Bus 7 - all aboard the Donkey Cart! Ttc for way longer than we should've been with endo/pcos/ivf all welcome

[Marvellouslymadmum]

New thread will try and tag everyone if I can

@Longbin thanks for suggesting, it's all a bit overwhelming and drugs from this cycle not out of my system yet....13 days post egg collection boobs still so sore and no af. There's a few places to consider and only just started looking at finance options.

@Sweeeeet it is entirely possible however not many of us have had much success over a period of years and are well beyond natural attempts and into assisted conception so not sure how much help we'll be. I've never had a bfp but have had a late period. Early pregnancy tests may pick it up but can't always be sure until 1 week after due period especially if you have regular cycles.

@Sunbird24 it's good that they're exploring new avenues rather than keeping it all the same

@thislittlebird ooh that's good! And well done on getting your weight back down, I'm struggling so badly with it!

@CycleGirl20 aww good, glad to hear it. The good luck always seems to come in groups!!

@kerrym87 I'm not eligible for anything like that at all due to my age so I'm looking at packages abroad instead!

@Sweeeeet there certainly is a chance, I too am 43 and I've seen plenty our age it happens for

My scan yesterday was fine, 6.6mm lining on day 9, a 12mm follicle so a few days to go yet, back in on Monday morning.

I did that gaia quiz @kerrym87 and got 75%, definitely don’t think they’ll have me 😂

I think we’ll go the access route after these embryos are used up. Probably with the Lister, it’s about £11k for two cycles excluding meds but including transfers. That’s the non-refund package.

@Marvellouslymadmum I lost the 2kg I have been unable to lose since November cos of covid, however wouldn't recommend it😂

@thislittlebird fingers crossed for those follicles and keep away from people so you don't end up like I did with covid and dodgy eggs🤦‍♀️ consultant definitely feels it had a major impact on maturity and quality of eggs as when i started getting even mild symptoms my hormones levels just stalled.

Started the prednisolone today, has anyone else been on it before?

@kerrym87 I appear to still be covid free, luckily it’s only a transfer so the eggs should be safe. Although I will say, just like the previous transfer, my body is going to not play ball and ovulate at a reasonable time 🙄

@Sunbird24 yep, I’ve been on it, I have the lingering moon face to prove it.

I’ve got to get from my scan appointment in London to another appointment near home one after the other tomorrow morning, it’s making me anxious, they made me wait ages for the scan the other day.

Ok scan done, lining is 7.7mm, follicle is 17mm and now I just need my LH peak and to find out from them when to start progesterone.

@thislittlebird that's great, fingers crossed @Sunbird24 not sure if that'll be me next time so I'll be interested in any effects, although if it means I get a sticky bean I could live with it. Resigned to fact if we are lucky I will get really chunky again from eating on the hop with a little one 😂

@thislittlebird good numbers! Hope the getting between appointments wasn’t too stressful.

From what I remember of pred, other than the big fat face that i hate, it made me shaky and hungry. But nothing major.

@Sunbird24 got between the appointments fine, they weren’t running too late today. Now just need to get the LH peak.

Has anyone here taken baby aspirin for a transfer? I have a history of stroke, heart disease and high cholesterol in my family but not miscarriage (for me, anyway), and I’m wondering if I should try it or not. I’m not sure it would do any harm if I did????

I’ve done aspirin @thislittlebird, clearly didn’t make any difference from me but I don’t think there’s any harm associated.

I had a baseline scan today before starting next round of IVF in August. I've taken clomid as a last attempt to get pregnant. I only have one dominant follicle. I don't believe I ovulate but the doctor thinks I do as my day 21 progesterone is borderline. Would this mean I don't usually ovulate, as if I did there would be more than 1?

@Longbin I don't think it works like that exactly, as far as I know anyway. I think you can have one and still ovulate, it's just about how you respond to clomid. I tried letrozole and would produce 2-3 follicles, but obviously I don't produce more than one usually.

I thought I had ovulation issues, maybe I do, but one thing IVF has show me is that despite having low progesterone (around 10 last time it was tested), and borderline PCOS/PCO with lots of follicles, I definitely seem to ovulate on my own. No idea why the progesterone is low though, they don't seem very knowledgable on that.

@Sunbird24 hmmm yeah, I guess I could try, much of it is luck, I'm sure. Not sure whether it's worth it on attempt two or not.

Thanks @thislittlebird, makes me feel better as I was thinking I had just wasted years without even ovulating. How did you find out that you do ovulate through IVF? I can't decide if I should delay the IVF and keep with clomid a bit longer

@longbin in terms of ovulating, naturally we start off with one or multiple follicles and only one tends to release an egg so one follicle not unusual. Some cycles as well will have more than others as they told me they would assess at scan each cycle if it was an optimal cycle to start on.
In terms of ovulating during ivf it technically doesn't happen as they control everything by balancing stims, drug to stop you ovulating too early and a trigger shot to mature the eggs about 36 hours before they collect them which is equivalent of ovulation. Not all clinics test progesterone after transfer, some do as well, never had mine tested yet as mines an egg quality and ovulation issue with pcos. Sorry if you knew any of that already x

@thislittlebird my friend used it for recurrent losses but with that family history you could ask clinic as you lose nothing by asking. I was going to ask if this one hadn't taken but as we didn't get to transfer due to covid shitty eggs it was redundant for me 😂

@kerrym87 i think I might ask the doctor when I see them next. Transfer is booked to Sunday at 11am, dh will be there on a very hot and sweaty trip to the hospital and he’ll get to wear his special hat and gown 😂

@Longbin how old are you? I would give the clomid a go tbh. I tried letrozole and I’m glad I did, because at least I tried. And you never know, the clomid might work.

