IVF May/June Cycle Buddies

[Mrbay]

Hi

Couldn't see a thread for May/June - hoping that I'm not on my own for this cycle as its our 2nd cycle and feeling worried that I won't get to transfer.

Would be great to share the ups and downs with others, I'm starting buserelin next Wednesday (27th May).

@MorgenMuffel and @ivfgottostaypositive - its so hard not to let your mind wonder over all the potential outcomes!

@ivfgottostaypostiive - I've never thought about eggs in that way - I am getting through duck eggs like no tomorrow as I won't be allowed them after transfer :(

@Dbrook @MorgenMuffel I'm the same, my clinic is near work and now we're having to travel ages! Also I don't drive so poor DH is having to drive me to all appointments, not what I planned I usually just get public transport!

I feel like it's good having ivf while working from home though, it means I can be more in control of making sure I eat properly and drink plenty, that's harder in the office running between meetings. I'm very lucky that both me and DH can work from home.

@ivfgottostaypositive I've had that thought too about eggs ... plus i dont even like eggs! Then again it makes sense to me that eggs would have the nutrition your body needs to make eggs, who knows if that's correct science but it feels right! So I'm eating loads anyway and trying not to think about it.

Just want to say thank you to all you ladies as well, reading through the messages on this thread is making me feel so much better and I think it's going to be a life saver once I'm further on in the process.

@RosettaR
I know what you mean about eating/drinking plenty. I usually work in a school and I’m always rushing here and there and never have proper breaks.

Since lockdown I’ve seen my ‘job’ as keeping my mind and body healthy. I’ve started walking everyday now. Been to some lovely places this week. This also stupid my brain from thinking about IVF 24:7!!!

I managed to get my prescription sorted. My clinic had forgotten so they are sending a next day courier tomorrow!! Phew! Start mine injections again on Sunday.

Do you guys have any specific dietary tips for IVF? Are you cutting out coffee? I have one caffeinated cup a day which I thought was ok but I’ve seen a lot of people seem to cut it out completely. I have given it up at various points while TTC but then went back on it when it didn’t seem to make a difference either way!

@Dbrook

To be honest I only really drink decaff anyway as I got in the habit when I first started IVF 18 months ago. I've cut back soft drinks that contain aspartame (which is pretty much all of the diet ones) so a can here and there. And I wasn't much of an alcohol drinker anyway. The only thing I really do is up my protein and water intake - lots of eggs, salmon, chicken, avocados. I read once about beetroot juice - tried that one cycle - don't bother its BLOODY AWFUL - even I have my limits!

I had my second scan today - follicles all pretty small - some smaller than Wednesday but I only started stims last night. Trying not to feel too despondent. If this cycle looks like it's going to be a bust I'm going to ask whether I can just do an FET rather than completing the final egg collection out of my package

@Dbrook I'm having one cup of caffeinated coffee as well, I did cut it out completely on cycle 2 and that was worse than cycle 1 where I carried on pretty much as usual! I make sure I get 2-3 litres of water per day but that is usual for me anyway and I also make sure I'm eating extra protein.

Sorry to hear the scan didn’t go as you’d hoped @ivfgottostaypositive. But it’s still early days if you only started stims last night.

I find the diet thing so interesting
We have been seeing this natropath who tried to persuade us to do a cleanse but it meant not trying for a month and I so wasnt ready for that

But breakfast lunch and dinner wise what are you having ? Iv been so much more into 'diet culture'then actually looking after mysf i have no idea what to eat

Iv been doing by 10k steps everyday snd cut down on the hit work outs i was doing nut then i struggle not to have the odd icecresm it little chocolate freddo or something and then i feel awful about it as im teying to be all my body is a temple and i will make eggs haha

@Dbrook I've cut back on caffeine. I'm still having the odd cup of green tea every now and again, and having a decaf coffee. In terms of diet, I've upped my protein, which as a dairy-free pescatarian is quite tricky, but I've stocked up on seafood sticks and chickpea/lentil snacks. I'm also having a plant-protein shake with fruit after my workouts.

