Cycle buddies April/May

[Summerloving17]

Hi ladies, just wondered if anyone wants to hold hands as we go through a cycle?

After a failed fresh cycle earlier this year, I’m starting my progynova today with a planned FET for May.

Would love some company x

@picklesandpetals my consultant spoke to me about the discomfort after egg collection. Constipation is a side effect of the anaesthesia. I'm not looking forward to it after reading exactly what it entails

@findingmyfeet12 sorry to hear you've been through two unsuccessful cycles previously. Wonder if your groin pain is a hopeful sign? You could have different signs this time around, fingers crossed 🤞

@CiroDiMarzio that's quite a few days without a poo lol, you probably needed therapy after 🤣. I'm dosing up on paracetamol. Laughing at your running for the train comment. Ok hopefully the test is a positive sign, if you get a yes when you test again

@Cobblestones I'm bloated all day long 😏 we're a right little constipated group eh. Will keep an eye on the pain. No bleeding thankfully x

@AniSL the EC itself was absolutely fine. For me it's just been the after

I know I should be grateful for this opportunity to go through ivf, and I am, but I'm struggling with feeling so crap, cranky, bloating and sticking a finger up my pooper. Perhaps I'll wake up in a better mood tomorrow lol

Hope everyone is having a good weekend xx

@picklesandpetals today (day 4) was the first day I didn't find sitting uncomfortable (still bloated, just not as sore). And eating was hard too at first - in fact clinic warned me about that and advised eating small amounts. I found it got worse (and bloating increases) as the day went on, probably because my muscles got tired. They tell you to drink loads of water which is fine but then your bladder is full the whole time which puts pressure on the abdomen too. I guess it's not surprising - think how bruised your poor ovaries are after the process, and they're probably pretty sensitive and tucked away inside us for a reason!

Didn't sleep well last night as kept waking feeling sore or needing to pee. Until I took a paracetamol at 5am and managed to get some decent sleep. Don't know why that didn't occur to me before but am going to take one now and hope for a better night.

It does get better though. I can walk at something like a normal speed now and it doesn't hurt to cough or laugh any more.

You girls are starting to scare me for my EC tomorrow

@ponypals - oh I’m really sorry, as if this isn’t hard enough! For the record the actual process for me was fine, I was asleep the entire time and couldn’t feel anything. It’s just afterwards that you might feel bruised. I hope you’ve managed to get a nice sleep and haven’t been worrying too much. X

@PonyPals the EC is fine, I felt on top of the world afterwards which with hindsight was probably the large shot of painkillers they gave me as I was coming round from the anesthestic. I went out and had breakfast with my husband and then insisted that I wanted to go out and do things and walk in the afternoon. He sensibly suggested I have a thirty minute nap and I woke up five hours later 😂

I felt a bit bruised and tender afterwards, but it was mainly like mild DOMS and period pains. Nothing horrendous.

@ponypals my egg collection was not too bad. My top tip is to ask when you can take paracetamol. I didn't take anything after as felt fine but think still had some of the hospital painkiller in me so was a bit sore that evening when it wore off. Next time I will take paracetamol.

I got my period this morning and so did a FRER just to make sure it's not IVF related spotting and it was bfn. I'd accepted this a couple days ago when I tested early so felt fine today. I will call the hospital tomorrow and am also going to call CRGH and research a couple of others. Round 2 here I come!

I'm so sorry @HappyHedgehog247. Be gentle with yourself.

Happy Im sorry to hear that. Take it easy for a while and just look after yourself. I don't think people realise what a physical and emotional toll ivf takes.

Pony the ec itself is fine. Also everyone's recovery is different. My sister had twice the number of eggs I did and felt absolutely fine afterwards. Good luck with yours.

Thanks everyone. I will let you know how I go.
It's Mother's Day today in Australia so it's hopefully a good luck charm

@ponypals I’d echo Ciro and Silver. I had mild cramping but nothing major and I usually do feel pain. Everyone’s different. Just make sure you don’t wait too long to take painkillers if you do start to feel pain. All the best!

@happyhedgehog that’s a great attitude. But hope you can take the time out to get some rest both physically and mentally. May I ask - how many days post et did you get your period? I might test early as well just to mentally prepare myself.

@Happyhedgehog247 sorry to hear your news and take care of yourself.

@PonyPals I'm really sorry, didn't mean to scare you. As others said the procedure itself is fine, it's just afterwards (and it's sore not agony- it's like feeling tender and bruised not like a searing pain or anything). I should have been more regular with the painkillers after day 1. I think I was also expecting to be back to normal the following day, which wasn't realistic.

On the other hand I had transfer today and found that was no pain at all - less uncomfortable than a smear test. The only uncomfortable thing about it was having to keep a full bladder beforehand! I could see the tip of the catheter flash on the ultrasound when the embryo went in, so that was exciting. The doctor said it is a good quality one and the transfer went smoothly so we just have to wait and hope now. I'm meant to wait till 24th to test.

There are definitely 2 blasts they are going to freeze and the embryologist said that at the end of today they will see if any more have developed to the right quality and they'll phone me tomorrow.

@rainylake ok that's reassuring I'm within the normal parameters then, guess I thought recovery would be quicker especially as the procedure itself felt fine, guess the drugs covered it up though. My clinic didn't mention about eating small amounts which was a bit crap of them. I didn't have a great night either, woke up and had paracetamol. Hopefully we will both feel better soon

@HappyHedgehog247 Really sorry it didn't work out this time around. I can imagine how disappointed you must be feeling now. The whole process is hugely taxing on us both physically and mentally

@CiroDiMarzio Holly mary mother of Jesus! I had a 💩 this morning. The pain though!! 😳 i was literally gripped onto the radiator and bath in agony, just really painful as it worked through my bowels, not something I want to experience again any time soon 😂

@Si1ver how you feeling now?

xx

@rainylake great news on your transfer and pleased to hear it was painless and straight forward 🤗 my fingers are crossed for you! Just a looong wait until the test x

@picklesandpetals I'm feeling fine thanks. I think being home in my own bed is helping and I got my dog back from the sitter this morning. I'm taking things pretty easy. My husband managed to get me home without me lifting a single thing other than my passport and a bottle of water. 😆

@rainylake that's great news! Did your clinic tell you what stage your embryo was at when they transferred? We've definitely got one on ice and two more that they might freeze. I'll find out next week.

