Jan/Feb IVF/ICSI/FET here we go...

[sometimesalways]

Hello, starting a new thread for those of us starting a new cycle after the holidays.

My background: one successful round of ivf a few years back resulted in my lovely DS and now trying for a second. We are about to go for round 3, following 1 bfn and 1 mc.

At the moment I am waiting for af to appear. Seem to be about to ovulate according to opk. So guessing should expect af in about 2 weeks time.

Going for natural FET with progesterone support. The question for me is whether to add steroids too. A little scared of long terms risks so we will see...

@Russkispy @itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted @Christabelle89
I remember from previous threads you were doing, or thinking of doing another round in Jan?

Everybody welcome to join, wherever you are on your journey. It's a tough business, keeping company helps. Good luck!

@sometimesalways thanks for tagging!

Had my scan yesterday and it went well. Lining is good at 8.5mm. Got 15 follicles in total! Not that it matters in this kind of game now. Coordinator spoke with my doc and I Need another scan and booked for Wednesday, then maybe Ovitrelle following day. Maybe not using Ovitrelle depending on the scan/dominant follicle. Transfer booked on 22nd. Flights are booked. And this time I'll be having injectable progesterone and blood thinners and prednisolone and anything else my doc comes up it.
How are you doing/feeling?

Oh wow @Russkispy can't believe you have the transfer booked already! You will be again a week or 10 days ahead of me. Hope this round is luckier for both of us.

I am in, had my follow up consultation yesterday and Dr felt satisfied with everything and he thinks odds are it was just a non viable embryo. It happens. So he doesn't feel we should change anything much - just add steroids if we want to have all boxes ticked. He also suggested we could try PGS on the 4 remaining frozen embryos but not sure we will do it - the fee seems considerable for a very uncertain result, given my particular circumstances (age of embryos etc). So DH and I just weighing pros and cons for steroids.

Either way we prob start as soon as period arrives and hope for good lining etc
Sounds like you are doing great!

Hi @sometimesalways, thanks for starting a new thread. I remember you from the old Oct/Nov group. I didn't join a new one as I liked that one so much, so I'm glad you've set this one up as it's nice to have the support.

For me, after that failed FET, we had decided to wait until Jan to do another round. However, we then changed our minds and went ahead and did a transfer on 3rd January. Today is OTD (12dp5dt) and it's my first ever BFP! Cautiously excited.

As with last time, I didn't have any symptoms in the 2ww apart from the usual crampy feelings that I get after they fiddle around with a catheter down there. So I was genuinely surprised today and pleased to know that a semi-natural FET works and we were just probably unlucky last time.

Glad to hear you are going back in for another go once AF appears. Our doctor also didn't change anything much - just upped the progesterone support from 2 to 3 x 200mg Utrogestan daily. We also had the Ovitrelle trigger this time, so maybe that helped with transfer timings a bit more.

It's tricky re: steroids but I think that's what I would have done next time if this second FET was also negative.

@Russkispy, excited to hear you have your transfer booked for a week's time! Lining and follicles sound like they are doing well, keeping my fingers crossed for you.

@mincedpea I remember you too! And massive congratulations! Hope all goes well for you!
@sometimesalways how are you?

Just Back from second scan. Feeling disappointed. Lining is fine of 10mm but dominant follicle is only 14mm, not real progression from last week’s scan. Transfer might be later then planned, coordinator said. But waiting for doc’s instruction. Feeling deflated! My doc gave me duphaston in December to bring AF forward, but AF didn't show up till 5 days later and I was already close to my January AF anyway! So feel like it was a waste of time. And if I didn’t take it and waited for AF then I’d have been cd7-8 now! And follicle size correspond that, I believe. Just feeling rubbish. Back to waiting game ...

Follicle growing way too slow. And even if to wait, transfer won’t happen till 25-27 day of the cycle! Too risky and waste of a very good PgS embryo. Doc recommended to abandon this cycle. Gutted but have to listen to her. This journey is getting more and more unpredictable!

Of course I remember you @mincedpea and what wonderful news! Congrats! One step closer to the goal. Are you going for bloods soon?

@Russkispy so annoying, this waiting game! I completely get your frustration argh
So how does it work though, does the Dr believe you won't ovulate this month? Is that what it means? I don't remember anybody measuring my follicles last time (but perhaps they did and I wasn't paying attention to that). I thought they didn't matter with FET.

