July/August IVF/ICSI/FET

[TinyPaws]

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd start a thread for those of us undergoing fertility treatment in July/August.

I'm (hopefully) having a FET late July/early August, anyone else want to hop on this thread for the ride?

@confused107 Re: 2WW plans I'm going to rewatch the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice but I need more ideas to occupy myself!

@Bailey2017 So sorry for your BFN, hope you enjoy the wine. x

@Dlpdep Congrats on 9 embryos and good luck for the scan on Sunday.

@Caityprice Congrats on your 5 embryos, here's hoping they're all still in the running on Tuesday! I found waiting for embryo updates the most nerve racking part of the process (except for actually being pregnant and terrified of miscarriage).

@Brambles7 Fingers crossed your period arrives soon? I had loads of horrible dreams while down regging but they went away after my bleed started.

@FingersXssd83 So sorry to hear of your BFN. It sounds like you're taking a really sensible approach to dealing with it. I really hope you get your miracle someday.

@Peanut1980 Welcome and good luck! I'm on Inhixa (cheap version of Clexane) and it does sting a bit on the way in! Good luck for your scan on Monday.

@sometimesalways Hooray for making into the 2WW! Did you have 1 or 2 transferred? (Apologies if you've already said, struggling to keep up with everyone!) Thanks for the good wishes, I did indeed have my ET today.

@Marmite83 Good news on the embryos, sounds really promising. Hope you feel better soon.

@orangefolly 8 is great! (And it rhymes!). This stage is tough. I presume your clinic are aiming for a day 5 transfer with those numbers?

Our embryo thawed with no problems so it's now on board the mothership. 2 weeks until I can officially test (unofficially I'm never going to last 2 weeks and practically I need to know sooner if I'm pregnant so I can arrange further supplies of my medications). Ideas for things to do to occupy myself and not go completely round the bend appreciated.

@confused I am only 2 days into TWW and feel exhausted. It's prob too early for pregnancy symptoms so it must be just the meds and the general emotional strain. Although now I feel fairly calm.

@TinyPaws thank you and good luck with your wait too! Such amazing news that embryo is well and on board yay one step closer to the goal

Don't forget to laugh during the TWW. Science has spoken! I have started my self prescribed comedy marathon

My consultant also advised not to 'use my abdominal muscles much'. I mean, I am not a particularly sporty person, but how is that even possible??

Oh forgot to say @TinyPaws I had only one transferred. I already have a very active DS so the thought of getting twins now (however unlikely a chance) slightly terrifies me. Also while I am 40, the embryos are from back with I conceived my son so aged 36/early 37 and they are good grade so the consultant felt confident we have a reasonable chance with 1. Who knows though, as I also have the autoimmune thyroid issue now so I don't know how that affects things. We will find out.

I’ll be watching carefully to see how you get on with one embryo @sometimesalways as I am in the exact same position as you are (except my eggs are older). If we didn’t have a child already I’d be delighted with twins but the thought of having 3 children at the age of 40 terrifies me to. Twins also run in my family anyway and have skipped my mother’s generation. Two sets already in my first cousin group, so even with one transfer there is still an additional risk.

@Peanut1980 could I ask if you have ever had the cervical scratch or whatever it's called? I'm thinking of considering this as I've heard alot of successful stories from it.

@sometimesalways I think they mainly mean do not carry or lift heavy things that would make your core and lower abdominal tense. Comedy marathon sounds amazing!. Good luck!

@sometimesalways I know what you mean, think we get through it on adrenaline, then suddenly it's just waiting- it's tiring

@TinyPaws so pleased to hear the embryo is on board. Love pride and prejudice myself. My DH is at the cricket tomorrow so box set marathons with the dog on my lap for me!
I don't know what else I'm going to do this weekend apart from wash my hair. The acupuncture lady put seeds in my ear that last for three days and I didn't want to loose them washing my hair, which is pretty gross now!

@Bailey2017 I had the endo scratch this time. From what I've read they used to think it was very effective, but there has been a more recent study that's less conclusive. I had it as more of a mock transfer as I had such a bad time at my HSG so it was worth it for me to put my mind at rest

Sorry HSG? @confused107 I'm definitely going to mention it. Let me know how you get on!

@Bailey2017 yep it's a test they do where they put die through your tubes to make sure there are no blockages. Our NHS trust won't refer for IVF until you have it. They had terrible issues getting the catheter in, they said it could be due to me having some pre cancerous cells removed 10 years ago. As they enter a catheter in the same way to do egg transfer I was petrified that I would get to that point and they wouldn't be able to do it. Thankfully no problems at all for the scratch or transfer, but I was so much more relaxed for the transfer after they had managed to get the catheter in for the scratch

Hi @Bailey2017 no I haven’t had that done (the scratch). I had scar tissue from the surgical removal of my miscarriage so I had an hysteroscopy to work on the adhesions and have a general tidy up in there. Had my FET after that and it was a BFN.

