Assisted conception and the bits inbetween Part Two!.......

[spook]

Hi everyone.
New thread starts here....

Hi ladies. Have been whisked off to Norfolk broads for a holiday, hence going missing for a while! Well, I tested on Monday as I was supposed to.....and....it's a BFP!!! I can't believe it, honestly. It just goes to show, those tempting early tests can be deceiving. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all is well (m/c at 6/7 weeks last year after iui) so am trying to chill and be positive. Struggling to read through all your posts (on my iPhone) so will catch up when home at weekend. Take care dudes!

EMZIB massive CONGRATULATIONS . Such wonderful news!! Enjoy your holiday

Flibberty great news about your scan . Glad to hear that baby is measuring perfectly and all looks good...though at the original sonographer that provoked all this stress in the first place...

Huge congratulations EMZIB. Fingers crossed for a problem free nine months xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Congratulations EMZIB

Sorry Dup that you're not responding - hopefully they'll turn this one into IUI and that'll work for you and if not then hopefully the flare protocol will. ((Hugs)).

Welcome to this thread Summer.

I haven't caught up properly as I can't go on at lunch anymore and just want to sleep when I get home, so apologies for shortness of post. Will catch up over the long weekend Hope you're all well.

Congratulations EMZIB, that's fantastic!!! Now you'll really be able to enjoy your holiday!!

Glad to hear your scan went so well flibberty, isn't it terrible when dr stress you out with incorrect statements like these! So sorry you were stressing about nothing, but you can relax now!

I read the Zita West book Caitni and found it quite good, the only problem is I find that alternative approaches put so much pressure on us. With every BFN I wonder, was it the glass of wine I had, or the chocolate cake, should I have done more exercise, or rested more, was I not positive enough, should I have eaten more butternut squash ... Obviously it's a good thing to have a healthy lifestyle but I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't just have gone out more and enjoyed my life over the last year rather than trying to be healthy and still not getting pg (have been off caffeine and alcohol for most of last year - my friends think I'm boring beyond belief). Not that I'm bitter or anything .

Don't lose your hope yet summer, I think it's still too early to be feeling any different from normal. Great news about your ds, you must be so relieved.

Glad your spotting has stopped lottie, I think you just need to have your scan and then you will feel better. Although I have to agree with the others, the worrying never really stops with kids. when dd was small it was cot death, now I'm having nightmares about drowning and car accidents. My mum says she still worries about me and my brother, she's probably right to do so .

I'll have another scan tomorrow morning by which time I assume my biggest egg will have matured and they will have to decide about the IUI. feeling much more composed today and sailed through work, but I'm still really disappointed, had such a good feeling about this cycle and now I have completely written it off, I'm really not good at IUIs. Also my clinic wants me to have 3 month gaps between stimms, so my next chance won't be until september. September! Can't bear to think about it right now.

Congrats EMZIB - record number of BFPs on here lately

LL - I know exactly what you mean. Lol at face set in Munch's Scream Even when I knew the cause of my bleeding I still worried each time it happened that it could be the start of something more sinister. Glad it's stopped now

Afternoon ladies

Duplo I hope you're doing OK and that you've had a chance at IUI at the very least.

Lottie I don't want to make you feel bad! The counselling course sounds tough...You've had such a tumultuous few months that it's natural to have reached a sort of fork in the road. I'm glad you've given yourself today off, and glad you also posted on here, as it must be hard when your DH isn't even there for a face to face chat about it...but I'm sure that whatever you decide to do will be the right thing - I personally wouldn't want to do anything that made me feel so anxious, especially in the early months of pregnancy! Just being pregnant will give you all the anxiety you need I'm sure . Have a good time in Zurich this weekend. It's apparently going to be scorchio in London town so hope Zurich is equally nice

No real time to post as t'internet is down at home at the moment and have had a manic day - had my first session with the Balance acupuncture guy this morning as well as yoga at lunch as well as heaps of work! Had to have a massive cheese sandwich for lunch as was feeling too righteous with all the needling and stretching . Really enjoyed the acupuncture btw, it was good to speak to someone who knew so much but seemed so sensible (and I apparently respond well to acupuncture, which I've heard before but which makes me feel happy anyway). We were in the room he uses at Create in Harley Street. It was really interesting to read through some of the bumpf on natural and mild IVF...the stats look excellent and the atmosphere seemed so lovely...made me wonder why I didn't consider Create in the first place . I think it was Mowmi who was at Create wasn't it? I think I'd definitely consider it for future cycles.