I am on the waiting too. I am trying to work out when next period will be and tracking ovulation (and sneaking in a go at it the traditional way, iykwim, just in case!) . I have been getting flashing smiley face on my opk for a week now! But no static so far. This has never happened before, I suspect my hormones are all over the place after the mc.

Still no decision re: steroid anyway though, so I guess this way we have more time to think ha

@sometimesalways
She think I'll ovulate later than usual this cycle, around cd19 and transfer would be closer to end of cycle which in her opinion to close and it might end up in BFN or even worse, a MC. And she doesn't want either for me and trying to protect me and prevent this ever happening again. I trust her and just go along.

Annoying with flashing smiles. Hope you get static soon, so you know your cycle a bit better but guess it's a havoc after a MC 😔

Hi all! So I had my egg collection on Saturday!

To recap - I've had 5 miscarriages 2 ruptured ectopics and have no tubes left. I'm with Create and did 2 cycles of short protocol IVF ICSI last year - total transfers so far 3 (2 BFN and 1 ectopic) - we PGS tested the second cycle and ended up with a complex abnormal embryo which we are not allowed to transfer and a mosaic which we did transfer in November but BFN

I'm now doing 3 cycles of natural modified IVF ICSI - my doctor has said no point in doing more standard IVF as whilst getting 12 follicles each time my fertilisation rate was only 40% which is really bad for ICSI and only get 2 average blasts per cycle. So we have decided to focus on quality not quantity and let my body do more of the natural selection......

My protocol this time is tamoxifen tablets (used to treat breast cancer but has similar affect to clomid) daily from cycle day 3 and then 150ml bemfola every OTHER day! I had egg collection cycle day 12! So barely any medication!

I got 2 eggs BOTH fertilised and both grade 1 on day 3 (never had top quality before!!). Clinic has frozen one on day 3 and I find out tomorrow how the other is looking on day 5

I'm doing a 3 cycle package so have another 2 egg collections before I can transfer but because it's all low dose with no down reg I can do the cycles back to back and periods come back straight away - so I should have another collection second week of February x

@Russkispy ah yes I see now. That does make sense. I suspect this is what happening to me too now with all the flashing smileys (late ovulation). The body works in mysterious ways.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted hi again! Good luck! Have everything crossed for you. Sounds like a good plan though, especially since embryos seem to be responding well. So you'd transfer in March, eventually?

@sometimesalways
Morning! Yes earliest will be March - we ll freeze the next collectionand all being well will do a fresh transfer after the 3rd collection hopefully mid March

Morning all,

Thanks for the good wishes! Never ever had a BFP before so am trying not to get too excited. Going for bloods today so keep your fingers crossed for me.

@Russkispy Really sorry to hear that this cycle has been postponed, so frustrating when this happens but sounds like your doc has your best interests in mind and wants to save a good embryo. Will you get to try again straight away next cycle? If so, hope AF doesn't delay.

@sometimesalways I have had that relentless flashy smile before and it was a late ovulation cycle so hope that's what's happening this month for you. Good plan on the cheeky extra attempts on the side too heehee.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted Good to hear your updates - especially great to hear about the two top quality embryos! Sounds like this protocol suits you better, quality over quantity is my IVF mantra too! Hope you get good news today on the day 5 one.

Will be back with a blood test result when I get it. So nice to have you ladies around for support and company ☺️

I’ve just confirmed my first appointment for FET for mid Feb.

Background for me. We had our first IVF cycle October last year which was successful, we saw a heartbeat at 7 weeks. Sadly we found out we lost the baby at our 12 week scan at the start of the year in a completely missed miscarriage full pregnancy symptoms and no bleeding.

We have 3 Frosties. Hopefully will find out more about the process in February. I don’t know a lot about FET. I don’t have periods so I assume it will start with provera or noristerone.
I also have a very thin lining, it did thicken enough for the IVF but slowly, I stimmed for 18 days on a short protocol despite having a big number of follicles just to build the lining up. Hoping this won’t be an issue.

Good luck everyone

@C88M
Sorry to hear about your miscarriage 💐
A friend of mine doesn't have periods but was successful on her first FET before Xmas - she just had to have extra scans to pinpoint when cycle day 1 might be and then took extra progesterone

Hi everyone. Thanks for starting this thread! I’m doing natural cycle after failed FET in December. I have my scan on Monday to see whether my lining is ready. If it’s not thick enough I will consider using meds although last time round it failed but let’s see.

