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

Sorry posted too soon... I'm worried about being allergic and the needle looks huge I actually just want to give up

You'll be fine, Waiting - I had cetrotide in one of my cycles and I had to look up to see how it was administered because I couldn't even remember it being an injection...I DO remember other injections because they were painful (hated the gonal f pen, hate hate hated the heparin injections I had after transfer), so from this I conclude that the cetrotide must have been absolutely fine x

I did both myself,I was terrified! The gonal f was fine but the cetrotide hurt a lot!

I feel so silly for getting upset

so much happening on the thread today. The irony of waiting's and my imbalance of gonal f has not passed me by. Fortunately my £300 gonal f pen was still in ASDA's fridge when I got through to them this morning, and although I didn't appreciate the 60 mile round trip to pick it up, I am one grateful owner of a new pen.

Welcome bedouin and good luck with your cycle, when you have confirmed the embryo fairy's number please share it with us!

purple blue shellster does MN buy you each a carriage clock for long service?

waiting hope you can stay calm and face the needle. I thought of you on my drive today - my ovaries were jiggling with every bump too, although thankfully I have no pain. My ovaries feel enormous! I can't wear anything with a waistband to work at the moment, no room!

I have another appointment with dildocam tomorrow morning. The nurse told me yesterday that they usually aim for 5 day blasts, thank you everyone for all the info and advice about embryos, blasts, MET etc.

Well done waiting! I don't think you're silly at all. I can't stand needles. Not looking forward to my trigger (ovitrelle) as the nurse said it would sting a lot, but it's gottabedone

Waiting, not silly at all - fear actually increases pain - I know that there's no point in saying "don't worry and it won't hurt so much" because that's a bit like saying "don't breathe for a bit, you'll be fine", but maybe if you can distract yourself a bit? Have you tried ice? Lots of people find it helps. Or - don't know if you saw where I was talking about this the other day - I used to pinch my inch quite hard, so I was focusing on the discomfort of that and noticed the needle less.

Cat - just made me laugh a lot with "dildocam" - thank you for that one . Haven't received my carriage clock yet. Perhaps I should complain?

Thanks everyone all packed and ready to go

Waiting I have been on cetrotide the last few days. I was a little nervous At first as it looks a lot of fluid but it was completely fine and I didn't feel a thing. Even though it's more liquid than the Menopur or Gonal f I found it better as sometimes the Menopur stings a little while going in. Cetrotide is a bit itchy afterwards but you will be fine.

Felt guilty reading your 'well done' to me and my disciplined diet. After being so good, I caved last night to lots of dip and biscuits, followed by chocolate. Hubby is such a bad influence. He brought home all this stuff and sat on the couch at night eating so it's in my face. He ate half a block of cheese, chocolate and then dessert! And this is his regular nightly routine, after a day of junk food at work. No wonder his sperm is bad. Trying to have a happy loving relationship as I think that's what's needed for IVF, but its so hard when I watch him eat crap and sabotage my dream. Ho hum.

lucie, I'm glad you're going ahead. Everybody who is in the stim phase of their first IVF always wants more eggs. After you've been through the ropes a couple of times, and if you are told of poor quality embryos followed by a BFN, then you start to research what you can do to improve them, and it becomes all about quality over quantity. I hope your one or two quality ones are in this batch and as I said, that study showed the first to mature are the ones that are most genetically viable anyway, so even if the 9 & 10mm aren't mature and you get 5 instead of 8, the 1-2 that make it to blast would most likely have come from these first to mature eggs anyway. But I really think you'll be pleasantly surprised with more than 5 mature eggs. Keep us posted!

Safe journey Lucie. When are you off?

Shellster focus on the cheese. High protein here we come :-) (and treats over in a while do you no harm at all. You are allowed to let yourself be happy x)

Thanks purple. For the most part I am focused on the cheese. It's the occasional times when I feel a bit deflated about this situation that a moment of weakness sets in. Your advice is right. If I heard someone else being so disciplined and having 3 bad days in 3 weeks of otherwise eating perfect and exercising, I would think they need to not be so hard on themselves and enjoy a nice little treat once in a while. But we are so much harsher on ourselves.

waiting, how did your cetrotide go? I hope all the anticipation was an anti climax and you can relax about future injections.

It was ok, I'm surprised I managed it as I really hate needles (fainted at every blood test and injection as a child!) it didn't hurt like I expected but was sore afterwards and feels bruised today.

I have another scan and blood test tomorrow I'm interested to see what the e2 result was-does anyone know what range it should be in ? The dr said mine was very high that's why I had to start the cetrotide straight away despite the biggest follicle only being 10mm. I'm really confused by the whole process now I was told mild ivf would be 5-9 days of injections but I'm on day 8 and nowhere near ec as they are seeing me tomorrow and then again on Monday.

The taxi dash to the clinic last night really stressed name, had toget there in rush hour traffic before 730 pm and got there at 728!

Me not name !

Thanks shell I'm glad I'm going ahead now too. I really hope that I am pleasantly surprised on collection. I have felt a little disappointed at each stage so far so it would be nice for it to go good at this stage. Hope your healthy eating goes well but don't be too hard on yourself. Think you need a little treat now and again.

