Assisted Conception (and the bits in between) Volume 5

[Bumpless]

Thought I'd set us up a new home! kettle's on and choc tin open.

This is a lucky start to our new thread: 2 BFPs and a fantastic fertilisation rate from Dueling!

Boobs and biscuits to everyone

Off on holiday on Thursday, thanks for asking! Our extension work is coming on apace and we currently have no hot water so I can't wait, frankly.

Thankyou for the welcome

Cerubina i think your right about the bubble, nothting to worry about unless it?s injected into the vein. Thanks for letting me know

Italian your right, i had no way of knowing that i would not be very fertile but i was also not ready for a baby, i enjoyed going out clubbing and having fun etc, but now i have had plenty of years of that and i know i am more than ready to start a family.

Moonmaker your male colleague sounds like a right idiot, i know what it?s like though, a few people have asked me when i will be having babies, i made the stupid mistake of telling a couple of people at work that we were ttc and that was nearly 2 years ago, wish i wouldn?t have told them now but they did ask a few months ago and i just told them we weren?t really trying anymore as we still have a bit of time on our side and want to have a few more holidays on our own first. But if i have appointments with the FC then i just tell them i?ve got a hospital appointment for lady problems, they don?t usually say anything then.

Congrats MM on your BFP, i would love to know what that must feel like, must be a very nice felling when you see the 2 lines

Penguin hope the bleeding is nothing to worry about, i?ve heard alot of women have bleeding in early pg. Still must be worrying though.

Poppy i would have told a younger me to come off the pill a year earlier than planned but knowing my luck i would have conceived in that year when really i wouldn?t have been ready. How exciting that they have seen 2, we would love twins.

I go in for iui tomorrow, i have a nice big follicle 22mm on my left ovary and a couple of smaller ones on my right. I know the success rate isn't great for iui but i thought we should do this first before we go onto ivf. I think i would be more hopeful if we were having ivf though.

Very quick post as time for bed!!!
Just wanted to mark my place really and say hello again. Posted a while back under the name alfiemac and have been following this thread periodically although not actively persueing assisted conception just at the moment - watch this space!?
Just wanted to say huge congrats to all those who have had a BFP and offer my sympathy and support to all of those who have had BFNs.
BB believe you are currently on the 2ww having had a FET. I have twin boys who are a result of an FET and I can honestly say I had no symptoms whatsoever to indicate I was pregnant until about 10 weeks. I can remember so clearly the day before I was due to test using the preg test given to me by the clinic feeling convinced it had not worked, crying practically the whole day and hardly sleeping at all that night. Un believably having got a BFP I did not do anymore tests and it was not until the 6 week scan at the clinic that I even considered I would be carrying twins even though I had had 2 x embryos put back!!?? Hang in there and try not to stress - easy for me to say I know.
About 18 months ago we had another FET using embryos from the same batch as it were that went on to make our twins but unfortunately although one embryo did take I MCC at 9 weeks which was devastating.
Now considering our options while at the same time hoping for a miracle pregnancy.
Must dash but will try and be a better MNer in future.

Dueling congrats on getting to 20 weeks without mishaps and I hope the anomaly scan shows everything is hunkydory. Are you going to find out the gender and do you have any preference?

Penguin I hope there hasn't been any further bleeding since yesterday? Your doctor obviously doesn't get how worrying early pregnancy can be, but I like that you told him you were psychotic as an explanation. Good luck and fingers crossed.

Poppy that is amazing news about twins! ( I really like daydreaming that I'll get twins as a result of this cycle, I have no experience of childcare so would probably have a rapid wake-up call if it actually happened but privately I think it would be wonderful). So lucky you and fingers crossed they are both getting very comfy in there and not going anywhere.

Horton have a lovely holiday. Our building work is also coming to a head (hoping to get back into our house in early August) so I hope things are going in the right direction and you have no hot water for a good reason and only temporarily!

Ladybird hope the IUI went well. Sounds promising with the big follicle ready to go.

BB no idea on those questions, sorry. Sure someone will know - but it sounds like a fair bit more hassle to go for bloods when it is only ("only"! ) 2 days earlier. Do you think you can bear to wait or would you do anything to know sooner?

Jury service is still crawling along, thanks for asking MM. Judge John Deed still sticking her oar in! We only have a half day tomorrow and aren't sitting at all on Friday so a very easy week! Do you think I should go to work?? I see us needing to go over into a fourth week before it's over.

