Fertility Appointments and Beyond: Electric Boogaloo

[thislittlebird]

Hit capacity on the old thread, will tag you in!

@thislittlebird yes my hCG on the initial test was 119, 6 week scan showed nada, so EPAU scanned again, nada, did bloods, which went from 70, to 68 and then down to 32 last week. I was asked to do a HPT this week, which I did yesterday which was negative. I started to bleed last week, so they are happy that I've resolved it naturally. There was a week of limbo when my lining was still thickening, hCG was just staying static and no bleeding, so was worried it might be ectopic. But luckily everything's resolved now. Just waiting for my cycles to go back to normal so I could maybe think about a FET (got one left in the freezer). How are you getting on? Did you have the appointment at Lister?

@beckyCarlos yeah I’m ok. I took 5 weeks off work sick because I just didn’t have head space for it. I feel like I’m back in the land of the living a bit now. How’s things with you?

@Tinkerbell098 I’m sorry, that’s shit. Were you on Cyclogest? I started spotting at 4 week 6 days but didn’t bleed properly until a week ish later when I stopped the Cyclogest. Maybe you had higher progesterone levels than me that stopped the bleeding entirely. Like you I was glad it wasn’t ectopic. It’s not good, but I guess I’m relieved I got a positive test, it feels like baby steps. How are you feeling about it all?

Yeah we had the appointment last Thursday and we’re starting stims tomorrow all being well. I didn’t think we’d be able to do it but he said he could squeeze us in before AF started. Had the pre-assessment yesterday morning, period started last night and I have to go for a day 2 scan and pick up the meds tomorrow. I was worried they wouldn’t have them in but when I called today the pharmacist seemed pretty chilled and said same day was fine.

We could have waited until January but I’m not getting any older and always said I wanted to do another EC this year, so we decided to go ahead. Tbh I’m not excited and feeling very hesitant about it all. There’s that phrase about insanity Ian doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results…it feels a lot like that. We are also unlikely to have any or many embryos because we’re going aim to transfer one fresh if I’m well and PGT-A test any that are frozen. If we get any :/

I shouldn’t be so pessimistic but we haven’t had much time to take our supplements and I’m worried it’ll all be a total waste of time. But it’s happening now, as long as the scan is ok tomorrow.

On the plus??? side I’m on a ton of antibiotics this time, then probiotics, then Gonal F and fyremadel like before, but adding in Lubion every other day on top of the Cyclogest (my hoarding of the meds is paying off £££) and Clexane. They’ll cost £1300 from the hospital pharmacy, could be better or worse I guess but we didn’t have time to shop around much. I asked about prednisolone because I think I might need it but he wasn’t keen unless I have an NK cell test so we are not using that for now.

@99pctpractice just reading your updates, hope you’re ok, fingers crossed for you x

@thislittlebird yes I was on cyclogest, so that's what I think stopped the bleeding too. Hope you had a good break from work, much needed! It's great you are starting stims again tomorrow. I wouldn't worry about not taking supplements, not many consultants recommend them other than folic acid anyway. I've heard really good things about Lister so you are in good hands. Good luck with the scan tomorrow X

I meant I'm not getting any younger up there. Wish Iw wasn't getting older!

Thanks @Tinkerbell098. How long does your clinic make you wait until your next transfer?

@thislittlebird thats so good to hear that you took some time off. And you're back on the horse! Like you say now is as good a time as any, and (my optimism shining through here) this could be the one.

We're waiting for our ED counselling next thurs, then we'll have access to the egg bank and I'll be freaking out about how to choose from all these selfless women who've done the crap part of IVF with no trade off at the other end!

@tinkerbell098 'good' to hear things are not ectopic for you as well! So glad your bloods and scans look normal now. Weirdly that was my biggest worry, that I'd need meds and surgical and it'd delay everything.

@thislittlebird im not quite sure. I think usually two normal periods before starting. But I don’t know if the bleed after miscarriage counts as a normal period. Were your cycles back to normal pretty much straight after? Also, my clinic weirdly does three weeks of buserelin for FET. Thought I’d be done with injections after stims. This means I’ll have to start on day 21, so if I need to stay two periods before starting injections on day 21, that would take me to new year. I’m due to have a planning meeting soon so I’ll hear more then.

