Any on looking to start ivf/icsi in the new year?

[lucieloos]

Just wondering if anyone would like to keep me company and share the ivf/icsi journey. DH and I are both 35 years old and have been trying to conceive our first child for 10months. DH has lowish sperm motility and I have a low amh (7.24). We haven't had any luck so far and so the next step will be ivf with icsi in the new year. We are thinking of starting end of feb or march. Would be great to share the journey with others in similar situations and hopefully make some friends along the way

P.S. - I love that *Lucie's" autocorrect changes "doo" to "dpo." It's nice to know that our technology is as obsessed with all this as we are!

makingdoo Sorry to hear you think it's not worked. I don't want to get your hopes up unnecessarily but any change in hormones/feelings could be from being pregnant as well as not. Are you still on progesterone? The drugs from that and the trigger shot can make things seem otherwise from what they are... I had convinced myself that our fresh cycle hadn't worked, I think primarily as a self-preservation tactic, and then I was wrong... Either way take care of yourself and thanks for making our thread a supportive place to be.

How did the macaroon making so MrsWW? I was given a kit last Christmas but have always been a bit too intimidated by it to give it a go...

Persipan Good to hear you've got 2 on board!!

Hi Jesse, I know what you mean about feeling too "normal"! I have that too...

Welcome back lucie - thanks for our thread! Good to hear you've got a plan and are starting soon. I think that there are lots of emotions with IVF and often competing ones all at once, so sadness for not being able to get there naturally, but at the same time excitement of starting a really positive process for hopefully getting there after months and years of disappointments and (perhaps) relief of getting a rest from all the intense shagging...

I had my first scan today, and my period turned up in full flow overnight, so thanks for that body. Nothing like adding a bit more embarrassment to the fairly high level of indignity already being suffered! Obviously the nurse didn't bat an eyelid but it made me feel like life is not fair! (stamps foot!) And because AF is just starting I am not ready to move onto phase 2 of the oestrogen tablets yet so more down regging for me with another scan next Thursday. So everything is moved back a week. Which I had guessed was going to happen as a) it happened on my fresh cycle b) it's more scans to have to fanny about with and c) ET is now forecast to be about the same time as the one massive work meeting I cannot change... It was always going to happen, wasn't it!

Ha ha I hadn't noticed my predictive text!! My phone is obviously very used to me typing about all things ttc!! Made me laugh...ahh I feel at home here already

I'm sorry you cried warrior but it's good to know that most have felt as I do at the moment. Think it's just final acceptance that we have come to the end of the line with trying naturally and a little bit of panic incase the ivf doesn't work too.

Hi Badger, typical of AF to turn up when she's not wanted! I think I may have timing issues with starting my first ivf. As we are flying abroad for it I need to be out there for around cd10 which currently falls nicely on March 28th which is a Saturday. I don't have anymore annual leave to take until April though so if the next couple of cycles don't play ball and cd10 falls earlier than the 28th then I'm either going to have to postpone until April or take a couple of days on the sick?!

Don't postponelucie! Depending on how good your good your employers generally are I'd:

A) either say on CD1 I had a medical procedure on X March if necessary and say I needed whichever days off (and then put it down as sick leave); or

B) ask if I could carry some holiday back from next year for personal reasons; or

C) ask for some unpaid leave.

Although I get that if your employer tends to be unreasonable then going sick might be the only option! The whole work thing is a bit of a minefield and it's definitely easier at some places than others. I think it's better to be upfront where possible but only if necessary (I've not told work yet but I am lucky and have a large degree of autonomy over my diary) and if necessary there's no need to say what the medical procedure is, just that there is one with non-moveable dates as it's time sensitive. It's only a couple of days so you should be able to self-certify without a doctor's note.

Thanks Badger, they are a bit difficult though. If I said i was having an op they would want me to produce the letter, they won't let people carry leave back and unpaid leave is unheard of. I don't want to tell anybody at work about the ivf so it's hard to know what to do. I can only think of calling in sick although I don't really want to do that either especially just before I go on a weeks annual leave as it looks a bit suspect! I'm just praying it all works out with my cycles and we can go on sat 28th as I am allowed 2 flexi days a month so can use those on 30th and 31st.

That sounds difficult to manage, I feel for you. Although as my Nana would have said "Worry about the things you can change and don't worry about the things you can't" so for now try not to worry about it (which I know is easier said than done!) I will have my fingers crossed for you.

[Makes the ritual sacrifice of cake and heating pads to AF so that she leaves Lucie alone until the day she's wanted]

You still with us makingdoo? Hope you're managing to hang in there without going too far up the wall. I think we all need a visit from *Badger's" Nana - she sounds very wise!

