TTC for 18+ months and feeling low!

[Natty2]

I'm fairly new at this forum and decided to join after TTC since the start of 2022
We discovered earlier this year that my DH morphology was low, although all other results were normal. He implemented life style changes straight away, and even went through a varicocele embolisation a few months ago, so we're waiting to see if that's helped.

Having gone through the rest of the year undergoing tests everything seems normal, so the NHS are not letting us even get on the IVF list until 2024. It's been such a long, physical and emotional journey and there seems to be no end in sight.

Anyone else going through similar things? I feel like I live life in 2 week cycles and it's so hard to try and not think about it all!!
Any tips?!

@DesteBso sorry, I tagged you by mistake and then pressed "post" at the same time 🫣 sorry for the notification

@Natty2 22 woop woop! Come on follicles. Really rooting for you. Hope the side effects are not too hard on you. Thanks for the offer of advice, it's so nice of you. I don't know what advice I need at the moment. Feeling very overwhelmed by it all the past couple of days but I think it's because I'm getting my period. Those hormones eh

@missmoosh @LucyLoopyLu
Hope you are both well,
Update from me, I had a trigger shot last night and ready for egg collection tomorrow morning. However, just got some disappointing news that my blood tests yesterday picked up on high levels of progesterone which means they have to do a freeze all.
Looks like I won't be able to have transfer until at least April (they said 3rd bleed) so so gutted 😞

@Natty2 exciting news about collection, how many follicles do you have now?
I'm so sorry to hear that it's got to be a freeze all, that's such a brutal wait. I don't think anything I can say will make you feel better, but just know they know what they are doing and want you to have success, even if that means waiting. Do you think you will continue trying whilst you wait?

@missmoosh still 22 but at least 13 of those are below 10 though so unlikely to be mature.
The rest are between 11-25. No idea what to expect tomorrow, and then we'll get an update on sat as to how many are fertilised 🤞
Just hoping we at least get a good few to day 5 blastocyst so they can be frozen.
Have no idea about trying in the meantime, I need to do more research on the FET cycle but think I'll be back on meds for at least a month including more injections 🙃 hoping they will go through these next steps within the coming weeks.
Just feeling quite deflated, particularly as we were so excited this morning about it all coming together. Feels never ending at the moment!

@Natty2 do let us know how tomorrow goes for you. Praying you have an excellent fertilisation rate!
Oh God I hope it's not too horrific doing a fet, although I'm sure I read before they are normally more successful than fresh transfers?
Sending big hugs to you both, you got this!

@Natty2 oh no, sorry about the disappointment and the waiting. That's got to hit hard, especially when you're in the weeds of it now and just want to see the progress. Hoping you get some great eggs and get plenty of good embryos frozen. Will keep my fingers crossed for you. All you can do is just focus on one day at a time for now and look after yourself.

Hope egg collection goes ok, good luck and make sure you get some rest afterwards x

@Natty2 hope your collection went well today 😊

Seem to be getting more disappointment 😞
Of our 14 eggs collected (which we thought was great) only 5 were mature and only 3 fertilised.
Have to prepare ourselves that we may have nothing to freeze in 5 days time 💔
Hope that they are strong, but think we need to prepare ourselves for doing this all again 😞

Oh no, I'm so sorry! Crossing everything for you that those 3 make it to day 5 for you. Have they given any indication as to what they think has gone wrong? Or just bad luck? Really hope you don't have to go through it all again

@Natty2 sorry to hear this! :( Hoping you have some good news in 5 days time! Keeping my fingers crossed for you ❤️

@Natty2 fingers crossed for those lucky 3, the wait must be awful.

Hi, I hope you don't mind me jumping onto this thread. This is the first thread I have found that I can relate to. I just wanted to say it given me some hope and comfort. AF has just arrived so we now move onto cycle 19 and just feeling angry and frustrated today.