Welcome @C88M
So sorry to hear about your mc. I just had one too and I know it's not easy... FET is simpler I found and quicker. Good luck!

@Cisco2 welcome, I am having natural cycle too. Fingers crossed for some nice thick lining

Still getting flashing smileys here in the opk argh

@mincedpea how did your blood test go?

Hi all, hope you don't mind me jumping in. Starting to feel a glimmer of hope although trying not to get too excited as still so far to go. But this is the closest we've gotten. Frozen egg transfer agreed today for next week. Not sure what to expect as first transfer after a freeze all cycle due to OHSS. Any tips or advice on transfer ladies? I'm a teacher and planning to take rest of day away from school after transfer, is this overly cautious?

Good luck @Bestofyou1982
Fantastic that you reached this stage. A day off and just taking it easy is sensible I think. No heavy lifting and no strenuous exercise is what my clinic recommends. Lots of comfort food and Netflix is my tip to help pass the 2ww!

Welcome @C88M, really sorry to hear about your MMC. I hope this next round is successful for you. Three frosties is a nice number to have. I found FET a lot easier than all the stimming, egg collection etc. I've read somewhere that it's just as successful as a fresh round too, so that's in your favour.

Welcome to you too @Cisco2. I also had a first round failed FET back in Nov so know how that feels. That round was closer to "natural" although I did have progesterone support so not 100% natural. This time around I had a trigger on the doctor's recommendation. Good luck for your scan on Monday, hope the lining is good.

Welcome and good luck for your upcoming transfer @Bestofyou1982! I had a freeze-all cycle too back in May because of OHSS risk, but in retrospect it was really good to have a break before a transfer. I took the whole day off for FET and then tried to take it easy during the 2ww. I found it much less intense and emotionally draining than egg collection. The whole thing was really quick, only about 10 minutes to get the catheter in, pop the embryo out, check the catheter was empty, and then up and out. The only uncomfortable thing is the close-to-full bladder when the ultrasound scanning wand is being pushed into your belly, but you don't have to do that for too long and they let you go to the loo straight after.

How many days have you had of the flashy smiles @sometimesalways? So annoying to not get that static yet, hope it comes soon! Thanks for asking after the bloods - got the results this morning and HCG is 746 at 17dpo, which is good, phew! Based on the number, I think one implanted rather than two, but we shall see at the early scan on Thursday 6th.

Hi everyone what's all your thoughts on number of embryos to transfer? We are doing a 3 cycle package - 2 frozen from the first round so hoping to get at least 6 frozen. Money wise we have 1 transfer included in the package (we took a loan out to pay for these last cycles so there is absolutely nothing left in the bank!) - funding 6 individual transfers is going to be super expensive.....

I'm leaning to transferring 2 at a time (clinic have agreed in principle)

Oh @mincedpea that's a lovely number! Congrats again! My DS is the result of my first ever bfp, it only takes one

Thank you @sometimesalways, keeping my fingers crossed it all goes OK! Hearing about your DS as your first ever BFP too makes me happy ☺️

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted We went back and forth about the number to transfer. First FET we went for one, second FET we went for two. There are lots of additional risks with multiple embryo transfer though, but our clinic let us go for it after discussions.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted it's tricky! There's def risks but only you know how much you feel comfortable with. Having one DC already, I don't know if I would do double transfer. But if this were for my first and I had been trying for a while, I am pretty sure I'd be going for 2. There's a lot to consider though, it's a tough one...

Just wanted to pop in and say hi to those of you who remember me from the Oct/Nov thread, hope that's ok!

Congratulations to @mincedpea. What a lovely way to start the new thread with a bfp already

@sometimesalways, I never got a positive opk after my mmc, think it was just an anovulatory cycle so af may appear before you expect it. Hope af turns up soon for you so you can move forward, I remember the frustration of the negative opks!

Sorry you've been delayed @russkispy but sounds like it's a sensible decision.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted, if I didn't already have a dd I think I would've pushed for a double transfer after the first cycle ended in mmc but everyone's different. Congrats on the two good quality embryos in the freezer. I hope whatever you decide has a positive outcome for you.

Thank you @Marmite83! How are you getting on? Now and then I did pop on to the Oct/Nov thread, reading about everyone's nausea and symptoms and scans and things. But looks like that thread is full up now...have you all graduated to the pregnancy boards instead? Really hope you're doing ok and all is well.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted may I ask on which day was your first scan with Tamoxifen? Thank you.