Starting IVF/ICSI this month - anyone want to join the journey?

[Rumplestrumpet]

After over 2.5 years TTC, we're FINALLY about to start our fertility treatment this month (ICSI). My nurse and husband forbade me from chats and forums, but after following MN threads over recent years I think it would be a great help to share the experience with those going through the same thing.

Anyone else want to share the joys/terrors of belly injections, hormonal madness and a series of medical professionals poking around your nether regions?! And, of course, hopefully a BFP at the end of it all

hi Laura sorry you're in our boat. think there is only me and anroga left to go, plus 2 other ladies awaiting frozen transfers. anroga has started stimming injections and I think is doing icsi (please correct me if I'm wrong anroga). I am on bcp and start down reg injections on 28th, long protocol icsi. hopefully you'll learn lots to help you here. I think we've had 6/10 ladies get bfps since start of thread.

Thanks for the warm welcome lildottie. It's nice to have people to talk to who understand your situation. My best friend has recently had a baby, 3 others are currently pregnant and they just tell me 'oh it'll be fine' which isn't really want I need to hear. I know they're trying to be helpful but I can't help but feel crappy about it all. Good luck to you and anroga and everyone else :)

shell I am totally devastated for you. I have heard of people bleeding and still get their bfp, so I'm still keeping my fx for your blood test on Monday.

lil sorry but I didn't have to take bcp so I can't answer your question. I know my down regging period was longer, heavier and more painful then a normal one.

laura welcome to the ivf/Icsi roller coaster!!! You will get days of 'why me?' And 'it's not fair' and it's perfectly normal to feel like this. I know I did in the four years I was trying! Any questions, just ask. The ladies on here are all fab.

Oh Shell I am so so gutted for you. Can't quite believe it. Like Nutty I want to keep hope but maybe that's not helpful. Whatever you do, be kind to yourself, spoil yourself and your wee one, and you'll get through this. Sending you best wishes and strength.

Laura - welcome to the thread. We haven't had any newbies for a while but all are welcome ! I'm currently,nearly 11 weeks pregnant after my first ICSI, very happy to answer any Qs you might have. As has been said, we all have up days and down days, and moments when i it feels like everyone else has what we want. But I always remind myself that I wouldn't want their life and certainly wouldn't want their husbands, and that usually helps.

Oh shell am completely gutted for can't imagine how you must be feeling but keep strong and give yourself some kudos for getting this far it's a long hard journey and will be worth it.

lil I didn't do bcp either but did burserelin and know my period was slightly heavier but spotted for over a week and all the way to my first scan, everyone is different tho.

laura welcome they are a great supportive bunch on here and couldn't have made it through without them. I'm currently in of the lucky ones who got pregnant with icsi first time, about 6 weeks now. DH had extremely low sperm count so icsi was our only option so happy to help where I can

Thanks all. This is definitely not bleeding that could leave me pregnant. My period is heavier than normal and lining is completely shed. No hope of an embryo surviving that and I just want to accept it so I can move forward rather than drag the torture out longer. Getting a blood test tomorrow will only show that perhaps this was a chemical pregnancy if I have any residual hCG in my system as I am sure it did start to implant based on my symptoms and late period. But my home test was negative even the day after missed period and hCG levels are only dropping now so I am thinking blood test will be completely -ive. Anyway, going on holidays tomorrow so I might not get the chance to type again. Hopefully I will come back feeling a bit stronger and with a plan for moving forward.

good luck with scan today nutty

Thanks lil
Unfortunately the second one hasn't grown and there is no heartbeat anymore. It was quite sad seeing it on the screen. On the plus side, my other one is doing well and I got to see a little nub of a foot wiggling!!!

Oh nutty I'm so sorry you lost the little one but must have been great to still see one going strong and moving. Was thinking of you this morning but only been able to get online now x

So sorry to read your post Shellster x

Lildottie I started down regging injections last Tuesday (Suprecur) then I go on the 29th and hopefully start my stimm injections.

Me and you are in the same boat with the long protocal icsi. Not sure if this is your first one like me but the injections have been ok! Have been getting headaches and restlessness in the night after the injection but overall not too bad at all x

Nutty I was thinking of you this morning, so sorry to hear that the little one didn't make it. I imagine you have all sorts of mixed feelings about it all, it must be very confusing. Allow yourself to grieve the wee one if that feels right to you - that doesn't make you ungrateful or take away from the happiness you rightly feel over the stronger one. Great that you were able to see the little kick, I can't wait to see that! Are you 9 weeks now? As I understand it the loss of one embryo doesn't have any affect on the other one, so you should be set for a perfectly healthy pregnancy from here on in.

