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Our Infertility Support forum is a space to connect with others in the same position, discuss causes, treatment and IVF, and share infertility stories of hope and success.

Original poster

Cycle buddies April/May

986 replies

Summerloving17 · 12/04/2018 13:32

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

OP posts:
Grimbles · 21/05/2018 16:08

Have my ET in about an hour. Am having 2 put back and letting the 3rd go to 5 days before freezing Shock

Ahoneybee · 21/05/2018 16:30

Thanks @rainylake. I think I may do a test around weds or thurs but really not sure at the moment. I echo your thoughts about exercise - I normally do cardio classes and tennis but not done anything apart from walking. On the up side, lack of booze hopefully means I'm not gaining too much weight though do feel bloated from all the meds and prodding around.

AniSL · 21/05/2018 16:43

@Grimbles good luck

picklesandpetals · 21/05/2018 17:06

@Grimbles good luck. I had two put back too 🤞

bangsaklove · 21/05/2018 17:39

@Ahoneybee welcome :) What’s an SET? I’m not as knowledgeable on the lingo as I should be!

Ahoneybee · 21/05/2018 18:52

@bangsaklove it's a single embryo transfer. I'm still trying to learn some of the lingo too. I'd never heard of any of it until a few months ago.

bangsaklove · 21/05/2018 20:00

OH of course! Sorry Is obvious now so much too learn :)

Mesh0603 · 21/05/2018 22:50

Hi, I’m a bit late to the party 🙂 I’m a first cycler, 40 yrs old and going it alone for a double donor cycle in Cyprus. I’m 2 weeks in and just on buserelin for the mo.
I’m the third in my family to go down this route, my eldest sister had twins over a year ago and my other sister has one in the oven due in September. I’m trusting in a process that has worked twice before for my sisters between Leeds and Crown Ivf in Cyprus.
Feeling a bit o m g about it all so I wanted to join in here.

AniSL · 22/05/2018 09:13

Sadly my two didnt make it to day 5, will now look to seeing what we do next.

Si1ver · 22/05/2018 10:33

Oh I'm so sorry @AniSL

AniSL · 22/05/2018 10:46

Thanks @si1ver its weird but i almost expected it. It was like tge universe had already prepped me into thinking not this time

PonyPals · 22/05/2018 11:25

Sorry to hear that @AniSL
Does this mean you don't have any Frosties and will have to stim again?

AniSL · 22/05/2018 11:33

@Ponypals thank you and yes will need to stimm again. They made it to day 5 but really poor quality they wouldn't have survived the freeze and thaw

Will take a break and properly prepare my 90 day egg cycle. Make sure i do it right this time

PonyPals · 22/05/2018 11:49

I'm sorry to hear that they didn't make it past day 5. Good on you for thinking positively and preparing for the next round! HaloStar

hoping2018 · 22/05/2018 12:31

Hi @AniSL I'm so sorry to hear that. - although I had a transfer last cycle it was a low quality blast. Only one other made it to poor quality blast and it was not good enough to freeze. It's so disheartening to know you have to go straight to a fresh cycle again, I can't imagine how your feeling that they didn't even do transfer.

This cycle we had the two best looking embryos put in on day 3 and then ended up with a surprise two to freeze so they do learn from previous cycles and you can get a different result another time. Our changes were supplements for me and DH to improve quality and we had sperm DNA checked and TESE to try and overcome his borderline fragmentation.

After my last cycle I felt much better once I had a new plan form the consultant on what we were doing next - I hope you don't have to wait too long for follow up.

hoping2018 · 22/05/2018 12:32

@Mesh0603 you're very welcome to join but most of us are coming to the end of our cycles now so you might prefer joining the June/July thread x

picklesandpetals · 22/05/2018 13:10

@AniSL I'm so sorry to hear that hun 😔 I can't imagine how disappointed you must feel. This process feels so cruel when it doesn't work

@hoping2018 We have had some fragmentation on the embryos that went back, are you suggesting the sperm quality causes this? And any suggestions for improving the quality?

I was actually going to ask you ladies if from your experience the quality of your embryos has differed between cycles for those of you that have cycled more than once? And if better quality on a cycle what do you think might have made the difference?

