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

I haven't visited here in a while. After IVF failed last cycle I am trying to keep busy with other things otherwise time is really going to drag until I try again mid March. But of course it's still on my mind, so here I am.

anroga, that sounds like a great number of follicles. After downregging since Oct, you are now finally so close!

lildottie very interested in what your Zita West book says about acupuncture. Can I clarify, you say 9 sessions is optimal with 5 before EC and 1 both before and after transfer. But that only equals 7 sessions? Would love to know the answer as I am wondering when I should resume acupuncture before IVF starts again mid March. Also, your post above says they should put needles in the abdomen after et so make sure they don't! I assume you mean they shouldn't put needles in abdomen after transfer, not they should??

Hi Funkymonk

I was put on a low dose of gonal f due to my PCOS so that is probably why I am only just having my scan tomorrow to see if I am ready for egg collection.

That is good news that the clinic will try and thicken your lining up even if it does mean delaying egg collection it will be worth it

Thanks for the info on acupuncture lildottie seems like I have left it ridiculously late to start (that would be about right for me!) but as the lady I spoke to yesterday said even though I haven't had any so far it would still be beneficial to have a treatment before or after transfer I think I shall still go for it.

Yes Shell I am nearly there! It seems like it has been going on for months now and my ovaries are really starting to ache! Hope you are doing ok x

here is what I've read about number of acupuncture sessions
"I am very often asked about the optimal number of treatments women should have when doing IVF. Work done by Dianne Cridennda in the US concluded that women who received around nine treatments of acupuncture appeared to have the maximum benefit for IVF outcome. Treatments were performed in the lead-up to IVF, during down-regulation, ovarian stimulation and twice on the day of embryo transfer. I therefore encourage women to have a minimum of four sessions prior to the start of their IVF cycles if this is manageable and then ideally five sessions specifically targeted through the cycle."

and sorry shell I meant shouldn't. found the bit on that too
"You should not have acupuncture on the abdomen or use any form of heat in this area at any time after the embryos have been put back."
think I said ec but obv I remembered that wrong as its after et.

Thanks for all the congrats! We're very excited :)

Back to the ivf though, it does sound like I'm on the long protocol as well. Probably not getting through as much water as you guys - bneed to up my game a bit! I have to admit to having more symptoms now with these down reg injections - lets just say my patience is really thin and I had two huge rows with vodafone and BT today, as well as upsetting a friend - to be fair its because she upset me but normally I would have smiled and gone with it, but right now I just can't so I left the conversation which has upset her! Then to top it off, last night my SIL who has just had a baby (3 weeks ago and I haven't seen it) after many years trying, used the phrase "I have just been spending time with my mummy friends as they've all been through this before" - a normal statement for most but it just really hurt me - I know it's the bloody hormones but I feel crappy yesterday and today :( Anyone else suffered this??

Thanks for the info re Gonal f anroga, I've been told I'm starting next week.. exciting times - your scan results seem good - is it the final one tomorrow?

welcome PhoenixFire7 and funkymonk - funkymonk is it egg collection tomorrow? Best of luck, sounds like it's your time and you deserve this! phoenix are you starting down reg tomorrow or just stopping the pill? Also sounds like a busy day for people tomorrow!!

Following the discussion on acupuncture with interest! Any ideas on the costs?

Hi Verkey. Thanks for your welcome! I'm stopping the pill tomorrow thank god! This time around my boobs are HUGE and I keep getting abdominal pains with it. It doesn't bode well for down reg and stimming!
I had a conversation yesterday that hit me hard too. When sat with the girls at work (I work in a children's nursery which is tough in itself), I was asked why I haven't had children being 29 this year and all that. They went on to say that they want all of their children before they're 30 because they don't want to be old parents. Like a knife through the heart! If only it were that simple and I had fallen pregnant 5 years ago when we started trying!!!

I'm in the southwest uk and I pay £35 a session for acupuncture, £60 for the initial consultation

That doesn't sound too bad - still money I have't really got - but anything's worth it eh!

That convo sounds horrible - people always say things like that to me, and I just wish they would think, I'm getting to the point where I can't hold it together around people anymore!

