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!

@Triselly amazing news!! 9 is a wonderful number. Keep us posted x

@SarahShorty keep us posted. We are all here and sending love xx

@TheBirdintheCave @Triselly @CR7 thank you ladies xx

I'm very indifferent about pregnancy and babies these days. If it happens, great! If it doesn't happen, meh whatever. You know what I mean? I'm quite numb now.

@Triselly brilliant news on the collection! Such a good number!

Fantastic news @Triselly - hoping for a great phone call for you tomorrow.

@SarahShorty definitely get the numbness. Staying zen is probably a very good thing.

@SarahShorty I think most of us have felt like there xx

@SarahShorty I definitely felt that way in the end, especially after our loss and then having to start from scratch all over again. I'm now nearly 21 weeks pregnant and I still sort of feel that way. I made myself buy some outfits at the weekend and we've finally started looking at prams and car seats but again only because I thought I probably should, not because I was excited to. I can walk past kids things and not even really care too much. I think I'd got myself to a a point where I didn't think it would happen for us and therefore started looking at what life might be like without kids, and now I feel like I'm struggling to get back into that "wanting to be a mum" mindset. Also, because it took so long and I had to keep 'staying strong' it doesn't actually feel real still. Wishing you all the best with whatever your future holds xx

Hi all, did my first scan day 5 of IVF today and very little progress. 5 follicles with only 2 at 8mm as the largest ones. This is my 2nd IVF cycle after two miscarriages…. Any ideas of how to help follicles grow? I was at 225 Menopur just increased to 375!! Feeling like a failed human being…

Thank you ladies for the nice words xxx We got 4 fertilised out of 9, so now it’s just waiting for ET on Thursday, and hoping they look good on day 3.

@SarahShorty I know what you mean too, it’s like all my emotions got used up on the first round. It’s kind of freeing, I feel much more chill about it this time.

Hope that everything is going well for you, @KG96 @CR7 and @TheBirdintheCave , do you find that as things progress you feel a bit more relaxed about pregnancy?

@RunningOnHope All my love to you, hope that you are doing alright xxx

@Valentina1985 hello there - day 5 is very early for a follicle scan - I wouldn’t panic just yet. I’m sure that upping the Menopur will have a good effect, and if they haven’t grown so much, can you cancel the cycle and try again next month? This happened to me last month, had zero growth on day 8 and I was absolutely freaking out that I’d had a weird flash menopause! But we cancelled and tried again this month and had a much better result so far.

I know this sounds a bit woo and may not be your cup of tea, but have you tried acupuncture? My first cycle and this cycle I have done it and had quite a good result for my age (37) but the middle cycle I didn’t bother with acupuncture and it failed! I know that is extremely personal-experience-evidence but maybe it’s worth a shot. Oxford fertility centre has an acupuncturist on site so there may be something to it (even if it is possibly a placebo effect?)

@Triselly Thank you, I think everything is going well. I thought I would be so much more relaxed now that I've so many scans and can start to see a bump forming etc but I'm really not 😅I still stress about every little thing. I think I've been able to feel it moving for a while now, but I'm still not always sure as I think it depends on its position, so if I don't feel it for a day or so I start to panic. Maybe I'm just a stress person, I think I probably won't stop worrying now till..., well maybe never lol

@Triselly That's great news! Fingers crossed they all make to day five and you have three to freeze 🙏

I'm still terrified every day unfortunately. I'm just surviving scan to scan and clinging on to my symptoms as reassurance. Reminding myself that I went from week 7-12 without another scan with my son does help. I trusted my body to grow him so surely it can grow this one too. Just hard to keep any sort of confidence really.

@Valentina1985 Still lots of time for those follicles to grow! I agree with Triselly. See how things are at the next scan first.

Thanks for the support..@Triselly and @TheBirdintheCave. This is all so difficult. I am feeling so guilty to have a body that is not capable to deliver…

@Valentina1985 I was on 450. Don't be thinking you're a failure. It's great they are keeping an eye on you and upping your dose xx

@Triselly it didn't feel real for me for a really long time as I had zero symptoms for weeks and weeks. Then I got heartburn which I had never had. I didn't even know what it was. I also developed an arrhythmia which is quite common and again gave me reassurance, as odd as that sounds, because it was out of the ordinary for non pregnant me.

