IVF in Feb/March 2020?

[waitingforarainbow]

Hello! I'm just wondering whether there are others starting their IVF journey in Feb/March 2020.

I am dealing with secondary infertility (male factor) and we have been TTC#2 for 16 months. We conceived naturally by some miracle back in July, but sadly had an early miscarriage (my third in total). We're now waiting to start ICSI IVF in early February.

Would love to hear from others doing the same. x

@picklekid I'm so glad to hear you've got one on board, and I hope the other two are successful too. What meds do you still have to take?

@luby89k I know you're coming at it from the other side of the coin but it's still frustrating. Have you looked at more stodgy type food, porridge, potatoes etc? All the things I avoid! If I could donate you half a stone of my fat wouldn't that be great?! reduce exercise and eat lots of sweet things?

@youngatheart00 I'm glad you're still here, this board is for support whichever way things go. It puts so much pressure on us and our relationships, and is so high stress.

@Rumtopf i don't exercise anyways so that's not a problem and i am vegetarian so i eat all the stodgy foods! Fingers crossed for us both. Haha yes that would be great. It's just so frustrating when your getting this far. I'm trying to put it to the back of my mind and just eating extra when and where i can. I'm guna wear heavy clothes and boots to my appointment so hopefully the don't realise 🤣

@luby89k I'm just back from the gym and literally working out what clothes to wear that are the lightest. I shall be stripping my DM's and jumper off for sure!

@Rumtopf haha good plan! Good luck. let us know how you get on with the PTA x

@Rumtopf how did it go?

The only med I'm on now, besides folic acid and vitamins, is the progesterone pessary in the bum which has honestly causes me the most gut wrenching farts and the smelliest of poo. 2x a day now until we know- and through 12 weeks if I'm pregnant.

Thanks for asking, we are go!!!! the nurse was lovely when I cried at her. Their scales measured me at 2.5kg heavier, so she went by my photo of our digital scales at home and I just made it.
I have a long, long list of meds to buy so I shall spend my afternoon doing that!

Sorry youngatheart00 sad news

luby89k I was in the same position as you as my BMI was just a touch too low at first IVF funded by NHS. Once you're private they don't care so much. I'm vegan so similar to you. How silly they're trying to get you to eat stuff your body has an intolerance to! Poor advice. To gain fat you need to eat more calories but this is tricky for me so I find fat (9 calories per gram compared to 4 grams for carbs and protein) is the best way to boost calories. Vegetable oil, margarine, avocado, vegan cheese (Tesco vegan cheddar is so yummy) and chocolate hehe. Drink lots of water before being weighed and wear heavier clothes like denim and extra layers of you can.

Any updates from those who have recently taken pregnancy tests? Hopeful for you guys! x

Yay!!! Great news @Rumtopf

I found I went up 4kg in a week just from the progenova- and lost 5kg by the time of EC. So hopefully they don't need to weigh you again once you get going.

@Youngatheart00 so sorry to hear this is such a crappy, heartbreaking process. Glad you’re staying here
@PickleKid I’m in TWW as well, probably test early but haven’t so far... trying to forget about it but getting painful twinges at times
@SpyroC I used to flick the plunger bit and push out the air bubbles before injecting but it doesn’t matter too much I don't think, it does take concentration & a bit of peace & quiet for sure!

@picklekid I hope so too! Although I normally start gaining water weight around now for af so who knows what I'll be when the meds start.

@autumn1985 how long do you have to wait to test?

Where has everyone bought their drugs from? I've done 2 quote requests and will go to Asda tomorrow but I couldn't find an email address for them.

Thanks @Youngatheaand @confused107 and @ @Autumn1985 I'm glad I'm not the only one. I was nearly crying too, just over the mixing, then I had to inject. 🙈 I think...hope tonight will be smoother

Great news @Rumtopf

@Rumtopf I got my medication from Stork, which my clinic seemed to have an arrangement with. I had to buy top up meds direct from the clinic and they were SO much more expensive (I’m taking 40%). I even emailed them to complain about it but never got a response.

