October IVF

[Dinky06]

Hi ladies, I’ve been through all of my fertility screening tests etc and am due to start my first and hopefully only round of IVF (positive vibes ) soon. I’m looking to share my hopes, experiences and tips and provide support to anyone else expecting to start a cycle soon. The more the merrier!

Same! Hoping to start in October!

Wishing you the best of luck! I have my nurse’s consultation today to discuss injections and the like and hopefully confirm a start date. Have to admit I am dreading the injections. Doing my best to read up on things, eat and sleep well but it’s so hard to know what to expect

I'm the same! Never really thought I'd be having to think about these things so feel really nervous! Good luck to you too!

Hi both - can I join you?! We are starting our second FET in September for transfer in October. We started our first cycle in March which was stopped due to Covid and then had a frozen transfer in July which we began in may but had a few issues and delays in the preparation and then it resulted in a miscarriage at 6 weeks. This will be the last frozen embryo from the fresh cycle so fingers crossed! We have our nurses consultation next week to discuss revisions to our protocol etc and will then get another drugs delivery ready to start down reg in September.

Hi ladies, joining in on this one, just had confirmation we can start FET on this cycle, booked in for transfer week commencing 12th October, start meds in 3 weeks.

I'm in a similar boat to you @granddesigns, we had our first ivf cycle last December which failed, due to start FET in March then obviously covid turned all our worlds upside down! Was due to start again in June when I found out we'd got pregnant spontaneously, that ended up being ectopic, I had the tube removed mid July and now here I am ready to go again. Been a emotional rollercoaster to say the least.

Fingers crossed for us all, glad to finally get going again ❤️ xx

@granddesigns and @lucyinthe awwww so sorry to hear about your previous experiences but sending you both and @MF1981 super positive vibes for this cycle! I had a missed miscarriage last August and have a huge degree of worry about conception and pregnancy but want to throw all I can at it.

Nurse consultation today was fine but I am still worried about the injections! I’m hoping it will be easier once I have actually done a couple - any tips? I’m waiting for my period and then will start my meds at the beginning of September now. Where did you previously get your meds? I’ve heard that Asda and Stork are both good places to access meds at cheaper rates than Pharmasure which is what my clinic uses.

Happy Friday all xx

Same here ladies. Had our consulation today and due to start in September. Will be looking at EC mid October. Excited and scared at the same time. We are unexplained so got nagging feeling that maybe it would happen naturally eventually but fed up of waiting x

Good luck to you all and sorry for all you've had to go through to get to this point. This will be a first for us and we're so hoping it happens naturally in the meantime. All is fine with me although I think my progesterone is on the low side but our semen analysis results were really low. Also so nervous about injections but also cost - I turned 39 during covid so now not eligible for NHS funding. Any of you using Access Fertility for funding?

@MF1981 I’m using Access Fertility and having treatment at CRGH. Access Fertility have been very good when we’ve phoned them and discussed options. That said the cost is still staggering!!!

We are going to get a 2 cycle package on access fertility. My AMH result was excellent apparently so im hoping 🤞we don't need the 2nd but gives peace of mind when paying yourselves. He also said we may end up having to do a frozen transfer. I ovulated yesterday so last chance of a natural conception for us x

Sorry to hear about your bumpy road @lucyinthe - it's full of ups and downs and a lot of waiting!

We are having this FET on the NHS - we are Male factor infertility so IVF with ICSI. First cycle produced 5 blastocysts, 3 were suitable for freezing as we had to have a freeze all due to Covid. When we got to the transfer for our first FET the embryo they thawed didn't survive so we had to thaw a second one. This will be the third and final embryo from that fresh cycle (a bit worried there's a slim chance they could prepare me and have nothing to transfer....)

