February / March 2019 IVF / ICSI

[Thund4rcat]

Hi all, starting a new thread for those of us who are starting IVF treatment in February.

This will be my second round of ICSI, I start buserelin injections on 17th February. We have MFI (low sperm count) and after our first cycle ended in a chemical pregnancy, I demanded a laparoscopy because I have always had painful periods. The lap discovered I have mild endometriosis and mild adenomyosis but the surgeon said it was mild enough to not affect my fertility.

I am continuing with the NHS, doing a second fresh cycle. We have 3 frozen embryos from the first round as backup if this one doesn't work...

Would be good to have some cycle buddies to share support over the next couple of months...

@Ginandtonic31 i know it’s easy to say but try not worry. Its never too late I’m 41 and my DH is nearly 46, don’t put pressure on yourself with timescales.

Thank you @2019isouryear for the support. I suppose by the time our children are older it will be the norm to have parents that had them in their 40s. I just see him getting closer to 50 and time ticking on (just knocked a few years off his life there 😂) and thinking I won’t be lucky enough to have an easy ride. When do we stop because he’s too ‘old’?!

My Dad was 51 when I was born and I never knew anything different.As long as you're willing and able why not keep going. What does it matter if he is one year older?
It's so easy to try to predict the future isn't it with infertility. I keep telling myself it's pointless...but keep doing it anyway!

I was seeing a counsellor previously and she said we need to stop thinking ahead to the future but it’s so hard. All I can think is we should have sorted this out 8 years ago or something. Why have we waited so long etc. But I can’t go back. I suppose it’s the unknown of knowing other people’s reaction and the unknowns etc. And then I’ve read research suggesting male sperm can have more genetic issues in older men so I’m jumping ahead and worrying about that! I’m 32 so an okay age but when we got together I didn’t think about these sorts of implications just enjoyed being us!

SOrry for the aside moaning. It’s just bugging me today 😞 it’s just the unknown of if this doesn’t work I don’t know what to do.

Sorry you've having a difficult day @Ginandtonic31. It's so hard not to look ahead sometimes - I'm really bad at that lately! But try not to panic - try and take it one step at a time. You're doing everything you can at the moment so wait and see what happens at the next stage xx

@Ginandtonic31 - sorry today hasn't been such a positive day, it's an emotional rollercoaster this IVF journey! The scan last week was good news, have you had anymore scans? Could you ask how many follicles you have? I'm still shocked they don't tell you more information, mine even gave me ultrasounds and let me take photos of my charts to show DH as he couldn't attend the appointments. X

We have been given the go ahead to start our treatment, still a few weeks off yet and the consultant has recommended ICSI due to DH mobility. I’m very new to the process but I’m panicking a little having read about the potential risks and them being slightly greater with this type of treatment. Am I over thinking this? Wondered what other experiences were. This is prob our only shot so do want to do what they recommend to hopefully make it a success.

@2019 - we have also had ICSI, yes the risks are slightly higher but only marginally. In most cases the embryo won't survive if there are abnormalities. My sister also had ICSI and has a very healthy little boy x

@2019isouryear we're on our fourth round of ICSI after unexpected failed fertilisation at our first IVF round (which was devastating).

Is it the damage to eggs that you're worried about? We've always had pretty good fertilisation rates - this cycle 11 out of 12 eggs fertilised (they didn't all become embryos but that's aside I guess). Having read lots of people's experiences I don't really notice a difference between ICSI and IVF.

I wish we'd had ICSI to start with to avoid the disappointment and wasting our only free cycle! So it's good they've identified that with you.

Oops meant @2019isouryear x

And as @intrigued2018 says the risk of abnormalities is still very low - less than 1% I think.

Thanks @intrigued2018 @Meownow9 it was the risk of abnormalities but as u say 1% is still very low. This is all new to me and has started to become very real now we have our potential start date. Good to hear the successes of ICSI x

@2019isouryear sorry if I worried you! I probably should've asked what you were referring to first, doh. Hope the start of treatment goes well x

No not at all @Meownow19 x

Day 5 of stims (I'm on short protocol), and had my first scan which went well. Have 10 follicles and the endometrium is looking good. Added more Gonal after the scan as per doc's recommendations and another increase tomorrow am. With one more increase on Friday. Then I'll go for my second scan and start Cetrotide in the evenings. EC is on Wednesday. Our ivf is also with ICSI.

