Anyone starting IVF soon? Join me (3)

[purplemeggie]

Ha! I was just about to post the last message in the old thread linking to this, but I'm too late, we've already filled it up! I'll do the same as last time and send PMs to everyone who's been on the thread recently, but everyone's welcome

Hello Aussie - come in and take a pew. We're available to listen, support, hug, do a bit of ranting/whingeing ourselves. I credit this thread (and it's predecessors) for keeping me sane throughout the IVF rollercoaster ride - there's always someone who's researched it or had a similar experience and it's a lovely group of ladies.

Karou - the bank holiday shouldn't affect it, should it? I think the IVF clinics carry on with anything that's time-specific. They close over Christmas, but that's a bit different - they just don't start any cycles that would land then.

I'm counting down to an expected transfer next week, but keeping busy and distracting myself with other things - doing lots of work on the house/garden and hoping to do some more writing. A group of authors and agents just ran an auction to raise some money for the disaster fund for Nepal and I won an auction for a mentoring session with a children's agent, so hopefully I'll get some pointers for my stories. Exciting and terrifying, but great for taking my mind off the real issue!

morning ladies,

Shellster - yep parents live in melbourne but ive been setted in london for almost 10 years now. do go back here and there as its a nice break... but blooody long flight! lol! which part of aussie you from?

ive done my monitoring cycle with ARGC - a liitle but of a hoo ha regarding my progestin (think thats how you spell it) was too high on my second day (like double or trible what it should be). but they said the blood test needs to be on my day 2 of cycle - full bleed. but they have said that on a normal cycle they will not start me on IVF if my progestin levels are found to be too high... and im like they might be as my full bleed is on day 4 and then was told lets see. grrrrr. and i was like my full bleed do not start until day 4 of cycle!?! anyhow they did a mid cycle scan which was good and showed im ovulating.

ive been trying to conceive for somewhat 4 years now. last year was referred to NHS and was in process of ICSI but only got as far as egg collection. i only had 1 good embryo they could transfer back but even that had to be frozen as my hormone levels were too high. at that point i decided to go private. i hope ive made the right choice :)

ive finished taking 1st course of humeria and got my blood test on 26 May. the results come a week later and that will determine if i can start my cycle (in june), or take another course of humeria which will delay things.

Purple - ive spent a long time on this site always reading other peoples post (i know i sound sad) but never actually got the courage to sign up and write anything myself. i have a very big family and loads of friends as im quite chatty and love socialising but for some reason i find it very very hard to open up and talk about this issue with anyone. so i decided to take a step in the right direction and come on here instead.

xxx

Hi everyone, I am 34, on cycle 18 of ttc #1 and have been on the conception pages for a year, figured it was time to venture over here as we are due to start our first IVF cycle next month- AF is due on 31 May. Would love to join you (waves to Lucie!)

All test results have come back ok including further blood tests to rule out any issues related to Raynauds which affects circulation so guess we are unexplained. My scan showed that I have PCO (but not the syndrome as my cycles are very regular and I have no symptoms other than lots of follicules) which can be an indication of high insulin levels so I have been avoiding sugar for the last few months - I didn't really consider myself to have a sweet tooth but now that I have been told to avoid sugar I can't stop thinking about chocolate, sweets and cake!

We are currently mulling over mild vs full blown IVF, or somewhere in between. We're obviously really hopeful that it will work first time but it would be great to have an embryo or two to freeze in case it doesn't.

I have told my boss that we are having IVF next month and we have our nurses appointment booked in for next Monday so it is all starting to feel very real!

Hi all - sorry for the delayed response. I was at Buckingham Palace yesterday! We were invited to the Queen's garden party - it was fab. A very nice way to take my mind of IVF disappointment and misery. Purple well done on winning the mentoring session, that sounds great. It's nice to have something to do that is completely unrelated to infertility, right?!

Shellster, feel free to join me on the PMA train. Negative thinking is a waste of energy and enzymes. I have decided to think positive about this next cycle, which will be our absolute very last with my own eggs. Purple it's nice of you to ask if this is really what I want to do. I've thought about it carefully and i think I'll regret it if I don't try again. I spoke with another doctor yesterday and he also recommended trying again (based on our previous results). I don't want to look back and think 'what if', so we're going to go for it. Yikes.

