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Infertility

Our Infertility Support forum is a space to connect with others in the same position, discuss causes, treatment and IVF, and share infertility stories of hope and success.

The mind numbing boredom of infertility

999 replies

icy121 · 14/09/2015 20:16

Two years. Month in, month out, and no change. I'm finding a huge part of this whole nightmare is trying to cope with the boredom. I bore myself incessantly googling variations of the same question, staying up late at night to the glow of an iPad, reading more and more obscure medical research abstracts. Asking my doctor friend if I can borrow her password so I can see whether the BMJ has any updates from last week. It's fucking monotonous. Nowhere else in my life have I had to strive so hard to get absolutely nowhere.

I don't talk to friends about it, they don't want to hear it and frankly I've cried too many times when it's come up for them to have any sympathy left. They're bored. So we just ignore and and plod on, except I'm not bloody plodding on. I'm wallowing side to side and achieving absolutely fuck all. And secretly dreading the fact they're all getting married and their babies will be on the horizon. I'm going to lose my friends.

I decided not to put my life on hold, got a new job in a small firm, booking holidays but it all feels very empty because what I'm really doing is waiting. And it's so fucking tedious.

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icy121 · 20/11/2015 18:06

We're fucking hosting. My OH has 2 kids from his previous marriage. They're 10 and 8, so at least not surrounded by cutesy babies and toddlers getting Christmas booties and being given ceramic coasters with their handprints painted on (what the fuck do I want with those? Srsly. That's one for the 'if I'm lucky enough to ever have a baby' thread - never give people a load of pottery day bollocks presents. People would rather have wine.)

So I'm pulling out the stops. Doing the whole shebang, there will be 11 of us. I'll get through lunch and then extract myself and sit alone in a darkened room drinking pints of G&T, probably furiously typing away on MN.

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PotatoesPastaAndBread · 22/11/2015 17:23

"I tell myself 'this time next year...'"

THIS ^^

I plan the conversation when I'll tell my mum. Will I have the scan pic already to show her? Will I be far enough along at Christmas to tell? No no and no.

Ironically I had just persuaded my mum to come away for a few days to a Spa between xmas and New year, and now my clinic have told me to avoid spa treatments during ovarian stimulation. Ha.ha.ha. Infertility really has a sick sense of humour.

icy you're a brave woman. I wouldn't trust me to host Christmas, and neither would anyone else in my family! Do stock up on gin though. catnip sounds like you're having a rough time. Good luck sorting Christmas plans. Sometimes you just have to put yourself first. karla Thanks for sharing your experience. The never ending hope is the worst thing I find - or rather, the constant (monthly) dashing of your hope every time you let yourself dare to believe. Honestly it is good to hear people share experiencess where it didn't work out because I need to keep a balanced perspective so I don't get crushed if it doesn't work.

My infertility buddy, an old friend who has been on a similar journey including a miscarriage and failed ivf, is due to give birth this week. It's the first baby I'm not dreading seeing for a long time cos I know she'll get it when a smile and tear up at the same time. One day it could be me....

icy121 · 22/11/2015 19:45

Potatoes good news for your friend. I'm bitter and twisted now so I can only feel happy for someone who's had a shocker of a time battling infertility.

Sunday night, tea, papers and sweating away c/o clomid. IVF in the new year. Eyes on the prize. Should really stop drinking/sugar now, but I just can't face everything in life being shit.

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PotatoesPastaAndBread · 23/11/2015 19:36

Ha I know what you mean. I still a drink a bit, not loads, but my sugar intake is bad. A lovely poster upgthread said about eating well to prep for ivf but I just can't (won't) change my eating habits. I feel like I can't give up everything I enjoy. I know in the back of my mind I might affect my chances but I also tell myself I have to have a life and I'm better off going into ivf a little upbeat rather than depressed. Of course we can tell ourselves whatever we like! I've just given up thinking what I eat or drink makes a difference. This will either work or it won't. Something more is going on than my diet.

Good luck with the chlomid icy.

Someone at work today had the longest and loudest pregnancy announcement ever (I guessed a month ago) culminating in pinning her scan picture to her monitor. I put my earphones in and kept typing (felt like a bitch but didn't care).

icy121 · 23/11/2015 23:11

potatoes Jesus really? What sort of job do you have? I'm a chartered surveyor, about 80% of my industry are men. Thank Christ, because long and loud pregnancy announcements and sticking up pictures of scans is fucking nauseating.

Having lots of male friends and as I said never really working around a lot of women, it's all a bit alien to me. Luckily I think cos that little vignette made me cringe pretty fucking hard.

Sweats are becoming more infrequent, now I can feel my over stimulated ovaries ripening up. Really odd tight feeling. Should go for a scan really. Meh.

Will try to go off booze now until the december bleed. Sugar - I'm addicted. I'm good all day and then just guzzle chocolate after dinner. --Can't don't want to help it!

