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?

Think I have got it in my mind that as this is the only cycle we can afford I want to be able to do a fresh transfer and if that doesn't work then a fet. I feel like if I don't get to do a fresh transfer I will always wonder what if that had worked, its silly really, I've been reading so much and getting myself very wound up about chances and % levels etc? I need to calm down and just trust what our clinic says I think.

Are the chances of success similar for fresh or frozen transfers? I thought fresh was more successful shows what I know!
I haven't even started properly yet and I'm in a muddle.

Good luck today blue I hope it all goes well xx

Most of the clinics whose stats I've looked at declare slightly higher stats for fresh than frozen cycles. But as Shellster says, there has been research showing that the odds can be better for a frozen cycle in some cases. Shellster's your girl for winkling out important bits of research .

In any case, if you're in a bad place because of OHSS, you're definitely going to increase your chances by freezing your embryos, taking a cycle out to get your body back to optimal health and your head back to calm.

I know I might as well say "try not to breathe for a bit", but you really really need to try not to worry about things that might happen....they may not

Thanks for all the good wishes... 7 eggs collected this morning! I'm happy, that's the most we've ever had. Obviously still got a long way to go but it feels good to have 7. The clinic will call tomorrow to let me know how many fertilised, then just need to mentally hang on that some will make it back inside me! Yikes.

Feeling a bit sick and gross so am going for a nana nap. Waiting I know it's hard but really try not to focus on the 'what ifs' and just take things one day at a time. otherwise you'll drive yourself mad.

Thanks for all the good wishes... 7 eggs collected this morning! I'm happy, that's the most we've ever had. Obviously still got a long way to go but it feels good to have 7. The clinic will call tomorrow to let me know how many fertilised, then just need to mentally hang on that some will make it back inside me! Yikes.

Feeling a bit sick and gross so am going for a nana nap. Waiting I know it's hard but really try not to focus on the 'what ifs' and just take things one day at a time. otherwise you'll drive yourself mad.

Seven eggs is great, fingers crossed for you all goes well over the next few days! How was ec? Hope it was ok.

I decided to go out for a nice long walk after posting this morning as I was in an absolute state. I think a lot of it is pmt and also fear of the unknown. I'd spent too long googling things over breakfast and got myself in a bit of a muddle. Felt so much better after some fresh air.
We have our nurse consultation on Monday and dh appt for SA. Then its nothing for three weeks as I have to wait for thyroid medication to work.

Waiting i have pcos and managed 4 stims with no ohss. They will keep the dose low - i was on 75/150 and if lots of follicles show up will do scans/ bloods daily and maybe coast. The only downside was my clinic would trigger when only a few were large enough to avoid the ohss.
I was also on thyroxine - usually they do a retest in 4-6wks even up to 8wks as it takes a while for the levels to stabilise.

Hooray Blue ( every time I do that now, I'm imagining Shellster willing her computer to work faster to see what good news there is!!!) - 7 is great really delighted for you.

Waiting - you'll get there. Hope the walk made you feel better. Sending a hug. The waiting is the worst - it really gets to you. xxx

I will ask the nurse on Monday, the last thing I want to do. Is get retested too early and tsh hasn't gone down. The dr said re test in 3 weeks but maybe I should wait at least 4.

Okay Purple - two weeks - got it. That's interesting you've actually seen several clinics stats and most show slightly higher fresh than frozen success. I've read a study that shows different. But I guess there really is no set rule in all this and I'm sure if they repeated that study on different women, they'd get different results.

That's the hardest part waiting. The fact that there are no rules about how we will respond means all our minds can do is wait and wonder. My upcoming IVF cycle starting in about 1 week will be my last due to financial strains also. So we are in the same boat with feeling the pressure that this one needs to work. I started out like you researching the hec out of everything and just like you, I really did walk away from it feeling more stressed. This cycle, I've really been trying to work on my mind. There are many studies (again with my research!) showing that meditation/hypnosis greatly increases IVF success. When I read these studies I really felt empowered that there is something I can do to greatly help my chances instead of feeling stressed when I googled other things about IVF. So when I'm having an IVF obsessive moment, instead of researching things that leave me stressed out, I do my hypnotherapy CD that I purchased (but there are many free on you-tube) or go for a walk to get blood supply to my ovaries, or do yoga. I am so glad you went for a walk and felt better. And I find this thread is invaluable so please feel free to rant away on here whenever you need to get it off your chest.

