abc IVF experience sharing - 2021/2022

[Millymillymillymillymilly]

Hey everyone,

I've benefited so much from the last 2 abc ivf threads that I thought I'd start a new one and hopefully can contribute back to the community.

I'm 33 years old, AFC around 24 (based on the initial treatment scan) and the reason we are doing IVF is due to male infertility issues (morphology lower than 4%) and irregular ovulation. We are undergoing treatment at the Harley Street branch.

Here's my treatment timeline so far:

09/11 Tue - Bemfola injection 125
10/11 Wed - Bemfola injection 125
11/11 Thu - Bemfola injection 125
12/11 Fri - Bemfola injection 125 + 1st scan
13/11 Sat - Bemfola injection 125
14/11 Sun - Bemfola injection 125 + Cetrotide injection
15/11 Mon - Bemfola injection 125 + Cetrotide injection +2nd scan
16/11 Tue - Bemfola injection 125 + Cetrotide injection
17/11 Wed - Cetrotide injection + 3rd scan + Ovitrelle injection (exact timing TBC)

After my 3rd scan today, the nurse said I didn't have to do anymore injections apart from morning Cetrotide shot and the Ovitrelle which someone from the Create clinic will call and let me know when to inject as it needs to fit into their egg retrieval appointments (I still haven't received the call and my scan was at 08.30 this morning).

My follicles' growth was as below:

1st scan
11 < 6mm
10 10 mm

2nd scan
2 < 6mm
12

@Sazles99 I think the TWW is by far the hardest in the whole treatment cycle! Are you going to try and test early before your beta? Fingers crossed for you and your partner and hopefully you have an amazing Christmas present waiting for you x

Thanks @Millymillymillymillymilly! I completely agree that this has been the hardest part! I'm second guessing every single 'symptom' and have convinced myself it's not going to have worked.

We've decided not to test at home, because I've read of false negatives and also positives, then to be told the levels are not high enough! So we are just going to wait for the call 😬

Have you managed to get anh further with how/when your NHS round might work?

Thank you for your wishes 🤞

Hey @Sazles99 - that’s definitely a good idea! I tested early and the stress was just too much because you still hold hope until beta. I think I’m going to try and wait till beta next time too.

I’ve got all my medication from NHS round already. It’s a bit different to abc. I will need to take the notherhisterone pill to manage my period (I guess it helps the NHS to slot patients into appointments better) for 16 days and then a baseline scan is needed once I start my period. And if they are happy with my scan, I will then start stimming. I start my first pill next week so I think I might be done with this new cycle before end of January. It’s actually a tad stressful because I’m starting a new job at the same time so I’m going to have to think of good excuses to go to my scans… (my current manager knows what I’m going through so it’s been easy for me to attend appointments and take days off with short notice) Any suggestions??!

@Millymillymillymillymilly I would definitely be the same if I tested at home!

Oh wow, that's all happened so quick, which is surprising for the NHS! In the year since I raised my issues with my GP, I've only had one appointment where I was given 2 months worth of clomid and nothing since!

I think I'll follow it up in the new year if this round doesn't work for us!

I guess the NHS approach is the more 'conventional' IVF, in that they try and control your cycle first, rather than work with it in the mild approach?

Ah what timing for a new job! You don't HAVE to tell them anything, do you? Maybe you can just say you have some medical appointments coming up (that way they can't say no!) And it'll set you up for the rest of the process as you can say one appointment has meant they need another.. such as a "blood test" or something!

I did a lot of that earlier in the process as I didn't want the pressure of my manager knowing from the outset!

Thank you for asking , I went on wed and they got 2 eggs . Only one was mature and even after icsi nothing matured overnight :(
I’m going to go again on a higher does of Bemfola . We did ABC with 150 Bemfola last time and it was only on the last scan that all the follicles had started to grow so hoping with a higher dose I might get more ?
Such a horrible thing to experience ….

Got my fingers crossed for you all!!

I haven't started the process yet, but I can already see how stressful and hard it sounds. I've got my ultrasound booked for 30th Dec, and consultation January so hoping to start the process in February's cycle.

Good luck with your next nhs cycle @Millymillymillymillymilly and fingers crossed for you @Sazles99 Thanks for the update. Hope you get your christmas miracle.