As for sniffing, I've been super-timely with it and have been sniffing every 12 hours like clockwork, still no side effects so long as I drink lots of water. Doing jury service and worrying about our building work logistics are really excellent for avoiding obsessing about it, I feel so much calmer in this process than I would ever have expected in advance - I predicted major psychosis originally.

to everyone else.

Poppy I think we crossed posts last night, so just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS! Must be terribly exciting and a little bit frightening to see two heartbeats.

Also, judging from the responses so far, I'm glad I'm not the only one who secretly wishes for twins myself!

BabyB I had a blood test with my first IVF cycle. I had it done at the clinic in the morning and they called me in the afternoon with the result. It was a bit nervewracking! They'd said they would phone at 4pm and I remember texting my DH saying "why the hell haven't they called yet!" at 3.59, 4.00, 4.01, 4.02... I was at work when they called, so it wasn't any sort of shared experience - I scurried off to a quiet corner, got the news, frantically texted DH and then had to spend the rest of my work day pretending nothing had happened!

I'd say that the benefit to a blood test is that it is certain - there's no trying to decide if it is really a line or not. But it does require a lot of patience, whereas the POAS method is near-immediate gratification.

Better go get some dinner. Waves to all!

Penguin I really hope all is OK.

Poppy Twins, Whoopee, yes, I too have always wanted twins!

Horton have a great holiday.

MM Thinking of you.

My news is I am NOT going through the menopause....yet.... the doc said I am not so that is good. I got checked out as I was a bit concerned about my ?symptoms?. I was so emotional once or twice a month. I told the lovely (lady) doc I was very emotional twice a month. She said it was not menopause. She knows because she asked questions and I answered - TMI, egg whites/not dry vagina, periods still quite regular, no hot flashes or hot flushes (whatever you call it) and no sweats. She said did I want to jump out the window or the like! I said no, I am just very miserable for a short time then fine. She said things do effect it ? for example if I were TIRED (HA HA), this could lead to depression (I said it was not depression as I felt fine later) and stress (thinking about adopting verses more treatment) and disappointment of treatment failing. She hit the nail on the head I think! She recommended exercise (I said yes swimming and cycling with family) she said what about me-time; I said what is me-time! So she said good to have alone-time for me and get exercise. She seemed to think I could control it more. She liked the sound of Agnus Castus and said there was evidence it works, medical evidence. The doc seemed to think miracle baby was completely on the cards; mind you she is not a fertility expert! It is good for health not to be going through the menopause at the moment, lots of things follow menopause, osteoporosis can etc! So it is great news.

Wow Poppy, that's fantastic!

Cerubina, sorry jury service is dragging. Did you see that dozy mare on the front of Metro yesterday who texted a juror in another case with some appalling lies about the defendant? Think she was lucky to get off with a suspended sentence!

MM, how are you feeling?

BB, 1 day to go! Which clinic are you with? Have you resisted the urge to do a HPT? I started on the Mon with the official test day on the Fri (Isle if you're reading, you would have been proud of me!) which was obviously v bad!

IG, good news about the lack of menopause. Reading all your posts, it does seem that you are not ready to give up having another one yourself. Sorry if that's intrusive, just what I've been getting from your posts.

I got a call from a nurse yesterday saying that my levels were 'high' (she wouldn't tell me what they were, grr. Obviously realised I'd just head straight for Google!) and they wouldn't do a repeat today. Only a week to go until the scan and it will drag!

Waves to everyone else!

Penguin I'm always proud of you when you're bad! ha ha! I've been thinking about you a lot lately - hairstrokes and choccies for you from me, darling.

MM Huge congrats on your BFP!!!!!! Try to enjoy the victory as much as you can. Worry is such shit - because it makes you miserable and think that something will change if you are worrying about it.

Poppy Congrats on your twins!!!

IG how are you holding up?

I've had a little bit of a setback - some complications relating to my pancreas, so I'm back home again and half out of my mind on pain meds - so please excuse me if I make mistakes. Good news is that if I can manage pain and get better at home - they won't put me back in the hospital.

Thank you all so much for your advice, I did confront him (of sorts) he emailed about being sunburnt, and i replied about being red with embarresment when someone told me about his "rumour", and made it quite clear that I am not pregnant. I havn't seen him yet, but the grapevine suggests he has got the message. Let's hope it's not too too long before I can really give them some gossip.

