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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.

FET Sept/Oct

996 replies

Lolly2803 · 02/09/2016 17:36

Hi ladies,
I am due to start an FET in Sept/Oct and wondered if anyone else was too?! Had my first cycle of IVF in August but due to fluid in my uterus and thin lining had to freeze everything. I seem to always have fluid mid cycle, including natural cycles. Very worried that it will always be a problem and will never get to use my embryos. Having a hysteroscopy the week after next to check incase anything in there but doc suspects not. Would be great to have a few buddies! xxx

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xcinema · 16/11/2016 20:44

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csa26 · 16/11/2016 22:45

Lolly you need a hug and ice cream not a slap Smile. Or Flowers.

I know it seems like this is your only chance, but your womb has proved it can produce lining, there's no reason it can't do that again. Even if it doesn't work this time, it could be anything - you know how many little ones don't make it past the first few weeks, usually because something's gone awry developmentally (which can happen to the healthiest-looking little guy!)

Just a couple of days to go and then you'll know what's going on - and you really don't know until then, however you're feeling now!

X

Bear2014 · 17/11/2016 06:54

Hi Lolly - echoing everything csa said - it's not the end no matter what. Really hope you're feeling ok today xx

Lolly2803 · 17/11/2016 07:38

Hi ladies, thanks for your messages. Feeling a bit better today. Just trying to get through the next two days and will just deal with Saturday when it comes. I've got no choice but to deal with it whatever the result so just have to be patient. You'd think we'd be good at that given all the waiting but it still seems a challenge!
Hope you are all ok today. xxx

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Bear2014 · 17/11/2016 15:46

Two more sleeps Lolly! You're doing great and are entitled to some wobbles! xx

Lolly2803 · 17/11/2016 15:49

I know! I've not had a good day today. Feeling so sick and just getting upset at the thought it might not work. Well it's most likely not to work.
Knowing this was our best shot I'm just not sure how I'll cope with the negative result.

How are you? xx

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Bear2014 · 17/11/2016 15:54

Bleurgh - I know that feeling, yuk. The hormones definitely make it harder to keep up the PMA.

I visited some little twins yesterday, their parents were told they could never have kids, even with IVF, and yet there they are.

You can cope with whatever Saturday has to throw at you xx

I'm ok thanks, been eating loads of protein and all the general 'old wives tale' food and drink for my lining, in the hope that my ovulation will come in a few days and the lining will catch up. Progress scan tomorrow afternoon.

Lolly2803 · 17/11/2016 16:25

Wow that's an amazing story. Hearing things like that do give me hope. I think if I found out I was having twins I'd pass out with shock - happy shock of course but would be so unexpected!
Hormones are a bitch. Well progesterone is. I'm so nauseas!

Anything you can do to help Bear I'm all for! Sometimes just doing something that we think helps makes us feel more positive so I'm all for that!
Fingers crossed for your lining tomorrow! Let me know how you get on. I'll be thinking of you. I think tomorrow night I'll be such a bag of nerves. They said we can go for bloods from 8am on Sat morning so I imagine I'll be there waiting for when they open. That'll be the most nervous wait for my phone to ring ever I think! Aaaahhh!!!

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Bear2014 · 17/11/2016 16:39

I can't imagine the suspense of the clinic blood test. It's always just been standard pee on a stick for us. But I guess it does eliminate some of the temptation to test early. eeeeeek I'm really rooting for you xx

Lolly2803 · 17/11/2016 17:25

Aw thanks Bear! I have only ever seen a BFN pregnancy test so in a way I am glad I don't have to do one...I think they can be torturous analysing lines and shades etc. A simple yes or no i think in the long term is better! Brutal but better!

