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

[Yellowyellow]

Hello, have been lurking for a while, can I join? I start my first ever IVF cycle in Sept (long protocol) and sniffing begins around 13/14th. I actually get my meds delivered tomorrow morning - certainly feels more real now!

[bessie84]

hello yellow

eeekkk, good luck with your cycle. we had our drugs delivered today, certainly felt more real. doing our first ever cycle too (Short protocol) not sure when we're starting as our plan states to start injection 19th, but period arriving when it shouldnt be, so dunno if we;re starting early and not having the scratch or waiting til end of month.

sigh.... xxx

[Floweroct2]

Hi can I join you? Try since 2011, natural bfp 2012 but mmc, iui bfp March 2014 but mc, unsuccessful iui June 2014, natural bfp oct 2014 but mc.
I've just started ivf in antagonist protocol, started menopur 150 on Tuesday, scan yesterday showed five follicles on each side 11mm largest on one side 10mm on other. Increased to 225 and start taking cetrotide on Sunday. I've been reading this thread for a while but not recently so will catch up later x

[lildottie]

Hi to the new joiners, though sorry you are going through this with us.

flower have they find any tests/found a reason for all your MCs? You must be so strong to still be going. One mc nearly finished me off and I'm petrified this next ivf will go the same way.

[Waitingimpatient]

flower have you had your TSH level checked ? My consultant told me that my elevated level would cause fertility and implantation problems and it can be a cause of mc if not at the optimal level

[miamiaMo]

hi, me not starting this month. But a huge hug to everybody and wish you big luck.

[Elbbob]

Hello all, this is my first ivf cycle and I'm finding the 'unknown' very stressful. icsi I am on the long protocol too, with the same meds apart from merional not menopur. I have my first scan since starting to stim this Monday, but no idea when ec is yet. I am very anxious as I am meant to be going to a wedding at the weekend, and I feel a bit in limbo worrying about the wedding (if we can't go due to ec, or if I can go and how I'll take my meds!) and what to do about work, as they don't know, and I can't book time off for ec as I don't know when it is.
On top of that, I found out last week my SIL is days away from starting her first ivf, with a short protocol. She is 12 years younger and has been told she has a 70% chance of success. I hope it works for her, but don't know how I'll cope if it does for her and not for me.
So how does everyone else cope with the stress?

[lildottie]

elbbob first time around I worried about so much like that too. I don't think there is any way to stop it, but my advice is forget about your sister (or realise she could be worrying it will work for you and not her. I'm surprised she's been given such high odds as that seems overly high for anyone) and focus on you. On long protocol my ec is about day 8-10 of stimms - book 2 weeks off around then do you can forget work if you can. You can always cancel a week and go back in after ec when u feel OK. (I'd definitely advise taking day or 2 after ec off and of course you will need time for et though that bit is easy ime). As for the wedding, go if you can. Don't worry about the meds. Book a room there so you can go do your meds in private and enjoy yourself. Or if that's not an option speak to the manager at venue and explain you need some where private to administer an injection and ask if they can sort something for you. Bit don't worry about it, just plan it in like a trip to the supermarket. You'll be fine. I do of course have the benefit of hindsight so I know its easy to say and less easy to do when you don't know what to expect.

[misspz]

Joining in with the rest of you ladies here.
me and my boyfriend have just finished our investigation, with no issue, except for the fact that there is still no baby after over 2 years.
emotions in a turmoil now. very happy we're getting help, but at the same time nervous about the whole treatment.
now all i have to do is wait for rubella vaccine to kick in as they wouldn't treat me until that was done. and hopefully we'll get booked in as soon as i get the all clear from my gp.
as ive seen from a lot of you, i'm feeling the same having a hard time with some of the support from friends and family, they seem to think its all just going to be great now when i get the treatment, but this is just the beginning.

[lildottie]

Hi misspz unexplained must be really hard. At least we felt like we has answers when we found out dh had duff sperm. Fwiw ivf was nowhere near as all consuming as I expected it to be. The emotional is worse than the physical but by now you'll have been through plenty of the emotional rollercoaster.

[IcsiWitsyBabyPlsGetUpMySpout]

Welcome misspz, and sorry you're here , it's tough, there's no way to sugar coat it, but at least you're on the road to doing something positive now.

It's my second monitoring scan today to see how stimms is progressing, day 11 of menopur, 8 days on 150iui and 3 on 300. At the scan on day 9 I had 3 follicles in the 10-15mm range and 20+ under 10mm. The doctor and nurses at our clinic give very little info and I've spent the last 3 daysadly googling to see if this would be considered poor ovarian response and frafreakingking myself out. We are having treatment for male factor, and just expected when we went in for our day 9 scan to be booked in for EC straight away,and the nurse said this was 90% likely too, so been feeling very worried. From what I've read, I think this is totally unnecessary and what has happened is quite normal, with our worries compounded by poor communication from doctors

I'm not sure how good our clinic is, they are to start the monitoring very late during stimms phase (day 9!!) and the med professionals seem to want to give you as little information as possible which can be very frustrating and sometimes worrying. We are very fortunate in that we have 2 fresh funded attempts on the nhs, but we do have to have them at this clinic. The success rates for icsi fit women under 35 are about 46% so not bad, but I just don't feel very 'looked after', which is not great when you are worried, stressed and vulnerable

[IcsiWitsyBabyPlsGetUpMySpout]

Apologies for the typos- on my phone. Is anything else cycling at the moment? How's it going?

