IVF at Guy's & St. Thomas' & general process/timeline

[Lill02]

Hi all,

This is my first ever post, but I've been following for a while. :)

After having all the usual tests, including a hycosy and hysteroscopy, we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility a while ago. We have now finally waited long enough to be eligible for IVF on the NHS. We've got an appointment back at Guy's & St. Thomas' tomorrow (we had to see the GP and ask to be referred back as we've now waited the required time frame).
I'm not 100% sure what will happen tomorrow, but I'm basically hoping they will agree we've waited the required time and suggest we get the ball rolling for IVF, i.e. fill in our funding application, etc. I'm really hoping this will happen, I can't face being sent away again after we've waited so long...
What have your experiences been? Does that sound like realistic next steps? Has anyone been at Guy's & St. Thomas' and can share their timeline?

Thank you!

@becarefuloutthere Yep. It can take up to 9 days to split apparently. Rare of course, but possible. 🤗

@RiverRiot I've just been googling too, I didn't even consider that as a possibility! How scary 😦 I'm just hoping I have lots of hcg swimming around and that's the reason for the strong tests! Suppose all will be revealed at the scan 😱

@becarefuloutthere Yeah, apparently HCG is higher with twins so could be! Do keep us posted, I can’t wait to find out. Will of course be awesome either way though. 👶🏻😃

Got a call from the nurse. They were only able to freeze 1 embryo which made it to day 5

Got details from the nurse
20 eggs
16 mature
11 fertilised
1 embryo 5AB day 5

I obv not feeling too great after the news! But atleast I had which I could be frozen.

@Rj1988 sending lots of love x

@RiverRiot I wish guys did blood tests, that would give a great indication! Ah well, back to being patient 😇
@Rj1988 the one that was frozen is a great grade so hopefully it implants and becomes your pregnancy! So I take it you aren't having a fresh transfer then and it's straight to frozen? When will you get to do the FET?

@Rj1988 sorry to hear only one made it from 11 fertilized! Is there any explanation why is this happening?
On the bright side you only need one to have a positive outcome, so hopefully all goes well with the transfer! And you still have your frozen embryos waiting for you in another country, right?

@becarefuloutthere could be Romeo and Juliet at the end 😉

@Rj1988 I’m sorry that must be very disappointing.

I know you were worried about the trigger but 20 eggs, 16 mature and 11 fertilised is a very good ratio so it seems the clinic made the right call in terms of protocol.

Did they say whether the other embryos had problems before or after day 3? As this will give an indication of if there is an egg/sperm issue. If it was after day 3 it might be worth looking into sperm DNA fragmentation.

However all is not lost by any means. As @becarefuloutthere says your 5AB is a great grade and has around a 60% of success. And @HereToLearnAndShare is right it does only take one and you have very good chance with your little fighter there.

Sending hugs to you.

@RiverRiot @HereToLearnAndShare @becarefuloutthere @Etonmess20

Thank you ladies for the support! I won't lie I am quiet disheartened. Nurse told me all the embryos were developing very very slowly and she thinks it's an egg quality problem!

You know I had another IVF done abroad (jan2021) and in that I had 12 day stimulation and ended with
20 eggs again
16 mature
All 16 fertilised
On day 5 I had 2 x 3A, 6x early blastos, 6xmorulas

I was told my eggs were dividing very quickly till day 3 infact they were already 8-10 cells by day 2 which again is not good, but after day 3 they all slowed down.

And this cycle it was completely opposite as all of them were slow growers and stopped growing apart from 1. I wonder if the follicle size during EC also determines the overall egg quality even if they are technically mature.

I started bleeding today but the nurses told me they will get in touch after 2 weeks so most likely I will do the transfer in the next cycle so around early August maybe.

By the way AA grade is the best one, has anyone here any success with AB blastos?

@rj1988 sorry to hear...hopefully that one is the lucky one though! Early August will come before you know it. May I ask if your other embryos are in an amber list country? Is it possible for you to go use them and come back and quarantine for the 5 day release scheme?

@Etonmess20 no I didn't, I asked for a call with the doctor but never got one so I figured I would just wait for the treatment and hopefully if everything is going well they will just let me do fresh. They didn't respond to my email a couple days ago either... from what @RiverRiot is saying and the media articles about busy hospitals, I am thinking our wait is going to be extended which is sad.. @HereToLearnAndShare good you at least got the laparoscopy call! Keep us updated if you hear anything x

@Vparisi I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you and all the other ladies still waiting. I know it’s torture for you all right now and it bloody sucks. Sending virtual hugs to everyone.

@Rj1988 Gosh that is strange. Were you on the same drugs/dosage as last time?

I’ve not heard of embryos dividing too fast before, why is that a bad thing? Did your old clinic not let your blasts and morulas go to day 6?

