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.

@Koalie we got our money back but I gave up complaining in the end as they were not budging and I just ran out of energy with it. I still need to leave them a google review though, which I will do!

My husband can probably totally empathise with the dog jumping as he spent weeks stopping our dog from jumping on his groin area 😂 hope the discomfort eases up soon! Did you tell your work about the IVF? Sorry I can't remember if you said.

@lemons44 haha! How is your hubby recovering? I have a very close relationship with my boss, we’re very good friends so she knows. I’ve been lucky though because I don’t work Monday or Wednesday mornings anyway which is when most of my appointments have been. The only time I’ve had to take off so far is the day for egg retrieval xx

@lemons44 I don’t know if ‘relaxed’ is the right word, more tired and over being annoyed at not being pregnant yet. But I was definitely more wound up when I was trying for my first, thinking what if I never have any etc.

Do you know when you start IVF yet? Are you one some waiting list and what are the lines like where you at?

I’m also pretty good friends with my boss and I’ve been in the company for a long time. Me and his wife were pregnant at the same time actually so we have had lots of pregnancy and baby talk at the kitchen :D I even drunkenly told of my struggles to conceive at the company summer days to a buch of colleagues (all male, I’m in IT) some years ago and surprisingly that turned into a very interesting and revealing conversation from everyone involved and I was not as alone in this struggle as I thought.

Hello, how's everyone doing?

Having a mixed week here.. the hospital have said I need to wait until end of March for an IVF referral rather than now. They had said 3 cycles after Hycosy but I won't quite have reached 2 years TTC until March. It makes sense but i had in my head it would be around now so a little disappointing.

They've also confirmed our area only gets 1 cycle of IVF funding, which is gutting as it used to be 3 and that's what we had read online :-(
Don't get me wrong- grateful for the one cycle just need to adjust expectations!

Also - having a weird cycle, I'm CD14 and ovulation tests all been very negative so far. I usually ovulate by CD 12 latest.. could be a weird cycle or I could have missed a surge, but all the tests are stark negative..

Also - anyone done any DIY at home insemination? My partner works shifts so we're considering it to try to get the swimmers in more regularly in the fertile days!

Sorry for the long post :-)

@Koalie he is pretty much recovered now thank you 😊 he had a micro-tese which is much more invasive than a standard sperm retrieval so it's taken him quite a while to heal. How are you feeling now?

@BakinABaby sorry I really shouldn't have used the word 'relaxed' .. I don't think it is ever possible for any of us to feel relaxed!

Our IVF queue is moving very quickly. Our referral was made to the NHS the week before Xmas, first appointment the week after Xmas, our funding application was submitted last week and now we just have to wait 3 -6 weeks for that to process and then pretty much start after that! 😱 We did have all our tests done privately though so the NHS don't need to do any investigations on us. Have you had your repeat bloods done?

@SaraSS yes before we found out DH has zero sperm in his semen we were adding self insemination to our TTC! We normally DTD once a week which we are happy with as neither of us have mega high sex drives. But obviously TTC you have to do it much more. So after 9 months of us trying to DTD as much as possible we just started to resent that forced feeling and it became so much pressure because it wasn't our 'norm'. We decided to add in some self insemination so it took the pressure off and it really worked for us. Once or twice in my fertile window, alongside normal DTD, we would do self insemination. DH did his thing in a cup at a time when he felt like it, syringed it up and gave it to me, then I just syringed it inside me, chilled for 20 mins, then went about my daily business 🤣 we used this kit from amazon:

Super Deluxe Fertility Kit amzn.eu/d/7zlBUlm

I felt a bit embarrassed at the time and like we were failing TTC but it just made that fertile window so much less stressful as we were able to tag on just a few more chances without feeling stressed. And it was so easy. I then bought a ferti-lily so I didn't even need to lay down after, I just carried on my day.

Obviously all this was wasted on us as DH didn't have any sperm in his semen anyway due to the blockage 😅😅😂😂

Hey everyone.

