The mind numbing boredom of infertility II

[PotatoesPastaAndBread]

This is a thread for peole who really want to get pregnant but can't, who have tried pretty much everything, and are really fucked off about it.

Have you ever nearly punched someone for advising you to "relax", "go on holiday" or "just get drunk - that's what we did"? Well then this is the thread for you.

You won't find much sentimentality here and there's no baby dust, but there is empathy, a lot of swearing and a surpirsing amount of glittery dog shit.

Link to the original thread
original thread

icy well done on your 25! I bet your shocked/releaved that that part is now over.
pepper good luck for your ET. I know what you mean about thinking of the little embies doing their thing.Its a weird feeling I never expected to have. fingers crossed for you!

My ET is tomorrow. Do I need to prep myself for anything? Like take off the war paint and polish as per EC?

icy well done. Sorry you're feeling awful, I really hope you feel better soon.

Welcome pepper - that sounds tough especially being your fourth cycle. Best of luck to you, keep us updated.

karla sorry no advice as I haven't done it but just wanted to say good luck!!

karla if you're not being sedated then no, no prep. My tip is that they say full bladder. I did REALLY full bladder and they were 40 minutes delayed. Eeeeek. Then they told me it was too full (ie I wouldn't be able to relax) so I should "pee for 7seconds to let some out then stop and come back". Not easy. So full bladder doesn't really mean full. Just not empty. Anyway, best of luck for tomorrow.

icy, well done, it must be agony. I had nothing like 25 and it hurt like fuck for the whole day. Rest up. Hope you're back to normal soon. Was waiting a cycle then fet the plan or is this due to the huge haul/impending ohss? Best of luck.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/ivf-clinics-must-not-be-allowed-to-exploit-childless-families-for-profit-a7030646.html

Interesting of slightly depressing article about whether ivf clinics have too much power....

stralth what's Powerade? Never heard of it.

Feel awful, belly getting tighter and tighter & difficulty breathing. NICE!

Powerade is a electrolyte drink. Same sort of thing as Gatorade or lucozade (I can't stand the taste of lucozade so don't drink it.) A sports drink thing. It will help, trust me. Go and stock up, I think boots and most corner stores sell it.

Oh yes the not being able to breathe. I had that too. It's fun, hey?! You will feel rough over the next few days but if you drink lots of water & powerade you'll get through it ok and without full blown ohss. Remember AF will come probs a little earlier than in a normal cycle and as soon as that happens you will start to feel properly better - it's only if you have a transfer that it gets worse.

FYI I didn't have to wait for a cycle in between to do a FET and I was flipping enormous - once AF came my ovaries started deflating really quickly. Hopefully it will be the same for you.

Hi pepper. Hope the embryos keep behaving.

Karla j drank a pint of water 60 mins pre transfer time. They told me to drink two, pleased I didn't as it was then delayed and bladder was adequate for the indignity.

Icy hope the enormo bloat goes quickly. I feel totall back to normal today which is 6 days after ec. Main problem was the old bowels so make sure they don't cause extra grief.

Look after yourself Icy, that sounds awful but well done on the 25 eggs! You must have felt like a chicken by the end.

Karla good luck for tomorrow. My ET was delayed for ages as they didn't tell me I needed an empty bladder & I went in straight after a wee. They then had to give me IV fluids for nearly an hour. They didn't tell me no slap so I went in with my eyeliner on and nobody complained.

Potatoes hope you're doing all right out there.

Well done for getting through it and getting such a good number icy. I second drinking lots of water and looking after yourself. Symptoms sound scary and frankly a ballache (almost literally so, I guess). Poor ovaries.

Welcome pepper. Hope it all goes well getting to 5 days. Fingers crossed this is your time!

Fx for tomorrow too karla

Such busy barrens at the mo! Keep on trucking.

Just got back from hols so not fully caught up yet but just a quick note to Icy. I've been there, it's excruciating but does get better fairly quickly. I second what the others have said about sports drinks. Although I felt so nauseous with mine that the only thing I could stomach was robinsons Apple squash!
Have you got cabergolin from your clinic? It's a miracle drug! Xx

Thanks for all the advice! I've been necking Apple & blackcurrant squash (I make it up in a 1.5l copella bottle & aim for 3 bottles), but will investigate electrolyte drinks if they help deflate.

