August IVF

[Mseddy]

Had a quick look through but can't find an existing thread. Anyone due to cycle in August after a bit of moral support?

We are due to start our 2nd cycle of icsi for male azoospermia and my premature ovarian aging (full house for us!)

Just had my stim scan. The consultant was really pleased and said I have responded much better than last time.

I had 19 follicles but a few of them are less than 10mm so probably won't make it in time. My lining was 12mm so I'm really happy! Just praying that my covid swab comes back negative! If it does then I've got a scan Monday and plan for egg collection on Wednesday.

How is everyone doing?

@loulamay welcome. Sorry cross posted so didn't see you post. Fingers crossed for this one to be a nice sticky embryo!! When is your official test date?

Thank you! I should have mentioned that we transferred two this time so fingers crossed!

My clinic will do a beta blood test a week after the transfer, so next Thursday, but to be honest I found it so stressful waiting on those results (first time negative, second time first beta was only 18!) that I said to my Dr that I might wait a few more days and just test at home first then go for bloods if it's positive.

Good luck with your egg collection! How are you feeling?

@nextweek great news on the scan :). It’s exciting when things really start to happen.

@StayingPositive8 eeek… getting so close. Everything crossed for good news for you tomorrow xx

@Mseddy That sounds really positive, esp as you have something to compare it with. Set you up nicely for a chilled weekend!

@loulamay welcome to the thread! So much waiting right! Does that aspect get any easier after the first cycle?!

Day 10 stims… and I’m feeling… unwieldy! The discomfort around my middle and nausea kept waking me up in the night. OH says it’s good practice for what might happen next (hah fingers crossed)… but I don’t think it’s exactly natural to have these engorged ovaries! My estradiol isn’t too high though. Does anyone know if side-effects mean a higher chance of OHSS after EC? Google not being much help :) Not that it matters I guess, what will be will be.

Back to the clinic tomorrow for another scan/bloods. Really hoping they give the go-ahead for the trigger - feeling ready for the next stage.

Quite appreciating the lower temp today. Have the oven on for the first time in ages!

@Lepatz - I'm not sure the time moves any faster but I definitely feel like familiarity helps! On the first transfer, I had no idea what to expect and with my body not fully recovered from the retrieval I think it was all a bit much. I wasn't that surprised that it didn't work. On the second one I was much more relaxed and didn't have as many hormones in my system so I found it a lot easier.

This transfer was the first one that my boyfriend was allowed to come into (damn you, COVID) which was really wonderful - I think he was pretty amazed at the whole process! Science is a wonder.

@Lepatz I'm not sure, but logic makes me think it's more likely. OHSS is linked to getting a large amount of eggs. If your ovaries are so full they are causing pain then I guess it's more likely. It's baffling me because I was told I had premature ovarian failure and diminised ovarian reserve, yet here I am with 19 follicles responding?! My AMH is only 6 (when I was 30, not had it checked this year) so when I got 10 eggs last cycle I was soooo happy! Turned out they where pretty poor quality. I'm just hoping if I have over stimulated this cycle that at least 1 or 2 of them are decent quality!! I'm starting to doubt whether my clinic should have reduced my stims to try and get less but better quality eggs. There are just soooo many things to think about!

Thanks @loulamay Ah, that's great he got to be with you! My OH isn't allowed in with me for either the collection or the transfer. Though I suspect he was relieved to avoid all the scans ;)

@Mseddy wow - sounds like you've had quite a turnaround :D Fingers crossed the quality is upped too. I'm 41, but had high AMH. Can't recall the exact number though - and my tests have gone awol. I think it was about 25 - more than expected for my age anyway. The big question remains about quality though... nurgh.

Every stage is so potentially interesting. I have no idea what people did before the internet was the mine of resources it is now!

And it's sooo good to have a little group going through the same thing. I've been open with family and friends, but it's not the same as the day by day 'in-ness' of actually going through it!