Today my son told me that he has no family. He has lots of cousins which I reminded him of but he kept on saying no I have no family. I asked him if he meant brothers and sisters and he said yes. Makes my heartache. My sons desire for a sibling is my main driving force behind IVF. Luckily we had a family meal this evening and he managed to play with 5 of his 15 cousins so I think that was a good distraction 🙏

Thanks @TinyPaws Good luck to you on your 2 week wait 🤞

@confused107 I really didn't realise pre cancerous cells could do that. Glad everything went ok in the end.

@Peanut1980 thats pulled on my heartstrings... Makes it even harder for you guys. But being blessed with one is so lucky. How old is your son? Was he conceived through ivf?

I'm in a similar situation @Peanut1980. I'm incredibly blessed to have one dd who's recently turned 3. She's obsessed with babies and keeps telling me I have a baby in my tummy because so many of her friends have had little siblings born recently. She asked me to take her baby sister out of my tummy the other day so she could cuddle her. It's heartbreaking. I'm desperate to give her a sibling. Hopefully IVF is the answer!

My progesterone test yesterday came back fine so I'm booked for transfer tomorrow morning still. The consultant is going to do a scan first and then he'll decide if we're ok to go ahead. I really don't want to delay transfer but I also don't want to go ahead if there's a risk of severe OHSS. Just have to wait and see what he says tomorrow.

@tinypaws good luck for the 2WW. Everything crossed for you. Pride and Prejudice is a classic. Are you looking for other tv show ideas, or totally different activities?

You could try taking up a new hobby? Like making bead bracelets (surprisingly easy to do), painting something, go to a gentle yoga class, set yourself a cooking challenge of X new recipes? Depends what you like doing!

Hi ladies hope it’s ok to jump on Iv started my first Icsi treatment I’m on long protocol so I have been doing buserelin since 20/7
And had my baseline scan yesterday I’m due to start my gonal f injection Sunday evening 4/8 all went well yesterday other than one of my ovarys was “hiding” she could see it but said that hopefully it will move if not may have to talk to the doctor and see if there’s another way to get to it when it comes to egg retrieval?? She didn’t seem to worried but iv obviously been googling all last anyone else’s heard of this ??

Just got the call. I have 8 embryos that are all good quality. 1 deciding what it’s going to do. They want to transfer 1 embryo and freeze the rest. ET tomorrow at 11!!

@Dlpdep oh that's fantastic! Good luck!

That's excellent news @Dlpdep Good luck to you and @Marmite83 for ET tomorrow!

I got my day 3 call today. All 8 embryos are still doing well at this stage really pleased and just desperately hoping they continue. No ET for me because of the high progesterone, and provided they are good enough quality we are going to do PGS testing on them (two previous miscarriages). Massive fingers crossed for good numbers on Monday.

@TinyPaws I think gentle walks are good for the 2ww, plus anything arty, reading. Basically whatever you enjoy - indulge

@Lola124 I did have one scan when one of my ovaries was 'hiding' - it showed back up again though. I think they are pretty hard to miss once they start getting bigger with all the follicles. Good luck!

@Dlpdep @Marmite83 did you do anything different to get your good numbers? Just asking as I'll be doing another cycle and want to try and get good numbers if they don't help me themselves with my folicles.

Just come home from A&E. Landed there after I went out of the house for the first time since egg collection, had a nice lunch with my husband, and straight away bloated right up and got really bad abdominal pain. I rang Guy’s out of hours service and the doctor told me to go straight to A&E. I did, and they scanned me for OHSS and checked me for infection and both were fine. So very nice doctor sent me home and said to go back to St Thomas’ emergency tomorrow if the pain continues (I was at lunch in west London and just went to the closest A&E).
Whole process freaked me out, but really glad they could see no sign of OHSS. Anyone else had an experience like this?

Also great news @orangefolly and @Dlpdep !!

Thankyou for replying yes hopefully meds will help

@Caityprice are you at risk of OHSS? Have they give you any meds? I was high risk OHSS and they gave me a tablet a had to take every day. Prolactin I think it was?

Sounds like quite a scare @Caityprice hope you are feeling ok now

Oh no sorry to hear that @Caityprice that sounds scary. Glad it was nothing!

@Viletta yes you are right! I am overthinking

And good luck @Marmite83 !

@bailey2017 I have been taking eltroxin (TSH is under 4 and they want 4 for IVF) Vit D, cod liver oil capsules and high dose folic acid for about 3 months. Realistically I should be ok for eggs though as low progesterone has always been my issue and I have fallen pregnant naturally before. My AMH levels are good too for my age.

@Caityprice you poor thing. Keep an eye on yourself. I wouldn’t rule out OHSS yet