Our first NHS fertility appointment is next month and I'm just wondering if any of you would be kind enough to shed some light on what to expect on the first appointment please? Thank you in advance.

Wishing you all the best with your journey's <3

@Emz09 welcome,and sorry you're having such a hard time. The frustration and unfairness of it all really gets you down doesn't it?

Hopefully the fertility tests are helpful, and, if anything is found, that it's an easy thing they can fix.

@Natty2 have you had any update, or will you not hear anything until the 5 days are up?

@CatCaretaker thank you 🤍 praying we get some answers, so far bloods and semen analysis are "normal" so will just have to see what nhs chapter holds.

@Natty2 I'm so sorry this isn't the outcome you deserve. I've been thinking of you. Hope you are ok and those 3 fertilised are now good quality embryos for you. Let us know how you are when you can x

@Emz09 welcome to the thread.
I think it depends on your local authority exactly what the different stages look like and what appointments you have. And also whether they find something they can treat.

We're unexplained, so had tests organised by the local GP, semen analysis for my husband, and then I went to the local hospital for a hyfosy, where they reviewed everything and then referred me for IVF. After that I had my first appointment at the assisted conception unit and now I'm waiting for my nurse's appointment which is the last one before we start IVF.

@LucyLoopyLu

Thank you for sharing your experience with me. Suppose I really do just have to wait and see. Do you mind me asking what sort of timeframe this has taken from GP to where you are now?

Praying and hoping everything goes well with your IVF appointment x

@Emz09 we started trying in March 2022, had some tests privately after 6 months and there was nothing flagged so carried on. Then after we had been trying for 12 months we went to the GP - I can't remember the exact date but maybe June-ish time last year - we had a 2 month break from trying for a big holiday so I wanted to give it 12 cycles. There was quite a bit of waiting for initial appointments but once I had the hyfosy done in November things moved quite fast. I had turned 35 in October as well so that means we didn't have to wait for the 2 year mark to be referred for IVF, which is fairly standard for unexplained infertility I think.

@LucyLoopyLu oh wow so quite quickly really once the ball was rolling. Ok that's interesting to know about the IVF process that it's 2 years before being referred, thank you. Our initial appointment was supposed to be January but it got cancelled, really hoping it's not a sign things to come 🫣

@Natty2 really hoping you get some positive news today, have everything crossed for you. ❤️

Thank you all for your messages 🫶🏼 the last week has been torture waiting for our updates.
Our day 5 was yesterday and they managed to freeze one good quality egg.
The 2 were early blastocysts so wanted to wait until today to see if they were viable to freeze. Sadly they weren't 💔💔
I know we're lucky to have the one, but also know the first transfer might not work. I hope it's our miracle baby but only time will tell.
We have booked a consultation next week to understand what went wrong and our next steps. We want to try and do another retrieval but may have to transfer first before our nhs funding runs out
Thanks for the support 💛

@Natty2 im so glad you have one, I know it's not the outcome you had hoped for. I really hope this one is your miracle!

Hopefully they can shed some light on what has gone wrong, and make adjustments if you do need to do another retrieval. Wishing you all the best!

@Natty2

I can't even imagine how you have been feeling waiting to hear the outcome. You made it 💪.

One is all it takes and I will keep everything crossed and pray for you, that this one is your miracle. Sending lots of love 🧡

@Natty2 oh I'm sorry the others didn't make it to freezing, I can see why you are so disappointed. Really hoping that 1 frostie is the one for you. It will be good to hear from them what they think the reason was and what could be changed for another cycle if it was needed.
I've seen lots of people on the IVF threads saying that the first round is often a bit of a trial run to see how you respond to medication etc as everyone is different. I know that doesn't help the situation and it's still really shit, but hopefully at least gives some reassurance that it's very common for the first cycle.

On a separate point though, it makes it more frustrating when you live in a LA that only funds one round though (we are in that situation too). The post code lottery is just so unfair.

Hope you're doing ok. Thanks for updating us x