Anyone Starting IVF? Join Me (4)

[bessie84]

The other thread reached 1000 comments, so having to start a new one.

A puff of Babydust to all

x

Aww shellster I think it’s amazing you still pop back to this thread, it’s wonderful. Success stories give me such hope! It’s the nature of the condition that on infertility forums, most women who are successful quite unsurprisingly do move on - so it’s usually a self selecting group of women who are the long-timers, those with multiple failed cycles or m/cs. So it’s very easy to forget that IVF does actually work for lots of women, so very uplifting to be reminded of success stories.

I would absolutely love nothing more than for this second cycle (first transfer) to work - but honestly, I’d always seen a first cycle as a diagnostic exercise, never dared to let myself think it could realistically work. I desperately hope that one day we will be able to realise our dream of having a family - as much as I try to convince myself that a pessimist is never disappointed, obviously I will be utterly devastated when a cycle fails.

If you can believe it, I’ve never yet taken a pregnancy test - so if I ever make it to transfer, the first time I’ll POAS will be when there’s £14,000 of treatment riding on it, urgh. Wishing I’d done one before now, so the first BFN I get isn’t on OTD, but there’s never been a month I thought I was even remotely in with a shot, so never bothered testing. No pressure, aargh!!!

Consultant got me the first appointment in the new year, so seeing him for a scan on 4th Jan, and hoping to get the go ahead to start stimming. Presume I will have to have a withdrawal bleed to start stims, so maybe a few days thereafter I’ll actually get to crack open the Gonal-F that’s been chilling in the fridge for bloody weeks now…

Next Christmas you’ll have your bubba with you, how exciting!!

7 days after 3 day transfer. "Not pregnant" says the test stick. Too early?

I would say so. My official test date was 15 days post 3d transfer.

I would definitely say so too Small. I waited for my official blood test to get my BFP but for my BFN cycles, I know that once I started testing and got that horrible negative, it was hard to stop checking. So if you are like me, you've probably tested 5 more times since.

I think it's am amazingly positive attitude of you banana to find happiness for those who have IVF success and for it to bring you hope too. I totally get the pressure of the IVF cycle. I'd got a two year interest free credit card to fund my 11th IVF attempt. So I knew if it didn't work, I would be very depressingly spend a year paying that back with nothing to show for it and that by the time I was then able to save to try again, I would be 40 and it would be too late. So I too really felt the pressure of my last IVF cycle. So I can imagine it would feel daunting waiting to POAS for the first time after $14,000 is riding on it. I guess it's like you say, that as much as you try to not get your hopes up so you won't be disappointed (as I did), it's still just as gut wrenching when it doesn't work.

Two weeks to go until your scan... then at least you can finally get on with things instead of all this waiting and wondering.

Hello everyone, just been reading and catching up

shellster wow 25 weeks ! So glad things are going well and I agree it's nice to have you pop back on here and to know that it does work even after lots of attempts, it's good to hear positive stories of IVF. Certainly keeps my hopes up

I am going to be calling the clinic tomorrow as AF has arrived then I will have a scan next week and do FET (natural) again (providing I ovulate)
I have two day 2 embryos frozen

I've been wondering, how long does thawing take? If for some reason the one they thaw doesn't survive is it feasible as both are day 2 for them to thaw that one and transfer it or can that not be done ?

Wow brilliant news waiting - excited for you!

I think it's only a matter of minutes to thaw an embryo - think they only take them out of the freezer literally just before you have your transfer.

Not long now till you have your embryo on board!

What is the minimum lining thickness that your clinic specifies for transfer? My Dr said absolute minimum was 7mm, but that seems really low to me, given other clinics seem to say at least 8mm.

I'm so nervous that I won't make it to transfer if we can't get my lining to play ball in my upcoming fresh cycle. Hoping that by doing long protocol we'll be able to boost it up with progynova and get it up above the piddly 6.5mm it went down to before!!

I'm not sure as it's never been mentioned. My lining has always been verging on too thick (got to 15mm scan before transfer in October) but they said it was triple lines and it would be ok

I've never heard any mention of a minimum thickness
Appt is wed for scan and bloods. I really hope it works this time

Good luck waiting - keeping everything crossed for you

Prob the case that min lining thickness has only come up with my Dr because it's been a persistent issue for me, so was always something both the Dr and I were keeping an eye on (unfortunately we couldn't have predicted it would regress so dramatically in such a short space of time).