@NDW84 I'm so sorry you've had to experience that, hopefully they may know more about doses now etc so hopefully a higher dose might help? I've no clue how it all works but praying for you too!

Hi all, really grateful for the info in this tread. Me and oh are v new to this journey. Been ttc for years and so tired of waiting for the nhs. After an info zoom call last week we’ve decided to go for it and are booked in for my us on 30th and a consultation on the 5th Jan. Af is due 28th Jan so hopefully we can start then.

@Millymillymillymillymilly Thank you again for starting the tread. Already so informative.

@star2022 we seem to be at the same stage :)

Welcome @Mazzaroo2022 !

We will literally be cycle buddies! So glad to have someone doing it at the same time as me. I couldn't get a consultation booked in until 20th Jan, but AF is due 1st Feb so i'll hopefully be just a few days behind you if I can start that cycle.

Does anyone have any advice on how they've dealt with this process whilst working? Has it been difficult to attend work or is it still possible? Just wondering if I should use my annual leave to have a few weeks off in Feb.

Hello,

New to posting here at netmums, I have been following this forum since I started navigating my own journey with ABC and I'm so glad I stumbled across it as it has been incredibly helpful to have in insight into other peoples journeys.

For my own journey myself (29) and my husband (37) will have to have ICSI due to a male infertility factor, I'll be starting my Bemfola injections this week once AF shows, a little anxious but hopeful 😊

Looking forward to following all your stories and experiences .. it's good to talk 😃

Welcome @waitingmyturn and good luck for this week. I'm about a month behind you. Also nervous but really hopeful 🤞

@star2022 Good luck for your ultrasound on Thursday! Mine is first thing. Hopefully we both get told we have crazy numbers of follicles 😅

Thank you @Mazzaroo2022 😊 it's a lot to take on board isn't it, I will say that so far my experience has been very positive and that everyone I've had consultations with or have spoken to have been wonderfully kind and able to answer any questions I've had to put my mind at ease (as much as possible anyway haha).

I hope all goes well with your scan 😃

@Mazzaroo2022 Good luck for tomorrow too! Which abc are you at? I've just read the booklet they send via email and it sounds quite thorough so hopefully it all looks well and healthy for us both! I had a scan with the nhs back in march but they didn't tell me anything about blood flow/eggs etc just checked for polyps and if there was anything unusual so I'm hoping it's all positive again.

Hi @waitingmyturn have you started your bemfola injections yet? If so, I hope you're getting on okay! I'm glad your experience has been good so far! When is your first scan?

@star2022 I'm ABC Harley Street in London (although it's really St.Pauls). Same here, had an ultrasound in August to check for abnormalities but none found. Seemed quite generic. Then had a HyCoSy in November where they told me my tubes were patent but again didn't check follicles or blood flow. Feel like I'm an expert in transvaginal tests now but am still feeling nervous in case there aren't many follicles. Am having a gin and tonic now to prepare May as well as Jan/Feb is going to be trez dry!

@waitingmyturn Great to hear you've had a positive experience so far. That alone makes it a bit less stressful. If you've started your injections hope they are going ok. A friend who's went through it told me to take it out of the fridge an hour before as it makes it sting less x

@Mazzaroo2022 Mines first thing tomorrow too literally at 8.30 when it opens! We seem to be at the exact same stage as i too had the HyCoSy in November which also showed open tubes! Looking forward to tomorrow's ultrasound but nervous as I have no clue about my ovarian reserve / blood flow so i'm hoping as they do it they will talk it through.