I think a review wouldn’t normally happen until after your FET but in your case it may be worth asking if they’ll give you one beforehand to try and get to the bottom of all this?

On the bright side though your 3AAs will very likely continue to expand once they’re defrosted and AB/BAs are more or less equal second best so you have three excellent chances there! Please don’t lose hope.

@RiverRiot - let's hope something works out!

@Vparisi - they are in a red list country hence I am unable to go back for the transfer.

I think the clinic decided to freeze everything on day 5 itself as they knew it won't be a fresh transfer and it was my first IVF so I had no idea about embryo grading etc, just went with whatever the consultants suggested us

@Vparisi not ideal they never came back to you on the treatment plan but, as you say, at least you will be able to speak to the nurses again before you start treatment so shouldn't cause any problems in that respect.
Oh it does seem like our wait might be longer than we expected, honestly I'm so sad about the constant waiting, really beginning to frustrate me! Guess there's nothing we can do 😔

@notyetamumbuttrying woohoo! Do you have to wait long till your 8 week scan? Also can I ask what grade your embryo was? I emailed the embryology team today to find out what all of ours were and was curious as to which ones work! I also asked if they’d know before and just defrost that one.
@RiverRiot good luck for tomorrow! Have been thinking of you!
The rest of you ladies I 100% feel your waiting pain … we were referred to the ACU in 2019 and stilllll haven’t had an embryo put in so I completely feel your frustration but I know that it won’t be long and hopefully we’ll all have our bubbas!
@Rj1988 they said you can begin your FET cycle with the bleed from EC but we chose to wait a month in between. Do you have the meds for the FET?

@GJW2018 it's just under 3 weeks away now! Yeah it was 5aa. I reckon they label them and defrost what is going to be used but would be interested to find out how it's done! I hope you hear bk soon x
@RiverRiot best of luck for today! 🤞🏾

@RiverRiot good luck, fingers & toes crossed for you!

@RiverRiot good luck, thinking of you xxxxxx

btw @Etonmess20 and @HereToLearnAndShare hospital never replied to my email so I will wait another week and a half to annoy them again i guess...

@Vparisi that is so bad for them not to even reply - think my reply took two days but shouldn't be waiting ages for a reply!
Doesn't fill you with much hope they're going to be able to fit us in soon if they're so busy they can't even answer emails 😔

Hey everyone

@RiverRiot good luck for today

I had my first appointment yesterday which went well, had internal scan bloods done etc and was told my ovaries and womb were all good and that I was ovulating around 28 eggs.

I asked about the waiting list to start and was told it was a 4 week wait, I’m sure a few of you have been waiting for over 8 weeks?

I have been told I would be doing the short cycle and upon reading the procedures it states on day one you call them to say your starting the pills, I assume when you get the go ahead to start they prescribe the tablets?

X

I know @Etonmess20 it has me pretty down :(

@Sarah2328 great you got some positive news! All sounds very positive for you! Yes HereToLearnAndShare has been waiting 8.5 weeks now and EtonMess20 and I for 7.5...I emailed them earlier in the week for an update on waiting but didn't get a response. Very interesting you were told 4 weeks, that gives me a bit of hope for the rest of us! Yes I believe it is once you get the go ahead they do the prescriptions.

Thank you SO much for all the support ladies!

@Sarah2328 Crikey, I hope you’re not ovulating 28 eggs! 😳😂
In terms of the contraceptive pills, they only give you these if you have very irregular cycles. If you have have regular periods you’ll just start on the stims between day 2-4 of your IVF cycle.

So after my debacle with the cheapies over the last few days, I was absolutely terrified that nothing would show on the test the clinic gave me.
Well I was wrong and the lines came up straight away! I am beyond shocked!

I’ve come to the conclusion that a) A line is a line and b) Do not buy cheap crappy tests!

I still can’t quite wrap my head around this but I’m so grateful to have you all and I cannot wait to hear all your stories! 🥰@GJW2018 You’re up next, yes? 🤗

@Vparisi It’s very annoying they haven’t replied to you but if the waiting list is now 4 weeks do not be afraid to make a nuisance of yourself!

I’m sending love and virtual hugs to each and every one of you. ❤️

omg @RiverRiot that is the most amazing news!!! What a great way to start the weekend! Soo exciting. Congrats!

@Sarah2328 really good news about your appointment, glad to hear it went well!

@Vparisi it makes no sense for them to be telling new appointments 4 weeks when we've been waiting nearly 8 🤯 I can't really get my head around how that works but 🙏🏼 for some progress! So bloody annoying for them not to even reply!

@RiverRiot AHHHHH amazing news! Congratulations ❤️

@RiverRiot whoo hoo!! Congratulations 🥳 another one for the guys ivf bus 🚌 toot toot! So surreal isn't it! Have you rung to tell them yet? When's your scan booked for? Remind me, did they transfer one or two? So happy for you!! 😃