IVF Buddies: the next chapter

[RunningOnHope]

Hi everyone, thought I'd try making us a second thread now the old one is done -

Tagging @Triselly @lemons44 @CR7 @Flowerlover010 @pongom @WholeZebra @TheBirdintheCave @SarahShorty - will go back to the thread and see if there's anyone else to add in, but do tag those I've missed!

@Flowerlover010 Yeah I just wish they'd told me about the extra needles in advance but nobody warned until we were just leaving 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️ I'm autistic so don't handle surprises well.

@TheBirdintheCave that is not acceptable. They should be hyper aware of the situation x

@TheBirdintheCave yes i would want to know that in advance but i think some of these things are decided as and when rather than in advance. Ive had a few communication issues with my clinic it doesnt help does it!!

@TheBirdintheCave I think perhaps an email to your consult and giving feedback on how the news was delivered and how it could be improved upon in the future. Of course things may change and alter throughout your journey however their delivery of news needs to be worked upon

@TheBirdintheCave @CR7 i havent been told i might need to continue this injection either so its given me a bit of a heads up! I'll mention it to my clinic. Thank you

@CR7 'blood thinners via injection every morning as well as steroids, patches, pills and pessaries' holy crap!

They were really nice to me otherwise (even though I didn't deserve it) so I'd feel like I was being unreasonable if I complained 😅

Hi @CR7 I have been feeling a bit lousy today actually. I have still had period type cramps on and off but stronger. I'm trying not to symptom spot but these are definite (aka not in my head) and has had me paranoid all day. Last night I got up three times in the night with my phone torch to check if my period has come because it feels exactly the same as my period pains. Then I've lost track of how many times I have checked in the bathroom today!! I haven't had any spotting so just hoping my period continues to stay away. I'm trying not to speculate what could be causing the cramps because it could be so many things including the progesterone or because of my super forceful embryo transfer. Regardless of the cause it's had me feel a bit lousy today. I am 5dp3dt.

How are you doing xx

@SarahShorty god I know. And everything is continuing til at least 12 week scan if I get there which means pessaries and injections etc in Spain 😂😂 but hey ho, we do what we do!

@lemons44 with all the drugs it could be anything. Keep strong. You're well on the way xx

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Hi everyone. Didn't get tagged in the new thread but I hope you don't mind me jumping back on.

A bit of an update... I took some time off work and went away to have a hit of a break after it was confirmed that we'd had a chemical. As I hoped it has done my mental health wonders. I have been a bit all over the place and could feel myself starting to spiral. After years of managing episodes I could feel one brewing and just knew I needed to get my head straight.
Consultation with the medical director has been had an now need to decide what type of FET to go for. I think having a new plan is staring to give me some new hope again.

@RunningOnHope I'm so sorry you're going through this. The uncertainty makes it really tough.

@SarahShorty we decided to TTC naturally whilst we waited for what's next. A voice inside was saying what's the point especially as DH sperm results were the worst they had even been on my EC day: but I've read stories recently on natural successes after transfers it's with a shot. We've nothing else to lose.

@TheBirdintheCave congratulations on such wonderful numbers! Fingers crossed for a strong ratio to maturity & fertilisation🤞🏼

@lemons44 j hope you feel better soon. It's such a hard journey, symptom spotting is all we have when waiting so it's only natural to do it when you can tell something feels off.

@CR7 did I see that you've had a positive test! I'm so happy for you! How are you feeling about it all! So exciting to be on the next stage of your journey!

@charja100! So great to hear from you, didn't want to hassle you but was going to tag you in case you wanted to stay connected. Glad to hear you were able to take a break, it's so tough. And beginning to make new plans sounds really positive. I'm waiting until I can call the clinic to say the tests are fading so that we can then get a follow up appointment and begin to move on to planning the next thing. Just bleeding and waiting is a bit of a drag!

We have missed you @charja100 - glad you listened to your body, and yes, wonder if wonders, I got a positive yesterday x

@charja100 Glad you're back and I'm happy you have a new plan to move forward with now :)

Welcome back @charja100
I think you should really be proud of yourself for putting yourself first and taking some time away. It's not always easy to break free from this journey.
So excited that you have two frozen embryos too, how amazing you can start looking towards to the next step.
Keep looking after yourself and remember to take more time if you need it 💗

@TheBirdintheCave hope you're feeling ok this evening 💗

xx

Sorry @charja100 I don't know why I thought you had two frozen. Maybe I read it on a different thread? Correct me if I got that wrong xx

Thank you @RunningOnHope. It was definitely what I needed. I'm so sorry your in this limbo. Are you definitely out this cycle? Sorry if I've missed something trying to catch up with everything I've missed... and there's a lot of comments to get through.

