One year+ TTC part 4

[lemons44]

Hi all
Onto thread 4! Hopefully this one is lucky for us 🍀 🤞🏼

Just a supportive thread for those of us who have been TTC for over a year. New faces are welcome. Feel free to vent, cry, laugh, ask silly questions, seek advice and talk about anything.

Tagging our BFP ladies who are rooting for us too.

@Tinkerbell098
@NatW2021
@Koalie
@Netflixnchilli
@JSS15
@BakinABaby
@KatieLooLa
@Indianna2006
@Carla2601
@BritInNZ
@FlyOnTheWall89

Feel free to tag anyone I have forgotten.

Hi @monsteramunch :)
The AMH bloods are usually done at sub fertility stage, not by your GP. So once your GP puts the referral through for you and it gets picked up, you’ll have your AMH bloods and HyCosy at the hospital xx

Oh goodness thanks for replying so quickly!

That makes perfect sense, thank you

@Koalie hmm I'm surprised at what your consultant said as I really didn't think 10 was low for early 30s and I remember looking at a lot of graphs. Also as far as I'm aware AMH relates to how many eggs you could get but age relates to egg quality which in the grand scheme of things is far more important! So even if you got a few less eggs yours are hopefully a good quality as you're only 32. It only takes one good one and you'd be better having a few good quality than lots of bad quality ones.

That is soo good you get 3 NHS rounds. I'm counting my lucky stars that we can get 2. We moved 5 years ago and if we would have been in our old area we wouldn't be entitled to any NHS rounds. It's such a postcode lottery and really unfair for those who can't get any.

@NatW2021 nobody has mentioned DHEA to me. My consultant just stressed the importance of folic acid. Sorry AF arrived but it's good that it will be out the way for your birthday. A spa day sounds lovely! 🧖🏼‍♀️

@FlyOnTheWall89 nearly 34 weeks 😱 where has that time gone?! So glad you are enjoying it 🤰🏻

@monsteramunch yes as @Koalie said it is a separate blood test, mainly for those who require IVF. How are you doing? I hope you haven't had anymore panic attacks ❤️

@TinyDancer91 how are you doing? I'm so sorry about your AF arriving. It can be so crushing.

@lemons44 I am hoping that’s the case re my age being the most important factor. My consultant said the closer you get to the ‘bottom of the barrel’ the lower the quality your eggs are, regardless of age. But I’ve also had a nurse at the clinic tell me AMH doesn’t relate at all to egg quality so I don’t know what to think. I think because I’ve had 2 miscarriages I’m just praying it’s not my eggs 🥺

I have also recently moved and in my previous postcode (which is only 15 mins away) I’d have only got one round ! It’s mental. And so unfair! X

@lemons44 I've looked in to the NHS help in our area and we would only be entitled one round of IVF, whether successful or not. One shot. I'm so praying it doesn't come to that for us. We also wouldn't be entitled to any if we had any children already. Part of me is thinking that we should start saving money now just in case...

It's so cruel that the rules change so drastically within such a short distance and even across the country

@lemons44 I know it's crazy! Those first weeks crawled by, but the golden 2nd trimester flew by and I'm only just beginning to have to slow down a bit now.

AMH is a measure only used to gauge egg quantity, not quality and yes as far as I was told from Dr Ramsay who I mentioned my AMH to at our consultation and the fertility clinic, your age is more a determining factor of quality. AMH also isn't going to affect natural pregnancy as you'll only release 1 egg a month on a normal cycle (with the odd 2 and ever rarer 3). That is why it's not included in the initial fertility screening because it's more relevant when you're heading towards IVF as they will dose you dependant on your AMH (combined with other factors). At my clinic there was a below and above number that defined your protocol. I have the same AMH as @Koalie but I'm a tad older and whilst it is deemed low for my age, it isn't that low at all and didn't really concern any specialist that much. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the numbers.

@Koalie 3 rounds is super lucky! Keeping all crossed for you! It is astonishing that some postcodes don't allow for any rounds. We would only have been entitled to 1.

@lemons44

I'm ok thank you, the panic attacks have been kept at bay since the one earlier in the week thank god! Need to prepare myself for either outcome in the next couple of days though as I can feel the anxiety increasing again.

I'm CD29 today and AF due Sunday. Really, really sore boobs and a fair amount of of creamy discharge (unusual for me at this time of the cycle).

Not testing until Sunday morning because I can't bear the heartbreak of a series of negatives if it's a no again.

How are you feeling today?

@FlyOnTheWall89 thanks for the reassurance! I wasn't too keen on the consultant when I spoke to him anyway lol. My husband really liked him though ... i do seem to be on quite a high dose of meds, as I'm on 225 iu a day and most people start at 150. First scan on Monday so will let you all know what my follicles are looking like :)

x

Hi ladies!

Just a little update, as I had my first scan today (day 8 of stims) I am now petrified because they counted 39 follicles! 14 are below 5mm so they’re likely to discount those but 25 is still a lot and now I’m scared I’ll get OHSS. I was hoping for less, as I was also told that the more you have, the less room they have to mature properly so now I’m stressing that I’ll have loads of eggs retrieved but they won’t make it to blasts 😩 the worry is literally never ending. 🥺

Hope you’re all hanging in there 💖

@Koalie that cures the AMH panic then!

Keeping fingers crossed for some eggs. I think that's perhaps why some clinics go down the long protocol route; more control, slower process, more even growth rate.

My friend had 40 eggs collected before Christmas, not sure how many were discarded, but she now has 14 embryos (-1 as round 1 failed sadly).