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bananafish81 · 17/11/2016 19:20

Hi ladies

Been following your posts and thinking of you all lots, sorry for radio silence, been lots of late nights at work

blue amazing news about your embryos and everything crossed for some beautiful blasts on Sat. How are you feeling?

lolly echoing what the wise ladies have already said, you are doing so amazingly well and I hope Saturday’s beta gives you only good news! I’m sorry you’re feeling so pants on the progesterone, I know a lot of people say they feel ropey on it. Hopefully something is going on to make your natural progesterone levels spike too!! You’re doing so so well, the period between ET and OTD is some kind of special hell, we are all here cheering you on

I'm so so glad we did betas, as if we had just gone on the urine pregnancy test after my FET, we would have just taken the BFP on the HPT as meaning I was pregnant and booked me in for a scan - and obv I would have found out the pregnancy wasn't viable at another heartbreaking scan. Because we were following my hCG levels with serial betas, we could see where the levels were at - and first time round, it was very reassuring to see the numbers were heading up as they were supposed to :)

bear Thinking thick for you! Hopefully you won’t need it, but can definitely recommend doing an aqua scan if it comes to it, as it can give a much clearer picture than a standard ultrasound, and help to visualise the outline of the endometrium, and indicate if there might be any adhesions or similar following the section and ERPC, that might warrant a hysteroscopy, as a standard ultrasound is fairly limited about what it can show. Although if they use the colour doppler when they’re doing a regular scan they can check your uterine blood flow - have they done that yet?

I’m curious about what clinics we are all at, as we’re all in London?! I’m actually not with a clinic per se, I’m with an independent consultant, so I see him at his consulting rooms for all my scans, but EC and ET are at CARE London, and it’s their lab.

csa when is your viability scan? everything crossed for you! Twinges are completely normal - your uterus is stretching, so cramping is definitely to be expected. Spotting isn’t necessarily anything sinister either! I didn’t have any spotting or cramping or bleeding when I had my mc, I had no clue that anything had gone wrong between my 9w and 10w scans, so I really wouldn’t read too much into any symptoms (easier said than done!) I did laugh out loud when I read about your Cyclogest wiggling out incident!

AFM, well I had my bloods done on Monday and it’s a mixed bag. I have been absorbing the patches, but not the cycloprogynova, it seems - as my oestrodial had risen, but my progesterone hadn’t moved, which suggests I haven’t absorbed the progestin in the HRT

Scan on Monday to see what’s going on, but I can’t imagine that anything will happen when I finish the packet, as I presumably won’t have a progesterone withdrawal bleed if there’s no fall in progesterone levels

Dr said in his email that he thought the best way to thicken my lining would be to use some mild stims to try and get me to ovulate, as my body seems to respond better to natural hormones (with an artificial boost) than artificial oestrogen and progesterone on their own. Will discuss on Monday whether we do ovulation induction with Gonal-F or if we give Tamoxifen a whirl. We’d discussed trying Tamoxifen in the past, and he said he was definitely open to seeing how I got on with it; although some clinics use it for donor egg recipients who don’t respond well to oestrogen, my Dr said he used to use it quite routinely instead of Clomid for ovulation induction back in the early 90s. Will also discuss whether we add in extra oestrogen with patches and Cyclogest to make sure my progesterone levels are where they need to be. Oh the indignity of 2 weeks of Cyclogest when I’m on contraception and can’t therefore have any chance of conceiving!

Lolly2803 · 17/11/2016 19:31

Banana! Welcome back, we've missed you loads! Sounds like you're making progress though and have quiet a clear plan and next steps. Which is encouraging. The tamoxifen sounds like a really good idea. I'm all up for trying different types of similar things as something's just don't work for some people! I can imagine your guru Dr just trying something and bam he'll find the magic concoction that you need and away you'll go!! Boo the cyclogest though! Although I think it is the jabs making me feel rotten and bruised. Cruel really given it's all pregnancy symptoms so can't even symptom spot as I know what is causing it. Nausea, tired, sore veiny boobs, heartburn, cramping off and on.