And totally agree about all the nuitrition advice - strikes me as impossible to follow it all, and most research isn't really conclusive (bar the obvious ones about smoking & birth weight) so it just ends up being counter-productive by undermining our confidence in ourselves/our bodies and making us feel guilty (I think some of the fertilty books are way too like regular diet books in the way they can make a woman feel bad ). I'm one of 6 and my mum was a fag smoker (with her first four) and recreational sherry drinker who breast fed none of us and had her first child at 32 and her last at 42 and we were all fine - healthy weights, no allergies etc. By the time we got to the IVF path I had spent so long off alcohol and caffeine and necking various supplement combos that I had to ask my consultant about whether any of it would help our chances. Her advice was bascially "oh just don't be an alcoholic" which she elaborated on as meaning the odd drink of just about anything (including coffee/tea) is fine just don't have a bottle of wine a night or 8 espressos a day or whatever. She also said that folic acid is the only thing that's actively recommended but a good multivitamin supplement will do no harm.

But god, enough of the rambling from me! Hope everyone has a good long weekend and hope I can get on later to check for news of Duplo and Sooty and everyone.

Hi there, hope you're all enjoying the nice weather.

How are you doing gilly? hope you're having a nice time in dorset!

Lottie, it does sound very hard to do this kind of course in a time of emotional turbulence, you're probably still trying to work out for yourself how you're feeling so how can you share this with a room full of people - and would you want to? You've just been through an extraordinarily stressful time and you have to give yourself credit for it and really spend some time looking after yourself. Also being pregnant can play havoc with your hormones and emotions even without all the other stuff that's going on so please don't feel like you have to be strong all the time. What were you planning to do once you have moved to zurich, can you work there? glad you found an appartment for dh even if its not that nice, if he's anything like my dp he probably won't care about it too much anyway. I think I could replace most of the furniture in our flat and dp would barely notice, although with the hours he works he doesn't get to see much of it tbh.
I know what you mean about the psychological aspect and visualisation, it's getting dangerously close to saying "just relax and it will happen", and we all just love hearing that don't we??

Caitni, you sound very much like me trying to be all virtous in the hope that it will help with ttc. It's just a minefield isn't it I keep reading that you shouldn't eat peas, and no soy around ovulation etc, and it makes me think if this all was true how would anyone get pregnant. But it's always enough to make me feel insecure about whether I'm doing enough and whether it isn't somehow my fault after all, especially as we have unexplained infertility and dps sperm is pretty good. That's another reason why I wanted to do ivf, to see if they could find a better explanation to why I cannot get pg. But maybe my failure to respond to the drugs offers an explanation of sorts, perhaps I just have geriatric ovaries. I will find out in my review meeting next month.
Glad you liked the acupuncture, how often will you be going? how can they tell that you respond well to it, from checking your pulse afterwards?

I had my last scan on friday, my 2 follicles were nearly mature so they told me to take stimms for another day and tonight I will do the hcg trigger and go for IUI on monday morning. I'm not too hopeful, I think IUI success rates are around 15%, not really enough to warrant getting excited about and I already have 3 failed IUIs behind me to prove that. But definitely better than just abandoning the whole cycle at least I have a glimmer of hope there. After that I'll have 2 months to try naturally again, even less likely to happen but given we've done it before not completely impossible. I think I'm still hopeful that it will happen some day but every time one of my friends falls pregnant I think, "oh great if I fall pg soon we can be pg together" and then it never happens. Only good thing coming out of this is that I have decided to go to visit my family (they live abroad) with dd for a week in june to cheer myself up and my mum was so happy when I told her.