I am in Stansted airport now purple waiting for our flight. Trigger tonight and collection on Sunday eekk!

Hope the weather's good for you, Lucie - Prague is really beautiful, so try to take some time to enjoy it if you can .

Well done Waiting - you'll be fine with needles after all this lot. (Depressing fact: in a maudlin moment at the end of last year, I totted up all the injections I'd administered in 3 cycles of IVF and it totalled over 100! Goodness knows how many Shellster's done...no more injections for me though - not needed for the donor cycle)

Shellster - I didn't answer your question the other day about doing an unmedicated cycle. I don't think I'd want to risk it. You're right, I have been pregnant before, but not for four years and my only successful pregnancy was eight years ago. I've lost faith in my body doing what it needs to do - in terms of fertility at least - and I'm quite happy to follow the clinic's protocol. I think in my head I've got to the assumption that this isn't going to work, so that if it does it will be a bonus now. And I'm okay with that...it sounds very resigned and miserable put down on paper, but I'm doing a lot of work on counting my blessings at the moment and it turns out that there are quite a few of them. x

purple you are so brave and serene.

lucie best of luck and Prague is beautiful so hopefully you will get to relax a little too.

I had my day10 scan this morning and I have 7 follicles 14mm and over (biggest is 25 so hope that doesn't go pop or something over the weekend). There is one other 9mm that looks like it might make it by Monday and there are 3 who seem to have given up the chase and are shrinking.

DH got back from abroad this morning so this evening it's a relief to have someone to talk to. Sadly his Nan died this afternoon (at the grand old age of 93, well done Nan) so it's a bit sad here this evening, they were very close.

We are all set for trigger tomorrow night and EC 10.15am Monday. I had a different nurse this morning and she was really nice. She explained loads of things to me that no-one else has bothered to. The clinic will aim for blasts if we have at least 3 good embryos on day 3. If we are lucky enough to get a high quality blast then they prefer to only transfer 1, but I am older than their 38 threshold so if quality is lower they may transfer 2.

My lining is 12.2mm (I think I made a mistake on Monday) which she said was good, and I also have the "triple line" which I had never heard of. Looks like the duvet and pillows are all ready for the lucky embryo(s).

It all seems very serious and exciting now all at the same time. Not looking forward to the Ovitrelle tomorrow though thankfully it's another pen. Also they haven't given me voltarol because I'm asthmatic, so I really hope they remember to give me some pain relief .

Can't believe I get a drug-free day on Sunday, sounds like a treat!

That all sounds very positive blackandwhite

I have not been feeling very positive today, i keep thinking that my cycle will get cancelled due to very high oestrogen levels or that my lining won't be thick enough. My period only stopped yesterday so I can't see it being anywhere near thick enough as my periods are very heavy I don't even remember hearing the drs doing a measurement yesterday of the lining but I'm going to ask them tomorrow.

I really feel all doom and gloom today. I don't know if its my way of protecting myself by going through all the reasons it won't work now, before it happens so that I've already dealt with it but I think that's what my mind is doing. I'm so wrapped up in worries primarily about developing ohss or my lining being too thin and I'm driving myself crazy. Had a good cry today. On a positive note my injections were fine tonight, did them at 9pm and it took about a minute and didn't hurt a bit so that was a pleasant surprise.
Trains are not running tomorrow so I've booked a taxi as a treat rather than getting rail replacement buses etc and I'm planning on using that time to just have some peace and quiet, hopefully get there early and find somewhere to have tea and cake before my appt.

Hi all, I've been hiding for a while! I hope everyone is doing well and feeling positive. I'm still waiting for the decision for funding (should hear in the next few weeks). From all the recent posts IVF sounds like a very bumpy road. I'm very nervous about it all.

Good luck for your collection tomorrow, lucie and to blackandwhite for Monday.

My drug shipment arrived yesterday - after reading about blackandwhite's missing pen, I've run full inventory twice; checking things against the prescription that came with my schedule. It seems to be all there, but I guess that's only as long as everything goes to plan.

With the schedule came instructions to get to my GP's for yet another blood test. I just had one 2 months ago, but they want fresh results for HIV, Hepatitis B & C. It says it's a HFEA requirement, so I think it's part of the egg donation. I have to have a hard copy of the results by my Down Reg scan, so only have about 3 weeks to get it sorted. My GP's pretty good so I should be able to get a phone appointment on Monday morning and he'll authorise the bloods which I can pop to the local(ish) hospital to do one morning before work. I'm fine with needles, it's just all the time-sensitive rushing around to appointments that isn't so fun - I have no intention of telling work anything unless I get lucky, and so it's all a stream of vague 'doctor's appointments' and 'hospital blood tests' which makes me feel uncomfortable. Goodness knows what they'll think is wrong with me!

Impatient- might they just not coast you (depending on if eggs are already big enough to do this) last cycle i didnt inject any more gonal f on the day of the trigger. And was having daily bloods and scans.
It wasnt ideal as they kept only letting the lead follicle get to 20mm or 18, so reducing the number of mature follicles.

