thread 2... TTC bubba #1

[xoJellybean]

Thread #2... TTC our first!

@lebe14 Eeek not long to go for you then! 5 injections doesn't sound fun but maybe you'll be so blasé by the time you get to no5 that you'll barely notice it! I know 2-3 follicles is less than you hoped but you had a good success rate on your fertilisation and blastocysts last time, right? So you still have a shot.

I'm still suffering. It's now been 6 days of relentless bloating. This afternoon I found a really good article on The Duff all about OHSS and they exactly described everything I'm experiencing so I'm now pretty sure it's late onset OHSS. So then I googled late onset OHSS and apparently it's usually caused by pregnancy as your hcg rises, so yep I'm definitely getting my hopes up now! Gonna test on FMU tomorrow so I've warned DH that that will be happening at whatever crazy time of day I happen to wake up.

@lebe14 Oh God I'm just torturing myself now. I just read about a study where 96.7% of late onset OHSS cases (study size of 60) were due to pregnancy. I'm going to be soooooo gutted if it's negative tomorrow. Must stop googling and just do something else.

On a lighter note, DH asked me to look up the stats on how likely it is to get twins from a single ICSI embryo transfer. It's actually quite high compared to natural pregnancy (but still less than 10%). So I'm still loving saying 'maybe it's TWINS!' every now and then but he looks slightly more terrified now 😂

@Lebe14 I got my BFP! The second line came up straight away 🥳😭 Cue immediate waterworks.

I know there are always mixed feelings about BFPs on these boards so I'll be thinking of you today. I know we've still got a long way to go and this is just another hurdle we've crossed, but I know how desperately you want to cross it and how horrible it is not knowing if you ever will. Sending big hugs! And I can't wait to hear how your cycle goes xx

@taytay2020 ahhhhhhhh that's amazing news!!!! Congratulations. That's so interesting about the OHSS - I expect that's exactly why you've been so bloated! All for a very good reason. I bet you're absolutely ecstatic!! I know there's still always some worry in this process - the 100% happiness like a normal natural pregnancy is completely taken away from us - but like you said, we have to enjoy each hurdle!! So so pleased for you and I honestly have no mixed feelings as I know how much you've been through. You deserve it!

What's next for you? Are your clinic going to do a beta and then arrange a 6-7 week scan? Xx

@Lebe14 Thank you! I don't think my clinic does a blood test, I just need to call them tomorrow with my result then they'll book in a scan for 2-3 weeks' time. I've got a lonnng list of questions to ask them in the meantime though 😀

Hope your jabs are ok today! Have you done the first two already?

@taytay2020 exciting to get the scan booked in!! Wonder if your GP would do a beta blood test at any point if you feel you need something during the wait between now and scan? At what point does your clinic pass you over to the NHS? Is it 20 weeks?

Jab 1 of 5 today was done at 6:55. Got another at 16:00, 2 at 20:30 (although might do them a little earlier today), and then trigger at 21:30! Then nothing on Monday woohoo. Going to turn all my medication alarms off after today haha - going to feel so good x

@Lebe14 Go go go! Only 4 to go! Won't be long now. Enjoy your day off meds tomorrow! I'm loving the lack of Cyclogest today - although I was awake at 6.40am anyway. I held out on doing FMU as long as I could to give DH more sleep but eventually my bloated abdomen was too annoying and I just needed the relief of using the loo 😀 So it was about 6.55!

We're going to try not to think too far ahead and just take each step as it comes, so we'll wait for the first scan and go from there. This will be in addition to NHS ones so I guess I need to call my practice doctor too to get the NHS 12 week scan booked. Need to do some googling to find out what I should know during the 4-7 week range!

@taytay2020 sounds like a good plan to just take each step as it comes. I love how chilled you are with it all. All you can do is what's in your control at that time instead of worrying about the future. Wish I could do that haha! How are you feeling now with the OHSS?

The 5 jabs all went fine yesterday - trigger was at 9:30. Jab free day today!! Will get the results from my blood test today to see if progesterone is low enough to plan for a fresh transfer. If so, the progesterone suppositories and injection will start tomorrow after the collection (if of course they collect any!!!). Plus a 5 day course of antibiotics which is new this cycle. Are you able to stop your progesterone now or does your clinic get you to continue until 10-12 weeks? X

@Lebe14 Well done on getting all your jabs done! Enjoy your break today! What time is your egg collection tomorrow? I was nervous about it then just slept through it again 😀 Are you taking a few days off to rest afterwards?

I'm off the Cyclogest (hurrah!) and even my bloating seems to be a bit better today - I do wonder if the extra progesterone was slowing down my digestive system and making the bloating even worse. I'm also snacking on high fibre cream crackers every few hours to try and avoid adding constipation into the mix 😀

I still feel nauseous occasionally but I genuinely think it's that 'sick with hunger' feeling so I just eat and then it's gone! Weird. (I keep telling DH it's cos I'm eating for 3. Turns out this joke never gets old!)

@taytay2020 that's definitely a thing - 'sick with hunger'! Good excuse to eat lots of nice things haha. Imagine if it turns out you are eating for 3!!

That's really good you're feeling better after stopping the cyclogest. Hopefully it was just the progesterone causing all that bloat and not OHSS. High fibre cream crackers sound like a good idea too....

