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?

Lots of follicles in my scan so they are a little concerned about OHSS. We’ll see. 8 between 11mm and 15mm so probably scan again on Sat and collection on Monday. I’m waiting on a call back to see how my bloods are and if my meds need to be adjusted.

@Marmite83 that’s brilliant news!

@confused107 all you need is one. At least you got some. Hopefully all will go well for you as they develop.

@Caityprice it’s incredibly difficult. Try to focus on the positives and don’t let it get you down.

@Parkandride Both parents are lurchers so she's a bit of a mix - as far as I can tell she is 1/4 Saluki, 1/4 Bull Terrier, 1/4 Bedlington Terrier and 1/4 Whippet.

@Brambles7 Glad you've finally got going and fingers crossed you don't get any side effects!

@Marmite83 That's excellent news! I'm relieved for you!

@confused107 6 eggs is good, fingers crossed you get good fertilisation rates! When will you get an update?

@Caityprice Hope you're holding up ok in this heat. It's amazing what so many people go through and never tell anyone. I don't think it's healthy that people are expected to keep fertility struggles and miscarriages secret.

@Dlpdep 8 doesn't sound so very many, fingers crossed for no OHSS!

We collected the puppy this evening. So far she has had calm and respectful introductions to the cat (good), done 1 wee outside (good), done 2 wees and 1 poo inside (not so good), drunk lots of water (good), eaten all her dinner (good) and fallen asleep in the crate with no whining (excellent). She's already learning to come and go into the crate on command. I fully expect to be woken in the night by a lonely puppy. I'm already in love.

@TinyPaws - that’s just 8 between 11 and 15mm. There must have been at least 12 on each side including the smaller ones. They called back this afternoon and bloods are high but still ok. I think 4000 is the limit for OHSS and I’m 3800. Scan on sat and collection either Monday or Tuesday depending on how they have grown.

We have our little lady trained that she gets a treat when she poo’s or pee’s outside. She has copped on to it though and now pretends to go toilet and then comes back in and stands expectantly by the fridge waiting for her treat! Hopefully the first night goes well for you guys, your new little puppy sounds just delicious!

Hi everyone

@Marmite83 that's really good news about the cycle - so pleased

@TinyPaws not sure yet when EC will be but going in for a scan this morning, so hopefully will have a better idea then. If I had to guess I would say next Wed, but we'll see! Hope pup is settling in well after her first night

@confused107 well done for getting through EC - wishing your 6 eggs well - hope they are developing well.

@sometimesalways Yes my clinic said you can swim, after taking it easy for the first day... but I was too chicken to do it until I was several weeks more pregnant last time, and even then still irrationally worried about the embryo falling out somehow! Basically I think it's fine and safe.

@Dipdep those are good numbers - hope that bodes well for EC!

@Dlpdep hope you are feeling ok. It's good you are being monitored so closely. Fingers crossed you avoid the OHSS

@Brambles7 hope you are feeling ok on the meds

@TinyPaws puppy sounds amazing. I have to admit the sentence 'shall we just get another dog' has come up more than once!

So the clinic called this morning. Of the 6 collected 5 were mature and 3 have gone on to be fertilised. They are monitoring closely in the time lapse machine with a view to transfer on Tuesday should they make it. Trying to stay positive now we are down to 3. She did say that if they were poor quality they might put two back in as I turned 38 last week. It's going to be a long weekend

@confused107 I’m 40, so putting 2 back is a consideration for us too. A lot depends on how things progress between egg collection and transfer. They were running the numbers with us yesterday. I’d really prefer not to have twins if I could avoid it and probably for the first go I think I would be veering towards transferring one and freezing the others. It’s so hard to know what to do. Looks like we are on a very similar time line.

@Dlpdep I'd love twins, it might be a struggle financially with nursery costs but we would do it. It's a big decision isn't it? i guess it depends on the quality of the egg. If it's not viable to freeze for FET then I would rather have it back in then not use it. I would be keen to try FET as I have heard good things about the success rate. It would be nice to have options next week, but I'm obviously just going to have to make the best of what we have

@TinyPaws - I told my husband about your puppy and he got so excited and was like, “we should get a puppy in case IVF fails!” I had to calm him down as we live in a small apartment and just can’t get one right now, although we would love to! Your little one sounds adorable!

