Fertility Appointments and Beyond: Electric Boogaloo

[thislittlebird]

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

@JeanieJ yeah mine don’t have a clue what’s going on!

@thislittlebird that's crap about his results.
Didn't you mention he's been ill recently? Perhaps it'll just take a few months for things to replenish.
It's so frustrating how long these things take.
xx

@JeanieJ yeah, he had covid in April, then a wisdom tooth extraction fever/infection in October and he has another tooth to come out yet. I’m gutted, I wish he’d had done both at once now.

Not sure whether he’s going to get it done in January or wait until after the next ivf round. Maybe it’s better to get it done and then it’s all out of the way and we have a clear run at improving things/having a better third round in mid 2023.

@thislittlebird argh, he's been through the runner. It does sound like he needs a few months of 'project good sperm' before you do another round. It's a pain getting them to do anything though. Took me ages for me to get him to take any vitamins & quit drinking.

@JeanieJ yeah we’re going to need even more months if he does the other tooth in the new year 😔

Tbf to him, he has been good and took all the supplements all the way from our first appointment in Feb 21 (ish) until the ivf round in Feb 22. But both of us slacked off after that, then he got hit with all the stuff. It’s not like he’s a big drinker or smoker, he doesn’t smoke and barely drinks, it’s very frustrating there’s no cause for his largely immotile sperm.

Hi ladies.

I'm bleeding bright red blood now, so my IVF cycle is over.

I can't believe I started bleeding just 48 hours after my egg transfer. And my period started 96 hours after.

£5k for a round of IVF. It was such a traumatic egg collection, of 21 eggs, to get one good embryo. One precious, good quality embryo. That immediately got flushed out of my body.

What a waste.

@Kay00 I'm so sorry it hasn't worked out 😢
You poor thing, it's so crap especially after what you went through.

I hope you can take some time out to recouperate over the Christmas break

Xx

Thank you @JeanieJ x if I'm honest, I wish Christmas wasn't in two days time, I could really do without putting on a brave face.

@Kay00 oh no, are you certain there’s no chance? Sorry if that sounds dumb, but I know people say they bled etc and it still worked. How many days past transfer are you now? Mine wasn’t the exactly the same as yours but I know the feeling of it being a waste. All that effort and money and emotion for nothing. It’s hard and i can understand why you don’t want to put on a brave face. I hope you’ve got some time off at Christmas to recuperate x

Thanks @thislittlebird xx. I certainly feel like I have put in a lot of effort, money and emotion for it all to be over so soon.

I'm still only 4dp5dt but have been bleeding on and off for two days and spotting since my egg collection. There's a slim chance this bleeding could be something else, but it's unlikely. I suspect my Luteal as support hasn't been strong enough (last time I started bleeding 8dp).

I have learnt that the Buserelin trigger (non-hcg) has quite low success rates due to the poor Luteal phase support it gives. But I asked my clinic for extra LP support and they said I was getting everything then have.

For reference I'm taking 2x cyclogest suppositories (progesterone) and 2x Cyclogest pills (eastradol) daily. When compared to what other women get in other clinics, my LP support is absolutely minimal... Hence the bleeding.

@Kay00 maybe do an early test? If there is a chance it’s implantation bleeding it might show up already.

I think buserelin is aka Suprecur? My doctor has discussed doing a double trigger next time, so (I think this is right) LH and HCG, because I didn’t have so many mature eggs this time. Obviously you’d probably have to schedule a freeze all in that case because of lots of follicles but there’s no way they’re doing all they can. Are they the private(?) wing of an nhs hospital by any chance? Seems unusual for them to say that.

Did they test your progesterone and estradiol on transfer day? Mine was tested this time and it was super high progesterone because of all the follicles plus meds so if yours isn’t they should be acknowledging it.

@Kay00 I'm so sorry hun although I wouldn't write it off completely if you are just spotting?

I find it odd though that they only gave you suppositories because when I had my transfer I was told to take two twice a day plus I was also injecting Lubion once a day and this was with the NHS. If indeed it is AF already then it sounds like your progesterone is low and they should have tested you and given you more support x

@Tillybabs it's mostly just spotting light brown/pink watery blood but occasionally with clots and fresh bright red blood yesterday. I had mild cramps the last two days too, but that seems to have stopped today.

My clinic have me on just 2 x eastradol pills daily and 2x progesterone suppository daily. I have actually upped the suppositories to 3x a day in a (likely futile) attempt to up the progesterone absorption.

@thislittlebird I actually did a test yesterday (4dp) which was negative, but it's very early even if this is implantation bleeding (which I doubt it is).

Unfortunately my clinic only tested my estrogen levels on transfer day so I have no idea if this bleeding in caused by low progesterone, although I assume it is.

I think my next cycle I'll plan for a freeze all and take the drugs that will give my eggs the best chance to make it to blast. I can fully recover my body before a FET. I think it's the only way that will work for me.

