Anyone starting IVF soon? Join me (2)

[purplemeggie]

I see we've filled up the thread and thought I'd better start another one. How's everyone doing?

Hi Lauren - yes of course you can join us! I'm doing DE for the first time this time - gearing up for ET in just under 3 weeks' time.
Got AF today, so the meds start with avengeance in the morning. I'm cycling in CZ so my drugs all have different names, I think. I'm on Synarel sniff for down-reg, will be taking Estrimax, Prednison (think this is Prednisilone), Magne B supplement, Femibion supplement and then Utrogestan from EC.

Yes Annie, I too have read about FET cycles producing better success than fresh - from what I've read it's to do with the fact that apparently all IVF luteal phase cycles are abnormal after the hyperstim drugs. But I haven't done my usual obsessive research in this department as I've never had a frosty so I could be wrong.

Welcome Lauren. This really is a lovely thread. Not to many of us so no one gets overlooked and we can all remember each others stories. I also find on other threads that even though I am sure lots of women have been through their own hell to be doing IVF, I feel deflated watching them breeze through IVF as they generally are good egg producers and get the BFP with their first or second try. We're all battling the clock or poor egg reserve on here.

Was checking in to see how blue's scan went but no word yet so I live in suspense a bit longer.

Hi all, I wrote a post last night but it disappeared! . Anyway good news from me, a couple of extra follies have appeared on my left ovary so I now have 10 in total, amazing! Biggest is about 13mm I think. Lining is also looking good at 8.5mm. I've reduced my dose on Menopur slightly so things don't grow too fast and looks like I'll be having EC on Thurs or Fri (got another scan Tues morning). I don't want to get my hopes up too much about this cycle but I'm really pleased that everything is going well so far. I think this is the most follicles I've ever had... just need to keep fingers crossed that the egg quality is ok. Shellster is nice to know you are thinking of me, please send some luck vibes from down under.

Welcome Lauren, I'm sure Purple will be pleased to have another donor egg person on this thread! Purple you must be excited to be getting started. It's nice to be actually doing something instead of waiting around and counting the glacially slow days. When do you think you'll be back in CZ for the transfer?

Annie I'm so sorry about your HCG result. Even though you were expecting it it's still awful... I've been there more times than I'd care to recall. Good to hear you are planning another go. A friend of mine is looking at clinics in Edinburgh so I will tell her about Dr Thong (great name). Do you really think it will be July before you start? I don't know how my impatient self would deal with that!

...also Shellster, been meaning to ask, did you make a decision about the estrogen supplements? I had an idea about that. I had a free Skype consultation with an excellent doctor in Norway recently (mentioned above somewhere). We had a really good chat about my case and he made some suggestions for future treatment. We'd definitely consider going there in the future. I know you can't use the same guy but is there a clinic in Oz that offers something similar? I suppose it's a bit naughty as you aren't looking to change clinics but it could be a way of getting a second opinion (and some useful advice).

Woo hoo Blue - I'm doing a little dance round the room for you and your follie-popping ovaries

My ET is scheduled for the 13th, but AF came two days before the clinic expected it (they should have asked me. Really they should. I did tell them it wouldn't hang around after I stopped taking the pill!), so I've started the meds cabinet full of pills today (hope that's the right thing to do....Sunday, so I can't check ). They said they would adjust the donor's cycle if AF arrived early, so I'm guessing that ET will be around the 11th.

Lauren - whereabouts are you on the road to DE? Must have been quite a shock only to get one egg....I'd never considered that happening. Which clinic are you using? We're with Arleta and they have quite a nice guarantee that if your first cycle is unsuccessful and you didn't have enough embryos to freeze, you get a second fresh cycle with a similar donor, for the price of a FET.

It's amazing how emotionally invested you get into each others stories here. I clicked on 'threads I'm on, read purple's words of "Woo hoo Blue and couldn't wait for my slow laptop to open the thread so I could see the good news! 10 is amazing! Perhaps those ovaries know this is their last chance and they had better behave. My mind certainly feels the pressure knowing this is the last cycle, so I too had better pass this pressure on to my ovaries so they follow suit next cycle!

Thanks so much for thinking of me and coming up with the idea of getting a second opinion. I tried more 'Dr Googling' last night and came up with the same studies that gave the same differing results and still didn't know what to do.