Hi all. I'm back from a lovely week on the Norfolk Broads. Still can't believe I got a bfp. I'm feeling fine, just tired really so will make the most of this long weekend. I have to go to the clinic on Tuesday for the blood test and I assume that they will do a scan to check whereabouts etc. Will they be able to see if it's a twins or not?

Hi all
another quick selfish post...
had some spotting on Friday, went to the ER and had an u/s which showed heartbeat fine. Doc said need to rest and stop stressing -- yeah right...I'll get right on that because everyone here knows that all we need to stop stressing us for some doctor to say...we don't know why you're bleeding and there's actually nothing anyone can do to stop it so stop stressing
Spotting stopped now but funny 'feelings' in lower tummy -- I say feelings because they're not actually painful...just uncomfortable.
Going for check up at clinic tomorrow, hopefully every will still be okay.
This business is a bloody rollarcoaster ride!

Hello Ladies - trust you are all enjoying the bank holiday!

DH is working so it's just me and the dog watching my Super Sweet Sixteen - OMG!! the kids are so vile - I get so angry at the parents!!

Good news with me is the conception indicator went up to 3+ on Friday - I'm pretty sure we conceived on the evening of the Friday 3 weeks previous so I'm a happy bunny (thinking about it I've gone through all 3 stages in a week... Friday 1-2, Tues 2-3 & 3+ on Friday) I'm sure the conception indicator lagged behind a bit last time so I'm taking it as a good sign!

Heidi - hope you are ok - my friend bled throughout her pregnancy...she is due to be induced next week! hope the check goes well for you.

EMZIB - Congratulations!! Damn those early tests!!

Duplo - fingers crossed for tomorrow - sorry you didn't get to IVF but at least something can be salvaged from this cycle - really hope it works for you (remember they will have learnt a lot about how you respond etc... just incase you need to go again!)

Gilly - Hope you are well - I'm also a big fan of LAC! In fact I'm going to call them on tuesday to see if they can help me support this pregnancy.

Caitni - Yes I was under Create - Geeta Nargund is a wonderful lady (she was on GMTV the other day commenting on the 66 year old lady who's had IVF and is now pregnant) What clinic are you currently at?

Lottie - how you doing? been trying to catch up properly today...how you feeling about your course? made any decisions? you could always park it for now with a view to going back to it once you can deal with is properly?
Less than a week to go to the scan...!!

Summer - how you doing? have you resisted the urge to test?

Sooty - Lovely to hear from you! How did EC go? Hope you got a good haul!

Flibberty - thanks for all your encouragement! glad you are doing well.

Issy - how are you doing? I was supposed to have my scan on 3rd too but I've moved it on a couple of days - how you feeling?

Rowing Boat - how are you? hope the bleeding has stopped and you're feeling ok.

Oh yeah... forgot to come clean on the spotting...I've realised it was the crappy recycled loo paper we have at work - it has specks of pink running through - sign of an hysterical woman or what?