Everyone is different and responds differently to each of the stages of treatment. I wasn't too concerned about injections part but the first one is a bit scary as it's all new! The more you have to do to yourself the more you realise you can do I think! When I grew cysts mid down regulation I got a bonus 14 days of injections to top up my prostap injection - by the end I'd nip off and do it and return to whatever I was doing in a couple of mins. No secret tips but i would slightly pinch the skin as the needle went in then release and inject. Just be careful as you draw the needle out that you don't scratch the skin - that the the only time it really bled. Some of the injections sting a bit more than others (fyremedel was the worst one - i'd sing a line from a sting song over and over whilst it passed!) my dh is rubbish with needles so I tried to minimise his exposure to it (just easier!) although for down reg and trigger I did get him to press the plunger down as for one of them the syringe was so big I couldn't steady the needle and depress the plunger at the same time (hand wasn't big enough!)

Looking forward to sharing the journey with you.... and getting the ball rolling again. Just hoping the final blood test after the mc shows everything has gone back to normal levels as it's taken a long time to clear!

I'm on NHS funding too, have 2 frozen embies and we get one FET included the funding then after that we've got to pay. Our clinic initially said they couldn't fit us back in until December so we shopped around and looked at access funding at another clinic, we had planned to do the 3 cycle with refund if no baby at the end. Expensive but we wanted the peace of mind. We were going to do that then come back to our frozen ones at a later date (ideally for baby number 2) but all change now as our original clinic can fit us in for transfer mid October. It's been a whirlwind!

Only tips for injections are pinch the skin, after the first one is done you'll be a pro, doesn't hurt as much as you think. The only thing I hated were the bruises I ended up with! Some were pretty bad not sure why and not sure if everyone bruises?

Can I join too please my story is a little bit different as I’m doing PGD for a genetic condition. Been waiting since August 2018 to start our first cycle and it’s finally happening!

I will be on short protocol starting late September for egg collection sometime beginning of October. It will be a freeze all for us as any embryos we are lucky enough to get to day 5 must then have a cell taken to do the DNA testing, which can take 6 months but hey I’m used to waiting now so I’m just glad something is happening!

Absolutely terrified about doing the injections, I’ve got Meriofert and Fyremadel

Welcome @ThePurpleFairy - we have friends who went down this route after recurrent loss and although it's a long road, pleased to say that the testing showed why and allowed an embryo free from the genetic fault to be transferred and a successful pregnancy is now underway. It's absolutely amazing what can be done but also a painfully slow process all the way along!

Thanks for the welcome @granddesigns, yes it’s slightly strange to be saying we are taking this path after never even TTC at all. But I have known since I was 21 I have a 50:50 chance of passing on this condition, so this is the way we are going! It is all very amazing, honestly I think it’s the closest thing to magic I’ll ever experience!

@granddesigns and @lucyinthe thank you both for the injections tips. I'll no doubt keep you all posted!
Welcome @ThePurpleFairy - as I said, the more the merrier :) Wishing you lots of luck with this cycle and the whole process. I'm so glad we can all support each other. I haven't really opened up to friends about the whole process which I'm sure I may regret but I'm worried about the level of intrusion and expectation. How do others feel about this?
I'm going to be on short protocol too (I think that's the right term?!). Fostimon and Meriofert! I've been advised to watch lots of videos!

Hi all, we're also hoping to start in October - short protocol with menopur 150 IU.
Not sure if this normal as we've never been through anything like this before but we felt like we've had to chase/follow up every step of the way otherwise not much seems to happen? For example, we had an online consultation in July and then heard nothing for 4 weeks so I rang the clinic and they said they were waiting for us to complete our online consent forms...what forms and how do we access them? It all adds to the stress! Good luck everyone x

Hey @Dinky06 wishing you lots of luck also! We’ve limited who we’ve told because I don’t want to have to tell too many if it doesn’t work. It is hard not being open but there’s just certain family members that we thought could end up making the journey much harder for us, so we’re being selfish in that aspect - I say selfish but to be honest it’s none of their business anyway! It’s nice to have a group here that will understand because I feel like even if I was super open about it, none of them understand.