Thank god it's not just me, thanks for letting me know it's hideous but I'll live! I've been googling OHSS quelle surprise and wiki made me think I'm about to die! Or at least get hospitalised. I told an IRL friend about it all and they're just like "woohoo yeah loads of eggs go team" ignoring my point that the quality might be shot.. So worried they're all dud. Oh well tomorrow we'll find out!

Roll on the droid then! Glittery thank you shit for well wishes 💩🎉🎉 2 days wfh arranged thank god. The idea of train / tube 😱 Killer.

sammy yes I got some sort of OHSS drug! (Might be the c one you name, tbh I'm now past caring what they're all called..) I was disproportionately over excited when I saw what a teeny tiny little pill it is vs all those FUCKING jabs!

Blimey icy you’re an egg laying machine! Glad they’ve got you on the cabergoline and freezing all and not putting anything back until things have calmed down - hope you’re feeling better soon. Good luck for the ‘watching the phone like a bomb detonator’ call tomorrow

Oh and echoing others on the getting-bunged-up front. Get some lactulose from the chemist - disgusting tasting sweet liquid, but it’s deffo the best first line attack for constipation. If that’s not working, then add in senna (speaks the voice of experience of 15 years of long term opioid therapy and therefore 15 years of permanent constipation. Well, I think we all now learned far too much about my bowel movements…)

karla good luck! what everyone has already said. I was told medium-full bladder, and I got a bit over enthusiastic, and ended up cross eyed, which when ET was slightly delayed was BRILLIANT fun. Especially when the nurse was jamming the ultrasound doodah down right over my bladder and I was trying not to piss all over the consultant as he was delicately squirting a potential human into my uterus. I bet it must have happened to him before. Make sure you get a picture of the embryo! For all the shite of the IVF process, it’s pretty magical to see your potential future child at just 5 days post conception

Bip hope things have eased off down there

Hope you’re doing OK potatoes

Bathtub of glittery dogshit to you bean

Good luck pepper, everything crossed for some beautiful blasts for Weds

Pebbles not long to go - though I know it feels like aaaaaaages. Sounds ridiculous (cos it is) but to get through periods of waiting I found it helpful to mentally chunk up time. So for example, 4 weeks feels like an eternity. Yet it always seems to be bin day. Or Ocado day comes around really quickly. Or it’s Question Time again. Stuff where the week flies by - so 4 weeks actually became 2 bin days, one Ocado and a Question Time.

Yes I realise I am mental.

PeaOp Dogshite right back at you my dear!

Kiwi hope you’re hanging in there - and FUCKYEAHHAWKSMOOR. I’m salivating at the thought. You bloody deserve a fuck-off steak and ALL the

Grumpel shit’s definitely getting real - so excited for you. Hoping for a lovely ripening follicle with a side of juicy looking lining on Thu

sammy welcome back from holiday!

Well, it seems my borderline POF has been kicked to the kerb and the PCO has decided it hadn’t buggered off after all. Scan this morning showed 22 nice evenly sized follicles! On a mild dose of stims. When 7 months ago my AMH was undetectable. Bonkers.

Dr wants to go slow and steady so as not to overcook my eggs, aiming for EC Weds next. You’d think I’d be used to it now, given it’s our third cycle, but short protocol really does feel amazingly short!

ET done! 2 embies on board. Eek!
1 grade C blastocyst and 1 cavitating. Feels all abit surreal.

Well done karla. Everything crossed for you. and for lunch?

Fingers crossed karla - seriously nerve wracking I'm sure, hopefully you'll do a Lauraqc

Call from embryologist, 20 eggs fertilised normally, which I'm pretty surprised about. We'll wait and see how they get on this week and how many will make it to 5 days + a freeze. I've just been assuming that my eggs were all duds given it's been over 2 years of trying and not even a CP.... I guess let's see how many (if any) make it to day 5.

