Trying to Conceive over 40 part 3

[October1979]

Here is a new thread for us all. As it will run out at 1000 comments

@October1979 Wow!! I've said it before but how fast is this process!! I'm so glad you've come back feeling positive. Can I ask what medication they've given you? How did you find the clinic? So many questions.......sorry.
We've got our fertility clinic feedback Tuesday, not very hopefully but Prague sounds like a real good plan.
Thankyou so much for sharing I understand how personal this is and I'm grateful, you've given me some hope x

Hello! Do any of you take any supplements to help with conceiving? I've tried the pregnacare and currently taking the seven seas ones but a lot of what the internet says is that you only really need folic acid and vitamin d, am I just wasting money buying the others? Xx

@October1979 ooooh!!! That's v exciting - how do you choose a donor? Will it be a fresh donor? All fingers crossed this is the beginning of the next phase for you!!

@hells1234 I take ubiquinol every day but I am not convinced that it does anything at all 🤣🤣🤣 if you're thinking about ivf, I have been advised to take DHEA for follicle / egg numbers.....

@Lemonbell hope you're doing ok, miscarriage is brutal. Every period feels like a miserable reminder. Sending hugs!

@Kelb79 that's brilliant!!!! Hope your consultation goes well on Tuesday :o)

Hi @DOB78 I don't mind at all. There are a lot of clinics in Prague I chose Gynem following an online consultation. They are a small clinic so liked the personal touch. However the larger clinics look good too and may have bigger egg bank? Prague is 2nd best to Spain for egg donation. I went with prague as they will have more donors for my fair features. We have chosen frozen embryo transfer as it works best for us and they have shown us evidence their results are as good as fresh. All test results looked great fro both of us and OH sample was great and frozen there and then so we are using that. For that reason they are going to work with my my natural cycle. Day 1 of period, day 2 I start taking 3 types of medications Estofem, Asprin and Ogestan. I get a scan to check lining day 10 and they will tell me if I need more. Around day 15 I add progesterone to the mix and if all well they do the egg transfer on day 18. They may still decide I should go on the pill day 1 of transfer cycle just in case but I can get that here. But once they match me with a donor my next cycle will be the transfer cycle. They will fertilise the eggs in preparation for me travelling the day before transfer x

@99pctpractice I have selected eye colour, hair, height and weight. They will match me and give the 3 best matches to me on paper to decide from(if they have 3). If not they will need to search for a fresh donor for us . I won't get a photo but will get a description, age, level of education and hobbies I think. Then we chose. Although I heard so much information I'm not sure I've taken it all in xx

@October1979 Thankyou much for sharing this! If I'm making a nuisance of myself asking questions I won't be offended if you tell me to shush, you've got enough going on without me poking away.......
I've looked at this clinic already and really liked their success stats. Also flights to Prague seem quite cheap too, which is going to help as financially we're not too well off.
We're going on holiday in July so I think we'd probably have to wait till Aug/Sept to start the process.
How are you finding the process? It sounds really well organised and you know exactly what's going on at each stage. It seems like they have options to suit everyone.
I honestly can't tell you how inspiring it is to hear your story and I keep saying it but you've given me so much hope we'll get our baby soon. I've just got to convince OH now x

To be honest @DOB78 I'm finding the process a lot less stressful than the stress I've put myself under the last 2 years ttc. The clinic talk you through everything and make it easy. You also have a coordinator that makes all the arrangements for you and keeps you right via email x

@October1979 it sounds like a really positive experience and a very supportive Clinic. Good Luck everything crossed for you x

@October1979 thanks for sharing!!! I’ve been getting a bit jittery about going to our clinic on Sunday 😵‍💫
but the clinic have been amazing so far!! Replied to everything really quickly - got a consult within 2 weeks! They booked a hotel and taxi for me with really good rates!
i can’t believe you can actually get such highly rated clinics for so much cheaper than the UK!!
we’re going to IVF Spain which is rated number 1 at the mo and yet it’s cheaper?! So crazy!! And so much easier than I ever imagined - I can fly to Alicante from an airport 10 minutes away from me and the flights are soooo cheap!! It’s crazy!!
I think we’re going to do a sperm test and have it frozen this week. Then do the rest in sections too - I’ll go for the retrieval and they’ll fertilise and freeze them embryos (hopefully!!) for me to come back when I’m ready for the transfer. Saves me having to be in Spain for any length of time as I run my own business.
they’ve got an offer on at the mo for a free PGT too, it’s fab!!
but terrifying!!!! 🫣🫣🫣🫣

@Kelb79 Wow, thankyou for sharing this too! It's been really good to hear these positives about donor IVF and how quick it can happen. I thought our chances were over but between you and @October1979 I feel like we have hope.
Everything crossed for you guys x

Sounds fab@Kelb79 fingers crossed for us both. Thank you @DOB78 we have filled out our questionnaire to find our donor tonight and sent back so will be interesting to find out how long it will take. I feel really positive. According to the doctor we have a 50% chance of live take home baby each cycle. 62% chance of clinical pregnancy. So odds are pretty optimistic. Much better than we've been dealing with. Also learned a lot about epigenetics. Shows I can influence the genes of the child up to 30% in terms of what switches on/ off in the womb. It's fascinating xx

@October1979 They're fantastic odds!! I think we have about 5% at the moment so that's amazing!! Knowing you have an influence over the genetics is mindblowing but makes perfect sense.