Wow 15mm is one beautifully thick lining! I don't get past 5mm in a natural cycle, and not much more even with stims it seems. Desperately hoping I'll respond to supplementary oestrogen and get the all important triple line.

Good luck for Weds! X

AF is usually very very heavy and 7-10 days duration. I have endometriosis too so wonder if that's why it's always so thick?

I'd told myself it would be a lovely thick cushiony place for our embryo but it didn't work so maybe it was too thick?

This cycle I'm meant to have aspirin,clexane,prednisolone and progesterone. Plus the levothyroxine im already on.
Something is niggling me and part of me wants to try and just have progesterone as it seems a lot of medication and nothing had been formally diagnosed as to why I'd need all that just hypothyroid (under control at present) thyroid antibodies and a failed cycle

I had aspirin and progesterone last FET. I have two embryos frozen I just am unsure whether to give it a try as naturally as possible as I react terribly to medications.

I even wonder if the ovitrelle trigger shot caused imbalance and I'm keen to do without it this time but that means extra scans as opk are not reliable for me due to pcos so not sure what the clinic will say. I expect I'll have to pay for any 'extra' scans or bloods. I just want to avoid that trigger shot

What have your doctors said about endometriosis waiting? My consultant is an endo specialist (literally wrote the book - one of his books is a core textbook for endometriosis) and asked me about my periods as said endo was woefully under diagnosed, and that very very heavy periods were a red flag that so many GPs never picked up on. That's not to say it is endo of course, he was just do frustrated that he treated so many women who've suffered for years and never been diagnosed. I know you mentioned you have PCOS - is that the diagnosis for your infertility ie do you ovulate? I have a friend who has PCOS but ovulated regularly but never got a satisfactory explanation for why she wasn't conceiving. Turns out she had endo and once that was diagnosed and treated she then successfully conceived her daughter in her second IVF cycle - and her son was a frostie from the same cycle transferred a couple of years later. Not that this necessarily has any relevance to you whatsoever, just mention it because you wondered about endometriosis...

Presumably the immunes treatment is recommended because of your thyroid antibodies? Sounds like they're really on top of everything given the implications of autoimmune issues like thyroid on implantation. Did you have the steroids and intralipids on your first cycle as well?

In terms of going au naturel for the FET, guess it also comes back to your diagnosis - if you know why you haven't conceived naturally (eg blocked tube) then may be no reason why not to consider a totally unmedicated FET. Although if immune issues have been part of the problem then guess it would make lots of sense to mitigate against this when you have your frostie transferred

Interesting re: the trigger - don't know much about any issues from hCG, presumably our bodies are designed to be pretty hardy when it comes to that hormone considering we're gonna be hopefully flooded with it if we get a BFP!

Hope you can get some answers from your clinic - wishing you tonnes of luck

Xx

I just wondered if the hcg trigger introduces the pregnancy hormone at the wrong time ? Before an embryo has implanted and starting producing it and if that throws things out of kilter

My endo used to cause terrible terrible pain. I had an operation years ago which helped a lot. Still get pain going to loo during AF but a lot better than it was.
Pcos was diagnosed aged 17 but I do seem to ovulate although cycles are irregular (better lately on levothyroxine though)
I had an infection a few years ago which damaged my tubes so I thought it was just a case of 'bypassing' them

My thyroid was ok up until very recently. A test in 2012 was 2.1 and then this year it was 4.8 and I felt awful I had thought I was anaemic but once iron level went up and I still felt ill I didn't know what it was till I started thyroxine and felt so much better !
I've read a lot about the antibodies and there are two types I think and one is worse than the other for implantation/miscarriage issues I'll find my letter and results and see which one I had which was positive

You poor thing - so glad you're feeling better, that sounds really rough

Hmm dunno about the trigger. Given how many women do have success in fresh cycles and medicated timed intercourse or IUI cycles using a trigger, I'd have thought it's pretty well studied - and as loads of women do conceive via IVF / TI / IUI I wouldn't have thought it's too problematic? But there's so much we don't understand about the whole process so who knows!!

