ICSI June/July

[Maggie9000]

Hi all, new to mumsnet but not to IVF or supporting forums!
I have a 7yr old son through ICSI, after 3 cycles. DP has a 3yr old daughter through ICSI and now we've decided we want one of our own....!

So short protocol is the order of the day, due to polycystic ovaries (not the syndrome) and AF is due next week so imminent.

Would love to chat to others in similar positions right now if there's anyone about?

@Namechangerextraordinaire1
FET is a lot lot cheaper. I am on a medicated cycle so oestradiol 2mg three times a day from day 1 then adding in progesterone pessaries from day 10 (a crazy high dose of utrogestan which is way more expensive than cyclogest and not more effective so I’m irritated by this too!) Anyway the whole cycle supply came to £140 at Asda (who only charge cost price for ivf drugs), which is a lot cheaper than fresh.
Whole cycle of FET will cost £2300 all in 😱 but a bargain compared with a fresh icsi cycle...

@Meganlouise1988 it should be quite quick once sperm retrieval done - we started 2 months after referral and we are also in leicester but went to Nottingham Care (on the nhs - yes this is allowed but leicester will pretend it isn’t) because their success rates are more than double Leicester’s.

@AliciaWhiskers great news re embryos. I only got 7 eggs from my fresh cycle and it took ages to get my follicles to grow... and yet 4 of them became blastocysts (one of which is my daughter) so don’t give up hope just because your numbers are lower than others!

@AliciaWhiskers thank you! Yes we have one cycle on the NHS I think so really hoping it works. Yes I guess it’s a good thing they have found the root of it. Good luck with yours too :)

@Nan0second was that referral from gynaecology at Leicester? I never know if when people say referral they mean from the original gp or after that, but I guess given average timescales it would be once referred to a fertility hospital? Ooo that’s interesting, I have read about Nottingham Care - would you recommend? Does this mean you have to travel to Nottingham?

@AliciaWhiskers congrats on the embryos. That's another hurdle jumped. It's so nerve wracking isn't it!!??
@Nan0second that's a nice price for the drugs at least!! Quite a lot for the whole cycle but like you say, way more manageable than a full cycle. We bought a package that gives us the transfers for free, so only pay for the drugs. Well, until our first success anyway. If we want a sibling later we need to pay the whole thing. Can't quite bring myself to imagine being that lucky just yet though, feels like a jinx. I know that's silly 🙈
@Maggie9000 hope you're ok too.
We got our day 3 update today and we have done really well, we have 1 Grade 1 and 18 grade 2's at the moment. Taking it in stages, really happy with where we are. They keep explaining how they can't guarantee we will get any blastos and they can't freeze unless they're blastos. I understand they're covering their backs and just letting us know worse case scenario, but it is doing nothing st all to reassure me all will be well though!! But like I said, one stage at a time and for now we are in a great position so I'm just focusing on that

Hi all - sorry for dropping off the thread, had 2 pregnancy announcements in work so not feeling great and taking some time away from the boards.

Glad that things are moving forward for you all and will be thinking of you all going through collection and transfer soon! Hope everyone is keeping well, and heaps and heaps of luck to you all xxx

2 days post EC and feeling awful here. My stomach looks so swollen, it's so painful, and it's hard to even sit down :(

@AliciaWhiskers keep an eye on that, keep drinking loads and look out for decreased urine output. Also look out for nausea and vomiting. Otherwise I hope it goes down soon!!!
@ivf2019 sorry to hear you got hit with some baby bombs. They're not fun at all to deal with. Take care of yourself. I think you're going to be starting in the next few weeks aren't you?

@Nan0second thanks for the reassurance about numbers - good to hear of a positive outcome with few eggs collected.

@Namechangerextraordinaire1 super news about the embryos! Fingers crossed they continue to do well.

@ivf2019 sending gentle hugs, sorry you aren't feeling great at the moment. We are here if you want to talk.

Have taken some paracetamol and feeling a bit better. I'm walking sooooo slowly though - my walk to work which usually takes me 20 minutes took me 35 this morning! Can't wait to get home and chill out on the sofa. My partner is away tonight which means I can watch a load of rubbish on the TV and get the whole bed to myself

@Maggie9000 haven't heard from you for a while. Hope everything is ok

Alicia I'm still walking so slowly! A bit quicker today, but I'm usually a really fast walker and even now 4 days later im super slow. Nothing hurts anymore either, so I'm not sure why I'm still like it. We get our final update and confirmation of how many blastos we can freeze in the morning. I'm so nervous. I know we are very fortunate to have so many in the running so I don't want to say negative things but it's so hard to believe we might actually have something go right for a change!!