@beckyCarlos oh wow that’s soon! Hope the bank is good and you’ll find a good match. Would it move quite quickly from there? I know! I was so worried I’d need methotrexate as my hCG wasn’t falling as they wanted it to and was looking more like an ectopic. I still don’t know what it was as they said my ovaries were too enlarged from the ivf stims to have a good view of that area. So I was classed as PUL.

@timkerbell098 so weird! But definitely glad you're all sorted. Interesting you mention buserelin...I've got my drug list for ED (but not my protocol with an explanation) and buserelin is on there, fir your FET whats the doseage of buserelin, and do they need you to have a bleed and 'quiet ovaries' before they'll transfer? I've asked my ED nurse and shes getting back to me, but when I was on long protocol I was on busereling .5ml (I think) for 3 weeks and it was awful, I was so exhausted I couldn't do anything past 6pm and was asleep at 9, at one stage I was having an actual afternoon nap 🙈🤣

The bank is quite full at the minute which is good, I just worry i wont be able to choose!

@beckyCarlos they haven't sorted my protocol yet or prescriptions as still waiting for my planning meeting. They didn't want to do anything until EPAU discharged me fully (they still haven't!). They said they do Buserelin for frozen blastocyst transfers as a standard and I have no idea why as some clinics just do oestrogen tablets and that's fine. I'm really dreading 3 weeks of injections, and although I've never had Buserelin, I've read awful things about it, similar to your experience. I have a feeling I maybe on it during Christmas, which is going to be awful.

@Tinkerbell098 can you just ask to do natural + progesterone instead? Or is there a hormonal reason? I started bleeding more heavily instead of spotting on October 10th, and then my period started today, so basically straight back to normal after I finished the progesterone. I was told PUL but technically it was a chemical, not sure if yours was classed as chemical or not? The ectopic risk is a weird one, you don’t really think about it until you have a PUL and suddenly it’s something you have to consider. If my embryos could not float up there that would be great.

@beckyCarlos the bank is full?! As in lots to choose from? It’s very exciting. Which bank did you go with in the end? It sounds like it’s very thorough that they’re giving you the counselling and then you get access.

Thanks ladies.

I'm going to go back on BC for a bit to suppress and control my adenomyosis and then start again next year. In the meantime I'm going to get in touch with others a reproductive immunologist and have some tests done to see if I need to be on an immune protocol for the next round

We have 3 Frozen left although the 4AA was used for this round which I wasn't happy about because we got there and got told 4AA was thawed but because my lining wasn't optimal, the Dr said they would try one of the others and save the best till last.

Anyway I know someone who had a 4AA and it didn't stick and they then had 2 lower grade 4's transferred and successfully had twins so I just need to think of that.

@Tinkerbell098 I guess it's some consolation that things have happened naturally for you and you didn't need any surgical intervention.

@beckyCarlos oh wow I didn't imagine the bank would be full! How much info do you get on the donors? Their physical characteristics and medical history?

Weirdly I thought I'd replied but I cant see it! Must not have pressed send then exited the app! I got a sample drug sheet and it was just tablets and pessaries, then she ran it past the consultant and it came back with buserelin and lupron injections. Ive asked why 🤣 always good to know!

Yeah so 'full' as in loads of eggs, I was worried there wouldnt be many and now I worry about how I'll choose! You get to filter by build, eye colour, hair colour, and skin tone, then you get a bit more info like likes/dislikes, job area, and (if I remember right) if you like one and want to reserve (you can put them back in) you get their personal message about why they donated which I think will make me cry. Hopefully one will speak to me. I'm just so grateful this is a thing people do, I cant imagine doing it all in my twenties altruisticlly

Hello!

@beckyCarlos sounds like you're making exciting progress!! Which clinic did you go for in the end? I found the donor choosing process both exciting but also super hard...feels like such a big decision to make on not that much information! And figuring out whether to prioritise the physical vs personality traits I found quite tricky. I only had oestrogen tablets for my transfer prep, but sounds like you're getting a much more involved prep!!