At the moment I'm feeling okay for the collection tomorrow. It's at 9:30. I made sure to get an early time so i don't have to fast for such a long time. I really hope it's the same as last time - didn't feel or hear a thing during the procedure - completely out. I've got Tuesday and Wednesday off work and then back on Thursday and working from home on Friday. I think I need the balance of rest but also not having too much time to think about things if I'm waiting for progress calls. My biggest worry is that we're starting with a lot less follicles this time - so I'm really hoping we get 1 embryo. Chances are quite slim 😔 x

@Lebe14 I really hope your egg collection was successful today, and that you're feeling ok. Hope you're home now and being well looked after! My DH bought my favourite box of chocolates to help the recovery process. They did not last long 😉

@taytay2020 I'm feeling okay, thank you. Have spent all day on the sofa napping since getting home haha. We got 2 eggs. Not amazing but better than 0 or 1! We knew we'd get max 3. Just crossing my fingers that at least 1 makes blast on day 5 so we can transfer on Sunday. Starting the progesterone (pessaries and injection) as well as some antibiotics today in prep for a transfer.

How are you feeling?? Xx

@lebe14 yay! I'm so glad you got your two. Hopefully you'll get quality over quantity. Keeping everything crossed for you. Will they call tomorrow to let you know about fertilisation?

I'm good thanks, still bloated today but nowhere near as bad as last week so I'm counting my blessings. I've got my first clinic scan booked for 3 weeks' time and I'm waiting for a call back from my local midwife service to get an antenatal appointment booked in for about week 10 or something. I called my GP first but apparently they don't get involved these days so I needed to contact the midwife myself. Cue me asking the receptionist 'ummm so how do I do that?!'

I bought myself a digital test yesterday cos I fancied seeing it come up in words. Now I'm steeling myself to do that tomorrow - I'm suddenly scared that if I test again I'll find out it was all a mistake!

@taytay2020 unfortunately not good news today. Only 1 of the 2 eggs was mature and that didn't fertilise.... the immature one did mature over night so they're going to do delayed ICSI on that and see if it fertilises. If it does, they'll need to freeze so no fresh transfer. This 2nd round has been way worse than the first.... gutted.

You should definitely go for the digital - just to see those words ☺️ xxx

@lebe14 I'm so sorry, that really sucks. At least your second egg is still in with a chance, even if you have to wait for transfer. I assume they'll call you tomorrow with another update? I hope you can do something to take your mind off it today, the waiting is so stressful isn't it.

I did test - and it says pregnant 2-3 weeks, as expected. Phew. Will stop testing now!

@taytay2020 yay congrats on the 2-3 weeks!!

I'm going to spend today wallowing haha. If the 1 egg makes it I don't think it'll have a good chance so I'm going to think about whether we even bother at that stage.... see how the next couple of days go. I'll get a call tomorrow to confirm if it's fertilised x

@Lebe14 aww I really hope it works out! xx

@Lebe14 hope you had good news yesterday - thinking of you x

@taytay2020 thanks so much. The egg fertilised so will find out Monday / Tuesday if it continued developing. I think I can cope if it doesn't - ready to get on with our 3rd (and possibly final) cycle.

How are you? X

Hey ladies, can I join? We're not actively TTC right now since I need to get my health and our finances sorted out, we plan to start in January 2025. I've been lurking the forums for a while :) hoping to get everything sorted out and ready before we try! I'm 31 and feel like I don't have a lot of time...

@lebe14 I'm so glad it fertilised! Fingers crossed for good news this week. How are you feeling after your collection and all the progesterone? Do you have any side effects?

All good here. The OHSS bloating has sorted itself out thank goodness. I still get a bit bloated from food but I think that's a normal pregnancy symptom - I'm trying to eat my largest meal earlier in the day where possible, and plenty of water and fibre to keep my digestive system moving! Now trying to stay sane before our first scan. I just don't really believe yet that it'll all work out.

@anie1513 This thread has gotten a lot smaller since it started up but you're very welcome! I'm 35 now (nearly 36) but started TTC when I was 32. Hope things go smoothly for you!

@taytay2020 thank you! It's been hard waiting to officially start TTC, my brain and body both want a baby so bad, and I always worry that it'll take longer than expected to succeed... Figured it'd be nice to talk to people on here since I really don't feel like discussing this with irl friends right now.

Got some blood work done last week and waiting for my GP to call me back into the office to discuss the results. I have a history of PCOS and my GP wants to make sure that things are all clear before we can go ahead with TTC.

Ooh I'll be nearly 32 too by the time I actually start. Hope all goes well with the scan! 😊

@taytay2020 so glad the OHSS is starting to settle. I bet it still doesn't feel real after so long. When is your scan?

We had good news in that our egg which matured overnight and fertilised, has reached blast on day 6. So exactly the same as the last cycle in terms of being a slow developer. Also graded the same - 4BC. Was really hoping we'd have quality over quantity this time, but nevermind. I've got a call with my consultant tomorrow to plan timeframes for the frozen transfer. Hopefully I can do asap as I'm fine after the collection - don't even feel like I've had it haha!

@Anie1513 welcome! As @taytay2020 mentioned, this is a really odd thread from when we were chatting when we starting TTC. Like @taytay2020 I'm also 35 but will be turning 36 next year. We've been TTC since 2020 and started IVF in June last year. Hopefully all will go smoothly for you and you won't get to that stage! Good luck!! X

@Anie1513 omg excuse all my typos!! How embarrassing. Also in terms of my age, I meant to say I'm turning 36 next MONTH, not next year 😂😂😂 x