Fertility Clinic Appointments and Beyond..

[dogmam]

New thread for us to continue our fertility clinic appointment progress...

Some of us are waiting for initial appointments, some are having tests and some are starting treatment!

@thislittlebird i know thats what they say, but I know someone who had nhs then private treatment at the same clinic and the difference in speed was shocking! I'm glad you got somewhere finally!

Interestingly I called today because I hadnt had my consent forms or any info sent through about my appointment, no video call link etc. the person I spoke with said I shouldn't expect anything else but she'd double check, half hour later I had three emails with information on and links to training videos, video call link, and consent forms 🙈

@dogmam I dont have my protocol yet, 1st December for nurses appointment where all will be revealed :D I'm expecting short protocol and max drugs (low ovarian reserve, if they turned me off I might not turn back on 🤣) x

@dogmam I have my protocol (150 gonal f) and my invite to start treatment so I’m hoping I’m good to go. They sent me a form to fill in to bring along to a nurse appointment, asked me if I would be happy to go on the pill, what dates I couldn’t do etc. I told them I wouldn’t go on the pill and gave them my holiday dates, and my expected cycle dates. I also stressed I’m keen to start January as my cycle is the very end of January.

I responded quite quickly to letrozole, I’m wondering how many days I’ll be on the drugs for. How many did you have to do?

Ugh, estrogen for four weeks. Hate that. I know it won’t agree with me if I have to go on it, I’m convinced I have plenty of it naturally, unlike progesterone.

@beckyCarlos I asked the girl about paying and she said no, don’t bother lol. So I didn’t and here I am waiting for Guys. But at least they’ve told me they’re aiming for Jan/Feb now.

@thislittlebird excellent news! Any idea why they asked you about going back on the pill?

@dogmam that's frustrating about the lining - are you drinking lots of pomegranate juice to help it along? Probably makes no difference though 😁.

I'll be on short protocol. I have no clue what meds, just know I'll be starting on CD6 with my scans instead of CD8 as they'll be putting me on alternating 150 and 300 of something (they honestly never mentioned what!). So they will need to monitor me more closely in case they'll need to adjust the meds. Their reason for putting me on higher meds is due to my small amount of endometriosis on one ovary and that ovary also being abnormally small 🤷

@Tinkerbell098 I was referred this year March by my GP and got a first appointment within a month and then everything else after that was pretty quick.

I've had my EC and embryos frozen and now it's a waiting game for me to have my hysterocopy although I'm being covered by my medical insurance so will get an appointment within the next 3 weeks. But the NHS wait is 3-6 months and I've already been waiting over a month!

Lol @thislittlebird its weird how its so different everywhere!

I'm so happy I found this thread :)

@Tillybabs that's super fast! It's been three months since the referral, and haven't heard a thing. I queried with my GP last week and she said it could take up to a year as they've got a massive backlog due to covid. I'm considering going private if I haven't heard anything by January.

@Tinkerbell098 it's crap really because I guess it depends on your hospital's backlog

I'm hearing now my fertility clinic has a backlog and appointments are taking longer. So I'm lucky I was referred when I was.

My hospitals fertility appointments were quick but the waiting list for gynae is long!

How's everyone doing?
I have my laparoscopy booked in for December ( we decided to go private because it was taking ages on the NHS).
I'm also getting referred for IVF in case the lap doesn't work within 3 months.
Has anyone had a lap before? I think it's mainly the shoulder pain that'll be the main issue.
We need to skip a cycle for this ... although, in the scheme of things, it's nothing really.
x

@JeanieJ I had a lap in April. For me it was the recovery from GA that was a pain - they had to keep me over night as I didn't pass the urine test and I was vomiting for 12 h. Buuuut the lap itself was fine - it very much depends on how much they find in there though.

@Tillybabs ah well done! How many eggs did they harvest, how many embryos did they freeze etc?

