Cycled/cycling with Victoria Wing Nuffield Woking for IVF - come join us!

[geeup]

Hello. Looking for other ladies (or men!) who are IVF cycling with the Victoria Wing at Nuffield Woking either privately or NHS to share what happens, how it's going, any tips (what's the car parking like?!), to support one another and success stories of course. My stats:
Geeup
Aged 34
Ttc #1 for 22 cycles so far (4 with Clomid)
OH has low morphology MFI (but it's varied)
NHS cycle - first appt 31st Jan with Dr Riddle
One question to get us going, anyone know what the policy is about having 2 embryos put in on first cycle? Thanks!

Ok, good to know it was also on your radar, hopeful, but may you never need to take them now.

Sending more positive thoughts your way. And do keep us posted on upcoming scans and linking in with how you get on.

Thanks @BeePositive I'll definitely stay in touch. First scan is 27th, 17days away!! Praying all is ok
Best of luck to you too, hope this is your lucky cycle!

Hi everyone,
Hope you don’t mind me joining in, it’s been so hopeful reading about your journeys. We are at the very early stages, awaiting contact from Woking, GP has just referred, unfortunately we are private as I’m over 35 (just!) so frustrating! I am hoping to have the first part of ivf to freeze my embryos as I’m currently awaiting surgery on my uterus due to scar tissue caused by 3 lots of surgery after a missed miscarriage. I’m trying to get timings all sorted and wandered if you knew how quickly you heard from Woking after the GP has referred,I know there’s a 6-8 week wait but I’m anxious to know my referral has made it! Any tips? Also there is a brand new clinic in Maidenhead that opened in July...I don’t know whether to try that one or stick with the experience at Woking! Thank you so much.

Hi @Lizjulie1234 Welcome to the thread, all the ladies are so lovely on here and it's good we all know Woking so can be more helpful

I'm so sorry for your loss, I also had a missed miscarriage last year which is very upsetting. I wish you all the best with VW, it took us 3 frozen transfers to get where we are today, 6 weeks pregnant on Friday but you will get there in the end. I do find tho that sometimes you have to pushed for them to change things up a bit.
I didn't realise going private you'd still need a referral? Hopefully as you are private your wait won't be as long as the rest of us. Please do stay in touch and let us know how you get on.
Unfortunately I'm not from the area so I have no information or knowledge on the Maidenhead clinic. But have a look at stats, we choose VW for that exact reason.

This week has been quite stressful, after a lovely weekend away I came home Sunday to find brown spotting when I wiped, it sent me into panick mode after the mmc previously and have been stressing out. All my symptoms went immediately but unsure if that's just in my head, vw were not concerned because it was brown and I had no pain. Epu said the same, except for the rude lady that first answered my call, I won't even repeat what she said but it was incredibly insensitive I'm not sure if I should complain? Anyway it all stopped after a day and never enough to touch my pad, I took a digital test this morning and it's now saying 3+ so taking that as a good sign my hcg is increasing (I hope - last week was 2-3). I've also been doing other tests daily and the lines are getting quicker and dare I say stronger. VW won't see us til next Friday still which is frustrating so it's just a waiting and praying game for another 9 days!

Hope everyone else is ok?

Xxx

Hi gals,

@Lizjulie1234 welcome to the forum and I'm so sorry you went through a missed miscarriage. I'm at VW through NHS funding but my friend is going to them privately - she called up last Monday, had an unofficial visit + initial tests on the Thursday and is now booked in for her & her husband's initial consultation with Mr Riddle mid November, so I think it's about a 4 week wait at the moment.

@Hopeful4ivf that sound scary about the spotting but good that you have been reassured (apart from the horrible phone lady!) the positive tests sound good and I have everything crossed for you and the scan next Friday!

Just a little update on my side - we had our implications appointment last Thursday - practiced putting the needle in and it isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! I'm worried about how fiddly putting the liquid into the syringes will be now! I'm sure it won't take long to get the hang of it. I start down regging on 31st October - Halloween! Hubby joked that he should wear a scary mask whilst I'm doing it!! Urm, think it's scary enough thanks

Welcome @Lizjulie1234 sorry for your miscarriage and that you find yourself here but as @Hopeful4ivf said the ladies on here are great for support. Wishing you every success with your first cycle. I also don't know anything about the new Maidenhead clinic but also looked up the stats and went with VW because there's looked good. I was lucky that it worked first cycle and I'm 20 weeks today!

