Bus 9 - Donkey Cart departing soon, all aboard with ivf, pcos, endo, sub/unexplained fertility jump on

[Marvellouslymadmum]

New thread 😊😊

Adorable @kerrym87 and Loki being a finalist is fantastic (good name btw)!

Hey @OrangeBengal thats exciting for you!!

I’ve just finished the latest lot of letrozole and find out next week if it worked, I don’t hold out much hope and think I will be moved on from that to injections, the waiting to be told is the so hard right now, patience is not my strength!

sending lots of luck your way @thislittlebird

@Sunbird24 Such unfortunate timing!

@Misty84 how are you doing with it all? We are are fairly new to the whole thing compared to a lot of people here and haven’t got to IVF yet I can only imagine how much harder that is. Intimacy has definitely suffered going through all the tests and assisted conception, being told repeatedly that there’s no sign of ovulation and the meds aren’t working doesn’t put me in the mood at all!

Hello there again.

My second time here. Last time I conceived naturally nearly 6 years ago. Since then I've had my right ovary removed from my bowl, bladder and the back of my womb with adhesions. The left was only stuck to tissue. I had ablation surgery in 2019 with an endo specialist and he was happy a lot was removed. He tried to preserve my fertility as much as possible but like all endo it's a guessing game of the damaged. The adhesions were split and ovaries freed but not removed. 3 years later everything is starting to hurt again. I can't afford a private appointment so I'm trying to convince dh that before I start a hormonal treatment to just ttc for one last roll of the dice. If it doesn't happen then at least we tried and it wasn't to be.

@kerrym87 aaah congratulations to little Loki getting to the final! I’m not surprised, he’s completely adorable!

@Alexis7890 It’s tough to remain enthusiastic about intimacy isn’t it, especially when the spontaneity seems to be taken away and we have all this pressure! So I did ok for the first year as we were just “seeing what happens” (nothing!) then I became a bit of a neurotic nightmare with it. I had to stop and realise it was very unhealthy for us so for the next few years I just made sure we were intimate every other day throughout the fertile week (more or less) so that it was covered. We managed fine with that and it didn’t spoil things. However now it’s a bit different because ivf hasn’t worked and my partner has had awful results so he’s not rubbish about himself. So I’m just giving him (and me) some time to recover and not putting ANY pressure on restarting. I have faith that we’ll be ok again. It’s been a tricky one because we’ve been together 3.5years and 3 years of that has been trying to start a family so it’s completely dominated our relationship, I don’t even remember what we were like before! We certainly weren’t fully established as a couple and I remember feeling nervous about starting so soon after we’d met, but I was mid thirties and we both wanted kids. So bloody glad we did start that soon because at least we can’t blame ourselves for leaving it too late. We’ve really done everything we could and that helps a bit. It’s just down to fate now!
So I can really appreciate how you’re feeling when you’re relatively new to this and I would just encourage you to continue putting the health of your relationship first because that’s key to staying sane!!

@birdboo It sounds like you’ve been through an awful lot. I hope your dh agrees as you’ve got nothing to lose by having a go.

Morning @birdboo, I don’t really know to say other than I’m sorry that you’ve had a sh**ty time of it. Although the circumstances are different, we’ve recently been discussing knowing when is enough and I think one of the key conclusions we came to is that if you get to a point where you have no regrets then this point might be a good a place as any to stop. So your approach seems sound to me. If you would like support through your ttc from people who have been on their journey for way too long (or so it feels) then you’ve come to the right place. I’m new to mumsnet, but I’m sure there are also more specialist boards out there, if you need support from people who have more similar experiences. Whatever you decide you’re welcome here

@Alexis7890 thanks! Do you have to test?

Look at all these gorgeous pets, I’m jealous! I think if this is a BFN I’ll have to look into a pet. I’ve been applying and interviewing for jobs there last couple of weeks.

@birdboo sorry you find yourself here again and it’s been so tough, good luck if the plan is to try naturally.

@Misty84 The intimacy thing is hard…we’re almost relieved I think when it’s a transfer month because it’s an excuse not to try. It’s really complicated and I don’t know how, if this all fails, we get to a stage where sex isn’t about failing to make a baby anymore.

@OrangeBengal I haven’t watched that thing yet, I will reply to your DM soon! This week has been packed with interview prep and then the outcomes/discussions.

I don’t feel like this has worked again. It’s hard to explain. I just don’t feel it has. If I make it past 8dpt that’ll be a miracle, I never have so far without a period or migraine.

No worries @thislittlebird. Have you got extra cyclogest or Lubion around, if you really think this one hasn’t worked, maybe just add some more in as at least then you may get over the period / migraine hurdle and last until OTD, plus that should also tell you if the lack of progesterone is an issue.

Good luck re interviews!

@OrangeBengal yeah I’m on more this time so I guess I’m hoping I’ll get past Monday now the dosage is higher.

Oh, that’s great news @thislittlebird, whatever happens if you get further that’s still a little win

@thislittlebird the consultant told me not to test and rely on him doing scans to tell me if it works or not, so I’ll find out Tuesday afternoon! Probably works better for me to have been told not to test anything myself, I am the sort of person who would easily become obsessed!!

@Alexis7890 that’s pretty good! I hate testing, I’d rather they checked it lol.

Big day for me 😬. Today the aim is to get past the 8dp5dt hurdle. Last two transfers have gone tits up around now, with my migraine or period starting.

How is it going @thislittlebird?

Looks like AF is gearing up to start for me tomorrow, 2 days early.

@Sunbird24 you haven’t had your transfer yet, right? I didn’t miss that?