@Lepatz been there with crying at work, don’t be embarrassed it’s a very stressful time! Your scan results sound positive

@CardboardCat Those numbers sound good!

Fingers crossed for you @loulamay

@Mseddy Another good scan!

I’ve been having a bit of a wobble, I think I’m struggling with the FET cycle being so different to a full cycle. I’ve been on my drugs for a week but it’s just patches that I only change every 4 days and won’t have a scan until Friday so it doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything if that makes sense! I think I’m displacing but I’m really worried about my cycle being cancelled due to Covid. I’m trying to calm myself down because the added stress won’t help!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend

@Mseddy Those results are amazing!! Really pleased for you 😊

@Lepatz Fingers crossed for your scan tomorrow, sending trigger happy thoughts your way.

@loulamay Nice to have you here, wishing you lots of luck with your embryos on board.

I've had a bit of a wobble today. I've felt really chilled all the way through until today. Woke up feeling irritable and a bit tearful and then I didn't help myself by going down a Google hole looking up my follicle sizes and the likelihood they'll have mature eggs in. I've been really open with family about where we are in the process and then started regretting it because I just feel this awful pessimistic sense that this cycle is doomed. I've been restless all day but with no idea what I want to do and have been snapping at my husband who is just trying to help 😔 Hoping I wake up tomorrow and things are looking a little bit brighter.

@Custardandcream I didn't see your post before posted mine! Sorry you're having a wobble too. I understand what you mean about feeling like you're doing nothing. So much about these processes just sucks. Soooo much waiting in between short and potentially stressful events. Sending hugs xx

Thank god for forums like these. I'm joining you guys on the emotional front today - did my Clexane injection this morning and must have hit a blood vessel because it started bleeding. I cried. Also am sure I had implantation pains last time round but this time I've got no symptoms (even though I'm only on day 3! ffs) and feel like I'm second-guessing everything.

It's the not knowing that is the worst! If someone told me I would have a healthy baby but I had to do 5 cycles, I'd say 'sure. sign me up'. At the moment it all feels so indeterminate.

@Custardandcream - when will you find out if your cycle can go ahead? The struggle is real when it comes to things being out of your control. I did acupuncture just to give me something to 'do' that might help.

@CardboardCat - Google is the devil.

Hope everyone is doing ok x

Ahh, sorry to hear there's a few wobbles this weekend xx

@Custardandcream I was really worried about the covid test too. Maybe because it would be so not related to the overall process/outcome. And I'd already had a cycle cancelled in March due to it. Re not doing anything... remember you already did so much of the hard work in the last cycle :). I found the mindful ivf meditation app really useful, particularly in the first couple of weeks. One of the key things is to remember - "you're doing the best you can with the tools you have" which I found useful.

@CardboardCat hope you've woken up feeling better. Sounds like a similar wobble to the one I had a few days ago :/ Hard to keep the wheels on when we're chock full of hormones too. Glad your OH is trying to help :) Sending good vibes your way xx

@loulamay Ouch. I totally hadn't realised how many more drugs would be required after the egg collection and transfer!!! Day 3 is early for implantation... But I hear you - when we were TCT I was looking for implantation bleeding every month after having it the one time we conceived. Drove me half crazy in the end! Waiting is the worst. Waiting and google!!!!

@Custardandcream I meant - one of the key things in the mindful ivf app is "you're doing the best you can with the tools you have" :)

@Custardandcream I'm so worried about the covid test too. Yesterday with my good scan results was bitter sweet because if my swab comes back positive and we get cancelled ill always think what if. They said 24 hours but I doubt we will hear today so I'm going to be sat in limbo tomorrow too :(

@CardboardCat I've been down that same rabbit hole. I've got 19 follicles but quite a few of them are less than 10mm so probably won't make it by Wednesday. The fact my consultant said I was doing much better than last time and last time I had 10 I'm mentally aiming for similar numbers. Although to be honest Id rather just a few really decent quality ones. We have it against us on both sides as DH sperm was frozen when he was poorly with lymphoma 10 years ago so it's not good quality. Last cycle they said it was hard to tell whether it was my eggs or the sperm that caused the large drop off rate. We clearly can't do anything to improve the sperm quality so it all just feels like luck!

