TTC for 18 months or more. Moving onto IUI/IVF/ICSI -part 2

[bluebird3]

We have relocated from the conception board where we were previously chatting under the thread 'ttc for 10 months or more'. A lot of us are now long term ttc-ers and are going through infertility treatment or looking to take steps in this direction so we feel this might be a more suitable home for us!

Feel free to stop by and say hi and hopefully we can share the journey together and make it a little easier along the way!

Apologies for all the typos but I think it all still makes sense!

Hi everyone. Hope it's been a good weekend. I have the scratch in the morning, so hoping that isn't too painful.

Had some random spotting today. Really confused. We dtd cd8 (no contraception) then ovulated cd 16. Didn't dtd again till cd 21. (Used contraception). Today is cd23 so don't think there is any chance of a miracle last chance pregnancy. Just my body f-ing with me yet again. I don't usually get spotting till cd 27-28. Hoping it doesn't screw up the scratch.

Good luck for tomorrow blue. No idea about the spotting - is it worth doing a test on the off chance? I know it's mega early but otherwise just mention it at the scratch tomorrow? It's hopefully just your body feeling a bit stressed or something? Let us know how it all goes tomorrow.

Thanks tea. Will take a FRER tomorrow morning just for peace of mind. It's probably just stress or maybe from dtd Friday night? Only had pink spotting when I wiped earlier and nothing since.

Hope all goes ok today blue!

The scratch was awful. I had what they call an 'adverse reaction'. Literally, the pain was so intense I nearly passed out and I had to lay flat for 30 min while they monitored my blood pressure because every time I tried to sit up I nearly passed out again. Once I regained a normal bp the pain was slight...just like period cramping and is completely gone now 2 hours later. I really wanted to cry as I felt traumatised. Will never ever have that done again. Apparently this is unusual so if anyone else is considering don't think this will be the same for you. Am fairly petrified for ec now.

It also revealed I have cervical erosion which shouldn't be a problem with my IVF but finally explains my spotting between periods.

Oh blue how awful!! Are you at home for the rest of the day? Glad you had a reason for the spotting too - I think cervical erosion is quite common?

Oh blue sounds horrid! Glad the pain has gone now! Maybe a stupid question but do they sedate you for a scratch? I know they do (or can do) with egg collection x

You poor thing blue!

Sorry for not being great at keeping up. Got a lot going on at home/work at the moment. Will do better!

Oh my goodness blue that sounds horrific, you poor thing. No wonder you're traumatised Thank goodness you took the day off - hope you're at home recovering now. Let's hope it has the desired effect hey.

Patient info session does sound good maple. I forget sometimes that most of the knowledge I have is from too much mumsnet so an info session for my OH would be great.

Injecting has been fine so far but they are starting to sting - I think it's the bruising. Well done Tea on getting the knack. I did a gonal f in the restaurant toilet on Saturday night, but otherwise they have been fine. I'm away at a conference Monday and Tuesday next week so will have to get good at preparing the jabs which I haven't done yet as DH does them all.

Hope, I'm sorry your consultation has made you worry but sounds like the overall message was that there was nothing obvious wrong and it's just a fact that some otherwise perfect cycles will fail. Re the ovarian reserve thing, I was going to suggest you post a separate thread as there were some ladies in earlier versions of this thread that had low AMH and they were so knowledgeable about it - see you've done that now and the person I was thinking about has commented. I know you don't necessarily have low AMH but they may be able to shed some light. Have you contacted the clinic yet? As for me, my FSH is 6.9 (measured on cd4) and I'm on a dose of 150iu for 4 days then down to 112.5. Also, even if you do have low reserve, that says nothing about egg quality which is pretty much determined by age, and at 32 you definitely have that in your favour.

Thanks everyone. I've been absolutely fine and pain free the rest of the day. It was horrible though and I feel like I lived through something. Or maybe I'm just a wimp! rosie they usually don't sedate although they can give gas and air if needed. I didn't think I would need it as they said most people are fine with just some paracetamol 30 min before. And I drove myself which looking back was a mistake. Here's hoping it improves chances. I've done some research and it can up to double chances of implantation so trying to see it as worth it.

So happy I took the day off as I've been on and off tearful and couldn't have faced a full day at work. I'll be right as rain in the morning though. :)

I second that a patient info session would have been nice. I knew loads about IVF as my bf went through it a couple years ago but dh knew nothing. Our clinic has been very good about explaining everything thoroughly to us.

Blue That sounds horrible fingers crossed that it helps in the long run. Glad you are feeling better. Is there a chance that it would be ok if you needed it again ( Hopefully not) like the bad experience was just a one off ?

Blue that sounds so traumatic, I'm glad your feeling better now but it must of been very scary and painful. I'm sure you weren't being a wimp it sounds horrible! Treat yourself tonight

star thank you for your response yes i did do a seperate thread and the ladies who responded were very helpful and set my mind at ease a bit. I didn't get chance to ring my clinic today but will ring in the morning. I had a look at my paperwork and i have a copy of my bloodwork but its from oct 2014 so its a bit out of date (i've had it done since then) but on the one i have my FSH is 6.3, no mention of my AMH on there at all! So will definately chase that up!
I am not feeling quite so panicked about it now i think i just had a wobble, these doctors just say things and dont realise the effect it has making you worry!