But then I happened to read about women having hot flushes during the latter part of their 2ww. I had this last cycle but thought nothing of it. Apparently it's caused by a sudden drop in estrogen which can happen during an IVF cycle. I am 110% sure the embryo/s implanted last cycle before miscarrying. And now that I know the cause of my hot flushes was my estrogen levels suddenly dropping, I wonder if this abnormal drop meant that the embryos weren't in a viable environment to sustain a pregnancy. So it definitely has me leaning towards taking the estrogen for my next 2ww. Besides, while half the studies show a significant increase in preg rates for those that take estrogen, at least the other half show that it makes no difference so it seems it does not decrease my pregnancy outcome by trying it. So I think I'm going to try it.

Purple, hope you can get some reassurance from the clinic Monday that you've done the right thing. Must be frustrating that they didn't listen to you. They seemed so thorough up to this point. But hopefully it's no biggie - I assume they just have the donor down reg for two days less then?

Shellster glad you've decided to take the plunge with the estrogen tablet. If there's no downside to taking them then you should go for it. I think you'll feel better knowing you've done everything you can to make this cycle the best one ever.

Exciting stuff purple! I would also have started the meds, seems like the right thing to do. Does this mean you'll have to go to CZ earlier than planned? How long will you have to stay there for? I'm wondering how you figure it out with work, holidays etc. Anyway is great that you've got the ball rolling.

Got my next scan tomorrow...woke up this morning with sore boobs. I'm doing a Paul Mckenna and mentally willing my body not to ovulate. I also decided not to go for a run this morning as I don't want to jiggle my ovaries and umm, ovulate. I'm sure that's medically sound advice to myself

The estrogen tablet was yesterdays decision blue. There's still a month till egg collection which is enough time for me to change my mind back and forth a dozen times!

I would laugh at you not wanting to cause ovulation from jiggling ovaries, but I know when I am going through IVF I have the same crazy thoughts. I recall reading one study that showed semen from sex after transfer decreased miscarriage rate but was confused with some ladies here getting advice that sex after transfer might cause uterine cramps. My solution to get the semen there and reduce miscarriage without the sex to cause cramping was to have hubby deposit into a cup and I squirted it up there!

Hello please can I join?

Had first appt yesterday, we were meant to start ivf on next cycle but my bloods came back and I need to get my tsh down before we can start. I feel really disappointed but know its for the best and hopefully won't take long.

I have secondary infertility and PCOS so will be doing very low dose mild ivf

Hey *Waiting" - yes of course you can join us and welcome. Sorry you haven't been able to get on with your treatment - fertility treatment does funny things with time - it either passes interminably slowly, or speeds past so fast you don't know where it's going.

There's a couple of us on here with secondary infertility. I have a 7yo ds and he is my main motivation for keeping going. He has been asking for a sister (yup, not sure what I'm going to do if we finally get somewhere and have another boy!) since he was 2...

Hi waiting, very welcome to join us!

My scan this morning went really well, apparently 7 'big' follicles plus some small ones. My doctor is purposely vague about this and never tells me how big they are for some reason (?!). Lining is great, 9mm, so doing trigger shot tomorrow night with egg collection on Friday!

I'm nervous and excited all rolled into one. Would be amazing to get a couple of extra eggs this time although I don't want to tempt fate by thinking about it too much,so got so many hurdles to jump.

Shellster I laughed and was horrified by your 'sperm in a pot' story, the mad things we do in the name of pregnancy! I think my husband would leave home if I suggested that

7 big follicles blue. That is amazing. I am so happy for you. Your Dr must have so many research obsessive patients like me and must find it easier for himself and his patients stress levels if he is purposely vague.
While you don't produce many, you do seem to get good quality. I know I am getting ahead but it would just be amazing for you if you got a frostie from these few extra follies

Welcome waiting. Your name aptly describes the last four years of my life! I am the other on here with secondary infertility, but unlike you, I am a poor responder so need mega doses of the IVF drugs. I can understand the frustrating in having to wait another whole cycle. I hope they get your FSH meds dose right so it's not too long a delay.

Hoping it's lucky seven, Blue - clearly not going for a jiggly jog paid off . When's ET? xxx

blue that is great news, I feel hopeful for you. Hope it all goes smoothly!

Welcome Waiting and Lauren. I'm also waiting to start my stims in mid March. I'm in the Poor Responder club too. I've just had the most stinking cold/flu and am now worried that's put paid to any chance we have.

Egg transfer will probably be Monday if EC is Friday. Nervous Nelly over here...hoping I get a reasonable number of eggs, hoping DH's sperm looks ok, hoping eggs fertilise, hoping I make it to transfer, hoping, hoping, hoping. Yikes.

I think I'll mentally block it all out and think about something else for a change. Nice sunny day outside, what shall I have for lunch, etc!

