IVF Feb/March 2

[SpyroC]

A new thread to carry on supporting each other as the old one was full.

I'm really sorry @Rumtopf and @carbsandcheese. We're here and we care. x

@Carbsandcheese how are you today?

@Rumtopf so sorry to hear your news. Ditto what @Picklekid said

Was just checking back in as haven't had any notifications from this thread for a few days - so sorry to read your updates @Rumtopf and @CarbsAndCheese - look after and be kind yourselves, sending you strength to get through what you don't want to and light for the future.

We have our ET today (finally!) so wanted to update on that too but will be thinking of all who are on this journey - at the different stages, the waiting parts, the in between bits, the highs and the lows - thank you for all the support you have offered and we are able to give each other.

Good luck with your ET today @granddesigns I hope it goes well for you.

Thank you for your kind words, I'm calling the clinic shortly to find out our next steps as we have to begin a fresh cycle.

Best of luck @granddesigns I will be thinking of you today

Hope the call goes well @Rumtopf and you are able to make a plan going forward

Thank you everyone for your kind words, it really means a lot. I’ve been back to the clinic today and we’ve made a plan for a natural frozen transfer in mid August. I’m in quite a lot of pain today and the bleeding has properly started so they’ve given me some lovely drugs to help with that!

@Rumtopf so sorry to hear your sad news too. Maybe we will be cycling again together?

@granddesigns good luck today!! So pleased you’ve finally made it to transfer after all of the hurdles you had to jump over. Fingers crossed!

@CarbsAndCheese glad you got in to the clinic and have a plan for your next steps. Good news that you can proceed that quickly and they gave you good drugs to help with the pain.

We don't have any more embryos frozen so will have to do a fresh cycle. My nurse has booked us a phone consultation on the 14th so our consultant will tell me then how we can proceed. The nurse did say that while they tend to prefer you to have one clear cycle in between because of my age and low AMH they'll hopefully let me go straight into stimming on my next cycle which will hopefully be at the beginning of August .

I seem to be growing a very tiny penis inside me. I feel like my brain cannot compute.... 😳

@Rumtopf your outcome is similar to mine. 1 day 5 D embryo and 2 got to a D on day 6 but they didn't freeze those as I had the day 5 put back. I also have low AMH for my age (5 at 31). My consultant said it's probably an egg quality issue. The thing is I'd already been following the advice for this as I had my suspicions. Since then I have followed the advice in the book "It Starts With an Egg" more strictly. Hopefully this round will give me better results. They also changed me to Gonal F (purely just to try it) and said they will try to stim for longer and also allow more time between trigger and collection. I did look in to mild ivf but my consultant didn't think that would be my best option. I had my DR scan the other day and whilst my left ovary was hiding I had as many follicles on my right as I did across both last time. I took this as a good sign but can't get too excited as it's not an indication of quality. I will be interested to hear what your consultant suggests.

@granddesigns I hope your transfer went well.

Thanks all for your good wishes - it's done! And so begins the wait.... Of the 3 frozen embryos one didn't survive the thaw so they had to use number 2..... trying not to over analyse everything now and keeping busy!

Pleased to hear you're in your 2ww now @granddesigns hope you've got plenty planned to keep you occupied!

@SpyroC it all seems very similar. I sometimes wonder if Covid wasn't around what would have happened if we'd have had the chance at a fresh transfer. Can you surmise the key advice from the book you mention? Glad your DR scan went well and it looks like you've plenty of follicles coming along nicely.

Wishing you all the best @granddesigns!!!

Great news @graddesigns I hope the next two weeks go quickly for you

@spyroC your cycle and next steps sounds similar to mine. My first unsuccessful round I had two 'surviving' eggs to go back in. One D one E. This round they swapped my drugs (the opposite to you I had Gonal F the first time menopur the second) and they waited a little longer for the transfer so a similar plan. I also should have had the steroids, but didn't do that because of COVID. Despite only having one remaining egg from a whopping 11 eggs retrieved, come transfer day it was a C and thankfully successful so far. I can only assume that the other drug suited me better (I produced more eggs on menopur than gonal f. From your follicle count perhaps it's going to be the opposite for you). I think the later transfer also helped. I hope this gives you a little hope.

