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.

@Juno231 👀 ok....I’ll see what it says on the packet. Not looking forward to the alternative, that’s for sure.

I have a lot of weekend reading and forms, I guess. And a private prescription, no idea how much these will cost private.

I like the look of this document too. Handy.

@thislittlebird wow that's a lot of reading to do. The medication list is fascinating as well.

@Juno231 think there’s lots of consent forms in there, will go through it tomorrow so it’s another thing to tick off

Hi Guys I hope you're well I will be having my 1st injection 1st July argh!

@PurpleUnicorn01 oh woop! What did they put you on? It's down regging first right - so EC late July do you think?

@juno231 im not too sure yet as i pick my meds up on 1st July the downregs then1st scan about 2-3 week. I think my egg collection will be the same time roughly as yours. Yay a cycle buddy!

@PurpleUnicorn01 hm I think it's @dogmam that will be your cycle buddy. I'm nowhere near IVF unfortunately!

Oh no @Juno231 i hope you get there soon.

@dogmam how are you getting on?

Hi all. Me and DH has a long chat over the weekend about what to do next. My AF came again and it was so light it only lasted a couple of hours which suggests my lining is incredibly thin and our chances of conceiving very low/zero. I’m scared of waiting to next year to start IVF as I feel my situation is getting worse and worse with each month. So I think we’re going to speak with the clinic about going private. I don’t know if this sounds dramatic but getting a super light period month after month just feels really traumatic. Actually that does sound dramatic doesn’t it! But it spins me into a depression for 24 hours. We’re looking at refund packages at the moment. I’m cautiously optimistic as I feel that if I respond well to oestrogen and get my lining nice and thick there isn’t any reason why my chances over 3 cycles would be any worse than anyone else’s. I obviously understand the statistics though but what can you do? I feel like we have to throw everything at this.

@Myfavouritefudgecake everyone has many different issues. You're chances are as good as anyone. I know it's difficult to go through but we all understand.

@Myfavouritefudgecake have you had a pelvic ultrasound as part of your investigations yet? That would have a look at the thickness of your lining, and a light period does not equal a thin lining. Even when I had one day periods last year before my body normalised off the pill I still had a perfectly good lining for implantation. So check that first before you chuck 10k on a 3 cycle guarantee.

@purpleunicorn01 Hi, I'm ok, just waiting for AF to start then we can start treatment. Not due on until around the 30th so a couple of weeks yet but as I am on the short protocol I'm not having down regs I'm starting stims straight away so my egg collection will be mid July. I had a drink this weekend with friends bit going to be really good from now on.. well try.

@juno231 I don't think you're nowhere near, I reckon your next apt will be to get the ball rolling with it.. What else could it be for.

@myfavouritefudgecake (typing your username doesn't help when I'm trying to be good haha) have you had baseline tests yet or are you not with a clinic yet?

@Myfavouritefudgecake I can’t remember your age, but I’m 38 now and I had the same issue since last July or August. Acupuncture helped get them back to normal from Feb (until this past month when they went weirdly light and short again) and it not be so light but I had a scan in January, one of the light period months, and I raised it with the nurse. She said no, it’s not a sign of thin lining necessarily, the body can reabsorb the lining. She then did my scan and my lining was 10mm (I was due to ovulate soon). So try not to panic. Personally I think the stress of all this contributes to these things, I would get a scan if you haven’t had one already.

sorry I should have been clear. Low oestrogen is causing my thin lining. I did post about this on here a but it was quite a number of pages back now. I'm with a clinic and had all my investigations and this was kind of the outcome. Thin lining, 5mm, that's what is causing my light periods. Consultant says this is likely the problem. However, apparently because some women (very small number) can fall pregnant, it doesn't make me eligible to access treatment earlier, I have to wait until the 2 year mark. I also have PCOS but it's the type where I do ovulate every month. So yeah. That's why we've arrived at where we are and wanting to just get on with what feels like inevitable IVF.

@thislittlebird I'm 30. I have been thinking about acupuncture. I think it's definitely worth a try!

Acupuncture is so relaxing. Im currently having it weekly. It's recommended before and after embryo transfer too

Ah I see @myfavouritefudgecake, I didn’t remember. Did the clinic think ivf would be the answer?

If nothing else the acupuncture is relaxing like @PurpleUnicorn01 said. But I do think it helped my periods go back to normal. They’ve gone weird again now but at least I know they will hopefully go back to normal again.

@thislittlebird well the consultant asked in quite a pointed way if we’ve considered it yet. I said that we had and she said that it’s definitely a route that would be worth it for us.

@myfavouritefudgecake I assume because the drugs replace your body’s hormones you get the right amount and a normal lining? Not sure.

Hycosy first thing tomorrow, I’m getting nervous now and about to take some paracetamol

@thislittlebird Good luck today!

@thislittlebird good luck today!

@thislittlebird good luck today!

Mine is booked for the 27th, a Sunday!

Good luck @thislittlebird x

Good luck @thislittlebird

Thanks all! I really did not enjoy that. They had to do it twice because I had a mucus plug 😩. It wasn’t painful but it was uncomfortable, I took paracetamol and ibuprofen from the night before and then again this morning.

I got quite upset when they found the mucus blockage and said they needed to do it again. They said if it didn’t clear I’d need further investigations and I just couldn’t cope with the thought of that when we’re not getting any nhs help.

Anyway, it was done eventually but it took longer than normal I guess. Outcome was tubes are both clear, mucus blockage got flushed out and I have 23 follicles today. 10 on the right and 13 on the left. A few less than last time but still good so I can’t complain.