@Dlpdep so cute! My heart melts at visions of your little one pretending to go in order to get a treat! 😂 fingers crossed on the OHSS meanwhile.

@confused107 - I feel the same about twins! I would quite like them, but I’m only 35, so I don’t think they would do two embryos unless they were really poor quality. Plus I get the extra risks and stuff, but I like the idea of getting two for the pain of one (so to speak).

Meanwhile I’m waiting for the hospital to call me with results from my day 5 blood test... and it’s driving me nuts. I’m trying to do work, but keep checking my phone every two minutes to see if it’s charged and got signal. I was hoping infertility would make me a more patient person, but it hasn’t happened yet

@Caityprice how did it go with your blood test results? Hope all is well

@TinyPaws did you have another scan for lining today or just doing the trigger tonight? How did it go?

Did my second scan. Thankfully my lining cooperated and I am ripe and ready for FET, booked for Wednesday eeek
For now, I am starting to take what feels like a million new meds, including injections (lentogest and the blood thinning one), vaginal gels, parches and a few different pills daily. I should be worrying about my chances with FET but my main worry right now is that I might forget one of the doses!

At least it's much cooler tonight

@sometimesalways
Remembering doses is stressful! And we are only on two needles! I’ve started setting alarms just to be safe 😂

In the end blood test was good. I was totally freaked because they rang an hour and a half after the latest time they said, but she was really apologetic. I go in for a scan Sunday morning, so I guess that’s when I’ll find out about the number of follicles? But I’m on fyramedel now as well as the gonal-f, so I assume it’s all fine so far! I didn’t really know what to ask the nurse on the phone. I always freeze up when I’m talking to them and then think of ten questions later :)

Excited for you for Wednesday!

Happy Saturday everyone

I'm still bloated and crampy after my EC on Thursday. Is this normal?

@TinyPaws you'll need to get the pup a DNA test, I loved finding out what went into our lurcher. How are they settling? Did you trigger last night?

@confused107 congratulations on your 3! Do you get any more updates or not until transfer day?

@Caityprice glad you heard in the end and all is looking good

@sometimesalways it was good to get a cooler night wasn't it! Glad FET prep is going well, good luck with all the medication

Had final appointment yesterday, consent forms signed, taught how to inject, blood tests for us both- took 4 attempts for me, rubbish veins Drugs have also been delivered, looks a lot!

I feel very emotional and keep crying, this morning at the fact DH made really nice scrambled eggs and they were better than when I do them... blaming hormones as I come off the pill. Because it's pgd ivf we've never tried naturally so I only stopped it a week ago, sure it'll only get worse when we actually start!

I had a scan this morning. Follicles are progressing. They took more bloods. They think I will probably have one more night and then trigger for collection on Tuesday but will get confirmation of that later today. I will either have otrivelle or buserelin for my trigger shot. Again tbc.

@Parkandride it’s so normal to fell emotional. Your body will take time to adjust to the hormones. I never went back on the pill after I had DD, and I know my cycle inside out. Coming up to ovulation I’m am generally ready to kill DH. And that’s without all the drugs etc.

I love the idea of dna testing doggies. I have had my dna tested for genealogical purposes and it is sooooo interesting.

Hope everyone is doing well today!

@Parkandride oh I feel like a mad woman during ivf. One day I am totally fine, the other I just want to cry all the time. I burst into tears after my last scan re: lining. I realised I was stressing about it and bottling it up. It's so normal. Hormonal changes coupled with stress and all sort of pressures about things we cannot control is a crap combination.

@confused107 I was bloated throughout my ivf fresh cycle. I think I looked a little pregnant even before I actually was. But I cannot remember cramps, perhaps only minor ones. Is it bad cramping? Did they warn you you might get some?

@Dlpdep Glad your scan went well! I'm curious to know how they will decide which trigger to give - what makes one option better than the other?

The main issue I'm having with the puppy is she refuses to poo unless she's alone, but requires supervision when in the garden (too many inappropriate things to eat). This has resulted in the majority of the poos being done in the garage because this is the only room that is completely puppy proofed and therefore the only place she is normally left unsupervised. We are making progress with doing wees outside however she does tend to do lots of frequent tiny wees whenever she gets a bit anxious. She's super cute though.

@orangefolly How did the scan go?