@ivfgottobepositive Ugh. That sucks. But as you know, every cycle is different. Maybe they'll catch up, maybe they won't, but definitely chat to them about using one of your good quality frozen embies if it doesn't work out this cycle.

I'm on my way to the clinic for my first scan and the third attempt at my blood test for protein c, s and lupus! Keeping my fingers crossed that I get the results back in time for transfer - assuming we get that far! 🤞🏼 Hopefully I'll be starting my stims tonight.

@HJF84 good luck for your scan and blood test!

@Dbrook @Ails826 I'm also trying to eat lots of protein, eggs for breakfast, chicken or tuna or other fish for lunch, then meat or fish or beans or lentils for dinner, plus cheese and nuts for snacks and also some milk. I hope it's enough! I've also given up refined sugar. Also healthy fats are meant to be good so nuts, only fish, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, etc. Lots of people say to cut back on carbs too but I've struggled with my weight being too low so I've not dared do that and I probably eat quite a lot of carbs compared to most people.

I took my first dose of the synarel this morning and it wasn't a massive success. My hay fever's relatively bad anyway and that combined with spraying something up my nose meant I sneezed, so had to do the whole thing again. Then I lay on the bed for 15 minutes desperately trying not to sneeze again! Hoping that's not my regular morning routine from now on! Any tips anyone?

Good luck today @HJF84

@ivfgottostaypositive its still early if you only just started the stimms i didn't even get a scan on my protocol till day 10 i think.

In regards to diet i am just now trying to stick to more calorie controlled on my fitness pal and trying to make more healthier choices with the fruits and veg etc but if i want a few oven chips or choc will be having them in moderation this whole process takes it out of you so have to be in the eating as a long term thing for me. I have decaff coffee and tea raspberry leaf tea and 3 litres of water most days but thats all pretty norm i do have 1 cup of normal cappuccino the necafe one tho xxx happy weekend all.

Ugh. Potential bad news for me already. I have one follicle measuring 13mm already so it's likely it's a cyst. They've taken some extra bloods for progesterone but it means we could be out of the game before I've even started taking meds. Having a little cry on the train home. Thank goodness no one is around and I have my mask on 😔

Ref diet, I haven't made a lot of changes but I will start upping my protein from next week.

@ivfgottostaypositive - that sucks but at least you have the frozen option but the only thing I know about IVF is doesn't stick to any rules!

@HJF84 - really sorry that it's not going as planned, fingers crossed everything is ok.

I've managed to hit my first capillary whilst injecting and I've got a lovely purple bruise. So far, no buserelin blues so fingers crossed it continues that way.

@HJF84 I'm sorry to hear this sounds similar to what happened to me last time. They've put me on the pill to try and stop that happening again on my next cycle xx

@ivfgottostaypositive I love eggs - although that has never crossed my mind when eating them! I'd eat them every day if I could haha. Just usually at the weekend for breakfast though.

Also sorry to hear your scan wasn't great, but as others have said early days still. Definitely worth a chat about going onto FET - I'm also on a package but mine seems to be the opposite to yours in that I have to use up my frosties from cycle 1 before I can go onto another fresh cycle.

@UncleBrynsfishingtrip glad you got your meds sorted. I love a walk too, especially in the sunshine :) must be good for our vit d levels too - I was advised to take vit d alongside folic acid but you can't beat the natural way to getting it. Hope injection goes well tomorrow

@Dbrook I've cut out caffeine and alcohol - I've never been a massive coffee drinker so don't really notice the difference drinking de-caf. Also upped protein and healthy fats, and now I'm post transfer eating pineapple by the bucketful - going to make a cake today for variety! On my fresh cycle I was much stricter with refined sugar but this time I've not been and still having a fair few snacks and diet fizzy drinks