@Hopeful4ivf it's so scary to get any brown or pink/red discharge. I know how it feels as I had some at 9 weeks, had a scan and it all seemed fine. As hard as it is try not to worry and the fact it stopped on its own is promising too.

Unfortunately I had another little bleed on Friday night at 19 +2 which was potentially even more scary as bleeding is less common in the second trimester. I spent a good 8 hours in a maternity assessment unit and then the rest of the night in hospital as a precaution. They seemed happy that the bleed was coming from my cervix, but the outer side as it's still closed and nice and long. I heard the baby's heartbeat 4 times over the course of being in and have since started to feel a few little movements so that's helped to reassure me. We have our anomaly scan next Wednesday (at 21 weeks) so just keeping everything crossed until then. The doctor did say that my cervix could bleed again, so I know I'll be on edge for the next 20 weeks...but she did say as long as it's not accompanied with any pain it's usually nothing too serious. Would have been nice to sail through the pregnancy problem free, but I'm just grateful to be in this position and for there not to be any immediate danger to the baby.

@HWF4 Well done on the practising. I remember being nervous about all the vials and it seeming really complex but I promise it was easier than I thought when it came to it. You'll be a pro a few days in! Good luck for next Tuesday and fingers crossed this is a successful cycle.

Sorry for the long post and for it being mainly in bold....that seems to happen sometimes but wasn't done on purpose!!

Welcome Lizjulie1234 Sorry to hear about your MC. I'm sure you'll fine this chat helpful as your progress forward in your journey, as the ladies on here are a wealth of knowledge and support. It's been a big help to me through my previous 2 unsuccessful cycles with VW.

Sorry to hear about your stressful times Hopeful4ivf after having a lovely weekend away. So scary. But sounds like everything is looking positive again (besides stupid rude phone lady!) and hope it continues looking good. May the week ahead fly so you can get that professional assurance from VW soon. Always a waiting game! Keep us posted on happy news.

Sounds like you've had stressful times too Flamingo44. Glad to hear all well and you had time in good hands in maternity assessment and hearing baby's heartbeat, how amazing! Your big scan is coming up in just over a week too yes?

Good luck with the upcoming downregging injections starting HWF4. It's great you had positive practice with the needles. It can be very daunting at first, but once you realise it's not as painful as you might expect, you will get your head around the process, cleaning, liquids, vials and it all becomes a routine you get into. Every now and then you might have a more 'stingy' feeling from when the meds go in from the injection, but this is normal, and you get used to it. Good luck!

I'm well into start of my cycle 3, fresh after previous fresh and then frozen fails. Been downregging with Buserelin for past couple of weeks. I go to VW today for baseline scan, and hopefully thumbs-up to start Menopur from tomorrow evening. Not looking forward to the stims phase, I remember the bloating of 1st cycle. But I am so thankful to be having the opportunity to be at this stage of the cycle, and keeping everything crossed it all continues smoothly. Well, everything crossed except my legs with ALL the upcoming scans! Ha ha!

Ladies, thank you so much! You are all so kind! Lots of lovely messages 😊 it sounds like you are all very positive about the clinic which is so great and has helped to confirm my decision. hopeful4ivf congratulations on being 6 weeks, how wonderful, I’m so sorry to hear you’ve had a stressful week, so pleased the bleeding has stopped. Yeah unfortunately even if your private you still need a gp referral, luckily my gp has been great and just done it. We are going for an open evening soon so I’m hoping to ask a few more questions about waiting times then. HWF4 can I ask if your friend who went privately just called to make an apt or did she have to wait for them to receive the gps referral? I too am terrified about the injections, I’m so worried I will Mic or the wrong liquids! Congratulations Flamingo44how wonderful! Have any of you had the experience of ivf with a low AMH? Mine is on the low side, 7.5. Thank you so much everyone, I’m so pleased I found this group xx

Welcome @Lizjulie1234 I've found VW very good so far albeit very conservative but that's probably a good thing! The nurses I've experienced are very lovely and really accommodating and my appointments only been late once in two cycles which I think is amazing considering what they juggle! I'm NHS so sorry can't help with the private questions.

@Lizjulie1234 my AMH is quite low for my age (10 - I'm 31) and my cycle was quite successful. They retrieved 11 eggs and 8 fertilised normally. Of those I had the one successful embryo implanted and have 5 in the freezer. My AMH had been measured as 8.5 previously at another clinic but VW like to check it again. I took Ubiquinol CoQ10 for a few months before we went to VW, not sure if that madd any difference but it's worth a shot!

