First IVF cycle

[SeeJonesHope]

Hi guys, I’m new here!

As of today, Sun 2nd Feb, I am 5 days into my first full IVF cycle. Taking meriofert daily and tonight I start on fyremedal, first scan tomorrow morning.

I had 3 failed IUI cycles last year, plus a fourth which was cancelled part-way due to an infection.

I was then progressed to IVF, I had one IVF cycle cancelled part-way too last year due to needing a colonoscopy short notice.

Been on my fertility journey for a few years, unexplained infertility with some dyspareunia.

Wondering if anyone else is on their IVF journey this month and wants any virtual company?

Hello - virtual company sounds great right now!! I’m 2 days into my first IVF cycle, same as you on Meriofert once a day. Sorry to hear about your failed IUI’s. We have been ttc for a little while now but decided to proceed with IVF instead of trying IUI’s.
How are you finding it so far? My first scan is on Friday - I have PCOS so they are keeping a fairly close eye as I’m high risk of OHSS. Nice to find someone at a similar stage - it’s very lonely X

Yeah to be honest IUI has such a low chance overall so I get skipping straight to IVF. We’re on an NHS funded treatment and had to do IUI before we could start IVF. So it’s been exhausting having so many failed cycles just to get to this. But the silver lining for me was it gave my clinic team a chance to learn how my body responds to the various medication so far.

How are you finding the meriofert? i keep getting some mild nausea but otherwise okay. I started fyremadel last night too, to prevent ovulation. I had my first scan today (on day 7). I’m responding well to meriofert (8 folicles in one ovary and 11 in the other) but they also said seeing my scan today, I might be at risk of OHSS given the number. I was advised today we might end up needing to freeze after egg retrieval and kick in next cycle (I guess to give my ovaries chance to relax?!).

good luck for your scan on Friday! 🤞 how are you feeling about it?

Do you have friends or family you can confide in? It’s crazy how many friends around me have been pregnant and had kids since I started ttc. Time just passes so fast.

Great that you’re responding so well! I’m trying to look at it as a bit of a win win. Ie if you have to do a freeze all at least that means you’ve got lots of eggs and hopefully embryos… or the other way around and it means I can have a fresh cycle. But yeah I have already been advised that I’ll most likely have a freeze all.
I thought I was coping okay with the meriofert until about 5am this morning when I woke up with a blistering migraine that had me gagging over the toilet/blurred vision etc - awful!!! Took a load of painkillers and have been fine again since, other than feeling a bit tired. A lot of our friends know we are ttc and probably pursuing IVF but only my mum and one close friend know that we have actually started… I couldn’t cope with more people knowing I don’t think.
wish I could fast forward to Friday so I can see what’s going on - I’m not feeling hugely bloated or anything so I’m intrigued.
Have you got another scan? And have you got your date for your EC?

Oh gosh that migraine sounds horrible! How have you been today? I know what you mean about not telling others. It’s so vulnerable and private, and it’s hard work even keeping those who know updated what’s going on.

My next scan is tomorrow morning, I’m curious to find out if my ovaries have developed bigger folicles now, I will hopefully find out tomorrow.

No other dates have been booked in, my clinic just does things one step at a time, can’t book in more than the next appointment. It’s good in one respect but also really hard to plan (and I plan everything in my life).

i hope you’re feeling better today!

Been totally back to normal today thank god! I’m starting to feel a little bloated/crampy and getting the odd twinge like I would normally feel on the run up to ovulation so think something must definitely be happing!
Let me know how your scan goes - hoping things are developing nicely for you! I think my EC is either the 12th or 14th (depending on follicle sizes on scans) so not long to go now

Glad you’re feeling better! I feel
bloated today too, and yeah those little twinges are there too! I had my scan yesterday and they suggested my EC may be on Monday. Got another scan in rhw morning so I’ll know tomorrow hopefully! 🤞 they also said i’m most likely going to have a freeze all as well, which is fine by me. Not what I initially expected but i’m learning to roll with it here. Good luck at your scan tomorrow too!