Lucie I know it's tempting to look for answers. The truth is, there really are no clear answers when it comes to IVF. We're all looking for a 'reason' for failure but quite often the reason is sheer bad luck and/or age. It's good that your doctor gave you a 'stats wake-up call' (as my DH calls it). I think we all need to be reminded of the stats every now and again - it's easy to forget about the reality when we're pumping ourselves full of vitamins, drugs and PMA. Hopefully the next cycle will be your lucky one, it sounds like you're doing absolutely everything you can to make it work.

Karou - exciting times! Not long to go before you are fully immersed in the madness. It's good once the scans start, it feels like progress. Before that it's just lots of waiting, waiting, waiting (and injections).

Welcome Aussie and Trixie, I'm sure you'll find this forum useful. Lots of good info on here if you scroll backwards and check out the earlier threads.

AF has arrived so wondering what to do...wait like dh suggests or just go for it this month

Hey trixie, I'm so glad you have come over to this thread. I have been trying to look for you and keep up with where you are on the buses but it's quite difficult on there as so many people. All the ladies here are lovely and very helpful. Wow can't believe you have your first appt on Monday, you will be starting before you know it.

Blue and Shell, thank you, yes I am searching for answers and just want to try everything that I can but I worry because ultimately I know there is very little that I can do to change the outcome. I don't want to bring the thread down but I am struggling at the moment. I'm finding it very difficult to continue as normal in work and just feel down all the time. I really don't know how to snap out of it or even how to think positively for the next try in July. I just can't shake the feeling that it hasn't worked this time so what is going to be different next time. DH cried last night because he said he can tell that I'm really not happy. I try my best but everything is just really getting me down. How do I cope with this? Feel like I'm going to go mad!!

Hi trixie and aussie, welcome! You both sound like you're well versed in ttc. Good luck in your next cycles, hopefully the embryo fairy will be kind to you.

So sorry you're having a rough time lucie, I can't imagine how hard it must be to break through the funk and consider putting yourself through it again. Do you have anything non-fertility related that you can throw yourself into for a while?

As for me, well I did my first injection today and was surprised at how easy it was. I've also just started giving one of the pets a pill each night, so feel like queen of the drugs; 4 pills for me (3 metformin and one folic acid), plus two sniffs and a stab, then two lots of supplementary meals for the poorly pet, one with crushed pills in.

Hope you don't get the pills mixed up Karou

Ooooh, get you, Blue - rubbing shoulders with royalty How exciting! You must have done something amazing to receive an invitation like that. Great to see you back to your PMA self and I'm glad that another attempt with your own eggs is what you want, as well as everyone else!

Aussie - IVF's one of those weird things. Normally, in RL, I'm really really open about what's going on in my life, but there are people - people really close to me - who have no idea that we're doing IVF. And on the other hand, there are some surprising people who know. For me, it's about trusting people not to ask too many questions/wanting updates (rules out my mother knowing) saying crass things based on their ability to pop out babies every few minutes (rules out my SIL) or expressing astonishment that I have not yet given up on this crazy dream and accepted my lot (rules out my brother). I did choose to tell my dsis (who has been amazing, including dropping everything to look after ds while we've skipped over to CZ for treatment) and my father, (needed to quell his well-meaning attempts to set up an overseas adoption for us!) Most of our friends do know, though. But here, you are free to say anything about it and everyone just gets it...it's so liberating.

Hello Trixie and welcome. It's good that you have a supportive boss - I told mine at the outset and I found it made life much easier.

Waiting - what are your thoughts now? Do you feel you've recovered enough from the ordeal of the first round to get on with it, or do you feel like you need a breather? It's such a difficult balance isn't it, between letting your body have time to recover and feeling the pressure to keep moving ahead.

Karou - chuckling at the thought of your veritable pharmacy counter! Don't stab the poorly pet!

I'm knackered at the moment: DH is working on a project that involves some odd hours, meaning that for the next few months he'll get back after midnight most nights. I'm finding myself staying up til he gets home, because otherwise I don't really see him during the week. This is all very well, but I have to get up for work at about 6 and I keep reminding myself that I need to be in good shape for my trip to Prague next week, which in itself is likely to be really tiring. At least we've got the long weekend...