@Flamingo44 That’s great news, how great you managed to get the extra eggs frozen also. @geeup, thank you for the welcome. Ladies on my last scan I had a small cyst on one of my ovaries, the drs weren’t concerned but can this impact on the ivf?

@Lizjulie1234 I'm not sure about cysts I'm afraid. If it was big enough to impact things I'm sure they would have said so try not to worry.

Is anyone who has cycled/is cycling with VW on progesterone pessaries AND injections? Sorry if I've mentioned this before - just trying to work out what I want to do after two cycles of bleeding early and know the clinic is conservative...

Hi Ladies. Thought I'd check in after my 2nd scan to check how my follies are growing. Unfortunately not as well as my previous fresh cycle, so they took my bloods and will potentially up my Menopur dose to try increase them ahead of my 3rd scan on Monday. Here's hoping it's a weekend of growth!

Geeup, I was only on progesterone (Cyclogest) pessaries for my last 2 cycles. No prog injections. Have you done research to see if the injections are better? Interested to know your thoughts and what you may have discussed with VW. Sorry I don't have any experience to share on this one.

How are you Hopeful4ivf I think it's your first scan today? Hope all goes smoothly and it's a happy scan

HWF4 how are things going? You managing with the injections?

Flamingo44 hope you're well and baby growing nicely. You get all your scans sorted?

Waves to all you lovely ladies! Happy Friday and have a great Halloween weekend ahead!!

@BeePositive I don't think the injections are "better" vs the injections - the clinic have been through all the research and the pessaries are absolutely the recommended approach. I just can't get over the fact I've bled early (very early) both cycles and I don't want to again. I will cope it it's a BFN but I will be seriously pissed off if I bleed early again as I just feel then I wasn't in with a chance. So I want both if I'm allowed to make sure I'm getting it absorbed every possible way! The clinic are going to come back to me...
Can anyone on here tell me if the clinic tests us for our progesterone levels before ET? I think I remember having a blood test before ET (can't remember if it was day before or what) which I thought was for oestrogen but now I wonder if they test for progesterone too before they put the embie in?

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been on here recently, I normally get email notifications when someone mentions me in a comment but I haven't had anything the past couple of weeks to remind me to check in! I'm sorry!

@Lizjulie1234 I'm sorry I'm not sure about the Dr referral - I think they just called up and booked an informal visit but then had some tests done at the same time too!

@Flamingo44 I hope you are well and progressing nicely! I have heard Q10 is supposed to be good - I think I might go out and buy some today! Can you recommend doing anything else? I'm worried because i've heard that keeping warm is key and I've always been such a cold person - I am constantly struggling to keep my feet warm (even in Summer!) I'm thinking of buying a foot spa but also worried this may hinder things!?

@BeePositive I start my down regging injections tomorrow night! Eek! I am strangely looking forward to it... is this normal?! How are you doing? Sorry to hear your scan wasn't as good as previous cycle - I have everything crossed for you that today's scan will be positive!!

@Hopeful4ivf how did your scan go? I hope it went well!

@geeup how are you doing?

Big love ladies x

Hi All!

@Hopeful4ivf and @BeePositive how were your scans? I hope you'd had some good growth over the weekend Bee!

Thank you for checking in about my scan @BeePositive ...it took 3 attempts over 2 days to get all the checks done as the baby was in the wrong position and wouldn't roll over! We got there in the end though and it all looked fine, plus we got a cute picture of he/she sucking their thumb!

@HWF4 I think I only took the Coq10 and then the Zita West prenatal vitamins and vitamin D. I'd like to think the Coq10 helped...but it might have just been the different lab readings. I did have a good response on my first cycle though so it definitely didn't do any harm! I think the cold feet thing is just for implantation...and we're in sock/slipper wearing season so hopefully you'll be ok. I'm generally quite a cold person and didn't really do anything in particular to help with that.

@geeup sorry I can't be of any help but I hope they make the changes you're asking for this time so that you don't get your early bleed. I've got everything crossed for you. Enjoy your holiday too, that must be coming up soon?!

Sorry too like @HWF4 I didn't get any notifications on this thread to know to reply.

