Assisted conception (and the bits in between!) - part 4 - all welcome

[mummycat1]

Starting new thread with massive congratulations to Nanoo I reckon the old man can wait till he gets home! But of course - it's up to you really xxx

Hi Idreaminchocolate

I have read that it's supposed to be good to lower FSH levels, though it's also said that you should only go by your highest FSH level. However, I am prepared to try anything as I am so old and knackered. It's also beneficial for other reasons apparently.

some info here

idreaminchocolate I feel better knowing I'm not the only one, I'm sorry you woke up crying that sounds horrible. I'm hoping I'll feel a bit better after the appointment that I've got this week to go through all the details, fill in consent forms etc. For now I think I'll just have to resort to chocolate.

Hope you feel better soon

Hallo. I feel a bit wierd about this having not been on this thread for any time at all, but anyway. DH's final sperm count analysis came back on Friday and it is normal. Up from 6 and 3 million to 20, which is pretty amazing, and we have no idea why really.

And then today, I took a pregnancy test and got a BFP

I am absolutely not counting any chickens yet, but am pretty much in a state of shock. After 18 months of trying to have another child and being told our only hope was ICSI it is a lot to take in. But of course, we are thrilled.

I'm so so sorry for everyone who is having a rough time at the moment. I hope there is more good news on this thread soon.

riggly - thank you Is your appointment on tuesday? Mine's on monday - I'm hoping that I'll feel more positive afterwards as well - the nurses at my clinic are all lovely and I think I'll feel more "in control" when I know exactly what will be happening. Am also sat here nursing a box of chocs - enjoy yours!!!

tattycoram please don't feel weird about coming on the thread - CONGRATULATIONS!! As far as I'm concerned your story just gives me hope - my DH has had sperm counts of 3, 5 and 21 million (unfortunately in a downwards trend though!) and we've been told ICSI is our only chance. I will now make extra sure that we make the most of my last ovulation (in the next week or so) before our ICSI cycle begins in March (better warn DH)!!

Duelingfanjo - hope you're not still feeling sick. Thanks for the link - wheatgrass looks amazing (bet it tastes disgusting though!!!). How are you taking it - are you juicing it yourself?

Big congratulations to MM and tattycoram its fab to get so many BFPs on this thread.

tattycoram excellent news, wow that is amazing.

riggly and Idreaminchocolate I am sure once the treatment starts you will feel so much better. Yes, the hormones can affect people but I am not sure I felt very affected by the hormones.

Idreaminchocolate make the most of your last cycle and if I were you I would not warn DH! Take him by surprise; he will probably be more excited if he doesn?t think it is fertility related!

We have officially down-regulated but now we have to wait about 6 weeks for something to happen as our donor and the other recipient are ahead of me.

Very good news, tattycoram! Many congratulations.

Thank you, it is just beginning to feel real. Very good luck and lots of love to everyone else on this thread

Been reading on everyones progress, wonderful to have the support and information here.
My update is we went along for our final appoitment on Friday to sign forms.....I got my AMH result last week and it was only 2.4 which at the time I was dissapointed. I now have got my head around it and accept that it's just my first challenge!
I am due on the 17th and then the ball starts rolling on a short protocol . Bit scared now as its very real and close.
My head was turned in a spin last week as donor eggs were mentioned which is something that I have totally not thought about. We are going to try first with my own eggs and see how we go!
Does anyone have any experience of a low amh but gone on to have a baby?
Congratulations to all those who have done so well in their cycles

Madame, you have a similar AMH to me. They mentioned donor eggs at our appointment and it was the first time I had even thought about the possibility. I am trying with my own eggs first too.

Thinking of everyone who has just got a BFP.

Just typed a long post and lost it -

Congratulations Tatty. Let's keep the good luck bubbling along.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's grumpy at the moment. DH and I are having flaming rows about nothing. He keeps bellowing "you're too stressed!" at me - and of course that helps SO MUCH!

Here's a wee story to make you ...

After all my stresing about which of all the drugs needed to be refrigerated, it turns out that our horrible old fridge is just too damn cold. When the milk froze I rang the drug company to find out whether the Pregnyl may have been comprised, and the simple answer is yep, and I'd have to buy some more. I had a bad moment there, as the drugs cost SO much, but it will cost only £15, so not so bad. I'm picking up a new prescription on Wednesday, when I have my first scan, and am looking for a new fridge!

When the stress levels around this whole thing are already so high, you need dramas like this like a chocolate teapot.

What's Pregnyl?

I am keeping my Menopur in the fridge. Have I ruined it?

Thanks DuelingFanjo, nice to know I'm not alone.
Whats a BFP? Where do I find what all these abbreviations mean?

Hi all (recognise some of you from other threads)

Just wanted to jump in cos I'm on the road to IVF. All buts needed for referral completed today (ultrasound, bloods & swab) & phoning the cons tomorrow to put me forward.

Just wonder if anyone knows an average time I'll be waiting & what happens next.