Ha ha thanks warrior you make me chuckle Badgers nana sounds very wise indeed! I will try not to worry for now and just see what happens with AF in a couple of weeks. I'm going to think positive and book the time off with work though as if I'm going ahead.

I have my doctors appt tonight to get the rest of the blood tests I need. When I went for private tests last August they told me all that was needed was the amh test and based on what I had told them about my cycles everything else sounded fine. However the clinic I'm hoping to start my ivf with want the full range so going to ask for fsh, lh, estradiol, thyroid and prolactin. I'm pleased really as it's always been in the back of my mind that I should have got them done anyway to check for any other problems.

I'm hoping that she will refer me onto the nhs waiting list for ivf as well. The wait in my area is around 16 months but I thought it would be a good back up plan incase anything goes drastically wrong with our private attempts and we can then fall back on that next year.

Hi makingdoo - thanks for thinking of me. Reading that stupid thread was a mistake, it was incredibly upsetting but with a bit of distance I've come to terms with the fact that everyone has had different experiences. If people are ignorant about infertility, well that's a good thing because it means they are one less person that has experienced it.

Really sorry to read you don't think it has worked. I will keep my fingers crossed that it has

Hi warrior - it's not Galinda, it's Ga-Linda, with a Ga

Hello to everyone else and I hope things are going well in everyone's respective cycles and everyone is feeling positive. Being on the pill is messing my skin up horribly and I look shit but I really don't care! I feel like it's all for a bigger cause. Or at least I hope so.

Hi all,

How is everyone doing?

I had last scan today and am locked in for egg collection on Saturday, maybe having it on Valentine's day is a sign. Had to take my oragutron earlier as blood test must have showed up something. About to take my gonal and Menopur. Tomorrow morning oraglutron. Tomorrow evening gonal and Menopur and at exactly 9.30pm pregnyl. Start doxy tomorrow. Friday asides from doxy I'm free of meds. And egg collection is 9pm on Saturday morning. Am hoping for four eggs that all fertilise. Eeek, it's really happening.

Ga-Linda you're a martyr!

Great to hear everything is on target Mrswishywashy! Hope it all goes smoothly.

Hope everyone else is hanging in there - am struggling to keep up! MakingDo I hope you are ok. Perfectly natural to be going slightly crazy and upset with so much riding on this. Be kind to yourself.

Fact of the day: doxycycline makes me sick if taken on an empty stomach. Had to eat something and try again but so far it's stayed down. Phew.

Sorry to hear you've been ill MrsWW - hope you are feeling better now. Exciting that EC is not far away!! Enjoy your day off the meds tomorrow.

Next Thursday seems a long time to wait for the next scan, I feel like I've been on Buserelin for years... It's only been 2.5 weeks!

Wow happy St Valentine's Day Mrs wishy washy! Hope you get some extra special embryo-shaped presents this year.

Yay for MrsWW's EC! Fingers crossed for lots of valentine's day hookups in your petri dish!

Big hugs to everyone in the limbo stages of waiting for pregnancy tests, scans and everything. Truly, I had not anticipated just how hard the waiting can be! It feels nice being on hiatus, not waiting for find anything out, just waiting for AF.

I saw in the Metro that Sophie B Hawkins is pregnant with a 20 year old frostie at 51! This fills me with optimism that, at the (according to my consultant) "advanced" age of 40 I might be in with a pretty good shot . Hooray for Sophie B. Hawkins: Damn, I Wish I Had Your Doctor...

Agreed about the waiting thing, warrior. This two week wait business is immensely tedious...

Egg collection done and dusted. We arrived an hour earlier than we needed to but took away stress of worrying about lateness. Everyone was so nice and I was so nervous but procedure went well. I've four eggs meeting sperm so am hoping they've had a wee party now and are dividing nicely. Now the nerves start to build for call tomorrow to say how many have made it. Then see if transfer is Monday or Wednesday. Then hopeful 2WW. All so nerve wracking. When will the nerves ever pass. Feel like there are so many stages.

Happy Valentines. Hope you're all having a nice day.

Well done on your egg collection, mrsww; glad it went well. Fingers crossed for the egg/sperm party!

Well done mrsww keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Perfect day for an egg/sperm party! Well done MrsWW! Hope you aren't too sore.

Update: three out of the four have fertilised! So much better than I had hoped for. Next step is Tuesday and call between 8-9am to see if we have transfer that day or push towards Thursday. Each step the nerves build and then when the step passes there is a moments peace before the nerves start to build again. Badgerface, I haven't been too sore it is one of the bonuses of not growing a huge amount of eggs.

How is everyone doing?

Woohoo! Great news MrsWW. Enjoy the moment of peace/relief!

Hugs and box sets for Persipan and makingdoo.

How's everyone else doing?

Wow, that's a great fertilisation rate MrsWW!