Still very sore + uncomfortable. The cleaners came today whilst I'm WFH. The lead cleaner asked me if I'm pregnant. Thanks for that. I look about 5 months. Reckon there is about 3l of water retention, although I got up for a midnight pee and I felt myself deflate a bit.

banana that is quick! well done ovaries for kicking into action again! what stim have they got you on? (curious for when if this all goes to shit and i've got to do another go, pco-friendly drugs)

icy good job on the 20! Hope you have some that make it all the way.
Must be honest, I was feeling abit disappointed/greedy that we didn't have 1 for the freezer so would have to go through all that again.. But baby steps aye!

Amazing news Karla! Hope the next 9 days whizzes by

Bloody hell icy that is one stonking fertilisation rate. Deffo don't sound like duds so far! Hopefully you'll have a cracking haul for the freezer and won't need to do this again

FYI though I'm on a lowish dose of Gonal-F (150iu). My consultant only does short protocol with anyone PCO to minimise risk of hyperstimulation - though it's amusing how the same protocol is also beneficial for the other end of the spectrum for poor responders (so you don't end up over suppressed by down regging). So I was on the same protocol for the first two cycles when I was low AMH - same drugs, just a much higher dose.

With long protocol you switch everything off before starting stims with a long acting drug (down regging with buserelin) whereas with short protocol you switch the pituitary off AFTER starting stims, with a short acting drug that slams the brakes on very quickly (usually Cetrotide), to make sure your ovaries don't go pop

I've only ever done Gonal-F - it's super easy to inject as it comes in a preloaded epipen. Fucking expensive though - whereas Menopur is naturally derived, from menopausal women's piss, Gonal-F is synthetic and made with Chinese hamsters in a lab, and costs a frigging bomb. At £233 per ml you could get some really swanky vintage champagne for less money, drop for drop - am sure your anaesthetist would approve!!

Thanks peeps. Not the most dignified of procedures! We were asked to take a mobile phone into theatre so we could take a pic of the embryos. I delegated that to OH.. He forgot! Still haven't forgiven him. twat
I couldn't think of any questions whilst in there, we must have looked like utter morons! But now I do have an obvious one if anyone can help...
Is a grade C blasto better than a grade A/B few day old Embryo?

Thanks for the welcome, ladies.

Karla - that's fab news about your two. Hope you don't go too bonkers with the wait.

icy - wow. That's an epic fertilisation rate. No messing around. Excellent.

Banana - know what you mean about short protocol feeling short. I also really didn't miss the Buscerellin this time round. I think stuff that evil could be used to reduce crime. Try doing robberies when you're knackered, have cardboard mouth and keep bursting into tears every 5 minutes.

I am so bloated that ladies keep smiling at my belly when they see me in the street. Ah well, roll on tomorrow. Eek!

Well down karla. Et is indeed most undignified. My husband couldn't come so it was just me and the clinical folks and no one to hold my hand - I'm a wuss and was pretty emotional.

Icy - that's epic. So pleased for you. Hope they continue well

I get the thoughts about freezing karla - I Naively anticipated that we would get to d5 and some to freeze. What a numpty. Not relishing the thought of going again.

icy that's a great no. to work with! Please don't go crossed eyed waiting for that phone call. P.s did you explain to the cleaner about OHSS 😝
Karla how's does it feel? I cannot even imagine. Hope you have something to keep you sane during the 2ww. Lots of dog shite to you (dying to type baby dust, NOT!)
banana wow that is bloody quick! No time to ponder about it all, just straight to it next week! Best of luck to you. I too do my countdowns by focusing on something each week. Actually been ok really, not counting down the days, not googling, it will happen when they decide it's time and everything is on track. Remind I said that one day please
Glad I am on short protocol too.
Dog shite to all of you.
Q: did any of you ladies continue CoQ10 during their cycle? Not sure if I should.

Fingers crossed for you, Icy, Karla & Banana.

You'll be fine to keep taking coq10, Pebbles. It doesn't do anything hormonal so it won't interfere with any of your meds.

Good luck all. I'm ducking back out - have just chucked out all my pregnancy / fertility books, old maternity clothes, etc and am officially embarking on the life of a fully permanent barren. Best of luck and lashings of dog shit to you all.

Best of luck to you bip. x

Best of luck with everything bip- I think of you often. I admire your humour and strength through everything, you're a real inspiration.