I have everything crossed for you @granddesigns . I quite liked the tww until the last part of course.

@Rumtopf in summary she suggests, minimising your use of plastics and phthalates, adjusting your diet (lots of veg, higher protein and lower carbs) and she suggests supplements depending on your situation. I also stopped eating gluten and dairy but I can't remember if that's just down to me having endometriosis. It's hard to do all in one go. It's happened for me over time as I read a book about endometriosis back in August and following that I started to experiment. In jan I read The book I mentioned below following my AMH and followed some of the advice. It must've done some good as I did respond better than they thought I would. Hopefully, being stricter with it will help. To be honest it's felt good just to be trying something! There's no guarantees it will make a difference though but I figured it certainly can't hurt me. Most of the advice was also given by my consultant however, I'd already started most things! It did give me reassurance that I wasn't going crazy with this stuff though! We'll soon see if it's made a difference but then there's drug and natural variance to consider too so I guess I'll never truly know.

@confused107 crossed posts. That is good to hear thank you. It makes sense as I remember we are at the same clinic too. I do wander if they'd chuck steroids at it if covid wasn't about but it clearly wasn't an issue for you so that's also good to hear. They were quite honest about the drug change saying it could make no difference, be better or even worse but worth a try. As you say some drugs seem to suit different people better. Here's hoping my eggs get on with gonal f!

Thanks for that @SpyroC I eat a keto diet so am low carb, high protein, gluten free and only eat the odd bit of cheese so happily I seem to be on the right track anyway. Will take a look and see what supplements it suggests for me too. At least I feel that I've done as much to help myself as I possibly can do.

@granddesigns is today your testing day?

How is everyone else doing? @SpyroC @CarbsAndCheese

We've just had a debrief with the consultant, it seems dh's swimmers are in fine form and it's my aging eggs that are the problem. Again, I'm too fat (even though I've no idea how to lose more weight more quickly, even their inhouse nutritionist agreed), and I have a whole list of supplements to start. Some of them I was taking anyway but they're throwing Inisitol, melatonin and extra vit d into the mix. We have to have one clear cycle in August and then we can begin the next round in September.

Nearly @Rumtopf - it's Thursday! Holding out so far as dh is away but having to keep busy and stay distracted! Feeling ok, few twinges on and off since transfer and to now and I'm a bit tired by mid afternoon and sore boobs as the day goes on but more achy than sore/sensitive. Lower back aches by night time too. No idea if it's symptoms or the progesterone! Will keep you posted when we know!

Hi @Rumtopf I am actually in for egg collection in the morning. I have more follicles this cycle but I will never know wether that's down to the drug change, dietary changes/supplements or even natural variation. Like you quality appears to be my issue so we'll see what happens. Melatonin and high dose vitamin D are amongst what I take. My current diet isn't quite as low carb as Keto and I've had the opposite problem as have lost weight (not my intention at all). I've found myself eating loads of nuts even when not hungry to try and keep my weight up! Things are never simple are they! At least you have some new things to try now. I have liked having the feeling of trying something in the lead up to this cycle.

Good luck for tomorrow @granddesigns x

@granddesigns good luck for Thursday!

@SpyroC hope the EC goes well for you tomorrow. Glad to hear all the changes have resulted in more follicles, that's great.

I had that problem @SpyroC, protein shakes with full fat milk were recommended by my acupuncturist and worked wonders. I hope the collection goes well.

Best of luck for test day @granddesigns

Congratulations on your little boy @Picklekid!

Best of luck today @spyroC. I hope it all goes well and you get to rest up afterwards

I will be thinking of you tomorrow @graddesigns

Another vote for the protein shakes here! There is also some evidence that high protein diets might be good for IVF I think

Morning all! Well I was awake at 5am but managed to nod off and not have a wee until a reasonable hour! Am shocked and happy to report that we have a bfp! Did 2 tests and they agree with each other too! No idea now if I feel queasy because of excitement and nerves or because of the embryo or both! There's definitely plenty hormones as I burst into tears when the cross came up on the CB!

Congratulations @granddesigns, I'm so happy for you x