Hi ladies, @ginandtonic31 I think most older men make fantastic dads as they are ready for it I know my DH is anyway! Keep thinking of lots of eggs in there and keep the faith it is hard to keep your spirits up at times so let yourself have a down day today and be positive tomorrow.

That said I dont feel very positive myself I have had a lot of twinges over the last couple of days and dont have a good feeling though am ok not going aroubd crying or anything. I found work hard today as so many people asked me what was wrong as im never out sick! My manager sends an email around the whole department if you're sick FFS she knows my situation!

We are having ICSI too!

@Evie8010 how old is your husband if you don’t mind me asking? I’m not worried he won’t be good, I’m sure he will be great. It’s thibking ahead to school, uni or them getting married etc. And the worry that if it doesn’t happen soon he’s heading to 50!

Why does she send an email round? I’ve found people nosey too. I’m off this afternoon and tomorrow and suddenly everyone’s like are you doing anything nice? Etc.

We also get mass emails asking to cover last minute appointments if someone's off sick. Could HR or someone else intervene in the future? IVF is stressful enough without work being extra stressful!

Yesterday I was thinking what if the cyst delays the cycle? What if it gets delayed because if DHs work? What if my AMH is under 6 and they say IVF will have a very low success rate? On and on...it's unhelpful. I'm going to redouble my efforts to notice when I'm worrying, hand it over and refocus my attention elsewhere. I can't change it so I must accept it.

Hey all - we are on our first round of IVF have down regulation scan next Wednesday and then move forwards from there. I'm terrified, exited and nervous all rolled into one!

Welcome @Kerin1980. Fingers crossed for you!

Hi ladies I'm currently weeping in bed with some chocolate I have no idea why!!!! Maybe cos Im hiding all my feelings in work?

@GinTonic31 my hubby is 40! My parents actually had me at age 40 too and are 75 now! I would say im the closest to them out of the 4 in our family as they had more time for me and are very close to my ds they were working for all the other grandkids growing up! I guess I mean it's quality not quantity and with general life expectancy I wouldn't unduly worry! Look at the Rollings Stones lads haha!
@Aliceabsolum it's so hard not to catastrophise im queen of it haha! It really doesn't get you anywhere though with one egg things didnt turn out brilliant. ImDublin thinking about egg donors already like!!
No idea why she sends the bloody email around but it's very irritating ! I am trying to keep a low profile with all the time off so don't feel I can say much right now!
@Kerin1980 best of luck I've found the treatment not as scary or bad as I imagined and they are total pros and will set you at ease :-)

Roll on the weekend!

Welcome @Kerin1980. Best of luck :)

@Evie8010 I'm alright as long as I notice I'm catastrophising, when I start really believing the catastrophe then I'm screwed. Trying to take it one day at a time!
3 days until I find out my AMH is too low to continue and it can't anyway because of the cyst in my ovary...

@Evie8010 to me 40 is fine though! But if this round works he will be 46 and if it doesn’t even older! And I catastrophise too. That’s what I’m doing here! You can know every method not to and still do it can’t you!

EC for me today. Spent the night in London and not slept hardly. I’m terrified even though done it before and terrified of waking up to nothing! Or very little. Last time it was 4 and I just cried! I’m in for 10 and then my train north is st 2.30!

@Ginandtonic31 - best luck today with EC, fingers crossed for you that everything goes to plan.

@Evie8010 - I hope you are a little brighter today, I know the feeling of just wanting to sit and cry! I find I also channels my feeling through work to blank everything else out. Agree roll on the weekend!

@AliceAbsolum - best of luck with your AMH tests.

@Kerin1980 - welcome to the thread and good luck with your journey. Like others have said once you are going through it it's so much less scary than it seems. X