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?

Some great positive stuff posted here thanks guys. BlackandWhite and Purple thanks so much for the Mindfullness links. I'll try to read some of that. I still can't get my head around how you change your way of thinking, but I guess it's a gradual process. Purple as we had fertility treatment for our first child we always knew we would be up against the odds for another. I think that has helped a bit, and I've also tried to plan lots of things to look forward to if this IVF doesn't work - like making a list of baby things to sell/pass on and saving for a holiday abroad next year. I'm glad you are feeling happier too
Good work Shellster on the paper round, that's a really proactive thing to do. Your AMH theory is interesting; I certainly fit into that rough calculation.
Not feeling any different here but it's early days yet.

Yes, Shellster - just to thicken lining. It's Oestrodial - Estrimax/Progynova/Estrofem etc.,

Re down-reg for a FET - my last clinic explained that they liked to take control of the cycle for better results, but the Czech clinic doesn't seem to be down-regging me for this one. I've asked about it - you know me, I do like to understand the strategy!

Morning all. I decided to keep on my high milk diet last night with a dessert of Eton Mess . Might as well enjoy it, I say. I'm actually wishing I had a bit more tummy fat after last night's first injection, I could have done with some soft flesh to grab.

Had a bit of a meltdown actually, I couldn't put the needle in myself so in the end DH did it, and jeez it hurt! What are your experiences? Is it normal to really hurt? And bruise? Yikes.

Cat - what's your technique? I tend to "pinch an inch" and pinch quite hard so that I'm focusing on that rather than the needle going in. 9 times out of 10, I find that the needle goes in fine. The 1 in 10 that it doesn't, I tend to move site and find somewhere where it goes in okay. And I always count 1, 2, 3 and jab myself on 3 - somehow that seems to help.

Have you got one of those pre-filled pens for your Gonal-F? I did find those more uncomfortable to use than the bog-standard syringes I had for menopur.

I did find that some days I bruised/hurt more than others, so don't let yesterday's experience terrify you - it probably won't be as bad next time.

Thank you purple, and as you can probably guess I've spent a lot of today with Dr Google. I find it incredible that some couples have posted videos of themselves doing the injections. Ow.

I did pinch an inch, but probably not hard enough, I didn't think of the pinching as a way to divert from the pain. I hardly felt the needle, yes it is one of those gonalf pens and the needles are so tiny. It was when the liquid went in....I think DH had the needle on a bit of an angle in by this time - may well have been my fault for squirming, and he also pressed the dose in really quickly, maybe that didn't help.

I am terrified, every time I think of tonight's injection I start crying - good job I'm not at work today. I'm going to try numbing my belly with an ice cube and also taking the pen out of the fridge early to warm up a bit. I think I need to hold the pen, even if I need DH to move it, so that I can keep it at 90 degrees.

I'm not normally such a wuss - I deal with chronic backache and I play lots of bruise-inducing team sports. I read somewhere today that if you're skinny some clinics recommend you go in at 45 degrees to avoid hitting the muscle, but somehow i find the idea of lining up at an angle even worse!

hi all - Shellster, I have no idea why my clinic is expecting me to downreg before the FET. It does seem to make sense to do it during a 'natural' cycle, like Purple. I'll definitely ask next time I'm in. I found this thread about it too. Anyway the Synarel isn't really causing me any problems although my period is now 2 days overdue. Ho hum! I just do as I'm told and fret about it afterwards

I've done loads of different types of yoga over the years but these days I stick with Hatha. It's the original yoga style - I do 2 classes a week (1 hour) and then 30 minutes on my own at home every morning (the benefit of being child-free....). For the first half of the session I do sun salutations with variations, followed by an asana series. I don't do any special fertility yoga. If you can afford it I recommend that you join a class. You'll be less likely to injure yourself and the teacher will be able to correct you if you make mistakes. Even 1 class a week would do the trick - I bet you'll feel great afterwards.

Cat I agree with Purple - the injections will get easier. Sometimes you get a bad one for some reason. Make sure you aren't injecting too near the belly button. I actually used the tops of my thighs/hips for my first cycle, if you're struggling to 'pinch an inch' you might want to give that a try.

Cat - also, check with your clinic about keeping the Gonal F in the fridge, because I was told to keep it in the fridge until I started using it and then to leave it out.

I've heard other people say that putting ice on helps. I'm sure it will get easier x

I'm not looking forward to the injections either. I will also be using the gonal f pen. I'm sure my clinic said it had to be kept in the fridge, I will check and see what Im meant to do once I've started using it which hopefully will be soon. I've asked dh to do them as I know I won't be able to
I feel like AF is coming so fingers crossed its tomorrow, I def feel achy and my pmt is awful.

