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!

Blue I agree with star. I'm a spotter too and always counted day 1 as the first day I saw red blood - my proper flow (super light) won't start for a few days after and I've never had any problems with my baseline scans I've had for my IUI's. As star said, it's better to go in early than later and miss the cycle

I've started spotting again early this month they never seem concerned about it though!

I would count it as day 1 too blue. Things are moving along!!
Also star I know it is easy for me to say but try not to worry. It is good they caught it early and have lowered your dose, and I have read about people with numbers from 1 egg all the way up to 20 something getting bfp's so it doesn't really mean anything
That is annoying maple. You would think they might look into it at least?!

I am really going all out this month to try and time things right. Even though deep down I know that it won't make a difference. I read it is best to dtd every 2-3 days to make sure you have a good supply of fresh sperm kicking around so am trying to get my head round when to dtd to ensure best chances for when I expect to ovulate. This is so romantic....😂 I havent had a chance before though so am a bit overexcited lol.

Star, I think I was just bloated and tired in the lead up to ec but I had a lot of pain afterwards (had none with my cycle at Kings) and got more bloated then when I went in for transfer
they said there was fluid in my abdomen and ummed and ahhhed about going ahead...had transfer but with strict instructions to rest and drink lots of fluids.
I had 21 follicles at my last scan before transfer last year and had 13 eggs collected and according to the embryologyst quality was good.

Tea hope your scan goes well today!

Ptera my periods have been totally different since coming off the pill (was on it for 10 years, no break). I can spot from 10 days before to just 1 day - always brown. Then I have a super light period then spot for a few days. All blood tests came back "normal" so they aren't worried... I'll bring it up again at my next appointment though (not till march 😩).

We try and dtd every other day from after period to when I start spotting - doesn't always happen mind you! Good luck this month!

Do you think the pill caused it maple? I hate hornonal contraception it really messes me up. How ironic that I didn't even need it the last few years anyway!
I am thinking with sperm being low and probably low quality too timing is going to be crucial. But I also think it is too much arsing about trying to time it with military precision.
I was looking into mild ivf too. Less drugs, less cost but of course also less chance of success. They aim to get between 2 and 7 eggs instead of 8+ as from conventional ivf. Part of me thinks save the money for conventional, takes longer but more chance of success. The other part of me thinks well it might work and it is far cheaper so we could actually do it sooner. Plus we are still fairly young (ish!). Hardly anyone does it though so not much in the way of reviews that I can find and the ones I do find are all a bit crap so
How os everyone doing today? Plans for the weekend? I am being lazy allll weekend

Sorry I am post happy today. We got OH's results through the post this morning and he has high prolactin. I googled and it says it is a common and reversible cause of low sperm count so I got extremely excited but apparently the reason for the low count as a result of it is due to the resulting impact on testosterone, lh and fsh and all of those were normal so sadly I don't think it is going to be the wonder easy solution I thought. Shame!! It might be having some impact though perhaps? I'm wishful thinking I reckon.
There was nothing about any follow ups needed so I suppose he will need to make an appointment with normal gp to discuss.

Hi all. So had my scan and follies are behaving themselves at last! My lining is also thickening so things are looking good. Back in for a scan Monday and then hopefully e/c next week or the week after.

ptera I've not heard of mild ivf. Is the cost half of normal ivf? So you could have two mild cycles for the price of a normal cycle? I'm not sure what I would do - maybe save up for normal ivf if there isn't much scientific evidence backing it up? Glad you finally got the results back and they were ok!

star my turn to say try not to worry but I know it's hard! The scan caught it and your dose has been lowered. I don't think number of follicles has an impact on egg quality though. You only need one good one and it's a bonus if you have extras to freeze!