Gin & tonic sounds amazing haha, hope it all goes well let me know how it goes! x

@star2022 which abc are you with? Mine is at 9am. Mad if it was the same one. Fingers crossed we both get good outcomes x

@Mazzaroo2022 I'm at Bham! I thought the same initially, which is why I asked. But we will be having ours more or less at the same time! 🙏

@star2022 Probs for the best. No awkward eye contact in the waiting room when you come out 😅

If anyone else is on here new to this I see ABC have another info zoom call tomorrow. I did one of these a few weeks ago and found it really helpful. Also, don't fear you can't put your camera on but can put questions in the chat x

Hello @star2022, good luck with your scan tomorrow! haven't started my injections yet, still waiting for AF to show, due today but it's not unusual for me to go a day or two over, I haven't got a date for my first scan yet as they said to contact them when AF arrives and they'll arrange an appointment from there 😊

Thank you @Mazzaroo2022 I appreciate any helpful tips 😄 good luck with your scan tomorrow, hope it all goes well x

@Millymillymillymillymilly
Just reading through your post so sorry to hear it did not work but fingers crossed it works this time around.
I have just got my letter through and have reached the top of the list for ivf I'm nervous and scared of the whole thing don't know why lol.
I have had 4 miscarriages and 1 cp and hoping ifv is the way to get my rainbow baby. 💚

Hey @Sazles99 - we've waited a long time to get on the NHS boat. We kicked off all the tests 2020 and it's taken more than 1 year to get the funding approved. I hope everything went well for you? x

@Babyghirl - I'm so sorry to hear you had to experience that! Hope you get your rainbow baby soon!

And nice to see new people joining the group! Welcome! Hope everyone gets their baby that they want in the new year. I just got news my sis in-law is pregnant again and boy it's hard :(

@Millymillymillymillymilly
That's tough my sis in law fell pregnant a few months after my first loss and was giving birth when I was going through my 2nd loss, and is now pregnant again its tough to swollow big hugs to you. I keep my distance from her as it hurts seeing her pregnant, people don't understand your feeling unless they have had struggles with trying to have a baby. Feel how you need to feel I deleted my fb 2 years ago because of all the pregnancy posts best thing I done. 💐

Hi all & welcome @Mazzaroo2022 and @waitingmyturn! I'm glad you've found this thread, I've found it so helpful! Hope the scans go well for you both today 😊

@Millymillymillymillymilly how are you? The NHS process is so long, but I'm glad you've now had the funding approved!

It's been a while since I posted here and I can't remember where I left it but we had our egg collection in early December, we got 9 mature eggs but only 3 of those fertilised. We therefore had a day 3 transfer. Thankfully the other two also made it to day 5 and were suitable for freezing (1 5AA and 1 4BC).

Long story short... we received news of our Christmas miracle just before Christmas 🥰

I couldn't have been more shocked when they told me and I'm still very anxious about it all and trying not to get my hope's up just yet.. I think I'll feel better once I've had my scan in a couple of weeks' time.

In my 2.5 years of TTC I've been surrounded by friends and family members getting pregnant and having beautiful babies and really struggled. I found myself distancing myself from them too and struggled being happy for them without being sad for me. It's a tough thing to go through but I can only agree with what @Babyghirl has said above and feel however you need to feel and don't carry any guilt for whatever those feelings may be xx

Hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas.

Congratulations @Sazles99 ! What a fantastic Christmas present that must have been. Wishing you a very healthy pregnancy.

I have just spoken to ABC and will start treatment on approx 17 January at the St Pauls clinic (moved from Harley Street). Excited but daunted and need to find excuses for the could of social things we have going on towards the end of Jan including my brothers 30th in another part of the UK which looks like it will fall around egg collection day. We decided there was no such thing in a perfectly convenient month so just to go ahead or we would be waiting for ages!

We also have our first NHS clinic appointment on 8 February which will be in the two week wait. I don't feel I can go to that and tell them that I am having a private round so will need to delay that as well in case the first round is unsuccessful.

@Babyghirl and @Millymillymillymillymilly I agree, its torture hearing others news of pregnancies, esp when they are only just starting to try or even unplanned! I seem to be at that age where every second post on social media is about pregnancy/ babies. I also feel my husband is just not as bothered about this. He really wants kids too but doesn't get upset like I do.

However, I feel nothing but happiness for you @Sazles99 I think when you know someone has struggled and understands what its like it makes a easier to be happy for them. And of course you are giving us all hope!

My scan today went really well. Everything was normal and although not as many follicles as I would like on the right (6), there were 9 on the left + 1 I'd ovulated from this month. The lady was so nice and the scan was very thorough and she kept me up to speed as she went along. This is ABC Harley street btw. Feeling really positive now :)

@Mazzaroo2022
Can I ask how you have found the whole ivf process.