@confused107 Sorry you're feeling bloated/crampy. I felt similar but not sure if this is normal or not. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that your embryos are developing nicely!

@FingersXssd83 @Whatelsecouldibecalled How are you getting on? Any news?

@Caityprice The puppy is an excellent distraction. Really hard work though! Glad the blood test results were good.

@Parkandride Ouch, 4 attempts! I think it's normal to get very emotional. I remember crying in a particularly moving episode of The Yorkshire Vet when pregnant after my second medicated IUI. The doggie DNA test is very tempting but I might need to save it for the Christmas list as we've spent so much on her already!

I didn't have another scan as the clinic were confident my lining would be good enough by now giving its appearance on ultrasound and previous history. I took the trigger injection last night. Today and tomorrow I get a day off from injections (as I've finished the buserelin now) before I start enoxaparin on Monday. There's so many medications to keep track of!

I don’t know. In my clinic the options are otrivelle, buserelin or pregnyl. I have both otrivelle and buserelin but not pregnyl. She went through both injection types today and I would be instructed which one to use. I got the impression that buserelin would be the one if OHSS was the concern. Booked in for collection on Tuesday morning @9.15

Sounds like your puppy is doing well @Tinypaws.

My clinic have prescribed two triggers too @Dlpdep, they should tell me tomorrow which one to take. As you said, they advised it will be Buserelin if they're concerned about OHSS.

I had to go in for an extra scan this morning as my consultant wanted to see for himself. Apparently my follicles are looking ok. Not quite sure how many we're looking at being ready currently. He's advised me to take a dose of Meriofert tonight and then someone will ring tomorrow to tell me which trigger and when to take it. He did say that if my progesterone was high we may need to freeze all embryos (assuming we get some) and do an FET next month but seemed to think everything was ok when he rang later in the day so fingers crossed.

@Marmite83 I was asking about progesterone levels today and apparently they can go up to about 15000 before they get concerned. She said OHSS was diagnosed with a combination of no of follicles, hormone levels and symptoms. Also asked if I was constipated (I’m not thankfully) as the ovaries swelling can impact on bowel movements. She said to look out for swelling of the lower legs and do the thumb thing where you depress your skin and see if it takes a while to pop back. It’s looking good for it not being OHSS for me as things are.

Just had my day 7 scan.
34 follicles in total.
One ovary: 9 good sized 6 small
Other ovary: 7 good sized 12 small

Can anyone tell me if this is good? I can never tell from the nurses. I think it is, but feel like I know nothing!
Ps. I’m really sorry if this is great and I’m being totally insensitive to people who struggle to grow follicles xo

@Dlpdep woohoo that it’s not looking like OHSS!!

Those sound similar to mine on day 8 and they were very happy with those numbers. Looking good!!

@Caityprice I only had 9 follicles, so those numbers look pretty good

@Dlpdep great news that it's not looking like OHSS, that must be a relief

@TinyPaws I sympathise with the toilet training. We have the opposite at night, she likes at least one, preferably both, of us out in the garden for her last wee. Think it's the way we trained her by giving her a treat. Think she is scared that if we miss it she won't get anything 🤣

My tummy is a little better this morning, though with this bad weather it's a struggle keeping my mind occupied. We will get an update in the morning on how are three are doing. I've also started the progesterone pessaries, which are a joy! Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday as best they can

Unfortunately I got a call back about my blood on Friday afternoon. Same problem as I have had for every cycle - progesterone is too high. The steroids they put me on to combat it have done nothing, so we're back to freeze all, and if there aren't any good enough to freeze the cycle will be a bust Really hope we get a good result.

Looks like we are on for EC on Wed, triggering on Monday night. Have another scan tomorrow to check.

Hope you are all coping with the various hormones. I was out last night for a friend's birthday and was desperately wishing I was at home Quiet day today.

@orangefolly the only thing I can say is that I read a whole forum this morning of people saying how much better they felt doing FET than fresh. I’m nervous about it because I’m a high OHSS risk so they’ve already told me freeze all is on the table (I have PCOS). It made me better reading all the stories about frozen transfers - mostly people saying how much better their body felt when they prepped for the frozen, even though they had been devastated when they couldn’t do fresh. So major fingers crossed you get several embabies to freeze 🤞🤞🤞