Shellster I'm so so sorry for your experience. It does sound like a miscarriage, which seems so unfair. I hope you're able to enjoy the holiday with the family and take some quiet time to recover from the intense few weeks you've had. We're all thinking of you.

Glad to hear all is well for Lildottie and Anroga - best of luck with the continued injections over the coming days.

nutty how bittersweet, but I am relieved for you that the stronger one is OK. agree with rumple you are def entitled to grieve the loss of the little one.

anroga I'm doing suprecur too - brand name for buserelin. and yes this is my first go. glad you aren't finding it too bad. are you injecting the spurecur at night? I have to do mine in the morning, then add menopur for stimms in the evening exactly 12 hours apart.

I am going the suprecur injection at night at the moment before I go to sleep. On Monday if the scan is ok I will then start my stimms I think its gonal f and will then find out how they want me to do the two injections.

This is great as you can follow my progress Lildottie so you will know what to expect. None of it so far has been as bad as I thought even the SIS/Pipelle (scratch) last Tuesday was ok it was just like a really bad period pain/cramp xxx

Hi all, thank you for your kind messages. Yes it does feel very bittersweet. But I always knew there was a high chance of this happening. I'm feeling ok actually. Not sure if it will hit me later?
And rumples yes the nurse said that my other one should be ok as long as when the sack disappears it doesn't make me lose all my lining.
I am 9 weeks tomorrow so not long to wait for my 12 week scan.
Good luck lil and angora with your injections

merry Christmas everyone

A belated happy Christmas to everyone. Hope you all had fun yesterday and the injections werentoo much of a problem for Lildottie and Anroga. Let's hope this time next year we'll all be shattered, surrounded by baby gear wondering why we gave up our peaceful lives!!

Happy belated wishes as well x

I don't start until Sunday rumples but thanks.you have reminded me I need to go and take bcp!

Hi guys, can I join in please? I've been a sporadic poster on the TTC 10+ months thread for a while now, but thought it would be nice to find a thread where everyone is more or less in the same boat. I am finally starting ICSI this month as OH has anti sperm antibodies. Luckily all the other stats seem ok so fingers crossed ICSI will produce some lovely embies. I start suprecur injections on the 2nd of January, so I will be just few days behind you, dottie. Up until this point I was completely obsessed with knowing absolutely everything that's going on and reading all the books and websites, but I think I didn't quite believe that we'd ever get this far so I'm not really sure what happens next! I inject for 2 weeks then I have an appointment on the 15th January for another scan and will find out more then. I actually find it quite refreshing not really knowing what they will give me then, especially since I guess the scan will influence what they give me and when. I'll only worry if it wasn't what I was expecting.

Wishing everyone oodles of luck, hopefully we'll all get to know each other soon and be of great support to one another in the coming months!

hi toes, my first scan is 14th Jan! I know what I will be taking after that but not how much. that will depend on scan.

so I just did first injection and it was honestly easy. I did the drawing up of drugs fine, was happy with that from teaching session. got dh to pinch skin for me so I had both hands free to inject. bit of resistance as needle punctured skin but after that it was fine. stung a bit after I took needle out but went off after about 30seconds. I think worst bit is pushing air back into bottle without fizzing up the liquid, which I did in the teaching session soi was prepared for it.

I think I'll start my down regging injections around the 9th Jan. Third time lucky I hope - fingers crossed.

Yay Lildottie, first step taken! Very excited for you and glad the injections were ok. I remember once we started injections was just so happy to be finally doing something. Best of luck with the rest.

Welcome Toes - plenty of experience on here so you're very welcome indeed.

Hope everyone else is well - counting down the days now, Smidge!

Welcome toes

Glad the first injection went well lil mines always stung a little afterwards but the more you do I found the more my body got used to it. It only really hurt me when I did it too quick or at a funny angle then it would bruise a little. I found the filling the needles the fiddliest but like all of it the more you do the more confident you become and it gets easier. Bet your pleased to be finally started?

oh yes whittle, but it dies feel like finishing one waiting game just to start a new one!!

Yes unfortunately it's all a waiting game even when you get that BFP it's waiting for scans etc so doesn't seem to end haha