How's the medication going Purple? I'm bloated and got zits on my face. Not sure why that's happening but I'll blame it on the Menopur (hormones, right?!). I'm quite pleased that I'll be using injectable progesterone this time around, no more fanny bullets, yeah!

And hello again Sunrise, nice to see you. Don't worry about the cold. It's completely unrelated to your lady parts!

Thank you

I do feel ridiculously silly about being so sad having to wait just one more month. Considering the wait we've already had a month is nothing but I'd got it in my mind we would start when AF arrived.
I had no idea about thyroid affecting ivf though and when I got the call I was so upset. I was given the choice to go ahead but freeze all embryos or have medication and wait to try a fresh cycle.

As this will be our only go I thought it better to try to do a fresh cycle and hopefully get some frozen embryos so if we have to we can do fet at some point as we could just manage that financially but not anymore fresh cycles.

We have kept our nurse consultation and SA appt for next week just so that its done and then I have to have my bloods repeated in three weeks then hopefully we will be good to go. I'm assuming we won't forget how to do the injections by the time my next period arrives (I shouldn't do as have watched enough youtube videos on gonal f and cetrotide!)
The consultant said my starting dose when we get to ivf will be 112.5 gonal f but that she may put it down even more if I over respond. At my scan I had 33 follicles l side and 18 r side so she thinks I will be at high risk of ohss which scares me a lot but they said I will be monitored very closely.
Its nice to be on here and have the chance to 'talk' to others. We are trying to keep it quiet in rl as don't want any pressure on us from family/friends

Waiting - it is disappointing when things don't happen when you want them to. And having made the decision to take the plunge - or got to the top of the waiting list, or however it comes about, you just want to get on with it. We've all been there at some point, and can sympathise. And yes, you can be as rational as you like with the "hey, I've been waiting a gazillion years, what's another month", but - well, this crazy game isn't rational, is it? It's completely visceral and hormonal and little things make you really upset. So don't feel ridiculous, and know that you are in the company of women who get it!

I think you're very wise not to say too much to friends and family. It really doesn't help when people are asking how things are going - they have the very best of intentions, but we put enough pressure on ourselves without having any from outside. I've found this thread an absolute godsend for all of these reasons. And also that there is always someone on here who has researched/experienced/survived something similar! Good luck, and hangin in there - your month will come up sooner than you think xxx

Poor you, Sunrise to be feeling so rotten! Hope you feel better soon (and as Blue so eloquently says, it won't make a difference to the bits that matter)

I'm finding the meds fine this time round, Blue. I'm not really feeling anything from any of them, which is great. Not looking forward to the progesterone - and I'm seriously envious of your injectable progesterone - I never thought I'd hear myself say that! I HATED cyclogest. It felt like the final indignity of IVF. It made me ache in bed. I chose to use the (ahem) back door because, although insertion was a bit ick, it eliminated the (sorry, TMI) seepage. But I've got a different type of progesterone this time, that can be used vaginally or orally - weird, huh? - but they recommend using it vaginally except on the day of ET, so that absorption doesn't get affected by the transfer.

On the positive side, I went to have a chat with DS' head teacher this week, because we're going to take him with us when we go to Prague next time and we need her cooperation to take him out of school. I decided to be completely open with her, and she couldn't have been nicer about it (or him, either - she told me that every time he speaks to her it lifts her mood - what a lovely thing to say ) and told us that we should take a few extra days to relax as a family together as this was far more important in the grand scheme of things than him missing a few days of school and she thought he would gain a lot from a visit to Prague. So hooray!

Purple what a fantastic teacher! Those little glimmers of support really can lift you up sometimes can't they? Glad you are feeling ok on your meds.

Waiting I suffer from hypothyroidism and it definitely affect your fertility. NHS guidelines are a bit outdated but your TSH should be under 2.5 so it's worth getting your actual figures and a low dose of thyroxine should you need it.

My level was 4.2 so the consultant said to start the medication and have blood test repeated in three weeks. I'm hoping it works quickly as really want to get started.
I had absolutely no idea about this level affecting fertility, although it may explain why I have so many follicles but no ovulation, or that may be the pcos. Apparently I also have adenomyosis but the consultant said it won't affect ivf or pregnancy if we get that far. I'd never heard of it before but she was very reassuring.

Dh is very anxious about his semen analysis next week. I think he's feeling very under pressure!

Hi all - did my Ovitrelle injection at 10pm last night so I'm all set for egg collection tomorrow morning at 9am. Fingers....toes.....everything....crossed.

