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

@thislittlebird fantastic news! My clinic seems to be saying test date is 16 days after transfer, but as that’s on CD17 and last time I knew 5 days after transfer I will most definitely not be waiting that long. How long do you think you can hold out before testing?

Good luck @thislittlebird !

If it helps in terms of excersise, my transfer was a 1bb (what even is that?!?) so I assumed it was never going to work and didn't bother giving up on any excersise, including long cycles. I was so down afterwards I kind of stomped my way home from the clinic. Surprisingly, she stuck. Someone else on this thread who had a transfer at the same time said she spent a lot of time walking in her TWW "showing the embryo all the nice local things so it would want to hang around". I thought that was really sweet and a nice way to take your mind of things. I think hers stuck too.

🤞🤞🤞

@CycleGirl20 that’s really cute! I’ll be taking mine away for a weekend to meet its auntie, hopefully that helps…

@Longbin yay for positive ovulation test, fingers crossed for you.

@Marvellouslymadmum I remember how stressful house hunting when we were looking. That, on top of ttc must be a bloody nightmare! Yay for ovulation- that’s a good number. Think mine when tested was 48.

@thislittlebird fingers crossed this little embryo sticks!!!

@Sunbird24 I'm good at holding out because I'm scarred af by BFNs, so I'll probably test on OTD, which is 28th July. So 11 days from now? Seems very brief! They say if negative test again in a week and I'm very dubious about that. Waiting a week after a BFN and taking the progesterone seems pointless, but I guess I should do as they say.

You're treating that embryo to trips already!

@CycleGirl20 thanks! 1BB in UK terms would be very undeveloped, 5 being hatching, so it makes me think your grading is the reverse and 1 over there = 5 or 6 here? That's very nice. My local things aren't too fantastic lmao. I'll go for some walks anyway, need to keep moving! Maybe not at midday in 39 degree heat though lol.

@Marvellouslymadmum I missed the house hunting thing. Are you moving to a bigger place or different area etc? I want to start house hunting. I know it'll take us ages because there's such a dearth of appropriate houses where we want to go, but feel like the maternity leave is the reason not to. If my embryo would just stick that would help me out immensely!

@Lauralozzle thanks!!!

@thislittlebird the grading wasn't reversed. She was barely a blastocyst, but they thought she was on her way to being a 4bb over the next few days and decided she might as well do it in me rather than in their lab. Again, I was surprised it worked! Apparently it's common with girls to be slower growing and the reason why slightly more boys come from IVF. The boy embryos are more likely to be a 4/5xx on day 5.

@CycleGirl20 oh wow, that's unusual. I've not heard of a 1 before! It was fresh, right? Would they have frozen a 1? You have embryos frozen, I think? Normally here they go with the best grade and then work down from there.

I've heard that about boy embryos too. The 4AA I had failed, this is the 3AA.

In Germany, they will only develop a few to day 5. The rest they freeze on day 1. Something about protecting embryos and not being allowed to freeze "a human being" (I started laughing and the doctor struggled to keep a straight face). So we had 15 fertilized eggs. 5 developed to day 5 and 10 frozen on day 1 (the 10 are still in the freezer). When I went in for transfer they had 2 left at day 5. A 4bc and a 1bb. They showed me pictures of the embryos and said the 1bb looked better. I was surprised they didn't delay by a day, assuming it would be a 4bb by day 6. The 1bb I assumed wouldn't work and so wasn't very careful in terms of how active I was. The 4bc is now in the freezer too. I'm now 38 weeks pregnant with the 1bb, which I feel incredibly lucky about.

@CycleGirl20 hmmm I feel like I'd have more to choose from if they froze some on day one here. That's the same religious angle as the arguments around RvW in the US and in Italy you aren't allowed to freeze any, at least I think that's what I read.

Wow, that's gone fast. I find the passing of time so strange when you're infertile. Somehow you're 38 weeks and the rest of us still here are still at day 0, or minus zero...just who knows if we'll get there, but it's one of the strangest parts. Seeing other people be successful and then poof! they have a baby. It's like time stops with infertility, constantly treading water.

@thislittlebird I'm not sure if it's religious or old laws. Germany is really slow to bring most things up to date. Either way, it's stupid.

