Fertility Appointments and Beyond: Electric Boogaloo

[thislittlebird]

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

Well, a week and two days from tomorrow. But still. Feels like a year.

It does feel like a lifetime, but just focus on the first two days, and then you will only be a week away xx I'll be thinking of you all week xx

@Kay00 thanks! I hate wishing my life away, don’t have enough of it left to be doing that lol.

Haha, I know what you mean X I feel like my life has seriously sped up these past couple of months... and I'm massively under prepared for what's to come 😬. It's a nice problem to have though, so I'm 100 percent not complaining xx I hope you too with have same problems in a few weeks time xx

@Kay00 fingers crossed! yeah the whole passing of time thing is weird vs infertility vs if it works, I’m sure at that stage time will pass by in a flash, it’s all very strange.

Hey,
I'm just catching up here.

@Tillybabs I'm sorry your transfer didn't work 💔, but it's good that you still have some frosties left. Are you still with Croydon?

@thislittlebird a massive congratulations on your bfp 😍. I know it's early days, but try to enjoy it while you can. I felt similar with this little one as I'd had a loss before, but hopefully as the days and weeks go by, you'll feel more confident 🙏

@Kay00 whoop! 17 weeks 😍 that's so exciting and I'm still amazed that the drilling made a difference!

x

@JeanieJ thanks, I hope so. Thursday still feels like an age away!

@thislittlebird @Tillybabs how are you both? Xx

@Kay00 hey, I’m ok just a little anxious about it all. First scan at 6w2d went ok. Have another one on Thursday at 9.5 weeks so just hoping to get past this next hurdle, before I hit the next hurdles! How are you?

@JeanieJ i am still with Croydon but this next FET round is self-funded. I was considering moving clinics but they know me well and my history at Croydon so decided to stay.

@Kay00 I’m good thanks. I’m currently on a long downreg again but for 6 weeks before I go into another cycle. If all things work out I will be having my last transfer just before Xmas. How are you?

@Tillybabs just before Christmas is good, I hate the bit where you have to wait to new year. Fingers crossed for you.

Is this the clinic you had nhs rounds with too?

@Tillybabs exciting. I have another friend who is transferring her last two blasts just before Xmas. I'll be thinking of you both xx

@thislittlebird I'm so glad your first scan went well 🥰. Fingers crossed for Tuesday!

I found out yesterday that I'm having a girl! I can't believe it... Everyone (including myself) was convinced it was a boy, and my family have been calling it a 'he' 😂. I'll be telling them today it's a girl over a slice of (pink centred) cake... They will be so shocked 😂

@thislittlebird yep and they work in partnership with the London women’s clinic so the transfers are done there.

I plan on doing a double transfer and if that doesn’t work then sadly I’m done. I’m 43 in January and I personally don’t want to keep on trying as it has taken up so much of my life and taken its toll a bit as well.

@Kay00 thanks hun and omg congratulations! Haha I would love to see their faces when they see the pink cake.

@thislittlebird sorry I forgot to add I’m glad your scan went well and I hope all goes well Tuesday x

@Tillybabs thanks. I won’t lie, I’m worried by a potential missed miscarriage but hopefully I won’t be so unlucky. And yeah, I totally get that. I said to my husband recently that I don’t know if I can do it anymore if this doesn’t work out in the next few weeks. I feel too old and drained to keep doing all this if we have to start again. It’s exhausting and it consumes everything. My fingers are crossed for your transfers. Are they tweaking the protocol for you?

@Kay00 congrats, that’s great news! Did you have a preference? I read an article yesterday that said fathers over 35 are more likely to have girls than boys and by the time parents are 40+ two thirds of births to that age group are girls. I thought that was pretty crazy. I have no pink cake but I am going to make banana bread today lol

@thislittlebird I understand why you are worrying but just remember that lots of women have had previous miscarriages and go on to have healthy babies. Try not to read and look things up during this period as well. The good thing is you have a bfp which means your body is doing the right thing. I haven’t had one bfp since I started trying 3 years ago

Yes they are tweaking it and actually I’ve told them what I want and they’ve agreed and gone along with it. This is another reason why I’m glad I’ve stuck with the same clinic as they know my history and have been accommodating me my own suggestions.

@Tillybabs I stuck with the same clinic too, and I'm glad I did. Any other clinic wouldn't have put me forward for the ovarian drilling, but thank god they did, I got my first BFP in 3.5 years 🙏

@thislittlebird I agree with Tillbabs. I was very stressed in the first few weeks of pregnancy too, it's completely natural. I'm still in shock that I'm this far along and I feel like the luckiest lady alive to have a baby that is showing to be healthy. I hope you are in the same boat as me in the next few weeks xx (and you too Tillbabs xx)

@Tillybabs I saw a midwife this week and they ranked me as moderate risk due to age and previous loss, so I'm just counting down the weeks until I can breathe a bit. Hopefully I'll get there.

Good that they're tweaking it and it helps if they're willing to listen to you. I don't know which change we made allowed this to work, but it was probably one of them. Either PGT-A, prednisolone, or extra lubion, or all three. The only time I've had BFPs was on prednisolone each time, first one was at the 3 year mark, and the second right before the 4 year mark. It's been 4 years now since we started trying.

@Kay00 Yeah, I can't really believe it and I'm not excited, it feels like mostly worrying about one scan outcome then the next, then after that the NIPT results and so on. Did you do a private NIPT? I don't know whether to do one or just wait for the nhs.

@thislittlebird I was on prednisolone last round and will go back on it again this round but this time I’m having a longer downregulation of 6 weeks so will see if that helps.

I don’t know if you remember but I have adenomyosis and one thing I’ve done is cut out gluten, dairy an sugar for the last 2 months and I’ve definitely noticed a difference with my periods since doing that.

@Tillybabs interesting, have they been less heavy? I lost about a stone before this transfer, so I do wonder if that also helped. Between being 40 and IVF I'd gained a fair bit, between Feb and July I lost a stone or more and so by the time i was transferring I was back in a normal BMI. Maybe it didn't help, but it's still a mystery why it worked this time. Unless we were just making abnormal embryos before, hard to say.

@thislittlebird Yes less heavy and no clots. I normally pass big clots. When I had my period after my failed transfer I was expecting a painful heavy period as I did the last time but it was a normal period.

My BMI has always been within a normal range but since cutting out those foods, I’ve lost weight!

One other thing different I did is I stopped doing intense workouts as soon as the cycle started and just went for walks. I thought I would try this as previously I struggled to get past 7mm. This time I was 8mm on day 10 which I had never had before.

@Tillybabs that’s good that it made your periods less heavy/more normal.

Yeah I will say that my weight loss was all food really. Diet changes made a big difference and now I’ve let those all slide, which is annoying.

8mm lining? Good improvement if so

How is everyone?? Xx

@Kay00 yeah I’m ok. Still generally in disbelief, stopping the various injections this weekend, then next weekend is the 12w scan (at 12w6d) so feels very intense because it’ll tell us if everything is ok or not. How are you? Hope everyone else is doing ok.

Morning X yes, the 12 weeks scan is such a big milestone. I couldn't believe there was a baby shaped thing inside me?! And to be fair I still can't 🩷😅

I'm good. I'm 24 weeks and have quite a bump growing. Still feel like the luckiest lady alive xx

Are you starting to feel more relaxed or do you want to get your scan out the way first? Have you told anyone yet?