WOW WOW WOW blue. Somehow I thought your EC was Monday so I wasn't wishing my laptop to hurry up to see your result - but got a great surprise when I saw your post. I know I shouldn't get too excited yet as there are still hurdles to pass but 7 is an amazing start.

Thanks Shellster and all - I have some more good news - the embryologist called this morning to say that all 7 have fertilised! I'm chuffed to bits. Egg collection has now been arranged for Weds (day 5) instead of Monday, as hopefully they will now have more embryos to choose from.

I'm so pleased. Now just need to keep my fingers crossed that those little embryos will continue to grow until Weds so there will be 1-2 good enough to go back in. Back to the waiting game for 5 more looooong days.

I think I'll treat myself to a small glass of vino tonight. Purple, where are you at now? How are you doing with the meds?

....and Shellster what date are you planning to get started? I know it's in March.

Hooray! Fabulous news! Keep growing, little chaps! xxxx

Great news blue

I'm feeling a lot better today. Poor dh stayed up very late with me trying his best to reassure me about everything, he was lovely and I feel so much better. He said I need to focus on the hopeful end result and not anything that may/may not happen in between or things I'm scared about.
I've been for another walk today which has really helped clear my mind some more and hoping to have a relaxing afternoon as possible.

The walks sound like they're doing you good Waiting. Keep them up! I hope you feel less anxious once things get going in a few weeks and you are in action instead of all this waiting and wondering. Your DH sounds adorable.

Blue - I'm always in suspense every time I click on 'threads I'm on' and can only read the first few words of your post 'more good news - the... I can't wait those few seconds to open the thread and go to the last page and read more. All 7 fertilised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now it's straight on to the next wait. When will you next get an update? Enjoy your .

AFM, today is day 22 of my cycle. My cycles are usually 24-26 days long, but I am taking progesterone this cycle so perhaps it will be one two days later. CD 28 & 29 of my cycle are on Saturday and Sunday meaning day 15 of my cycle when my follicles are usually mature may fall on a Sunday - the one day my clinic does not do EC. Even if it falls on Saturday, I am paranoid my clinic have less Dr's and might get too booked up and do EC Fri or Mon instead. This is the last cycle I can afford and really want EC at the time perfect for my follicle maturity and not for the clinics schedule. So I shall see when my period arrives.

Purple, you're not venting or stressing much about your cycle. You seem very cool, calm and collected!

Shellster it's sweet of you to be so excited for me! I was reading through old posts and you, purple, annie and I (plus a long list of other people) have been on here for far too long! Surely the law of averages means that at least one of us is going to get a BFP this time around?! It's great to have you lovely ladies cheering me on.

I won't know how my embryos are doing until I go in for ET on Weds. Wish I could fast forward to then, time is going hideously slowly. Am going to go for a run this morning whilst I'm still egg free, the progesterone is making me feel really bloated so a run might help.

AF is an inconvenient madam. Fingers crossed she'll turn up soon so you can get on with everything Shellster

Does anybody know if starting levothyroxine will cause weight loss? I've struggled to get my bmi up to 18.5 and don't want to end up losing any again.

I'm still here cheering you all on from lurksville blue! Seven . All going very well so far, please let this be your time xxx

Hi Waiting yes levothyroxine causes weightloss. My MIL was very underweight until the GP realised she had been on a high dose of it for years.