I'm really hoping my cycle does go ahead this time after a few false starts, not just because I'm really itching to get on with things to get the first failed cycle over and done with, but because I'm having to taper down my pain meds in case we do make it to transfer, and if I've had to do this again for nothing it'll be even more of a kick in the teeth. My consultant said when TTC naturally I didn't have to come off my meds unless I got a BFP, but if I'm having IVF when I know there's an embryo on board, I don't want to risk taking possibly embryotoxic medications - and don't want to increase risk of miscarriage by going into withdrawal if I stop everything suddenly if I DID get a BFP. (I take pretty hardcore opioid pain meds for a spinal injury)

Last day of Xmas indulgence before I get back on the IVF high protein bandwagon. Stuffing my face with yule log before we declare Xmas officially closed in our household

Xx

That's sounds really difficult to manage I hope reducing the dose goes ok and you don't have too much trouble with increased pain. It's so difficult isn't it you want to do things right and don't want to take something that may harm an embryo or to not take something and then be unwell and cause any problems

I've been eating a lot of junk the last few days too I said to dh this evening we need to start being a bit healthier then I was worrying as I'd had Buck's Fizz again (just one glass) and too many chocolates !

Thanks waiting, it’s another thing in the mix to deal with for sure. I also have epilepsy which comes with its own issues - anti seizure meds do increase the risk of birth defects, so I have to be on prescription strength folic acid to help mitigate the risk of neural tube defects. We had to have all this counselling before starting TTC, and only then did we find out my PCOS had gone along with all my eggs, and that my chances of getting a BFP at all had plummeted

I have to taper down slowly because tramadol withdrawal is really unpleasant - I’ve been on a very high dose recently, so need to avoid coming off it too quickly, urgh

Frankly if I am lucky enough to get pregnant then I’ll take 9 months of horrible pain if it means I get to be a mummy at the end of it!

Ah, I think a glass of bucks fizz is practically medicinal - I’m sure stress reduction of letting your hair down a bit over Xmas is beneficial for your cycle as much as eating ‘perfectly’ xx

Just popping in to say hi. Reading the last few posts as a quick catch up and my goodness, I feel for you both waiting and banana. It just feels like you've both been in the same position forever!

You'll both have to give me a brief update. So waiting, you are now at the start of an FET cycle and wondering whether to go with your natural ovulation or with a trigger shot? The trigger shot obviously didn't interfere with implantation for my fresh IVF cycle, but that doesn't mean I can say with certainty that it does not put hormones out of balance.

And by the way you mention 'if we do make it to transfer' Banana, I assume you are currently doing another fresh cycle now?

Happy new year shellster, hope you and bump are well, just think, 2016 is the year you’ll become a Mum of two!!

I’m seeing my consultant first thing Monday morning, desperately hoping for positive news about next steps to get this show finally on the road

I’ve been down regging for seven frigging weeks now and I’m thoroughly fed up. I have a horrible feeling that I might be d/r for a wee while longer if I have to restart the buserelin, as assume we need to get past the initial flare effect and let the suppressing effect kick in before I’m allowed to start stims.

Other people have something cold and bubbly chilling in their fridge…I have a drawer full of Gonal-F that’s been sat there fore weeks just waiting to be cracked open!

Feels like the longest long protocol known to (wo)man!

And tbh as I started my first cycle in September and still haven’t had a transfer, it’s almost been like a 4 month long cycle as it is…!!

Wishing everyone a happy new year, and fingers crossed for a fruitful and fertile 2016 xx

Spoke too soon... update from this morning’s appt is that (drumroll) we have liftoff!!!!

Today is my last day of the pill, I’m to wait for AF and then start stims on Day 2. Which should hopefully be the end of this week, woohoo!! Dr’s switching me to an antagonist protocol as doesn’t want to downreg me any longer, so will be adding in Cetrotide after a few days of stims, like last time.

Baseline looked great - ovaries were quiet, antral follicles were nice and evenly sized, and my AFC was double what it was before my last cycle (it was 5, now it’s 10!!). Admittedly piss poor compared to the the AFC of 42 when I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2010, but certainly an improvement on last time.

I also asked him about supporting my lining in a natural cycle, and he said yes we could def give my lining a boost with some progynova, would just have to be a monitored cycle to make sure we didn’t add it in too soon & interfere with the follicle growth. Which is bloody awesome news, as means we can TTC naturally between IVF cycles and at least be in with a shot of a natural BFP!