Hi Rumtopf I heard asda is cheaper. What I discovered is my clinic gets the same lower rates. You can compare to NICE guidelines recommended prices. The only difference is no delivery cost which is between £35-50 for our delivery service. However after buying 64 vials of 75iu Menopur and 10 Fyremadels at a cost of £1340 from Asda (same price my clinic would have charged) I ended up needing one thing they didn't have so will pay the delivery charge (Gonasi is the medication but if your trigger is Ovitrelle you can get that from Asda). Good luck x

Thankyou everyone for the answers. I'm going in to our nearest Asda pharmacy tomorrow. Or have they got an online service I've just been too dim to find?
My trigger is 2 lots of Ovitrelle, so hopefully they'll have everything I need available. The session was rather overwhelming.

1 injection done! Finally started meriofert tonight after lots of waiting and nearly starts! Injection itself was ok (needle wanted to go all the way in a few time and I was a bit shaky but) guess we have plenty more attempts to perfect the skill!

Good luck to all who are at the various stages- anyone else just starting stims this week that we will be walking along side?

@granddesigns I was told in the demo meriofort does go all the way in.

And when I said how far that was, the nurse said that once you've got a handful of fat it's really not that far at all.

Thanks @PickleKid 1 notes from clinic said needle test 2 thirds of the way but my theory was they wouldn't give amateurs a needle that would do any harm if it went too far anyway! And You're right, but if tummy fat or a wobble and the needle moved a good third either way! We have until Monday to get it right then we add in a morning injection - woopee!

No Asda online service for IVF meds so yes go to your nearest Asda pharmacy with your prescription so they can work out the price for you Rumtopf.

Hi granddesigns. Well done on doing the first injection! I just got my period so I start stimming injections tomorrow. My egg collection should be around March 25th then if I get anything to put back my pregnancy test will be around April 10th. Good luck with your treatment and fingers crossed a lot of us are lucky this time round.

I've decided to take a break from Mumsnet from tomorrow Saturday (injection start day) and pregnancy test day April 10th (unless we decide to do a FET instead if my follicles are slow to respond to stims) to limit the amount of obsessing about it all. I will be back once I know the outcome either way and hope to find lots of BFP announcements on here by then!

Well a mixed bag at my progress scan this morning. She saw about 5 eggs each side, which is about as I expected with one at 12mm and another at 15mm. She said a couple of the follicles on each side were very small and not likely to come to anything. Last time I had 7 follicles and got 6 eggs so I wasn't expecting a bounty, but was hoping for more than 2 at a measurable size. Still no point stressing, I can't change it and we all know how things can change. I will be told this afternoon whether I am going for a scan tomorrow to trigger tomorrow or Monday to trigger then based on the scan and the bloods they took. I imagine it will be Monday unless they think this is the best they can get :-(

On a positive note I'm off for some reflexology now. Hope everyone is doing ok today

Thanks @ChatWithMe - we will be running to similar timings I guess so will be thinking of you even if you're not on here.

Silly question time (there's no such thing on here right?!) have I read somewhere that you can or can't have sex when you are on
The stimulation phase? Realise I may not feel like it as the time goes on but am away with dh this weekend and keen to keep things normal before he needs to play his part with some but not total abstinence to ensure good quality sample among other things! Anyone?! Thanks!

@granddesigns
My clinic advised sex between 2-5 days before egg collections whilst stimming to decrease sperm dna fragmentation - if you're at higher risk of fragmentation my clinic says no less than 36 hours before but no more than 3 days before collection

@granddesigns can't tell you the last time we did. I kinda felt I was poked enough with IVF

Thanks both - will see how we go!

Thanks granddesigns

I know what you mean PickleKid - my sex drive is low anyway before IVF even starts lol

Apparently unprotected sex during stims is only a risk in case you ovulate unexpectedly and multiple eggs get fertilised at once. Condoms do feel wrong when you suffer infertility but just a precaution...

@chatwithme thanks for the info, I went in and she priced them up at about a thousand pounds cheaper than the clinic, so funnily enough I ordered and paid there and then. Just the Buserelin I couldn't get so have to get that from clinic.

@confused107 good luck over the next few days with them growing. Is this your second round?