Private scans (whilst only a snapshot) gave me reassurance.

Each milestone helps.

I'm 28 weeks tomorrow so officially third trimester. I still can't believe it after our journey was so hard but once the kicks started it definitely made me feel more reassured.

Even though I did pgta I still did the NIPT testing at ten weeks. Medically I did everything I could for reassurance that there was a chance of this working.

4/9 is a great start. Please do keep us posted x

@CR7 , how many follicles did you have and how many eggs did you collect? Tomorrow I have another scan... I am already starting to think about the next one really. Maybe I prepare better... I dont feel I have prepared well enough with diets, etc.

Hi ladies xx Just checking in. I had two little embryos successfully transferred today. 3BC and 5BB. One of them had already started hatching. Unfortunately my progesterone levels aren't the best this time round, so I'm now on Prontogest injections once every 3 days. The length of the needle made me cry, but I pushed through and I did it myself and now I feel like a total pansy 😂 I need to go back to my satellite clinic to pick up more of it to see me through to just beyond the test date.

@SarahShorty That's amazing news! Congrats on your transfer! I have everything crossed for your two week wait!

@SarahShorty I'm so glad you got your progesterone tested! I had mine tested on my last transfer and mine was low so I was given lubion. Have you got that too? If so can I remind you that there's a mixing needle and an administering needle. One green and one yellow. The mixing needle is way bigger and not the one to inject with. I'm sure it made a difference to my outcome xx fingers crossed for you xx

@Valentina1985 I can't remember follicle numbers but I got 13 eggs through my duo stim, 12 fertilised, 7 made it to blast and 3 made it through pgta.

Wishing you the best of luck x

@SarahShorty excellent news! Sorry about the injections - I’ve heard the progesterone ones are a bit unpleasant. I used Emla cream to numb out the area for a couple of times earlier on, maybe that could be helpful if you’re finding them painful? Why do some women get injections and some pessaries?

I’ve got my day 3 ET today at 1pm, so just behind you ❤️

@KG96 @CR7 @TheBirdintheCave That’s interesting to hear about your experiences so far with anxiety - especially that you all had similar answers! I can’t remember if I’ve asked this already but do you find it is somewhat counterbalanced by being able to appreciate and enjoy pregnancy and pregnancy symptoms more? If that makes sense?

@Triselly I think I know what you mean. I didn't really experience that many symptoms, and any that I did have were very minor almost to the point of not really being noticeable. But I remember clinging on to any sort of sign that it was still going ok (and still do).
I did have some slight nausea at the beginning and I just remember myself almost hoping to feel it and being disappointed if I didn't feel nauseous that day. Where my friends who got pregnant naturally/easily (and didn't experience a loss) were telling me how awful/annoying the symptoms were. They would tell me how lucky I was not to be having any major symptoms and I would say that I wish I did so that I wasn't left wondering everyday. I just wanted to feel something to give me some reassurance.
I would squeeze my boobs multiple times a day as this was the only symptom I had during my first pregnancy and it was the soreness going away that led me to believe I had miscarried. So this time I would check them religiously to check that the soreness was still there. Even when I started to get a bit constipated I just saw it as something else that gave me hope that it was all going ok. I don't know if that answers your question?

@Triselly Good luck today! :D

I definitely appreciate my symptoms (and panic when I feel even a bit better) but I'm not getting much joy from being pregnant as it's such a frightening experience. I try to talk positively about the future which helps a little but ultimately I feel like the odds are flipped and that my chance of miscarriage is so much higher than average. Every day I'm waiting for something bad to happen. I can't wear my baby on board badge for fear I'm going to jinx the pregnancy. Every unkind thought I have I think 'well now I don't deserve this so fate will take the baby away.'

OMG @CR7 , these are fantastic!!

@Triselly , you are transferring day 3 instead of waiting for blastocysts? @CR7 , I am at Chelsea hospital and they don’t do PGT testing… I had a MMC last time… so afraid I should be doing it as well…

@SarahShorty @Triselly I had pessaries and injections

Yes for me the lack of symptoms was tough. I also had nothing during the two week wait if you remember. All three TWW's felt the same for me even though different outcome on the third go.

I welcomed the symptoms when I got them xx