I'm starting to get so terrified. I feel like I've thrown everything at this and this is our best shot of it working and if it doesn't work I'm not sure how I'm going to cope. But I guess I will...

I'm at Harley Street Fertility Clinic!

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Lolly2803 · 17/11/2016 20:02

Did any of you ladies find the progesterone made your bits feel a bit more sensitive? When i go for a wee and wipe it feels a bit sore/sensitive.

Crampy again tonight - beyond worried. :(

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csa26 · 17/11/2016 20:35

Yes Lolly I find that - it's getting quite sore putting it in and when I had my wriggle-out incident I could feel it burning! Really feeling for you - I'm only on 2 Cyclogest a day and it makes me feel like an angry bear - it must be awful being on so much of it!

Banana you're such an inspiration - so many setbacks and you've just decided to become the human encyclopedia of all things IVF and keep finding new avenues!

My first scan is 1st Dec - exactly 2 weeks today. So nervous! I don't think I will really believe this is happening until I see a heartbeat, and quite scared it won't be there... At the moment there is just no way of knowing except that I haven't had any bleeding at all since ET.

I'm at Guy's - the first gyno we saw was bloody awful. Just a completely unsympathetic man, and clearly hadn't looked at our notes at all so at our first appointment was grilling me about all my lifestyle and why hadn't I cut out alcohol altogether (we have a male infertility problem - it would be completely medically impossible for us to conceive the normal way and the problem is very obvious so we knew there was no point trying!). Then he kept insisting our problem was psychological and he'd refer us for sexual counselling, despite me gently pointing out it's a really really common complication of type 1 diabetes (guess who has type 1 diabetes!). At the end of our first appt, he said "I'm just going outside to talk to a colleague," was gone for 10 minutes, then reappeared saying "yes, well this is obviously a physical problem isn't it, so I'll refer you to an andrologist."

Fortunately the andrologist was absolutely lovely, and when we told her about the gyno she said "this isn't the first time we've heard this sort of thing, I'll make sure you don't see him again". She got us seen by an absolutely WONDERFUL gynaecologist. I'm not a fan of having strangers poke things up my hoo-ha, and this lady is the first doctor I've ever seen (EVER) who's treated me like this is a perfectly normal reservation and not some kind of weird frigidity. She arranged for me to have all my scans externally - even though that means she has to do them all personally herself because apparently external IVF scans are a dying art! And she put me down for full sedation at ET transfer too. Then we turned up on ET day to find the first gyno was down to do the transfer... While I was busy hyperventilating and insisting I didn't want to make a fuss, DH sweetly ignored me and went and told the nurses they'd have to get someone else to do the transfer, which they did immediately. So all in all, after a rocky start very happy with Guy's although it is ABSOLUTELY impossible to get hold of them on the phone ever (my trick is calling the payment line and ask them to pass on a message - funnily enough that line is always open!)

Big day for you both on Saturday Blue and Lolly! Really really hoping it goes well for you both.

Lolly2803 · 17/11/2016 20:49

Thing is I don't put them in the front....so not sure why my bits are sensitive. Is there a thing this progesterone doesn't stick its nose into!!

CSA sounds like you had a lucky escape with that heartless doc. I think. Holding a relationship with your dr and nurses makes such a difference to how you feel and nervous/anxious you can be. Thank goodness you've found the right one now! Sounds like Banana has found a great one too who genuinely cares about her and her treatment. Gems like that are worth their weight in gold i think! Crampy tonight - had enough of the wondering now!!

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Bear2014 · 17/11/2016 21:10

Hi Banana, glad to see you're exploring some new avenues. Your doc really does sound like the man.

We're at London Women's Clinic on Harley St. Initially because they are very gay friendly. I don't think they are as proactive and innovative as some, which is why i'm getting keen to have some investigations elsewhere, but they are generally good and they gave us our DD! And the sperm bank ties us to them, too.

