IVF/ICSI May/June

[Cauliflower82]

Hi everyone

I’m creating a new thread with the hope of finding people with similar dates to me. I am due to start medication on May 13th with the hope egg collection will be June 19th. I’m 34, female factor fertility.

Anyone else out there with similar dates?

@Littleone3 I’m on day 3 now and I’m in the swing of things, I think.
Let us know how you get on with your acupuncture.

@Finallytakingtheplungewithivf thank you 🙏

@Zest11 in all honesty I haven’t found the injections too scary at all - I take the buserelin and I’m very slow with it, no stinging or itchiness. I bled the first time but haven’t since - I do get a rash but it goes fairly quickly. I feel if I can do it, anyone can - it really doesn’t hurt. Saying that mind, I do hate it!

Gosh, it sounds like we're all in the thick of it now! It all becomes very daunting doesn't it.

Our donor had her egg collection today which is exciting! We'll find out tomorrow how many have fertilised. Everything crossed for a decent amount!

Viagra doesn't seem too bad, although I've also started on progesterone pessaries. So now every morning and every evening I'm inserting 5 separate tablets/pessaries vaginally 😭

I had a hypnotherapy session yesterday which seemed to help a little with my anxiety. I'm not usually a particularly anxious person, but IVF really does not agree with my mental health.

I'll keep you all updated with my embryos progress if you all want?? Also, my clinic sent me a photo which shows what embryos should look like at each stage if anyone is interested in me sharing?

Thankyou FinallytakingtheplungewithIVF ahh I see, yes I can imagine it being painful if the same part is being jabbed. I'm not expecting to get too many follicles as my AMH is 11 (coukd even be less now!) Applecart11 thank you for replying, that's good that you don't have too many symptoms! Maybe it's not so bad afterall!

Sorry I didn't see the next page. Thank you cauliflower82 and mouse1234567 for your positivity. Hearing other people's experiences is now actually making me look forward to starting...never thought I would see the day!

@jemimafuddleduck definitely keep us updated! I want to hear all about your progress.

@zest11 you’ll be just fine, I promise. You really will be. I’ve not really had any side effects yet - a bit of a headache but I’ve just started to drink tonnes more water 💧

Hey @zest11, on my first week of burselin, I felt extremely dad and short tempered but by day 8 I woke up feeling back to normal!
I'm now on my period/bleed and it's the same as normal.

Jemima - I'm so excited for you!!

Your AMH sounds good, but don't worry about the number it's just an indication - mine is 1.9 (I think) but at my last scam the consultant was surprised out how good my ovaries look. Plus you only need one good egg and sperm to make it!

Update from the clinic - it's not good news. 12 eggs obtained but only 4 fertilised today. Got to wait to see how they are at day 5, but that's a really poor drop off rate 😢 I'm trying not to feel too negative but it's hard 😢

@jemimafuddleduck A friend of mine got 1 fertilised egg, pretty poor quality, transferred day 3 and successful pregnancy. Try and stay positive. Its an okay fertilised egg count, even though the drop off feels big. Sending hugs ❤️ xx

Thanks @LittleOne3. I know it could still be ok and it only takes one, but this, combined with my poor lining up to this point is just making me feel really down. On top of the emotional side of it, because we are travelling to Spain for a week for the transfer it's working out so much more expensive 😢 and that money will be wasted if we don't have anything to transfer 😢

I know its so tough. I think we've all had so many let downs we're a bit programmed to expect the worse. I think this 5 day wait is one of the worst in the whole process. Did your hypnotherapy give you any home techniques for anxiety? I still havent tried the IVF mindfulness but sure I will do when I'm at your stage. Have you got any distractions planned for today? Is OH around? xx

@jemimafuddleduck four possible day 5s is pretty good I’m thinking. Keep us updated. I can imagine this must be possibly the most anxious time of the entire process. Where in Spain will you be going again?

@Cauliflower82 obviously if we end up with 4 day 5s we'll be overjoyed! But we only have 4 on day 1 and chances are they'll drop
Off before Monday. We're going to IVF Spain in Alicante.

Thank you all for your replies. I will have a little break from here and will update after I have had my appt and started the injections. I will still keep reading to follow everyone's journeys. Good luck to you :)

@jemimafuddleduck oh yes, of course - I an see what you mean now. I’m sorry - I still have so much to learn. Will you get another phone call on day 3?

Day four of regulation for me - injections are not getting easier. Even though they don’t hurt, sting or itch, I hate them.
How long are people downregulating for? It’s 23 days for me and I think it’s ridiculous.