@HappyHedgehog247 did you stop taking your progesterone before your period, if you don't mind me asking? My clinic told me that my period wouldn't come until I stopped.

Oh. My. Days. So much activity on the thread! Sorry I’ve been MIA. Was travelling for work, so completely immersed in that. 😬

@Summerloving17, I’m so sorry to hear about your test result. Please be kind to yourself. 💐 Thank you for setting up this chat. I’d been a lurker for quite some time, but finally to the plunge with this one. Much success for the future with your remaining frosties. 💕

@HappyHedgehog247, I’m sorry to see your update. You seem to have a positive attitude and I’m really hoping round 2 is successful. 🌟

Good luck ladies who are continuing with injections, have upcoming egg collections or transfers. 🍀

I hope the other ladies in the 2WW are hanging in there. I was fine the first 7 days, but now feeling a little panicky! 😬 My OTD is Tuesday, but might test tomorrow...haven’t decided yet. The agony of this wait!!!! 😩

Hi all,

Wow it's been busy on here.

@HappyHedgehog247 sorry to hear your news. It's so disappointing no matter how much you prepare yourself for it.

Glad everyone else is progressing well? Completely agree on the post EC symptoms - hurts to wee, eating is awful, passing wind is horrific and interestingly I've had the opposite to everyone else and diarrhoea? On the plus side I can confidently say I haven't got OHSS as I've lost 6lbs in under a week starting to see my waist again!

Unfortunately despite our efforts to improve quality our embryos have done the same as last time and by day 2 we only had 4/13 still in the running. So today I've had a day 3 transfer - they should be 8 cells by day 3 and we were prepped to have 2x7 cells put in but when we turned up one was an 8 cell and grade A so feeling slightly more hopeful but still going to prepare myself it's unlikely to happen.

ET was fine though. 2ww begins here!

Best of luck to everyone xx

@hoping2018 wow, I would love to lose 6lb right now as my stomach is still huge and I can only wear a very narrow range of clothes! Sorry to hear that lots of the embryos weren’t good, but it’s good news that the two they put in are doing better than they expected, and hopefully one of them will do the job this time.

I didn’t get any information about the grading of the embryos in terms of giving them a category. It didn’t really occur to me to ask, though I might see if I can get a bit more detail when they phone tomorrow. The embryologist just said that there are three which are the best and they were selecting from those as to which to transfer today, and then we had a discussion about how many to transfer (they advised 1 but said it was up to me and it would be reasonable to ask for 2 given my age, but I actually only wanted 1 anyway since I’d rather save the spares for a FET if this doesn’t work, and I got the impression they were a bit relieved).

@picklesandpetals I am sending DH to sleep in the spare room tonight, because I think having more space in the bed (and not being woken by him going to the bathroom in the middle of the night) might help a bit.

@hoping2018 sorry to hear that you're having the same horrid symptoms as me post EC. How the hell you managed to loose 6 lbs though!!! I'm still mega bloated, it literally starts from under my boobs. Glad ET went ok

@rainylake yep I hear ya, very few clothes I can wear now without questions being asked. Good idea sending him to spare room. My OH snores like a trooper which doesn't help. My patience is beginning to wear thin given I seem to always be tired atm

For those of you bloated like me, I like to sleep with my belly resting on a cushion for support atm, find it helps xx

@Si1ver you must be pretty relieved to be back home again. Dogs can be good therapy actually. Glad to hear he looked after you well. Make sure that continues! How much longer to wait before your test date? x

Two weeks. My test date will be on 26th.

I assume it was a language issue, but the doctor said to me "you'll treat on 26th and then you'll be v pregnant and then you'll continue your progesterone for the next 12 weeks".

I thought it was nice that she was so certain 😂

Hello lovelies

Thanks for the notes. It's been a gorgeous day here. Had coffee and wine! @Cobblestones I got my period 10 days after ET. I had a 3dt so period was 13 days post EC. I wouldn't recommend testing early, I just can't help myself and know myself well enough to know that gradual disappointment is easier for me than one all or nothing test. @Si1ver I had cramping and that downward pressure feeling yesterday but then unintentionally forgot to take Progesterone last night which may have triggered the period. I think some people can get it on progesterone anyway. It's the first thing I've forgotten the whole cycle and realised as soon as I woke up!

Hey @HappyHedgehog247 lastcycle I had my period exactly 14 days after EC despite the progesterone so yep happens regardless of forgetting your pessary x

Thanks @happyhedgehog helpful to know.

@hoping pleased to hear the embies were doing better than expected and it must be a relief that you’re done with the transfer!

@pickles I’m also so bloated I feel like I can’t breathe coz of the pressure. I’ve been in a lot more pain today it’s more spread out in the stomach area and the sides which I think is coz of bloating - the kind of feeling you have when you’ve done a sprint without warming up. Terrible! Wonder if it will be like this for the full two weeks.. 😱

I would love to be like @ciro right now - running for trains! I can’t even manage wearing anything other than pjs literally nothing fits I look 5 months pregnant. Just felt like ranting... hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.. wish you all a good night’s sleep. Not a bad idea sending dh to the spare bedroom. 🙄