First Fertility Clinic Appointment Tomorrow

[dogmam]

Me and my partner have our first appointment with our fertility clinic tomorrow!

We went to the GP after a year of TTC and after 21 day bloods and partners SA, we were referred straight away to the fertility clinic. GP tests were in October/November so it's moved along quite quickly so far.

Feeling slightly nervous but also excited to hopefully get some help! My partners SA showed low motility and morphology so I assume that will be discussed..
What else should i expect from this first appointment? Is there anything I should be asking?

Thanks in advance! I'll update this after the appointment tomorrow as I know there are a few others on here who are in a similar position and might find it useful.

@dogmam I'm sorry I have no clue what the SA means :( I do know that www.reddit.com/r/maleinfertility has a great summary breakdown of what every line in an SA means though if you need to make sense of it though?

12DPO so I'll be joining you in the next cycle in the next day or so. How long are your cycles? We might end up being cycle buddies for the next one.

12 dpo here too and so I will also be going on to the next cycle and for the dreaded HSG. On the plus side- still no spotting.

I'm not sure I'm the SA either, with ranges to tell you.

Hi Guys, how are you all? Just catching up.

@PurpleUnicorn01 still no spotting for me, which is unusual. Just waiting for AF next week so I can call to book my HSG. Hoping it won't be too long to wait as I'll be dreading it!

@paintfairy oh no how annoying. When u actually want to come on you don't. Argh!

@PurpleUnicorn01 how are you? :)

CD1 today 😬.

@Juno231 argh day 1. How are you feeling?

Im okay thanks just had my appointment for May come through which is great as that's when they will make my treatment plan and tell me when i can actually start.

Just awaiting my test appointment to come through for April for a pelvic scan and his a SA. The pelvic scan doesn't sound fun at all.

@PurpleUnicorn01 the scans are ok to be honest. If they do a pelvic scan (so, from the outside) I find that awkward because you have to have a full bladder and i struggle with that! If they do the internal scan- its really not that bad. Less bad than a smear. I'm really not looking forward to the HSG though!

Sorry it's the start of another cycle @juno231 I'm CD4 and currently dipping chocolate into a cuppa. Thoroughly enjoying it. How you doing? Even though it's expected after all this time, it still hurts doesn't it. My cycles are 28 days give or take a few days, what about yours? I'm CD4 today.

@paintfairy any spotting yet? Are you still feeling sick?

@purpleunicorn01 is the May your follow up appointment to go over the results of your scan and SA? Yeah I agree, the internal scan is fine, try not to worry too much about it.

How are you all feeling today with it being mothers day?

@dogmam been really good on the spotting front! I'll stop using it tonight. I'm just hoping it doesn't delay AF. Technically it's due tomorrow. Yeah I've had headaches and felt sick on and off. It's not ideal.

@paintfairy thank you, hope your okay

@dogmam yes the May one is to go over his 2nd SA, he had one in Jan, but they have to have 2, 3 months apart. So they will also go over my scan results then too. They said they will discuss the treatment options then too, IVF or ICSI so il have a better idea then when i actually start put at my last appointment she said upto 6 months which im okay with. Your on CD5 now right?

@purpleunicorn01 you are just a month behind me then, we get all of our results of the scan and 2nd SA in April, not sure what the wait time is for treatment though, I should have asked! If everything comes back ok though we would have to wait until October when it will have been 2 year ttc for any treatment.

Yeah CD5! What about you?

@dogmam that's exciting we could end uo having our treatment really close together. Im CD19.

I don't mind the wait tbh. You can call in ask the secretary to your Dr they can usually tell you the wait time roughly.

Here's a question to anyone, I have heard acupuncture is really effective with IVF will any of you be having it?

@PurpleUnicorn01 I've always been tempted to try acupuncture but with covid it just never happened. Once I'm back in the office I'll see if there's one near there that will do it as I haven't found any near where I live. Btw the internal scan is genuinely the most pleasant thing that will happen to foof in a medical setting as far as I'm concerned. Dimmed lighting, no pain/discomfort - it's easy!

@dogmam CD3 now. My cycles range from 25-30 depending on when I ovulate. 28 is my most common combo so far.