It’s honestly such a headfuck, so stressful. I have nausea on and off, lots of hunger and I think that’s the prednisolone, I know it made me super hungry before when I was on it. I had spotting off and on from Saturday and AF is due now/tomorrow so I’m just dreading the full flow starting. Feel like I’m going to the loo a lot to check if it’s here.

@thislittlebird, no this will be my final cycle starting. One way or another it’ll be all over by Christmas.

@Sunbird24 ah ok, that must be a lot to process. Hopefully you get the outcome you want from this cycle but either way, drawing a line is probably good for all of our sanity.

@Sunbird24 Best of luck for this transfer🙏

@thislittlebird How are you getting on with the anxious loo checking?

My AF has just been and gone, no surprise of course. It only lasts 2 days these days (and the second day isn’t much). I can remember when I was young and it would take over a week of my life!
I’m in Devon with my partner’s family and have just been enjoying myself with Prosecco, cider, good food and 5 dogs! Found it a bit hard hanging out with his 3 year old niece, and it made me feel so sad watching him push the pram. But I just pushed those thoughts aside as best I could.

@Misty84 did you find acupuncture helped the length/flow? I had that issue at the end of 2020/start of 21 and acupuncture (or coincidence) did seem to help.

Well, I’m definitely still anxious. It’s cruel because the nearer I get to OTD, the more it feels like it’s possible, and I think a third BFN will hit me harder than the second. Anyway, right now it’s 9dp5dt and I am still without AF (got to 10dp5dt on cycle 1 when a migraine started and I did a test; got to 9dp5dt on cycle two and started spotting and did a test) and on this cycle the spotting that started at 6dp5dt seems to have gone for now, it lasted for two days.

Devon and all the food, drinks and dogs sounds great! I’m sure the niece stuff was hard, I find that sort of age really difficult too. It sounds like you did the right thing though, enjoyed yourself and pushed through it. We’ve booked a weekend in York for December, I’m looking forward to it!

@thislittlebird I do occasionally reconsider restarting acupuncture (although it didn’t make any difference to my length/flow) problem is it’s so expensive around here 😔 I couldn’t afford once a week and even once a fortnight is a lot financially! How often do you have it?

Gosh I would def be getting my hopes up if I were you…!!! I can imagine it’s very hard not to!

York will be wonderful, my brother and his gf went recently and had the best time xx

@Misty84 how much is it in your area? My acupuncturist said the most important thing is to go regularly, even if it’s once per month I guess. I definitely saw a difference in my short/light periods after going to get a few times, and touch wood, my periods have gone back to mostly normal since then, with maybe one odd, light month along the way. I stopped going after our first failure tbh. Summer was expensive for us and I would like to go back but now October is going to be expensive too.

It’s really hard. I know they say that it doesn’t matter, you’ll be upset if it’s a BFN whether you were optimistic or pessimistic in the lead up, but the thought of everything going ok in terms of no symptoms and only spotting not bleeding etc and then still getting a negative result is just…..a lot to comprehend.

Glad they enjoyed it! We got a two together rail card at the end of last year and hadn’t used it enough so decided this was a good excuse. It’s only a couple of hours from London. We booked a hotel with resident cats! I am allergic so this might be an error but I’ll take my antihistamines so I can fuss over them lol. Cute photo attached!

@thislittlebird how are you getting on?

@Misty84 and @thislittlebird what do you think of acupuncture? I’ve looked at it and it is expensive but we could afford it, do you think it helped at all?

Seeing the consultant in an hour and a half, expecting to be told that we are moving on from letrozole but have to go on my own as husband is working away today and couldn’t get out of it.

York will be fun, we are going away this weekend down to Carbis Bay in Cornwall, first wedding anniversary on Saturday

So dh is only on board depending what the consultant says. We last saw him 5 years ago but where given an open invertation to make an nhs appointment with him through his secretary directly. My last experience was more like a horror story and continuous care was a big thing that was missing. Dh wants to set out a treatment/care plan before we even try.

I've made an appointment with my gp but it's 3 weeks away and only a telephone call. Would you try the open invite 5 years down the line? My case was so complex that the lead consultant had only seen a small handful through his career.

I hope everyone enjoys their up coming breaks.

Ahh very cute @thislittlebird and hope your allergies will be ok!
@Alexis7890 I did acupuncture for about a year. I got pregnant, miscarried, continued for a bit but then stopped (mental health declined and I stopped doing most things). I don’t know if it did anything to specifically help (think the pregnancy was just fluke as most of them surely are?!) and it didn’t stop me miscarrying so I don’t know really… I keep talking about going back but I have very low motivation.
It’s probably worth giving it a go and see if you like it!
Good luck with your consultation x

@Alexis7890 how was your appointment?

I can't say if the acupuncture did much, but I think it helped to get my periods back to normal, and it's also quite relaxing. Like a therapy session x time to relax with needles in lol. It's worth a go!

Carbis Bay is nice, my dh is from Cornwall. We go quite often.

I'm ok, just nervous as I get nearer to test day. Going to be a mess if it's another BFN. Can't worry about that yet, got the rest of Tuesday and the whole of Wednesday to get through without AF/migraine/other incidents.

@Misty84 As long as they don't creep into my room I should be fine, but will pack some allergy meds just in case! It sounded like a good idea at the time

You’re doing really well @thislittlebird, do you have a favourite programme, podcast or album you can put on to just make you laugh and distract you for awhile?

@Sunbird24 everything crossed for you for this transfer.

@Alexis7890 and @Misty84 I started acupuncture about 3 weeks ago and if it ends up not helping me get pregnant it would have at least helped improve my state of mind. Obviously both would be nice!

@OrangeBengal i actually picked up a tin of pencils and started drawing! I got drawing stuff for Christmas a couple of years ago and haven’t used it so decided it was time, long overdue. A good distraction, actually.