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

[Marvellouslymadmum]

New thread 😊😊

@thislittlebird Good luck with your scan!

CD1 today. FET cycle has started. Lining scan and blood test next Wednesday.

@Lauralozzle oh exciting! What’s the plan for your protocol and which embryo etc?

@Marvellouslymadmum 9am but it’s the day after train strikes sooooo maybe not at 9am!

I think that’s one of the biggest frustrations for me throughout all this. There’s no consideration for your age, and I think there should be some sort of fast track ivf or testing for women over 37 or something like that. It’s incredibly unfair that your chances decline because of the waiting time.

@thislittlebird I’m taking oestrogen tablets from today, scan on CD 10 with a blood test. Then wait for lining to be ok. Transfer should be towards end of the month. We’ll be transferring the day 5 blast, if it thaws 😬

@thislittlebird ahh yes the train strikes cause mayhem here! I definitely agree with you on that, if someone in their twenties or up to mid thirties there's no rush but after then they should definitely take your age into consideration with the wait times! It makes it all so unfair

@Marvellouslymadmum I’m so pleased for you that you’ll be getting a laparoscopy! And I totally agree with what’s been said about how it’s really unfair about how long you’ve had to wait, and how there’s no consideration for age with fast tracking these things. Do you feel mentally accepting of DE now? Great that your partner is enthusiastic and ready for when the time comes.

@Lauralozzle Wishing you the very best of luck! 🙏🤞

@Marvellouslymadmum That’s fantastic news about the lap. Hopefully the wait won’t be too long.

Thanks everyone. It all feels a bit surreal at the moment. It’s my first FET (miracle we got anything frozen!) and it just doesn’t quite feel like I’ve started a new cycle. It’s the lack of meds; I only have these tablets to take, strange when I’m used to all of the injections.

@Marvellouslymadmum I have endo which was removed from ovary but it does grow back so just cos it didn't cause an issue back when doesn't mean ti say its not there now. Great news about lap. Also, from DE point of view, my eggs aren't great quality although I'm 36, we're trying one more round with completely different protocol and drugs to give it one more go then moving to DE. We're looking at packages which give refund for DE portion rather than pay as we go but it's still daunting! On a positive note the combined plan were looking at does de transfers in Cyprus so holiday at the same time!

Hello everyone, long time no speak from me but I've been lurking. I see @Marvellouslymadmum and @kerrym87 you're going down the DE route. I just thought I'd drop a quick update on our DE journey. We have just bought our eggs. I wish I could report that it's all plain sailing but unfortunately not. So many test etc. Need repeating and in the mean time tests now show I don't have type 2 diabetes, they don't know what type I am! All adds complications but nevermind. Choosing our donor was actually quite easy as I have red hair and green eyes which is less than 1% of the population and there was only 1 match. We're going via the London Egg Bank and London Women's Clinic Harley Street using Access Fertility refund programme. I think I'm experiencing a lot of dissociation about it all now really because of all this. There is this ongoing continuous grief and bereavement. I'm in contact with people who've used DEs and although the success rates are much higher than IVF. It doesn't guarantee a baby at the end of it and this whole past 5 years or so have been so traumatic I don't quite believe it will ever happen for us ATM!

@Misty84 it's like they think we should have known by now that it would be hard so should just be prepared to go private straight away but not everyone has that luxury!! I am absolutely fine with de have been for a while it just hit me a little hard when I thought it may be my only option whereas I still had a little hope for oe, but the fact that he's enthusiastic has really helped me too

@Lauralozzle I hope not or I'll have no eggs left! I just hope they're still happy to do it if that's the case as it'll still help with de conception! It must be odd not taking anything, I'm ready for whatever they throw at me!

@kerrym87 that all sounds positive! Do you think it may be worth trying a tandem cycle for you just incase?

@MIW01 lovely to hear from you! It's all so hard isn't it! Do you min some asking how old you are? I'm sure you've said before, just wondering about the access to fertility as I thought I was too old for it! Let's hope your only match donor has amazing eggs!!

@Marvellouslymadmum not sure really, one of packages is really good but we might be using oh sperms and donor portion is in Cyprus so don't think we can. Unless we go all donor. If you do go for de the ages are less important as egg donor is usually young we're looking at Assured as with care (clinic we're likely going with) don't do refunds for own as we've already had failed ivf and it costs more with only 50% refund for de part. Assured does 100% for de part and its a good 4k cheaper so far but awaiting final recommendations for clinic
@MIW01 it's rubbish isn't it. There is a type 3 diabetes apparently but i don't know quite what that does with blood sugars etc. I have moment where I feel unaffected, others where I a mess, its our brains protecting us. Funny thing is, I've felt wed end up with dobor eggs and possibly sperm too so I suppose I've been grieving a bit as I've gone along. I'm sure it will hit more when we move onto it x

@kerrym87 a tandem cycle is where they use your oh sperm but harvest both your eggs and your donors eggs then fertilise both and see which do best, if yours do well you can choose to freeze de and put yours in then if that fails use defrosted de. Or in some clinics they will put one of yours and one de in if you request it. If yours don't look great then you can just have de put in. But I don't think they offer it in all clinics only some

Good luck @thislittlebird . I think your scan was today?