[JessieMcJessie]

Hi icsi. I am having my day 9 scan today, in the waiting room right now actually! We are at a clinic that does NHS, though we are paying because I am too old for NHS. Day 9 is my first monitoring too. Nervous about what they will find as I had only 6 follicles visible at the baseline scan. I know what you mean about feeling looked after and I feel slightly the same, particularly as they always take at least 15 minutes on hold before answering the phone, and have already got my medication instructions wrong once and had to phone to change them. I am a bit miffed as the website where they sell the private treatment was big on how personal the treatment is, complete with a real life satisfied couple taking in a video about how looked after they felt. That said it's convenient for my office and as long as the egg collectors and the embryologists know what they are doing I don't really mind. If this cycle doesn't work we'll look at others though. Good luck for today's results.

[IcsiWitsyBabyPlsGetUpMySpout]

Thanks jessie, I wonder if we're at the se clinic! Good luck with your scan!

[IcsiWitsyBabyPlsGetUpMySpout]

Same*!!! Bloody phone!

[misspz]

Thanks lildottie yes, unexplained is reslly quite tough, nothing to blame it on om that makes sense.
I understand exactly what you mean with poor comunication Icsi So far the nurses and my gp has been a pain in the a** (excuse the language) my gp simply forgot to send my referral in, not until I've chased the practice and finally called the clinic directly to see if it's been received did I realise he never send it. But once started going to the clinic, they've been very understanding, but haven't even started on the mess yet so there's still a lot to come. I hope everything goes well and that you've got nothing to worry about!

[Floweroct2]

Oh icsi jessie looks like we're at a similar stage. I'm a bit behind you day 7 of stims. It's really difficult to know whether things are going well. I had lots ewcm today so was stressing that I was about to ovulate but from googling it seems like that is normal. I'm trying not to stress too much but it is difficult!

Sorry I forgot who asked but I have had recurrent mc tests and all come back normal, our fertility is unexplained too although I do have a high amh.
Have my next scan tomorrow, hoping to have ec on Friday as I have a hen do to go to the weekend after next so hoping to have had et by then (fingers crossed we get that far!)

[JessieMcJessie]

So, according to the nurse I have " fulfilled my potential". My potential was only ever 6 follicles but at least we haven't lost any on the way. Egg collection on Friday, fingers crossed that all the follicles have something in them and at least one makes it to transfer quality. Now debating what to tell work - "some minor surgery"? Or just throw a sickie on the day? Probably the former, but if we have to go through several rounds will need to rethink just telling the truth.

[JessieMcJessie]

Ps, funny to think we may have been in the same waiting room icsi! I won't say where I am but it's in London...

[Floweroct2]

Good luck jessie I'm trying to work out the work excuse too!

[IcsiWitsyBabyPlsGetUpMySpout]

Jesse I suppose 'fulfilling your potential' can only be a good thing! 6 is not too bad a number, you may be lucky and have further follicles develop before then, or get more than one egg from each follicle. I've got my fingers crossed for you, and they always say its quality, not quantity that counts!

My clinic is in Birmingham. Scan went OK today, I have three that are currently or very nearly mature, and quite a few more between 10-15mm. Having a further scan on Wednesday and EC will be on Friday. The doctor today had a better bedside manner but couldn't get us out of the door quick enough which was not great. He said I was started on the correct stimms dose for my age and hormone profile but for some reason it was not the right dose for me, and there has been significant improvement since upping the dose on Friday and we have nothing to worry about.

I am really feeling the pressure though, felt most of the day feeling sick and headachey and can't tell if its the drugs or the stress. As long as we get to EC and get a decent number I'll feel like I've 'done my job'. DH is so so desperate for this to work and I don't want to let him down

I think I'll have an early night tonight and try to relax a bit.

[Waitingimpatient]

Hello, hope everyone is ok today

I have nothing till 14 sep when I have to have my next TsH test. I'm also waiting for an appointment with an endocrinologist to test me for hashimotos disease which is what I think is causing my TSH level to be higher than it should be.
I've been taking my levothyroxine and fingers crossed it's going down as I'm desperate to go ahead next month.

I've also gone from struggling to maintain my weight to suddenly putting a lot on. It's very odd as I've always been 9-9.5 stone pretty much my whole life and now I feel massive and sluggish and rubbish and it's making me really depressed. I don't even eat that much I thought I was healthy, today I had fruit tea and porridge with Apple, vegetable soup,a roll and grated cheese for lunch, scone mid aft and salmon and vegetable rice and salad for dinner which is pretty much the usual sort of amount of food for me but I'd had to put on weight for IVF and was having milkshakes regularly but suddenly since my TSH has gone up again I'm piling the weight on and I feel horrible :(

[Floweroct2]

waiting sorry you're feeling a bit rubbish at the moment it's so difficult! Fingers crossed your levels go down.

icsi I could have written your post, in fact I had to scroll up to make sure it wasn't me that had written it! I've got ec on Friday too and also feeling a bit sick and headachy since they upped my dosage. Hope your scan goes well today!
Can't believe it's my last injections tonight already - antagonist protocol has gone really quickly!

[JessieMcJessie]

So that's three of us having ec on Friday. any more?

I am still waiting for call from clinic to confirm time of Ec and therefore time for me to take the trigger shot. Waiting by phone.

Lied a bit at work and said I was going in for a gastroscopy - white lie as I did used to have to have them every couple of years due to reflux problems, and they need same sedation level as ec. (Which means am familiar with process too). I even talked about a "follow up appt to discuss results" next week (ie embryo transfer..hopefully).

Will need to think up a new strategy if we have any future cycles though.