I'm on my 3rd embryo transfer currently, all three being frozen transfers. Although it's hard to hear you can't have a fresh transfer it gives your body the chance to recover and hormones to get back to normal x

I had my scan this morning and have got 36 follicles - she showed me them mapped on a graph and said some of them have gone really quickly so will likely lose a few so the hope is to get some of the smaller ones up to the mid ground point. She reiterated I'm high risk for OHSS so will deffo not be having a fresh transfer. She's lowered my dose of Meriofert and just got 2 more days of that now - scan on monday, trigger monday night and EC on Wednesday! Not really sure what I expected but feeling nervous/excited and v v bloated. Got back pain and just feel generally a bit shit today!! Just need to get to next week now and get EC done. Have you had your scan today @SeeJonesHope ?
@Goodday4789 Yes I agree - I am a bit gutted that we will have to wait for the transfer but equally gives me a few weeks to get back into my exercise/eating well etc and let my body recover. I deffo feel like it might need it tbh

Hey again, ah that follicle number sounds good tho, and yeah makes sense to get some smaller ones back up to size before the procedure! Exciting you’re all booked in!

My scan went well, I seem to have 19 follicles one side and 15 on the other, the team were happy with how it all looks overall. also deffo at risk of OHSS so having my procedure on Monday and also doing a freeze all.

i’ve got various meds to take now til Sun, incl my trigger nasal spray (which I wasnt expecting!)

it doesnt feel real I’ll be going for it on Monday.

i agree about the period of time to let your body reset, also welcoming that! I feel boated and really tender on my stomach today.

good luck for Wednesday, hope it goes really well for you!

@Familyfirst12 hi how are you doing today? Is your egg collection this week still? 🤞 good luck! I had mine yesterday, propped up in bed today as a little sore from mild OHSS. But so far so good! Sending good vibes for you this week!

Hi @SeeJonesHope sorry only just seeing these messages! I had my collection today - it wasn’t very pleasant but I suppose served a purpose. I was conked out for the whole thing and don’t remeber anything but my blood pressure dropped as I came round and I had to have some IV antisickness drugs as well as some extra painkillers etc. tried to be v brave but tbh found the whole thing a bit traumatic!! In quite a bit of pain now which they said was to be expected with the amount of follicles and also quite a bit of fluid in my pelvis. Anyway, ended up with 25 eggs, so I’m really pleased with that. Just need to get through the next day or so now. How are you feeling today? Have you gone back to work or are you having a quiet few days? I wish tomorrow would hurry up so I know how many have fertilised X

@Familyfirst12 oh i’m so sorry to hear that was your experience, that’s awful! I can understand you feeling traumatised from it all. Well done pushing through 💪 Sounds like you had a good medical team around you to respond, that’s really good to hear.

25 eggs is amazing! 👏🙌 (also snap! Same qty!) enjoy every step! ☺️ I binged some netflix to pass the hours by for my phone call.

i’m a little sore still, have had moments of nausea and dizziness. I’ve been signed off work for two weeks by my clinic so i’m trying to enjoy the break. I’m not used to time off (and not doing anything) so it’s slow.

Rest up and take it slow, hope you feel better soon ✨

Oh how funny that we got the same amount! How many fertilised for you? Amazing that you’ve got 2 weeks off work, how nice to be able to just chill and recover.
The team at the clinic were great, they were so quick to sort things out when they went a bit wrong!
I’ve been told I’ll need to have this bleed and then another period before having my transfer, have you been told similar? X

We had 17 fertilise, and we have a call tomorrow to update us on the progress (and another call on Sunday too before freezing I think).

it’s lovely my clinic have signed me off so long but it is more than I was expecting (and from others posting it seems more than most people get?). So far i’m glad for the rest as i’m sore today even just sitting up. I think it’s from OHSS as everything feels sore in my abdomen.

yeah I was advised similar about my next period, although I would like them to spell that out for me again as I just like to know I’ve understood correctly. It has felt a bit of a blur since Monday. How are you feeling tonight?

Wow that’s amazing, you must be so pleased!!
gosh I know what you mean, I’m so sore. I really think I underestimated it all to be honest!
I agree I would like to have a good chat with them as I have no idea if I’ll be medicated or not etc. I’m feeling okay thank you just really sore, I’m keeping on top of painkillers and just hoping I get a good night sleep tonight!!
let me know when you’ve heard back from the clinic tomorrow! X

Yeah in one respect it seems like the higher numbers give us the best potential, just hoping there’s enough of the quality we want! 🤞

how are you feeling today? I definitely underestimated this post-procedure stage too. Thought i’d just have period-like cramps - funnily enough not had any of those 😂

i’ll keep you updated how I get on today with my next call ☺️ i hope you’re feeling alright!