I managed to do my own injection tonight! The ice cube helped, as did letting the drug warm up. I also went a bit lower down (last nights was nearly level with belly button). I felt the needle this time but got no sting from the drug, I also got DH to pinch my leg while the dose was going in.

Waiting I checked the manufacturers instructions and they say that once you have started a pen, you just need to keep it under 25 degrees and it doesn't need to be in the fridge. So I'm keeping mine out now.

Thanks Purple and Blue for your wise words and moral support. It really helped.

Hope AF turns up for you Blue and Waiting.

Second it took me while to get to grips with mindfulness, and I'm still no expert. It was only after meditating to the tracks over and over again - particularly the body scan - that I began to be able to do it a bit by myself. Just give it a go, and be patient, would be my advice.

Shellster that paper round sounds like a fab idea, I'm so glad the weather has warmed up to make walking more appealing, IMHO there is no better way to clear one's head.

Do you have to pay your local clinic for the two scans luci? I'm in Australia and just curious how your system works. Either way, glad you've got it all sorted. I did an IVF cycle Dec 13 with a starting count of 15 and an IVF cycle Aug 14 with a starting count of 19 so I can't imagine your follicle count would have decreased too much/at all from last year. The drugs don't actually help produce any more follicles. The follicles that are on your ovary for the start of that cycle are the ones that have the potential to grow. They say ROUGHLY half will grow with IVF.

black, I do find some injections hurt more than others going in. I just inject it slowly if it hurts and that really helps. Harder with hubby doing it who has no idea how it is feeling. I hope the ice helps. I used Puregon which is a different brand to Gonal F but the same medicine (pure FSH) and as purple says, I had to keep it in the fridge until 1 day before I needed to use it and it stayed out of the fridge from then on.

Of course blue. The one time you want your period to arrive so you can get on with things, it doesn't!

I'm in the same boat as you purple - waiting for my next cycle to get started. CD11 for me here. I'm going to OPK just for something to do while I wait to start IVF! After our shorter cycles and IVF success discussion, I'm curious as to what day I naturally ovulate now I'm off the soy and on almond milk.

Thanks shell, fingers crossed for Monday then! Yes I have to pay for the two scans in the UK. I could have had them done for free in Czech if I had gone out earlier but it's just easier for me this way and they aren't that expensive in the grand scheme of things.

Other things that I'm trying are PICSI to help choose the best sperm for Icsi, endo scratch and embryo glue. Does anyone have any experiences of these? I've had the scratch done already and found it quite painful!

Luci I've had a scratch four times now. Some hurt some less so. Our last cycle was picsi because we used donor eggs and DH's contribution was frozen to minimise the necessary flights out to Cz. Apparently even a great sample can be a bit sluggish when it's been frozen and thawed so our clinic does all DE cycles as picsi.

Which clinic are you with in Cz?

I'm on CD7, Shellster so we might be cycling quite close together because I think your cycles are usually a few days shorter than mine - I'm a 28 days-like-clockwork girl usually. Having said that, AF was on day 41 this time. That's the first cycle when I haven't spotted from about when AF is due, which was why I was so sure it had worked .

One blessing this time round is that I think the Czech drugs - well def the progesterone - was much gentler than the horrible cyclogest I've had in the past. The come-down has been much less torrid and emotional this time.

Hi purple, dh has a lower than normal motility so we are hoping that the picsi will select the better ones. We are going with Reprofit. I have found them great so far and very helpful! We are flying out next Friday eekk!

Oh sorry purple I meant to ask which progesterone you used? I was thinking I would probably go for Crinone but I think they are flexible with which one I want to choose.

Well my IVF cycle isn't actually until the cycle after next purple. I actually just start the estrogen tablets on day 21 of my cycle as part of my protocol then IVF the following cycle... as much as I would have loved to cycle with you. That IVF protocol really did seem to alter your cycle when you're normally a 28 day clockwork girl. Can really understand you must have been convinced it worked (along with the lovely young eggs and great blasts) - must have been a harder fall. I was still thinking of you today and wonder just how in the world did it not work?! Surely that was bad luck and this cycle just absolutely has to.

I've done all those things luci bar the embryo glue. According to what I've rad, PICSI mimics a key step in the natural fertilization sperm selection process. As a result, the selected sperm is essentially the same as one that would be successful in the natural reproductive process. The research proved that hyaluronan-bound PICSI-selected sperm are more mature, exhibit less DNA damage, and have fewer chromosomal aneuploidies. Sounds good to me!

