IVF July/August 2018

[Sunny1984]

Hey,

So like the title says really is anyone about to start an IVF cycle in July or August?

This is my first cycle and I’m excited/petrified!!! I would love to have some cycle buddies to chat to and for support. It’s all self funded as due to the postcode lottery we get no NHS cycles.

Just a little background. I’m 34, have been TTC for 2 and a bit years now, initial diagnosis PCOS and I had 7 cycles of Clomid which resulted in me falling pregnant in December but sadly I had a MMC at 11 weeks. I have since been diagnosed with endometriosis following an unexpectedly low AMH result. My right ovary is has a significant cyst.

I have an endometrial scratch on Monday and will begin down reg on Monday night. I’m a nurse so have no fear of needles but not sure how I’ll manage with injecting myself.

Really hope to have some company on this journey xxx

The results are in and..... it's a BFP From me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you all so much for your support and well wishes. Hopefully this will be an uber-lucky thread for us all!
The bad news is I am now on double dose progesterone (2x400mg) and boy was last night rough. Really feel for you ladies who've been taking these higher doses.

I'm off on a short hols and not sure how much I'll be able to post for the next few days.

@Springb0ks - how are you feeling this morning? One episode that long after the drugs could be any number of things, I should think, not necessarily all linked to the drugs. Monitor yourself and check against known side-effects for your drugs. If any doubt or just feeling lousy please call the clinic - they really won't mind and it will put your mind at ease one way or another.
I was very lucky with my stimming side-effects and had very few. However, thinking about it now, my first night I woke up with IBS stomach cramps (which isn't uncommon for me), which escalated really quickly (this is more unusual) and I didn't know if I was going to be sick or pass out, I was also shaking. I felt fine the next day though and it never happened like that again. I was on gonalf, if that's useful.

(PS: I used to inject around 7pm, so quite a lot later than you)

Woohoo @gingergnome, so thrilled for you! Congratulations and make sure you take things easy now. Here’s hoping the rest of us follow suit!

Thinking of you @Cobblestones today, everything crossed for you to have a similar result!

@gingergnome Over the moon to hear your news, keeping everything crossed you have a happy, healthy pregnancy and a little bundle of joy arriving I guess around Easter? Relax and enjoy your hols :) xxx

@gingergnome, I am absolutely delighted for you! So many congratulations. And thanks for taking the time to respond to me, I'm feeling slightly better this morning, have had about 3 hours sleep and was ready to stop the whole cycle in my more dramatic moments at 1am . But, onwards and upwards and I've just done the second stims injection. Now, go and enjoy your break you lovely, pregnant lady!

Yay @gingergnome huge congratulations!! Such amazing news!! Was this your first cycle?
I find after the first few days the body gets used to the high dose of progesterone I had it with 5 of Clomid cycles and up until 11 weeks when I had my MMC.

Will be thinking of you @Cobblestones today, sending lots of love 💕

@Springb0ks I have had some cramping the last few days of the Stims but I just thought it was my ovaries waking up and then today I woke up with a really upset tummy. Not sure it’s related but I would call your clinic if you are worried.

Let us know how your scan goes today @35counting.

Thanks everyone!
Glad you are feeling a bit better and more positive @Spring

@Sunny It was indeed my first cycle. I can't get over how unbelievably lucky we've been. That's good to hear that I might get used to the higher dose - I wouldn't like many more nights like the last one!

I'm having the weekend to be ridiculously excited, enjoy telling my support group and get completely ahead of myself. I will get real about everything next week and go back to just living in the moment, just in case. The endorphins have got to be good for baby though, right?! (seems weird even typing 'baby' in the same breath as anything about me)

We had our big appointment yesterday to go through our plan, meds etc which I was really excited about, as we all know it feels like a age getting to that point!!!!

Was going really well and was getting all excited as we thought I was going to start next week, but half way through the meeting they realised that I was going to need a trial transfer as I have had operations on my cervix and this has to be done at the beginning of your cycle but not one you are having the IVF on.

Which means I am going to have be put back another month, the nurse needed to talk to the doctor so she will phone me this morning.

I came away feeling really disheartened as I have already waited two months to get this far as they needed to get all my notes etc so they put me on Norethisterone.
I feel they should of realised this sooner and I could of had the trial on my past two cycles.

I know it is only another month but it feels like ages, in my head I just think thats another quarter of a year gone!!!!

Congratulations gingergnome and good luck today cobblestones

@gingergnome enjoy every minute!! Be excited!! From my experience I just tried to enjoy every day of being pregnant as I decided stress and anxiety would be worse for a growing baby! It obviously didn’t work end the way I had hoped but not enjoying it wouldn’t have made it any easier! Not sure if that makes sense but I hope you get the jist of what I’m saying!! Sorry for the all the questions did you take lots of extra supplements or give up anything in advance of your cycle?

@Springb0ks glad you are feeling a bit better. Just go easy for a few days.

Is anyone have accupuncture or reflexology?

@PostiveThinkingRainbow, I’m sorry I can only imagine how frustrating that must be 😕. Sorry my memory is terrible, are you having short protocol? I had mine at on day one of downreg.
When will they do the trial transfer now?

Ah that is disappointing and frustrating @Positive. We had a few stops and starts in our journey too and this particularly worried me as age is a factor for us, so I understand where you’re coming from, especially when you’ve geared yourself up to start. However, it sounds like you are several steps closer than you were 1/4 of a year ago and, importantly, moving in the right direction. You will get there!