Have a lovely weekend everyobe

Hi Petra, I'm still checking in on this thread from time to time to see how others are getting on as it was a lifeline for me when going through treatment. I just wanted to say that I went through 6 rounds of full ivf before the doctor suggested mini ivf to me. I wasn't convinced at all but he said let's give it a try it's cheap and you don't have too much to lose. He also said they have seen really surprising results so I went along with it. It turned out it was so much better for me. Whereas on full stimms I got 2-3 eggs a time I did 2 rounds of mini and got 7 and 8 eggs. It was brilliant and sometimes less drugs can mean better egg quality. It was the winning protocol for me and I got my bfp so definitely don't rule it out.

Oh tea that is fab news!! Glad that you are on the right track. Hope Monday brings more good news :)
lucie thanks for your reply too. Good to hear some positivite results from it! So you got a bfp, fab news. If you dont mind me asking, what sort of cost were you looking at for the drugs and hiw many scans etc did you need?
Scientific results wise it seems a reasonable bet, I have read a feelw journal articles that have good things to say about it. I have pcos so apparently it could be a good option. It is just hard to find info on it from people who have actually done it! Nowhere particularly close to me offers ivf that isn't crazily expensive anyway and I would probably have to go to London which is about an hour away but I can pay for 3 cycles for roughly the same costs as 1 conventional so I feel like maybe it is worth a go. Could be a lot of travelling but my local clinic is about 8k for 1 round Its going to be mid 2018 before we do anything anyway. I need to step away from it all really for a few months!!!

Hi ladies! Thanks for the advice yesterday. Went and got scanned but lining too thick so back in Monday. Af started last night with tons of cramps so am expecting plenty of lining she'd so hoping to start meds tomorrow!

tea glad things are going well!

I've never heard of mini IVF. So good to know! What's the difference...just less stims?

Congrats lucie. How far along are you?

That's good news blue? What was the lining too thick for?
Yeah mini is basically less stims. Only clomid and something else to help them mature I think, so the aim is less eggs but potentially better quality. That is what they say, I don't know enough about the effects on eggs of the usual drugs so on the fence about it. As we are paying ourselves, the cost is really appealing to me too; I know it shouldn't be about the cost but....it kind of is for us! Not big earners and not willing to get into shedloads of debt for it either

Thanks blue, I'm 25 weeks today!

Ptera, I had the majority of my treatment at reprofit in the Czech Republic apart from 2 rounds on the NHS. Not sure if this is something you would consider. We found them good and saved a lot of money. A round of mini ivf there was about £900 with an extra £200-£300 for meds. I had 2 scans at home in the uk which were £100 each and then flew over there for my egg collection. We treated it as a mini holiday. It could be a good option for you with pcos as I doubt you will need too high a dose of meds anyway as don't want to risk over stimming.

I have thought about it, depends how long you stay over there for? I am wary of going abroad as I have a dd already and feel taking her would be a bit of a logistical nightmare with being able to watch her and get treatment! She is 7 so wouldn't be like taking a younger kid who wouldn't have a clue. But equally I wouldnt wanna leave her over here with family for too long either.

If you have your scans in the uk and want egg collection and a fresh transfer then you would have to stay around a week. What we did sometimes was I would go out for the ec stay 1-2 nights and then any blasts would be frozen and I would nip back a month or two later for a transfer and again stay another 1-2 nights. I found it easier in some ways to separate the stress of the ec and embryo development and then not have to go straight into the stress of a 2ww. We had dhs sperm frozen the first time we went and that lasted us for all of the subsequent rounds so he didn't always have to come with me. We are hoping to go back when this baby is quite young to try our luck with one of our frosties. They are pretty child friendly there and the nurses from the clinic have even watched children when people have been having procedures.

ptera the lining was too thick in the sense that I hadn't shed enough in my af to start stims yet. They said to come back Monday. I've had tons of cramps today and some bleeding but not as much as I would like. Worried they will say come back Tuesday. I just want to start!

Oh I see blue. Hadn't realised that made a difference. Hope all is well tomorrow so you can crack on with it.
Thanks lucie. How many rounds did you need in the end? With just a couple of nights staying over or even a week I think we could do that relatively easily. I am a big wuss when it comes to flying but for those costs I might be able to suck it up haha. Defo something to think about, thank you for all the info, really appreciate it

No probs. My history goes like this...

