IVF June 2017

[Avocadosmoothie]

Hello, is anyone due to start IVF In June? My consultant has put me forward to start IVF, my next appointment is April 26th and if I start on long protocol I would start stimms late May and egg retrieval would be mid June. Would love to hear from someone on the same path!

[Blueberry1]

Thanks @Lauralife - OTD is Friday & AF due Tues or Weds. I feel pretty rough right now (cramps, nausea, dizziness, tiredness), which is probably due to Cyclogest. I thought if no AF by Weds, then game on, but then I read Cyclogest can lengthen luteal phase .

I have honestly no clue as to likely outcome, but may be tempted to do HPT on Thurs or Friday, which would be DPO 14/15 (my luteal phase is max 12) & 10/11 days after 5 day ET.

Hope everyone is well. Baby dust to all

[barnacles2020]

Hello I've booked an initial consultation with Dr Rehan Salim at Imperial Private health care. Any one has any experience with him or in the hospital?

What does initial consultation include it's £250. Is that the usual cost?

[Blueberry1]

@barnacles I think I paid £200 for initial appointment plus another £200 or so for tests (AMH blood test & AFC scan). I don't know anything about Imperial Private Healthcare or Dr Salim, sorry.

[Blueberry1]

As for me, AF was due yesterday (CD30, DPO12, 7dp5dt) & I cracked & tested this morning & got BFN. Minuscule chance I tested too early, but don't think so. I think pregnancy like symptoms & late AF are due to Cyclogest. I'll carry on taking it til Friday when I have blood test at clinic, but not expecting a miracle .

[Avocadosmoothie]

Blueberry, sorry to hear about the BFN

Did you retest again this morning? If it is negative, could you go straight into another FET?

[Blueberry1]

Hi @avocadosmoothie, BFNs are rubbish aren't they? I decided not to test agaim and just to wait til clinic blood test tomorrow. Don't expect it to be any different. As it was natural cycle FET, I think we can do 2nd next month. I'll just have to use OPKs & do a couple of scans again.

[Avocadosmoothie]

BFNs are the worst!! I've never seen a BFP, I can't imagine what it feels like.

That would be great if you can go straight into next round. If it is a BFN just try and focus on that

Did you have to have any blood tests whilst you were looking for your surge or ovulation tests only?

[Blueberry1]

@avocadosmoothie, as I ovulate reliably, I just had to to use OPKs and do several scans (so they could track progress of follicle & womb lining). Once I got LH surge, they did transfer 5 days later. Assuming BFN confirmed tomorrow (boo!), then I'll ask about arranging next FET.

I am a bit deflated, but not heartbroken because it seemed too good to be true that 1st FET of 1st IVF cycle would work. I wasn't pessimistic, just realistic (at my age chance of success is 20%). But as everything had gone smoothly & end result was 3 good blastocysts & embryologist was enthusiastic about quality of embryo being transferred, I thought maybe we could be lucky.

[Avocadosmoothie]

Blueberry, how did the blood test go?

Could I ask you... what CD was your transfer on? And how long are your cycles usually? I'm trying to decide between natural and medicated FET. My cycles are reliable and I always ovulate but my clinic doesn't do transfers at the weekend....

[Blueberry1]

Hi @Avocadosmoothie - blood test was BFN as expected . Transfer was on CD22/DPO4, 5 days after I got LH surge on OPK. I have a reliable, but slightly irregular cycle of 27-30 days.

I asked clinic about doing medicated FET next time thinking it might offer a greater chance of success, but was told the only advantage (given my reliable unproblematic cycle) would be planning. As my clinic does transfer at the weekend if needed, I won't do medicated FET.

However, I now plan to try acupuncture and had initial consultation. There is some evidence (proper clinical trials albeit small scale) that acupuncture can improve IVF success rates if used before and after embryo transfer. The evidence isn't conclusive , but acupuncture isn't going to harm me, so why not?

[Avocadosmoothie]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that! hope you're not feeling too bad and can start again as soon as you're ready.

If you did natural again, could they test your blood too? The clinic im at said not to bother with ovulation urine tests as blood is a lot more accurate for timings. Might be worth adding in?

[barnacles2020]

Sorry to hear that @blueberry1:(

[Blueberry1]

@Barnacles2020 - thanks.

@avocadosmoothie - Clinic said doing OPKs and several scans (to measure follicle size & lining) was enough and never mentioned blood tests for ovulation. I have follow up appointment with consultant tomorrow, so I'll ask then, thanks for the tip you !

I felt more fed up/annoyed than sad on Friday, so no problem to get on with 2nd FET right away (it's also DP's preference). TTC-ing for 1 year with no result was by the end more upsetting and stressful than doing IVF has been. This week I will turn 42 and still be childless; IVF can't make that situation any worse and there's a small chance (20%) it could make it better .

[Avocadosmoothie]

Blueberry, I completely agree that the TTC naturally with no success is more stressful and upsetting than any part of IVF (even the BFN).

I really hope it works out for us all, at least we're in the IVF process now so doing all we can!

[Blueberry1]

@avocadosmoothie - Yes, you're right at least IVF feels like taking control of things. BTW I asked consultant about blood test for ovulation and she said they do that only for women who can't use OPKs.

Have CD10 scan booked for early next week to do FET again this cycle. Consultant also suggested embryo glue; will read up. However, as we're then away for a few days, I need OPK peak NOT before Sunday (when we get back), so clinic can do 2nd scan before ovulation otherwise they'll cancel FET . This is when medicated cycle would be useful as could be timed perfectly. Consultant offered, but I decided to take my chances. crosses fingers for ovulation after CD15 like last month

[barnacles2020]

So I'm in day 33 still not AF and I hpt is bfn. Any one got bfp after bfn?

[Blueberry1]

@barnacles2020 - It's not unusual to get "false negative" if you test too early. A pharmacist advised me not to test before 14DPO as HcG levels can be too low to detect before that.

If you know when you ovulated and it's more than 14 days ago & past your usual luteal phase, then BFN is probably correct & your cycle is just playing silly buggers (this has happened to me at least twice ). If you're not yet at 14DPO, then wait another day or so and test again crossing fingers

[elenaki4a]

I've read lots reviews on website of different IVF clinics. When my honey and me trying this first time we were ready to try at least 3 times. We earned some money for and tried. Fortunately, our first attempt in march 2016 was successful!! We have beautiful twins now! You can always find an acceptable way to do something. Just don't give up and fate will be on your side!

[barnacles2020]

Day 35 bfn again! Dpo 20 days.. any thoughts?

[Avocadosmoothie]

Barnacles, did you have IVF this cycle? Or FET?

[barnacles2020]

@avacadosmoothie, neither. Its a natural cycle. Till date cycle has never exceed 32. The irony was I had my first consultation booked for today. I've rescheduled for next week.

[barnacles2020]

Update got my AF finally today. Scheduling consultant appointment for starting ICSI Treatment. Thank for all your support xx

[Avocadosmoothie]

Good luck barnacles, let us know how you get on!

[barnacles2020]

Have my first private consultant appointment. NHS consultants have recommended ICSI. What should I expect on during my first appointment?

[Avocadosmoothie]

Blueberry, are you there? Could I ask you a couple of questions on natural FET? I'm still trying to decide whether to do natural or medicated. CD1 is due any day now. Is there any chance a natural FET cycle can get cancelled due to lining issues? Also, what CD was your transfer and how many days long was your cycle in total? I'm tying to work out whether it is too much of a risk for me to try natural given my clinic isn't open at the weekend.

How is your FET round 2 going so far? X