Me again, joining in the follicle chat :)

I'm at the clinic, scan went well (I think). 17 follicles over 10mm.... but several over 20, which i think might be over mature?!

Anyway, just waiting for bloods, but all looking likely for triggering today :)

@Lepatz yay that's sounding positive! So if you trigger today egg collection will be Tuesday? What cycle day are you today?

I'm starting to stress about OHSS as I'm really quite uncomfortable!

@Mseddy not sure yet! Probably though. I hope so, because (tmi!) we DTD last night, so OH will need some time to rebuild his stock hah. (Getting that timing right is awkward!). Today I'm day 11 of stims, or 13 since last bleed. What day are you? My scan lady said my ovaries are practically touching- which would explain my discomfort. She said it's nothing to worry about though. Weirdly I'm more comfortable today than the last few days. Maybe because I've been avoiding movement- and actually slept for more than 6 hours in a row last night :)

@Lepatz I'm day 10 of stims and cycle today. Got my day 11 scan tomorrow with a plan for collection on Wednesday which will be day 13. We had to stop DTD a few days ago because it was too uncomfortable! Which is annoying because we obviously can't between collection and embryo transfer and last time we waited until after OTD just to be safe (although I'm sure it has no impact at all!). I struggled to sleep last night, but it was mostly my head going crazy and needing a pee every hour!

@Mseddy I had to look up otd - good to know! Well, I had to stop dtd on Thursday... but was feeling more comfortable last night - so you never know! I'm planning to stop after transfer... but hadn't considered I wouldn't be able to after collection! I was actually a bit worried when I also was more comfortable this morning too - in case the stims had stopped working or something but seem to be fine!

@Lepatz it says in my treatment diary from the clinic to refrain between egg collection and transfer. Not really sure of their rational! And I know all clinics are different so it might be worth checking. Are you on dalacin antibiotic cream pre collection? (I think I remember from my last cycle and the thread I was on that not alot of clinics use it). It's horrible and messy and that alone probably rules out DTD haha

@loulamay

When is your ODT? Mine is on 24th. I tested on day two to make sure I had no trigger left and the test was negative.
I wouldn't say I've had strong symptoms but I had some pink CM yesterday (3dp) and thought my AF was on its way but nothing else since, only clear CM. Still feeling that mild period pain at times.

Hope everyone is managing to have a relaxing Sunday.

Just to add my 2 cents worth on the DTD side of things. All clinic protocols will vary but our clinic said no sex post-transfer for the 2WW. Plus with the 3 x daily progesterone pessaries, it's not high on my agenda at the moment ha ha!!

Symptom spotting on the other hand, has been happening a lot!! I guess anyone on this journey does that 24/7! Plus all pregnancy related symptoms are the same as the side effects from the progesterone pessaries so it's pretty hard to tell.
@loulamay I didn't have an implantation bleed this time or before. My clinic nurse said that a lot of women don't necessarily have a bleed, so try not to worry too much!

24hrs and counting for us....

Sounds like there is a lot happening for the group this week, so wishing everyone the best of luck.

@StayingPositive8 so exciting that it's nearly test time! Got everything crossed for you.

Ive been thinking, if I have egg collection on Wednesday, that means day 5 is Sunday. I'm not sure my clinic do embryo transfers on a Sunday. So now I'm worrying that I'll have to wait until day 6!

Trigger confirmed for tonight! Collection booked for Tuesday. So that's exciting and terrifying in equal(ish) measures.

@Mseddy I'm on oral antibiotics... though the pessaries don't exactly sound like an aphrodisiac haha. I guess those are after anyway.

When working out the transfer timings, is collection day considered day 1?

@StayingPositive8 oh, it's getting close, good luck for tomorrow!!