Scan on Friday went well, was quite nerve racking for us both after our previous loss which was only found at an early scan so seeing our little bean had a heartbeat as well was a massive relief! So only 1 baby,, the other embryo didn't take but we are so incredibly happy to have this one. They've asked us back for a 2nd scan next Friday due to my spotting and mmc which I suppose is good however I have been worrying as to why they want us back when most get discharged after first scan? Can't win, don't think we will ever stop worrying!!

Pleased to hear all is good with you @Flamingo44 did you have 2 scans at VW??

Wish you all the luck we th this cycle @HWF4, got fingers crossed for you.

@BeePositive Hope all is good and scan today went well?

@Geeup You must be due to start soon? All the best to you too, have they agreed to put 2 back?

I'll be back and let you know how 2nd scan goes, hopefully with more positive news.

Xxx

Geeup I went to Victoria Wing this morning for another scan and while I was there I actually asked them about progesterone pessaries vs injections and about having both, and she asked if I'd had any bleeding with previous cycles, and I said no, but I knew someone who did and wanted to know about their policy on this. She just said each case is monitored differently, and Mr Riddle doesn't see any scientific evidence the injections are any 'better' (as you said) but that NHS does not cover them, and they cost £25 per day! I think it's worth chatting to them about it and getting the best option for you. Good luck.

Gosh Flamingo sounds like baby was being very shy not letting you get an easy scan over various attempts, but how lovely you got there in the end with a cute little pic of them sucking their thumb - adorable! Hope they don't play too coy for future scans and saves you having to dash around so much. So pleased to hear it's all looking well.

It's normal to have so many emotions through this whole process HWF4 and looking forward to it, is definitely a positive one. I think after the whole journey to just get here with all the pre-tests, paperwork, doctor approval, acceptance and deciding on clinic, you just want to start. Best wishes for getting the injections going! Keep us all posted and shout with any questions. I'm sure with your positive outlook, you'll do great!

I'm awaiting call after more bloods taken at my scan this morning. I'm still progressing, slowly but surely with the follicle growth. But not as much as they'd like to see. So they've extended my Menopur for another couple of days, and pushed out my egg collection from this Wednesday to this Friday instead. As much as I'm sad not to be further along, I am kinda glad about the slight change in timing as it means I don't have to worry about going back to work the day after the minor op and being under anaesthetic, I can just chill on the Saturday. Fingers crossed for the next few days and the follies grow grow GROW!

Will be willing your follies to grow @BeePositive!! Good to know about the injections and their policy. It's just been so frustrating starting my period both cycles a week before it's even OTD. Leaves you no hope. Hopefully this time will be better. Am getting increasingly desperate now I'm in the 35 years + bracket.
Off to acupuncture tomorrow morning. Can't wait to chill out. Just hope work doesn't go crazy while I'm out!

Congratulations on the heartbeat @Hopeful4ivf that's brilliant news! I only had 1 scan at VW (my 2 scans last week were at my local hospital for my anomaly/21 week scan) I was discharged after 1 scan from VW and then they were not interested in me! (I called them when I experienced some bleeding at 9 weeks and I was just told to call my GP!) I'm sure your extra scan is just a precaution because of your history, so although I know it's easier said that done try and see it as a positive...another chance to check on your little embryo and then a shorter wait until your routine 12 week scan!

Good luck with the extra couple of days @BeePositive Glad you're managing to see the small delay as a positive and as I'm sure we all tell ourselves..all the extra waiting will fade into insignificance one day when you're holding your baby! Fingers crossed for you.

@geeup enjoy acupuncture!

Thanks @Flamingo44 I don't think the nurse helped by saying she wanted us in early for next scan so epu would still be open if there was a problem, talk about straight talking, just sent my mind spinning and worrying why she would say such a thing! But as you say I'll take it as a positive because any problems at the moment will still be under their care until I'm discharged. Just hope I don't need a trip to epu!

Hopefully all will become clear as to the reasoning on Friday @Hopeful4ivf I was just thinking though, do you think it's to see what happens to the embryo that didn't take? Did they say what would happen to that? Will it just remain in your womb until labour? Apologies if that's a really stupid or insensitive question, I don't have any experience with them putting 2 in. Let us know how you get on.

That's not a silly question at all @Flamingo44 It's the same as embryo transfer that results in a bfn, it gets absorbed into your body, they are only tiny mass of cells. Just hope lil nugget hasn't eaten it! Haha...
Yeah just hope all ok next Friday, hate all this waiting, I'm not a patient person