I appreciate you sharing this so much.

I really hope OH takes this on board this could be the only chance we have. Im getting excited and a little nervous now to think we could make this happen, possibly before I'm 45 in Feb!!!

@October1979 ooh that's fantastic news! I'm so excited for you!! I'm so glad you've found that out about the genetics too, it confirms what I found online and is really brilliant to know!

@hells1234 I take pregnacare and a few others to top up plus ubiquinol for egg health

@Kelb79 oooh sounds like everything is happening for you now too! So pleased for you.

I'm starting to look into clinics now but I'm thinking we may try one round of ivf with my eggs first as we have a feeling it's a special meets egg problem, so maybe Isci may work and if not into donor eggs.

@October1979 oh wow!! Those stats are sooooo good!!! I’ve been reading the stats for the Spanish clinics and I almost don’t believe they - how the hell can they be soooo much higher than uk??!! It’s insane!!
I also didn’t know anything about epigenetics!! I’ve not got as far as really thinking about donor eggs yet - our tests here showed me as having a really high AMH and follicle counts were always fine until my first scan post MC but they were training someone then and I don’t really trust the result 🤔
but I know donor eggs might be something I have to consider so it’s good to hear info like that! 😁

@hells1234 i usually take pregnacare pre conception but I’m currently take a post MC rebuild formula - pretty much the same just a couple extra ingredients. Also CoQ10 and Selenium. And currently taking Chinese herbs too with my acupuncture treatment 🫣🫣

I’m 8DPO today…. Really shattered this week dealing with OH but no symptoms either way. Trying to decide whether to test 🤔 I’ll be flying to Spain on the day AF is due 😵‍💫🤦🏼‍♀️

@Kelb79 Apologises I got my wires crossed and thought you were going for donor IVF already. Wishing you success x

Hi everyone been Mia I’ve been decorating and doing gardening been distracting myself from testing lol I’m 16 dpo today af should arrive today or tomorrow I did test yesterday and got a blank negative… so I decided to test this morning with no hold and got a vvfl I think then I started spotting brown/ pink not touching a liner just when I wipe my temp also started to drop on 14 dpo but no af … yet here is my test what do you ladies think I’ve never had spotting with any of my pregnancies so this could go either way .

@traceyann44 apologies for my lack of knowledge here...could you tell me what brand you are using for that strip and is it a pregnancy testing strip?
I'm new to TTC .
Thanks 🙏

No worries there called on step 10ml pregnancy tests .

cd 1 spotting got heavier 🙁

So had our feedback from Fertility Consultant and as expected our.chances of conceiving on our own is 5% even with IVF. Everything is working as it should and OH's SA came back good but my AMH is 3.7 which is apparently to be expected at my age. Looks like we're heading down the donor IVF pathway but its going to take us a little while to save and OH is doing his best ostrich impression!

Awwww I’m so sorry for the news I’m glad that everything is working as is should though … I hope you get to have a baby soon …. I hate the fact our eggs get old it’s a long road and so stressful fx for your future baby x

So af is well underway last night and this morning is so heavy cd 2 be glad when it’s over I hate af

@DOB78 oh huni! Im so sorry ❤️❤️❤️ I’m dreading this outcome too. I’ve not given it much contemplation yet - why worry until you get there right 🤷🏼‍♀️ But it’s like a dark cloud looming knowing how strong a possibility it is.
how are you feeling about it?

im 11DPO - BFN yesterday on boots cheapies. Run out of tests now though! Might get some more to make sure before we go to Spain but im not feeling hopeful this cycle

@traceyann44 sorry af arrived, such a gruesome disappointment each month!

@DOB78 the odds are so depressing, but don't forget that it could still happen :o) I thought our odds were reasonable with ivf but we have still had 3 failed cycles so it definitely isn't the magic fix for over 40s alas :o(

we're also starting down the donor ivf route. It seems both eye wateringly expensive and at the clinic I first spoke to about it they quoted wait times of 9-12 months...! So I think London egg bank is probably the best bet for us, though there are still not many potential matches on their website - not sure if it's because we really would prefer a blue eyed match given that both of us and our little boy have blue eyes.....

I can't believe I didn't look into this earlier. My sister when I was in my late twenties told me to freeze some eggs, but I was totally disinterested because I didn't want to "jinx" finding a partner (plus it is so expensive). I think if I had known about egg sharing schemes then I probably would have done it though, ie freeze some for me, give some to someone else and get a discount in the process....I feel like I should tell every single woman under 35 that I know to do this...!