September/October IVF

[WineWinner]

Hey,

I've had my appointment through finally to start my first round of IVF. Our consultation is September and hoping if we start on CD21 (no idea if we will, just what I'm presuming from research) then we will be good to start just after the middle of the month. Anyone else the tentatively waiting for a September start?

I'm on stims day 9 and had another scan this morning. Got 13 on the right and 9 on the left - a mixture of sizes so who knows how many eggs we will get. We got 24 on our first cycle and 12 on our second - its so unpredictable.

I've got fluid build up on my ovaries, which is giving me some discomfort and making me a bit nauseous. They said to drink even more water... Back in for a scan Monday and possible egg collection Wednesday.

@parksansrecreation oh that’s so frustrating when you’ve built yourself up for transfer. It’s so tricky. I would take the advice of the consultant. How often are you coughing? Maybe discuss with them further but they want the best result for you (and their clinic stats) so they’ll give you the best advice xx

@tryingtobemum wow that sounds like a great number! Look after yourself with the OHSS. I literally was non stop guzzling fluid (and peeing). Try and put your feet up xxx

@Tryingtobemum - great news on your scan - looks like you’re on course for a better haul than last time 😊 I feel for you with tne OHSS - I’m still suffering and it’s just awful - only getting around 2 - 3 hours max of sleep a night because of the pain. Take it easy and keep down8ng the water- it does help to manage my pain.

@Parksandrecreation - I agree with the others that you should speak to your clinic again and take their advice - they will want the best possible outcome for you. I know they say it’s 8mportant t9 avoid uterine cramps and spasms after ET (hence the sex ban!) so maybe they’re worried about spasms from the coughing?

I just got up the courage to do my second CB digital test and it’s progressed to 3+ weeks 😊 I’m so happy and relieved after my bout of panic the other day!

@crittertamer did yours ban sex? Ours said it was fine and wouldn’t affect the outcome. My husband literally pushed that piece of paper up against my eye balls to highlight they said it’s safe to have sex after transfer. I still made him wait a couple of days but then we got back on it and into the swing of things x

@Peanut1980 - that’s interesting , my clinic said no sex until OTD. We are still currently banned because of the OHSS - DH isn’t a happy bunny lol!

@crittertamer I still find it so amazing how clinics in the same country vary so much on their guidelines. Hubby was getting really moody with the dry spell. He’s quite a simple being in that sense 🤣 Some sex soon sorted that out 🤣

SO - long conversation with the Consultant again (who I think is brilliant) and he says he's been looking at the embryos throughout the day - 2 are starting to form a cavity, so look like they'll be good to freeze tomorrow.

I thought the cavity thing was bad when we spoke earlier, and that it meant we were losing those 2 guys - turns out they're developing faster and better than the others who are all still doing their thing, so it's still everything to play for.

Basically, we're going to sit tight tomorrow - speak to the embryologist at lunchtime and see how things are cooking and the numbers that are being frozen. On Sunday (Day 6) we'll speak to the consultant again and see how it's all going with the remaining ones - and as they do a Day 6 transfer we could do one then OR freeze the others too. I think we'll just freeze them.

He's massively reassured me about the FET process, and I trust him. They're quite picky about the ones they freeze, and the failure rate at thawing is less than 1% at their lab so I'm cool (no pun intended) with that.

If it's better for me too to let my body get back to normal, then I guess it can only be a good thing all round.

Bit frustrating, but the upside is that me and DP are going to book a 2 week holiday to give ourselves a break...no idea where as we've spent all our cash on doing this but we'll make it work!

@Parksandrecreation I’m so glad you’ve been able to get some clarity and the consultant has put your mind at rest 😊 better to follow their recommendations than plough on and possibly regret it later. Hopefully the month wait will pass very quickly and you’ll be transferring before you know it (especially if you take a nice holiday inBetween!)

Thanks @CritterTamer - I feel a lot calmer about it. I really trust the guy, so I'm just going to relax...although not until I know how many we get in the freezer!

Parksandrecreation thats good news and giving your body time off before doing a transfer is not a bad thing, well done.

Crittertamer and Peanut1980 my clinic said DTD was all fine throughout the whole process, they said to be gentle before EC and after so not to twist the ovaries, happy to follow that

Tryingtobemum water and more importantly isotonic water will help with OHSS. Look after yourself.

Just had our day three update and our three little embabies are going strong!

On day two we had 2 x grade ones (top quality) at 2 and 3 cell and 1 x grade two-three with 4 cells.

Day three we have 2 x grade one-two with 5 and 8 cells and 1 x grade 2 with 6 cells.

They've said we can go to a day five transfer which I was not expecting. I actually feel for the first time that we're in with a chance. Can't believe it after a low fertilisation rate!!!

