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

Thanks for all the good luck ladies, unfortunately it was a BFN for me. Gutted as the whole cycle went so well (apart from the OHSS!) but for some reason it just hasn't taken. The clinic were lovely and we are going to plan a frozen cycle after a few months off.

Sorry to hear that, Trixie, but glad you have back-up in the freezer x

So sorry to hear your news Trixie, feel absolutely gutted for you. Look after yourselves while you take a break for a few months x

Oh Trixie. I really hope that perhaps the OHSS has caused your hormones to be out of whack and won't be an issue in an FET cycle. In one way, I feel happy for you that at least you have a plan B to fall back on, but people always say to me 'at least you have one' when my IVF's fail and it just makes me want to punch them! So I know in the same way that your plan B does not take away from the crushing blow this negative brings.

purple, I have no desire to POAS this cycle. I briefly conceived last cycle, then POAS and was surprised it was -ive, then got heaviest period of my life/early m/c. So somehow now my mind associates POAS with bad outcome even though the stick had nothing to do with it! Other than that, I am just waiting for Monday to roll on. That is 9 days after EC which is when I got an un-mistakable pregnancy feeling after last transfer, so it had better happen Monday or that will be the day I fall to pieces!

Found this article and found the abstract at the top of the page very interesting. They tested estrogen and progesterone levels during luteal phases of IVF/ICSI cycles to see they different significantly in conception and non conception cycles and their ability to predict pregnancy at earliest point in time. They found they could predict pregnancy at just 7 days after ET based on
Pregnant = E2 of 3326 +/- 804 and P of 244 +/- 68
Not pregnant = E2 of 1072 +/-233 and P of 73 +/- 10.
So perhaps I'll get tempted to do this blood test at 7 days past ET (Tue) or maybe I'll be too scared to know seeing as I have no plan B if this fails.

Shell that's a really interesting article! really hope you get some symptoms on Monday to keep your mind at rest.

Well, had my second scan this morning (day 10 on stims) and what a difference 48 hours makes! Seems the increased dose has helped as left ovary has kicked in with 4 follicles visible, largest at 10mm others 8-9mm. Right ovary has 5 follicles, 14mm, 13mm, 12mm x2 and 11mm. Can't believe the dominant has slowed which has allowed the others to catch up! Can't tell you how relieved we both are. Next scan Tues, they expect to trigger with the hope of EC Thursday.

Thank you all for you kind words when I doubted they would grow, you have kept me sane x

Trixie I'm so sorry to hear your news. It's an awful feeling, and as Shellster says even with a plan B it's impossible not to feel disappointed after you've invested so much time, effort and money. Thinking of you.

I also had a scan this morning. I currently have 3 follicles on the left, 4 on the right...definitely an improvement. All are growing pretty well although the left ovary is still lagging behind a bit. He's decided to keep me on stims until Monday, which will be day 14. I haven't been on stims for 13 days before (!)...not sure how I feel about that. I'm worried about ovulating even though I'm on cetrotide, and I'm still on a pretty big dose of Menopur (375, down from 450). Anyway - no point in stressing about it. He's the expert. Got another scan Mon morning with EC most likely happening on Weds.

Looking forward to getting this bit over with. Going out tonight so I'll have to stash my Menopur/needle in my handbag again and inject myself in the toilets - glamorous.

Shellster, try not to get too stressed on Monday. I know it's easy for me to say but I do think every cycle is different (or at least I've felt different every cycle), so if you don't get any 'symptoms' it doesn't mean things haven't worked. Stress isn't good for you!

Non, that is a fantastic scan result to have 9 follicles growing all within a similar range. Will wait for Tuesdays update!

So relieved for you that you feel better about your scan too blue. Hard to know what to make of it since your Dr purposely keeps things vague and I assume again you have no idea about follicle sizes?

Well sane shellster has left the building. All this time I've been counting down til Monday since that is 9 days past EC when I got the definite pregnancy feeling after last transfer. But instead today I've started getting a mild but definite usual pre-period cramping uterus feeling instead. My period always comes on overnight so If I wake up tomorrow and no period then perhaps I'll feel more optimistic that it must have been the embryo burrowing in. But I'm on CD 26 and my cycles are usually 24-27 days long, so with my period due any time now and this pre-period feeling instead of a pregnancy feeling, of course things feel bleak.