@thislittlebird so glad you took some time off work, I'm sure you needed it. Good luck with starting stims - the new clinic will hopefully provide some fresh ideas for you, and I really liked the lister when I had a consult there.

@Tinkerbell098 I'm sorry that is rubbish. Glad it wasn't an ectopic but it's still just so gutting to experience.

I have some tentatively good news - tested positive on Saturday at home on a frer, then had my otd test (a day early) yesterday and my hcg was 439. So I think I'm 4 weeks 3 days by my calculations (from fertilisation), but they count it from transfer (that's weird, right?), so won't book my 7 week scan until the first week of Dec, which feels a long way away....they didn't suggest a second blood test, but I'm going to get one tomorrow anyway because I'm nothing if not paranoid and the frer progression has felt a bit slow since Saturday. I already had some bleeding on Sunday (black, but still), so didn't really expect to get this far, but glad to be still in the race! Pregnant today, as they say, so trying not to look too far ahead until I get there.

Omgggggg @99pctpractice !! Thats amazing! Everything crossed for your bloods and scan 😁 I suspect the extra drugs are because my lining was better on my long protocol, and the lupron might be extra progesterone because I had a miscarrisge but we'll see! We're going with Care, we got a good feel from the initial consult and things seem to be moving quickly which was my main concern! X

Thank you!! And that's great @beckyCarlos - my main worry with care was how many donors they had in their bank but it doesn't look like that is a problem for you!! Hope things move along speedily for you now. Xx

@99pctpractice congratulations!! Amazing news xx

@99pctpractice oh wow! that is amazing news! You must be over the moon! Great hCG too. Bet you can't wait for the scan now. How strange they count from transfer. My clinic does transfer minus 3 days, so seems to vary from clinic to clinic.

I had my planning consultation for FET and agreed to not to use Buserelin (really didn't like the idea of weeks and weeks of downreg for a FET!). Instead, I have to ring up on day one of my cycle and have 5 days of downreg on Fyremadel and then start oestrogen tablets. Seems they use cyclogest plus lubion for FET. Timing wise, the consultant was more leaning towards a Jan transfer, but when I asked if I can't start after my November period, she said I could, although because of my MC, she'd advise to wait. But technically, my Nov period would be my second period after MC (had a bleed end of Oct, so hopefully will get a period end of Nov). This would mean I'd transfer pre Christmas (provided lining all ok). I'd love to get it over with this year and not drag on to next. Plus, given how they didn't want me to start a cycle in Aug due to bank holiday, I doubt I'd have treatment end of Dec to transfer in Jan as they'd need to fit in scans during the Christmas bank holidays. So really tempted to just go for it next cycle and transfer pre-Christmas. I'm hoping my cycles would regulate soon. I'm on day 15 and still haven't had a LH peak, so not sure if I'm going to ovulate this cycle. But if I'm on a medicated FET, does it matter too much if I ovulate or not? I know for a natural cycle, they time the transfer depending on your ovulation, but didn't think it would matter much with a medicated cycle even if my cycles haven't gone back to normal? Am I making sense?

Thanks, @Tinkerbell098 !

I don't think it matters if you ovulate for a medicated FET. For my transfer, all they cared about was my lining and making sure there were no cysts or anything else untoward going on in there. Also, the medication they gave me I think either suppressed ovulation or follicular development so I wasn't expected to ovulate anyway! Fingers crossed you can do it before Christmas, I know that feeling of endless delays!!

@99pctpractice thank you! Really eager to get going, but I have a feeling my cycles are still messed up and might take longer as I still haven't had a LH peak. Just have to be patient I guess. Hope you are keeping OK. Did you go for a second blood test?

Congrats and every thing crossed for you @99pctpractice. I had a seven week booked two or three weeks after my test result so yours does seem a long time.

@Tinkerbell098 i guess they’d want you to ovulate for your lining to be ok but if you’re doing medicated then maybe not. I didn’t have an LH peak, but I wasn’t very thorough with checking so assume I missed it. My period arrived on time after the EWCM nonetheless, so it must have happened.

