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?

Lucie it looks like we are almost on exactly the same cycle. I have my day 6 scan tomorrow but my second scan is on Friday. Good luck with yours.

Waiting it feels good to be getting started, doesn't it? But I also felt v nervous, especially about the injections, which seem to be easy now after only a few days.

I feel nauseous in the mornings which I guess is a reaction to the gonal f, I react quite strongly to hormones (always felt sick on the pill, for example) so hopefully there are some follicles brewing up - will find out tomorrow....

I haven't told work that I'm doing IVF! But I'm a teacher and it's hard to take time off or even to be off sick. I've told them I have some blood tests tomorrow morning (which is true!) because of some new medication I'm on (also true) but they will assume I mean my new strong asthma medication which is to try to shift a cough I've had for 10 months. Just hoping this last one isn't affecting my cycle...Not really looking forward to "calling in sick" next week for EC, but heigh-ho.

Blue did your run "work"?

Good luck tomorrow blackandwhite I hope they find lots of big follicles for us both. That's great that we are on the same cycle

I've been nervous all day. Have to pick a time after 7pm to do the first injection and I am really really anxious. I think once the first one is done I will feel ok.

Will I feel any 'different' or are there no noticeable side effects from being on gonal f? I'm hoping to just be able to carry on as normal this week but then I was worrying I might feel unwell? I'm probably just worrying unnecessarily

Hi Cat, yes the run worked! Well I don't really know if it worked but I've got my period so all's good. I started the estrogen tablets this morning and will start aspirin tomorrow, plus a scan on Tuesday. Things are moving along nicely.good to hear you are doing OK, hopefully you and lucie are growing some nice big follicles down there.

waiting, try not too worry, you'll be fine. The Gonal F is really no big deal, you won't feel ill or anything.

Lucie I have everything crossed. I am mentally willing those follicles to grow.

Waiting I really recommend the ice cube. Side effects - apart from the nausea I have some twinges where I would normally get period pain, I assume that's my ovaries reacting (hopefully positively). I'm certainly leading a normal life this week, but imagine that I might not feel so normal in the second week of stims. Good luck, take a deep breath.

Nausea isn't so bad that I couldn't eat my ice cream last night! Choc mousse is my injection reward tonight.

Good news Blue. I bet you've never been so pleased to get your period .

Oooh, everyone kicking off at about the same time. xxx

The injection was fine! Although dh was laughing at me lying there whilst he did the injection as I was literally dripping in sweat and shaking I was so nervous.... And I barely felt anything so felt very silly

Aren't husbands buggers for that kind of thing? Mind you, I think it's a very good thing if you can find things to laugh about during this process....I think finding the humour in all of it is what has kept Mr Purple and me sane (ish) and still good friends whilst on the rollercoaster.

Glad the injection was barely noticeable waiting. Hopefully help put your mind at ease from here on in. Mind you, I still hesitate every time before I do my injection and then it's always nothing.

lucie I remember another lady on MN commenting that Crinone is more expensive. Perhaps there is a reason why if it is shown to be more effective. Also puts my mind at ease that the clinic is giving me the best possible progesterone, so thanks for sharing that study.

blue, didn't realise you are taking Aspirin. You've not taken that during any of your previous cycles, right? Is that something the Dr does as standard for all FETs, or is it something extra he's trying just for you after your history of embryos repeatedly not implanting?

Enjoy your ice cream and chocolate mousese cat! Good on you for finding a way to make the journey more enjoyable with lots of little rewards for yourself to help keep you sane this month.

Haha well done Waiting. A piece of chocolate afterwards always helps. I felt a bit more tired and ovary twinges just before egg collection but fine otherwise. Don't forget to rest - you are pushing bits of you more than you normally would.

Good to hear things are kicking off BlackandWhite and Lucieloos and Blue!

Sore boobs over here for the past two days. Driving myself bananas but trying to reasearch lots of books and get lots of odd jobs done in the waiting....