That's going to be a juggling act then! I need my tsh level down but to keep my bmi up. Any less than 18.5 and they won't treat me. It took me weeks and eating loads to get it to 18.5

waiting sorry didn't want to delurking and run. I'm so sorry it's a struggle for you on top of ttc. Have you self referred to an NHS dietitian? They should be best placed to advise you on food fortification and other ways to counteract the effects of levothyroxine. You may already have been down that path. I hope everything works out for you xx

What a shame that amongst all the great support we offer each other on here, we can't also pool our BMIs and even them out a little...Waiting, there are a few of us on this thread who would gladly donate a few points. What a tough thing to have to juggle.

Blue - how come your clinic doesn't give you updates? Mine used to ring daily between EC and ET...and I found it excruciating having to wait over the weekend with no information, because the embryologists weren't on duty. Hope you've got things to distract you.

Hope the cold's improving, Sunrise.

Shellster you're right. I feel really calm and relaxed about this cycle. I always feel quite relaxed when I'm down-regging - I do quite like switching off the raging hormones! But more than that, I feel great confidence in our new clinic and for us, it was definitely the right decision to use DE at this juncture, so I'm in a good place mentally.

Hello lovely Annie, hope you're doing okay.

I have some flab to spare waiting if you'd like me to pass it on to you!! I hope you can manage to keep the weight on. It was already disheartening enough for you waiting this one extra cycle, so I can imagine how disappointing it would be to wait again. Hope you're snacking while you're reading this!

Oh blue, Wednesday must feel like forever away. I get a phone call the day after EC (as you did) to say how many fertilised, but then I also get an extra call on day two when they decide if I have a day 3 or 5 transfer so I get an extra update then. I guess you too would get a call on day 2 if they were moving your transfer forward to day 3, so no news must be good news!

Further to your advice blue, I remember going to a seminar run by a nutritionist who is affiliated with my IVF clinic. So I have called her and left a message to try and get some advice on this whole estrogen thing. I am not just curious about taking estrogen during the luteal phase, but also wondering about soy milk which contains estrogen. Some studies say soy products reduce fertility while others say the soy isolate tablets during the IVF stim cycle thickens the lining and increases egg numbers. I hope to speak to her today... and I really hope she can give me a confident answer so I can feel at peace with what is the right thing to do.

Hello Purple and Annie. I love your 7 little s to symbolize 7 happy embryos in a petri dish! That's what I'll visualize now every time I think of blue's embryos growing.

Hello lovely purple .

So happy to hear you are in a good place right now as you down-reg. Those hormones have a lot to answer for. Feel very optimistic for you in this journey.

I'm also in a really good place. Those synthetic hormones have left the building! Good riddance. The change in my personality after just one week is remarkable. For the first time in 8 months I've been able to fully concentrate at work and actually enjoy it. I'm feeling so much stronger emotionally and I've started going out and embracing all the things I've been putting off/ didn't have the heart to do.

At the moment I am set on not doing IVF again. After thinking about it in a less hormonal / emotional state Ive decided that I'm happy to carry on ttc naturally for a wee while. I've been pregnant 3 times in 2.5years so just need to find that good egg - and soon! And if I don't then we will have a happy life just the two of us.

I'm not very good at being a lurker am I?

X-post

Hello lovely Shellster too. I'm here cheering you on - come on period!! Mine came last Saturday and is still hanging around but its good when she arrives and you actually want her too x

Right I'm off to serious lurkland again.

Lots of love to you lovely ladies, I didn't realise how attached to you all I've become xxxxx

Waiting it probably depends
How high your dose is
What it brings your tsh down to
The cause of you struggling to gain weight.

I had bmi of 20-21 or so, i didnt find it made much difference. If anything i felt hungrier.

It may be worth testing at the 3 wks if they will let you test again a bit later.
When i tested just under 4wks id gone from 2.5 to 0.91 but then i was tested again a few weeks later and found id gone down to 0.25 so slightly hyper, from the same dose change.
(Ivf will likely raise your tsh)

Not sure yet what the dose is , will be collecting prescription tomorrow at our appt.

My level was 4.2 so need it down by quite a bit

I've always been at the low end of normal/slightly underweight. I think for me its normal.all my family are slim but the clinic don't like low bmi so I've been eating so much. It just isn't easy to gain and keep it on so I'm concerned about what the levothyroxine will do