@Tara8 are you with NHS? We are NHS with Guy’s hospital in London and we are seeing Leeds as a satellite clinic (long story but due to funding red tape we have all scans and tests at Leeds but must travel to London for egg collection and any eventual FETs). Leeds have for the most part been great, but I’ve found communication from Guy’s a nightmare and like you say, you have to be on at them constantly to get any progress. It really doesn’t help the stress at an already stressful time.

@Dinky06 we only told close family and 2 of my friends last time, but when it didn't work I ended up telling quite a few more people. Felt like I wanted our friends to know why we were so down. Stopped the awkward when are you going to finally have a baby comments too. We have quite a large circle of friends and since I was more open about what we were going through we found out 2 other couples in our friendship group are going through / have gone through IVF too. None of us would have known if I hadn't have said anything and we've all been quite relieved to speak to each other about it all.

@Tara8 i found we've had to chase our clinic and the doctors before we got referred, it adds to the stress but I feel like you do get forgotten about if you don't keep on at them. I think the worst part of it all is the waiting for calls/letters/appointments.

Hi ladies, how is everyone doing? I just received my first prescription and wow!! So many different drugs!!

@Dinky06 still just appealing for funding and trying to work out how we're going to afford everything! I sent loads of questions to my clinic yesterday but it's looking like October will be our "prep" month.

Joining... we're going to start our first IVF ICSI cycle soon. We've not got the transfer date booked in yet but with my cycles I think October seems realistic. Got the drugs last week and wow - its a lot! Reckon I'll ask for a quick session with the nurse to make sure I've got it all really clear what I'm doing. Going for bloods this week and then baseline next week. Its all starting to feel quite real!

Welcome @peanutsandpinenuts !

@MF1981I recall the waiting and appealing for funding stage - hopefully you will have a smoother journey, and a good outcome! Took us a while - initially we were refused and advised to appeal which we did but refused until the 2 year mark despite having a diagnosis which the consultant had suggested would mean we would be funded. Accepted that it was either pay or wait and decided that we would commence a cycle that was self funded as waiting another 8 months (this was all pre covid so would have been longer had we waited!) was probably going to cost us in the longer term (my age, likelihood of success etc). Literally had the consultation, baseline, paid all the bills, paid for the drugs etc and got a call to say the consultant had pushed back and we would be NHS funded for that first cycle after all! Cue lots of complexities around refunds which they don't seem to do often and couldn't quite work out how to do easily! That said, fresh cycle was cancelled due to Covid, first embryo thaw did not survive, second embryo used in FET resulted in a miscarriage and we are now commencing the third and final FET from that NHS funded cycle. Really trying to be positive but cant help feeling this is my last shot at 2020 providing something positive and trying to avoid having to think about what we would do next until we know more!

We have had our nurses consult this week for the new FET and whilst I didn't get answers about the miscarriage (kind of knew I couldn't expect them!) they are making some revisions to the protocol to hopefully avoid some of the bits that went wrong last time! Subject to dates, we are provisionally booked for FET on 19 Oct which seems both an age off and like its actually something firm in the diary. Seems Covid restrictions are no closer to being lifted and there will still be Covid swaps and isolation during the treatment etc - just hoping that we all manage to complete our cycles of treatment without disruption!

@granddesigns thank you so much for sharing. I so hope we get the funding. Really hope yours works out too. It sounds like there is so much margin for error in terms of tweaking the protocols each time for people that it worries me that we won't be able to afford to keep trying.

Thanks @MF1981 - I think our tweaks are mostly due to the things that went wrong! They are going to put me on the pill this time at the start of down regulation to try and avoid creating cysts which I had last time and which had to be drained half way through the time I should have been down regulating! Also, when they scanned for the miscarriage I hadn't continued to grow lining so they have advised upping this next time - hopefully that's just our situation though and your systems will be more
Accommodating and less stubborn to being 'controlled' than mine!