Eeek - Oh god - I hope it's ok for you! I never used to have any problems with the pill, side effect wise and not so much with the down regging, just different things on different days - today its a lack of patience, the other day it was tender boobs - just depends!

i was paying £40 per session, also south west, but changed acupunturist today and now £45. she's sooo much better so worth it!

pheonix i went to a christmas thing in december and wasn't drinking because of coming up to the ivf. A friend there who i don't know particularly well, is male, and is a doctor (so should know better) asked me outright if i wasn't drinking because i was pg. I said no and he proceeded to tell me it takes 18m on average (he knew we had been thinking about trying, i was either blabbing when drunk or another friend told him but nm) i just floored him with "i start ivf next month". I got "oh you've been trying longer than that then". uhh yes you moron go away and don't be so bloody rude! I mean who asks a woman if they are pg!! Even if she's got an 8m bump you don't ask/assume. it's just RUDE! Felt great throwing the ivf line at him though. Maybe you could find a retort that will shut them up. So maybe next time they say they want kids before they are 30 say, "i hope you aren't infertile then!" will make them shut up/wonder without giving anything directly away. or the "i know someone who wanted kids early but had bla bla bla wrong with them etc etc"

lildottie, thanks so much for clarifying about the acupuncture. I love that your info is actually based on a study. So with your info in mind, I think I'll start acu again mid next cycle which will be 8 weeks before EC. And thanks for clarifying your other typo - so definitely no needles in abdomen after ET - will make sure of that too!

Verkey, I guess the drugs wouldn't help with your hormones, but I wouldn't blame it all on that. It's a very emotional time as you gear up for IVF and not knowing if it's going to be a success or failure puts all of us on edge. Even though they mean well, you are quite entitled to feel hurt by insensitive comments and a simple solutions like 'well, just spend more time with your mummy friends'.

phoenix, I can imagine how hard it must be working in childcare. I work in pathology and I really resent all the pregnant women who come in for their blood tests. They just remind me of my situation and bring me down.

no prob shell I think book does go on to say combined studies reduces reported impact but Zita west doesn't agree with how the studies were done as not comparing like with like or something. I guess it means mfi vs female etc but that para I pasted was enough to make me feel it was worth a shot!

verkey I went through the stage of struggling around people, especially when the dreaded conversations came up or someone announced a pregnancy! Although it still hurts now, I just tell myself it'll be my turn soon and it'll be even more exciting!

lildottie I'd have decked him men.... Whether they're doctors or not, just don't get it at all!

He didn't want to say that to a 38 year old lildottie or I would of been pushing Phoenix out the way to deck him first! I have had years of insensitive, hurtful comments like this - it's not like any of us choose this path plus you don't know what time in your life you are going to meet the right person that you might actually want to settle down with and consider having children with that might be at 21, 35 or 45!

Had my scan yesterday and it's all ok, got egg collection on Monday as planned and so my trigger is tonight, hopefully transfer sat if blasto gets to day 5 it's all feeling very real now!

Good luck angroga. I always get a bit nervous about the trigger - just because of the exact time requirement. I spend all day worrying I'll forget to do it, and then am all 'shaky hands' when it comes to administering it as I'm nervous I'll take too long . Don't suppose a few minutes either way can matter really, given it's not like they can get you in the theatre at exactly the right time anyway, but logic doesn't calm my nerves!

I'm now doing my down regging injections again.... 3rd time's a charm, right?

Yes, it's all happening now anroga! Will check in Monday and see how you get on!

lildot, again, I'm not sure what you mean by the book says 'combined studies reduces reported impact'? Do you mean combined studies show acu reduces the success of IVF? I too am happy and going by your first comment but just curious what this means.

Smidge, any idea of when you start stimming?

welcome back to the merry go round smidge

shell combined studies suggested acupuncture made no difference, but nothing to suggest ac reduces success. sorry for all the ambiguity!

Thanks smidge just waiting to get it done and out the way now!

Wishing you lots of luck third time round x

Hi everybody, back again to you after a xtmas break. I wish you all the best in this year!!
I went on Saturday to the clinic, I have 2 freezed embryos from Nov last year that couldn't been transferred because I began to bleed when the doctor put the catheter to do the ET, so my cycle had to stop. It seems that this month I can go ahead with the ET if I ovulate correctly. On Saturday they did a scan and I have just one follicle 10mm to assess and my lininget is 4mm. The doctor said that all I need is to ovulate and doesn't matter the number of follicles because I have the embryos ready to be transferred and the lining measurement at this stage is ok. Does somebody had any similar case? Or somebody has any comments regarding my situation?? My concern is that I won't be under medicine and I don't have any clue about the success in this case.

hi GC good luck for this time. are the fertility issues with you or dh? if not you I'd say try and relax and trust your body to do what it needs to. how are they monitoring ovulation? I can't really give you any advice I'm afraid. only time they've talked to me about lining was at us scan 3days before ovulation and was told it was 9mm, it had been much less at us the week before so a lot can change in a short time. fx it all goes smoothly for you.

I'm bored of down regging now, bring on Wednesday so I can start stimming!

