to all the appointments bar the egg collection by myself. I thought the specialist at my local hospital would be wondering if DH actually exists. He does - he's just busy.

Yep he has to do a swab test and we both need blood tests for the IVF referral. More box ticking!

And more to the point, I want him to know that's it's a massive commitment in terms of injections/scans and general needing him for emotional support!!!

He's been so blasé about the whole thing anyway (probably a defence mechanism) but it's just generally pissed me off.

The actual treatment if he can't be there then it's not a problem, he wasn't there for the lap and dye or the hsg but he can bloody well be there for this bit!!

Oh no, it'sme! That's a pita! I'm not surprised that your pissed off. I think i would be too. Is he likely to reschedule if you talk to him about it, do you think?

Stealth, hopefully you won't have to worry about the immunes. I'm sure it will be fine. So exciting to have FET soon! Fx for you!

All is well here, Star! Hope you're doing OK. Are you planning to get your DH retested when you reach the 3 month mark of his vits? Is it this cycle that is 3 months?

Lucie, I bet you're still bouncing today! What did your DH say about the card?

Hope everyone else is OK! :)

MPP, dh had to read the card a couple of times before it sunk in. He was a bit emotional but it was a lovely moment and one I have dreamt of for so long. Have you had the rest of your results from crgw yet?

Itsme, I would probably insist on DH going as well. Surely it must be easier to rearrange or ask somebody else to go on the business meeting than to have to wait months and months again for your next appt. Maybe you need to sit down and have a good chat with him about it.

Stealth, so excited for you to start your fet! How much longer will you need to wait for the results of your pgs? I think you're definitely doing the right thing testing the water first without all the immunes etc.

Star, I tested again this afternoon. I did the first one in the afternoon as a lot of the other women I follow said their frers are always darker in the afternoon. Mine was slightly darker today but not a lot. They say hcg doubles every 48 hours so I will try again tomorrow.

Sammy, how are you today?

I have booked in for my next round of intralipids on Tuesday. Think I'm supposed to have one lot on bfp and then one at 8 weeks and another at 11.

Hope you all have a great Easter x

Awwww that's fab Lucie! You've wanted so long, and been so positive and helpful here. You deserve this happiness :)
I haven't had the rest of the results yet. I phoned yesterday to ask if my DP could pick them up on his way home from work and the receptionist told me they weren't all back, which is confusing because the lady I spoke to on the phone specifically checked for all the results I asked her to and said they were all normal. She didn't mention any missing. I've decided I'll go there Tuesday and ask in person. I'm anxious to get my forms sent off!

So excited for you lucie - you got DH an embryo instead of an egg

it's me they should he able to do DH's bloods another time, and we signed all our consents at home, so worst case scenario I don't see why you couldn't go alone if it came to that

Ideally though if he can wriggle out of it I would deffo recommend him coming with again all possible

So much focus is on the woman, but IVF is something we do as a couple, so although I did all my tracking scans myself, it was great for DH to come to the big appointments, as it really felt like we were in this together. It meant he could ask questions and didn't rely on me repeating everything we'd discussed - and we were able to discuss the pros and cons of decisions we would have to make together.

Thinking of you sammy

Sorry for lack of personals, can't scroll back on phone

Physically I'm fine, although my body still thinks it's pregnant judging by my boobs and the blazing BFPs I'm getting still.

Emotionally DH and I are just very, very sad

And I'm obviously running through every scenario in my head. What if the tissue testing shows the foetus was genetically perfect, and it's my body that killed the baby?