@Cauliflower82 we should get an update every day now until transfer day. I'm trying not to be negative because I know that it can all work out, but I'm also realistic and I just think we are going to have a failed cycle. I am pretty devastated, not only is there the emotional impact of this but also a massive financial one.

@jemimafuddleduck I am so praying that everything works out for you. I’m only on my first cycle and can only imagine how difficult it must be.
People are always telling me to remain positive, but I feel it’s better for my frame of mind if I keep some realism there too. It’s just all so massively unfair.

Hi ladies. Hope it's ok if I join. I've read the whole of the thread this evening.

I've had 4 miscarriages in the last year and am just about to start IVF using donor sperm. I've got high natural killer cells so basically my body kills my babies. So there's a shed load of other stuff to be added into my long protocol.

Started noresthisterone today and buselerin on Monday. I froze my eggs a few years ago so I've got some idea what the whole thing is like although I don't think I downregged last time.

Thanks for all the tips. Have just downloaded the mindfulness app and the podcasts as well.

@jemimafuddleduck keeping everything crossed for you. I know how difficult it is to stay positive. Alicante is my happy place; that is surely a good sign (not that you know me of course).

Thank goodness for the support on here (I'm in another group about natural killer cells) otherwise I don't know how I'd get through it.

Take care all and good luck

Very late to this thread, I've had a really straightforward experience up to now with menopur and cetrotide injections, but now all the waiting is excruciating!

@jemimafuddleduck I'm keeping everything crossed for you. This is my first round but I also had 12 eggs and 6 fertilised, really hoping at least 1 of them makes it to day 5.

@jemimafuddleduck sorry it wasn’t better news -I’m really praying for those embryos. The financial implications must be so stressful and just yet another thing to worry about.

Happy Friday everyone -can’t wait for the weekend. So far so good on day 2 of buserelin-def spotty and some hot flushes but nothing major!

We are down to one embryo now. And that embryo still needs to make it until Monday in a good condition. I've resigned myself to the fact that this is highly unlikely to happen now.

I've just been away on holiday and it's taken time to catch up on the thread.

@jemimafuddleduck I have everything crossed for you - I hope that you have good news tomorrow.

I'm day 17 into Buserelin. People have been asking about the injections - they are so small personally I can't feel them. Just after I inject it gets a bit red and itchy at the injection site for about half an hour but then goes away.

@Mrbay asked if anyone gets hungry - my problem is that I can always eat, not sure hunger has anything to do with it! Side effects have been minimal for me - just thirstier and warmer than normal.

@Applecart11 on Buserelin I've now had my lining shed. I had basically a slightly heavier than usual period (but I'm also on blood thinners now so maybe that's why?). Amazingly I had no period pains or PMS symptoms.

Hope everyone is doing well?

Hi everyone, apologies for being absent for a while. Sounds like a good few of you are progressing with their treatment plans, I found that I got into a routine of doing the jabs after a while, I used to have a little poke around first to find an area that was less sensitive and then went for it.

@Jemimafuddleduck my fingers are crossed for your little embryo I know how stressful this process is, my first cycle we only had 1 fertilise but in hung on in there for transfer. Will your clinic consider a 3dt?

I had my baseline scan on Wednesday and so did my donor so I’m now on the little blue estrogen pills and almost instantly the headaches stopped and my night sweats were so much better last night. My donor has also started stims. Another scan next Friday and hopefully will get an update on how my donor is progressing. All getting very real now.

@Spongebob79 glad your baseline went well and your symptoms are better.

I have spoken to them about a 3dt, but tbh I feel like I may as well wait til day5. If it can't make it til day 5 then chances are it won't make it inside me either (I know there is a school of thought that the embryo is better inside you but if that were true across the board then all embryos would be put in at day 5 surely?!

Anyway, we travel tomorrow and I'm having a scan at the clinic to check my lining so will know more then.

@TwistofFate sounds like we might be at a similar stage - what day are you? Today is day 2 after EC.

@KittyKatSmile sounds like you've had a tough ride of it too, hope it all goes well for you

@jemimafuddleduck I think I'm a day ahead of you, due for ET on Sunday. I didn't hear from the embryologist today so hoping that no news is good news. It's so hard not to get my hopes up, even though I know IVF fails more often than it succeeds. Hopefully your little embryo is strong and healthy, will you get an update tomorrow?

Oops, sorry missed the bit about your scan, fingers crossed it goes well.