Had my trial embryo transfer today. They called me in at 1203 and I was out again at 1214 🤣. That's including our pre and post procedure chat. They made it sound so much worse than it was - showing me this big catheter, warning me it'll be quite crampy and keeping a nurse up by my head for support/holding my arm for comfort. Erm... I didn't feel anything 😅. Male gynae said it's because he's a pro 😎.

All clear though, won't have any problems come transfer day. He did say though that my notes from the hysteroscopy said they struggled to get in a bit and that with my LLETZ/LEEP it's wise to have a look as otherwise sod's law it wouldn't work on the day.

Next step is blood tests in a month's time.

@Juno231 they collected 16 and out of that 9 fertilised and then 4 of good quality made it to blastocyst and were frozen.

I'm awaiting my hysterocopy and MRI first before they decide on the next course of action.

You are at Croydon right? Or am I confusing you with someone else? Just wondering how long your wait was for your hysterocopy and lap

@Tillybabs no I'm at Kingston. My wait was only 4-6 from memory. I think they rely on cancellations a lot for laps as by the time you get told a date, a lot of people have to decline it if they've already had unprotected sex that cycle. So could be a lot quicker than you think!

@juno231 do they do trial embryo transfers as standard at your place? wondering if I should mention it at my nurse consult because I've had an LLETZ before... its in my notes (at least I've written it in ever set of forms, and my consultant knows) but I've never thought about it in terms of being an issue before. So good that you had a good experience though! X

@beckyCarlos no it was specifically because I reminded them of my LLETZ. The gynae subsequently said the hysteroscopy notes should have indicated it also but no one had mentioned that before so I think he only realised when prepping for the TET (I've had different doctors each time though, god knows what they read/didn't read each time)

Thanks 😊 I'll definitely mention it, forewarned is forearmed and all that! X

Just catching up on all the adventures here. For those of you seeing progress so thrilled for you. So sorry a lot of you seem to be sticking waiting for referrals etc to come through. Here’s hoping the waiting lists clear reasonably quickly. Think @beckyCarlos you’re definitely onto something with the persistence approach for sure. Amazing how a quick follow up call results in all the documents coming through….

@Juno231 so glad you found the trial transfer easy enough. I know when it comes to all this stuff there seems to be such a wide range of experiences even with HSGs etc. suppose it all comes down to individual bodies and skill of the personnel on the day! Sounds like you’re in good hands anyway.

Productive day today. Decided which IVF clinic we’re going with and as it happens we’re going with the female consultant. Have been seeing a male GP and then male RE after that so nice to have a female consultant for a change. She seemed so nice and approachable and very open to questions and chatting through the approach. She’s also going to allow me to do prednisolone for my last two medicated cycles before we move to IVF which I’m thrilled about. Might do nothing but you never know. I’m calling this one the Hail Mary pass! Anyway that’s my little update for today.

@Juno231 love how clinics jist fail to tell you the drugs.. Do they not realise we like to Google everything?! Sounds good that they'll be having you in for plenty of scans though. Yes, the transfer are super quick! My FET was done in like 10 minutes. Does your clinic use ultrasound to guide the embryo in?

@thislittlebird I wonder why they wanted you to go on the pill if you're on short protocol? I thought going on the pill was part of down regs during a long protocol.. I can understand you not wanting to go on it though. I was on stims for 12 days.

@Tillybabs aw I bet the waiting is killing you for your FET. At least you can enjoy Christmas I suppose.

Had my second lining scan today and it's increased from 5mm to 7mm, so thiner than it was for my last FET but the clinic are happy with it so I'm booked in for transfer next Thursday! Slight change to protocol as this time I'm having progestorone injections aswell as the pessaries, starting those on Saturday.

@dogmam how exciting! Pls keep us updated but I hope it all goes well for you x

Yea it's a long wait but also I'm probably going to be down regulating before they try a transfer to suppress my adeno so I'm still looking at another 3-4 months but I want to give it my best shot so don't mind waiting

@Juno231 @dogmam yeah, I’m short protocol but my best guess about the pill is that they want to control when I have my bleed to fit me in when it’s convenient to them? Dunno. Either way I’m not doing it lol. I told them my dates, and my periods were messed up for months, they went all light and short, and I had another weird one last month, so yeah it’s not happening.