I'm thinking of getting back on the donkey cart. Has anyone else here tried for number 2 after successful IVF for number 1? I feel really lucky that it worked and part of me says we should just call it quits and not put ourselves through it again. But then we have blastocysts left and we'd really like another!

Hi @CycleGirl20 NOT ME obviously, as ivf was a total disaster for me🫠 BUT three of my good friends all have their second children from their leftover blasts x

@CycleGirl20 i imagine it’s quite straightforward for people it works first time for, but obviously some people struggle. @Misty84’s friends are a testament that it likely works often.

It will never be the case for us, I suspect. Ivf has been seriously traumatic for me and I wouldn’t want to go through it again if we have come out of this with one child, I’ll just have to get on with it and accept I was lucky it worked (possibly) at my age. I’m already quite worried by the impact of an old genetics as it is. And financially it’s been a strain. We’ve barely had time to recover any savings.

My scan was actually yesterday! I got a shoulder tip pain and panicked in an email to them, they brought it forward. All was well and definitely not an ectopic! So now I wait some more, wish I could relax but it’s very hard knowing this is likely our only chance.

Good luck to all the DE guys above!

@Lauralozzle on the plus side, it’s all much less stress on the body I guess with a FET.

@thislittlebird I'm glad you're scan went well. A normal scan at this point is very positive, especially with high HCG.

I hope it's true that a successful first round bodes well for a following round.

@thislittlebird I’m glad your scan went well. The FET is a bit easier, I’m enjoying the lack of injections for now!

@Lauralozzle will you be on injections soon/post transfer? I'm on two per day still, plus cyclogest and pred :/

@CycleGirl20 anecdotally, of course, but I would guess it would be.

@thislittlebird I’ve got cyclogest pessaries but day before transfer I have to have a progesterone blood test and if it’s too low I’ll be on lubion injections daily so might have to start injections then, it depends on levels. I’m suspecting a progesterone issue given I started spotting a week after transfer both times. We’ll see. I’ve been on a different progesterone last 2 transfers (vaginal only ones) and the cyclogest is stronger I believe.

@Lauralozzle I spotted quite quickly too. For almost every transfer I'd be bleeding before my OTD. In a way, it was a relief my levels were low on transfer day as I'd suspected they always had been, but after a fresh cycle there's high progesterone levels from all the follicles, and then they didn't test again and I suspect my levels would drop off a cliff a couple of days after transfer.

@CycleGirl20 I've seen a couple of people have two babies on these threads in the time I'm still trying to get my first 😂 I think if you want another one go for it!

@thislittlebird oh I'm so pleased all was ok at your scan! I think it's hard to relax at all if you've had trouble ttc or losses! But hopefully each step will help to reassure you.

Fingers crossed for @Lauralozzle and @thislittlebird !
Different question....has anyone used packages and been eligible? Got all the way to questionnaire woth assured and despite asking if for example multiple failed cycles would mean we weren't eligible, they failed to tell me my endo (which was tiny and removed) and mfi we wouldn't be eligible for the package we've been discussing for about 2 weeks on phone and by email....🙄 any advice or recommendations appreciated as its a confusing world of packages, refund options and all the other crap x

@kerrym87 I was only eligible for multicycle with no refund element at all because of previous failed round and poor fertilisation. It had no medical element, just an age element (up to 40-something. Can’t remember). X2 cycles including any FET.

so, if you’re not eligible for a refund package you might be eligible for one of those with no medical element.

Thanks, the FET estradiol meds are killing me at the moment. I’ve had a rotten stomach since day 4 of taking them. Pretty sure it’s them because when I’m not eating I feel fine, just hungry, so it can’t be a bug or anything as surely I’d just feel awful all day! The pill used to give me stomach problems, it’s why I came off it. I thought I was lactose intolerant or something! Think this is like the pill x100!

Hi @kerrym87 I wasn’t eligible for any refund packages because I have very low AMH (hence also being denied ivf on the nhs). I could only have the multicycle package so I paid for 2.

Sorry to hear you’re feeling so unwell @Lauralozzle! ☹️