Oh BB, that sucks. Guy's instructions were v clear that you need to do the test anyway - partly in case of ectopics and partly because bleeding doesn't necessarily mean game over. Go for your blood test anyway and keep taking the drugs!

Isle, that also sucks! Take very good care of yourself and get yourself well again.

Really sorry to hear that BB

Hello ladies,
Although I am not actively pursuing ?assisted conception? just at the moment I do drop into this thread from time to time as one who has been there done that so to speak and hope that my story will inspire and encourage those of you currently on the emotional rollercoaster of fertility treatment to try and remain positive and not to give up. I truly believe that it is only those of us who have been on this ?journey? that really understand and can empathise with what we go through in our quest to have a child. We had male factor fertility problems (very low sperm count) coupled with the fact that I was 4 years older than my then partner, now husband, when we initially started ?trying for a baby?. After the first round of IVF which all went clinically extremely well we were bought crashing down to earth with a huge bump when we got a BFN. Never mind, atleast we had 7 x frozen embryos in storage although I felt that our chances of conceiving following on from a FET would be virtually nil and it was only the clinic who persuaded me to atleast give a FET a go ? what have you got to lose ? only another few month when already I felt time was not on our side!!! Have to say the FET was a breeze and so much less physically demanding on you and although I wsa absolutely convinced almost from the day of the FET that it would not work we were fortunate that it did work and infact it worked rather well as we now have beautiful, gorgeous and healthy twin boys who have just turned 4 years old (I turned 44 years in March BTW).
We have since had further treatment which unfortunately has not worked out (first FET after boys about 18 months ago resulted in a MCC at 9 weeks) and are currently considering our options, donor eggs/embryos, home or abroad, surrogacy and adoption.
Wishing you all the very very best of luck - thinking of you in particular BB

BB sorry you've had bad news this time around.

Congrats to poppy and penquin. Really great to hear good news.

Isle - get yourself well again really soon. Sorry to hear you've had a bit or a setback.

moomaker well done on how you've dealt with your work colleague. It's tricky when you suspect that everyone you work with suspects you might be og. I;m lucky I work with 7 women and I've been upfront and told them i'm trying to conceive and it really helps as a couple of them don't have children and aren't particularly interested in having any so they don't ask any questions. The others, who are mums, are really sympathetic to my situation and don't ask me anything. So every time i have a clinic appointment or similar they just accept that I'm out of the office for an hour or two and that's that. It gives me a much easier time of it. My extended family also know my situation but don't ask me about anything. So much so that the last faield ISCI none of my family have even mentioned it although I know they all know because my mum and her sister chat every day and it's only natural that they then discuss with their daughters and D in laws. They all fell PG within 2/3 months of TTC. Really frustrating for me. I do have a bit of a tendency to feel sorry for myself. Anyway, on a positive note i've started acupuncture once a week coupled with Traditinal Chinese Medicine every day. The two lots of herbs/mediciane I take every day are called Bai Feng Wan and Tiaojing Cuyun Wan (in case anyone wants to google them! ). I am willing to give this a go for 90 days as that's apparently the recommended time to give it a chance to make a difference. I am still clockwork regular with my periods and have this month used OP Kit and i had an LH surge on morning of 14 July which was cycle day 13 so that all seems text book and normal.

Welcome to the new ladies. Bring us all some good luck!

holeymoley - that's a lovely story. I;m so glad you posted it. Well done on your gorgeous twin boys. That FET really was wonderful. You're a lucky lady. Sorry that the next FET ended so sadly. I hope whatever you decide you'll be happy and content with the decision. Two sons though!!!! You are blessed twice over!. Enjoy the last few months before they go to school full time.

Hi girls, just popping my head round the door to see how you're all doing! (I used to be Bumpless for those confused by the name)

Huge hugs to BB - so sorry this cycle didn't work.

And huge congratulations to MM - i can completely understand why you're unable to relax and be happy, but we'll all be rooting for you and miniMM - and Penguin !

I'm now 21 weeks and we found out last week that Mo is a boy. Rocked my world as I was sure he was a girl for some reason! I'm getting little wriggles and kicks and am as tired as a tired thing, but grateful for the reason.