So, so, so relieved!!

eeek good luck banana

waves to everyone x

Happy new year to you too banana - and it really does seem to be for you after the good news at your appointment. 7 weeks must be a record for down regging so I can certainly understand how elated you must be to finally use some of that Gonal F you've been staring at!

And your AFC has doubled! Woo hoo. My initial AFC counts were 4-5, and I recall how excited I was when it went up in a few subsequent cycles. Although, unlike you, I had never previously seen an AFC of 42. How bizarre that your reproductive tract seem to have a mind of it's own and be all over the place!

So did you get any date for a follow up scan, or do you have to phone the clinic and arrange it once you get your period and know exact dates?

Thanks shellster and bessie - hope you and your respective bumps are well?

Yes, my reproductive system is a mystery

I do wonder if I have the particular gene the CHR clinic say causes women who have PCOS in their 20s to then transition into a state of diminished ovarian reserves in their 30s (sound familiar?!)

www.centerforhumanreprod.com/infertilityedu/causes/pcos/

But tbh it’s kind of academic whether it is or isn’t - whatever the cause, the thing that matters is how we try and treat it, and use whatever eggs I have left to try and get me pregnant!!

Started stims last night, and first tracking scan on Tues, so we’re finally off the starting block, hurrah

Yes, you're right banana, the important part is where you are at now and how to get you pregnant! Just got me curious because once us women have DOR, from the stories I've followed on here and elsewhere, they don't tend to go from 5 follicles one cycle to 10 the next. But whatever the cause, at least it is a positive start for the cycle! Will wait for your first scan update and hope that it is more good news.

shellster no, it's quite a jump - but frankly I'm so baffled by whatever my body decides to throw at me, I'm sort of almost not surprised any more!!

I do wonder if the DHEA made any difference, or it's that the stims from last time helped to 'wake up' my sleepy ovaries. My consultant suspects there may have been a lingering effect from the pill, but no way really of knowing. Last time I got 7 eggs (6 good ones) from an AFC of 5, but I'm not expecting lightning to strike twice, so trying not to get my hopes up that we would get more eggs this time around!!

5 days into stims and the stims bloat kicked in after just 2! I look 4 months pregnant and can't wear anything that doesn't have a stretchy waistband - going to have to wear some floaty dresses at work to avoid any funny looks!! Just hope the Gonal-F is doing something to my ovaries as well as my belly

First tracking scan on Tues, when I'll have done 6 days of stims, so desperately hoping we'll see a few decent follies! I'm absolutely nailing the protein, drinking water and milk like it's going out of fashion, and hoping that all the CoQ10, melatonin, resveratrol and DHEA over the last few months will have given my egg quality a bit of a boost. We shall see!!

So sweet of you to check in! Hope you and bump are well xx

Your consultants suspicion of the pill lingering effect makes sense banana. And yes, I thought too how you managed to get 6 good eggs from 5 follicles when I usually had less than half my follicles produce a mature egg. But I never had any bloating or symptoms whatsoever with any of my 11 IVF attempts, so I certainly hope that your boating after just two days of stims is a positive sign and that you walk away from your scan today with a smile on your face.

It's Tuesday here but you guys are about 11 hours behind so you are probably seelp8ing soundly now and I shall just have to be patient and check in again before bed to see if you've updated yet!

Bless you shellster you are so very very thoughtful!

Well, back from the first scan, Dr was ‘over the moon’ with my response (and a little gobsmacked). I have……drumroll. Only bloody 14 follies!!!

I have no idea how that even works, but not bad for someone who had an AFC of 5 in September, and AMH of 1.5. And FSH of 17.6!!

Dr has halved my dose of stims, and then I’m to drop it again on Thu - next scan is Friday, he thinks prob trigger Sat and EC Monday.

Lining is ‘fair’ (6.6mm) but he will keep an eye on it - may add in progynova after Friday’s scan. We should hopefully have a bit more time as it needs to be at the right thickness by transfer, so fingers crossed. So, things hopefully heading in the right direction!

Oh, and Dr was also pretty astonished by my spectacularly swollen belly - his eyes nearly fell out of his head. So I think that means I must be pretty bloated if I’m surprising the top fertility Dr!!!

aaww banana that is FAB. How exciting, cant wait to see how you get on. keep posting wont you. despite IVF Been terrible at the time, i look back at it now and it was an amazing experience. Cant wait to read updates. Fab news

:-) x