@namechangerextraordinare1 good luck for tomorrow.

@Meganlouise1988 it was after referral to fertility. We had abnormal sperm on semen analysis so knew we’d need icsi. We were referred at end September from gynaecology, seen in November and then cycle started end of December with transfer in Jan if I recall correctly.
Yes Care Nottingham and yes you have to travel up there lots - but it felt worth it to me to have a success rate for under 35s of 40% rather than 25% at Leicester. They both do free information evenings so it’s worth a trip to see how you feel...

I’m feeling sad and emotional and can’t work out how much is oestradiol side effects and how much is just not coping with being back in the ivf zone. At least with a frozen cycle, it’s fairly painless and will be over soon.

Sorry you're struggling Nano. It's hard, this is only our first go and it's really hard, so multiple times must be draining. I expect it's a mixture of the 2, drugs and general emotions.
We are with Care too, but Northampton not Nottingham. They have impressive success rates on paper, hoping they transfer to real world successes for us

Morning all, awaiting news of our 5 embryos they hopefully took to blast stage today - hopefully some made it to freeze
I'm trying to google if it's possible to have conceived naturally during this cycle as I've had a low dull womb ache the past few days and can't work out if it's still from EC (from which I feel fully recovered?) or if there's something else going on. DP and I broke the rules (it was an accident, there was so much slime, he got excited!!) on Thursday night and we triggered on Saturday night...it isn't a complete impossibility is it?!
I should imagine I'm looking into things too much!
@AliciaWhiskers have you had an update on your embryos? Are you feeling better after EC?
@Namechangerextraordinaire1 will you be getting blast news today too??
Thank you both for advice re gallbladder, I will mention it. If it delays FET for a month then so be it, I'd rather be completely ready.

Hello to others, apologies for the non-personalised post - I am lurking and reading everyone's updates (particularly FET ones)

Hope you get some frosties!! It's a very nerve wracking time. So far ive had my updates between 9.30 and 10, so may find out very soon. Worst case is I will know by 11, but this waiting is so hard!!

I dont think it's possible to conceive because they take all of your eggs as far as I'm aware?

Also the longer I have to wait the more I convince myself it's bad news "they're leaving me til last because they don't want to tell me..." i know, I'm crazy 😂😂😂

Are we all waiting for updates this morning? I’m expecting mine between 8 and 12. I’m half expecting to be called in to have ET this afternoon, as our numbers are so low and I’m worried they won’t last until Monday

Just literally had a call as I was typing that. ET on Monday. Eeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkk

Amazing Alicia!!! So exciting. I'm still waiting. I'm on pins waiting, whyyyyy are they taking so long?! My last 2 updates were by 9.45 (i know its only 10.20 lol)

@AliciaWhiskers you have blasts then?! Amazing!
@Namechangerextraordinaire1 any news yet??

We have 3 top quality blasts that they're freezing today and 3 more they're keeping an eye on until tomorrow. I'm made up :)

That's fab Maggie. 3 certainties and 3 possibles. I don't think our clinic goes to day 6 unfortunately. Still no news here, I'm tying myself in knots!!!! Argh!!!!

@Namechangerextraordinaire1 argh the waiting is awful isn’t it! Hope they don’t keep you waiting too much longer this morning and you get some good news

@Maggie9000 mine are on day 3 - does that make them blasts yet? Excellent news on yours! That’s a brilliant outcome!

The waiting is the worst. He said we should hesr by 11 which is only 10 mins away now. I think he may be wrong though!!! I mean...I wouldn't want to call up myself but would you ring if you hadn't heard by 12 for example?

Alicia they're not blasts until day 5 as far as im aware

@Namechangerextraordinaire1 oh yes I’d definitely call if I hadn’t heard anything.

Yes, not blasts yet then. I’m a couple of days behind you two :)

I managed to control myself and said I would call at 12.45 as they close at 1. They finally called a few mins ago and said we have managed to freeze 10. I was hoping for 5 so we are both absolutely thrilled. Had a little cry actually, we both teared up. I'm so, so pleased.

Oh wow @Namechangerextraordinaire1, that’s brilliant. So happy for you

Thanks Alicia. Better than I could have even hoped for, I honestly can't believe it. I was convinced they were leaving it so late to call use cos it was bad news!!! I'm sure they don't actually do that, but your mind goes to weird places doesn't it!!