I’m glad Juno’s mock went well. I read a story on the infertility board about painful transfers without lube involved the other day and I’ve been freaked out since I read it.

Good luck for the transfer @dogmam

With the benefit of hindsight, I am now very relieved I didn’t go ahead with a private round in November. I’m rushed off my feet between work being manic and husband’s birthday plans. Going away tomorrow, I’m not sure how I would have fit it in!

@dogmam so glad your lining improved enough for the transfer to be approved and good luck for Thursday. How are you getting on with the progesterone injections? Sounds like they’re covering all bases for you which is great.

@Tillybabs great attitude and you’re so right to give it the time and the best chance for transfer. Does it help the waiting knowing that you have your embryos banked and waiting? Although I know it must still be so hard to wait.

@thislittlebird I’d feel the same about the pill tbh and would be advocating strongly for myself to avoid it too. Hope they take your comments under advisement. Glad the timing of things worked out well for you and the decision to wait was the right one.

CD12 here and had my monitoring scan booked for CD14 with how the scanning dates fell at my REs. Usually I’m instructed to trigger night of CD13 but had been going to hold off til after the app. Thought I’d be safe as I only ovulated CD16 on tamoxifen with no trigger last month but sure enough sore boobs here tonight which is always my sign of LH peak/impending ovulation. Did the test and static smilie so triggered tonight. Figure they’ll at least be able to confirm I ovulated and confirm my lining on CD14 so won’t be a waste of an appointment at least but really hoping I’m after reading it correctly. Have to trust that I know my body at this stage and just roll with it. Thought I’d share as I know a few of ye are doing medicated cycles now. This is probably my most disorganized cycle.

On the bright side, hit a blood vessel with my trigger last month so avoided that tonight at least and injection went easier. Wonder how I’ll manage the intramuscular ones when I get that far. Dreading already if I'm honest.

Another update this morning. Just got my prescription from the IVF clinic for our 7th and 8th TSI cycles before IVF (currently mid 6th TSI) and being put back on Letrozole, changing the trigger from gonasi to ovidrelle and adding 10mg prednisolone to the mix. Thrilled to be changing things up and maybe have a bit of hope for these last two pre IVF cycles 🤞

@Gracie2021 it definitely helps knowing that we have the embryos. If I didn't I would be fretting more. But this explains why the consultant did it this way around.

That's great that they are changing it up for you.

Hello all love ladies, seems like everyone is progressing, only onwards and upwards!
Not much update from me... did a hycosy this morning and it showed that my left fallopian tube seems blocked so waiting to schedule for a laparoscopy now. By the look of things it may happen after the new year now.
@JeanieJ do let me know how yours go! best of luck x

@Tillybabs yeah deff worth giving it your best shot and if that means waiting then waiting it is. How many embryos do you have frozen?

@thislittlebird yeah maybe they suggested the pill so they can control the timing for their benefit of getting you booked in. It's good that you aren't regretting not going for a private round, especially if you have loads on. It's not too much longer to wait now x

@pinkginpls hopefully you get booked in soon for your lap soon. I think a lot of ladies are having to wait until next year for things now.

@Gracie2021 how are you getting on with your new protocol? It's good that there's been a change, I think it gives a bit of fresh hope doesn't it. Fingers crossed for you.

I had my FET yesterday so officially in the tww! Although it's a 9 day wait with my clinic so 8 sleeps to go. The wait to find out if our embryo thawed was awful. Transfer itself was fine though. Struggling with the progesterone injections, by far the most painful of all the injections I've had throughout ivf.

@dogmam we have 4 embryos.

How exciting for you. I really hope bubba sticks. Gosh there's so much to this process. I didn't even think m about the thawing process

Good luck @dogmam I hope you have some nice things planned for this week. Some nice movies, long walks or a warm bath to relax and distract yourself 😊 sorry to hear the injections are painful though 😬