We're going to do IVF in the new year so I think we might have a month off - or at least mentally I may try to. Then I can ironidiff which is obviously the plan Wink

Right. Bed. Got both cats up with me. Love them.

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loopylou1984 · 24/11/2015 06:49

Hello everyone, not sure if you'll remember me? I did briefly join a few months ago but wasn't able to keep up.
Have returned as I'm desperately in need of some advice (and a reality check!).

I'm currently 5dp5dt on a natural FET so no drugs what so ever - except pregnyl as a trigger 6 days before transfer. I feel like af is going to arrive any minute due to cramping and my heavy feeling boobs have stopped feeling heavy. Is this the end of the road? Has it failed? Xx

Fractiousfractions · 24/11/2015 10:44

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PotatoesPastaAndBread · 24/11/2015 19:18

Hi icy / fractious

I work for a charity so 70% women! Always someone preggers / on mat leave / just back from mat leave etc. I've been there a long time (ironically lots of mat covers = variety and learning opportunities! ) and I can see people have mentally moved me from "too young to get preggers" to "probably preggers at any moment" to "hmmmm wonder what's up with her, why not preggers?" to "must hate kids". My boss is a guy but he's fucking awesome (we have worked together a long time and know each other well). He had a kid with his partner after several rounds of ivf and he totally gets it. He doesn't know my details but he knows enough and I can do whatever I need re: appointments etc no questions asked. I had to withdraw from a big project in Dec/jan to allow for appointments and he was fantastic about it.

Get my drug delivery tomorrow! Starting to seem real.

Good assessment of the diet fractious - any gains marginal vs being more miserable than I already am. Chocs away! Hope you feel better soon icy

sammy sorry but I have no experience of that (don't understand some of the abbreviations even!) so can't help I'm afraid!

icy121 · 24/11/2015 19:30

Sammy - manically Google the symptoms and then hope for the best...Who can tell. Does it mean "5 days past 5 day transfer"? Does that mean effectively 10 dpo if it were a normal fertilisation? I've had every early pregnancy symptom ever and never had a sniff of a bfp. Not even a chemical pregnancy. Absolutely nothing. So, effectively, symptoms mean shit! Wait until you start to bleed. I tend to do a cheap pregnancy test on due day, just so I know whether to shove mooncup in. For the past 25..26(?) months it's been one sad solitary lonely line. Mooncup duly shoved in and at around 3 pm the cramps start.

Sorry totally hijacked your stressing! Basically... Dunno, and no one really can know. Sorry can't be of more use. But on the positive you get to practice having to hold down your life whilst your head is being well and truly fucked, so if you can do that then you can probably deal with anything Gin.

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icy121 · 24/11/2015 19:34

Potatoes am constipated again so that'll be swollen ovaries pushing up onto my bowel. Learning about anatomy! It's great you have a good boss. Mine is a real sticker for bums on seats and I've only worked there since about June so don't know him well at all. 70% women - wow! I don't think I could. Let them think you hate kids. Overly fertile fuckers, sodding bloody cun- [reins in abject bitterness] ...sigh.

Tired of all this fretting.

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Fractiousfractions · 24/11/2015 20:11

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PotatoesPastaAndBread · 24/11/2015 20:49

No I'm not excited at all. Or optimistic that it'll work. Just fed up putting it off. Maybe not the best place to be. But at least I have wine and chocolate to keep me going!

Fun fact I just learnt from the paper work the clinic sent today: you have progesterone pessaries for a week and they go up your arse, not up your vag. Well doesn't it just get better and better.

CatnipMouse · 25/11/2015 09:13

Hey all. Sammy, hope you're OK. I guess you're 6 days post transfer today. Still too early to know anything. I know that this part of the process can drive you completely round the bend, I was there a couple of weeks ago, it was bloody hard. You just have to hang on in there. Have you got distractions? I should have planned more stuff in the evenings, I just sat around googling infertility talkboards which didn't do me any good. I might PM you in a few weeks time to ask about your experience of natural FET as I have some embryos in the freezer and I'm wondering if natural rather than medicated FET is the way to go this time.

For those of you who will be starting IVF soon - if it's reassuring, many people don't find the drugs too hard going physically. I didn't, I had some headaches from down-regulation, and a strange feeling from over-inflated ovaries towards egg collection. Not so bad. I found the needles hard to start with but you get the hang of it. Even the stuff up your bum, PPB - amazing what you can get used to... And psychologically it was actually a lot better getting started with IVF, compared with how it felt when I was pissing about every month wondering if I had somehow got pregnant naturally, and fighting and pushing for hospital appointments and tests and referrals.