Basically, I’m doing natural transfers so they track my lead follicle development with scans and then I test for an LH rise and all signs point to me definitely ovulating. You can do cycle tracking/monitoring privately but it is expensive, the ivf has basically provided the same thing for free (this is our funded round).

@thislittlebird I'm 34. I started TTC at 28 I think. I was TTC for about 3 years and our referrals were messed up constantly so never got tests done on the NHS properly. I had IVF privately and had a successful transfer. The NHS have since said that I can't have clomid through them as I ovulate, but I believe I don't as my progesterone is always high ish throughout the month. I've wasted thousands on consultations and never seem to get anywhere, it's cost me about the same as doing a cheap mild IVF round!

I hope everyone is okay

I’ve been a bit quiet as this heat has knocked me out! As we’re well into July now, we’ve hit the 3 year ttc mark which sucks.

I’ve had my blood tests this week. Ended up calling doctors for blood paperwork to check my prolactin levels, so bloods for them was done Monday and bloods for thyroid and antibodies this morning.

My diet isn’t going very well, not lost any weight but super dedicated this week. Finally feel like I’m in the right headspace for it.

Will call doctors Monday to see about blood results, fingers crossed they’re normal and can arrange a start date with IVF clinic. I dread thinking that levels are still not right, increase of meds and another 6 week wait for more blood tests!

@Lauralozzle the three year mark approaching really does suck. We won’t be far behind you.

I’m back into the diet and exercise again, not really sure how to deal with it after the transfer. Lay off anything too intense, I suppose? What did everyone else do after their transfers?

@Longbin yeah i bet it’s pricey! So you have a dc from ivf already?

@thislittlebird I think I’d avoid any intense exercise. Maybe gentle walks? Difficult to do much in this heat though!

@thislittlebird you’re probably ok to do whatever you’re used to but I’d go gentle too.

i had a nice big follicle at scan this morning so I’ve to do a trigger shot tonight to line me up for transfer next Thursday… All getting a bit real again now. Wasn’t entirely helpful that the clinic is about 75 mins drive away and I had to go back again this afternoon to pick up the trigger 🤦‍♀️

@thislittlebird. Yeah I do, she was born last year.

I have finally had a positive ovulation test at home so I am praying this takes and I don't have to do another round after. It seems odd to me that both transfers I've had have implanted and yet I've tried for so many years with nothing, there has to be a reason and not ovulating would be the most obvious one. My LH usually surges to 6.5 at the highest and it was 40 earlier so a massive difference.

In regards to exercise I did nothing at all, my clinic wouldn't even let me do yoga or swimming!

Hope everyone's ok, sorry I haven't been about much, house hunting is getting me down and I've less than 2 months to find somewhere!
BUT - I ovulated 🎉 ok so it was a week late around day 21 but that is soooooo much better than last month and my 110 day cycle! And on top of that my day 21(on day 28) progesterone was 76.5 which is the highest it's ever been, my temps and heart rate all lovely and high too but I won't let myself get excited about that, I've also had a urine infection which was not fun so that's prob why they're high! 😂

@kerrym87 no I think I'd rather keep working hard on the weight and not have covid 😂

@Sunbird24 I've been on prednisolone many many times, I have bad asthma and it's the steroids they give you when you have a chest infection etc. my son was on them a lot from 7months too as he has severe brittle asthma. The only side effect I've ever really had from them is acid reflux so watch out for that one! Great news about your follicle though not about all the driving!

@thislittlebird I haven't tried the aspirin for transfer obviously it I did try it anyway for a couple of months, I read it can't do any harm to take it unless you have a blood disorder so 🤷🏼‍♀️ great news that your transfer is booked for Sunday and you oh can be there 🤞🏻 for this one for you!

@Longbin not much help as I only had a scan the first month on clomid and they couldn't find my ovaries 😂 so no idea about my follicles etc but no it doesn't necessarily mean you don't usually ovulate

@Lauralozzle glad you're feeling a bit better about things now hopefully your levels have sorted themselves out now!

@thislittlebird there seems to be lots of mixed advice about exercise, but my last clinic's advice was not to do anything that you'd regret if the transfer was then unsuccessful, which made a lot of sense to me. Whenever I have conceived naturally I have always been doing my regular exercise routine (which isn't hardcore, just cycling to and from work and then some Pilates and hiit/strength and conditioning type stuff) between ovulation and finding out I was pregnant, so I agree with @Sunbird24 that sticking with whatever you normally do is probably best. Oh and they do say to avoid swimming just in case of infection and also if you're using progesterone pessaries in case it impacts absorption...

@Sunbird24 exciting that you have a date for transfer! Really hoping this is the lucky one for you.

@Marvellouslymadmum amazing news on the ovulation!!! That is dramatically shorter than your last cycle!! Hope the uti passes soon - they are sooo miserable.

I asked about the exercise today after the transfer and they were pretty chilled. Just said don’t do anything crazy really, take it fairly easy. Weren’t worried about swimming or baths. @99pctpractice that advice does make sense yeah. I’m going to lay off the high impact stuff I’ve been going, maybe do some yoga or something like that, and walking. Maybe a bit of resistance band stuff. I’ve lost about 8lbs since May, don’t want to put it straight back on in the tww!

@Marvellouslymadmum fantastic ovulation news! That’s basically normal.

Embryo number two is on board, choo choo! Let’s see how this one fares. It survived the thaw 75% in tact and was expanding.