Just spoke to clinic, not starting stimming until Thursday for some reason, got my hopes up it would be earlier in the week but I guess waiting a few days at this stage isn't too bad! Got monitoring next Wednesday and then maybe at the weekend which is a pain as I'm on my future sister in laws hen do but never mind! Then they've give EC dates a couple days later dependent on how monitoring goes! exciting now... Starting to feel real!

anroga is it EC today?? If it is... Good luck! X

shell thanks for the advice, you're probably right about the general stress of ivf, though I do feel a bit better, maybe a crazy few days! Just steering clear of everyone right now! just in case!

thank you so much for your reply lildottie Yes I think my case is not common, my dh is fine but I think he problem is my age 41.
The doctor is doing scans to monitor the ovulation, I had my fist scan in D7 of my period on Sat and I am back tomorrow to evaluate the growth of the follicle, I had in total 3 but 2 of them were little. Regarding the lining, when they were going to do the ET my lining was good I think 11mm if I am not wrong, but the bleeding was the problem and they stopped the cycle. I hope this time I am in better condition, however after Christmas and NY I was not following the healthy diet or acupuncture. I will request more acupuncture however my doctor said that he doesn't believe on this however if i trust on it I must carry on because it will make me feel relaxed and with better attitude, I had just 3 sessions of acupuncture within the IVF, particularly I think it helped me.
I would welcome any advice regarding diet and exercise to help my womb and body to be receptive to the embryos!!!
I wish you luck to all of you :)

Hi everyone,

Just popping on to wave to you all. Congrats on all the happy times and scans. Had a little break from MN, so I haven't read back through all the posts. Hi to the newbies and good luck to you all.

Gcerron - I think we may hit ET about the same time. I'm doing a natural FET this cycle. The clinic literary does nothing! I called them when my period started. They said come in on day 12 for scan. That was this morning. They checked lining and now I just call them when I have my LH surge then go in 6 days later for ET. My lining today was 13.7mm which to me sounds thick, but because I'm on no meds they said it's fine and the 3 layers looked perfect. Just want to O now…but I suspect it will be day 14/15. It's weird having no obs etc but I feel like it's the right things to do for me. Just trying to be relaxed about it and let my body do it's thing…

Oh and for the acupuncture thoughts. I think a lot of it is to do with positivity and the physiological feeling you are actively trying to restore balance and help your body. For the record, I'd never done acupuncture before so didn't have it for my fresh cycle in Oct, started it about a week after I got my ivf bfn, then in Nov I had a natural bfp but ended in early MC. So I'll be having session on Friday because that's my regular weekly session, then I'll have one before ET and one after because that's what has been recommended. I find the emotional support worth paying for as well. She's a good listener.

x

Also regarding exercise. I was avid runner. Was told to stop that. Trying to walk, but I find it boring and takes ages and feel like to wally when everyone else zooms past me in park. Wish I had a dog!
I'm not doing ivf diet, just trying to be vaguely healthy but I feel like I've been doing that for my entire ttc journey. x

lil, thanks again for clarifying about the acupuncture. I agree with you; even if combined studies show acupuncture had no benefit, as long as they say it doesn't hurt, then I am doing it for the sake of the studies that say it has a positive benefit!

gcerron, I have never been lucky enough to have any embroys left over to freeze so I am not in a similar case to advise on your situation. I hope you get some reassurance when you go back for follow up and see that your lining is thicker.

welcome back allchat! I have been thinking of you. After my failed IVF last cycle where I am sure that the embryos implanted and I miscarried early (based on my symptoms and late period), I was really hopeful that my fertility would be on high and I would follow in your footsteps with a natural BFP after failed IVF. Fat chance with hubby having 100% abnormal sperm but one can dream! In reality, this cycle is nearly finished and then I am impatiently waiting for two more cycles before I start IVF AGAIN!

In the meantime I live through all you guys.

anroga, can't wait to hear how EC went!

Hi girls back in the land of the living! Egg collection went well, anyone lildottie and verkey that hasn't had it yet it really isn't anything to worry about. The sedative knocks you straight out and the next thing you know you are back in recovery having a cup of tea and a biscuit!

So far I have has no bleeding today, I have a bit of a stomach ache and back ache but that's it! yesterday all I felt was exhaustion so just slept most of the afternoon and night.

The only thing I hate I am sure shell knows all about this is the suppositries but I am sure I will get used to them.

Good news though they collected 15 eggs and this morning they called me to say 12 had fertilised so so far so good, tomo they will let me know if it will be a day 3 or day 5 transfer. I know it's still very early days but I am feeling quite positive.

Hope you are all doing ok x