Italian , I see you're still thinking about another DE cycle. Do let me know if you want more details about going abroad - the extra hassle of traveling and dealing with another system has to be weighed against better chances of success, younger donors and no waiting. Happy to share my experience with you for you to add to the decision-making mix!

Waves to the old gang and newbies - babydust to all!

Good evening all.

BB I'm so sorry that it didn't work out for you....

Moomaker good for you! Very brave to confront your colleague and it sounds like it had the desired effect.

Rough day I'm afraid. Woke up to discover some bleeding and after my experience last time, ended up sobbing in the shower. Probably permanently traumatised DD too, since couldn't stop crying during breakfast either.

To their credit, the clinic reacted spectacularly. Less than an hour after I phoned, I was there getting a blood test. They've also put me back on progesterone and moved my scan forward to next Thursday. The nurse who took my blood put a rush on the tests (she said she couldn't live with herself if she made me wait the weekend to find out - which nearly made me cry again). They came back this afternoon as within a normal range (not sure I want to share the exact figure with the rest of you as I'm terrified to find out its not as good as I'm hoping).

Their quick reaction has made me feel a bit better (especially as DH is in Oz so I'm dealing with this on my own - or by text). But I waiver between abject despair and optimism. To be honest, what really worries me is that I've also had a migraine headache for 2 days now and woke up with morning with some spots on my face - both signs that my hormones are going haywire, which I worry means that a MC is on its way.

Anyway, I won't rest easy until after the scan - which is now on the same day as my last day of work. I'm off to the US the following day. My parents were visiting the last time I had a MC, so I am hoping and praying I don't have to let them down again...

Sorry for the self-centred post... it just has been the most horrendous day ever.

Apologies - long post...

Have not posted for a while but I am lurking!

MM my dearest Angelina thinking of you, I am sending up those arrow prayers and just hoping all will be well. Please do not worry about letting anyone down, relatives, in-laws or work colleagues or whoever, just think about you and look after you and if this little one is going to stay put they will feel at home, and if not, well, I am not sure what there is that can be done. I think at the end of the day we can't always control it so we just have to be as nice to ourselves as we can along the road.

BB so sorry it did not work for you but please do not give up hope.

One day I so much hope to find that not one of you (here on MN) are people I have come to know, you are all off with your babies, and me too. Does that make sense! I have a friend who got pregnant last time with twins with donor eggs using steroids after several attempts without steroids that failed. I would say talk to the doctors, weigh the pros and cons and take advice. I think when the docs say that a patient does not need steroids I wonder if they know how crushing it is to fail at this, I wonder what the risks are with steroids. I think it needs investigation, on your personal level and maybe on a wider level. Keep us posted, please. I think docs are unwilling to take risks which I totally understand but at times it is right to add other bits of treatment, maybe, if appropriate, so please do tell us what if anything you find out. (You sound like me, needing to know, needing a projects - I almost think fining a clinic in Spain has become a project for me, I almost want t do a presentation on it! - sorry to be flippant, I am thinking of you BB!).

Mojangles yes please do share, you can either post here and people uninterested can ignore or you can email me on my name (Italiangreyhound) and my age (ha ha not my real age - 39) at yahoo dot co dot uk please. But I don?t check it every day so you may have to wait for the reply! Thanks a million (I am looking at Spain but I know you went to Greece - I was thinking embryos but now I am looking again at eggs but DH is keen on adoption).

Isle get well soon my dear Hawaiian flower . REALLY do hope you are feeling better. Sending you hair strokes and choccies and chocolate boobs . I am fine thanks although confused a lot! My DH is keen on adoption but I am not sure he has really thought about it or looked into it. In one sense I agree but am wavering in wanting one more go at fertility treatment. If I push him to have one more go he might say yes but back off from adoption if treatment fails. If I go through hassle of treatment may say to DH let's go for donor eggs rather than embryos. The cost for embryos is less but I do like the idea of the baby 9if there is one) being genetically related to DD and possibly even looking like her, although not like me! I think this is the hardest decision I have ever had to make!