Wow blue, Buckingham Palace - was there some sort of rub for luck statue so that Kate's super fertility could rub off on you. And purple, show a children's agent your stories - exciting and scary. And both a welcome distraction!

I am in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne aussie. So what exactly happened with your NHS IVF? Did you produce lots of eggs but only one good quality embryo, or was there only a few eggs to begin with? And I assume you have that transferred in another cycle? You definitely don't sound sad for finding this difficult to talk about. This is the perfect place to start. People who understand and none of those well frustrating unhelpful comments from well meaning people.

I started out on those conception threads trixie, but they move so fast and comments often get overlooked. This is just a lovely bunch of us where you get the support you need and everyone understands IVF. I too have my nurses appt Monday and I am waiting to start IVF next week. Unlike you, I have very few follicles so I hope I don't feel discouraged when you post your scan results and I compare them to my measly 4-5 follicles.

Okay, better get off my bottom and do something IVF productive. Putting on the yoga video...

Ha! I think I'd be too terrified to stab him; he's a ferret and so is fairly tiny compared to the needle, unlike my chubby tummy!

The next challenge for my pharmacy counter comes Saturday night. I'm out with some friends and will be with them over stabbing time and sniffing time. How long can a Gonal F pen be out of the fridge? I've got a cool bag and some little ice packs, but wasn't sure whether that was overkill, or whether it's the right thing to do. Ideas?

Next weekend, if I'm not in a world of discomfort, I should be camping overnight, so this Saturday is sort of a test run for then. (Can call it off last minute if needed, in case stimms turns out to be no fun at all!)

Trixie and Purple - I'm more than a little bit jealous of your being able to tell your bosses. Mine's not really into the whole baby thing and she's always seemed fairly traditional in her views, so on that basis alone I don't feel like I want to tell her anything. Sick pets she totally gets and is very sympathetic about, but I'm not sure she would be as understanding about this.

Karou once you start the gonalf pen you can leave it out of the fridge - there should be instructions about this in the leaflet in the box. I have to say you are very brave doing an injection out on the hoof!

Cool pet....I've always had a soft spot for ferrets since I saw one on tv that could open the fridge and steal sausages.

You don't need to keep the Gonal F pen in the fridge after you start using it...it's only beforehand, for some reason. I was specifically told to leave mine out of the fridge when I was using it, so you'll be fine. If you're like me, you'll be fine camping...the worst symptoms I had with the stims were slightly tender ovaries, but not much worse than ovulation pain. I know others on here have had worse experiences though.

I had my third 1-1 yoga session today - it's a big indulgence, but since I'm not doing acupuncture anymore I feel I can justify it. She's doing lots of postures to help with fertility, but also specifically working on my back and hips, which I've had problems with and I'm feeling on top of the world - brilliantly calming as well as physically great. Can't hurt, can it?

And in IVF-land, I'm having my lining scan tomorrow....

Thank you for the warm welcome ladies.

I've read back on this thread and most of the previous one now. My journey so far seems like a walk in the park compared to what some of you have been through.

Blue I am in London too, my invite to the garden party must have got lost in the post. Sounds very exciting! My Dad has two ferets they are brilliant pets. I have a gorgeous cat who is my substitute baby (she is sooo spoilt)

Interesting reading about the aspirin Shellster the Consultant at my clinic recommended that I start taking junior aspirin one a day for my circulation, have done for 2 months now. My fingers and feet are no longer ice blocks so it has obviously done something. Also interesting re the 25%+ protein and no more than 40% carbs, I have been upping my protein and hopefully am sticking to this rule. If only I could share some of my follicules. Crap that some of us have too many and some too few, I am slightly concerned re OHSS. Quality over quantity though

Lucie it will be much easier to keep up with each other on here. I posted a message for you on the May bus saying how sorry I was to hear your news but in hindsight should have saved it for here. So sorry to hear that you are struggling. Could you plan a fun day out with DH at the weekend, do you have a favourite restaurant you could visit for a blow out? Think positive for July, there is every chance that it will work!