Oh...I tried to post a sympathy message with for Trixie yesterday, but it's not here, so I don't know what happened to that. Anyway, just wanted to say that we're all here for you - we know how this feels and it's completely miserable.

Shellster, not surprised that your sanity has taken a hike...hope your foreboding is misplaced and it's simply a wriggly embryo making a meal out of burrowing in. x

Glad things are looking up, Blue.

Well after yesterdays period cramps and my mini break down and tears, I was convinced I would wake up to my period this morning, but no blood yet luckily. I should be more optimistic like you purple and think that this means it must have been the embryo burrowing in instead. But I had this same feeling on and off for days after the last transfer and was convinced it was the embryo burrowing but my period finally showed up. So I'm not falsely getting my hopes up again this cycle. Perhaps the progesterone is just delaying things. I was even considering last night not to take it just to see if my period comes and get this torture over with. Okay, that's my rant for the day. Going to try and go back to sane shellster for a few hours.

It's Monday morning here but you guys are 11 hours behind so I shall check in again before bed and see if you've updated us with your scan results blue.

Shellster DON'T stop taking the progesterone! I know it's tempting to analyse every twinge and cramp but what if the embryo implants and you don't have enough progesterone to support it? It's not worth the risk. You know that.

Yikes the 2ww is horrendous - when is your OTD? I wish there was an option to be knocked out and woken up on the test date to avoid all the anxiety, paranoia and over-analysis.

My final scan went pretty well this morning. I have 4 'good ones' on the right (I heard him mention 18mm and over....great), and 1-2 good ones on the left. I'm doing the trigger shot tonight at 10pm and egg collection will be on Weds morning. Very pleased to be done with the Menopur, I'm bloated and erm, gaseous

Seconding Blue's comment Shellster - of you stop taking the progesterone your period will definitely arrive but it won't necessarily mean that the IVF didn't work - you wouldn't have enough progesterone to sustain a pregnancy this early. Chin up lovely. This is 'just' 2WW self preservation. you're not out yet x

Great news Blue good luck for the next couple of days and beyond x

Just popping in to say shell I am SO happy for you, you are PUPO!!! And remember every single pregnancy is different - one might be crampy and even bleedy while another might have not a single symptom, and a third might be constant vomiting and they can all produce healthy happy babies. Even the same person can have drastically different pregnancies. I know someone with 5 kids (I know. sigh.) and her first 4 pregnancies were apparently a walk in the park but her fifth was absolute hell. There was nothing different about her 5th child that explained why the pregnancy was so different, it just was.

All I am saying is please try not to symptom spot. Put your feet up and try to enjoy PUPO!

I have everything crossed for you!

Thank you all so much for your kind words and support. I knew logically that I needed to keep up the progesterone despite my hour of insanity the other day so don't worry, I'll keep it up. Today is day 28 of my cycle which feels like a positive sign since they are normally 24-26 days long, but I had EC day 18 when I normally ovulate day 15, so I guess I should expect my luteal phase to be 3 days longer as well. The cramping on and off for 3 days now obviously hasn't been my period so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic, but I had this last time and had the heaviest period of my life at day 29 which I assume was an early miscarriage so I'm trying not to get myself too excited.

blue, I've read that roughly half the antral follicles respond to treatment and that seems to be true for most women. But despite your low day 2/3 count, I am always amazed that the nearly all seem to grow.

Good luck shellster. No news is good news as the old saying goes so there's some PMA for you! What with being just my first cycle I can't quite comment on the different stages but I'll continue to have a good feeling for you!

I'm on Day 9 today and had first scan yesterday. They were happy with where I am - as I'm polycystic I had about 15 follicles on each ovary but about 5 or 6 on each that were bigger. They measured between 10 and 12mm which she said was good and my womb thickening very nicely. I clearly have no idea if that's right or not but am just trusting what they say! Possibility I'll go for EC on Friday but if not then it'll be Monday. Next scan tomorrow and then will find out and try and plan what I'm going to do with work. Please keep everything crossed that it'll be Friday as then I won't have to tell work or pull a sickie. I don't work Fridays so would have the weekend to recover and then I've got weds and thurs booked off holiday anyway as meant to be camping in cornwall. I guess I'd ET on the Weds if they get to blasto so work would be none the wiser!