DH & I have been trying for for 27 months. He is fine but I have PCOS. We are TTC #1 and it feels like we're never gonna get there!!!!

all advice welcome

x

KiwiKat
Sorry about the drugs.....stress levels are high here too. Feel exhausted with it all too and I haven't even started. I dont know whether its normal to feel very tired towards the end of your cycle. I'm not usually that tuned into it but this afternoon I fell asleep on the sofa for 30 mins What am I going to be like when I start treatment. Quite worried about that.

Hi Fairygodmother1
Sorry but I don't have any advice as I am very new to this myself but just wanted to welcome you and wish you luck that it doesn't take too long. I'm sure someone will be along who can help you more.

Thank you for the warm welcome madam. Excuse me for asking but where in the whole process are you? Are you going for IVF too? I'm currently at the end of cycle 6 of clomid too. Still no af...it's just a waiting game really!
Know what you mean about being tired. Thought it was because it's the end of term!

Good luck to you

Hi all

DuelingFanjo It is so long ago I am not 100% sure but I do NOT think we kept our Menopur in the fridge. Googling around it looks like it does NOT need to be refrigerated but please check with your clinic or the company that supplied it. Please also check whether it has been compromised. It may depend how cold your fridge is. Hope it is OK.

Fairygodmother1 Welcome. As I say, it is so long ago since we first got started (we have a DD aged 5 and are trying for number 2) but I seem to remember it being a couple of months. I think it could be faster but just prepare yourself for a little wait and if it is quicker you will be delighted, hopefully. Maybe if you speak to someone at the clinic you can ask how long the wait should be and then once it gets near that time you can chase if necessary to see what the situation is. I am not sure what sort of time frame you are on and if you wish to hurry things up at all. If you do then it really pays to find out from the clinic the expected wait times and if you feel it is longer than expected to find out what is happening, politely, and see if you can hurry things along. I am in my 40s so want things to move faster but younger people may feel they need the time to adjust to it all and may not want to hurry things along.

madame I am always falling asleep, I can almost fall asleep standing up but that may be as I am a bit of an insomniac!

Madame come and sit in the grumpy corner with me, riggly and KiwiKat When do you start your drugs? If you scroll up to the top of the page, the "Acronyms" button takes you to a page which covers off most of the abbreviations used. BFP means "Big Fat Positive", as in pregnancy test.

Welcome Fairygodmother1! I'm a bit of a novice to all this as well, but from what I can see waiting times vary from clinic to clinic if you're waiting for a NHS funded cycle. Are you still under your GP or have you been referred to a "sub-fertility clinic" (uurrrgh - hate that phrase)? I went to see my GP with my inital concern and after running some blood tests and a sperm analysis on my DH we were referred to the S-F clinic at our nearest hospital. It took about 4 weeks to get an appointment with the consultant, where I was introduced to the dildocam and we were sent of for more blood tests and SA (diagnosed with PCOS and crap sperm - double whammy!). At the follow up appointment, where we found out the results of the previous SA, we were put on the waiting list for IVF (actually ICSI because of the sperm issue, but it's the same process apart from how they fertilise the egg, oh - and it costs more if you're paying for it yourself!!). That was last August and we were told that the waiting list would be 10 - 12 months, however in January we found out that we were top of the list.

Woah - long post! Sorry if I've just told you what you already know or if I've not answered your question at all! Good luck with this cycle of Clomid - I presume that if you've not seen AF yet, that there's still a chance of a BFP?

Most of the injections that I have taken, Menopur included were refridgerated but not to the point of frost. (I think that may have been the problem with Kiwi's fridge).

Penguin I'm wondering how you are doing... thinking of you.

Welcome to all the newbies!

Hi Fairygodmother1
I am just waiting on period due Thursday and then I start my drugs day 3 on the short cycle for IVF. My first time .

Morning all, and hello to all the newbies.

Congrats Tattycoram, keeping up a good run of positives!

KK, that is a pain about the drugs. I was worried about the same problem with the fridge as one of ours freezes everything. Fortunately we had a second (used exclusively for alcohol ) so I just booted some of the wine out and made room!

Islegrin, how are you doing? Time to start testing yet? I've been a right grumpy bugger all weekend. No symptoms whatsoever, boobs seem to be deflating and v much gearing myself up for a BFN. Ended up having screaming row in the street (classy!) with the H this morning. Almost just want it over now, it's just so all-consuming, which is very much not how I normally live.

Off to be grumpy in the corner.

Any more room in the grumpy corner? I've got chocolate and virtual wine... Spent most of the WE in tears one way or the other (despair and misery on Sat, and oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-he-still-loves-me-in-spite-of-my-being-a-witch yesterday when DH gave me roses and a lovely card and played our wedding song when I walked into the kitchen on Val's day morning). I can't WAIT to get out of these down-reg drugs, they are utterly evil.

Tattycoram congratulations, that's wonderful wonderful news! And it puts the number of surprise BFP's on here - the assisted conception can't do it aloners thread - up to 3, which is a great lesson in positive thinking for us all.

KK can't believe your drug stress on top of everything else!!

Fairygodmother welcome!

Thank you Bumpless (fantastic name - just how I feel).

Phoned Cons sec this morning & she's gathering together all my results to send for IVF referral. Hope it wont be long!