That's good to hear Purple I am definitely lucky with my boss, am hoping he will go easy on me in June. I find my job quite stressful which I don't think has helped. I'm not the most easy going person. I've been having monthly reflexology which has been brilliant for keeping me calm. My husband has been working late a lot this week too and he is away this weekend- ov time!! I have also been trying to get plenty of sleep but waiting up tonight and planning to try the old fashioned way for the last time just in case.

lucie, the first IVF failure is tough. Finally you're trying something new and you expect it to be the answer and it's a real blow when it's not. I have found that once the new IVF draws nearer, your mind starts focusing on that one rather than dwelling on the past failure. You are not bringing the thread down. Please rant and rave away. That's what we're here for. It helps to let it off your chest so please share. It also helps the rest of us feel not so alone when we go through it.

Karou, I haven't used Gonal but I've used Puregon which is also pure FSH and my instructions say the same as purple says - out of the fridge once you start using it.

purple, I'll be keeping a keen eye on you. Too scared to even think about my IVF knowing it's my last, so I'll delve into yours instead. You've never had lining issues before though, so hopefully all will be well.

Hope the lining scan goes well for you today Purple

Yoga and reflexology both sound great for keeping calm! I've been watching rubbish on Netflix - not quite in the same league!

Thanks all for the advice on the Gonal F - have re-read the fine print and it could be clearer; on one line it says keep between 2 and 8degrees, then it says under 25. Not having to faff about with ice packs will make things a lot easier!

Karou - I've done my Gonal F injections all over the place, including the gym, a nightclub, restaurant toilets and a wedding reception :) I usually stash it in a little tupperware box so it doesn't get squashed. If you don't have room for a tupperware box then wrap it in loads of kitchen roll. I was paranoid about the pen getting broken - think of all the £££ they cost! Anyway it's fine taking it out with you, it definitely doesn't need to be in the fridge.

Good luck today Purple! I'm sure you'll be fine. Your lining is usually very obedient.

I'm glad everyone is getting into yoga. I've been a fan for years. My grandad is visiting this weekend - he's 86 and was the person who got me into yoga back when I was a grumpy teenager. He's fantastically fit and his daily yoga routine has definitely helped. He doesn't do headstands anymore but he's still got the best downward dog I've ever seen!

Geepers blue, doing the downward dog at 86. That's saying something about yoga keeping you in shape. So he got you into it, and you've got us into it. He doesn't realise how far he's spread the yogi practice! Must do yoga today after downing a big bag of chips last night. So annoyed with myself this morning. I know my EC is 3 weeks away, I know that a high protein low carb diet increases IVF success, so why did I do it?!?! Grr. So annoyed with myself. I am a night time and emotional eater and I think with IVF so close and knowing it's my last, I found the chips. But no more. Surely for just 3 more weeks I can control myself.

Glad you've found a solution for the Gonal F pen Karou. I think once it's out of the fridge, the lifespan of the medicine shortens, so that's why it's in the fridge up until you start using it. It definitely stings less at room temp - or at least that was true for the Puregon.

I kept my gonal f out of the fridge once I'd started using it too, I did mine at 9 pm each night so the majority of the time I was at home to do it anyway but did take it out once just in the box which seemed quite sturdy.

Hope the lining scan went well purple

Hello to everyone new (I will learn names! Just scanning through tonight as am really busy ahead of a family wedding tomorrow!)

I did not start my fet cycle this month, AF has been very weird. I had horrendous and sudden pmt symptoms, a whole day of 'proper' AF then what I assume was old blood for a few hours and then nothing and tonight it's started again but very pink and watery (sorry if tmi) so it's definitely not right. My stomach is giving me horrendous trouble too and even with the omeprazole and gaviscon I'm in discomfort. Maybe do is right and I should make sure I'm 100% before we go for fet. It's so frustrating as I really want to just get on.

I'm just loving the mental image of a Grandad doing downward dog - how cool he must be! I have completely fallen back in love with yoga....need to remember to keep doing it this time.

My scan was fine this morning - it's day 10 and my lining was 9.2, so it's all go. Transfer's going to be Friday - which has taken me by surprise a bit - I thought it was going to be Saturday and had arranged life accordingly.

That's good news about your lining purple... hopefully you don't have to rearrange any flights though? I guess that's the problem with 'minor' changes when your clinic is in another country...!