We’ve just had our call - we’ve had 17 fertilise too! So relieved. I had a horrendous night. Excruciating pain, I think my bowel went into spasm which they did say might happen with the fluid surrounding it. Not very fun but feeling much better now, especially after that call. Got my fingers crossed for your call today!! Gosh this process is exhausting😂 x

Oh wow!! Firstly congratulations on your fertilised number, that’s great! 🙌 how funny our numbers match so far?!

so sorry to hear about the pain though. That sounds rough! Hopefully you can rest up today.

i had my call earlier, they said randomly one more egg fertilised since their last call. So we were told there are 18 total now, and of that we have 6 good embryos and 4 average, 8 poor. We’re really happy with those numbers so far. Makes sense like half have dropped off in quality, and keeping everything crossed for our final call Sunday morning to update us on the quantity to freeze.

hope you start to feel better soon! Have you told your clinic of the pain you had overnight?

I’m struggling with fluid retention so got some lucozade sport with electrolytes, and I have constipation, got some fybogel tablets to help with that. The joys! 😂 when’s your next call?

Aww thank you - I know how funny that we’ve ended up with such similar numbers - congratulations on getting one more, that’s amazing! Each one is another chance!! We’ve got 2 that ‘half fertilised’ and she said she would update us on them when we get our call on Saturday so we’ll see what happens with those!
Amazing that you’ve got so many good and average embryos! So exciting.
I did mention to the embryologist that I spoke to this morning about the pain but she didn’t sound too surprised and kind of made out that if it wasn’t getting worse then things were okay. I feel quite a bit better tonight so just hoping for a good night sleep. I’m horrendously constipated too😂 I’ve not been to the toilet since Tuesday morning so I’m trying all the things - I did not know this would be part of it😂

Hey @Familyfirst12 how did you get on with your call on Saturday? And how are you feeling? Hoping your constipation has passed! 🤞

we also got a call yesterday, we have four embryos frozen which we’re happy with. All feels like it’s happened so fast. And weirdly I started my period today (5 days earlier than normal). I’m happy about that though as it means I can stop taking my fragmin injections I think 🤞 i’ve found them so painful compared to other injections.

i hope you’re feeling better and things are going well!

Wow congratulations @SeeJonesHope on getting 4 in the freezer - that is so amazing, you must both be over the moon. We're in the anxious wait to finding out our final number now! We had our update on Saturday (day 3) and 2 more had fertilised late so we had 19. She said most were quite good quality with 2 looking 'average'. She seemed confident that we would end up with a few to freeze which I was pleased to hear. Today is day 5 so I imagine some will get frozen today - they're calling us tomorrow with our final numbers.
I'm feeling so much better! Constipation has gone and I'm definitely feeling more like myself. I still have pain if I press on my stomach but we're definitely getting there. I'm actually jealous that you have started your period as I feel like that's when this whole cycle will be over and my poor ovaries should return to a normal size!! Have you managed to have a chat with them yet on when you can expect to do your transfer? How long are your cycles normally? x

Hey how did you get on today? I had a scan of my abdomen today and i still have fluid build up but not that bad now. I have to keep going with my fragmin injections til the weekend tho 😩

i’ve been advised to call them up on the first day of my next period. But I have a busy few weeks in early April with work (and I’ve taken a lot of time off recently for this fertility treatment too) so I’m thinking of postponing my embryo transfer till my cycle in April. Whilst it’s frustrating, I also don’t want to risk anything now 🤞 my cycle is usually 28 days (so starting yesterday is like 23 days, very early). I’m trying to guess when it might kick in again.

They explained I could choose between natural or medicated FET too. I said i’d probably prefer medicated if I have the choice.

They also let me know I have multicystic ovaries which I didn’t know about til today?! they say this is due to my high AMH levels. Always interesting, I learn new things, every time I visit the clinic!

i hope things are going well for you!

Yes really well thank you, we’ve ended up with a great amount in the freezer and we’re feeling really pleased and relieved.
So sorry to hear you’ve still got a buildup of fluid - I imagine that should just keep reducing as time goes on?
Ahh that all makes sense - It’s so difficult to know when to go for it isn’t it. I have started spotting so think I will start my period tomorrow/Thursday, but I have quite long cycles usually so it will be a good few weeks before we can think about transfer really. I’m trying to see it as a good thing to get me back on the right track with eating well and exercise (everything basically went to pot for the 3 weeks or so of stims and then retrieval) but I’d also love to just crack on now!!
Ive not heard of multicystic ovaries sorry! I have PCOS myself so have a high AMH - I know what you mean about learning something new every time you go to the clinic😂

Hey @Familyfirst12 firstly huge apologies I didn’t come back to you on above! Life suddenly picked back up after my recovery time. How are you getting on now? Hope everything’s going well!