Fertility Appointments and Beyond.... the next chapter

[Tinkerbell098]

I have created a new thread as the previous one is about to fill up. I've tagged some of us here, but apologies if I have missed anyone.

The thread is for anyone who has started/ about to start fertility investigations or treatment. Come join us, we are a lovely bunch :)

@tillybabs
@thislittlebird
@kay00
@jeaniej
@PurpleUnicorn01
@paintfairy
@dogmam
@flutterby8
@Ughmaybenot
@dancingfairydreams
@beckycarlos
@jkjellyhead
@juno231
@decaffe
@bumble44
@BritinNZ
@tinkerbell098
@pinkginpls
@thedaydreambelievers
@everymumday
@wanderlust16
@lori23ttc
@Gracie2021
@Sofasogood1
@99pctpractice
@magnoliasinbloom

@magnoliasinbloom monday!

@IVFKinster welcome aboard! It’s good that you got the ball rolling. I have mild? borderline? pco or maybe no pco at all, doctors don’t seem sure, but our main issue is male factor. However the good news is icsi is kinda amazing so fingers crossed for you that the clinic doesn’t take too long.

Hope everyone is doing OK, I posted a few weeks ago but then never came back… at the moment it seems all we do is wait for ages and everything seems to move really slowly then suddenly something happens then just back to more waiting which is really depressing.

My husband got his private sperm test back and they have said low morphology (2%) so we’ve booked to see a urologist and a nutritionist in the hope that improving our diet and lifestyle can make a difference. If not it at least fills the waiting time! My bloods came back with high cholesterol, thyroid and inflammation and low vitamin D so at least I have something to work on (I have PCOS but all my PCOS markers were normal).

We have NHS sperm analysis and ‘bloods and scans’ for me at the end of May (I’m assuming from the CCG policy that they’ll do AMH and Prolactin bloods plus Chlymidia/ Rubella screening, transvaginal ultrasound and maybe a HSG or HyCoSy but not sure if I’m being wildly optimistic there!) I’m going to ask them about what the likely waiting time would be if we do need IVF. At first I thought we wouldn’t be eligible for NHS IVF as I’m overweight but with all the waiting I think I have a chance of getting to a BMI of under 30 within maybe three months or so (which is how long the doctor’s analysis that came with my blood tests suggested it would take for the vitamin D supplement to take effect anyway) so maybe it would be possible.

I do try really hard to be positive and grateful for everything I have but, as I’m sure everyone here is all too aware, it just seems so expensive, inconvenient and unfair at the moment!

Hey there may I join in?

I've been oficially diagnosed with unexplained infertility after 12 months of investigations and another 12 months of trying.

Just got the news yesterday so I don't know how to proceed. I mean do we still try? Is there a point of you know, dtd?

@gianainfertilitysucks Welcome! I'm sorry about your diagnosis. Unexplained infertility can be frustrating because it's an infertility of unknown origin (they haven't worked out what the issue is yet) but it doesn't necessarily mean you're completely infertile. You still have a chance of conceiving. In fact, one of our regular posters Juno, was diagnosed with Unexplained Infertility and after two years of trying, and just before she was due to start IVF, she conceived naturally. So keep trying, just in case x

@CharlotteYorkMacDougal Welcome back! Sorry to hear about your OHs sperm results. It's sounds like you are doing all the proactive things you can to improve his situation: Urologist and Nutritionist 😊 There is a huge amount of waiting around in this TTC game. It's incredibly frustrating, but you have made some progress, and it sounds like you have more tests on the horizon x

@Kay00 thank you so much for the positive story x it's like you said, unexplained infertility is so annoying

@CharlotteYorkMacDougal sorry to hear of your experience.
I had a similar issue,
I have PCOS and my husband low count. he saw a NHS urologist 2-3 years ago who didn’t pick up anything. Last year I found out about the best for male fertility Dr Jonathan Ramsey, and he is just the best. We found out he has a varicocele vein which was fixed with a simple procedure, waited for a few months for his body heal… the count improved little but we hadn’t realised the quality had improved so much, in Feb I was about to start a round with Guys I found out I was naturally pregnant.
I also saw Melanie Brown who’s an amazing fertility nutritionist she changed our lives!! You’ll get there

Hi ladies, I've been away for a few months whilst waiting to stat our second round of ICSI, but potentially starting short protocol next week and booked in for baseline scan on Tuesday so we'll see. Typically, AF started on Friday which means I'll be CD5 so hoping its not too late, at least my lining should be thin enough though!

Anyway.. I've read back the last few pages but do fill me in on where everyone at if I've missed it!
@thislittlebird you've transferred!!! How exciting, so test day is tomorrow?! Have you not been tempted to test early? My last two FETs official test day was 9dp5dt just saying! As long as you use a FRER you'll know.

@Kay00 exciting that you've started! How are you finding things so far?