I hope everyone else has a positive day today 😊 xxx

Update this morning - 2 are going in the freezer today. A 4BB and a 2BB.

There is so much confusing info about grading - but the embryologist said they don't give A's very easily so B's for them are great. The number refers to the amount of liquid inside the cavity, so I guess one is slightly bigger than the other - but the quality is the same. I'm ok with that!

The other 5 are still ticking along, and they think that maybe another 1 or 2 might make it to Blast tomorrow and if so they'll freeze those too.

If we end up with 4 to use later down the line, I'll be amazed - and incredibly thankful.

@Lopeylopez - really crossing everything for you today! x

@fingersxssd83 I’m so pleased for you. That’s amazing news!!! 😁😁😁

@parksandrecreation perfect news on the embies. So where are you jetting off to for your holiday? Somewhere hot?! Oh some beach life would be ammmaaazzziinnggg!! 😍

@lopeylopez good luck for today 😘😘😘🙏🤞

Great news Parksandrecreation. LopeyLopez good luck today. Fingersx thats awesome news too.
Lots of success on here woohoo

Aww it’s so nice to see everyone getting good news 😊 good luck to everybody waiting to transfer! Xxx

@Peanut1980 I don't think they'll all be eggs as some are quite small, but fingers crossed we get a decent amount 🤞🏼

@CritterTamer sorry you're still suffering. Did it start for you during stims? It was post egg collection for my first two cycles so I'm a bit worried it's started so early this time

That sounds really positive @ParksAndRecreation good idea to have a hol. Shame ivf costs so bloody much!

Will do thanks @AniSL how are you doing?

That's brilliant news @FingersXssd83

@Trying2bemum no I had nothing other than the normal swollen, heavy ovaries feeling during stims. I did notice a little discomfort the day or two after EC but just put it down to the procedure itself - I bled quite a lot after EC and they told me they had had to ‘dig around’ quite a bit to get to some of the follies. It all went away and I completely forgot about it then until 4dp5dt which was when I started feeling what I now know were implantation symptoms (aching hip, AF type cramps). By 5dp5dt I had bloated massively and had significant abdominal pain but didn’t know what it was for a few days after that When I eventually went to the clinic at 9dp5dt because i couldn’t stand it anymore, they said that it’s late onset OHSS - far more unusual than early onset and caused by the ovaries overreacting to the sudden influx of HCG from implantation rather than the HCG trigger shot which causes early onset OHSS.

Tryingtobemum I am ok, suffered some seriously painful constant headaches after AF, apparently quite common as body is trying to regulate your hormones again after all the insane hormones we pump in. Had a few times were BP and pulse went funny, hospital and my fertility consultant advised its quite common - eeeek we are certainly not told. Just waiting for AF now so we can prepare for FET

@Trying2bemum - meant to add that if your HCG trigger shot causes OHSS to start up they will likely ask you to freeze all and wait a month before transferring because successful implantation would cause a sever worsen8ng of your symptoms 😔

*severe worsening

Ahh @CritterTamer that makes sense. I kind of knew it hadn't worked last time as I could feel the OHSS symptoms ebbing away ☹️ I guess that could be my fate again this cycle. Not sure how many more times I can do this. My nhs cycle I had to do a freeze all due to OHSS - but my second cycle I got it and the private clinic went ahead. They seem quite gung ho, so might press on again this time. If it's freeze all I'll just have to accept it xx

@AniSL poor you that sounds awful , I didn't realise you could react like this. My pulse has felt weirdly fast over the last few days, not sure if that's related to stims but it makes me feel on edge!

@Trying2bemum I guess it will depend on how bad you are after the trigger shot - if symptoms are very mild they might go ahead, but if you have a moderate or severe case they should definitely freeze all and give you a month to recover. As frustrating as that is, having experienced a moderate case now i can definitely say that there’s no way I would want to experience a severe case! The risks are not. only to you, but to the embryos, as the blood thickening can prevent proper blood flow to them. That’s why I have to take these horribly painful blood thinner injections every day😢

I'd rather be safe so will see what the clinic says. I was on blood thinners after my last transfers - fragmin - horrible injections! Would definitely not want to risk severe OHSS - you're right.

I'm a bit scarred from freeze all and fet as we had to do this on our nhs cycle - and our top embryo didn't survive thaw ☹️ I still think that embryo was our best chance at becoming parents yet.

@Trying2bemum oh no that’s awful - they say that freezing and thawing is over 95% safe these days - you were so unlucky and I can see why you would be wary of freezing again. When is your trigger shot? I guess you’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the few days after it and fingers crossed that the OHSS stays away so you can have a safe transfer xxx