I've never heard of oral/vaginal progesterone Purple, must be a Czech thing! If he recommends 'going vaginal' (ha) then it's definitely worthwhile of course. I'll be on a new form of progesterone called 'Lubion' that can be injected subcutaneously providing everything goes ok tomorrow . Your son's teacher sounds great by the way, it's lovely when you get some unexpected IVF support out of nowhere.

Until I started using these forums I had no idea what an important part the thyroid plays in fertility. As sunrise says, hopefully it's something you can get fixed before you get started waiting. Sounds like you have loads of follicles though so at least you know you have the potential to respond well to treatment.

Good luck tomorrow blue you must be very excited!I hope it all goes well

I've had a really bad day today. Emotionally I feel all over the place (not helped by pmt) and almost felt like giving up as I feel like its such a long road ahead with no guarantee and I'm scared.
Also have the family from hell who constantly ask where are we going/what's going on as dsis had seen paperwork at my house a while ago so knew ivf was on the cards and broadcast it. We had put it off a bit due to that but now I still feel like they are trying to uncover our secret.
I just can't seem to stop crying today. I just feel like it won't work for us and I'm so desperate for it to. Is this normal? I feel more emotional and on edge than ever before.

I just want my thyroid levels down and quickly, I want to get started and not to end up with ohss. I want to get the chance to do a fresh transfer but am petrified they will cancel and freeze all embryos (if we get to that stage). I don't really know what a FET involves but iam hoping to have a transfer and have some to freeze if needed but its all so overwhelming
I just feel really really down

Doing a little cheerleader dance for you Blue - everything crossed for tomorrow morning, the next two weeks - hell, the next 9 months xxx

Waiting - I think all our DHs worry about semen analysis. They seem to take it all a bit more personally than we do!

Right blue, Monday then. I am 11 hours ahead here so will check Mumsnet first chance Tue am to see how you went!

waiting, I know our family mean well but it really does sound like their questions are adding extra pressure. My family knows we have tried IVF but I have not said a word about my upcoming IVF as I don't need any extra pressure to have to report back with how things are progressing. You do whatever is right for you.

Why are you petrified of them freezing all embryos if you get OHSS? Over the course of my 9 IVF's and endless research, I have read that all IVF luteal phases are abnormal due to the drugs we pump into ourselves during the first half of our cycle causing our progesterone to rise early and our luteal phase uterine lining to be out of synch. This is why FET success rates are higher than fresh IVF transfer rates. So if you produce lots of eggs, then your hormones will be more out of synch and it truly will be better for a successful outcome if you wait for another cycle to do an FET. I hope that helps puts your mind at ease.

purple, when do you leave for Prague? Any word on how the donor is stimming or will you only get details once EC has taken place?

Sending all good thoughts your way for this morning Blue. Hoping for lots of lovely plump eggs, optimal fertilisation rates and lots of lovely blastocysts xxx

Hey Shellster. We're pencilled in for Prague in two weeks' time - ET in theory should be 2 weeks today.

I've got a scan next Friday to see how my lining is doing and presumably I will start to get updates on how the lovely donor is doing....I hope!

Waiting - I can sympathise. My mother is terribly indiscreet and we share a plumber (!) - yes, she really would discuss this sort of thing with him, so although she knows in very vague terms that we're doing IVF, she doesn't know any of the detail, and I never plan to tell her that we're doing DE IVF. My Dad does know - we had a bit of rare time on our own a couple of weeks ago and I told him all about our trip to Prague and where we were. Partly because he was suggesting facilitating an overseas adoption through a contact of his and I wanted to put the brakes on that! My dsis knows all the detail, because she's been emergency childcare for us a few times while we've been having treatment (including overnight when we went to Prague for the first time). I tend to talk about these things with her, anyway. My brothers don't know anything about it...I'll probably tell them it was IVF if it works, but otherwise, not. SIL has had 3 babies in the time that we've been TTC no. 2 and her comments are not always helpful or sensitive!

We initially told my parents about IVF in the very early days because we thought we needed a short-term loan to cover the first cycle. In the end, we didn't need to do that, and I rather kicked myself for jumping the gun and telling them. My mother asked lots of questions and I was very firm about it - "if we were ttc in ideal circumstances, the first you would know about it was when we announced the good news at the time of our choosing. We are keen to avoid any extra pressure from people asking - in however a well-meaning way - how things are going and we don't want to discuss the treatment all the time." I've told them each time we've had an unsuccessful cycle - in my own time and when I am able to do so in a matter-of-fact way.