@Kay00 i wouldn’t rule yourself out with spotting alone but I know it’s very stressful to not know what’s going on either way.

Can’t believe they tested your estrogen but not your progesterone. How weird. It is a little early for low progesterone, your follicles should all be producing it right right transfer.

Freeze all plan for the next attempt (if you need one) sounds like a good plan.

Merry Christmas to you all, hope you’re having good days.

Sorry @Kay00 i just read it’s more than spotting. Either way, stranger things have happened I guess.

Happy Christmas ladies xx

Merry Christmas loves. Hope you've all had good points in the day 😊 x

Hi ladies x my bleeding has pretty much stopped. Since the bright red flush of blood of 4dp5dt it returned to spotting and has got lighter and lighter. There is still a hint of it... But it's barely noticeable, watery pink.

It's odd... But, it may be in part due to me upping my progesterone suppositories to 3x per day (self medicating)? Or maybe the bleeding wasn't anything to do with progesterone and was the result of the fairly traumatic egg collection I had (where my body was jumping around all over the bed whilst the needle was in my ovary)? Or, maybe it will just start up again.

In my 1st IVF cycle I started my period bleeding on 8dp5dt, which for me is tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see if I start bleeding again.

I guess I'll need to test soon. My official test day is 11dp5dt which is Friday 30th Dec. But I travel on holiday with my mum on the 2nd Jan and I'd like time with my OH to process the news, whichever way it goes. Plus, if (in the remote chance) it's positive, I'll need time to get extra drugs from the clinic before I travel in the New Year.

I clearly typed too soon. Cramps and spotting again this morning 😑. I'm will test today/tomorrow when my FRER delivery arrives to put myself out of my misery.

@Kay00 maybe I’m too optimistic but weird bleeding could well be a good sign. 8dpt bleeding you had before was the same as me roughly (9dpt) and the only mid cycle bleeding I had was implantation so I wouldn’t count yourself out yet.

Sorry @thislittlebird, I think you were being a bit too optimistic. I just tested and it was negative.

I read an interesting study that said the pregnancy rate in women who bled during the IVF TWW (which I did for pretty much every single day to some greater or smaller extent) was very low.

I need to tackle both my appalling egg quality and rubbish Luteal Phase before I can have a realistic chance of success with IVF.

So I need to start thinking about my next cycle. And whether it will be at a new clinic or not.

@Kay00 ughhh I’m really sorry 💜. How many days past are you now vs when do the clinic get you to report and stop meds?

Try not to blame your eggs too much, didn’t most of your eggs get to day 3? I think after day 3 it can point to a sperm issue so definitely try to get your dh to get tested for DNA frag.

I was wondering if you were considering anywhere new, definitely worth consulting with clinics and seeing what they’d suggest. We have a round paid for at the Lister but after that (assuming it’ll take more than one more round based on my age alone) I don’t know what we’ll do.

We can’t do anything for some time now which I’m finding very hard since I’m 40 in May. Not sure whether to freeze some eggs while we’re waiting for DH to improve, not sure what to do for the best since I’m just getting older and no progress is being made. But I think I’ve read frozen eggs are less stable than embryos too so I have no idea what to do for the best.

@thislittlebird it's a predicament isn't it. I'm 38 in July, and I'm thinking I'll have the to do one more cycle before then... But how many can I realistically do? It's so expensive and emotionally draining! To get one chance per cycle (if I'm lucky), it's a really big commitment to do another.

Definitely I'll be encouraging OH to do a DNA frag, although I suspect he may need to hear it from the consultant in our following up conversation. In the meantime I'm going to try and encourage a health kick; we could both do with shifting a few pounds and being generally more fit and healthy.

I want to see what another clinic can offer me. Perhaps a whole new protocol? I like the idea of doing a FET if we get any to freeze, but it too comes with its risks.

@Kay00 yeah, I get it. You don’t have age as such an issue yet though so you’ve got some time to think.

In the back of my head I’m thinking of doing a cycle with Create if this one fails. One reason being is that it looks a bit cheaper. I can’t afford to use these mega expensive clinics. We’ll keep saving for now.

Maybe you can prod the consultant to raise it with him before hand? Not sure if you can email in advance. We’re going to do the same regarding the health kick, we both need to lose some weight and get fitter in the lead up to this next attempt. It’ll probably be good for my mental health too.

I definitely think in your case a new clinic and another opinion/protocol would be good. It doesn’t make sense that you have all those eggs and so few make it to blast. Also one that doesn’t have such traumatic egg collection procedures too.

@thislittlebird sending an email to the consultant in advance of our meeting is a very good idea. I have quite a few questions which I will write down, to ensure they get covered in our call. Thanks for idea!

I certainly need to find a clinic that has a less brutal egg collection technique. I cried to myself whilst walking my dogs this afternoon, just thinking about having to go through that again.