@IVFKinster we have male factor too (10% motility and 2% morphology) and I'm borderline PCO. I'm going into my second round of IVF and never had a HSG as the treatment would be the same regardless. AMH is really important to get an idea of your egg reserve as this will determine your drugs protocol for treatment, you'll also need a scan to see how many natural follicles you have (AFC).

@Sofasogood1 I'm sorry 😞 its so awful. Have a lovely few days away x

@magnoliasinbloom amazing news, lovely to hear happy updates!

@PurpleUnicorn01 hope you're doing well!

@Tillybabs aw that must be really shit to have your cycle canacelled. Hopfully it was a once off that you weren't responding to the estrogen. My first FET I responded well and had a thick lining from just 3 a day but second time I had to up my dose to 4 and stay on them for longer, so fingers crossed for you when you go again.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend everyone!

ladies I still have my meds from the round that I didn’t end up doing. If anyone is a paying IVF patient and need Menopur (and ovitrelle etc) please send me a private message as I’m giving mine away for free.

@IVFKinster welcome! I think they will still check you so you should have a hycosy I imagine. Sperm motility can improve with diet etc and they will want to check everything is ok with you as well. It's definitely worth having to put your mind at rest

@CharlotteYorkMacDougal I think I waited about a month from referral from my GP, it honestly started so quickly. But all areas are different. You do need to be a certain BMI so definitely check your CCG requirement and then you have some time to try and get yours down if you need to. The good thing with sperm issues is it can improve with diet etc.

@gianaInfertilitySucks welcome! Unexplained infertility can be very frustrating but like others have said, definitely don't give up hope. I've seen women with the same on here get pregnant.

@dogmam yea it's shit and I'm trying to not read too much online. I have seen others have had FETs cancelled numerous times due to lining and managed to get it thickened by trying different things. I'm hoping it's just the meds

Welcome back. It seems it might be all off of you again soon.

@dogmam welcome back! I was thinking about you the other day and how you were getting on, glad to hear you’re starting icsi soon.

Crap but not shocking update from me. My migraine came properly, I knew this was a bad sign for me so I did a cheapie and it’s as white as the driven snow. I’ll do my proper one in the morning for official confirmation with FMU but I don’t expect any change.

Ah well, I’ll have a cry later I’m sure. Already had one today when the migraine started, but at least I have a nice holiday booked and I can work out for it and drink when there 🤷‍♀️

Thank you everyone that's really helpful to know what tests different people have had.
We think my husband's sperm issues are medication related as he's on medication that has a known negative impact on fertility. He's on some vitamins etc. But there are only certain things he can take due to the medication he's on, he can't even take cold medicine. It's good to know some people recommend hsg and others haven't been made to have it! I'm not bothered about it for my own information currently. I just don't want to have to be in a massive waiting list for that test when we do eventually get an appointment with the fertility clinic.

I hope people's upcoming cycles go well, will be reading with interest. I'll also go back and have a proper read as well.

I'm having a battle of wills with my phone tagging people as it doesn't like it 😒

I'm sorry you haven't got the result we'd all hope for thislittlebird, I hope the morning brings a different story. Having a holiday planned is a great idea. Something you can control and look forward to in amongst everything else.

@thislittlebird 😪 sorry about the negative test. Please take care this weekend xx

@dogmam Hello m'dear!

All fine here. I'm on Day 3 of the Norethisterone and packing my bags for my trip to Norway. I have received my formal regime and now have dates for all my scans which is super helpful. My first/downreg scan is on Friday 13th 😬😆

@IVFKinster if they do ask you to have hycosy - we were faced with an 8mo NHS wait list for this and paid £500 to have it done privately, they were happy to take the results of this and done within a week!

@thislittlebird oh no I'm really sorry and sad for you. Have a good cry and do what you need to do xx it's so shitty.

@Kay00 thats good you've got all your dates, even if the scan is on Friday 13th haha typical!

@Tillybabs yeah, there'll be something that can help you, just frustrating more than anything I bet.

@thislittlebird I'm sorry. Welcome to the bfn club :( We may well sync on our next frozen transfer.

I've been feeling absolutely fine and pragmatic about it one minute (obviously it wasn't going to work first time, I've shit luck, never mind, whatever, onwards) and then crappy and having a little cry and feeling I don't want to do this again. I imagine we all feel similarly.

Still, let us know how you get on tomorrow.

@Sofasogood1 we may do, at least we can be in the sad infertiles club together 🙌 . Your thoughts are similar to my own. Even my husband said he thought we might be beyond the bad luck stage. It was such a long process for us to get here, it feels so unfair that that long process just keeps rolling on. I know it can take multiple attempts, and I know I’m not going to have as many good eggs as a 35 year old will. But it still hurts a lot to know there is never an end in sight. You can never plan for the future.

