December/ January IVF&ICSI

[brighteye3986]

Hi everyone, so we saw the nurse earlier this week and our plan has been set. We are on long protocol and will be looking at starting on my December cycle meaning that I will be due to start buserelin around 6th jan with EC being end of Jan.

Anyone else looking at a December/ January cycle?

Got the call this morning.
17 eggs collected, all mature (me and my hubby had joked that i am an old lady at heart and so would only be able to produce mature eggs! Hehe)
Out of those 17, 11 have fertilised. So unless this changes in the next 24 hours it will be a Tuesday transfer.
So relieved to know that we have managed to get 11 chances! Even if we only end up with 1 that's all we need. Spent all night worrying that his sample wouldn't be strong enough to do the trick. Glad to know we are in with a chance.

Great news @Ginger951! 11 fertilised is a really good result 😊

Congratulations @womaninkent xx

Great news @ginger951 xx

Sorry I’ve not been posting much. We are currently 3 days into a 6 day transatlantic crossing and have spent much of that time in a battle with storm Erik that is now bartering the UK. It has left me feeling really rough - and there are times I don’t know whether it’s just the weather or whether it’s also morning sickness!! I’m now 6+1 and only got to wait till Monday for my viability scan!!

Argh!! Tuesday not Monday for my scan!!

I've had my last scan today and EC has been booked for Monday! I've got to reduce my gonal-f tonight. I had a total of 30 follicles today but only a few of them were at the size they required- 3 at 18 or above and 3 at 17. Got to do my trigger shot tomorrow night at 10pm and then be at the hospital for 6am on Monday......

A question for anyone on a freeze all cycle.... when did they advise this might be the case?? I'm worried I may be over stimulating with my high number of follicles although not are at the desired size etc. My left ovary seems to want to keep producing more but my right has stayed around the 11 mark the whole way through. The last couple of days I've had a bit of bloating but nothing else other than really sore boobs....

bright I was advised at the appointment before egg collection ( the Monday, we collected on the Wednesday morning so before doing the trigger shot). I had to have a blood test to check Estrogen+ progesterone levels. My clinic also ‘freeze all’ of more than 20 eggs are retrieved which obviously might not be known until collection. Sometimes they’ll decided to freeze all between EC and transfer if you become unwell! I didn’t have any symptoms other than a bit of bloating and sore boobs either I’m actually quite relieved to not have transferred straight away - although I’ve only had mild OHSS, it really has wiped me out. I don’t think I have enough thought to how tired and achey I’d be especially as AF arrived so soon after collection

Thanks @Justwaitingforaline they haven't said anything and didn't appear to be worried although have reduced my gonal f from 225 to 150 for tonight which is my last one. As I said before I got a fair few follicles but I had a fair few around the 12 mark and under which probably won't be at the right size for collection. I suppose I just need to wait and see what they say on Monday. I think we had around 10-12 that were over 14....

@brighteye3986 I was told at the scan before my EC that it was very likely to be a freeze all. On the day of my egg collection i was officially told it would freeze all as they collected 28 eggs. I too only developed mild OHSS was off work the following week as i bloated hugely and my ovaries measured 8cm each instead of their normal 2cm.
On the day of EC I was disappointed, but now I'm pleased as you don't want to fall seriously ill and potentially waste a precious embryo xx

Thanks @PostiveThinkingRainbow I'm just preparing myself incase they decide on Monday to do a freeze all. I only had 3 at 'mature' stage. They rang me this afternoon too and didn't seem too bothered and didn't say anything then either. I have my fingers crossed everything goes as planned.

@brighteye3986 you will be surprised how much things can change in such a short space of time. During my last scan before collection I only had 4-5 big enough, all the others were 15, 14 or 12. And yet they all matured to give me 17 mature eggs only 3 days later. It's amazing really.

@Ginger951 I suppose with the stims everything still keeps growing. Im sure I'm worrying about nothing but with ivf you never know what's going to happen.

I'm starting to feel really nervous for Monday now. I'm trying to stay calm but keep thinking that if only 4 are large and the others haven't caught up by Monday that is not many eggs as I know it is rare for them all to fertilise and make it.

I was hoping for some to freeze just in case but now I'm worried that there won't be any at all let alone spares.

Just got to try to stay calm. Planning to down myself in milk for the next few days as I had read that milk can help them to grow (not sure it's true but willing to try anything).

Has anyone else done anything that helped to get the last few to grow in time?

@CornishMaid1 try not to worry, I felt the same 2 days before my collection. They can grow a lot in 2 days and the trigger will mature them. I just made sure I ate protein with every meal and drank loads of water as that can also help with growth. We got 10 eggs in the end, 6 mature/fertilised and 5 made it to day 5 blastocysts. All will be well 😊 Best of luck!

@brighteye3986 best of luck for your collection on Monday too!

Thank you @positivity86

@cornishmaid1 like positivity86 says a lot can happen in just a few days. So please don't worry. I had a scan Friday (showing just 6 follicules) and another Monday showing 4-5 ready and a handful well under sized. And yet by the Thursday I got plenty of eggs, it's surprising how quickly it all can change. And there is no point in worrying, it won't change what will be, so just try to relax and look after yourself.

Got our update from the clinic this morning. All 11 are still going strong! 9 of which are top quality grades 1-2 and the remaining 2 are of average quality around a 4. I know it's only day 2 but got everything crossed we are still left with some come Tuesday! So annoying that I won't know anymore till we arrive Tuesday!

Thanks for all your congratulations! Still can’t quite believe it.
@ginger951great news!
@positivethinkingrainbow best of luck for tomorrow. I was 13 days post a day 5 transfer when I tested yesterday!
@miamiibiza I didn’t really have any symptoms other than being tired, occasionally slight period type pains. The only thing that made me think it might have worked is when I burst into tears for no reason!!

Trigger shot complete! I'm so tired as have had to wait up to take my trigger shot and was up at stupid o clock this morning!

This is it now.... roll on 6am Monday morning 😬

My trigger shot is in now too. Glad that is the last one done and I get a needle free day tomorrow.

Well done @CornishMaid1 and @brighteye3986 😊

Well done @cornishmaid1 And @brighteye3986. No more needles! Don't worry about Monday, egg collection was much easier than I thought. The post collection bloating and sore ovaries were/Are the worst bit. But at least then u have a reason to feel like it's worth it. Whereas with the needles u were just being stabbed with no visible gain!
So exciting!

Thanks @Ginger951 I have booked the week off this week so I can wear comfy clothes and don't have to worry about how I'm feeling. I also have acupuncture booked for Thursday so hopefully that will help with some of the side effects.

Great news @cornishmaid and @brighteye3986 with the trigger shots. Best of luck to both of you for egg collection!

Just wondering.... is there anything that is a must to take with me for EC other than the obvious? Also is there anything that really isn't needed??

Hi @brighteye3986, I found you don't need much. I took warm socks, dressing gown, magazine, water and panty liners but I didn't actually get any bleeding from the procedure and had no time to read the magazine! They give you tea and biscuits afterwards. Good luck!!