Feeling ok - rather bloated from drugs but I gather that's normal (Gonal-f 112.5 and cetricide 0.25mg) . I wasn't told though that I needed to drink LOADS of water as the cetricide I'm taking will really dehydrate me so that explains why I was sooooo tired at the weekend as definitely wasn't drinking enough! Getting a bit concerned about OHSS but they've assured me that I'll be monitored fine and that's another reason I'm on the short protocol.

oh god massively important question now .... Just been reminded I've got a bikini wax booked in for Thursday - are there any rules about waxing before EC ????? I know it's not quite general anaesthetic and I'm not being cut as such but can't see any info about it anywhere....

I don't know Helibeli, I'm not brave enough to get waxed down there! I'm sure someone will know. And yes, get on that water! I'm amazed my clinic didn't tell me about that until after I'd got dehydrated .

Shellster sending you lots of positive vibes.

Purple my wool arrived for the shawl, so I've shamelessly ditched the jumper for the time being and am busy knitting rows of 199 stitches in a lovely lacy pattern .

Big wave to everyone, especially Blue's ovaries xxx

Helibeli Sorry I've no idea about the waxing, like cat said I'm sure someone will know. Just ring and ask the clinic if you have no answer.

Shell Cautiously optimistic is a good place to be, sending PMA your way.

Blue Best of luck for EC tomorrow, I'm not far behind you and can't wait to have a drug free day soon. Sounds like you've got a nice batch of mature eggs in those follies. Keep us all posted. Funnily enough, I too thought I was more gaseous the last few day!

Had my scan today and have good and not so good results. Seems like my left ovary has slowed down again. The four follicles are around 10mm and was told that they are probably too small. I always have hope that there may be a mature egg in there amongst them if they grow with the trigger.

Good news is that my right is doing good with 21, 18, 16, 15 and 10mm follicles so realistically hoping for 4-5 mature eggs in total. My estradiol level has gone from 600 last Thursday to 4000 today so trigger tonight 9pm, EC Thursday 9am.

Oooh, Shellster - can't get my pompoms out because everything is so firmly crossed. Really really hope it's your turn x

Blue - you too - hope they catch some good ones x

Thinking of you Nonconformist - hope that left ovary catches up after the trigger.

Helibeli - no idea re the waxing - would never even have occurred to me to wonder.

Cat - hooray for beautiful shawls and reasons to knit them (time was I'd have blanched at the thought of 199 stitch rows, but I knitted one of these a couple of years ago. It's knitted in the round and you start with 600 ish stitches!)

heli, I too have no idea about the waxing. Of my 7 EC's, I'd never thought to make my downstairs neat for the doctors viewing before!

199 sticthes cat! Hope you're a quicker knitter than me or you'd never get it knitted in time. I'm knitting a jacket for my 4 year old - I stick to small things.

Sorry your left ovary didn't come to the party non. However I have read a study saying that the first to mature follicles are most likely to contain the best quality and genetically viable eggs so your best chance lies within the larger follicles on your right ovary anyway.

Thank you for the well wishes purple and all. It's day 29 here so feels like a mini milestone as that's the day of a missed period in a textbook cycle. However I know my EC was day 18 instead of the textbook cycle day 14, so in reality my cycle is behind 4 days, but I'll still use it as a reason to be optimistic and get through today.

For those of you who have been through embryo transfer. how long after EC was your OTD? Mine is 16 days after EC, which seems rather long. I get that tots of women probably have early chemical pregnancies so the clinic wants to wait to make sure, but it seems longer than usual.

Shellster my OTD was day 16 too which seemed to be longer than everyone else. I BFP'd on day 13... and then, do you remember, the official test kit barely gave me a line on day 16, after which I POAS about a million times.

That time is so intense, isn't it, it doesn't feel like 10 weeks ago. Like Purple I have so many things crossed for you I didn't manage any knitting tonight but I know you'll be interested to know that I've done 16 rows out of 350 so far . I really want this to be your time x

Purple that jacket looks amazing.