I'm not sure a positive mental attitude helps that much really - the one time my treatment worked was a frozen cycle which I was actually pretty hostile to and thought was a pointless exercise. Those embryos both implanted (didn't actually result in a successful pregnancy mind you, there's a whole world of shit that's still possible after implantation). So don't stress about not feeling happy and positive and optimistic and fluffy.

karlafox · 25/11/2015 17:09

Sounds like you are all having a shit day!

I Thought I would read some of your posts to cheer myself up in a selfish/morbid way??
I Went for my day 10 scan today thinking IUI was gonna be on Thursday. Shit news, follicle has only grown 3mm since Monday therefore only taking it to 1.3cm. Apparently not big enough yet (how incompetent am I). So I was told to double the dose of Gonal-F, cross my fingers and come back tomorrow to be scanned again.
Got back to work and told a few people (the ones I'm quite friendly with who tryto show support) and these were some of their dumb responses:
Well at least it won't count as one of your IUI cycles if it doesn't happen this month
Well at least it means you can have a good drink at the Christmas party! YAY!
Well it might still happen naturally, I got preggers the day before my period once!

So I stopped off at sainsburys on my way home and bought a big bag of jam doughnuts which I'm currently scoffing in the midst of hot flushes and constant toilet visits (got the trots from the meds)before DH gets home from work.

karlafox · 25/11/2015 17:11

Oh and I still did an ovulation test when I got home... Defo losing my mind right about now! But the doughnuts are helping 🙂

loopylou1984 · 25/11/2015 20:21

Lol - thanks everyone, I think I just needed to vent to be honest! I'm up and down like a yogi, and driving myself crazy with symptom spotting!

Yes that was 5 days post 5 day transfer, so now 6dp5dt and effectively 11dpo. Still cramping, and stronger than I've ever had before in the run up to af.

Catnip - feel free to message me about anything you'd like to know. Natural FET is definitely the way forward in my opinion! Xx

PotatoesPastaAndBread · 26/11/2015 07:58

karla jam doughnuts sound like a great medicine. sammy hang in there and let us know how it goes. Thanks for the reassurance catnip , it's good to hear from people who've been there. I'm a total ivf novice. I ordered my drug delivery to my office yesterday because, well, how big could it be? Fucking enormous, that's how big. My team were like "wtf is that?" I cycle to work and had to get a taxi home to carry it. What a moron. All advice and tips appreciated to stop me continuing further idiocy!

PotatoesPastaAndBread · 26/11/2015 08:02

Oh and I just re-read the whole thread on the train. It's good value! Laughs, tears, sighs and some fantastic advice and insight. You rock ladies Flowers

CatnipMouse · 26/11/2015 13:27

your drugs came to the office? that's funny. What did you say 'oh yes, I'm just really super organised, it's all my Christmas present shopping! Christmas presents that need to go in the fridge right away! Obviously! Doesn't everyone keep all their gifts in the fridge?'

sammy hope you are not losing your mind my dear - I'm not starting to think about the next cycle and using my frozen ones just yet but I will be soon. When are you supposed to test?

karla how is your follicle today? It doesn't mean you're incompetent, don't be thinking like that xx

loopylou1984 · 26/11/2015 14:31

Lol potatoes - I'd like to know how you explained it too?!

Catnip - my official test day is 2nd December, but the reality is that af will arrive this weekend if it hasn't worked. I'm thinking of testing tomorrow, 8dp5dt...

karlafox · 26/11/2015 16:39

CatnipMouse - thanks for asking, follicle seems to have had a bit of a growth spurt since yesterday (3 whole MM bigger) so round 2 planned for tomorrow... Hospital protocol states they can't do IUI on follicles smaller than 1.5cm although they have had pregnancies with them that size.
Whizzed back to work after my appointment to be greeted by a colleague, her husband and brand spanking new baby ( which was v cute btw) so we heard all about the labour, birth, stitches, breast feeding, sore boobs, which just made me bitter and twisted inside. Obviously I then had to hold this gorgeous 2 week old baby otherwise I would be the weird 30 something childless woman in the corner that either hates kids or can't have them!! So I thought stuff it, pass the baby..

Fractiousfractions · 26/11/2015 17:49

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PotatoesPastaAndBread · 26/11/2015 18:46

Thanks for the sympathy/smiles! I am a good liar if I have preparation time and a dreadful spontaneous liar. Sadly I had to lie on the spot so I blurted out that they were drugs (doh) then said they were for my husband, who everyone now probably thinks is dying. God that looks ridiculous reading it back. What a total idiot!!!

I start down regulating next week. Unless of course I get pregnant before then. Ha.ha.ha. Any other tips on how to avoid looking like a prize wally during this process greatly appreciated.

PotatoesPastaAndBread · 26/11/2015 18:50

Oh no I can't stop laughing at my own idiocy

My husband's drugs cane to my office? wtf? People must think I'm insane.

Fractiousfractions · 26/11/2015 19:58

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.