KC11 really wish you well with your herbs, I hope they work. A word of caution thought - do be upfront with your clinic about what you are taking (next time you go for treatment) my clinic were very negative about herbs especially Chinese herbal medicine and said that it had had adverse effects with the fertility treatment. I know the whole western medicine verses herbal is a huge area of contention and I don?t want to come down on one side of the fence or the other I love LOVE Chinese things, have lived in Asia, studied Mandarin (but forgotten more than I learnt) and I am currently taking Agnus Castus which is a tincture but just want to say to be up front with the clinic in case anything medial were to react with anything else! Sorry, I sound like matron Hattie Jakes out of a 'Carry On' movie!

Cerubina Is jury service over now? Thinking of you.

Keziahhopes,vadercat, MountTheFairy, Lissy, Kiwikat, Penguindreams, Roseiebeagle, Poppy, Horton and all thinking of you.

Loujalou Are you still around? Did you go to Weight Watchers

Any news of Levistubbstears, GGG, Londonlottie, Ginger*?

Moonraker well done for confronting. I know people are always looking at my bloated tum (irritable bowel, I think) and I know they are thinking is she pregnant and want to shout 'SADLY. NOT!'

This is not a good post I am tempted to use yet another sad face!! I will use a wink and send you all my winks and smiles and chocolate boobs!

Hello everyone,

BB I felt so upset when I read your post, and I remembered my IUI when AF came early and I didn't even get to test! Oh I wish so hard that some how this ttc would become a much fairer place and nice people had good things happening to them. Big hugs to you and take time to recover (physically and emotionally). I too love the way that everything is so straight forward when you are a kid

MM Praying that everything is ok, let us know after your scan

Holeymoley We love stories like yours, thanks for giving us all hope

Cerubina I definately think distraction is a good thing, this cycle will just fly by

Italian Glad you've had some good news and that everything is still possible

Isle hope you get better soon

Ladybird Good luck with the IUI hope those swimmers find the target

Mojangles congrautlations, I guess it is a huge relief to be 21 weeks down the line and good job you found out he was a boy as you may well have had to change the room and the wardrobe!

I am 7 weeks now and am still not believing it (apart from looking about 4 months and being constantly nauseous). I find it so hard to think it is going to be ok, which I know I should be thinking positive thoughts! I have another scan in 10 days at my IVF clinic. Does anyone know if this is normal?? Was wondering how many they do before they hand you back to the normal service?? Have started daydreaming though and keep trying to stop myself getting excited. Does anyone know at what stage of this does a ttcer actually relax??

Poppy i am just so thrilled for you. I don't know if a TTCer ever gets to relax, until the first wail of the baby is heard. I hope that you'll settle in to pregnancy well and each day you'll feel a little more confident. You've come so far already.

MM Thinking of you and hoping all is well for you.

Italian thanks for your advice. Wow you learnt Mandarin! Well done. It looks so difficult. I hear what you're saying about the TCM. As I've been metaphorically speaking thrown off the NHS wagon and am now left to my own devices I don't expect Barts to give me an appointment until some time in October so I'm experimenting with the TCM until I at least get an appointment. The acupuncture can't actually cause me any damage can it? The shop I'm going to has been there for about 5 years or more so i guess that means their customers trust them and must be pleased with them. Am i fishing and trying to convince myself?

I had a hard day yesterday. SIL nearly 7 months PG and i know she didn't mean to but she kept rubbing her tummy and saying that the baby was enjoying the food we were eating (it was a late supper for her mother's birthday). Also most of the convseration kept coming back to her baby and the cot and the mattress and the date she finishes work for maternity leave. I am jealous, i admit it. I know it's she was not doing it intentionally and i'm really pleased for her but it was really hard for me to cope with. I'm know I stared off into space a couple of times and busied myself in mother in law's kitchen and washing up (self preservation). I really wish i could turn back the clock. I've been married almost ten years and the forthcoming wedding anniversary is looming. I don't want to mark the occasion it's like another slap in the face. I feel like shouting: I've been married for 10 years and i've been trying to conceive for the last five years surely it'll happen eventually??????? If I'd started trying for a child sooner maybe the picture would look different. maybe it would be exactly the same.

MoJangles I'm chuffed to hear you're so far along. Congrats and best wishes. You deserve it so much.

I think i'll email Barts today to ask when I'm likely to receive a letter advising of the appointment date. My last ICSI failed on 2 June so i think i should have had a letter by now.

Sorry for the me me me post. Feel better though

KC11 - hope you get your good news soon. Its hard when others around are pregnant, however much we are happy with them. I am facing 11th wedding anniversary and no baby - still trying to hope.