My appointment today was pretty much as I expected-the dr is now saying its "inevitable" that I will over respond and they want to see me daily from Monday to do a scan and various bloods each day. He said there were so many follicles he measured and plotted on a graph all over 6mm (approx 12 on each ovary) and then said there are 12-15 less than 6mm on each ovary as well. The biggest follicle is still only 12mm so not big enough to coast yet if that's what they decide to do.

My lining was 12.3mm and triple lined

They spoke about using buserilin rather than ovitrelle as a trigger and said they will decide nearer the time if I will do a fresh transfer or freeze all. He was very insistent that I have to prepare myself for intense monitoring and that its for my own safety as I have so many follicles and a high e2 level. He has kept my gonal f dose the same at 112.5 iu and cetrotide each day.

I'm feeling really down and anxious about what's going to happen over the next few days. I've been reading about the buserilin trigger and it seems to be associated with reduced implantation rates and higher miscarriage rate

Hoping it works out for you, waiting, good that they will be keeping a close eye on you.

I just did my trigger, I was bricking it, partly because the nurse actually admitted that it would sting (and in my experience they tend to tell you stuff won't hurt when it will) and cos of what you read of other people' triggers... but it was ok, so relieved.

Had a cuddle this evening with a friend's 3-week-old, hoping that's got the hormones racing and that it's caught the embryo fairy's attention, so she stops off next week on her way round . So cute and I even managed not to be jealous.

Purple, glad you feel confident in your decision. It means you're not stressed going back and forth in your mind about what to do and you can feel like you gave it 100% rather than looking back wondering what if you took option B. But with a young egg that's made it all the way to blast, it just seems logical that it should implant and you don't have to worry about any what ifs.

Speaking of what ifs, waiting you really sound like you are getting yourself worked up about all the what ifs that could take place. I know it's so easy to say, but the Dr's are keeping a close eye on you and your stress is only doing you harm. Would perhaps a nice long walk in nature do you some good? It helps me.

Naty, lovely to hear from you. How is your pregnancy going? I know you were always annoyed with your clinic for triggering when the 'first to mature' follicles were ready, rather than allowing the smaller ones to keep growing. But as I've read, the first to mature follicles are the ones your body is naturally selecting and studies have shown are most likely to contain the genetically normal eggs. My Dr allowed two bigger ones to over mature one cycle so three smaller ones could catch up and the eggs from my two bigger follicles just broke apart which I was later told is what happens with over ripe eggs. And further evidence that the first to mature follicles are best is that you are now pregnant! Hope all is going well. Just wanted to mention that for any on here who might be reading that and worried if their clinics are also triggering without allowing smaller follicles to grow.

Hello all... I'm still here, I've had food poisoning since Thursday which has been horrendous! Woke up this morning feeling a bit more human so hopefully I'm on the mend. I ate oysters on Weds night so I think one of those may have been the culprit . I'm usually on here moaning about some ivf related ailment so makes a change to be blaming oysters instead of progesterone!

I'm so used to short protocols that this downregging seems to be taking foooorrrreeevveeerrr. I have another scan next week and then I think I'll have the FET on the 5th or 6th May. Shellster, as you mentioned, it does seem strange that I'm doing all this stuff just to have a frozen embryo transferred. A 'natural' cycle would make more sense although I guess there's a reason for the artificial estrogen and progesterone prep. Anyway, hopefully it will be worth it. I can't help but feel annoyed about those 10 wasted follicles down there this cycle! Hopefully they will still be there next month if I need them

I've just had egg collection!! Brilliant experience. Everyone here is so nice. I went into the theatre and they knocked me out. Woke up about 20 minutes later and asked her if it would be done soon and she said we have finished!! Been waiting in my nice little room and the doc has just been around to say we have 7 eggs collected. Is this a decent number?? I'm quite chuffed with it. After all the fuss in the UK I was only expecting about 4. Just hope that the majority are mature and fertilise ok! Phew.

Sorry will catch up with other posts when we are back in apartment later. Hope everyone is ok.

bluemoonday food poisoning sounds yuck! glad you are starting to feel better now. I expect it was the oysters I've heard that shellfish often causes problems (I'm allergic to seafood so avoid it but if dh has it I always worry that day plus he then can't come anywhere near me in case I have a reaction!)

shellster yes I gave really got myself worked up and I'm in a state with the stress. I've pretty much convinced myself this cycle is a write off that ill either have the cycle cancelled or a freeze all or that if I get to transfer the possible buserilin trigger will lower my chances dramatically. I actually feel like I'm getting a bit depressed. The last couple of nights I've had weird dreams too.last night I dreamt I got to transfer but the doctor transferred two embryos instead of doing a single transfer and I was worrying, it was a really vivid dream I think it has something to do with the fact two pink balloons landed in our garden last week and I stupidly took it as some sort of 'sign' you see, I really am going a bit mad.

Have a bit of a headache today but was stressed last night as when I did my cetrotide the needle wouldn't go in for some reason so I had to push it quite hard and I got a bit shaky. Going to try today to get myself out of this mood as being so negative won't help at all