Infertility is really horrible and hard to describe how much it impacts you and your life. Being pregnant after infertility is certainly more challenging too as you're used to things not working and keep wondering when it's going to go wrong (I'm not saying that to look for sympathy). It is such a binary thing, being pregnant or not, and like waiting for a switch to flip when you don't believe the switch will ever flip. I'm really hoping you're actually 2 weeks pregnant at this point and not 0 and can join the post-infertility pregnancy worries camp, if that means anything🤞

@CycleGirl20 yeah, I can imagine it’s stressful. I know I’ll be very anxious if we do get there.

I’m at the point where I have fairly low expectations of it all, feel like we’ll be one of the extra unlucky ones who it never works for, like there’s something else wrong and I don’t know if I have it in me to go through endless tests and treatments. Never mind the cost, we’re absolutely not rich enough for years of this, or young enough. And thank you, I wish I was as optimistic, I’m mostly very doubtful any of it will work 😞.

@thislittlebird what you said about the passing of time is so true and I never realised it. It's like everyone else can just move on and every month is stuck when you're TTC. I'm starting to feel too drained by it all now.

@Longbin it’s very draining. The time aspect is what I find harder still, my age doesn’t help.

Well it looks like the prednisolone is doing something - I’ve come out in a bumper crop of cold sores. Usually happens when I get run down so I’m guessing my immune system is actually a bit suppressed. Can’t find anything to show there are contra-indications for aciclovir but might ask a pharmacist tomorrow just in case.

@Sunbird24 It’s not funny but it kinda is, because I also came out in a whole lip full of them yesterday afternoon 😂. I’m not on pred so will assume it’s FET stress causing mine.

I can recommend Blistex Relief Cream. It doesn’t contain aciclovir and gets them under control quite fast.

@thislittlebird oh that is weird, our poor faces! The weather probably doesn’t help either does it? I’m definitely struggling with both sleep and eating sensibly.

@Sunbird24 Yeah, I think the heat doesn’t help and I was feeling really down yesterday about the ivf, so I’m probably stressed out.

We bought a portable air con unit about a week ago when we saw this weather was coming, can’t deal with the heat and not sleeping. It’s been a godsend. we just stick it on for a couple of hours while we get to sleep and then it turns itself off.

Ok, need your help ladies! (Lighthearted question you can give your opinion on to stop my brain obsessing…) I have to take socks tomorrow for my embryo transfer - do I wear the bear ones I’ve worn for all my previous transfers (embryos always implant but don’t grow past 10 weeks, or do I go with a random different pair? If a new pair, should I go for strawberries or blue tits? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Disclaimer: I know what I have on my feet will make no difference to the eventual outcome!

Hmmmm @Sunbird24 I like both those options. I’m leaning towards the blue tits because my username is an Annie Lennox song about birds 😂. I don’t know how helpful that is, maybe not at all because I have zero pregnancies thus far lol

Can someone help please? We start our first cycle 30th July and our nurses appointment is 25th July. I've just read that whilst we're getting NHS funding, we'll need to pay prescription charges (ok!) Does anyone know how much this will be and is getting the 3 or 12 month prepaid prescription card best? TIA

@ShirleyValentineManc yeah I think that’s the same as me, except when it’s the meds delivery they don’t charge me for some reason, it just arrives. For one off prescriptions I have to pay the fee and I have a 1 year pre pay certificate anyway because I’ve got a couple of conditions. I would go for the year. It’s only £100 and your ivf will likely go on longer than 3 months if there’s any frozen embryos.

i didn’t explain that well. I would have to pay the fee without the pre pay cert, but I have it anyway so I don’t have to pay.

@thislittlebird if you're happy to share, how many prescriptions have you received for IVF? and then that x £9 would be how much they would cost without the prepaid? Thanks

@ShirleyValentineManc probably only a couple but my clinic haven’t charged me for stims or progesterone per item, they’ve covered it. If your clinic are charging you for each item that’s going to add up each cycle. You’d have to get them to be specific about what’s covered. Are stims covered? If you have to get those you’re going to be paying 9 x 4 or 5 in just the first couple of weeks. Are you doing long or short protocol? There could be a lot more drugs involved in long protocol and on medicated transfers.

£100 is great value, privately it would be about £2000.

This was my first drugs order that was delivered for free. I don’t pay per item but I assume that this would be £40 for order one, and this is short protocol on the lowest dose. Someone here might correct me, maybe those 2 units of Gonal F would be 2 x prescription charge?