@CR7 I've missed you all too and am pleased to be back. I have a terrible habit of running away to hide when I'm struggling but it's the only way I know how to get out the other side. The biggest smile crossed my face when I read back on the old chat and saw the news. You really deserve it, I couldn't be happier for you. Now don't go leaving us, I need your level head 🤣😘

Thank you @TheBirdintheCave just need to decide on which approach to take on my FET now. They've given me three options. Natural, medicated #1 (with burselin), medicated #2 (straight to oestrogen) it's never easy if it. Not quite sure how to make this decision. How are you feeling now after EC?

@Triselly I've just caught up and I'm so sorry to read that you've had a tough week. Sending you strength 💕

@lemons44 thank you for your kind words. Yes that's right very well remembered! I do have two frozen. They've been my silver lining and I'm very thankful we were lucky enough to have something to freeze. Just have the dilemma of deciding on next protocol.

Anyone have any advice from their own experiences? If you had the option would you use Buserilin or avoid it if you could?

@charja100 I did buserelin for my mock transfer cycle and prostap for the third real transfer because buserlin was out of stock everywhere. Prostap way easier as one single injection. They say it's less east to control but I preferred it xx

@charja100 I just stuffed myself full of KFC to make up for my lack of breakfast so eh, not so bad. I'm not expecting a high fertilisation rate though. Like I said to the surgeon, if I was lucky I wouldn't be here 😂

Buserelin was my trigger shot so that's the only experience I have with that one. It went in ok. No burning or anything so better than some of my other jabs.

My clinic offers multiple ways of FET too but no one's told me the pluses or minuses of each yet.

@charja100 No worries at all! I'd say 97% definitely out. I'm getting strong positive tests still but had heavy bleeding for 4/5 days now, with one very painful day yesterday, so I'm almost certain it all passed then and no sign of the blood stopping yet. But I need to test again tomorrow or Thursday and update the clinic.

@TheBirdintheCave I love a kfc 🤤

@CR7 Me too 🤤 They forgot my mash though and I was incandescent 😂 My poor husband had to drive to the restaurant to pick some up.

@CR7 ah thank you. I'm a bit confused whether to go with the down regulation at all or not. I'm not sure why they gave me the choice tbh, I kind of wish they'd just told me what to do!

My options are medicated #1 use buserilin to down regulate and then move onto oestrogen, progesterone etc. Or medicated 2, no down regulation. My clinic said they've just done lots of these cycles whilst buserilin was out of stock. That there's a slight risk of cancelled cycle... I'm really not sure which one to go with. Trying to read about the difference between the two.

I was thinking back to some of your comments on the previous thread, I remember you talking about your trial transfer and the extra tests you had for your biome and to test your implantation window. Do you mind me asking what prompted you to do these tests?

@TheBirdintheCave I don't remember the last time I had a KFC. Now I have a craving for it. I'm going to dream of battered chicken tonight!

@charja100 Apologies! 😅

@charja100 So my second failed transfer was with a pgta embryo which “should” have worked. I had three pgta embryos and now was down to two. I wanted to go straight into another cycle and they said no because there “should” be a reason why it didn’t work. I knew I had endo probs and googled and discovered Ema / Alice. I brought this up on the call with my consultant and he suggested endemeTRIO testing with a Hysteroscopy. Endemetrio testing is done on what would be transfer day, hence the mock cycle. It’s basically like a dress rehearsal. Was my body capable of receiving the embryo after all the drugs. I was able to have both of these tests done on transfer day, luckily for me. In order to ensure I was ready for the surgery on exactly the right day ( my clinic only does endemeTRIO testing on a Tuesday) we had to carefully plan everything and therefore I did norethisterone and then buserelin to time it exactly. That is the beauty of those two drugs. The dr can totally manipulate my cycle and therefore was able to do the mock cycle ending in endemtrio testing and Hysteroscopy on the day I would have had my transfer.

results were - displaced implantation window (by a whole day) so I was on six days of progesterone not five which is the norm. I was also given a blood test on transfer day which showed my progesterone was still low so I was given extra injections. Never had the transfer day blood test before . My biome also came back a bit off but I was recommended to do vaginal probiotics after the Hysteroscopy so I’d managed to treat that already as it’s the same treatment.

phew hope that makes sense .