Sorry if I've missed anyone - hello to everyone.
x

Flibberty - Great news from your scan. Glad I 'know' someone else in DCN. I'm waiting until pg confirmed then will get involved. How's the nesting going? You mentioned ice cream - I've been wondering about that - is it only the whippy stuff from ice cream vans that you can't have when pg? When are you off to France?
Mowmi - Great news on getting your 3+ on schedule. I didn't get mine until today, which is a week late, so hope it doesn't mean something's wrong. LOL at your loo paper story. Good luck for scan on 5th.
Rowingboat - How're you doing? Has the bleeding stopped? Thinking of you x.
Lottie - Glad you've made the appartment liveable. Sorry DH is not enjoying the new job, hope he gets something else soon. I find ms worse late at night too - keep forgetting to eat something for supper to prevent it. Did you like Lucerne? I love it, so beautiful. It was me that reported the post that got deleted. Didn't realise it was about your acupuncturist - it read a bit like a scam. Didn't realise MN would immediately delete it though.
OAP - Great news on the AMH level and great that you're trying again soon. Fingers crossed for you.
Duplo - Fingers crossed for you on the 2ww. I had 2 pregnancies from IUI (albeit shortlived) but it shows it is possible.
NV - Hope you've got through the worse bit and are moving on the better stage now.
Ladylush - thanks for all the good luck wishes and hopeful stories. How are you?
Caitni - Welcome. How's the sniffing going?
Gilly - Great news that the tests came back negative. You sound like you have a busy summer ahead, so hope Dorset was nice and chilled for you.
NPA - Good luck with FSH and AMH tests.
HeidiS - Great news on your scans. Hope you can get through the rest of the pregnancy without anymore scares.
Bullkitten - Welcome. Sorry to hear of your results. I'm afraid the only thing I know about egg donation is that the waiting list is shorter if you're CMV positive (if you haven't been tested for this, getting coldsores is a sign) - at my clinic it cuts the wait in half. I too found the DCN website invaluable when deciding on using donor sperm as a single woman.
Summer - You're 12 dpo today if I'm correct. I can't believe you would have tested and not shared the result, but am surprised you haven't caved by now. Well done on holding out and fingers also crossed for you.
Sooty - How did EC go on Friday? I have so many fingers crossed I won't be able to type soon . Good luck.
EMZIB - Good luck at clinic tomorrow. It's quite common not to be able to see anything on a scan until 10 days after missed AF, so not sure if they will do one tomorrow. Be great if they do though.
KC11 - How're you doing?

Phew, that was some catch up. Now Glastonbury line up got announced half an hour ago so going to check on that. Yes, I am still doing Glastonbury , but having a very chilled one and bought travel sickness bands today to help the ms if it gets bad. I do have a question though, is EC day 1 of pregnancy or day 0? Had EC on a Monday and just wondering if that means I'm 6 weeks today or 6w1d. My clinic counts from day of ET so they say 5w2d today but they seem to change the due date with first two scans so ends up same as if from EC date.

Sorry if I forgot anyone.

Hi all, posting after Issy is a hard act to follow, hope you are all well - and not freaking out too much Mowmi that loo paper stunt is priceless. LL I have a blow-up Munch Scream on my desk . . .

Hang in there Duplo I have geriatric ovaries too, but the egg quality isn't effected by the inability to develop follicles.

My EC went okay, had 8 follicles drained (which hurts much much more than two later when the pain killers have worn off) but only produced two eggs. One from each side on the lead follicle, pretty disappointing. However both fertilised and developed well - both grade one and 8 & 9 cells - which I know is only one part of the puzzle, but hell, I need the statistics with me at the moment! As the Guru Nargund says it's quality not quantity, so here's hoping she's right!

Hope your scan goes well LL and congrats Emzib.

Just popping in before I brave the rain to work... Sooty - have everything crossed for you. The 2 you got sound good to me - you deserve this so keep strong.
Hello to everyone else x

Sooty woo hoo for your little embies!! Sounds like quality to me and I'll be rooting for the little fellas! Have you had them transferred?

Lottie sounds like you had a marvellously productive weekend! You must be wrecked now though so time to relax a bit now young lady...

Issy yay for the 3+ weeks! And good for you heading off to Glastonbury too - I've never been but it sounds like the one festival that would be perfect for preggo ladies as lots of chilling out opportunities and huge array of bands etc.

Mowmi another yay for the 3+ weeks! I love that you know the night it happened...so romantic . I've googled Geeta Nargund now and she does seem pretty marvellous (I'm liking Sooty calling her guru ). I'm at the Lister, under the lovely Dr Jaya Parikh. I really hit if off with her so feel comfortable being in her hands, so to speak.

Duplo hope the basting went well yesterday. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for some good news for you

My sniffing is going well so far - no side effects and just hoping my "period" arrives today so I can have my scan/start stims on Thurs as (tenatively) planned.