@Ails826 in the week I usually have overnight oats with full fat greek yogurt and berries, or porridge for breakfast, and at the weekend some form of egg. Lunch often a salad or some leftovers and dinner a variety really; last night we had chilli and tonight thai curry (although I wont have rice). We cook mostly from scratch so I just try and keep it healthy and balanced. I generally eat some avocado every day in one of the meals, and snack on some cashews and fruit, although try and limit the fruit to 2 portions a day. I think the main thing is a generally healthy diet, although I have read a lot about low carb "Mediterranean" diets being good especially for those with PCOS,

@RosettaR I found that having an, ahem, good clear out before using the synarel helped! I also generally found that I got a horrible taste down the back of the throat and took that as an indication of it having worked.

@HJF84 sorry to hear that, hopefully its not what you fear. Are you back for a scan again soon to see how the situation is developing?

@Mrbay I was covered in bruises, but found they went down pretty quickly. But glad you are still feeling pretty ok.

I'm planning on a pretty chilled weekend in the garden, trying to keep my mind busy so I am not scrutinising every potential symptom. Have had quite a few cramps / stabbing pains in my abdomen and itchy nipples! My boobs also aren't sore, and they normally are really tender from about 7 days before AF is due. I know logically that this is likely all down to the progesterone, but my heart can't help hoping...

Thanks for your wishes @MorgenMuffel @mrbay @wesstywoo

The clinic just rang and it's good news. It's not a cyst, it's a follicle. It just means I have a large follicle and I might only get one egg from this cycle, but that's better than nothing, right? They've asked me to start bemfola tonight and the cetrotide tomorrow.

I got all emotional on the phone when she told me it was all okay. I was so sure it was a cyst. I need to snap back into my positive thinking 🤔

@HJF84 that's great news. One good quality egg is much better than lots of poor quality, and there is plenty of time yet for some more to develop xxx

@HJF84 thats good news my consultant always says it only takes one

@HJF84 that’s great news! You must be so relieved. Also starting my bemfola injections tonight. My treatment consultation was before lockdown so I had to watch a YouTube video to remind myself how to do it.

@MorgenMuffel @MrsLouB Exactly! My body chose this one as the best one naturally so it must have something going for it, right?

@Dbrook Mine too! Although this is my fourth cycle so you'd think I'd know it by now. My last cycle was in October last year so I'm a bit rusty. I'll do what you did and watch a YT video. Thanks for the tip 👍🏻

@HJF84

Great news! - I did a cycle where I only got 2 follicles and the pressure was horrendous as before that I had really bad fertilisation rates (only around 30%) but those 2 eggs both made it to blastocyst and are currently frozen

Remind me are you doing a 3 cycle package? Will you be transferring on this one?

My next scan is Monday (cycle day 9) hoping that my follicles will have grown some by then - I've got to reduce my Bemfola tomorrow to 75ml but topping up with 75ml luveris and also add in cetrotide 😬 - I think we'll only be targeting max 5 follicles x

@ivfgottostaypositive I did the three cycle package last year, managed to get a blasto from each cycle from 10 eggs, but none of them were particularly good quality. I wanted one more cycle to see if I could improve my egg quality with supplements. If not, we'll be looking at donor eggs.

Keeping my fingers crossed that your follicles grow some more. I read they can grow 1mm-3mm a day 🤞🏼

@Dbrook @HJF84 hope your injections go smoothly tonight

@HJF84 good news! I hope your large follicle is a lucky one!

I had my second scan on Friday and did my trigger tonight for collection on Monday eek! There seemed to be a real range on my scan from 10mm which I guess is too small right up to 22mm which sounded too big because she said they were aiming for 17mm? I just hope there are some at the right size on the day

@MorgenMuffel thank you! It went fine, not nearly as bad as I feared.

@takingthistooseriously best of luck for tomorrow. Hope you have a nice relaxing Sunday planned to take your mind off it (as far as that’s possible).