@Sunny so sorry it didn’t work out for you but definitely going to follow your model and try to cherish everyday that I wake up pregnant —no matter how grotty I feel—

TBH I only took Folic with D & iron with C.
Down to 1 caffeinated drink a day, didn’t drink the month before starting. Usual exercise (which isn’t huge amounts - one or two classes a week, and couple of brisk walks each day (around 15 mins each). Ate a roughly balanced diet but I do anyway. I’m probbaly not the best role model & could definitely have done more. Equally I suppose I wasn’t putting myself under any additional stress or strain of new routines. Aside from a few incidents, I’ve been, for me, bizarrely chilled throughout - trying to go with the flow and while staying optimistic kept myself in check about the realities of IVF success rates and basically just relinquished control of the process. I think if anything, that’s probably helped most - tense and stressed can’t be conducive to a good outcome I don’t think. Just my opinion of course.

Anyone here on short protocol and had to take Cetrotide? I have to take it to my first scan today and the needle looks scary :(

@gingergnome AHHHHHH congratulations! I'm so thrilled for you! What a positive start to the day :)

@springb0ks sorry to hear you're not feeling well... I am taking mine at 6pm but on a low dose. I wonder if the time is affecting you?

@positivethinkingrainbow so frustrating, but they must be doing it for a good reason. I guess you can only have faith in the Drs and nurses knowing what they are doing to get you the result you want first time!

@cobblestones fingers crossed for you! How lovely double-whammy good news would be today :)

Morning all, bit of a disappointing scan for us this morning, only one ovary is responding so far and all follicles are still measuring 10 or under so EC will definitely not be Wednesday and I may have to up the dose of stims.

Have to carry on over the weekend and then see what’s happening at the scan on Monday. Let’s hope they suddenly have a growth spurt!

Congrats @gingergnome. Finger's crossed all goes well for you.

I know what it is like to have to push things back @PositivieThinkingRainbow and how frustrating it is, but I kept telling myself that it was for the best and there was no point in pushing ahead with a cycle if there was a chance that my body wasn't 100%.

I’m sorry to hear your news too @PositiveThinkingRainbow, can imagine how frustrating that is when it takes so long to get to this stage anyway. I hope they can fit the trial in ASAP and you can get back on track straight away!

Thanks Cupcake and Elaydee!

@Elaydee - I had cetrocide! Did that needle first then the gonalf straight after. If you get it sweet you can not feel a thing, like the gonal, otherwise it can be slightly more jabby than gonal but for me still wasn't even as bad as a blood test, for example (and I'm a massive wimp). Area a little sore afterwards, so I always just laid back for 10mins and gently rubbed the area. I think some people ice.

@35 sorry to hear that. Such a tense time - my follicles were slow responders too with one side doing a fairly poor job. We upped my stims and it gave them enough of a push to go ahead with EC. Hopefully it will work for you too!

Right, must go an pack... dying to know how @Cobblestones gets on - thinking of you!

Oh that’s so comforting to know @gingergnome, thank you. How long did you have to stimm for in the end? It makes it difficult to know what to do re leave at work not knowing when EC is likely to be now.

Thanks @gingergnome! I stupidly googled it and there are forums (mainly in the US) where women are saying how painful it was and YT videos with women yelling ‘ouch’!

For me, it’s the going in that is scary... the drugs stinging isn’t a huge deal. Famous last words...

Thanks ladies for listening to my rant!

I know its the right thing to do and wait, but it just annoys me they did not organise it earlier, FRUSTRATING is the best word to describe it.

The nurse on the day was lovely and she said you want everything to be 100% right (which I know deep down) see what what says later when she calls after talking to the doctor.

I did manage to do the practise injection okay, much better then I thought I would. I just hope I am that brave when I am at home doing it for real.

@35andcounting Sorry to hear about your scan, another "FRUSTRATING" moment in this process! Keeping everything crossed that the extra meds do the job over the weekend!!!
They said to me they might change meds as we go through the process depending on how my body reacts, so it must happen alot.
THEY WILL GET YOU THERE :) The ability to cope with all the information and emotions is such a learning curve, especially when you do not want to share the most private part of your life with the world.

So happy I joined this group, you lot are the best therapy!!!

@gingergnome has given us the hope and reality check we all need xxx

Everything crossed for @Cobblestones xxx

@ginger congratulations!!!!! That’s amazing news! And great for everyone on this thread too. A BFP just lifts everyone’s spirits and makes it a lot more real than success rate statistics. Wishing you a smooth journey over the next few weeks and months ❤️❤️ Enjoy your break!

Sadly ladies I’m bowing out. I got a BFN this morning. I feel a bit numb but not much else I guess. It’s fine. After all the disapppontment we go through, this is one more on the list. I need to decide what to do next. I have one average quality in the freezer but I am wondering if I should bother with that right now or take a cycle off and then start another stimms cycle. Decisions decisions. I’m off work for a couple of months so I want to use this period wisely I won’t be able to get time off this way again. Any advice? Xx

@35counting I also feel your pain with booking time off work, I am in the same position which is another reason I am annoyed that we will not be starting on Monday as I have holiday already booked that would have worked perfectly and next month loads of staff are off, so I will have to get my GP to sign me off work I think.

To be honest I think going in for all the scans is the most unpredictable thing and hard to explain. Thats why I think I might just get my GP to sign me off work, they can do it under "Gynaecological" reasons apparently.

Such a hard thing to balance, but like my husband said "Its time to put ourselves first and not worrying about people at work etc" xxx

Oh @Cobblestones I am so sorry, this is such an emotional rollercoaster for us all. It’s so very disappointing and must be difficult to think about what to do next. I haven’t really considered what we do next. As this is our first attempt I don’t really know what to do expect if it doesn’t work out. The best thing to do is talk it over at length with your partner and try and reach a concensus about your options. There are plenty of counselling services too and I note @gingergnome referred to her support group. I had bereavement counselling for a long time after losing my father and found it really helpful. Perhaps worth a go for you? Thinking of you, x