Had a mortifying experience on Sunday night at a friend's for dinner (I got a little tipsy ) when my mobile alarm went off for my 11pm sniffs - my friend's boyfriend was all like "what medication are you on?" and I had nothing prepared so said (lamely) "um, something for migraines" (I've never had a migraine in my life). He then asked "oh, what's it called? what does it do?" and I was like "er, stuff" while my DH rolled his eyes in the background. They know we've been ttc unsuccessfully but as a gay couple I'm hoping they don't automatically think "aha! IVF...". I then got annoyed with my DH yesterday, as I said that the boyf shouldn't have asked about it (I personally don't pry when friends/colleagues are vague about medication as it's only my business if they tell me). DH was like "well, you overshared" and I went slightly nuclear (along the lines of "FFS would it kill you to just agree with me for once...just say "yes, he shouldn't have been so nosy and put you on the spot etc"). I then got a sheepish "yes, he was being nosy" and we were friends again...so maybe I am having hormonal side effects after all

Anway, enough rambling from me - big waves to everyone I've not named. Hope everyone had a good long weekend. Work is a bit manic so best get back to it.

Also looks like we'll need a new thread soon...

Hi all

Thanks for you lovely messages. I'm still grinning from ear to ear!

I'm having bouts of sickness throughout the day and have lost my appetite slightly, which isn't a bad thing as I was getting a bit podgy!

I had my bloods done today. They didn't do a scan, you were right Londonlottie. I am booked in for a scan on the 5th June. Anyway, just got my blood result and my hormone levels are...7530 (I'm 5 weeks) The nurse said, "wow that's incredibly high...they may be 2 in there!" Hope she's right! Anyone in the know about hormone levels.

sootykalucy - I only had 6 follicles at EC, which resulted in only 2 fertilising and they turned into 2 grade 2 embryos that got a BFP!!!

Yep both transferred - didn't I say that? Dr said there was no point waiting to day 5 as there were only two, much better they get back where they belong. It's raining here and it's reminding me of old blighty . . . . my body is still in UK seasons as I am moulting hair like I usually do in spring . .. even though it's autumn here.

Nothing to report - wish I could hit fast forward . . .

Hi,

I'm really pleased for you sooty, 2 top-grade embrios, that's a great result no matter how many eggs you started off with.

I love your loo paper story mowmi, just goes to show how paranoid we all get through this ttc nightmare, hope you'll manage to stay a bit more relaxed now though!

Hope you got some well deserved rest lottie. Can't be long to your scan now.

It's difficult keeping it all secret isn't it Caitni? I had to pop upstairs on two seperate occasions to do my injections when we had friends round, I didn't offer any explanations and nobody asked even though I stayed away quite a while, maybe they just thought I had a problem with my digestion . Have you finished sniffing now?

That number sounds enormous EMZIB, I think your nurse may be right. Well you will find out soon, 5th of june is not far away at all.

I had my iui on monday, had good lining and good sperm, although I did have that with all my other iuis and was never enough to do the trick. spent the rest of monday snoozing on my balcony in the sunshine. I decided to cancel most of my 2ww leave and have just kept today off. mil is round to help look after dd so I have taken it really easy so far and at least if it fails again I'll know that I couldn't have done much more. We decided to tell mil what was going on and she was pretty understanding about it all.

I have already decided on some treats in case of bfn:
1)1 weeks holidays with my family in june
2)I'll get myself one of these nike/ipod running gadgets that measures your speed and distance
3) I'll finally sign up to a cookery course, have wanted to do that for ages.
4) weekend in paris to visit a friend.

how does that sound? should soften the blow somewhat I reckon.

Friend of mine had her 2nd baby monday and I surprised myself by not being in the least, quite looking forward to seeing her.

Time for a new thread as we've filled up this one (and it's taking aaaages to load!).

You can find the new thread here.

Hi!
Any body heared of Harley Street Fertility Clinic?

Any info would help.

Thanks.