Abc IVF

[computersaysso]

Has anyone recently had IVF with abc IVF? They have approved me for a frozen cycle only at the moment.
Do you know if they are only doing frozen cycles in light of the pandemic.
We have mainly chosen them due to low cost. I appreciate that the low cost means cut backs in certain areas, but I'm often waiting for 1-1.5 hours on the phone to speak to a central phone line for all branches.
It's tricky as I know that IVF is really down to the individuals body response, but I still feel that decisions made by doctors about medication doses etc are important.
Keen to hear about others experiences.

@Luckfor2021 thats great news! EC already! So glad it went well and I will have my fingers crossed for you!

Hope everyone else appointments are going well too.

Thanks both. I know they say to retain some flexibility but with work and other responsibilities it's sometimes difficult to get all your ducks in a row at the drop of a hat!

@Luckfor2021 how exciting to have everything expedited! all the best for Saturday

@Beaglemum91 great that you are responding and that seems like a really decent number of follicles!

Keep us posted!

My baseline scan went really well.

Nurse was really lovely. So welcoming and put me at ease :) I'm at cardiff clinic.

She only asked me my weight and height and I couldn't fib ... I saw scales in the corner and told the truth. Turns out the BMI calculator they use compared to nhs must be different as NHS website calculate me as 29.8 and nurse calculated me as 30.7 today. She said that was okay though.. phew!

Scan was the same as last clinic but she told me my follicle count this time - 15 on each side! So they're going to have to be super careful with stimulating. Womb lining etc looking good.

She was a bit baffled why we haven't conceived yet though due to such good AMH, semen, clear tubes from previous tests. She has asked me to contact my doc to find out the last time I had thyroid check and get the results and date. If it wasn't recent enough I'm going to pay 35 pounds with them to do the tsh blood test. She wants to check as it could be the reason why I've never had implantation and she can give me a prescription if needed to help implantation from the IVF.

She has also moved my online consultation appt to a day early on Monday. I did say before leaving I can lose some pounds by then but she said no need. So all is looking positive! Hope you ladies are doing good xx

@Beaglemum91thank you!! I wasn’t super positive when I got home from the clinic as 4 follicles isn’t the number I was expecting after having such a good baseline scan. But I’ve read some success stories with 4 follicles that gave me a bit of hope...I hope yours continue to grow nicely! Xx

@edibletreats yeah I can’t wait until Saturday to see what happens! Thank you!
@StarryHannah it’s so good that you’re pleased with how everything went and that they weren’t fussy about the BMI! Keep us posted!

@Beaglemum91 thank you! It really is lovely to share the journey - I think I would drive myself bananas if I attempted to go through this without talking it through with others that understand. I am trying not to worry about the added cost of OCSI - but I am also kind of worried about it in other ways - I don't love the idea of the winning sperm being selected by someone, rather than being the quickest and strongest getting there - if that makes any sense at all! I do have faith in the embryologists though - I am sure they will just do what is best.

I have also asked DH to do the injections when the time comes - he isn't keen on the idea, but I am useless with injections so will need him to step up! I will remember that tip to stick to the sides!

@StarryHannah I really hope all went well in your scan today :)

@Luckfor2021 thank you :) My scan was yesterday - counting the days till Monday now for consultation so we can get things moving - feeling really impatient too! It's so helpful hearing about your scans - I was so unsure how many scans would be needed. I really hope all goes well Saturday - will be thinking of you :)

Oops just realised my page hadn't refreshed so I had missed loads! Catching up now...

@StarryHannah that is such good news, I am so pleased for you! It's great that you had consultation moved forward too :)

@StarryHannah so glad your scan went well, thats lots of follicles! They are so nice at the clinics. I had the same person do my scan today that did my baseline scan and it was so nice that she remembered me from it and it made me feel so at ease when I was rather nervous!

@Luckfor2021 I aways believe that anything was better than nothing as some people just don't respond at all or take several cycles to find a good dose that they do respond to. Hopefully on Saturday it all goes well and they get some nice eggs!

@HopingForRainbow2021 my DH was nervous about doing them, but its a nice way for him to be involved, especially when they can't attend appointments. We got loads of extra needles so practised on an orange to he could get used to it... he got rather carried away!

Morning all,

AF turned up this morning so will start injections tomorrow! Excited but also nervous.

I have been booked in for Mon, Weds and Fri next week.