I've just eaten the most gigantic Turkish mixed grill to feed my lining Grin

Blueroses99 · 17/11/2016 22:45

Banana good to hear from you. Hope you find the right cocktail of drugs soon 🍸

Lolly seems like progesterone has some random side effects for you! I like the sound of betas. My clinic just asks me to do an HPT and then a viability scan a couple of weeks later.

CSA sounds like you had great treatment in the end but sorry you had to deal with the heartless gynae.

Bear hoping for a thick lining for tomorrow for you. Good luck.

I'm with Boston Place. We went to a few open days and liked IVF Hammersmith but the location at Hammersmith hospital was too awkward to travel from home and work, and Boston Place started off as the private offshoot in a more convenient location, but is now a clinic in its own right (part of The Fertility Partnership). I have no reason to complain and I like the fact that i) they do read notes before the session, and ii) all procedures and scans etc are carried out by doctors, not nurses; both of which caused issues in my previous NHS cycle.

I'm just trying to keep busy and manage my worries about ending up with no blasts...

Lolly2803 · 18/11/2016 08:18

Morning all. Sorry for the TMI but I've got tummy cramps today and am frequently visiting the bathroom shall we say! Anyone else had this? Worried my cyclogest from this am hasn't absorbed in time although I did have my jab so hoping that's covered. Argh feeling crap!!

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Bear2014 · 18/11/2016 13:45

CSA - sorry to hear about your experience with some of the docs. It's never ceased to amaze me over the years how little bedside manner or general people skills some of them have! I've heard great things about guys though, and they obviously did a good job for you!

Banana - I'll ask them about the doppler blood flow thing later. What are we looking for - even blood flow to all parts of the uterus? I'm still not ovulating yet so hopefully lining will catch up.

Lolly - you do back door cyclogest don't you? Yeah all that sounds totally normal I'm sorry to say xx

Bear2014 · 18/11/2016 13:47

Blue - no news is good news with embryologists isn't it? - I bet you'll have a few crackers by this time tomorrow. Fingers crossed for you xx

Blueroses99 · 18/11/2016 14:20

Bear that's what I've been telling myself. I trust my clinic to call me if there were any concerns BUT I have been here before... on my first (NHS) cycle, with 2 embryos in the lead I was set for a day 3 transfer but by the time I got there, a third embryo caught up and I was rescheduled for a day 5, but on day 5, they hadn't progressed much beyond day 3 development. They didn't tell me until I arrived for ET. I hope that if I had no day 4 morulas today that they would have called me by now!!

Bear2014 · 18/11/2016 14:34

That must have been so agonising- in all probability they wouldn't have made it inside you if they arrested though would they? Hopefully the protocol change will shine through tomorrow xx

Lolly2803 · 18/11/2016 14:47

Hey Blue! I'm sure no news is good news. At my clinic they don't look at the embryos on Day 4 as they don't want to disturb them. I think Bear is right though, if they've arrested they wouldn't have made it inside you. I'm sure that they are just growing themselves ready to start getting snug so don't worry yourself. Keeping everything crossed for you.

Bear yes, back door cyclogest for me. Felt like a tummy bug this morning. Cramps and 3 visits to the loo! Am ok now though and cramps have gone. Heartburn attacking now. Only cried twice today in preparation for tomorrow - I'm a wreck honestly! Are you back in for a scan today? xx

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Bear2014 · 18/11/2016 14:52

Yep just leaving now to head over. Thinking thick! No glimmer of ovulation so hoping that will come in another couple of days, giving the lining a chance to catch up. I definitely need to have more faith in my body.

you're doing great! one more day to go xx

Lolly2803 · 18/11/2016 14:59

Aw thinking thick and lushious for you! Least that gives the lining more time and maybe they'll add some progynova today to give it a bit of an omphf if needed?
Let me know how you get on.

I'm on the sofa dozing now and resting. Can't concentrate so decided to skive off today and not " work from home ".

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