Don't beat yourself up about the chips (or crisps as we call them) Shellster. You are so good at sticking to the diet and vitamin regime that I really doubt a slip up here and there will make any difference. I've also decided to try the high protein thing for the next cycle. I downloaded that 'my fitness pal' app (you or someone else on here recommended it) and was amazed to see how, erm, little protein I am eating! Even when I was trying ? I thought I eat quite a lot of fish, nuts and veg but it's not enough. What does everyone have for breakfast? I usually eat at work so need to find something easy. Boring. I hate anything 'diet' related, why can't porridge be high protein!!

I will do yoga with my grandad this morning, usually try and rope DH into it but he's rarely keen. He can barely bend over he's so stiff. Family yoga!!

waiting, sounds like you did the right thing by waiting...

waiting, definitely sounds like you've made the right decision. I am totally like you and just so impatient with all this so I totally get the frustration. Hopefully the next couple of weeks go quick and it won't seem too far.

I have read that between 9-14 is in the optimal range purple so that sounds perfect. Was there some indication to say EC would be Saturday? I presume in a natural cycle you would transfer on ovulation day + 5 days but I don't quite get the medication FET cycle and how you can predict when transfer will be. Just trying to understand (as I am ignorantly hopeful that I will have a frostie as a plan B since this is my last fresh IVF!) I hope it's not too difficult/costly to rearrange things.

I've spent today being very good blue so am feeling better as I move past my slip up. IVF is hard. Because I've had 10 failed IVF's and read every study under the sun, I feel like I am sabotaging my last IVF for eating one pack of chips while others who are able to conceive easily wouldn't give a second thought to it. The high protein diet study says that it increases the number of embryos that make it to blast stage to 50%. I was having poor quality embryos so it was appropriate for me to try, but you're above the 50% embryo to blast stage anyway, so don't beat yourself up if you don't make the percentages. I make a protein shake for breakky - natural pea protein powder, LSA, wheatgerm, super greens, cacao, maca powder, 1/2 banana, almond milk. I'm in a hurry in the mornings and this is easy - blend it up and put it in a milk shake glass that fits in my car console so I can drink on the way to work.

x-post with Waiting last time - definitely sounds like the right decision to postpone, give you time to recover properly.

No, no flights to reschedule - they always say not to book anything until you've had the lining scan, because it could change. Might mean the flights are a little more expensive, but not as much as having to change things. And my return flight was really cheap because I'm coming back on the Friday before the bank holiday now and I think most people are going in the opposite direction.

It's day 18 for me, Shellster. It would normally be ovulation +5 for a blastocyst transfer, but I had a little bit of spotting last time, so they decided to go a day earlier. It's not a completely medicated FET this time either - I'm on oestrodial to thicken my lining, but I didn't down-reg this time, so there were some follicles in my ovaries when I had the scan yesterday. Only four there though, so it definitely feels like the right decision to use donor eggs.

You could make your porridge higher protein, Blue, by adding nuts and chia seeds and things? One of my quick high-protein breakfasts is three beaten eggs, a couple of spoons of yoghurt and a splash of milk. Depending on the flavour of the yoghurt, I might add a teaspoon of cacao. Otherwise, I have poached eggs and mushrooms in the work canteen or poached eggs, salmon and spinach at home. I had toast and marmalade for the first time in forever this morning: it was way too sweet and I didn't enjoy it at all!

Okay purple, so it is like a transfer in a natural cycle, but with estrogen to make sure the lining is nice and thick. I think with all the waiting you are doing, I would be going mad, monitoring my ovulation and panicking if the transfer wasn't exactly 5 days later. I am amazed at how calm you are... or at least appear on here!

Not long to go purple... exciting stuff! It's interesting that you didn't downreg. I don't really understand the point of downregging for a frozen cycle, does it confuse the body of you ovulate and transfer an embryo at the same time? I wouldn't have thought so. Anyway must be reassuring to know that you only had 4 follicles anyway. I'm just praying that I can somehow maintain the amazing 10 that I had in my last cycle (well 10 is amazing for me anyway!).

Thanks for the breakfast tips. I have to say that your shake doesn't exactly sound delicious Shellster but it does sound VERY healthy. And I don't know about raw eggs and yoghurt purple either!! Haha, look at the crazy lengths we go to. Anyway I will give it a try, looks like I will have to befriend eggs again and spend a bit of time in the health food shop. I quite like the idea of pimping my porridge.