Sorry to come on and be so depressing, i have tried to keep things to myself for awhile as whats the point in moaning and being so whingy all the time but im 9dpo of month 18 and can feel my AF pains/same as every other month.

I told myself i would give it 2 years before moving forward with IVF as we will be going private but i just don't know how i can can even get through 6 more months of this.

I am at slimming world, having regular accupunture, taking my thyroid meds and tons of supplements and still nothing. My gut instinct is screaming this will not happen naturally. I am in such a dilemma

I want to scream and cry my heart out, honestly just so broken right now 💔.

@NatW2021 Sorry you're feeling this way ❤️ I can't give much advice but what I can say is that when my husband and I decided to go forward with fertility treatment and booked the first appointment I felt loads better and more focussed and positive (which is not like me at all). I think just the idea of knowing that you're doing something that could make a difference is helpful.

I wanted to wait as long as possible in case it suddenly works out for us but, realistically, after two miscarriages last year it's not looking likely.

@TheBirdintheCave - Thank you 💕 im 35 and i just feel like i am wasting valuable time, my AMH is average (not fantastic) and i am just worrying it will slowly decline the longer i wait.

I am not sure if my DH would be keen to move forward so soon. If i pushed he would but i want him to be willing. i am sure he is struggling in his own way but i feel like I'm dealing with all this emption on my own and suppressing/hiding my true reality, apart from every now and then when i have an outburst. He seems to think "itll happen"

@NatW2021 sorry to hear you're feeling like that. It's such a frustrating process TTC (after the initial fun and excitement!)
I know what you mean and I can't really offer any words of wisdom.. I do try to add something new or change something each cycle, just to give me a glimmer of hope.. even if it's just a new supplement, or something minimal. It usually makes me feel like I'm doing 'something' rather than nothing..

@lemons44
It's reassuring to hear you tried it, I wondered if it was a crazy idea.

We average about once a week and increase around ovulation (which is why I track it quite carefully) but sometimes we're just too tired or DP works late shifts.
It's also become all about making a baby rather than enjoying sex as well. So we're having less and less, making sure we cover fertile days.
I'm hoping if we add in insemination we can just have sex when we actually want to, not just when we need to... although it's weird that DP will be doing his thing in a cup rather than having sex - makes me feel guilty or bad somehow?

Thanks for the link too :-)

@NatW2021 I'm 36 so totally understand what you mean about the age thing.

@SaraSS when you start looking into the reviews for all the self insemination equipment it has worked for quite a few people who have unexplained fertility. No idea why or if it is a coincidence.

I know what you mean I did feel a bit weird to start with too. It becomes less romantic and more like an exchange of goods 😂 so it's not for everyone. We always made sure we had a kiss and cuddle afterwards to at least maintain that intimacy after.

Oh @NatW2021just sending you a big hug. We hear you. It's just completely shit.

Can you perhaps meet in the middle so instead of waiting 6 months just bring it forward to another 3 months?

Remember with private IVF you might have a months wait to have your consultation and they will get you to do a few tests before proceeding with treatment like you have to have HIV/Hepatitis tests before you start. So you may be able to have at least a month naturally trying whilst getting the wheels in motion with IVF. If you use the access fertility package, their medical check also takes two weeks. So although private is quicker I would maybe factor in a little bit of time from deciding to have private IVF to actually receiving the treatment.. if that makes sense.

Your feeling of just wanting to scream resonates so much with me. I had that feeling a lot when we didn't know whether my DH had sperm or not. Make sure you're doing something to let out these emotions and try not to bottle them up. Xx

@lemons44 I am giving repeat bloods beginning next week. I was going to do them this friday as I was going to be in the area anyway but annoyingly my period was a couple days late and I’m not quite finished. That and I also got what I thought was a faint line on a cheapie at 12dpo but only on one test and I think it was a faulty uneven test, all the others were totally negative. Almost got my f***g hopes up 🙄thought it would be so cool that he/she could possibly have the same birthday as dd’s.