16 rows at 199 stitches is a fair effort cat, Okay, so your OTD was day 16 too. I have to do a blood test rather than POAS. Mmm, you got a positive on day 13. That is Saturday for me - just two more days away - sounds tempting!

Hi all - so egg collection happened this morning - 6 eggs from 6 follicles, good news! I'm very pleased with that. I toyed with the idea of cancelling this cycle after my somewhat pathetic day 2 scan so I'm glad we decided to carry on.

There was a little hiccup though....DH's sperm count wasn't good enough for regular IVF so we'll be doing ICSI. Very weird, we haven't had a problem with this before. His count is usually 5 million plus and this time it's 400K. The embryologist asked if he had been ill or stressed 6-8 weeks ago, and we realised that coincided with a bike crash at the beginning of May (no major injuries but quite frightening). Perhaps it was that? Anyway in true IVF style there is never good news without a bit of bad news. I'm just hoping that my eggs are strong enough to cope with ICSI - the embryologist said about 5% of eggs break up. Hopefully I'll have enough mature eggs to deal with it.

Now the waiting begins - I'll get a phonecall tomorrow lunchtime with an update on how many fertilised. Fingers crossed.

Shellster glad you are keeping your spirits up - making it to day 29 with no sign of AF has to be a good thing. I think my clinic usually recommends a HPT on day 16 too. The longest 16 days in the history of the universe of course.

Good luck non, sounds like you'll be doing your EC tomorrow? And Purple I'm impressed with your knitting skills, that cardigan looks hard! I also like knitting but mainly baby stuff (for other people of course)....a baby sized cardigan matches my attention span.

I wonder if some one can help me I am new to mums net. I am waiting to get confirmation of funding for IVF me and my husband have been trying to a child for 2 1/2 years no luck I have been on Clomid 50 and 100 but still not luck. I wondered how long it take once you know you have funding to your first appointment. So feed up of waiting and feeling so ill due to my Endometriosis. Any advice would be greatly received as starting to worry it will never happen.

Great news blue - that sounds like a great haul! And even though natural IVF process can't carry on it's amazing that science has enabled ICSI! We are down for ICSI ourselves too as DH count, motility and morph are all not good. Although interestingly his last count was 14million which had increased from 6 million about 2 months previous. So I'm guessing we're still down for ICSI based on the motility and morph. Keeping everything crossed.

I had Day 10 scan this morning and all looking good although not quite ready yet apparently. My left ovary is the weaker one (corresponds to finding out the left tube very damaged when I had my lap) and even though there's about 15 follies there's about 5 lead ones there ranging from 12 to 17 and on the right ovary again there's about 15 altogether but 7 or 8 lead ones (from 15 to 18) So next scan on Friday with a view to EC on Monday. Only slightly disappointed that I'm going to have to tell work something now

They might have to reduce my drugs as on Day 8 my estradiol level was about 3000 so don't want me to overrespond. I'm going to up my water even more now and start on drinking milk too. I swear at work they must think I'm pregnant already as I'm constantly going to the loo :-)

Oh and if anyone else ever encounters my waxing dilemma ... I asked this morning and it's absolutely fine to do it before EC :-) However I'm feeling so bloated and tender that I'm not sure I want any more pain down there ha ha!

Non hoping you're feeling ok ready for tomorrow. and that you're still in a no news situation Shellster

Hello Frankie234. I'm sorry I can't help as we had to self-fund. Am sure you'll get lots of advice on here though from others!

Hi Frankie Our referral went off last May, appt at hospital with consultant was in August, started first round of iui October, after third round didn't work, ivf referral took 2 weeks. It does really depend what trust you come under as I know other girls we're still awaiting first appt by the time I had my three IUIs. Best of luck with it all.

Blue that's great news about your 6 eggs from 6 follicles. Hope the collection went well and you're resting up. My turn tomorrow, hope I'm as successful.

Heli you're not far behind us, you have a lovely collection of eggs growing. My estradiol level was 4000 when they triggered me yesterday so won't be long .

Shell No news is good news so far. Keep up the PMA

I'm just chilling tonight ready for EC in the morning. Starting to feel uncomfortable now , bloated and sore. Been nauseous all day, not eaten much so look forward to kind of getting back to normal tomorrow.