Hi ty1982, I have just gone through my second round of icsi and waiting to test on Saturday. What stage are you at?

I am 😃 drugs are being delivered next Wednesday. What about you?

I have just been through a full cycle and i am waiting to test on Saturday!

Ooh good luck. Are you on the short? How long did it take? X

Thanks! Yes on protocol 1 so I think that's the same as the short. It took just over 2 weeks in full I think. How are you feeling about it bobby1979?x

Very excited! 😬 obviously nervous as well. But we are nhs so it’s been a long wait with loads of delays so I just want to get started now! Did you start the drugs on the first day of your period? How have you felt on the drugs and what about now? Is this your first attempt? X

Hi @ty1982 this will be my 2nd ICSI - start injections on :12th April so not far behind you x

Hi, I am just starting now. On day 21 of my cycle so started taking the drugs today. Also first ICSI

Hi, I'm brand new to Mumsnet - this is my first post! I'm starting my first round of ICSI in April doing the flare protocol - I'm due to start injecting on 19 April. Feeling excited, but also daunted and anxious. x

Hi @ty1982 ,

My day 21 is Thursday and I'm also having an endometrial scratch that day. Anyone know how much a scratch makes you bleed?!?! I've got to wear a pale pink bridesmaid dress on the Saturday and have been told I can't use tampons!! Argh!!

Hello everyone. I've just been reading your posts. I hope you don't mind me joining. We've been to our first pretreatment consultation and because of where I am at the moment in my cycle they've said we'll have to start the treatment in my next cycle so the plan is to hopefully start the medication the end of May. I've found this journey difficult as I don't know anyone else who is or has gone through this and my friends and family don't really understand how it feels.

How is everyone doing? I was lucky and didn't have significant side effects with the down reg drugs (other than night sweats which started after I'd been taking them a couple of weeks). Now on the stim injections which was scary the first time but has actually been fine to do. My abdomen feels really tight and a bit tender the last 2 days and I'm thirsty the whole time but other than that the drugs have really been ok for me and had a scan this morning where the nurse said follicles are developing well. Another scan on Friday when they'll make a decision about when to schedule egg collection (at this rate I'll feel like I've swallowed a balloon by then!)

Hi @rainylake is this your first round of treatment? We went for our second pretreatment consultation yesterday and was told that I'll be starting the injections on the 20th May. I have real mixed emotions about it but know it has to be done!xx

Morning, so I was on the short protocol. Took my stims, no particular side effects. But of stomach cramp etc. On day ten they decided I could have the egg extraction on Monday (just gone) I had the operation. The sedation was fine, in fact it completely knocked me out and I woke up feeling like I’d had a brilliant nights sleep! Haha they got 6 decent eggs however sadly my partner didn’t have any sperm in his samples (the poor guy did three) so we are in a very frustrating position of having to wait now until they decide what to do. One of my eggs got damaged and so I have five good ones on freeze. Good luck all xx

A quick one about the egg extraction. The afterwards is a lot more painful than I thought. Like period pains but worse so deffo take a couple of days off work :) xx

@Bumblebeebump Yes this is our first round. I had mixed emotions and felt quite sad during our nurse consultation appointment (where they talk you through the whole process), but now that we've started I'm actually relieved, because the waiting every month to see if it might have worked naturally and worrying about whether to try IVF was starting to really hang over me. I'm just trying to take it one step at a time and not worry about the next stages of the process, just about getting through this part. But really the injections have been okay - the ones I have are pretty foolproof so you can't mess it up, and the needles are so sharp that it doesn't really hurt.

@Bobby1979 I'm so sorry about the sperm sample. That must have been really upsetting news (and for your partner too) after going through the whole extraction process. Did they know from his earlier sample that he might not have any sperm? I'm not looking forward to the extraction as I'm guessing it will be a bit grim afterwards - just have to settle down with Netflix and chocolate I guess.

@rainylake I wouldn’t worry about it. The pain is not unbearable just uncomfortable but just rest up and chill. Yes this is the most frustrating part of it. They knew there was little or no chance based on his previous samples, the most he has ever had is 12 sperm and the rest zero so we feel they set us up to fail a little bit! I think something went wrong with the communication tbh and they got confused. We have to wait now for an appt with the consultant and they will decide next steps from there which seems crazy as this should have been in place before the egg extraction! Best of luck xx

Had my day 9 scan this morning, and the nurse thinks I probably need to stay on the gonal injections over the weekend and come back in on Monday for another scan to see how things are developing. But she said there's also the chance that the consultant will just decide that it would be better to schedule egg collection for Monday anyway after they've looked at my blood results (I guess if they think there's any risk of me getting OHSS if I stay on the gonal for too long). So I'm waiting to hear later today after they have the meeting to discuss all the cases. It's a bit stressful not knowing. But the good news is that there are quite a lot of follicles, it's just a question of trying to get enough of them to the right size. And it sounds like collection will definitely happen next week, it's just waiting to find out which day.

I'm finding that the discomfort from being swollen is worst first thing in the morning and last thing at night. After I've been up a couple of hours I feel okay again (though I have to walk pretty slowly and I get a twinge if I drive over a pothole).

@Bobby1979 yes that's really strange that they didn't have a plan in place if they knew there wasn't going to be any sperm.

@rainylake best of luck xx