That sounds great shell, I just wish it could all be done now. I'm such an impatient person I find the waiting for everything really hard!!

Oh, Shellster, boo that we won't be cycling together....but not too many weeks apart...

Luci (or do you prefer Lucie?) I used utrogestan for the last cycle and it really suited me. I've not used crinone (Shellster has though, I think?) but I've had cyclogest in the past. I was a bit worried about the utrogestan, because it's half the dose of the cyclogest (200mg morning and evening as opposed to 400mg morning and evening), but it's the first cycle (out of 4 - 3 fresh, 1 FET) that I haven't had any spotting at all, so it clearly does its job. With the cyclogest I was really achey and miserable and when I stopped taking it after the cycle failed I had a massive hormone crash and was a mess. This time, even though I was obviously upset and disappointed, and for the first time I really believed that it had worked right up to the pregnancy test because I felt so different (and was using someone else's better quality young eggs!), it felt much more rational and manageable, if that makes sense.

If you - no, not you - if one has a failed cycle, it's really hard to deal with all the emotions as well as a massive hormone crash, but presumably that hormone crash could happen in a successful cycle too at the 10-12 week stage when you come off the artificial progesterone. I know you get weaned off it and your body is making its own by then, but I'd definitely opt for something at the gentler end of the scale.

Ohhh thanks purple so utrogestan could be an option too then. I will wait for shells verdict on Crinone before deciding.

Yes, boo that we won't be cycling together purple. Although it does feel like a nice mental distraction for me to follow your FET (along with others on here) while I wait for my cycle.

I know exactly what you mean about the waiting luci. I've got about 7 more weeks until my IVF cycle starts. I'm trying to use the time as preparation by eating healthy and exercising but I still just want to get on with things.

I have only ever used Crinone for progesterone support, so I can't comment about how it compares to any of the others. I have not found any hormone crash that purple describes when I come off it.

So when is your first scan to see how things are going????

Thanks shell, I hope you keep busy and time passes quickly for you. My first scan is on Monday morning, I'm feeling quite nervous about it. As its my first treatment I really don't know how my body will respond to it. My second scan is on Wednesday and then that's that part done!

lucie I used crinone in my second cycle and didn't like it. It made me very bloated and it clumped together to create a 'back up' of product which, erm, had to be manually evacuated (?!). TMI I know. Just Google 'crinone' and 'clumping' and you'll see it's common thing. Yuck. Cyclogest works better for me, I haven't experienced the hormonal crash although it's also not great. Frankly I think the progesterone pessaries are one of the worst bits of IVF, definitely something to be endured!

Still waiting for AF here...going for a run now to see if that helps. Beautiful sunshine here yesterday (whilst I was stuck in the office) and today it's raining of course.

I am 11 hours ahead here in Aus luci. So I will check in Monday before bed to see if you have posted an update after your scan. What day of your cycle will Monday be?

Interesting that blue didn't like the Crinone while I had no bloating with it at all. Yes, after the hormone is absorbed from the Crinone cream that is inserted, you are left with what looks like dried out clumps of cottage cheese up your whoha. I personally am not all that bothered by it so I guess it's just individual. Perhaps because I am a poor responder and have had a few cancelled cycles and a few more cycles where the embryos have died before I even got to transfer, so it does feel like a big milestone for me to be at the stage of inserting progesterone with an embryo inside me and maybe that's why I'm just so happy to be at that stage and am not bothered by the clumping.

AF arrived this morning so I will be starting injections tomorrow evening and I'm really nervous.

Scan booked for Thursday and then every other day after that till ec

I feel so anxious about it all. Its pretty much three years to the day that we first talked about ivf and now that its finally here I'm terrified. I suppose that's normal though, or it may just be my fear of needles and medical procedures that's making me so worried!

Thanks blue, it's hard to know what to do about the progesterone but I think I will give the crinone a go as none of them sound ideal but I did read a study that said crinone was more effective than cyclogest. Who knows how true that is but I thought it's something to base it on. I think the crinone only has to be done once a day as well which is a bonus.

Shell my scans are day 8 and 10 of cycle. I'm hoping that I will trigger on Friday. I will post an update on Monday.

You'll be fine, Waiting - it's a bit weird, but it's not too bad, really.

My clinic made me practise sticking the needle into my leg (without any drug, obv) and I was really shaky and sweaty and then it didn't hurt at all, and I wasn't bothered by the injections after that. I counted up that I injected myself just over 100 times last year ... no injections with the DE cycle.