Hope everyone is doing well

oh gosh, did I really say 'Morning' at 16.11?? Losing the plot already

When I emailed the clinic about starting my cycle, I asked about exercising. I just received a response and was told to avoid or reduce to a minimum. Edyta who is the senior fertility midwife at Harley St told me to avoid stretching and twisting as it may cause ovarian torsion.

Just wanted to mention in case anybody had received different guidance.

@edibletreats, yay, the wait is over! Now you can get started :) I have my first cetrotide this evening, they told me to take it in the evening and I'm kinda dreading it... I might not ice the first time and see how it is?
I've not exercised beyond walking the dogs so I might avoid doing more than that for now.

@edibletreats that is really exciting that you will be getting started tomorrow! I am sure it will be fine - I read earlier in the thread that ice can help numb the area a bit, so that might help a bit.

That is really helpful advice about exercise. I used to run 5 - 8k a few times a week and had been thinking about getting back to it, but now I think maybe best sticking with walks for the time being.

Good luck tomorrow, I am sure it will go smoothly :)

@edibletreats
@Luckfor2021
@HopingForRainbow2021
@Beaglemum91
I'm loving listening to your journeys and I'm so excited for all of you! X

@Beaglemum91 I’m sure you’ll be fine with the injections! Since I tried icing the area I just continued to do it this way as I found it much better and less painful/itchy but you might want to try without the ice the first time in case you don’t need it.
@edibletreats how exciting you are starting the injections too!!
I have my trigger injection tonight...this is going so fast! :)

@edibletreats how did your first injection go?

@Luckfor2021 I've found that the cetrotide isn't too bad, it stings and irritates after but not for too long thankfully, dont think I need to ice, I just relax for a little after and don't let clothing touch it as that irritates more. Best of luck for EC tomorrow! I hope it goes well for you!

Had my second scan today and it all seems to be going well and they're growing. Booked in again for Monday, might end up being trigger day depending on how everythings progressed over the weekend!
As a note, if you ask the nurse they can print off the cycle summary for you which has the chart with your follicles on and lining measurements etc, I asked to take a picture for DH today and she said she could just print the whole things out! It's nice cause now he can see what I'm talking about which helps him.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) for ovarian rejuvenation on IVF, any experiences?

Hello ladies,

My history: 39 never TTC until less than a year ago (met my husband at 37 and we were living apart)
Because of my age and bad exams we were planning on going straight to IVF without trying natural. However Covid changed our plans and in March during the lockdown we got pregnant on our first try but had a blighted ovum and miscarried at 7 weeks. Did 2 IVFs cycles, one had chemical pregnancy with the one embryo we had and second even though we had more eggs we got no embryo. We were preparing to do PRP on ovaries to try to increase egg quality then tried natural once again but had a miscarriage at 8 weeks after having a strong 155bpm heartbeat 😢
Now I don’t know what to do. We obviously had some luck but getting pregnant twice in 2 tries tells me we still should have a decent chance, but I’m a poor responder to IVF. So I don’t know anymore if I should still do the PRP because I’m afraid it can hurt my body instead of improving. I’ve read all studies and they are promising but it’s a developing science.

Please, please let me know if you had any good or bad experiences with it?!

@Beaglemum91 It was fine, thanks for asking. I’m not really that squeamish when it comes to needles. Let’s see how I get on with the cetrotide though...
Great to hear everything is progressing well!

@Luckfor2021 good luck for tomorrow!

@Beaglemum91its great that your follicles are responding well and that cetrotide isn’t that itchy for you!! I’m sure you’re excited about Monday to see the progress.
@edibletreats let us know how your scans go too! :)
@BBHH it sounds like you’ve been through a lot! I have never heard of PRP I’m afraid. One thing I don’t understand is why do they want to improve your egg quality of it seems like the problem isn’t your eggs...they are fertilised, the embryo implants and divides. Have you tried genetic testing on the embryos to see if they are abnormal? I don’t know but maybe try to get an expert second opinion? I really wish you all the best.