I'm going to actually consider the possibility of a donor egg if it doesn't work this time. Have mixed feelings about it but will give it a good think

AniSL · 22/05/2018 13:29

Thanks @hoping2018 and @picklesandpetals. Both embryos were grade A perfect 8 split and 7 split embies on day3. My clinic told me that the egg does most of the work on day1-3 and the sperm does the work on day 4. This doesn't necessarily mean the sperm is bad, it may just be their interaction. The clinic only want to go with what will be more likely to be successful and healthy so I understand why they advised not to transfer. We have saved the 1k that we would have paid for transfer and putting it towards the next cycle. Good thing is DH doesnt have to have another TESE. ICSI comes as standard at the clinic

I am doing surprisingly well, DH is upset though. I am going to follow the natural fertility 90 day plan this time round, prefer to get natural vitamins as those multis have their own damaging effect too. Luckily all the stimms werent too difficult for me and very little side effects. Still have all the cyclogest and Progynova so wont have to buy these.

I have a back up Ovitrelle at the clinic that I can still use too.

Looking at what we have learned and the positives. We have enough for another cycle.

rainylake · 22/05/2018 13:43

Really sorry to hear this @AniSL. It must be so upsetting to go through all this and not get to transfer. Glad to hear you are able to do another cycle and hopefully you'll get a very different result.

hoping2018 · 22/05/2018 13:45

Hi @picklesandpetals, no I don't think sperm quality necessarily causes fragmentation and I can only really speak form my own experience.

I've been lucky to get 20+ eggs both times and 14 fertilised embryos - so it was clear from cycle 1 it was a quality issue as we should have had lots of blasts on day 5 with those numbers. They suggest day 1-3 is the egg in control and day 3+ is the sperm however there is no specific test and not 100% the case. We had time lapse monitoring on cycle 1 and the consultant said it was so useful they'd throw it in for free on cycle 2! Basically it told them a lot of our embryos direct cleaved or were multinucleated in first couple of days which might be egg quality. But on cycle 1 we still had 8 embryos on day 3 but nothing good come day 5 - so they were suspicious of sperm for this part (we are having ICSI due to MFI). He said there is now research that sperm direct from the testes is less damaged and works better - so we tried that! Still had loads die off by day 3 but all that were ok on day 3 seem to have made it to blast so the TESE seems to have helped.

We'd pay to have the TESE again - interestingly @AniSL our clinic said they wouldn't freeze the sperm from TESE as the point was it was super fresh and you lose this with a frozen cycle.

For sperm quality they also suggested usual supplements plus omega 3 and extra vitamin d.

It's so hard to compare experience though as it's such an individual thing - I would take away from it that cycle 1 is often experimental and there are things they will try to improve for a second cycle.

Sorry that's so long!!

AniSL · 22/05/2018 13:59

Thanks @rainylake. It just wasnt the right time. I got awfukly ill with a flu and had to take a manner of medicines to bring my temp down, then the persistent chestu cough and the sunburn and the protocol being extended too.

Hoping2018 its mental isnt it, theories sway from cycle to cycle

bangsaklove · 22/05/2018 14:01

@Mesh0603 wowsers that’s amazing you are going alone you say? I may join you on the other board as I’m a far way behind the other ladies on here still
@aniSL sorry to read your news and I can’t offer a lot of advice As I just don’t have the knowledge I’m afraid but sending a huge hug over x

AniSL · 22/05/2018 14:06

@hoping2018 my clinic said the reason why they wouldnt do a second TESE, unless absolutely necessary, was because of the damage TESE causes to the testes.

hoping2018 · 22/05/2018 15:21

@AniSL it's so frustrating how the advice varies!!

picklesandpetals · 22/05/2018 16:46

@AniSL you are being more positive than I think I would be so hat off to you. At least as you say you have some £ towards the next cycle and some of your unused meds too. Fingers crossed for a positive outcome next cycle 🤞

@hoping2018 thank you for the useful information. I guess there isn't any real answer is there as to quality and quantity between cycles

AFM I'm in a cranky somewhat shitty mood. Convinced I'm getting AF. Bit of pinkness this afternoon, low down groin pinching, going to be so gutted if it hasn't worked but always knew it could have gone either way