I’m kind of obsessed with my age and how I’m about to turn 39. All I can think about is how long this process has taken us so far, and how I’m running out of time. I don’t know what to do with my three embryos, probably use them one at a time rather than two, to see if I have any implantation issues. I’ve always been scared it’s me and my stupid immune system that’s part of the problem, so now I’m thinking about that too.

I’m really sad, obviously, but I’m now annoyed at the nhs tests they gave me. I did one of theirs and it came up with a very odd result that looked like a faulty test, with two lines, albeit one very faint. I then did a frer, a one step cheapie and they came up white white white and then I did the second nhs test which came up with the same weird second line again, it’s not showing up well in photos. Anyway, I don’t think frer etc are wrong, I think the nhs use weird, cheap tests. They tell me to test again in one week on their instructions, but if I stop the progesterone my period will start in a couple of days so I won’t be retesting in one week.

Thanks @dogmam. I was really hoping it would be a chance for us but to know it didn’t even implant feels sad. I have to hope it’s just a duffer.

@thislittlebird Morning,
thats so annoying about the tests they've given you. Would you consider doing another egg collection, if you're worried about your age? I'm only saying that because it'll be nearly a year since my two collections, due to the time it took to do two FETs and then waiting, and as you've got 3 embryos left (which is great by the way!) then it could be even longer. Have you got anything nice planned for today?

@dogmam I have thought about it. We’d have to do it privately though, but it’s an option. I can’t do it right now because I have weight loss and a holiday planned, we booked a holiday to Cyprus last week for the first week of June anticipating this shit result. Plus DH just had Covid so his sperm will be wrecked again no doubt. I’d be looking at late summer/autumn maybe, which isn’t too bad I guess. I had ‘good’ embryos in Feb 2022, hoping September ish wouldn’t make too much difference. I’ve emailed the clinic to ask what the FET wait times are, and the letter said I could have an appointment with a senior doctor so I’ve enquired about that too. Wonder how long it’ll be :/

When you say two collections, I thought you’d only had one? Maybe I’m misunderstanding!

And no, nothing nice planned for today. I'm going to do some stuff in the house and hope the swimming costumes I ordered arrive to distract me!

@thislittlebird when I asked my consultant when I could do the next transfer she said 'asap' but when I asked if I could delay it by a month she recommended it. Whether the clinic could actually do it 'asap' remains to be seen...

Bit torn on timelines. DP is a contractor and his current contract ends the end of June. So he'd like a holiday beginning of July. But then that delays the transfer ANOTHER month. But also his contract could be extended so maybe we could go away in June if he's there until September... I don't know.

@Sofasogood1 remind me, are you doing this with the nhs? I’m scheduled in for a call on May 24th :/ and they told me not to worry because they’re scheduling April follow ups now so there’s not much of a wait at present. Someone else at guy’s said they told her weeks rather than months recently too.

Our cycles were a similar time, I don’t know when mine will resync to, but I’m anticipating late June or late July. Maybe early July if my cycles shift a bit. If you had a holiday in July when would af be expected that month?

@thislittlebird Yes, NHS. We get one more frozen and that's us done with them and we won't have any embryos left.

No sure on dates. I haven't taken any drugs today so just waiting to bleed now. My cycles are usually 25 days, so if I do this one natural, then start norethisterone in the next one... That'll take me to circa 53 days so maybe transfer early June? I might ask if I can use the norethisterone to delay a bit more if we go away. Still haven't worked out dates with DP yet...

What's your NHS deal left?

*early July

Hey guys,
Hope everyone's cycles, treatments & or testing is going ok.
So a wee update from me.
I'm 8 days post miscarriage & the bleeding & pain has calmed down to almost non existent. I'm physically feeling better, but I'll wait a few more days before I try go for a run etc because my body doesn't feel ready.

I think I mentioned that it was a natural miscarriage, but there was a bit left, so I had a D&C. I have to do a pregnancy test next week & hopefully it's negative (ironic right?) which means I don't need any more procedures 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Had another reassuring chat with the fertility clinic today (NHS). They said my funding is still available to me and we can just pick up where we left off (pre IVF scan & bloods).

They recommended I had at least 2-3 periods so I could get back to normal, so that's what I'm gonna do. I want to make sure we can make the most of our chance, so I really feel like my body needs to heal.

In the meantime, DH is gonna get the DNA frag and get checked for a varicosele. This is all his idea ... he's feeling like this is all his fault atm & he feels really guilty that in this whole journey, he's just had one test.

This summer I'm having my delayed honeymoon (Covid wedding) in July, plus my sister is getting married in August which I'm really excited about.

I'm fed up of letting fertility stuff make me pass up on nice things or reschedule holidays, so I think we might try naturally 🤷🏻 for the summer, then failing that, start IVF in late August/September.

Not feeling any more positive, but feeling a little bit less lost than I did last week.

Xx