Thanks ladies for thinking about me! Let’s see what my eggs look like tomorrow

@Luckfor2021 we would like to get more eggs in the IVF. One cycle I had 2 eggs one embryo and 2nd cycle 4 eggs no embryo

Ugh. Forgive me for starting the day with a moan, but I just need to let off a tiny bit of steam, and can't really send it my husbands way! My MIL is lovely, but she can be a bit frustrating too. My husband and I have taken the decision to have IVF - after a lot of thought and research - because we very much would like to have a second child. We are so lucky to have a lovely little boy already, but always hoped for a second. Long story short, we can't safely conceive naturally because my husband is on what will now be life long treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia. We have frozen sperm though - and we have 5 phials - which is great, but obviously limited. Once it's gone it's gone. We can't get IVF on the NHS because we have our little boy, so here we are. I looked into IUI but the success rates are so low that I can't consider potentially 'wasting' limited phials by pursuing that option (I'm 35 - and as mentioned we only have the 5).

My MIL just seems hell bent on interfering with all of these decisions. We have been told in no uncertain terms by a fertility specialist at Guys that the NHS are completely unambiguous when it comes to the rule of existing children. Yet my MIL still seems to feel that we are jumping the gun until we have that in writing. To get to that stage though, it's a wait of up to 20 weeks to see an NHS fertility doctor, and have that confirmed - time I am just not prepared to waste (I hope I am making sense!)
This morning she texts me telling me about her friend's daughter who has had success with IUI. REALLY?! We have been through all this, made the decision, and have the ball rolling with ABC. I don't know if she thinks we are going to end up asking her for financial help or something, but honestly I just didn't need to hear about some random person's IUI success when I have already been through a long and considered thought process to have come to a decision.

So sorry for the rant, I hope you all don't mind :/

@HopingForRainbow2021 thats a terrible situation. At the end of the day its a personal decision for you and your husband, noone else. If I were you I would talk to your husband about it and as a couple put your foot down on her interference. You have done the research, you are going to be going through it so ita not for anyone else to tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing. I told my mum we were going straight to IVF as we were unsure if we would get NHS funding and as she said, thats our choice to make. You're already going through so much, you don't need this on top of it and you need to explain that to her. If she doesn't understand I would consider blocking communication with her or telling her to go through your husband as you don't need the stress to be honest. I know people try to help, but with things like this you need to be firm about what will and won't help.

@BBHH sorry to hear what you're going through, I'm not sure if any of us here would be able to help as were with ABC IVF who focus in less complicated, simple cases. Maybe worth creating a thread specifically for what you're after?

@Luckfor2021 I hope everything is going well for you today.

@Beaglemum91
Another thread would be good but I don’t know how to create one. I’ll look into it thanks

@Beaglemum91thank you! I had egg collection this morning and it went smoothly. They collected 4 as expected and they will call me tomorrow to see what happens. I know that at this stage anything is possible and out of my control so I’ll just try to relax in the meantime. I don’t feel any pain at all just a little bit tired and slightly bloated.
I hope you are all having a nice weekend.
@HopingForRainbow2021 I also think you should go ahead with your decision and not let anybody interfere. It’s your body and if you already discussed with your husband then you can feel your MIL thanks for your opinion but we have discussed all the possibilities and we know our case better than anyone else.
Have a nice weekend everyone! Stay safe!

@HopingForRainbow2021 I really feel for you and you are completely in your right to feel the way you do! We ended up not telling anybody except my best friend (who happens to be 10 weeks pregnant from IVF herself! I am 6 years older than my husband (I'm 37 and he is 31) and I dread all family meetings on his side as we get asked the usual... do you want kids, why haven't you got kids yet etc. We actually changed from another clinic to ABC as it would be over 3000 pounds cheaper and we knew we could afford it ourself. My father in law has money but I know he would have a hold over us, and even if he didn't pay he would still be interfering (but with him he just likes the gossip to phone all the family with. On Christmas day he actually asked us 'Do we want kids?' And then followed it with 'how old are you again Hannah?'. So even if we told him to keep it a secret he would still tell everyone and use his usual excuse of 'slipping up'. And I know him his family would assume there was a problem with me coz of my age, even though no problem has even been identified! So family interfering I can really empathise with! I haven't told my parents as I know that would make my husband want to tell his dad! You are doing the right thing with the decisions you and your husband are making. Her interfering is causing stress you do not need at this time. Sending you a big hug.

@beaglemum91 fab news about your follicles!

@edibletreats I've been thinking about you and your scans

@luckforyou2021 I am also thinking about you and your eggs

Quick question regarding blood tests guys...how long does it usually take after the consultation to have them and how long do results take? Xxx