On another thread I'm on, a lady who was told the wait would be 2-3 months for funding and then 6-8 months on the waiting list for IVF actually got funding approved today after only 3 weeks and has been told they'll be ready to start IVF next month for her already! Just relaying to give some of us hope :)

@thislittlebird how are you doing?

@Juno231 thank you that makes me feel better. I found a place near my hospital. The acupuncturist is a Dr and specialises in fertility acupuncture so I was tempted

And that is great about the short wait the other lady had.

I’m ok @Juno231, how are you? Mother’s Day was rough for various reasons and glad that’s passed lol.

Remembered today that we will get our next SA results soon. Kind of don’t want to know them really but I guess it’s best to find out.

This is a non-ttc month for us and I’m very anxious about not trying when I feel fine. Not fun, ugh.

I was having a read about the mild IVF etc last night. It’s really interesting, as someone worried about OHSS. I know it’s good for low reserve but I guess it’s also good for PCOS and higher follicle counts because there’s fewer drugs involved. I might attend one of the webinars coming up.

I’m CD8 and either my cycle or my CB monitor seem to have calibrated and I’m finally getting “low” readings at the start of the month for the first month of the three I have been using it. The acupuncture I had does seem to have helped the cycle, going again for the second time in April.

Thinking of booking a hycosy for next month at the start of the next cycle. Maybe with Guy’s private arm, just somewhere my hospital consultant will accept when I go in May.

@juno231 that is a great summary of an internal scan!
Also, really interesting that another ladies wait has been so short, I wonder how they can give such long wait times for it then to be drastically different.

@thislittlebird yeah the SA are going to determine the path you go down I suppose aren't they. When do you get them?
I think it would be good to attend one of the webinars, it's hard to read articles and sites sometimes isn't it so hearing it all first hand will help. I'll be asking all the same things when I have my next appointment as I'm not sure if I would be best suited with a long or short protocol having 20 follicles on one side.
Try and enjoy the break, eat the chocolate and drink the wine!

I am on CD8 and still have my period. Usually it 5 or 6 days but that includes 1 or 2 days spotting either side. I didn't have any spotting this cycle at the beginning.

@dogmam wow CD8 and still on your period - That's cruel. I can't stand it when our cycles seem to change willy nilly like that either. I'm CD6 now but it luckily stopped rather abruptly after CD4, even though the last day was still medium flow! When is your next appointment again?

@thislittlebird yeah this weekend was rough. I'm finding this whole month depressing as I'm coming to the realisation that 2021 will be baby-less as well.

What were your follicles on the other side? @dogmam I had 28 they could see all in (11+17) and they said short protocol to me on a consultation. So this whole mild IVF thing is interesting and I definitely want to learn more.

The next SA is just to take to the referral appointment with us, but we’ll be able to see if he’s improved or not. I really hope so.

@Juno231 weather isn’t helping me either. I don’t want to go out much. It’s weird when it dawns on you. Still not pregnant, the mythical baby won’t be a reality this year. Sigh.

What do you think is causing the long period? @dogmam

Mine was normal for the first month in so long last month. I’m really pleased. Going to acupuncture again in early April, then a few days away which I cannot wait for.

Well, roll on 2022 babies I guess?!

I've got my HSG next Thursday (CD3 now) so I'll know more about what's happening after that.

2022

I’m going to enquire about a hycosy soon, will likely avoid as long as I can lol

🤣 Well I've got to not dtd this month because of the hsg and its being done like a day before ovulation. So I'm doubting we'll be catching that! Which means 2021 is no longer a possibility...... 2022 is the year! Has to be? 🤔

Hi ladies, hope you are all well. An update from me, I've booked an initial consultation with Create for next month. We will need to drive 4 hours to Manchester for a 20 minute scan 😬 which is a pain in the ass but it will be good practice for the inconvenience of travelling back and forth if we do decide to proceed with them for treatment. That's followed up by a virtual consultation a few days later. I think we'll also book a consultation with a 'normal IVF' clinic which is much closer to home for the same week, then we can compare them directly. We'll go with the one which sounds more confident about our chances of success, even if that ends up being the Manchester one.