Ivf#1 - transferred 2 - bfn
Ivf#2 - cancelled before ec
Ivf#3 - ec only and freeze
Ivf#4 - ec only and freeze
Ivf#5 - ec only and freeze
Ivf#6 - fresh ivf day 3 - bfp - ectopic
Ivf#7 - fresh transfer day 5 - bfn
Ivf#8 - fresh transfer day 5 - bfp!

I am 37 now had all but last 2 treatments at 36. We have 4 frosties frozen from our embryo banking rounds (ivf 3-6). We are hopeful we may get a 2nd baby from those but just so grateful for this one. Had 4 transfers in total.

So the rounds 3-6 were eggs you froze or embryos you froze? And last 3 were fresh mini ivf with the ec and et in the same cycle?

On 3,4 and 5 I collected and froze anything that made it to day 5 with no transfer. On 6 I had a new ec and then had a fresh transfer on day 5 but unfortunately i had an ectopic pregnancy. 7 & 8 were the mini ivfs with ec and fresh transfer. Whilst I got a bfn on 7 for the first time ever I got an extra 2 that were frozen. I had them genetically tested and one of the 2 was normal so the chances with that one are very good. 8 was the most recent round which worked for me.

Thanks everyone, feeling much better now. I've upped my water intake to 2.5 - 3L a day and added in lucozade sport and coconut water (yuck). Also read protein shakes are good so trying those too. Next scan tomorrow morning so hopefully things haven't slowed down too much with the reduced dose and we can book in egg collection for this week.

Blue and Tea, we all have scans tomorrow- hope it's good news all round!

Tea, that's great news that you've responded so quickly to the increased dose. Did they indicate if you're close to egg collection? What are you doing with work? I think I'll take a sick day for the day but not sure about the day after, whether I'll need more time. I haven't told work what's happening and I keep coming in late after random Dr's appointment, I'm scared someone's going to ask what's wrong soon and I'll have to lie!

Blue, really hope you get the go ahead tomorrow!

Hi lucie!! How amazing, you're so far on - over half way now Time really flies once you're off the ivf treadmill! Reading your treatment history is sobering - you've worked so hard to get here, hope you're enjoying it!

Good luck for all the scans tomorrow!

I can't wait to get started.....feels like time is dragging.

Thanks star yes I always used to think time flew when I saw other people's pregnancies progress. It's gone relatively quickly for me I suppose but not super fast. Really hope your scan goes well tomorrow. Sounds like you are responding really well and should get a good number of eggs!

Hi star I haven't told work yet either and just try and get early scans and turn up randomly an hour late. So far I haven't missed any meetings or anything so haven't been questioned. I think I'm just going to call in sick on the morning of the e/c and I've been advised to take two days off as you aren't supposed to drive for 24 hours (local anaesthetic and sedatives) but I'm not sure about having two days off. I'm never off ill and I already feel terrible about my potential lies! Luckily my boss doesn't question too much, I just tell him I have an appointment if I need to say anything at all!

Hopefully e/c next week but I won't know for sure until tomorrow.

Had a bit of a disaster last night and hadn't screwed the needle in properly on my cetrotide and lost half the dose. I ended up calling the IVF nurse on call and had to take another dose so fingers crossed it hasn't messed something up.

lucie congrats on the bfp! I'm always curious about how ivf abroad works as I think it might be a good option for future rounds - money wise at least and I've heard success rates are higher? Mini ivf sounds interesting too. I hadn't heard of it until ptera mentioned it.

Good luck on scans tomorrow blue and star. Hope we all get the results we want!

Thanks tea and good luck with your ec. I didn't tell work about any of my treatments and just did as you did and booked early appts or took leave. Im lucky in that our workplace is very flexible. Success rates do seem to be higher abroad which was another part of the attraction for me and it was so cheap to add on lots of extras which would have cost a fortune in the uk.