Had my scan today and only had 8 follicles. 6 on one ovary and 2 on the other which I am disappointed with. I was hoping for around 12. The largest is 17mm. Just feel really deflated. My womb lining was good at 7mm and triple lined.

Easy to say, I know Lucie but try not to fixate on the numbers too much. I only had 5 follicles with my first cycle and I was bitterly disappointed, but they all contained eggs, all of which fertilised and they all made it to blastocyst stage so I ended up with more options than people who started out with lots more follicles. It really is all about quality. x

Thanks purple that's basically what the Dr told me that sometimes it's better not too have too many as the quality can often not be as good. I think I would have been happy with 8 eggs collected. I just wanted to get about 12-15 follciles to allow enough leeway for this. It is what it is though and at least my lining is good if I do manage to have some put back. My CZ doctor has said she is happy with 8 and to carry on as normal today. Tomorrow I have to start the cetrotide and then scan again on Wednesday.

I was a little concerned with the biggest follicle at 17mm as thought it was quite large for day 8 but she hasn't said anything

Well done blue, that sounds just like my first injection (except that mine hurt) I squirmed a lot.

lucie 8 follies is still a decent number. Let's hope most of them come good.

My scan went well, I have 10 follicles, 8 of which are over 10mm, two of which are nearly 20mm. My womb lining is good and thick. I didn't ask how thick. Follies have grown so quickly I think they will reduce my dose - I'm expecting a phone call this afternoon. I'm 39 so I'm pleased with 10, I was worried it might be less.

I agree, laughter is essential, and I had a good chuckle at your cheerleader post last night purple, keep 'em coming.

purple and profblue you are my experts, how is the decision made between embryo/blastocyst? What are the advantages of each?
Thanks

Well done black, that is good news! What dose of stimms are you on?

Hi lucie I'm on 250 gonal f. How about you?

I just. Re-read the printout the nurse gave me and it says 13.5mm endo thickness for uterus. That sounds huge!

Waiting for my phone call....

well done black andwhite and lucieloos. I refer back to my previous comments - whatever the number of follicles/eggs/embryos and quality of them there will always be something more/better. I know you are disappointed Lucie but honestly 8 is a really decent number. You ought to end up with a good number of options (ie something to put back) with that. I only had two follies and I was disappointed (but not surprised) - there are so many steps in this game try to stay focused on the positives (which I can see you are trying to).

I'm on 225 of Menopur. That lining does sound very thick! What cycle day are you on?

Thank you second, I really appreciate that. You are right there is always something more to hope for and plenty of others have had success with that number. I asked her if she thought anymore follicles would show up and she said no although I have read lots of stories of people having more on their second scans but I guess they probably wouldn't be mature enough at this stage anyway.

I am on Day 6. I always react strongly to drugs, I'm tiny!

They just called. I'm staying on 250 but they're bringing me in for a day 8 scan on Weds. Juggling work is going to be tough!

I also have a scan on Wednesday black That will be day 10 for me though.

Cat, the decision on embryo/blastocyst depends on how many embryos you have and how many you're planning to put back.

If you've got lots to choose from, and they are all developing as expected with little to choose between them, the clinic will usually leave them to day 5 to help them choose the best one(s) to put back. Some of them may stop developing on the way, some of them may develop too fast/too slow/show signs of fragmentation.

If you don't have any spares, they will put them back earlier - my clinic always said that your body is better than the highest-tech incubator, so if it's not a question of watching to see which is the best one, then they'll put them all back to give them the best chance.

I've had both experiences: with my first fresh cycle, all 5 fertilised and developed to day 5, but by then there were two that were better quality than the others, so I had one transferred and one frozen.

In my second fresh cycle, we had 4 eggs collected and they all fertilised, but on day 2, one of them hadn't divided again. By then I'd had two failed cycles so we had decided to put 3 embryos back. Because we only had 3 and were planning to transfer 3, they called me in on day 2. Hope that helps.

13.5 lining sounds like a lovely cushion for your embryos

How are you doing, Sunrise? Are you managing to stay sane in the last few days? Sending positive vibes your way x