Sorry @BakinABaby there's nothing worse than tests giving false hope ☹️ fingers crossed the bloods next week go ok and have normal results xx

@lemons44 @SaraSS @TheBirdintheCave - Thanks for your kind words, i need to lose a stone to qualify for the clinic i want to go to so hopefully ill be there soon, i have April in mind for my first appointment. I want to go on holiday in June, i am desperate to get away i just feel so down with nothing to look forward to, hopefully i can get started in july/august.

My Brother and SIL are due in two weeks and ive not bought a single thing. Ive just been asking all my mum friends what to buy, sat here with bad period cramps looking for gifts online and just feel so shit. I just havent wanted wanted baby stuff in the house really. I am getting excited but just dont know how ill be r deal with x

hey everyone :)
i’m now on my third proper cycle after HyCosy i think … still on Letrozole as well. And I just got a referral for the clinic.
If I have all the correct information in my country our health insurance covers 6 rounds of IVF, each time you get medication and have follicles retrieved is considered a new round. So if we were to get more embryos (frozen) from one go, this is still considered first round of ET.
But I’m pretty sure the wait time is around 3-4 months to get to your first appointment and then probably laparoscopy for me and another SA for hubby. So we’re most likely looking at fall/winter time for ET if that. 😬😏

Hi, how is everyone doing?
I got my bloods back and ca125 is still showing high. Had a call with the doctor today, but she didn't give anything specific but booked an ultrasound for the 13th, I guess I'll know more then. I did some googling and it is unlikely everything is completely fine, but it could be a multitude of things. Glad we caught it.

Hey @BakinABaby sorry about the worrying blood test result.Frustrating that the doctor can't tell you more at the minute - I hope the ultrasound goes ok on the 13th.

I went to the gynaecologist at the beginning of Jan about my irregular cycles and he confirmed last week I am being referred to fertility which I'm pleased about. I have my 'day 21' blood test today to check for progesterone today that is actually on day 29. It's ending up looking like I'm actually going to ovulate today because my ovaries suck, but I decided not to move it further away since this was the whole issue for going to the doctor in the first place! They're checking extra markers for PCOS too I'm sure, which is why I left it as today. Hate needles so going armed with fruit pastilles and my husband for moral support.

Hey everyone!! I’m jumping back on.

Has anyone had an HSG? I keep putting it off as I’m scared!! I’m having a CP right now and had really got my hopes up.

at my ultrasound they found a large endometrioma and I’m scared of getting more bad news xx

@Tophy124 yes a number of us have had a HSG. I personally found it almost painless. My tubes were clear and I got pregnant the cycle after I had it done. It seems to be very different for different people regardless of if your tubes are clear or not! Either way, I think it's definitely worth doing!

@trophy124 yep I had one too - it was a bit uncomfortable but not unbearable. Felt like period cramping and was over with very quickly. The worst part was getting the tube into my cervix as it was so small, so there was a lot of trying and trying again. Definitely worth doing as a process of elimination 😊

@Tophy124 sorry tagged wrong!

Hey everyone. How are you all?
We've been referred today by NHS to the fertility clinic for IVF. So glad the journey has started (although still trying naturally in the meantime!)
I believe we get one fresh round and possibly 1 frozen but that's not certain as our area is changing its funding policy.. hopefully we will get our first appointment for paperwork in the next few weeks!

Hey everyone, hope you are all well!

I had the ultrasound this week to check why my ca125 might be elevated. She did say there looks like to be some sort of a “mass of uneven structure” near my left tube. She wasn’t sure, said because I am so skinny sometimes the ultrasound machine picks up further structures. But she did poke around and I did say that I have pain in that specific location around ov and before period. Anyway, it remained inconclusive and now I am waiting for an MRI next month. Not sure how I feel about it, I am a little scared for sure, but try to keep it cool and keep my mind preoccupied. No point in panicking yet.

Hi all,

How is everyone doing?

We found out today that our IVF funding has been approved. We have a consultation on 8th March and then can start on my next cycle.

@SaraSS that's great you've been referred. Fingers crossed it goes quickly for you!

@BakinABaby sorry your ultrasound wasn't straight forward. At least they are being extra vigilant in checking you out by giving you an MRI next.