Xx

Hope you're feeling better blue and less traumatised! You definitely weren't being a wimp! Sounds horrific but hopefully worth it. The clinic I'm at do a local anaesthetic for egg collection so you might be able to ask if you're worried? It's weird how protocol is so different depending on where you live!

hope I'm glad you got some answers. I feel like the doctors / consultants definitely see the whole process as purely medical and I think they forget there's real, and normally scared/worried, people behind the whole procedure. All the nurses have been lovely though. Hope you get some answers from your clinic tomorrow.

I have been a bit useless lately too.
Ouch, sorry the scratch wasn't pleasant blue. Fingers crossed it will all be worth it!
tea and star glad the injecting is going well and isn't too bad.
hope glad you are feeling a bit better too, doctors can definitely say things so flipantly not realising the effect their words have on us.
I sourced my own clomid from an online pharmacy (i know! But the nhs werent offering us anything and desperate times and all that). Anyway. It is all above board and it actually worked! I didn't check for ovulation but I got af for the first time since april 2015 (apart from one i had that was a provera one, so nothing to do with ovulatuon). I was soooo excited. I have gone a bit ott on the old opk's etc. Even though I know it is a bit pointless, this is really our first chance of actually being able to try even though we been ttc for nearly 2 years so I have gone a bit giddy lol.

ptera glad the clomid worked and was the real deal. How frustrating if that's all you needed after all this time. Why wouldn't the NHS prescribe it for you?

star I was just wondering whether you are having any side effects from your stims apart from the stinging/bruising? I started cetrozide (not sure on sp) as well today and it itches like mad. I'm not feeling any hormonal changes though - was expecting to be a total basket case.

No tea because OH has such a tiny sperm count...also because I have dd. So they wouldnt prescribe it because it is unlikely really to actully help us get pregnant and also cos it is a fertility drug so wont prescribe as I have dd. I mean the actual chances of us getting pregnant are...well the consultant used the term miracle (always so positive aren't they ) but it just means we do actually have the teeniest of tiny chances while we save for the icsi privately x

Oh sorry ptera. A small chance is better than no chance though so good luck while you save up for icsi.

Hey tea, so far no side effects at all. I feel totally normal. I was having headaches from the down reg drug but these stopped once I started stims. At least I think it was that, but no-one had told me about drinking lots of water before so it may just have been dehydration. Weird that it's itching- is that a known side effect? My nurse told me to keep the two drugs to separate sides of the body so we could tell what any reaction is down to - maybe you should let the clinic know, just to check it's normal? Think we should be grateful we're not hormonal, but I worry it means it's not doing anything. I drop my dose down this evening.

Congrats on the period ptera. We have mfi too but proxeed has helped quite a bit - at first our treatment was icsi but it has improved enough now that we should only need standard ivf. Which is something I guess. Is your OH on any vits or supplements?

Geeup, is it your appointment today? Good luck if so and let us know how it goes

Yes star thanks for thinking of us. Yep we're off for our initial consultation so hope I won't be far behind you guys. Can't wait to find out if 4 months Proxeed has made any difference to my DHs SA too! Did it change your morphology Star or just up how counts? Would love to be able to do ivf even if 50:50 with ICSI.
Itching to get going now!!!

Ooh good luck gee, let us know how you get on!
And thanks star and tea. Even though I know it is incredibly unlikely it is nice to now have the tiniest chance! He takes wellman vits. We were going to have a private SA done to see of count has improved (been on them 6 months now) but he was wiped out with flu just before xkas so feel like that may skew results now?! Did you guys see a huge improvement then star? Ivf over icsi would save about a grand so would be fab to do that but im not sure what count they want to see for that?

Another stalker here

Star I was on 150 and then dropped to 112.5. Don't worry about not being hormonal, I wasn't at all. I don't think I felt any real effects until close to EC, if it wasn't for the scans I wouldn't have known anything was different. Good luck for Friday!

Hi all. Had our consultation. Looks like DHs sperm don't survive more than 24 hours. No idea why but it's probably why we've never got pregnant naturally and so we'll be having ICSI. Have to wait for my period this cycle and then will have our implications appointment then start downregging in early March. Feels like ages away but finally have the plan! Going to try and think of some lovely stuff to do in Feb to make the most of (hopefully!) our last days as a twosome! Hopefully you'll all be preggo by then and waiting for me on a grass thread...

Oh gee that's a bit of a kicker. Does you DH have a low count? Sorry I have lost track a bit.
Lovely plan about doing something nice in Feb to pass the time. I definitely will still be here for a very long time sadly but I reckon there are def some bfps around the corner for you lovely ladies!!

Well done tea and star on injections so far - you can do it! How much longer now? Any scans coming up?

Blue glad you had the day off! Glad all was fine afterwards!

Hope I would be really surprised if they hadn't done AMH - did you manage to speak to them this morning?

Ptera hooray for the period! Was it "normal"?

Gee I'm not likely to start till march either - waiting for my protocol meeting too! Maybe we will be able to cycle together. Good idea about doing nice things in Feb! Might pinch that idea and do the same!