I guess it's better your way round than having very little to work with. Try to stay positive! X

Hi everyone, stumbled across this thread in my search for support and advice.
Been TTC for 2 years for our second baby. It took us 2.5 years to conceive our first and I naively thought second would be easy now my body knows what to do! So rubbish to be back on this never ending tcc journey.
I’ve had private fertility assessments done and tubes are clear, womb is fine, i am ovulating, however I have low AMH for my age (3.9 p/mol age 34), backed by low follicle count, so now feel slight pressure.
the IVF clinic I had the tests at I felt were pressuring me into ivf, but I was hoping there would be some steps before then.
im on all supplements from it starts with the egg (apart from DHEA as I read mixed reviews about that).
im wondering if it’s worth trying clomid or progesterone or something else?

Hi ladies

Quick update from me. Finally got to speak to my Dr today and she told me that the day 21 bloods I had done in Oct need to be re-done, due to 'lab errors' and someone should have called me before to let me know!! I'm now stressing that there is in fact something wrong. She said that my kidney, liver function, iron etc all came back fine but it was the hormone levels that they need to re-do! Bit annoyed as there have been 2 cycles since then they could have tested but didn't because I was told the results were 'normal'.

I also now have to wait for 2 weeks to go for the blood test as I'm only on cd8 😭

@MrsD7 sorry to hear it has been another long slog for baby number two, how rubbish to be dealt these cards again for a second time!

I was TTC for 18 months and was diagnosed with unexplained infertility as nothing was wrong with either myself or DH. I was prescribed letrozole as a last chance saloon before going down the IVF route and fell pregnant the first cycle. I'd say it's very individual to each person though - I'm only 30 and had a high AMH so there wasn't any rush for us to go down the IVF route. If your AMH is low and you're 34, you might not want to waste any more time trying the natural way (with a bit of support from the letrozole of course). Perhaps worth speaking through options with a fertility doctor? Another option could be speaking to a fertility dietician - I was following supps based on it starts with the egg but once you speaking to a nutritionist you realise it's actually much more individualised than that.

Sorry not much help but some things to think about - and hopefully that BFP is just around the corner!

@MrsD7 hi! I agree with @BritInNZ, I would probably get going down the IVF route at this point due to age vs AMH. Presumably your husband / partner is all fine too test wise? If your progesterone levels were normal and you're not experiencing miscarriages, this won't help you achieve pregnancy. I would try to see IVF as a means to an end goal that you want - lots of people have really positive experiences and whilst I'm sure it's very emotionally / mentally draining, so is trying for so long.

Hey everyone.

Just had my day 2 blood results back, good news is my FSH has come down to 6.9 from 8.9 and LH has come down from 5.5 to 4.6 - does that ratio look right?

Also had my oestrogen tested which was 168 pmol - anyone have any idea if thats ok as there are no ranges? Also SHGB is 57 again not sure if this is low/high/optimal.

My thyroid has gone back up from 1.12 to 3 which is annoying even after upping my dose in the summer so looks like i will have to speak to them about upping it again.

This is so exhausting!

@BritInNZ thanks for sharing your story and I’m so happy it worked out for you.

@FlyOnTheWall89 thanks for your response too.

We are looking at the IVF route but need to save up first, hopefully by summer we’ll be ready to start that (or pregnant by some miracle!). I also have an overactive thyroid so can’t do IVF until that’s in ‘normal’ range.

My husband also had ‘super sperm’ in his semen analysis so he is adamant we don’t need help! He has double the average amount and all amazing 🙄

I can get a private appointment with a gynae to see if there are other options, but as it’s been confirmed that I am ovulating, I’m not sure it’s money well spent, might as well go into my IVF savings I guess!

@MrsD7 sorting out your thyroid might actually help in the meantime! My reflexologist refers to it as the third ovary - so I'd definitely focus on that while you save for IVF 😊

@BritInNZ thanks for sharing your story. I just had an appointment with a gynae on Monday who is going to try to refer me to fertility before the 2 year wait (in my CCG) for irregular cycles. I'm really hoping they'll let me try clomid or letrozole!

@NatW2021 I think your LH and FSH are fine, they need to be roughly 1:1. And the fact that your FSH isn't super high means your ovaries are working ok is my understanding. Your oestrogen needs to be above 70 pmol/L in the follicular phase so you are fine there too! No idea about SHGB, maybe someone else does.

FOLLICLE UPDATE:
Right ovary:
11 between 10 & 18mm

Left ovary:
8 between 10 & 15mm

Trigger shot tonight
EGG RETRIEVAL FRIDAY 😱

@Koalie That's great news! Loads of eggies :D

@Koalie - exciting!!

Have you been getting any pains? I get ovulation pain when only growing a few naturally 😂

@JSS15 - Thanks for sharing, i am sure it was normal but just wanted to double check

@NatW2021 weirdly enough, I also get ovulation pain quite bad when just one is growing but this is more like a real full, bloated feeling. I can sometimes feel like a prodding when I walk but more discomfort than pain atm.

How are you doing? How’s the January fitness regime going? X

Hi everyone!
I’m nearing my peak atm (CD12) … second cycle after HyCosy and second on Letrozole (Femara).
I had cramping today … and also got a high reading on an opk today. Did anyone else have an experience like that? I thought ovulation is supposed to happen 24-36hrs after the peak … but what do the cramps mean then? 😬

Hi @summerchild92 :) not necessarily. Some people ovulate much sooner after LH surge than 24 hours and some later. Usually ovulation pain is associated with the follicle growing but it’s not know for sure whether the pain comes before, during, or after ovulation. I guess it could be different for everyone. Just try not to obsess over the timing - as soon as you see the stick get darker, get to it 😉

@Koalie Thinking of you today, hope all goes well. Keep us posted xx