I’m so down about this cycle and I can’t explain just how pessimistic I am. I’m hopeless, I’m convinced this is all pointless. I had a scan today and I have 8 follicles. Eight! That’s on higher meds, I don’t even know what to think. I started off with about 20 and they decided not to grow I guess. First cycle I had 23 which became 15 by EC day. I know it’s not BAD numbers but my age isn’t on my side, we’re PGT-A testing so need all the quantity we can get between my 40 year old eggs and DH’s 41 year old mostly immotile swimmers.

I feel really down and I posted it on another thread that I was disappointed and the responses were telling me to check my FSH? What difference does it make at this stage? I have middling fsh, I got FEWER eggs so far on higher stims, and I have no reason why FSH would cause me not to conceive. It really frustrated me.

@thisthislittlebird I dont understand the comments about FSH, my FSH is 16 (!!!) But that means nothing really without a follicle count, and AMH level, and it cant tell you your quality, all mine meant was max doseage for drugs because my body naturally has to work extra hard to grow follicles so I needed extra extra drugs for IVF (and your clinic definitely have that covered lol)

I have nothing but the eternal optimism of a hopeless romantic for you - one of those 8 follicles could be the one! (But I've also been the one crying in the car after a scan because I only had half the follicles I had the month before on my baseline. It fucking sucks) i hope you find some time tonight to do something that gives you a bit of joy x

I have egg donation counselling tomorrow...in the middle of a sodding ofsted visit. It is not the one. I have to slink off to a meeting room at work and hope noone overhears me! (I work in HE, am not neglecting a class of teenagers lol)

@beckyCarlos admittedly I'm grumpy but I didn't get why that was especially relevant. The ivf doctors do what they do, the meds are what they are and in this case they're higher. My FSH was 5 ish, it's not especially exciting. The quality is really what matters at nearly 40 as a few of us here know, it's the main factor.

You have to be a romantic because I'm a horror show over here lmao. I've been watching loads of PGT-A result videos on YouTube and hoping we can get a couple of euploids, if we can get any fertilised that is. I didn't cry in the car at least, did have a moment in the street on the phone to dh that was touch and go.

Good luck for tomorrow! Ooosh, what timing that is. That sucks. Luckily we don't have oftsted, I'm in a uni.

Hi @thislittlebird I'm sorry you're feeling down. I totally get the stims blues, it's such a stressful process. My last round they could only ever find 3 follicles and then they somehow found 6 eggs at ec, so sometimes you can have late runners that catch up. All fingers crossed that you get some good embryos!! I get the decision to do pgt, just to have a bit more reassurance before you do any fets. Really hoping that this is the round for you - no idea why someone mentioned your fsh levels, there's no point testing them mid-stims, surely? So frustrating to get unhelpful advice.

Thanks, @Tinkerbell098 yes, the second blood test was ok so just waiting for the scan in a couple of weeks time. Feeling quite disassociated from it : I'm not sure if it's because it's donor so doesn't feel like it's mine or maybe it's because of all the failed ivf cycles and mcs. I had some counselling, but I'm not sure that counselling is really for me, tbh, or perhaps I just haven't found a counsellor that i get along with!

@thisthislittlebird advise your uni not to get into apprenticeships, this ofsted malarky is NOT why I went into HE! Yeah, dont listen to the other group 🤣 they obviously havent experience the crushing disappointment of minimal follicles but then feeling bad because youre disappointed when you still have some and you should be being 'super positive'...

Aw thats good news @9999pctpractice ! It might feel a bit more real after your scan 😊

@thislittlebird sorry the other group has made you feel rubbish. I don't see the relevance of FSH. They're giving you a higher dose to counteract even if you have low FSH, so they're already addressing any potential issues there. 8 follicles is still great, and fingers crossed, there are others hiding. I only had 8 in the end and got 5 mature eggs out of those. So stay positive. It's quality over quantity that matters.

@99pctpractice I know the feeling. It's hard to get excited when you've been through so much. Hope the next couple of weeks don't drag for you until the scan and then you'll have some reassurance. The blood results is a good positive though, so enjoy the moment.

@beckyCarlos oh no! Really bad timing for the counselling. Hope you can still get the most out of it. Let us know how it goes X